CHAPTER XIII.

Camping on the plains. — A night amongst the hills in Chiapas. — Lopez. — Indian Sun worship. — Ocosingo. — An ancient idol. — Proposed expedition through the unknown region occupied by the Lacandones to British Honduras. — Bachajon. — Tzendal Indians. — Chilon. — Indian Carnival. — Yajalon. — Carnival amongst the Tzendales. — Drunkenness. — Dances. — Horse races. — Ruined Churches and Convents. — Influence of the Priests over the Indian Tribes. — Las Casas. — Forced labour. — The Presbitero Fernando Macal.

It was a fine February morning when we left Comitan. An Indian named Lopez was hired to guide me as far as Ocosingo, three days’ journey distant. No trustworthy man could be found who was acquainted with the country beyond that place. With regard to the subject of safety and fidelity, it was arranged that Lopez should receive half his wages in advance and the remainder upon his return. The money was deposited with my friend who engaged him. Lopez was also to bring back a letter from me to the effect that he had performed his duty, and that I was satisfied with his conduct. These measures of precaution were considered to be advisable.

After a long day’s ride we reached a place where we decided to pass the night. It was upon an open plain where we saw some muleteers encamped. As there were no trees upon which to hang the hammock, it was necessary to sleep on the ground. There was a heavy mist and everything was very damp. We noticed that the muleteers had taken off the halters from their mules and tied them together and placed the long rope thus made in a circle, within which they were sleeping. Lopez said that I must follow the same plan, which he explained to be a method employed to prevent serpents from crawling near them, the rough fibrous nature of the halter being so disagreeable to them that they would not pass over it. Consequently I was encircled in this manner and with a saddle for a pillow, endeavoured to get rest, but the thick mist was the cause of much discomfort. Lopez passed the time on guard, watching the mule.

The next day as early as possible we continued our journey. After passing a few huts called Jotána, we entered upon a wide expanse of undulating land well studded with trees. Here we met some Mexicans travelling on their way from their hacienda or farm. They were men, women, boys and girls, all bright and gay, riding horses and mules, galloping over the smooth grass land and enjoying the sunny weather. I took the opportunity of occasionally joining the laughing cheerful group, and I was sorry when we had to part company and follow different paths.

In the afternoon we reached a steep, sharp ascent. The track was difficult to trace, and in several places was almost impassable. Large masses of stone had fallen over it. There were also numerous deep, slippery ruts, through which the mule plunged with difficulty. It was sunset when, after having made our way over several leagues of this rough ground, we came to an open space, where it was thought expedient to stop. We found two trees, between which the hammock was secured. The mule was tethered within reach, and Lopez went to an adjacent wood and got some twigs and leaves to enable us to make a fire. This was a work of difficulty requiring great patience; no one but an Indian would have succeeded. The first supply of fuel, after half an hour’s useless endeavour, could not be ignited, and Lopez made a second expedition to find drier materials. Finally, when I thought that it was useless to continue the attempt, an accidental spark suddenly set fire to a dry leaf and we were soon sitting round a blazing mass of flame, and preparing a supper of tortillas and chocolate.

The air was too chilly and damp to permit of our expecting much rest, and the night was chiefly occupied in attending to the fire, and in listening to Lopez’s account of his superstitions and religious beliefs, and those generally held by his tribe. There was something in Lopez’s character which showed that he was possessed of a kind of devotional enthusiasm, which made his stories of Indian faiths, past and present, singularly interesting, because it was evident that he spoke with earnestness and as a man convinced. Thus the night passed away, and in the morning as soon the earliest signs of dawn appeared in the sky, and long before the sun had risen over the hills, we continued our journey northwards through Chiapas.

In the forenoon we reached the hamlet of San Carlos. I observed that Lopez went to the rising ground near at hand, and stood for several moments facing the sun, with the palms of his hands joined together and raised to the level of his face. He seemed to be muttering a request. When he returned I asked him what he had been doing. He said that the Indians of his tribe always thanked the sun in the morning for coming and giving light, and thus enabling men to work. In the evening they again thanked the sun for what had been done, and asked it to return again. They also offered prayers to the moon for the same reason, because it gave light and helped men to live. The stars they did not worship.

In answer to questions that I put to him, he said that the Indians always prayed or made offerings with reference to the world in which they lived, and for objects relating to themselves and their wants, and never took into consideration anything regarding a future life. He thought it was impossible to know if a man was to live again, or whether he was to be given some other shape or kind of existence. I told Lopez about the “adoratorio” in the Sierra Madre above Jacaltenango. He declared that the Indians near Comitan also had a stone image in a cave amongst the hills. He went there once a year to light a candle, “la sua candela,” before it, but it was usual amongst the men of his tribe to go there more frequently. The image was about two feet six inches in height, and had its arms folded. It was one of the ancient idols worshipped before the conquest.

From San Carlos there was a ride of six leagues over a less difficult road, and as we approached Ocosingo we passed through some fine scenery. The path followed the line of the summit of the hills, and commanded extensive views of both valleys. At Ocosingo, I called upon Don Remigio Salorzano, to whom I carried a note of introduction. Don Remigio told me that the ancient Indian ruins were over a league from the pueblo, but that there was very little to be seen there.

The temples were almost destroyed, and the materials had been taken away for building purposes. There were, however, fragments of stones covered with hieroglyphic characters still remaining there. I went with him to look at some idols that had been brought from the ruins. One of these at once arrested my attention. It was made of hard sandstone, and was about three feet high. The head was broken off, and had been taken away to prevent the Indians from worshipping it. I at first thought that the idol must have been made subsequent to the Spanish occupation of this part of Mexico, for by the costume it seemed to be intended to represent a Spanish cavalier. In front of the waist belt there was a small head surmounting a rudely shaped cross.

It appeared as if the native sculptor had wished to make the image of a knight holding before him a head, such as is not infrequently seen in early sacred pictures.[76] But although this was the vague impression made upon the mind by an examination of the front of the statue, it was evident upon looking at the reverse side that the date of its sculpture was of a much earlier period, for it was covered with an upright line of hieroglyphics of the same character as those carved upon the idols at Copan. I examined with care the details of the figure, and made sketches of the front and back, as I thought that it would be useful to preserve a slight memorial of this idol which may eventually share the fate of many others and be destroyed.

Two larger idols were placed against the wall of the church. These were also headless. Don Remigio showed me several long stones that were used for the door steps at the entrance of some of the largest of the huts occupied by Ladinos and which had been taken from the ruins. One of these, made of limestone, was covered with deeply carved hieroglyphics still quite clear and distinct. In front of one of the dwellings there was a flat stone measuring about three feet square. On the surface of this stone were two figures. A woman in an imploring attitude was presenting a cup to a man, who was standing up and bending forward to receive the offering. The wall of an adjoining house was partly built with stones also taken from the temples. They had a perfectly smooth surface and were each about two feet long, one foot wide and two inches thick. Similar stones were scattered about the pueblo, and many were used as stepping stones across the stream that flowed eastwards to join the waters of the river Usamacinta.

The church, from its size and manner of construction, had been evidently of considerable importance. It was then in ruins and the roof had fallen. As there were no funds available for its restoration it was deserted.

The Gefe Politico, who held the appointment in this town and district of Civil Governor, spoke to me about an expedition that was under consideration, for constructing a road or mule path to connect this part of Mexico with the English port of Belize in Honduras. He thought that if such a road was practicable it would become the principal line for trade, and the ranges of mountains near Tumbalá would be avoided. This was to be the primary purpose of the expedition, but there were other objects which influenced the minds of the inhabitants of Ocosingo. It was thought that the surveyors might make strange discoveries in the mysterious and unknown region occupied by the Lacandon Indians. Possibly amongst the forests in the sierras, temples and hidden treasures might be found; or perhaps a city where the ancient ceremonies and sacrifices were still performed.

The Gefe said that a small band of explorers had lately penetrated a few leagues into the forest, and had seen several circular shaped huts, but the Indians who lived in them had fled. They found maize and tomatoes growing upon the open spaces, but they saw no horses, dogs or other animals. He pointed out to me the hills amongst which the wild Lacandones lived. It was afterwards suggested that I might take the post of leader of the proposed expedition.

If I had been quite free, with sufficient time at my disposal, I should have been much inclined to assist to the best of my power in the formation of a preliminary surveying party. I thought that a practicable route would be found to connect Ocosingo with the existing road leading from Guatemala to Flores, on the lake of Peten, and thence to Honduras, and that, in this manner, the distance to Belize would be much shortened. The first portion of the survey would have to be conducted through a region which is unknown, and possibly many interesting facts would be ascertained, and perhaps an ancient ruined temple might be discovered.

Whilst staying at Ocosingo I collected a small vocabulary of the words of the local dialect. These were nearly the same as those spoken near Comitan, and I was surprised to find that Lopez could not carry on a conversation with these men. I asked him how this happened and he said that the languages (lenguas) were quite different, and that he could not speak with the Ocosingos. It seems probable that, in the course of time, the construction of the phrases commonly used, or the manner of the application of the words must have become changed. Although it is only three days’ journey between the two tribes, it is evident that there cannot have been much communication between them for several centuries.

As Lopez did not know the country beyond Ocosingo, it was settled that he should return to Comitan. I was sorry to part with him. He had carried the luggage and provisions, and although a part of the journey must have been extremely fatiguing to him he never complained. He also showed the utmost zeal in obtaining forage for the mule, and was willing and attentive. Don Remigio hired for me a guide named Bito, who spoke Spanish and knew the paths as far as Chilon, about eleven leagues distant. Bito brought with him a horse, and thus we were able to travel at a fair speed. After riding through several leagues of pine forests we reached Bachajon in the afternoon.

Bachajon was a strictly Indian village, for the natives objected to any white people or Ladinos settling amongst them. In the Plaza we found numbers of Indians congregated together. They differed greatly from those that I had hitherto seen both in appearance and dialect. The men wore a white cloth folded round the head, and white frocks and trousers. The women wore a white frock cut open and square over the shoulders, and below this a blue skirt reaching nearly to the feet. Their thick black hair was tied back with a strip of bright red cotton. Many of the younger women were handsome, but their figures were spoilt and bent by the custom of carrying large water jars on the hip. The men were of a larger stature than the natives on the Pacific side of the Cordilleras, and their skin was of a dark copper colour. Their faces were broad, but the cheek bones were not so high as is usual with the North American Indians. Their hair was long, black and very thick, and their eyes were dark, large, round and restless. With all of them the nostrils were very wide.

The church was in ruins, the roof had entirely disappeared, and only the porch and outer walls remained standing. I remained for several hours in the Plaza, and my attention was directed to a remarkable observance. The Indians, when returning from their fields upon the completion of their day’s work, invariably, before going to their huts, went to the front of the ruined porch. There they knelt down and prayed for some minutes. I was deeply interested in observing the practice of this custom. There was something that appealed strongly to the imagination in witnessing the simple and earnest devotion of these wild, ignorant and uncivilised people. It was impossible to conjecture what was present in their minds, as one by one they, in their solitary manner, knelt devoutly before these ruined walls. Possibly they worshipped in their memory the images that, many years before, had been enshrined within.

In the evening, as we approached Chilon, we met hundreds of Indians, men and women, all of whom came forward by the side of my mule, and inclined their heads saying “Tá” (Padre.) Bito told me that they supposed that I was a priest, and that they expected me to follow the custom of the priests and put my hand upon their foreheads. As I did not wish to sail under false colours, I made an objection to this proceeding, but Bito said that if I did not do it the Indians would feel distressed, and would not understand why they were treated in an unkind manner. He also begged me to do what they wished, or otherwise some trouble might arise, as many of the men appeared to be in a half-drunken condition.

At Chilon I was welcomed by the Justicia, to whom I had a letter from Don Manuel Cansino. The town was in a state of much excitement. It was the commencement of the Carnival, an event which caused a considerable degree of anxiety and apprehension in the minds of the officials. Processions of Indians, dressed in appropriate costumes, were marching through the town, and groups of wild-looking men were dancing to the sounds of rudely shaped fifes and hollow wooden drums. In the morning these Indians, in accordance with their annual custom, performed a dance before the door of each house. These dancers were supposed to be dressed like the conquerors. They wore red, slashed doublets, and loose white trousers. They carried spears or lances with coloured pennons. The scene was bright, gay and picturesque.

During the day I discharged Bito, and obtained a guide to accompany me to Yajalon. We arrived there about sunset and the Presbitero Fernando Macal received me with much kindness and attention. At Yajalon the Indians had assembled in great numbers and the Carnival was at its height. Here as at Chilon, the performances chiefly consisted of processions and dances. There were also horse races in front of the cabildo, and one of the most curious scenes was the representation of the Spaniards entering a captured city on horseback. The Indians were Tzendales of the same race as those at Bachajon and were very wild looking men. An important part of the festival consisted in eating as great a quantity of food as possible, and drinking copious draughts of strong spirits. In the evening there was much drunkenness.

The Carnival lasted for three days, and during that time I had to remain in Yajalon, as no Indian could be found who would willingly leave this scene of revelry and excitement. On the second day the President called upon me at the convent, and informed me that, in his opinion, it would be highly dangerous for a white man who was a stranger, to venture out into the open country before the Indians had recovered from the effects of the carnival, as, in consequence of their known hatred to all white people, it was impossible to say what might happen when they were in an excited condition. In anticipation of local troubles he had organised a small police force which was employed in patrolling the pueblo day and night, for the purpose of preventing any quarrels of castes. He had also a company of seventy soldiers prepared to act in the event of any serious outbreak. As far as I could judge, the Indians, when in a drunken state, were quiet and inoffensive, but the President was evidently very anxious about their conduct.

As I had no share in the responsibility for maintaining good order, the strange life and the sounds of drums and fifes and marimbas afforded me inexhaustible pleasure and amusement. The pretty dresses of the women also added much to the charm of the scene. Many of these Tzendal women were very handsome. Their heads were well set upon finely shaped throats and shoulders. Their costume consisted of a long white frock cut open round their neck, and embroidered with red and yellow squares, which had a pleasing effect of colour. But not only was the festival attractive from the quaint and novel character of the scene, but it was also most enjoyable weather. The skies were blue, the sun was bright, and the surrounding hills and valleys formed an agreeable contrast. There was perhaps a slight, underlying sense of danger and a doubt as to what would occur after sunset, and what might be the effect of the subsequent orgies upon the savage natures of these Indians. Possibly what began at daylight as a drama might end at night as a tragedy. The conduct of the timorous half-caste population or Ladinos was remarkable. They were conscious that they were hated by the Indians, and consequently they remained within their houses, and kept themselves out of sight.

The dances and processions are said to have been taught by the Spanish monks. It is evident that they usually have some connection with the events of the wars between the Spaniards and the Moors, for the Indians always speak of these representations under the general name of “los Moros.” But they are also mixed up with other subjects which, not improbably, have some relation to events that happened before Cortes conquered Mexico.

There was a peculiarity in the Indian character which was noticeable in all their proceedings. This was the absence of all conversation amongst the numerous spectators. The games, races and processions, the beating of the wooden drums and the continuous sounds of the marimbas went on incessantly, but there was no other noise and no murmur of human voices. The gift of speech with these tribes seems almost unnecessary for the purposes of their lives, and the language of signs would possibly be sufficient for their requirements.

The Spaniards in the sixteenth century were astonished by the extraordinary debauchery of the Indians during their festivals. The events which occurred upon these occasions, especially in Yucatan, surprised the soldiers belonging to a nation remarkable for its sobriety. The Indians in Cuba, Hayti, and the islands of the Caribbean sea, and those inhabiting Florida, the valley of the Mississippi, and other parts of North America, had no knowledge of an intoxicating spirit. The origin of the excessive insobriety amongst the Mexican Indians is clearly traceable to the indigenous growth of the Maguey (_Agave Americana_). This aloe grows abundantly in the sterile regions of Central America, and supplies a fluid which, after undergoing certain preparations, is highly alcoholic.

At Yajalon, as at Bachajon and Ocosingo, the church was in ruins. There was nothing left of it except the bare walls, marks of the old altars and parts of the chancel. Long grass was growing over the ground of the nave. The convent was also in a ruinous condition and only one side of the quadrangle remained. The interior was overgrown with weeds and grass, and was used as a pasture for the horses belonging to the convent.

The Presbitero was eloquent upon the subject of the wrongs suffered by the Catholics in Mexico, and he particularly dwelt upon the harm that had been done to the people in consequence of the decrees which had nationalised the possessions of the church, suppressed the convents and abolished all religious fraternities. He thought that the withdrawal of the monks would have an injurious effect upon the condition of the Indians, and that they would gradually relapse into a state of ignorance and barbarism. Thus the system begun by Bishop Las Casas, and carried on afterwards by monks and priests would come to an end, and all their efforts to advance and benefit the aboriginal tribes be rendered useless and vain.

It is difficult at this distance of time to estimate correctly the value of the work done by Las Casas, and the consequences of the enactments in favour of the Indians, obtained by his appeals to the Spanish government. In this diocese of Chiapas his zeal led to the establishment of numerous churches and convents. Dominicans and brethren of other orders came over from Europe for the purpose of living amongst these Indians, converting them, educating them and forming centres of local civilization. To a certain extent the ceremonies of the church, and especially the worship of images, seemed to obtain a powerful hold upon the devotional nature of many of the tribes, and the monks obtained great influence over them.

Thus far the work begun by Las Casas unquestionably did much good in this and the adjoining provinces. The exhortations of the principal authorities of the Church in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were also beneficial in moderating the hardships inflicted upon the natives by the Spanish landowners. But in advocating the cause of the Indians, Las Casas, in the fervour of his zeal, created evils the effect of which he could not have foreseen. It was in consequence of the measures adopted through the representations of this ardent reformer that negro slavery was introduced into America. It was also chiefly owing to his efforts that consecutive ordinances was decreed, which, although issued with the intention of putting a stop to the harsh treatment of the Indians, made it almost impossible to carry on successfully the government of New Spain. Thus, by the abolition of forced labour, it was found that there was an immediate danger of the lands granted to the Spaniards becoming thrown out of cultivation and their owners ruined. In no part of New Spain was this danger more to be apprehended than in the neighbourhood of La Antigua Guatemala, and in the country through which I passed on my way to Santa Cruz del Quiché. The lands there were fertile and the farms prosperous. The Indians performed labour upon them under fixed rules which, although strict and exacting, were not opposed to their previous habits. When these regulations were withdrawn the Indians ceased to work. Finally protests were made to the government, and it was pointed out that this usage of forced labour was not introduced by the Spaniards, but that it had previously been practically the base of the tribal administration.

There was another usage which was stopped by orders from Spain. This was the employment of natives as carriers of merchandise. The abolition of this system was found to be disadvantageous to the prosperity of the country, and it was submitted to the king that it had always been the custom amongst the Indians to transport all things by men working as porters, for before the arrival of the Spaniards there were no horses or other beasts of burden. The practice of personally carrying heavy loads still forms part of the habits of all the inferior classes of Indians in Central America.

The restrictions enforced upon the Spanish landowners did not however much affect the prosperity of the church, particularly in the more remote districts, where the priests and friars devoted themselves to the spiritual welfare and education of the natives. At the convents, schools were established for boys and, in the chief towns, sisters belonging to nunneries in Spain, came across the Atlantic to teach the girls. The monks also endeavoured to arrange that the boys upon completing their studies, should teach other Indians and thus spread education amongst them. These exertions which, in their origin, seemed to promise well were not subsequently attended with success, and the authority of the brethren declined. Finally the declarations of Independence, the revolutions, and the establishment of republics, dealt a fatal blow to all educational work.

Amongst the various consequences of the nationalisation of ecclesiastical property, it had come to pass that in the country parishes, there were no funds available for maintaining the churches in repair, and they were all rapidly falling into ruins. The Presbitero was convinced, now that the influence of the priests upon the characters of the tribes was no longer felt, and the church services were not maintained, that the Indians, especially the Tzendales under his care, would return to the practice of their ancient idolatries.

Upon a subject so doubtful as the effect of the teaching of the priests upon the minds of the Indians it is difficult to form an opinion. In the sixteenth century the Roman Catholic religion appeared to be willingly accepted by the natives; but several of the priests that I had met and who discussed this question, were in doubt as to whether this readiness to conform with the ceremonies had not some vague connection with some previous religious customs. The influence of the friars also possibly had some relation to the system of Indian priesthood before the conquest; for, according to the statements of the Spaniards, there was a strange and inexplicable coincidence between certain regulations by which they were bound, and those of the Franciscans and Dominicans.

It was fortunate that during my detention at Yajalon I was the guest of a man so well informed and highly educated as the Presbitero Fernando Macal. It was an exceptional fate for him to be thus placed in that parish, with its numerous detached hamlets, to perform clerical duties amongst these intractable tribes. At the convent in the evening, the Presbitero usually discussed questions of theology, together with his opinions upon the aboriginal and mixed races in Chiapas. The President occasionally joined us, but his mind was preoccupied with anxiety about the maintenance of order. All the time, both day and night, the pueblo was disturbed by the continuous and monotonous sounds of native music.

On the fourth morning the Carnival was over and a dissipated, savage-looking Tzendal named Villafranca appeared at the convent wall, and volunteered to act as my guide to Tumbalá and Palenque. The necessary arrangements were made to secure the fulfilment of his duties. The mule was brought out of the quadrangle and we were soon ready to start. I was warned that the paths over the sierras were in a bad condition, and that many difficulties would have to be overcome in passing through the forests.