Bull-fights.--Horse-race.--Bull-fighters.--Their villanous
Appearance.--Death of a Bull.--A Ball of Etiquette.--Society in
Yucatan.--Costumes at the Ball.--More Bull-fights.--A Mestiza.--Scenes
in the Bull-ring.--A Storm.--Dispersion of the Spectators.--A
Discovery.--A new Reformation in Yucatan.--Celibacy of Priests.--A
few Words about the Padres.--Arrival of Mr. Catherwood and Dr.
Cabot.--Rain.--Daguerreotyping.--"The Ancient Chronology of
Yucatan."--Don Pio Perez.--Calendar of the Ancient
Indians.--Substantially the same with that of the Mexicans.--This Fact
tends to show the common Origin of the aboriginal Inhabitants of
Yucatan and Mexico.
In the afternoon commenced the first bull-fight. The bull-fights of
Ticul had a great reputation throughout the country. At the last, a
toreador was killed, which gave a promise of something exciting. The
young men of the village still appeared in character as vaqueros, and
before the fight they had a horse-race, which consisted in riding
across the ring, one at a time, in at one door and out at the other,
and then racing in the same way through the either two doors. It was a
fine opportunity for exhibiting horses and horsemanship, and was a sort
of pony scamper.
After these came the toreadores, or bull-fighters, who, to do them
justice, were by far the worst-looking men I saw in the country, or
anywhere else, except, perhaps, the libellous representatives of the
twelve apostles in the feet-washing scene, at which I was once a
spectator in Jerusalem. They were of a mixed blood, which makes,
perhaps, the worst race known, viz., the cross of the Indian and
African, and called Pardos. Their complexion is a black tinge laid upon
copper, and, not satisfied with the bountiful share of ugliness which
nature had given them, these worthies had done something for themselves
in the way of costume, which was a vile caricature of the common
European dress, with some touches of their own elegant fancy.
Altogether, I could imagine that they had fitted themselves out with
the unclaimed wardrobe of deceased hospital patients. Their horses,
being borrowed by the committee of arrangements, with the understanding
that if killed they were to be paid for, were spavined, foundered,
one-eyed, wretched beasts. They had saddles covered with scarlet
cloths, enormous spurs with rowels six inches long, and murderous
spears discoloured with old stains of blood. The combination of
colours, particularly the scarlet, was intended to frighten the bull,
and all together they were almost enough to frighten el demonio.
The races over, the amateur vaqueros led in the first bull, having two
real vaqueros at hand for cases of emergency. The toreadores charged
upon him with spears brandished, and presenting a vivid picture of the
infernals let loose; after which they dismounted and attacked him on
foot. The bull was brought to bay directly under our box, and twice I
saw the iron pass between his horns, enter the back of his neck with a
dull, grating sound, and come out bloody, leaving a ghastly wound. At
the third blow the bull staggered, struggled to sustain himself on his
feet, but fell back on his haunches, and, with a feeble bellow, rolled
over on his side; blood streamed from his mouth, his tongue hung out on
the ground covered with dust, and in a few moments he was dead. The
amateurs tied his hind legs, ropes were fastened to the saddles of two
horsemen, others took hold, and as the carcase was dragged across the
ring, a fair and gentle-voiced neighbour said, in a tone of surprise,
"Dos caballos y seis Christianos!" "Two horses and six Christians!"
I omit the rest. From the bull-fight we again went to the ball, which,
in the evening, was the bayle del etiquette, no gentleman being
admitted without pantaloons. Society in Yucatan stands upon an
aristocratic footing. It is divided into two great classes: those who
wear pantaloons, and those who do not; the latter, and by far the most
numerous body, going in calconcillos, or drawers. The high-handed
regulation of the ball of etiquette was aimed at them, and excluded
many of our friends of the morning; but it did not seem to give any
offence, the excluded quietly taking their places at the outside of the
railing. El matador de cochinos, or the pig butcher, was admitted in
drawers, but as assistant to the servants, handing refreshments to the
ladies he had danced with in the morning. The whole aspect of things
was changed; the vaqueros were in dress suits, or such undress as was
not unbecoming at a village ball. The senoritas had thrown aside their
simple Mestiza dresses, and appeared in tunicas, or frocks, made to fit
the figure or, rather, to cut the figure in two. The Indian dances had
disappeared, and quadrilles and contra-dances, waltzes and gallopades,
supplied their place. It wanted the piquancy of the bayle de las
Mestizas; the young ladies were not so pretty in their more fashionable
costume. Still there was the same gentleness of expression, the dances
were slow, the music low and soft, and, in the quiet and decorum of
all, it was difficult to recognise the gay and tumultuous party of the
morning, and yet more difficult to believe that these gentle and, in
some cases, lovely faces, had been but a few hours before lighted up
with the barbarous excitement of the bull-ring.
At ten the next day there was another bull-fight, then a horse-race
from the plaza down the principal street to the house of Don Philippe
Peon; and in the afternoon yet another bull-fight which opened for me
under pleasant circumstances. I did not intend to go, had not secured a
seat, and took my place in a box so full that I was obliged to stand up
by the door. In front was one of the prettiest of the Mestizas of the
ball; on her right was a vacant seat, and next to this sat a padre, who
had just arrived at the village. I was curious to know who could be the
proprietor of the vacant seat, when the gentleman himself (an
acquaintance) entered, and asked me to take it. I did not require much
urging and, in taking it, turned first to the padre to acknowledge my
good fortune in obtaining it, which communication I thought he did not
receive quite as graciously as he might have done. The corrida opened
bravely; bulls were speared, blood flowed and men were tumbled over. I
had never taken so much pleasure in the opening scenes; but a storm was
gathering; the heavens put on black; clouds whirled through the air;
the men stood up, seeming anxious and vexed, and the ladies were uneasy
about their mantillas and headdresses. Darkness increased, but man and
beast went on fighting in the ring, and it had a wild and strange
effect, with the black clouds scudding above us, to look from the
fierce struggle up to the sea of anxious faxes on the other side of the
scaffold, and beyond, over the top, to the brilliant arch of a rainbow
illuminating with a single line the blackness of the sky. I pointed out
the rainbow to the lady as an indication that there would be no rain;
but the sign disappeared, a furious gust of wind swept over the frail
scaffold, the scalloped papers fluttered, shawls and handkerchief flew,
a few drops of rain fell, and in three minutes the Plaza de Toros was
empty. I had no umbrella to offer the lady; some ill-natured person
carried her off; and the matador de cochinos extended his poncha over
my head, and escorted me to a house, where I made a great discovery,
which everybody in the village knew except myself. The lady, whom I had
supposed to be a senorita, was a comprometida, or compromised, or, to
speak precisely, she was the compagnera of the padre who sat on the
other side of me.
I have omitted to mention that a great change, or, as it is sometimes
called in the country, a new reformation, is now going on in Yucatan,
not like the reformations got up by disorganizing laymen, which have,
at times, convulsed the whole Christian world, but peculiar and local,
and touching only the domestic relations of the padres. It may be known
to many of my readers that in the early ages of the Catholic Church
priests were not forbidden to marry. In process of time the pope, to
wean them from wordly ties, enjoined celibacy, and separation where
marriage had already taken place. The priests resisted, and the
struggle threatened to undermine the whole fabric of church government;
but the pope prevailed, and for eight centuries, throughout those
countries in which the spiritual domination of Rome is acknowledged, no
priest has been allowed to marry. But in Yucatan this burden was found
too heavy to be borne. Very early, from the necessity growing out of
local position, some special indulgences had been granted to the people
of this country, among which was a dispensation for eating meat on fast
days; and, under the liberal spirit of this bull, or of some other that
I am not aware of, the good padres have relaxed considerably the
tightness of the cord that binds them to celibacy.
I am about making a delicate and curious communication. It may be
considered an ill-natured attack upon the Catholic Church; but as I
feel innocent of any such intention, this does not trouble me. But
another consideration does. I have a strong liking to padres. I have
received from them nothing but kindness, and wherever I have met with
them I have found friends. I mean barely to mention the subject and
pass on, though I am afraid that by this preface I am only calling more
particular attention to it. I would omit it altogether, but it forms so
striking a feature in the state of society in that country, that no
picture can be complete without it. Without farther preface, then, I
mention, but only for the private ear of the reader, that, except at
Merida and Campeachy, where they are more immediately under the eyes of
the bishop, the padres throughout Yucatan, to relieve the tedium of
convent life, have compagneras, or, as they are sometimes called,
_hermanas politicas_, or sisters-in-law; or, to speak with the
precision I particularly aim at, the proportion of those who have to
those who have not is about as the proportion in a well-regulated
community of married to unmarried men.
I have now told the worst; the greatest enemy of the padres cannot say
more. I do not express any opinion of my own upon this matter, but I
may remark that with the people of the country it is no impeachment of
a padre's character, and does not impair his usefulness. Some look upon
this arrangement as a little irregular, but in general it is regarded
only as an amiable weakness, and I am safe in saying that it is
considered a recommendation to a village padre, as it is supposed to
give him settled habits, as marriage does with laymen, and, to give my
own honest opinion, which I did not intend to do, it is less injurious
to good morals than the by no means uncommon consequences of celibacy
which are found in some other Catholic countries. The padre in Yucatan
stands in the position of a married man, and performs all the duties
pertaining to the head of a family. Persons of what is considered
respectable standing in a village do not shun left-hand marriage with a
padre. Still it was to us always a matter of regret to meet with
individuals of worth, and whom we could not help esteeming, standing in
what could not but be considered a false position. To return to the
case with which I set out: the padre in question was universally spoken
of as a man of good conduct, a sort of pattern padre for correct,
steady habits; sedate, grave, and middle-aged, and apparently the last
man to have had an eye for such a pretty compagnera. The only comment I
ever heard made was upon his good fortune, and on that point he knows
my opinion.
The next day Mr. Catherwood and Doctor Cabot arrived. Both had had a
recurrence of fever, and were still very weak. In the evening was the
carnival ball, but before the company had all arrived we were again
scattered by the rain. All the next day it was more abundant than we
had seen it in the country, and completely destroyed all the proposed
gayeties of the carnival.
We had one clear day, which we devoted to taking Daguerreotype
likenesses of the cura and two of the Mestizas; and, besides the great
business of balls, bull-fights, Daguerreotyping, and superintending the
morals of the padres, I had some light reading in a manuscript
entitled, "Antigua Chronologia Yucateca," "Ancient Chronology of
Yucatan; or, a simple Exposition of the Method used by the Indians to
compute Time." This essay was presented to me by the author, Don Pio
Perez, whom I had the satisfaction of meeting at this place. I had been
advised that this gentleman was the best Maya scholar in Yucatan, and
that he was distinguished in the same degree for the investigation and
study of all matters tending to elucidate the history of the ancient
Indians. His attention was turned in this direction by the circumstance
of holding an office in the department of state, in which old documents
in the Maya language were constantly passing under his eyes.
Fortunately for the interests of science and his own studious tastes,
on account of some political disgust he withdrew from public life, and,
during two years of retirement, devoted himself to the study of the
ancient chronology of Yucatan. It is a work which no ordinary man would
have ventured to undertake; and, if general reputation be any proof,
there was no man in the country so competent, or who could bring to it
so much learning and research. It adds to the merit of his labours
that, in prosecuting them, Don Pio stood alone, had none to sympathize
with him, knew that the attainment of the most important results would
not be appreciated, and had not even that hope of honourable
distinction which, in the absence of all other prospects of reward,
cheers the student in the solitary labours of his closet.
The essay explains at large the principles imbodied in the calendar of
the ancient Indians. It has been submitted for examination (with other
interesting papers furnished me by Don Pio, which will be referred to
hereafter) to a distinguished gentleman, known by his researches into
Indian languages and antiquities, and I am authorized to say that it
furnishes a basis for some interesting comparisons and deductions, and
is regarded as a valuable contribution to the cause of science.
The essay of Don Pio contains calculations and details which would not
be interesting to the general reader; to some, however, even these
cannot fail to be so, and the whole is published in the Appendix.[1] I
shall refer in this place only to the result. From the examination and
analysis made by the distinguished gentleman before referred to, I am
enabled to state the interesting fact, that the calendar of Yucatan,
though differing in some particulars, was substantially the same with
that of the Mexicans. It had a similar solar year of three hundred and
sixty-five days, divided in the same manner, first, into eighteen
months of twenty days each, with five supplementary days; and,
secondly, into twenty-eight weeks of thirteen days each, with an
additional day. It had the same method of distinguishing the days of
the year by a combination of those two series, and the same cycle of
fifty-two years, in which the years, as in Mexico, are distinguished by
a combination of the same series of thirteen, with another of four
names or hieroglyphics; but Don Pio acknowledges that in Yucatan there
is no certain evidence of the intercalation (similar to our leap year,
or to the Mexican secular addition of thirteen days) necessary to
correct the error resulting from counting the year as equal to three
hundred and sixty-five days only.
It will be seen, by reference to the essay, that, besides the cycle of
fifty-two years common to the Yucatecans and Mexicans, and, as Don Pio
Perez asserts (on the authority of Veytia), to the Indians of Chiapas,
Oaxaca, and Soconusco, those of Yucatan had another age of two hundred
and sixty, or of three hundred and twelve years, equal to five or six
cycles of fifty-two years, each of which ages consisted of thirteen
periods (called Ajau or Ajau Katun) of twenty years each, according to
many authorities, but, in Don Pio's opinion, of twenty-four years.
The fact that though the inhabitants of Yucatan and Mexico speak
different languages, their calendar is substantially the same, I regard
as extremely interesting and important, for this is not like a
similarity of habits, which may grow out of natural instincts or
identity of position. A calendar is a work of science, founded upon
calculations, arbitrary signs, and symbols, and the similarity shows
that both nations acknowledged the same starting points, attached the
same meaning to the same phenomena and objects, which meaning was
sometimes arbitrary, and not such as would suggest itself to the
untutored. It shows common sources of knowledge and processes of
reasoning, similarity of worship and religious institutions, and, in
short, it is a link in a chain of evidence tending to show a common
origin in the aboriginal inhabitants of Yucatan and Mexico. For this
discovery we are indebted to Don Pio Perez.