Waldeck’s Remarks on Uxmal—Ancient Tools—Soil and Health—Ancient
Customs—End of Time—The Coronation of an Emperor—Religious
Beliefs—Marriage Ceremony—Infant Baptism—Origin of those Rites—Horse
Worship—Amusements—Markets—Idols—Candidates for Matrimony—Their
Worship Varies—Refinements.
In respect to the ruins of Uxmal, Waldeck remarks, that “nothing is in
stucco—all is in well-worked stone. Cogolludo and Gutierre have
confounded Palenque with Uxmal, and Uxmal with Copan. The edifices of
Palenque, except the palace, are of small dimensions—those of Uxmal are,
comparatively, colossal, and all constructed of hewn stone. The pyramid
is called the Conjurer’s Tower, and is the highest of five seen by the
author. He considers it a place originally devoted to sacrifices. The
Asiatic style is easily recognised in the architecture of this monument.
It is ornamented by the symbolic elephant upon the rounding corners of
the building. The trunk is yet visible on the east side, though the
whole figure is much broken on the west side. It is to be regretted that
the figure is not entire. The legs, for the most part, are wanting.
There are some statues in basso-relievo, very natural; and in some
respects very correctly designed. Above all, in the ornaments, we must
admire the patience of the workmen, and the taste of those ancient
people, so rich in monumental wealth. Blue and red are the only colors
distinguishable upon the walls. The carvings, which ornament the façades
of some of the edifices of Uxmal, deserve the careful attention of
artists and savans. When they carefully examine the squares, which
compose those beautiful embellishments, they will be convinced that
their designers had a profound knowledge of the principles of geometry.
I have measured all the details by plumb and line, and have found them
to conform to each other with perfect accuracy in all their parts.”
No iron implements, or tools of any description, have been discovered
here; nor was I successful in finding anything of the kind at Chi-Chen.
Flint was undoubtedly used. This stone is capable of being formed with a
most delicate natural edge, which is as durable, in the working of
limestone, as that of steel.
The soil about Uxmal is rich, principally of a red sand loam, capable of
producing corn, tobacco, and almost any other product that the limited
industry of its inhabitants may be disposed to cultivate. The face of
the land is somewhat undulating, and free of that flat monotonous
appearance which may be considered as almost an affliction to a great
portion of this province. There are ponds in the vicinity; which, taken
in connexion with the rank vegetation which borders them, engender
considerable sickness during the months of autumn. The timber throughout
Yucatan is of a stinted growth.
Antonio de Solis, the author of the “History of the Conquest of Mexico,”
a work of even classical merit, written at a period when he could have
access to all the facts, gives some of the peculiar customs of the
natives of Mexico that may be very properly noticed here; as they may
throw some light upon the subject when the matter is brought to the
reflection of those who are more competent than I am to draw
conclusions. Some allowance should be made for the religious prejudices
of the age in which this book was produced, and of its author. De Solis
says that the Mexicans adjusted their calendar by the motion of the sun,
making his altitude and declination the measure of times and seasons.
They allowed to their years three hundred and sixty-five days, and
divided them into eighteen months of twenty days each; leaving the five
overplus days to come in at the end of the year, which were celebrated
as holydays. Their weeks consisted of thirteen days, with different
names marked in their calendar by images. The “age” or cycle, in their
calendar, was four weeks of years, marked by a circle, which they
divided into fifty-two degrees, allowing a year to each degree. In the
centre of this circle they painted the sun, from whose rays proceeded
four lines of different colors, which equally divided the circumference,
leaving thirteen degrees to each semi-diameter; and these divisions
served as signs of their zodiac, upon which their ages had their
revolutions, and the sun his aspects, prosperous or adverse, according
to the colors of the lines. In a large circle, enclosing the other, they
marked, with their figures and characters, the accidents of the age, and
all circumstances which had happened worthy of being remembered. These
secular maps were public instruments, which served for a proof of their
history. It may be remarked among the wisest institutions of their
government, that they had official historiographers, whose duty it was
to preserve for posterity the exploits of their nation.
They had a superstition that the world was in danger of destruction at
the last day of the “age” of fifty-two years; and all the people
prepared themselves for that dreadful and ultimate calamity. They took
leave of the light with tears, and expected death without any previous
sickness. They broke their household vessels as unnecessary lumber,
extinguished their fires, and walked about like disturbed people,
without daring to take any rest, till they knew whether they were to be
for ever consigned to the regions of darkness. On the dawning of day
they began to recover their spirits, with their eyes fixed towards the
east; and, at the first appearance of the sun, they saluted him with all
their musical instruments, and congratulated each other upon their
security for the duration of another age. They immediately crowded to
their temples to render thanks to their gods, and to receive from the
priests new fire, which had been preserved by them throughout the night.
Next, they made a new provision for their necessary subsistence, and
this day was spent in public rejoicings; the diversions being dedicated
to the renewal of time, much after the manner of the secular games among
the Romans.
Their emperor, who was chosen by electoral princes upon the death of his
predecessor, receives the crown upon very precise conditions. He is
obliged to take the field with the forces of the empire, and obtain some
victory over his enemies, or subdue some rebels or some neighboring
province, before he can be crowned, or permitted to ascend the royal
throne. So soon as the victorious prince was found to be qualified for
the regal dignity by the success of his enterprise, he returned
triumphantly to the city, and made his public entry with great state and
solemnity. The nobility, ministers, and priests accompanied him to the
temple of war, where, after he had offered the customary sacrifices, the
electoral princes clothed him in the royal robes; arming his right hand
with a sword of gold, edged with flint, the ensign of justice, and his
left with a bow and arrows, signifying his power and command in war.
Then the first elector, the king of Tezcuco, placed the crown upon his
head. After this, one of the most eloquent magistrates made a long
harangue, wishing him joy of the dignity in the name of the whole
empire; and added some documents, representing the troubles and cares
that attend a crown, with the obligations he lay under to guard the
public good of his kingdom; recommending to him the imitation of his
ancestors. This speech being ended, the chief of the priests approached
him with great reverence, and between his hands the emperor took the
oath with great solemnity. He swore to maintain the religion of his
ancestors; to observe the laws and customs of the empire; to treat his
vassals with lenity; that, during his rule, they should have seasonable
rains; and that no inundations of rivers, sterility of soil, or
malignant influence of the sun, should happen.
Amidst such a multitude of gods as they worship, they still acknowledge
a superior deity, to whom they attribute the creation of the heavens and
the earth.[17] This first cause of all things was, among the Mexicans,
without a name; there being no word in their language whereby to express
his attributes. They only signified that they knew him by looking
towards heaven with veneration, and giving him, after their way, the
attribute of ineffable, with the same religious uncertainty as the
Athenians worshipped the Unknown God. They believed in the immortality
of the soul, and in future rewards and punishments. They buried great
quantities of gold and silver with their dead, in a belief that it was
necessary to bear their expenses through a long and troublesome journey.
They put to death some of their servants to accompany them; and it was a
common thing for wives to consummate the exequies of their husbands by
their own deaths. Princes were obliged to have monuments of vast extent,
for the greatest part of their riches and family were interred with
them; both the one and the other in proportion to their dignity and
grandeur. The whole of the servants were obliged to accompany the prince
into the other world, together with some flatterers among them; who, at
that time, suffered for the deceit of their profession.
The marriage was a kind of contract, with some religious ceremonies. The
preliminary articles being all agreed upon, the couple appeared in the
temple, and one of the priests examined their inclinations by certain
formal questions, appointed by law for that purpose. He then took the
tip of the woman’s veil with one hand, and one corner of the husband’s
garment in the other, and tied them together at the ends, to signify the
interior tie of their affections. Thus they returned to their
habitation, accompanied by the same priest; where, imitating the Romans
with regard to their _dii Lares_, or household gods, they paid a visit
to the domestic fire, which they believed concerned in the union between
the married pair. They went round it seven times, following the priest;
after which they sat down to receive their equal share of the heat, and
this accomplished their marriage. They registered in a public instrument
the portion brought by the bride, every part whereof the husband was
obliged to restore in case they parted, which very frequently happened;
for mutual consent was judged to be a sufficient cause for a divorce; a
case in which the laws never interfered. When once thus dissolved, it
was inevitable death for them to come together again. Inconstancy was
punished with the utmost rigor.
Their new-born infants were carried to the temples with solemnity, and
the priests received them with certain admonitions concerning the
troubles to which they were born. If they were the sons of nobles, they
put a sword into the child’s right hand, and upon his left arm a shield,
kept in the temple for that purpose. If of plebeian extraction, they put
into their hands mechanical instruments; and the females, of both
degrees, had only the distaff and spindle, signifying to each the kind
of employment which destiny had prepared for them. This ceremony over,
they were brought to the altar, and there, with a thorn of maguey, or a
lancet of flint, they drew some drops of blood from the privy parts;
after which they either sprinkled them with water, or dipped them into
it; using, at the same time, certain invocations. This appears to be a
striking imitation of baptism and circumcision, which De Solis very
piously attributes to the devil; who, he also says, introduced among
these barbarians the confession of sins, giving it to be understood that
thereby they obtained the favor of their gods. He (the devil) likewise
instituted a sort of communion, which the priest administered upon
certain days of the year; dividing into small bits an idol made of flour
and honey, mixed into a paste, which they called the god of Penitence.
They had jubilees, processions, offerings of incense, and the other
forms of divine worship. They even gave their chief priests the title of
_papas_ in their language; which, together with other imitations of the
Catholic church, the author thinks must have cost Satan a deal of close
study and perseverance!
The rest of the rites and ceremonies of “these miserable heathen were
shocking and horrible both to reason and nature; bestialities, and
incongruous, stupid absurdities; which seemed altogether incompatible
with the regularity and admirable economy which were observed in the
other parts of the government, and would scarcely be believed were not
history full of examples of the like weaknesses and errors of men in
other nations, and in parts of the world where they have the means of
being more enlightened. Sacrifices of human blood began about the same
time with idolatry. The horrible and detestable custom of eating human
flesh has been practised many ages since among the barbarous people of
our hemisphere, as Galatia confesses in her antiquities; and Scythia, in
her Anthropophagi, must acknowledge the same. Greece and Rome wanted the
knowledge of true religion, and were complete idolaters; although, in
everything else, they gave laws to the whole world, and left edifying
examples to posterity.” He therefore concludes that the Mexican worship
was no other than a detestable compound of all the errors and
abominations which have been received among the Gentiles in different
parts of the world.
Don Solis would not enter into a detail of their particular festivals
and sacrifices, their ceremonies, sorceries, and superstitions; not only
because they are met at every step, with tedious repetitions, in the
histories, but because it is his opinion that too much caution cannot be
observed in restricting the pen upon a subject of this nature; at best
to be looked upon as an unnecessary lesson, affording the reader little
pleasure and much less profit.
With all due deference to the erudition and moral feelings of the author
above, so largely quoted, I doubt whether information of consequence
might not be obtained from the minutiæ of these ceremonies, trifling as
they appear, that would be of importance to the future historian. If the
exploits of these nations had been handed down even in the writings of
those “capable historiographers,” it would have been some consolation
for the absence of any better authority.[18] The suppression of these
records we cannot pardon—the natives erred through ignorance; their
conquerors, from a policy only worthy of the darkest ages. They not only
destroyed what they confess to be a wise and excellent government, but
they buried in oblivion the very name of the people they so mercilessly
obliterated from a national (it may almost be said from an earthly)
existence.
Waldeck, in referring back to the time that Cortez was in Tabasco, gives
an account of a sick horse left with the Indians by that almost
worshipped commander; which, under the rich and unnatural food they
furnished him, very naturally famished. Some say he was fed with grains
of gold; the natives judging, from the prevailing passion of his former
masters, that this would be his most satisfactory diet. He died, poor
horse, however, as might have been anticipated, under their unfortunate
attentions; but the consequences did not end here. They erected an
elegant temple to his memory, deified him, and placed him among the most
prominent of their gods, where he received their faithful and regular
devotions. In after years, the missionaries and Spanish priests had more
difficulty to dissuade them from the worship of this horse, which they
called Tizimin,[19] than they had from all their other gods. From this
circumstance, it appears that this temple must have been built after the
conquest; and, as it possesses architectural beauty in no respect
inferior to the temples of a more ancient date, we may infer that the
same race of people that produced it, may have been the architects of
the most elaborate works among the ruins.[20]
Bernal Diez, a companion of Cortez, who has written a particular account
of the conquest, but not with the elegance of De Solis, is very minute
in describing the great temples in Mexico, the gods, and the rich
splendor of the city. One part of it was occupied by Montezuma’s
dancers; some of whom bore sticks on their feet, others flew in the air,
and others danced like _matachines_. The gardens of the great Indian
prince were very extensive, irrigated by canals of running water, and
shaded with every variety of trees. In them were baths of cut stone,
pavilions for feasting or retirement, and theatres for shows and for the
dancers and singers; all of which were kept in the most exact order by
laborers employed for the purpose.
The market was held upon the grand square. Here, in places prepared for
the purpose, was every kind of merchandise in use among them; consisting
of gold, silver, jewels, feathers, mantles, chocolate, skins, sandals,
slaves, and all the varieties of food, cooked and in a raw state.
Mechanics, in all branches, here performed their labors; and every thing
appeared to be done in the greatest harmony. Judges regularly presided
here to decide any disputes, and to see that the laws were duly executed
and obeyed.
A circuit was made through a number of large courts (the smallest of
which is larger than the great square of Salamanca) before we entered
the great temple, which had double enclosures, built of stone and lime,
and the courts paved with large white cut stone, very clean; and, where
it was not paved, plastered and polished. The ascent to the temple was
by one hundred and fourteen steps; from the top of which was a complete
view of the city and the surrounding neighborhood. Here were two altars,
highly adorned, with richly wrought timbers on the roof; and, over the
altars, gigantic figures resembling very fat men. One was
Huitzilopochtli, their war god, with a great face and terrible eyes. His
figure was entirely covered with gold and jewels, and his body bound
with golden serpents. In his right hand he held a bow, and in his left a
bundle of arrows. A little idol stood by, representing his page, who
bore a lance and target richly ornamented with gold and jewels. The
great idol had round his neck the figures of human heads and hearts made
of pure gold and silver, ornamented with precious stones of a blue
color. On the left was the other large figure, with a countenance like a
bear, and big shining eyes of a polished substance (mica) like their
mirrors. The body of this idol was also covered with jewels. These two
deities were said to be brothers. The name of this last was Tezcatepuca,
and he was the god of the infernal regions; and, according to their
belief, presided over the souls of men. His body was covered with
figures representing little devils, with the tails of serpents. In the
summit of the temple, and in a recess, the timber of which was highly
ornamented, was a figure half human and the other half resembling an
alligator, inlaid with jewels and partly covered with a mantle. This
idol was said to contain the germ and origin of all created things, and
was the god of harvests and fruits. These places were exceedingly
offensive from the smell of human blood, with which they were besmeared.
Here was an enormous drum, (the head was made of the skin of a large
serpent,) the sound of which could be heard the distance of two leagues.
At a little distance from this temple stood a tower. At the door were
frightful idols; by it was a place for sacrifice; and, within, boilers
and pots full of water, to dress the flesh of the victims, which was
eaten by the priests. The idols were like serpents and devils, and
before them were tables and knives for sacrifice; the place being
covered with the blood which was spilt on these occasions. Crossing a
court is another temple, wherein were the tombs of the Mexican nobility.
Next this was yet another, full of skeletons and piles of bones; each
kept apart, but regularly arranged. In each temple were idols and its
particular priests; the latter of whom wore long vestments of black,
somewhat between the dress of the Dominicans and canons.
At a certain distance from the buildings last spoken of were others, the
idols of which were the superintendent deities of marriages; near which
was a large structure occupied by Mexican women, who resided there, as
in a nunnery, until they were married. They worshipped two female
deities, who presided over marriages; and to them they offered
sacrifices, in order to obtain good husbands.
Each province had its peculiar gods, who were supposed to have no
concern with any other; so that, in consequence, there were a great
multiplicity of idols in the various districts.[21] Mexico was thought
to have attained its zenith at the time Cortez first entered it. The
city had risen up in about one hundred and thirty years (from 1388 to
1518) solely by the aid of its military power. As the great temple,
however, is said to have existed a thousand years, this assertion is
hardly reconcilable with the facts. The Tlascalans not only proved
themselves to be as warlike as the Mexicans, but equally qualified as
statesmen. They held it as a principle, that “whatever was unlawful,
with them, was impossible.” At Zempoala books were seen in their
temples, containing the rites of their religion, written in imagery or
ciphers, as was customary with the painters of Teutile, at Tabasco.[22]
The same kind of writing was noticed at Mexico, done on cotton cloth.
Waldeck says that there exists a history of the original Conquest of
Yucatan, written by Villa Gutierre, a copy of which was found in the
archives of the cathedral at Merida. This work is very superior to the
voluminous and undigested compilation of Cogolludo; at the same time it
must be remarked, it carries a similar theological coloring and
religious prejudice. So, though Villa Gutierre was neither priest nor
monk, he none the less invoked, in each page, the trinity and the
saints; and even his book is dedicated to the holy Virgin. This was the
madness of the epoch; Spanish and American literature was entirely
placed under the auspices of monkish bigots, who wrote their histories
in the same style as they did the lives of the saints.
Besides these authors there is no other historian of Yucatan. I have an
abridged manuscript copy of Cogolludo in my possession; but, from a
close examination, it appears to be unworthy of translation. The
numerous writers on Mexico are well known to the reader. Baron Humboldt
is deservedly the most celebrated who has treated on that subject; and
his writings are an honor to the age. But the most remarkable work that
has ever probably been produced, is that of the late Lord Kingsborough,
on American Antiquities, which is acknowledged to be the most costly
undertaking ever attempted by a single individual, of a literary kind. A
copy, and the only one in the United States, is in the possession of the
Pennsylvania Library, at Philadelphia. The collection of materials was
made by Augustine Aglis, who edited and published it in London, in 1830.
He has succeeded in “getting up” a splendid book, but the compilation
falls short of its merits. It is comprised in seven immense folio
volumes, embellished with upwards of a thousand splendid engravings,
colored with the greatest neatness and skill. It is said that only about
fifty copies were suffered to be struck, to be presented to friends. The
plates were then defaced. It cost something like one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars to produce this work. This patron of literature and the
arts, a short period since, died in the prison of Dublin, a sad instance
of self-immolation to his own munificence; his fate being but a
melancholy inducement for others to follow his example.
[Illustration: COACH TRAVELLING CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS FROM UXMAL.]
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