Reception at Campeachy—The City—Public Buildings—The Convent—The
Market—Charity—An Ancient Custom—Population—The College—Foundations of
the City—Subterraneous Caverns—The Suburbs—The Harbor—Climate and
Health—Various Ruins—The Author’s Collection of Idols—Dr. Morton on
the Archæology of Yucatan—Other Ruins—Reptiles and Insects—A Concealed
Nation—The Brothers Camachos.
My reception at Campeachy was extremely gratifying. There is evidently a
class of society here which contrasts favorably with any to be found in
the other cities of the province. The streets are narrow and irregular;
and have a natural pavement of flat stone, which is much broken, and
makes an exceedingly rough route for carriages. The buildings have not
the clean appearance of those of Merida, owing to the extreme humidity
that accompanies the sea winds; but they display more wealth and taste.
The public buildings on the square are of two stories, and tastefully
ornamented and painted. The churches, as usual, are the most conspicuous
public works. The private houses, generally, are of one-story, and well
painted. There are few good two-story houses in the place.
The convent at Campeachy is a huge mass of stone and mortar; the walls
of which bear the marks of the balls from the cannon of the besiegers of
1840, when the government troops fired upon the town. The cannonading
was continued for three days, but without doing much execution! The city
was obliged, however, to capitulate, for want of ammunition and
supplies.
The market is well furnished with fruit, vegetables, and fish, and the
customary supplies of meat generally found in similar establishments
throughout Mexico; but articles are much dearer here than in other parts
of Yucatan. This is owing, probably, to the great influx of strangers.
The greater amount of money thrown into circulation has of course a
tendency to enhance the value of the necessaries and luxuries of life,
here, as elsewhere.
Every Saturday brings from the country to the streets of this city a
horde of Indian beggars, who are not to be seen here upon any other day
of the week, and to whom alms are liberally distributed by the
inhabitants. This is a custom, no doubt, that is handed down from the
time of the conquest. The friars were in the habit of giving charity to
the poor on the same day.
The city, including the suburbs outside the walls, contains a population
of about fifteen thousand. There is an “alamede” outside these walls,
which affords a pretty little place for a walk, and there are pleasant
drives around in the neighborhood. There is a college in Campeachy
similar to that of Merida, with six professors, the highest salary of
any one of whom is six hundred dollars per annum. There are fifty-five
pupils, besides thirteen on the foundation. Like all other literary
institutions in this country, it is poorly supported.
The town of Campeachy, built entirely of a calcareous hewn stone, stands
upon a foundation of the same substance, which extends throughout the
whole peninsula, retreating from the sea-shore with a gradual elevation,
until it reaches to the height of five hundred feet, the level of Sierra
Alta, near Tecax. This immense rock has doubtless furnished material,
before the conquest, for the construction of those stupendous temples,
and other magnificent buildings, that now constitute the ruins of this
country.
The whole of Campeachy rests upon a subterraneous cavern of the ancient
Mayas. It is now difficult to ascertain whether these quarries or
galleries, which, according to the traditions of the country, are
understood to be immense, served for the abode of the people who
executed the work. Nothing reveals the marks of man’s sojournings here;
not even the traces of smoke upon the vaults were visible. It is more
probable that the greater part of this excavation was used as a
depository for their dead. This supposition has been strengthened by the
discovery of many openings of seven feet deep by twenty inches in
breadth, dug horizontally in the walls of the caverns. These
excavations, however, are few; and the galleries have been but little
investigated and less understood. Even the inhabitants of the dwellings
above know scarcely any thing respecting these dark habitations.
These catacombs occasion frequent accidents. “Some time before my
arrival,” says Waldeck, “the centre of Moille street caved in. Happily,
this gallery did not extend beneath the houses. Arches were erected that
brought the street to its original level, by the aid of a French
engineer, M. Journot.”
The principal suburbs of Campeachy are San Roman to the south of the
town, Guadaloupe and San Francisco to the north. Each of these has its
church. The city has three churches and five convents.
At the extremity of the San Roman suburb is the general cemetery, around
which is a broken wall and a façade, almost in ruins, feebly protecting
it from the observation of passengers. During the prevalence of the
cholera, this depository was found insufficient to accommodate the
numerous patients, and two others were constructed to meet the
emergency. These last were surrounded by palisades, and are situated to
the right of the road leading to Lerma. Nor did these suffice; sculls
and bones were to be seen in heaps above ground.
At some distance from the cemetery is a small battery that the sea
washes at high water. About two hundred yards to the right of this is
the pest-house, for the accommodation of leprous patients. This
establishment is more expensive than useful, as it has been long
satisfactorily known that the disease is not contagious. Those unhappily
detained prisoners there are lodged and fed gratuitously, and no labor
is exacted from them.
Within less than a mile of this latter building is an hacienda, called
Buena Vista; near it is a colossal tree of the mimosa class, which may
be seen for more than a league at sea. To the east-north-east of the
hacienda is an opening, similar to those above mentioned, that is
supposed to lead to the subterraneous caverns. It is concealed from the
eye of a careless observer, and is very little known. This, however, is
very convenient for smugglers, who resort to it in the night to conceal
contraband merchandise, and who are, perhaps, the only persons that make
these places, in the bosom of the earth, materially serviceable.
The harbor at Campeachy is shallow, and a vessel which draws more than
six feet is obliged to anchor a league from the shore. In spite of this
disadvantage, from the superior excellence of the timber, and other
causes, a number of vessels are built here, measuring a hundred feet in
the keel, which are launched by the aid of ingenious contrivances
invented for the purpose.
A theatre has been erected here under the architectural direction of M.
Journot, before named. This is one of the most beautiful edifices of the
place. The internal decorations, however, will not compare with the
handsome exterior.
The climate of this part of the province appears to be healthy. The heat
is extreme at noon; but the land breeze in the morning, and the sea
breeze in the evening, render the atmosphere, at those periods, most
delightful. During the rainy season, which commences about the last of
May, and ends in September, intermittent fevers are quite prevalent.
These, however, by temperate and regular habits on the part of the
inhabitants, and attention to the wearing of flannel, and such garments
as are suited to the changes of the weather, and keeping from
unnecessary exposure, may, in a great measure, be avoided.
In the neighborhood of Campeachy are many ruins which richly deserve the
attention of travellers, but which the time to which my short excursion
was limited, would not permit me the gratification of visiting to any
extent. Upon a small river near Champoton, some leagues inland, where it
enlarges to a very considerable lake, are situated many ruins of a kind
of sculpture displaying the finest taste; but the edifices are so buried
beneath the water and earth that surround them, that it would require
great labor and perseverance to investigate them. Four leagues to the
north of Campeachy there exist many tumuli, which cannot be visited
during the rainy season without much risk and inconvenience. Three
leagues farther north is a little peninsula, called Jaina. Here is
situated a very large tumulus, around which have been found a number of
small earthen figures, and some flint heads of lances, very finely
formed. To the antiquarian and the curious this ruin presents many
attractions.
From this tumulus, and other places contiguous to ruins of immense
cities, in the vicinity of Campeachy, were procured among the crumbling
walls, some skeletons and bones that have evidently been interred for
ages, also a collection of idols, fragments, flint spearheads, and axes;
besides sundry articles of pottery-ware, well wrought, glazed, and
burnt.
These interesting relics are now in the possession of the author. The
reader will observe the Engravings of the most important, and those that
are in the most perfect state of preservation.
Plates No. I., II., and III., are correct designs of the Idols, which
are supposed to have been the household gods of the people who inhabited
these regions. They are hollow, and contain balls about the size of a
pea, that are supposed to be formed of the ashes of the victims that
have been sacrificed to the particular god in which they are deposited.
Plate No. IV. represents fragments composed of the same material as the
Idols. Whether these were intended for the same, or ornaments to their
vessels, I am unable to decide.
Plate No. V. represents the designs of the pots and vessels of the
collection, which were probably used as burners in the performance of
religious rites and ceremonies.
Plate No. VI. represents a Turtle, beautifully wrought in a fine hard
earthy substance. This figure, by its frequent appearance throughout the
ruins of Yucatan, was undoubtedly one of great importance, either from
its religious or civil associations. This plate also represents an
earthen pan, well wrought, (apparently turned in a lathe,) and glazed,
which was probably one of their household utensils; also a stone
pounder, which was probably used in the same department.
The Idols, which are, so far as I am at present informed, the only ones
from Yucatan ever before brought into this country, are unlike any that
have been found in other parts of Mexico. I have compared them with
those brought from the city of Mexico by Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, and now
in the cabinet of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia,
and have been able to discover no analogy between them. This fact gives
color for the presumption that the people prepared these _penates_
according to their respective tastes, and with little reference to any
standard or canon.
The bones and other relics of the persons who had been for a very long
time dead, were now nearly decomposed. Being under the impression that
these remains might assist in explaining the origin of the early
inhabitants, or throw light upon other difficulties in the archæology of
Yucatan, I determined to preserve and bring them with me. Immediately
upon my arrival in Philadelphia I presented these remains to Dr. Morton,
a gentleman who is so well known to the scientific world that it is
unnecessary for me to say, that any opinion which he would be led to by
their examination would deserve, and receive, the highest consideration
from men of science throughout the world. A few days before the present
chapter went to press, but too late to notice the fact in a more
appropriate place, I had the honor of receiving a letter from Dr.
Morton, in which he favors me with the result of his examination; an
attention for which I am the more grateful, inasmuch as it was
accompanied with a permission to make any use of the writer’s remarks
which, in my opinion, would be most acceptable to my readers. I have no
hesitation in presenting to them all the contents of the above
communication which are pertinent to the subject about which we are
concerned:—
[Illustration: No. 1.
8 in. Long, 5¼ in. Wide.]
[Illustration: No. 2.
6½ in. Long, 3½ in. Wide.
5¼ in. Long, 3¼ in. Wide.
5¼ in. Long, 4⅝ in. Wide.
7 in. Long, 4¼ in. Wide.]
[Illustration: No. 3.
6 in. Long, 2½ in. Wide.
5 in. Long, 2¼ in. Wide.
5½ in Long, 3¾ in. Wide.
3¼ in. Long, 2¾ in. Wide.]
[Illustration: No. 4.
FRAGMENTS.]
[Illustration: No. 5
4¼ in. High, 4, in. Diameter.
2½ in. High, 3, in. Diameter.
3¼ in. High, 5¼ in. Diameter.]
[Illustration: No. 6.
5 in. Long, 3 in. Wide.
9 in. in diameter, 3 in. in height.
6 in. in diameter, 7 in. in height.]
“Such is the extremely disintegrated state of some of these bones, and
so little animal matter remains in their composition, that I should
suppose them to belong to an ancient period in the history of our
aboriginal nations; a conjecture which is sustained by the circumstances
under which they were found. One of these skeletons is that of a man
perhaps twenty-five years of age, with large bones and no trace of
_epiphyses_. A few fragments of cranial bones are also large and
massive; which remark is also applicable to both the upper and lower
jaws and the teeth, which latter are singularly perfect. The os calcis,
(heel bone,) and other parts of the foot, are of delicate proportions;
thus presenting that contrast between the broad head and small hands and
feet, which has long been observed as one of the characteristics of our
native tribes. Parts of a second skeleton, from the same mound, have
belonged to a smaller person; but they are so much broken as to preclude
any certain indications of age or sex.
“Of the two remaining skeletons, only a few fragments of the long bones,
and others of the hands and feet, remain. They are much larger than
those already mentioned, and have no doubt pertained to individuals
above the ordinary stature.
“I am extremely indebted to you for the opportunity you have thus
afforded me of examining and comparing these ancient relics of our
native Indian race; for, dilapidated as they are, their characters, as
far as I can ascertain them, correspond with all the osteological
remains of that people which have hitherto come under my observation;
and go to confirm the position, that all the American tribes (excepting
the Esquimaux, who are obviously of Asiatic origin) are of the same
unmixed race. I have examined the sculls (now in my possession) of four
hundred individuals, belonging to tribes which have inhabited almost
every region of North and South America, including the civilized as well
as the savage communities, and I find the same type of organization to
pervade and characterize them all.
“I much regret that we have in this country so few sculls of the
Mongolian or Polar tribes of northern Asia. These are all-important in
deciding the question whether the aboriginal American race is peculiar,
and distinct from all others; a position which I have always maintained,
and which I think will be verified when the requisite means of
comparison are procured.”
At Cape Catoche is an entire city buried beneath the luxurious
vegetation, which has not yet attracted much attention from visitors.
From this circumstance, probably, some singular results might be the
reward of those who have the enterprise to examine these ruins. Near the
river Lagartos, and upon its banks, stand two lonely pyramids. Upon the
eastern shore of the main land, opposite to the island of Cozumel, there
appears a long line of ruined edifices, occupying an extent of ground
nearly equal to that over which are spread the ruins of Uxmal.
At point Soliman are other ruins of great interest and little known. On
the south side of Espiritu Santo Bay are also very extensive ruins. In
following the route leading to Bacalar, one may discover towers, whose
summits overtop the surrounding trees.
All the Cordilleras, from Tecax to Muna, is strewed with ruins of towns
and isolated monuments. Who shall tell how many myriads of men were
required to erect and to people such numerous and stupendous cities!
There are many poisonous reptiles and insects in Yucatan, whose bite is
most deadly. The Indians, however, have a ready specific in the various
plants which abound here, and which renders them entirely harmless.
There is a district of country situated between Guatemala, Yucatan, and
Chiapas that has never yet been subdued. This section is surrounded by
mountains, and is said to be inaccessible, except by one way, and that
not generally known. No one yet, who has had the boldness to follow the
inhabitants to their wild retreat, has ever returned to render an
account of their journey. The inhabitants are represented as speaking
the Maya and Tchole languages, and many of them as conversing well in
Spanish. From the latter circumstance, they are enabled to visit the
nearest cities, sell their tobacco, the principal article they
cultivate, and afterwards to return to their retreats. They are
constituted of the Lacandrones and other savage tribes; are expert
warriors, remarkably athletic, and very cruel. They are worshippers of
idols, and their religious ceremonies are said to have undergone little
or no change.
Palenque is in the neighborhood of this settlement; and Waldeck, who
says he has conversed with some of these people, understood that they
had white persons among them—but whether they stay voluntarily, or are
detained as prisoners, he has not mentioned. The same nation is spoken
of by Mr. Stephens. Their number is estimated at thirty thousand; their
secluded mode of life makes it almost impossible to arrive at any thing
like correct impressions respecting them. The Indians of Yucatan and the
neighboring provinces have been seen in conversation with persons from
this district; they, however, appear to know as little of the people of
whom I speak as others. Could a friendly intercourse, by any
possibility, be established with this surprising country, there is
scarcely a doubt that a complete knowledge of the former inhabitants of
the immense ruins scattered throughout the provinces would be revealed.
That their temples and records remain in safety, and are capable of
speaking to posterity, there can scarcely be a question.
I doubt if the above be a true estimate of their numbers, since they
have been enabled to sustain themselves for ages (no one knows how long)
against enemies and intestine wars and dissolution. It would be more
reasonable to suppose that they are the outcast Pelasgi of some invading
nation, and the remnants of a power that once defended those wasted
towns that now lie a huge mass of scattered ruins. The gathered
fragments of Palenque, and other conquered places of equal importance,
may have concentrated their broken strength within the boundaries of
these hills, and, under the strong impulse of desperation, they may have
preserved their nationality in defiance of all the force that surrounded
them. It may well excite universal astonishment, when the fact becomes
known, that there actually exists, within a territory of five hundred
miles, a distinct people, that have governed themselves for ages, and
that they continue to do so without assistance or protection. It would
be a lesson to mankind to ascertain how they have managed their
self-governing principles, and how they have preserved the national
individuality. Three centuries have transpired since the conquest; and,
if neither Yankee nor Irishman have found his way among these
Lacandrones before this, it deserves the careful consideration both of
the psychologist and the statesman.
I had the pleasure of meeting two padres in Campeachy; and, as this is
my first offence of the kind, I hope to be forgiven for mentioning their
names—the brothers Camacho. This I do solely with a view of promoting
antiquarian research. These gentlemen have devoted themselves to science
and learning; and they are the only ones I encountered during my absence
who were enthusiasts in regard to the interesting ruins of Yucatan. They
have spent much labor in individual examinations; have sacrificed
liberally for the benefit of travellers; and would, if they lived in a
more enlightened country, be respected and honored. My visit to their
house was an interesting one. They were alone with their cats!—Their
apartments presented the appearance of a real curiosity-shop, or a
necromancer’s conjuring room, filled up, as they were, with every thing
wonderful, and strange, and antique. They were extremely kind; and
presented me many interesting antiquities of their country. I left them
and their city with regret; they were among the very few whom during my
absence I had met with pleasure and parted from with regret.
I must now close this rambling account of my journeying in Yucatan.
I embarked from Campeachy on the eleventh day of April at daylight, on
board of a small American schooner bound for New Orleans, where I
arrived on the twentieth, after an absence of four months, which I
calendar among the most instructive months of my life.
Though my journal terminates here, I trust I shall be pardoned, by a
portion of my readers at least, for soliciting their attention to some
further particulars connected with the present political condition of
Yucatan, and also to a brief criticism of the Maya language, to which
allusion has already been made. However imperfect these discussions may
be, I trust they may not be found wholly without profit to the very
large portion of my countrymen who, like myself, have never before had
their attention distinctly called to the consideration of these
subjects.
[Illustration: Decoration]
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