Chapter XVIII: Appendix: A Brief Maya Vocabulary (2)

We learn from Scripture that in the earliest times the temples of Asia, such as that of Baal-Berith, at Shechem, in Canaan, were not only buildings consecrated to worship, but also intrenchments in which the inhabitants of a city defended themselves in times of war; the same may be said of the Grecian temples, for the wall which formed the parabolas alone afforded an asylum to the besieged.—[PRIEST.]

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THE REMAINS OF CITIES.

The remains of cities and towns of an ancient population exist everywhere on the coast of the Pacific, which agree in fashion with the works and ruins found along the Chinese coasts, exactly west from the western limits of North America; showing beyond all dispute that in ancient times the countries were known to each other, and voyages were reciprocally made. The style of their shipping was such as to be equal to voyages of that distance, and also sufficient to withstand stress of weather, even beyond vessels of the present times, on account of their great depth of keel and size.—[PRIEST.]

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RUINS OF THE CITY OF OTOLUM, DISCOVERED IN NORTH AMERICA.

“Some years ago, the Society of Geography, in Paris, offered a large premium for a voyage to Guatemala, and for a new survey of the antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles from Palenque.”

“They were surveyed by Captain Del Rio, in 1787, an account of which was published in English in 1822. This account describes partly the ruins of a _stone_ city, of no less dimensions than seventy-five miles in circuit, length thirty-two, and breadth twelve miles, full of palaces, monuments, statues, and _inscriptions_; one of the earliest seats of American civilization, about equal to Thebes of ancient Egypt.”

It is stated in the Family Magazine, Vol. I., p. 266, as follows: “Public attention has been recently excited respecting the ruins of an _ancient_ city found in Guatemala. It would seem that these ruins are now being explored, and much curious and valuable matter in a literary and historical point of view is anticipated. We deem the present a most auspicious moment, now that the public attention is turned to the subject, to spread its contents before our readers, as an introduction to future discoveries during the researches now in progress.”

The following are some particulars, as related by Captain Del Rio, who partially examined them as above related, 1787: From Palenque, the last town northward in the province of _Ciudad Real de Chiapa_, taking a southwesterly direction, and ascending a ridge of high land that divides the kingdom of Guatemala from Yucatan, at the distance of six miles, is the little river _Micol_, whose waters flow in a westerly direction, and unite with the great river _Tulija_, which bends its course towards the province of _Tabasco_. Having passed Micol, the ascent begins; and at half a league, or a mile and a half, the traveller crosses a little stream called OTOLUM; from this point heaps of stone ruins are discovered, which render the roads very difficult for another half league, when you gain the height whereon the stone houses are situated, being still fourteen in number in one place, some more dilapidated than others, yet still having many of their apartments perfectly discernible.

Here is a rectangular area, three hundred yards in breadth by four hundred and fifty in length, which is a fraction over fifty-six rods wide, and eighty-four rods long, being, in the whole circuit, two hundred and eighty rods, which is three-fourths of a mile, and a trifle over. This area presents a plain at the base of the highest mountain forming the ridge. In the centre of this plain is situated the largest of the structures which has been as yet discovered among these ruins. It stands on a mound or pyramid twenty yards high, which is sixty feet, or nearly four rods in perpendicular altitude, which gives it a lofty and beautiful majesty, as if it were a temple suspended in the sky. This is surrounded by other edifices, namely, five to the northward, four to the southward, one to the southwest, and three to the eastward—fourteen in all. In all directions the fragments of other fallen buildings are seen extending along the mountain that stretches east and west either way from these buildings, as if they were the great temple of worship, or their government house, around which they built their city, and where dwelt their kings and officers of state. At this place was found a subterranean stone aqueduct, of great solidity and durability, which in its course passes beneath the largest building.

Let it be understood, this city of Otolum, the ruins of which are so immense, is in North, not South America, in the same latitude with the island of Jamaica, which is about eighteen degrees north of the equator, being on the highest ground between the northern end of the Caribbean sea and the Pacific ocean, where the continent narrows towards the isthmus of Darien, and is about eight hundred miles south of New Orleans.

The discovery of these ruins, and also of many others, equally wonderful, in the same country, is just commencing to arouse the attention of the schools of Europe, who hitherto have denied that America could boast of her antiquities. But these immense ruins are now being explored under the direction of scientific persons, a history of which, in detail, will be forthcoming doubtless, in due time; two volumes of which, in manuscript, we are informed, have already been written, and cannot but be received with enthusiasm by Americans.

By those deeply versed in the antiquities of past ages, it is contended that the first people who settled America came directly from Chaldea, immediately after the confusion of language at Babel.—(_See Description of the Ruins of the American City, published in London_, 1832, p. 33, _by Dr. Paul Felix Cabrera_.) Whoever the authors of the city may have been, we seem to find, in their sculptured deities, the idolatry of even the Phœnicians, a people whose history goes back nearly to the flood, or to within a hundred and fifty years of that period.

It appears from some of the historical works of the Mexicans, written in pictures, which fell into the hands of the Spaniards, that there was found one which was written by _Votan_, who sets himself forth to be the third Gentile, (reckoning from the flood or family of Noah,) and lord of the _Tapanahuasec_, or the sacred drum. In the book above alluded to, Votan says that he saw the great house which was built by his grandfather, meaning the tower of Babel, which went up from the earth to the sky. In one of those picture books, the account is given by the Indian historian, whoever he was, or at whatever time he lived, that Votan had written it himself. He gives the account that he made no less than four voyages to this continent, conducting with him at one time seven families. He says that others of his family had gone away before himself, and that he was determined to travel till he should come to the _root_ of heaven, the sky, (in the west,) in order to discover his relations the _Culebras_, or Snake people, and calls himself _Culebra_, (a snake,) and that he found them, and became their captain. He mentions the name of the town which his relation had built at first, which was _Tezequil_.

Agreeing with this account, it is found by exploring the ruins of this city, and its sculptures, that among a multitude of strange representations are found two which represent this _Votan_, on both continents. The continents are shown by being painted in two parallel squares, and standing on each is this Votan, showing his acquaintance with each of them. The pictures engraven on the stones which form the sides of the houses or temples of this ruined city, are a series of hieroglyphics, which show, beyond all doubt, that the era of its construction, and of the people who built it, excels in antiquity those of the ancient Greeks, the Romans, and the most celebrated nations of the old world, and is worthy of being compared even with the first progenitors of the Hebrews themselves, after the flood.—(_See History of American City, as before quoted_, p. 39.)

It is found that the gods of the ancient Egyptians, even _Osiris_, _Apis_, and _Isis_, are sculptured on the stones of this city, the worship of which passed from Egypt to many nations, and is found under many forms, but all traceable to the same original. We have examined the forms of the figures cut on the side of the famous Obelisk of seventy-two feet in height, brought not long since from Egypt, by the French government, and erected in Paris; and have compared them with some of the sculptured forms of men, found on the stones of this city, in which there is an exact correspondence in one remarkable particular. On the obelisk is represented a king or god seated on a throne, holding in one hand a rod grasped in its middle, having on its top the figure of a small bird.

The arm holding this is extended toward a person who is resting on one knee before him, and offers from each of his hands that which is either food, drink, or incense, to the one on the throne. The head ornaments are of the most fantastic construction. The same without variation is cut in the stones of the ruined American city in many places; with this difference only, the American sculpture is much larger, as if representing gigantic beings, but is of the same character. Can we have a better proof than this, that Egyptian colonies have reached America in the very first ages of the world after the flood, or some people having the notions, the religion, and the arts of the Egyptians, and such were the most ancient people of Canaan, the Hivites, Perizzites, and Hitites, which names denote all these nations as serpent worshippers.

As it respects the _true founders_ of this city, the discovery and contents of which are now causing so great and general interest in both this country and Europe, it is ascertained in the most direct and satisfactory way, in the work to which we have just alluded, published in London, 1832, on the subject of this city, that they were the ancient _Hivites_, one of the nations which inhabited Palestine, or Canaan, a remnant of which, it is ascertained, fled into the kingdom of Tyre, and there settled, and into Africa, to avoid annihilation by the wars of Joshua, the captain of the Jews; and that among them was one who acted as a leader, and was called _Votan_, and that he sailed from a port in ancient Tyre, which before it was known by that name, was called _Chivim_, and that this Votan was the third in the Gentile descent from Noah, and that he made several voyages to and from America. But the kingdom which was founded by Votan, was finally destroyed by other nations, and their works, their cities and towns, turned into a wilderness, as they are now found to be. (The word _Hivite_, which distinguished one of the nations of old Canaan in the time of Joshua, signifies the same thing in the Phœnician language, Serpent people or worshippers.) The _Hivites_, it appears, were the ancestors of the Moors, who spread themselves all along the western coast of Africa, at an early period, and in later times they overran the country of Spain, till the Romans supplanted them; who in their turn were supplanted by the northern nations of Germany, the Goths, &c. The Moors were not the proper Africans, as the hair of their heads was long, straight, and shining. They were a different race, and of different manners and attainments. The contour of the faces of the authors of the American city, found sculptured on the stones of its ruins, are in exact correspondence with the _forehead_ and _nose_ of the ancient Moors, the latter of which was remarkable for its aquiline shape, and was a national trait, characteristic of the Moors as well as the Romans.

When the Spaniards overran Peru, which lies on the western side of South America, on the coast of the Pacific were found statues, obelisks, mausolea, edifices, fortresses, all of stone, equal with the architecture of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, six hundred years before the Christian era. Roads were cut through the Cordillera mountains; gold, silver, copper, and lead mines, were opened and worked to a great extent; all of which is evidence of their knowledge of architecture, mineralogy, and agriculture. In many places of that country are found the ruins of noble aqueducts, some of which, says Dr. Morse, the geographer, would have been thought works of difficulty in civilized nations. Several pillars of stone are now standing, which were erected to point out the equinoxes and solstices. In their sepulchres were found paintings, vessels of gold and silver, implements of warfare, husbandry, &c. To illustrate the architectural knowledge of the Peruvians, as well as of some other provinces of South America, we quote the following from Baron Humboldt’s Researches, 1st vol. Eng. Trans., Amer. ed., p. 255:—“The remains of Peruvian architecture are scattered along the ridge of the Cordilleras, from Cuzco to Cajambe, or from the 13th degree of north latitude to the equator, a distance of nearly a thousand miles. What an empire, and what works are these, which all bear the same character in the cut of the stones, the shape of the doors to their stone buildings, the symmetrical disposal of the niches, and the total absence of exterior ornaments! This uniformity of construction is so great, that all the stations along the high road, called in that country palaces of the Incas, or kings of the Peruvians, appear to have been copied from each other; simplicity, symmetry, and solidity, were the three characters by which the Peruvian edifices were distinguished. The citadel of Cannar, and the square building surrounding it, are not constructed with the same quartz sandstone which covers the primitive slate, and the porphyries of Assuay; and which appears at the surface, in the garden of the Inca, as we descend toward the valley of Gulan; but of _trappean porphyry_, of great hardness, enclosing nitrous feldspar and hornblende. This porphyry was perhaps dug in the _great_ quarries which are found at 4000 meters in height, (which is 13,000 feet and a fraction, making two and a third miles in perpendicular height,) near the lake of Culebrilla, or Serpent lake, ten miles from Cannar. To cut the stones for the buildings of Cannar, at so great a height, and to bring them down and transport them ten miles, is equal with any of the works of the ancients, who built the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabia, long before the Christian era.

“We do not find, however,” says Humboldt, “in the ruins of Cannar, those stones of enormous size, which we see in the Peruvian edifices of Cuzco and the neighboring countries. Acosto, he says, measured some at Traquanaco, which were twelve meters (thirty-eight feet) long, and five meters eight tenths (eighteen feet) broad, and one metre nine tenths (six feet) thick.” The stones made use of in building the temple of Solomon were but a trifle larger than these, some of which were twenty-five cubits (forty-three feet nine inches) long, twelve cubits (twenty-nine feet) wide, and eight cubits (fourteen feet) thick, reckoning twenty-one inches to the cubit.”

“One of the temples of ancient Egypt is now, in its state of ruin, a mile and a half in circumference. It has twelve principal entrances. The body of the temple consists of a prodigious hall or portico; the roof is supported by 134 columns. Four beautiful obelisks mark the entrance to the shrine, a place of sacrifice, which contains three apartments, built entirely of granite. The temple of _Luxor_ probably surpasses in beauty and splendor all the other ruins of Egypt. In front are two of the _finest obelisks_ in the world; they are of rose-colored marble, one hundred feet high. But the objects which most attract attention, are the _sculptures_ which cover the whole of the northern front. They contain, on a great scale, a representation of a victory gained by one of the ancient kings of Egypt over an enemy. The number of human figures cut in the solid stone amounts to fifteen hundred; of these, five hundred are on foot, and one thousand in chariots. Such are the remains of a city which perished long before the records of ancient history had a being.”—_Malte-Brun._

We are compelled to ascribe some of the vast operations of the ancient nations of this country, to those ages which correspond with the times and manners of the people of Egypt, which are also beyond the reach of authentic history. It should be recollected that the fleets of king Hiram navigated the seas in a surprising manner, seeing they had not, as is supposed, (but not proved,) a knowledge of the magnetic needle; and in some voyage out of the Mediterranean, into the Atlantic, they may have been driven to South America; where having found a country rich in all the resources of nature, more so than even their native country, they founded a kingdom, built cities, cultivated fields, marshalled armies, made roads, built aqueducts, became rich, magnificent, and powerful, as the vastness and extent of the ruins of Peru, and other provinces of South America, plainly show.

Humboldt says, that he saw at Pullal three houses made of stone, which were built by the Incas, (kings,) each of which was more than fifty meters, or a hundred and fifty feet long, laid in a cement, or true mortar. This fact, he says, deserves attention, because travellers who had preceded him had unanimously overlooked this circumstance, asserting that the Peruvians were unacquainted with the use of mortar, but this is erroneous. The Peruvians not only employed a mortar in the great edifices of Pacaritambo, but made use of a cement of _asphaltum_; a mode of construction which, on the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris, may be traced back to the remotest antiquity. The tools made use off to cut their stone were of copper, hardened with tin, the same metal used among the Greeks and Romans, and other nations.

To show the genius and enterprise of the natives of Mexico, before America was last discovered, we give the following as but a single instance: Montezuma, the last king but one of Mexico, A. D. 1446, forty-six years before the discovery of America by Columbus, erected a dike to prevent the overflowing of the waters of certain small lakes in the vicinity of their city, which had several times deluged it. This dike consisted of a bank of stones and clay, supported on each side by a range of palisadoes; extending in its whole length about seventy miles, and sixty-five feet broad, its whole length sufficiently high to intercept the overflowings of the lakes in times of high water, occasioned by the spring floods. In Holland, the Dutch have resorted to the same means to prevent incursions of the sea; and the longest of the many is but forty miles in extent, nearly one half short of the Mexican dike. “Amidst the extensive plains of Upper Canada, in Florida, near the gulf of Mexico, and in the deserts bordered by the Orinoco, in Colombia, dikes of a considerable length, weapons of brass, and sculptured stones, are found, which are the indications that those countries were formerly inhabited by industrious nations, which are now traversed only by tribes of savage hunters.”—[PRIEST.]

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ANCIENT LANGUAGES OF THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF AMERICA.

_Letter to M. Champollion, on the Graphic Systems of America, and the
Glyphs of Otolum or Palenque, in Central America._—_By_ C. S.
RAFINESQUE.

You have become celebrated by deciphering, at last, the glyphs and characters of the ancient Egyptians, which all your learned predecessors had deemed a riddle, and pronounced impossible to read. You first announced your discovery in a letter. I am going to follow your footsteps on another continent, and a theme equally obscure; to none but yourself can I address with more propriety letters on a subject so much alike in purpose and importance, and so similar to your own labors.

I shall not enter at present into any very elaborate discussion. I shall merely detail, in a concise manner, the object and result of my inquiries, so as to assert my claim to a discovery of some importance in a philological and historical point of view: which was announced as early as 1828 in some journals (three letters to Mr. McCulloch on the American nations), but not properly illustrated. Their full development would require a volume, like that of yours on the Egyptian antiquities, and may follow this perhaps at some future time.

It may be needful to prefix the following principles as guides to my researches, or results of my inquiries:—

1. America has been the land of false systems; all those made in Europe on it are more or less vain and erroneous.

2. The Americans were equal in antiquity, civilization, and sciences, to the nations of Africa and Europe—like them, the children of the Asiatic nations.

3. It is false that no American nations had systems of writing, glyphs, and letters. Several had various modes of perpetuating ideas.

4. There were several such graphic systems in America to express ideas, all of which find equivalents in the east continent.

5. They may be ranged in twelve series, proceeding from the most simple to the most complex.

_1st Series._—Pictured symbols or glyphs of the Toltecas, Aztecas, Huaztecas, Skeres, Panos, &c.; similar to the first symbols of the Chinese, invented by Tien-hoang, before the flood and earliest Egyptian glyphs.

_2d Series._—Outlines of figures or abridged symbols and glyphs, expressing words or ideas, used by almost all the nations of North and South America, even the most rude; similar to the second kind of Egyptian symbols, and the tortoise letters brought to China by the _Longma_ (dragon and horse) nation of barbarous horsemen, under _Sui-gin_.

_3d Series._—Quipos or knots on strings used by the Peruvians and several other South American nations; similar to the third kind of Chinese glyphs introduced under _Yong-Ching_, and used also by many nations of Africa.

_4th Series._—Wampums, or strings of shells and beads, used by many nations of North America; similar to those used by some ancient or rude nations in all parts of the world, as tokens of ideas.

_5th Series._—Runic glyphs or marks, and notches on twigs or lines, used by several nations of North America; consimilar to the Runic glyphs of the Celtic and Teutonic nations.

_6th Series._—Runic marks and dots, or graphic symbols, not on strings nor lines, but in rows, expressing words or ideas; used by the ancient nations of North America and Mexico, the Talegas, Aztecas, Natchez, Powhatans, Tuscaroras, &c., and also the Muhizcas of South America; similar to the ancient symbols of the Etruscans, Egyptians, Celts, &c., and the _Ho-tu_ of the Chinese, invented by _Tsang-hie_, called also the _Ko-teu-chu_ letters, which were in use in China till 827 before our era.

_7th Series._—Alphabetical symbols, expressing syllables or sounds, not words, but grouped, and the groups disposed in rows; such is the graphic system of the monuments of Otolum, near Palenque, the American Thebes; consimilar to the groups of alphabetical symbols used by the ancient Libyans, Egyptians, Persians, and also the last graphic system of the Chinese, called _Ventze_, invented by _Sse-hoang_.

_8th Series._—Cursive symbols in groups, and the groups in parallel rows, derived from the last (which are chiefly monumental), and used in the manuscripts of the Mayas, Guatemalans, &c.; consimilar to the actual cursive Chinese, some demotic Egyptian, and many modifications of ancient graphic alphabets, grouping the letters or syllables.

_9th Series._—Syllabic letters, expressing syllables, not simple sounds, and disposed in rows. Such is the late syllabic alphabet of the Cherokees, and many graphic inscriptions found in North and South America. Similar to the syllabic alphabets of Asia, Africa, and Polynesia.

_10th Series._—Alphabets, or graphic letters, expressing simple sounds, and disposed in rows. Found in many inscriptions, medals, and coins in North and South America, and lately introduced everywhere by the European colonists; similar to the alphabets of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

_11th Series._—Abbreviations, or letters standing for whole words, or part of a glyph and graphic delineation, standing and expressing the whole; used by almost all the writing nations of North and South America, as well as Asia, Europe, and Africa.

_12th Series._—Numeric system of graphic signs, to express numbers. All the various kinds of signs, such as dots, lines, strokes, circles, glyphs, letters, &c., used by some nations of North and South America, as well as in the eastern continent.

Some years ago, the Society of Geography, of Paris, offered a large premium for a voyage to Guatemala, and a new survey of the antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles from Palenque, which are wrongly called by that name. I have restored to them the true name of Otolum, which is yet the name of the stream running through the ruins. I should have been inclined to undertake this voyage and exploration myself, if the civil discords of the country did not forbid it. My attention was drawn forcibly to this subject as soon as the account of those ruins, surveyed by Captain Del Rio as early as 1787, but withheld from the public eye by Spain, was published in 1822, in English.

This account, which partly describes the ruins of a stone city seventy-five miles in circuit (length thirty-two English miles, greatest breadth twelve miles), full of palaces, monuments, statues, and inscriptions—one of the earliest seats of American civilization, about equal to Thebes of Egypt—was well calculated to inspire me with hopes that they would throw a great light over American history, when more properly examined.

I have been disappointed in finding that no traveller has dared to penetrate again to that recondite place, and illustrate all the ruins and monuments, with the languages yet spoken all around. The Society of Geography has received many additional accounts, derived from documents preserved in Mexico; but they have not been deemed worthy of the reward offered for a new survey, and have not even been published. The same has happened with Tiahuanaco, in Bolivia, in South America, another mass of ancient ruins, and a mine of historical knowledge, which no late traveller has visited or described.

Being, therefore, without hope of any speedy accession to our knowledge of those places, I have been compelled to work upon the materials now extant, which have happily enabled me to do a great deal, notwithstanding all their defects, and throw some light on that part of the history of America.

PHILADELPHIA, _January, 1832_.

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO.

From Clavigero, Storia del Messico—from Solis, Boturini, Herrera, Bernal Dias, and other authors, we learn the state of the arts in Mexico prior to the invasion of the Spaniards; the progress made by that people in science; the form of their government, and of their hierarchy: and from the simple and unaffected narrative of Cortez, contained in his letters to Charles the Fifth, we may gather pretty accurate knowledge of their resources, and of the number and character of the population.

Some idea may be formed of the civilization of a people, by the nature of their government, their civil institutions, and the laws by which they are governed. In Mexico, the monarch was elected from among the members of the reigning family, by six electors, chosen from among the thirty princes of the first rank. The political system was feudal. The first class of nobles, consisting of thirty families, had each one hundred thousand vassals. There were more than three thousand families in the second class. The vassals were serfs attached to the soil, over whom the lord exercised the right of life and death. All the lands were divided into allodial, hereditary, and contingent estates—the latter depending upon places in the gift of the crown.

The priests were charged with the education of the youth; and on their testimony of the merit of their scholars, depended their future rank. Each province was subject to a tribute, except certain nobles who were compelled to take the field, in case of a war, with a stated number of followers. The tribute was paid in kind, and was fixed at one thirtieth part of the crop. Besides which, the governors of provinces vied with each other in the magnificence of the presents which they sent to the emperor.

In the quarto edition of Lorenzano, there are plates of the figures, by means of which the receivers and administrators kept an account of the tribute due by each province.

There was an _Octroi_ upon provisions, levied in every city. Posts were established between the capital and the remotest provinces of the empire.

Sacrilege, treason, and murder, were punished with death; and Cortez protests that the Mexicans respected the laws of the empire fully as much as the Spaniards did those of Spain.

The emperor was served with great magnificence and Asiatic pomp.

The attention of the government was principally directed toward the internal commerce, so as to secure an abundant supply to the people.

A court of ten magistrates determined the validity of contracts; and officers were constantly employed to examine the measures and the quality of the goods exposed for sale.

Under Montezuma, the government was despotic, and, in his turn, he was governed by the high-priest. It will be recollected that at the last siege of the capital, when the emperor and his council had resolved to accept any terms rather than prolong a hopeless contest, the high-priest opposed them and broke off the treaty.

Besides the empire of the Mexicans, there were other powerful states, whose form of government was republican; and Cortez compared them to the republics of Pisa, Venice, and Genoa.

I must refer the reader to Clavigero and Lorenzano, for the history of Tlascala, the most powerful of those states, the government of which existed some time after the conquest of Mexico.

Tlascala was a thickly-settled, fertile, and populous country, divided into several districts, under the authority of a chief. These chiefs administered justice, levied the tribute, and commanded the military forces; but their decrees were not valid, or of force, until confirmed by the senate of Tlascala, which was the true sovereign.

A certain number of citizens, chosen from the different districts by popular assemblies, formed this legislative body. The senate elected its own chief. The laws were strictly and impartially executed; and Cortez represents this people as numerous, wealthy, and warlike.

The Mexicans possessed some knowledge of astronomy, and their calendar was constructed with more exactness than that of the Greeks, the Romans, or the Egyptians. Their hieroglyphic drawings and maps—their cities and artificial roads, causeways, canals, and immense pyramids—their government and hierarchy, and administration of laws—their knowledge of the art of mining, and of preparing metals for armament and use—their skill in carving images out of the hardest stone—in manufacturing and dyeing cloths, and the perfection of their agriculture, inspire us with a high opinion of the civilization of the Mexicans at the time of the conquest: especially when we take into consideration the period when they are described to have reached this state of excellence in the arts and sciences. We ought always to bear in mind the state of Europe at the same period, before the Reformation, and before the discovery of the art of printing. Cortez compares Mexico with Spain, and frequently to the advantage of the former. The only circumstance wanting to have rendered their state of society more perfect than that of Spain, appears to have been a more pure religion, and the use of animals for domestic purposes.

The peasants were compelled to carry heavy loads, like beasts of burden; and in their religious worship the most shocking superstition prevailed. Their altars were frequently stained with the blood of human sacrifices.

We cannot judge of the character of the population, prior to the conquest, by the Indians we now see. The priests, who possessed all the learning, were destroyed; the princes and nobles were deprived of their property, and in fact reduced to a level with the lowest class; and the serfs, who are, and always have been an oppressed and degraded people, are alone to represent the former Mexicans.

Humboldt says, that “it is difficult to appreciate, justly, the moral character of the native Mexicans, if we consider this caste, which has so long suffered under a barbarous tyranny, only in its present state of degradation. At the commencement of the Spanish conquest, the wealthy Indians, for the most part, perished, victims of the ferocity of the Europeans. Christian fanaticism persecuted the Aztec priests; they exterminated the Teopixqui, or ministers of the Divinity, all who inhabited the teocalli, or temples, and who could be regarded as depositaries of historical, mythological, and astronomical knowledge. The monks burnt the hieroglyphic paintings, by which knowledge of every sort was transmitted from generation to generation. Deprived of these means of instruction, the people relapsed into a state of ignorance so much the more profound, that the missionaries, little skilled in the Mexican languages, substituted few new ideas for the ancient. The Indian women, who preserved some fortune, preferred allying themselves with the conquerors, to partaking the contempt entertained for the Indians. There remained, therefore, of the natives, none but the most indigent, the poor cultivators, mechanics, porters, who were used as beasts of burden—and, above all, the dregs of the people, that crowd of beggars, which marked the imperfection of the social institutions and the feudal yoke, and who, even in the time of Cortez, filled the streets of the great cities of Mexico. How, then, shall we judge from these miserable remains of a powerful people, either of the degree of civilization to which it had reached, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, or of the intellectual development of which it is susceptible?”

Shortly after Cortez landed his small army at Vera Cruz, he received messengers from Montezuma, bringing with them presents to a considerable amount, and entreating the Spanish commander not to march further into the country. The sight of this display of wealth stimulated the cupidity of the Spaniards, and confirmed Cortez in his determination to penetrate to the capital. In his route he had to contend against the republic of Tlascala, a nation continually involved in war with the empire of Mexico. Cortez vanquished the republicans in two battles, and, after compelling them to make peace, he found no difficulty in enlisting them against Montezuma. Six thousand Tlascalans were added to his European troops as auxiliaries, and he continued his march upon the capital of the empire in the guise of friendship. As he advanced, he continued to augment his forces by treaties with other nations or tribes, which were inimical to Montezuma; and with a European force of five hundred infantry and fifteen horsemen, and a large army of Indians, he reached the city of Tenochtitlan on the 8th of November, 1519. The emperor received him with a degree of magnificence that excited the astonishment of the Spaniards. The whole army was lodged and entertained sumptuously, and Cortez himself received presents to a great amount. Some of these he enumerates to Charles the Fifth, in order to give him an idea of the riches and ingenuity of this extraordinary people.

It is not surprising, that at the sight of so much wealth, Cortez should form the wish to become possessed of it. He soon acquired an ascendency over the timid Mexicans, and Montezuma found that in admitting an armed and powerful friend into the heart of his capital, he had delivered himself and his people into the hands of a ferocious enemy.

The Mexican general, Qualpopoca, who had committed some hostilities upon the colony left by the Spaniards at Vera Cruz, was, on the demand of Cortez, delivered up to him, bound hand and foot, and by his order was burnt alive. Soon after this barbarous act, he contrived to get possession of the person of Montezuma, and detained him prisoner. But what, perhaps, irritated the people more even than this violation of the person of the emperor, was the contempt with which their religious rites and idols were treated by the Spaniards.

The arrival of Narvaez on the coast, with a large force, despatched by Velasco to deprive Cortez of the command, compelled the latter to leave Alvarado in command of the force at Tenochtitlan, and to march against this unexpected enemy. His departure from the capital was the signal for the people to manifest the hostile feeling they had long indulged toward the Spaniards. They took up arms against them, burnt the vessels which Cortez had constructed to command the lake, and laid siege to the building in which the Spaniards were lodged.

At this period Cortez returned, after having surprised and vanquished Narvaez. By this action he acquired a great accession of force; and he is said to have had, after his arrival at the capital, one thousand infantry and one hundred horse. The siege was prosecuted with vigor and determination on the part of the natives, and the place defended with equal obstinacy and valor on the part of the Spaniards. Montezuma, who had ascended the terrace to address his subjects and to quell the insurrection, was killed by a stone or arrow, and his brother Quetlavaca proclaimed his successor. This gave renewed vigor to the Mexicans, and Cortez was compelled to retreat. His own account of his flight, in one of his letters, is well worth reading. The night of this disastrous retreat was called _La Noche triste_, the melancholy night.

Cortez continued to retreat upon Tlascala, the Mexicans pursuing and harassing his rear. At Otumba, he was obliged to turn and give them battle. He describes his own troops as worn out with fatigue, but says that the enemy were so numerous that they could neither fight nor fly; and that the slaughter continued the whole day, until one of their principal chiefs was killed, which put an end to the battle and to the war. He reached Tlascala without further trouble, with the remnant of his forces, and was well received by his old allies.

He was urged by his officers, and by the garrison of Vera Cruz, to retire to the coast, but refused to abandon the conquest of Mexico; and, in order to maintain the ascendency he had acquired over the people of Tlascala, he made incursions into the territories of the neighboring nations, whence he always returned victorious, and loaded with spoil.

In December, 1521, he again marched upon Tenochtitlan, and took up his quarters in Tezcuco. From this place he carried on the war against the Mexicans and their allies, until the arrival of the frames of thirteen small vessels, which he had ordered to be constructed in Tlascala. They were brought by such a multitude of Indians, Cortez says, that “from the time the first began to enter the city until the last finished, more than six hours elapsed.” In order to launch these brigantines, as he calls them, a canal of half a mile in length was cut from the lake, of such ample dimensions, that eight thousand Indians worked every day at it, for fifty days, before it was completed.

On reviewing his troops, after the vessels were on the lake, he found that he had eighty-six horsemen, one hundred and eighteen fusiliers, and upward of seven hundred infantry, armed with swords and bucklers, three large iron field-pieces, and fifteen small ones of bronze, with ten quintals of powder. He does not give the number of Indians then with him, but on the following day he despatched messengers to Tlascala and other provinces, to inform these people that he was ready to proceed against Tenochtitlan. In consequence of this advice, the captains of Tlascala arrived with their forces, well appointed and well armed; and, according to their report, they amounted to upward of fifty thousand.

He divided his forces into three corps: one, consisting of thirty horsemen, eighteen fusiliers, and one hundred and fifty infantry, armed with sword and buckler, and twenty-five thousand Tlascalans, was commanded by Pedro de Alvarado, and was to occupy Tacuba. Another, commanded by Christoval Olid, consisted of thirty-three horsemen, eighteen fusiliers, and one hundred and seventy infantry, armed with sword and buckler, together with upward of twenty thousand Indians, was to take possession of Cuyoacan. The third division was intrusted to Gonzalo de Sandoval; it amounted to twenty-four horsemen, fifteen fusiliers, and one hundred and fifty infantry, armed with sword and buckler, with thirty thousand Indians. This division was to march upon Iztapalapan, destroy that town, and then, under cover of the vessels, form a junction with that of Olid. Cortez himself commanded the fleet. As soon as they reached their several destinations, Alvarado and Olid destroyed the aqueducts, and cut off the supply of water from the city.

After a siege of seventy-five days, during which both parties displayed the most obstinate courage, the besieged, reduced to the last extremity by disease and famine, made an attempt to evacuate the city by water. They were pursued by the light squadron of the Spaniards; and the canoe which carried the person of the emperor was captured by Garcia Holguin. This capture put an end to the war. When Gautimotzin, who had succeeded to the throne on the death of his uncle, was brought before Cortez, on the terrace where he was standing, and which overlooked the lake—he advanced, says Cortez, toward me, and said that he had done everything which his duty required, to defend himself and his subjects, until he was reduced to this state, and that I might now do with him what I thought proper; and put his hand on a dagger that I wore, telling me to stab him.

The siege was commenced on the 30th of May, 1521, and terminated on the 13th of August; and Cortez says, that during these seventy-five days, not one passed without some combat between the besieged and the Spaniards.

The captured Mexicans were divided among the conquerors; and Cortez informs the emperor that he had preserved his share of the gold and silver, and his fifth of the _slaves_, and other things, which by right belonged to his Majesty—and as slaves they continued to be treated for centuries, notwithstanding the humane laws passed in Spain for their relief.

It would be tedious and unprofitable to trace the colonial history of Mexico from the conquest to the revolution. From great natural advantages, this country has become rich and powerful, in spite of a most impolitic colonial system. In justice to the government of Spain, it must be acknowledged that the laws of the Indies were wise and just, and the regulations relating to the poor Indians framed in the very spirit of humanity; but their administration was bad, and the Creoles were oppressed by their European masters—and, in their turn, harassed and oppressed the unfortunate natives. Almost the only bright spot in the page of this history, is the period of the administration of the viceroy Revillagigedo. Good roads, leading from the capital to different parts of the kingdom, were laid out and constructed by his orders; and the streets of the principal cities were paved and lighted, and a good police established. The only authentic statistical account of this country was made out at this period; and almost every salutary law or regulation now in existence may be traced to the administration of Revillagigedo.

The immediate causes of the revolution of the Spanish colonies are too generally known to require any further explanation. The invasion of Spain by Napoleon only accelerated a revolution, toward which the Americans were slowly but irresistibly impelled by the conduct of the mother country, and by the political events of the age.—[POINSETT.]

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FOOTNOTES.

-----

Footnote 1:

For the use of a French copy of “Waldeck’s Yucatan,” I am indebted to
my distinguished countryman, Mr. Stephens, for which, and for many
other civilities, I embrace this opportunity to make my sincere
acknowledgments.

Footnote 2:

A specimen of the Lord’s Prayer in the Maya language is here
transcribed:—

Cayum yannech ti canoob, cilich cunabac a kaba, tac cokol a kahaulil
utzcinabac, a nolah ti luum baix, te ti caane sa ca zamalkin, uah toon
helelach, zatex ix czipil bay czazic, u zipil uh ziplob toone maix, a
uilic e lubul, ti tuntabale, hanuca lukezon, ichil lobil. Amen.

Footnote 3:

It is my purpose to give a more extended discussion of the Maya
language in a subsequent chapter. I was so fortunate as to procure
from an Indian in the interior of Yucatan the only copy I have ever
seen of R. P. L. Beltran’s Grammar of this language, which is
mentioned in the text. It is entitled, “Arte de el Idioma Maya,
Reducido á Succinctas Reglas y Semi Lexicon Yucateco, por el R. P. F.
Pedro Beltran, de Santa Rosa Maria, ex-Custodio, Lector que sue de
Philosophia y Theologia, Revisor del Sto. Oficio, é hijo de esta Sta.
Recoleccion Franciscana de Merida. Formólo y Dictólo sienda Maestro de
Lengua Maya en el Convento Capitular de N. S. P. S. Francisco, de
dicha Ciudad. Año de 1742, Yolo Dedica á la Gloriosa Indiana Santa
Rosa Maria de Lima, con licencia: en Mexico, por la Venda de D. Joseph
Bernardo de Hogal. Año de 1746.”

Footnote 4:

Chi-Chen signifies, Mouth of a Well. “Itza,” said to be the Maya name
for one of the old possessors of these ruins, is sometimes added by
the natives.

Footnote 5:

The names by which I have designated these ruins, are such as were
suggested to me by their peculiar construction, and the purposes for
which I supposed them to have been designed.

Footnote 6:

I found the wood of the zuporte-tree had been used exclusively in
these buildings for lintels and thwart-beams, but for no other
purpose. Upon several of the beams yet remaining, there were elaborate
carvings. This wood is well known in this country for its remarkable
durability and solidity.

Footnote 7:

Dublin Penny Journal for 1834 and 1835, pages 349, 350.

Footnote 8:

Uxmal signifies “Times past.”

Footnote 9:

The names (though misnomers) of these structures originated with the
people of the country.

Footnote 10:

Breckenridge.

Footnote 11:

Sparks’ Life of Ledyard.

Footnote 12:

Priest.

Footnote 13:

Bradford’s Am. Ant.

Footnote 14:

Prof. Rafinesque.

Footnote 15:

De Solis.

Footnote 16:

Crawford’s Siam.

Footnote 17:

Montezuma, in reply to Cortez, says, “In regard to the creation of the
world, our beliefs are the same.”—_Bernal Diez._

Footnote 18:

An evil genius of hideous appearance, that, it was believed, would
devour the world.

Footnote 19:

“They had books made of the bark of trees, in which were noted down
the records of past times.”—_Bernal Diez._

Footnote 20:

“The natives of these countries have learned trades, and have their
shops, manufactories, and journeymen, and gain their livelihood
thereby. The gold and silver smiths work both in cast metal and by the
hammer; and excel, as do the lapidaries and painters. The engravers
execute first-rate work with their fine instruments of iron,
especially upon emeralds; wherein they represent all the acts of the
holy passions in such a manner, that those who had not seen them
execute it, would not have believed such to have been done by the hand
of an Indian. The sons of the chiefs used to be grammarians; and were
learning very well until they were forbidden by the holy synod, under
an order from the Archbishop of Mexico. They excel in all
manufactures, not excepting that of tapestry.”—_Bernal Diez._

Footnote 21:

Bernal Diez.

Footnote 22:

De Solis.

THE END.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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