Chapter XX (2)

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | FOOTNOTES: | | | | [1] Many of those who were interested in Arctic research and the | | then unknown fate of Sir John Franklin, will remember the meetings | | at Lady Franklin’s house at Kensington Gore, and how greatly Mr. | | Grinnell’s exertions and enterprise were appreciated. | | | | [2] Mr. Laurence Oliphant, whom I had known in other parts of the | | world, was then living with his community upon the Southern shores | | of Lake Erie. | | | | The last time that I saw him was at a Levée, held in St. James’s | | extreme Palace, in the year 1880, under circumstances which were | | in contrast with his daily life of labour at Brocton. I understood | | that he had come over to England to arrange some business matters | | connected with the affairs of his society. | | | | America is the home of many groups of people endeavouring to carry | | out their various schemes of communistic life. I visited several | | of their settlements and found that their methods of management | | were very different. The prosperity and the harmony of the men and | | women, evidently depended upon their faith in their own strange | | forms of religion. It was also observable that, in all cases, the | | leaders were men of dogmatic character. | | | | [3] The question respecting the proportion of foreigners in the | | armies of the North came under consideration. | | | | It had been supposed that a large number of the troops consisted | | of men of foreign nationalities, but an investigation that had | | been made into the subject has proved that the alien strength of | | the army had been the subject of much exaggeration. | | | | Upon the examination of the numbers it will be seen, however, | | that the composition of the forces deserves attention. Their | | classification was as follows:— | | | | British Americans (volunteers from | | British possessions in N. America) 53,500 | | English 45,000 | | Irish 144,000 | | German 176,800 | | Men of unknown nationality 74,900 | | Negroes (about) 140,000 | | National Americans 1,523,000 | | | | National Americans include all emigrants who in consequence of | | having been five years in the States are entitled to become | | citizens. | | | | [4] Mr. Ticknor preceded Mr. Longfellow at Harvard University as | | Professor of Modern Languages. As an author he is well known by | | his History of Spanish Literature, and the biography of his friend | | Mr. Prescott, the historian. | | | | [5] Then Professor of Anatomy in Harvard College, and Curator of | | the Peabody Museum of Archæology and Ethnology. | | | | [6] Laura Bridgman was born in 1829 so, at the time that I saw her, | | she was forty years old. | | | | [7] In one of the many brilliant speeches made by this orator, the | | following graceful allusion to the mother-country may be mentioned | | here. “Great Britain,” he said, “had dotted over the whole surface | | of the globe with her possessions and military posts, whose | | morning drum-beat, following the sun and keeping company with the | | hours, circles the earth daily with one continuous and unbroken | | strain of martial music.” | | | | [8] The geographical conditions of the Atlantic seaboard are so | | favourable for the development of naval power, that it is evident | | that the United States have every possible natural advantage | | placed at their disposal to enable them to become a great maritime | | nation. | | | | There is, however, a difficulty for them to surmount. Serviceable | | American-born men do not readily volunteer to join their ships | | of war, and, consequently, the crews are largely composed of | | foreigners, chiefly of English and German origin. The reasons | | for this disinclination on the part of the Americans to accept | | sea service seem to be caused by the fact that the prospects | | for success in life in other directions are sufficiently good | | to prevent them from seeking an employment in which they would | | be subject to discipline and have to sacrifice their habits of | | independence. It will probably be found expedient, ultimately, to | | adopt a system of entry and training for seamen similar to that | | which has been found to succeed in England. The systems followed | | on the European continent, and which are based upon conscription, | | could find no place amongst a people with whom all service must be | | essentially voluntary. | | | | If the difficulties with regard to men can be overcome, the naval | | strength of the United States may be as great as Congress may | | deem desirable, for, with respect to the capacities of harbours | | and dockyards and the means available for the construction and | | armaments of ships, there is practically no limit to the power of | | fitting out and maintaining large fleets. | | | | [9] In the summer of 1870 I went to the village of Dighton to look | | at the inscribed stone in the river near that place. | | | | Upon my arrival there it was high water and the rock was covered. | | The next day, when the tide was low, I hired a boat, pulled down | | the stream and stopped by its side, which was then fully exposed, | | and examined it with care. It was a boulder formed of hard close | | grained granite. | | | | As the inscription was originally supposed by Danish and other | | antiquarians to have had some relation with the history of the | | arrival of the Northmen upon that coast, I traced the figures and | | rude characters with particular attention. | | | | I have seen rolls of birch bark scratched in the same manner by | | Chippewas, for the purpose of giving information of the movements | | of their hunting parties, and I think that the figures on the | | Dighton stone were meant to represent similar events. As, however, | | the inscriptions are deeply cut, and as it must have taken some | | considerable time to execute them, it may be granted that the | | Indians wished to leave, near the mouth of the river, a permanent | | record which would be intelligible to others. | | | | At many parts of this seaboard the New England tribes, as at | | Damariscotta visited the tidal waters to obtain food. | | | | [10] When afterwards passing through the forests near Palenque, | | in Central America, I observed that whenever the Indians found | | it necessary to quit the track, they immediately broke off small | | branches from the trees, and placed them on the ground over which | | they had trodden. As an additional precaution, they also made | | marks on the trunks with their hatchets. It was thus easy for | | them to get back to the place from which they had started. It is | | however evident, that this plan is only useful in those cases | | where the path is intentionally left. When the path is | | accidentally missed, it is of the greatest importance not to lose | | touch with the spot where you happen to be when your error is | | discovered. This position will necessarily be within a short | | distance by a straight line from the place from which you | | wandered. It has been ascertained that it is the tendency of men | | who have lost their way to unconsciously move in a circle, and | | thus much time may be wasted in trusting to personal judgment. It | | is a good plan to make a series of short tentative marches in | | different directions, in straight lines from your starting point, | | which should be considered as a central position to which you can | | always return if necessary. Such straight lines of direction can | | be made by marking trees, and keeping them as much as possible in | | line with each other. In dense forests a watch is not serviceable, | | as the sun does not penetrate them, and its bearing cannot be | | seen. A compass is useful to a certain extent, but the constant | | deviations that have to be made to avoid obstacles, tend to make | | the line of progress a succession of broken curves, and it becomes | | unsafe to rely upon the accuracy of the direction. Explorers have | | found it desirable to send men occasionally to the tops of the | | tallest trees to observe the nature of the country that is being | | traversed. When Cortes made his celebrated expedition from Mexico | | to Honduras, he maintained a straight march by the use of a ship’s | | compass, but in that case there was no difficulty, for the | | direction was followed by cutting down the trees that were in the | | line of the advance. | | | | [11] See “Report on the Geology and Topography of a portion of the | | Lake Superior Land District,” by I. W. Foster and I. D. Whitney. | | Washington, 1850. | | | | [12] The Jesuit Mission that was placed at Sault Ste. Marie, at | | the entrance of Lake Superior was, during the seventeenth and | | eighteenth centuries, one of the most important and influential | | of the missionary establishments in North America. Many of the | | Fathers who were attached to it had received a good mathematical | | education and were capable of making accurate geographical | | surveys. An excellent plan of Lake Superior and its islands was | | made by them in 1670, and the coast lines and bays were traced | | over a distance exceeding fifteen hundred miles. Amongst the | | distinguished men who worked at the mission were the Fathers | | Jogues, Allouez, Mesnard (who lost his way and perished in the | | forest when travelling across the Kee-wai-wona promontory), | | Dablon, and the well-known and devoted missionary, Jacques | | Marquette. | | | | [13] At Marietta, there still exists an ancient Indian mound or | | tumulus, about thirty feet high. It is situated near the | | south-east limits of the inclosures. When I saw it, it was under | | the care of the local authorities. | | | | [14] Morton’s Crania Americana, pp. 221. | | | | [15] It is known that a communication between the south-western | | extremity of Lake Superior and the Mississippi Valley, existed | | from an early time. When I was at Toronto, Professor Daniel | | Wilson, to whom I was indebted for much information upon subjects | | relating to American archæology, told me that it had been | | ascertained that the copper found in these mounds, was of the same | | character as that in the Lake Superior Mines: so that the question | | of its origin was practically settled. It thus seems probable that | | some of the small lumps of pure copper found in the forests and on | | the shores of the lake, near the Kee-wai-wona promontory, were | | brought into Ohio. | | | | A mound that was opened near Lake Ontario, and whose contents I | | examined, was stated to have been twelve feet high. Within it were | | about twenty skeletons, some coarse pottery, a number of arrow | | heads made of a hard flinty stone and several flat rectangular | | stones, pierced with one or two holes, which had been used as | | breast ornaments, possibly denoting a certain rank. There were | | also stone gouges, some stone axes and many fragments of charred | | wood. This was probably an Iroquois grave. | | | | [16] In the valley of the Mississippi, especially in the northern | | part which had been occupied by the Dakotas, I afterwards saw many | | burial mounds, which, with the exception of the unusually great | | mounds near Miamisburgh and Wheeling, resembled in all respects | | those in Ohio. The methods of burial with the Sioux were evidently | | similar to those of the Mound Builders, with respect to the custom | | of conveying skeletons from considerable distances for the purpose | | of placing them together in one burying heap. | | | | In several of the ancient burial mounds in Ohio, thin flat plates | | or slabs of mica are placed with the skeletons. This shining and | | silvery looking mineral appears to have been greatly valued by | | Indians. When I was on the coast of California, I happened to | | be present when a shell bank was cut open and a section of it | | examined. There was found, piled within it, a confused heap of | | skulls and shells, together with a larger quantity of rough pieces | | of mica. It is remarkable that the use of mica as an ornament | | should have been prevalent over such a wide geographical area | | amongst tribes dwelling so far apart. | | | | [17] I have seen a re-survey of the Newark inclosures made on | | behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, under the direction of | | Professor Cyrus Thomas. The results of this survey are very | | useful. The measurements have evidently been taken with much care. | | With respect to the Octagon, Professor Thomas observes that, “The | | angles at the crossings of the diagonals and diameters at the | | centre O, are so nearly right angles as to be worthy of notice in | | this connection. For instance, the angles at the crossings of the | | diagonals BF and DH, differ but 10´ from true right angles, while | | those at the crossing of the diameters AE and CG differ but 2´.” | | | | As regards the Square he states, that, “This inclosure varies but | | slightly from a true square, the course of the opposite sides in | | one case differing but 31´, and the other but 6´. The greatest | | variation at the corners from a true right angle is 57´.” | | | | The large Circle D is said to have a difference of diameters of | | twenty-six feet, these being respectively 1189 feet and 1163 feet. | | | | The Observatory Circle, which is the inclosure connected with the | | Octagon, was found to have been made with remarkable correctness. | | “The widest divergence between the line of the survey and the | | circumference of the true circle is four feet. It is therefore | | evident that the inclosure approaches in form very nearly an | | absolute circle.” | | | | Professor Thomas also states with reference to the Observatory | | Circle, that the radius is almost an exact multiple of the | | surveyor’s chain. | | | | The geometrical accuracy of the lines of embankments and of the | | inclosed areas in earthworks of such great dimensions, covering | | such large spaces of ground, is not the least strange fact | | concerning these works. | | | | [18] Archæologia Americana, Vol. I. The plan of the Marietta | | Inclosures is a reduction of a part of the survey made in 1837 | | by Mr. Charles Whittlesea, and published by the Smithsonian | | Institution in 1848. | | | | [19] Fort Du Quesne was built about the year 1752. It was | | situated near the spot where is now the town of Pittsburgh. In | | 1731 the Indians who then occupied the lands near Marietta formed | | an alliance with the French, and obtained their assistance in | | protecting them from the attacks of hostile tribes. These were | | probably the Iroquois, who at that period had made a treaty with | | the English, and were their allies during the wars against the | | French in Canada and this part of North America. | | | | [20] Archæologia Americana, Vol. I. | | | | [21] See Plan. | | | | [22] Upon an examination of the map it will be seen that the | | Serpent is placed in the territory west of the Scioto, and that | | the Alligator is east of that river. | | | | The mouth of the serpent is described as being opened wide. This | | peculiarity is observable with the serpent carved upon the walls | | of the Casa de las Monjas at Uxmal. | | | | [23] The valley below the Alligator is in the possession of a race | | of Welsh colonists who emigrated from Wales about the year 1802. | | At that time they did not speak English, and for many years | | refrained from learning that language. | | | | The church services are held in their town of Granville. | | | | These colonists were prosperous and contented. The majority of | | them bore the names of Griffith, Price, Lewis, and others which | | are usual in the seaboard counties of Wales. | | | | The adjacent high lands are called the Welsh hills. | | | | [24] “Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,” pp. 19. | | | | [25] Second Annual Report of the Geological Survey of the State of | | Ohio, 1838, pp. 269. | | | | [26] The earthworks thrown up between Gallipoli and the Gulf of | | Saros during the Crimean war in 1854–1855 had the appearance of | | considerable antiquity when I saw them nearly a quarter of a | | century afterwards in 1878. | | | | [27] According to Hakluyt, Madoc “prepared certaine ships with | | men and munition, and sought adventures by seas; sailing West and | | leaving the coast of Ireland so farre North, that he came vnto a | | land vnknowen, where he saw many strange things. | | | | Of the voyage and returne of this Madoc there be many fables | | fained, as the common people do vse in distance of place and | | length of time, rather to augment than to diminish: but sure it is | | there he was.... This Madoc arriving in that Westerne countrey, | | vnto the which he came in the yere 1170, left most of his people | | there, and returning backe for more of his owne nation, | | acquaintance and friends to inhabit that faire and large countrey, | | went thither again with ten sailes, as I find noted by Gutyn Owen. | | | | I am of opinion that the land whereunto he came was some part of | | the West Indies.” | | | | Hakluyt’s Voyages, vol. iii, p. 21. | | | | [28] When examining the inclosures near Newark, I had with me | | the plan of the survey of Mr. Atwater, published in 1820 in the | | 1st Volume of the Archæologia Americana. The plan pp. 66 is, in | | its proportions, a reduction that I made of the survey of Mr. | | Whittlesea, but the inclosures are drawn according to the plan of | | Mr. Atwater. | | | | The survey of Mr. Whittlesea is given at pp. 67 “Ancient Monuments | | of the Mississippi Valley.” Some of the smaller earthworks and | | parallels no longer exist, having been probably removed by the | | plough. | | | | With respect to the subject of Archæology in North America, I have | | to thank Dr. Baird, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, | | for having placed in my hands the valuable and impartial work | | written by Mr. Haven. | | | | [29] See the Journal of Mr. Thaddeus Harris, pp. 54, published in | | Boston in 1805. | | | | [30] Florida was discovered in 1512 by Ponce de Leon, the aged | | governor of Porto Rico, who was then seeking for the Fountain of | | Youth, which, according to the statements of the historian of the | | voyage, was believed to have the power to rejuvenate old men, and | | restore to them the vigour of early manhood. | | | | An expedition undertaken a few years later, in 1528, by Pamphilo | | de Narvaez had a disastrous termination. Many Spaniards were left | | behind, the majority of whom were probably tortured and killed. | | Others, in accordance with Indian customs, may have been chosen by | | squaws to be their husbands, and would have consequently taken | | part in the conduct of tribal affairs. | | | | It is not unlikely that some of these Spanish adventurers, would | | have taken advantage of any opportunity that may have occurred, to | | proceed into the interior of the new continent. Due consideration | | should also be given to the fact that the French may have assisted | | the Indians in the construction of their forts on the plains, at | | any period between the dates of their first partial occupation of | | Canada in 1541, and the final abandonment of their positions in | | the valley of the Ohio in 1758. | | | | Amongst the various opinions that have been held with respect to | | the Mound Builders, there is one which attributes their origin to | | the northern part of Mexico. | | | | Mr. Lewis Morgan, whose works upon the subject of the Indian races | | have placed him in the position of being a high authority upon all | | matters relating to them, wrote to me a letter upon the question | | of their migrations, in which he observed as follows:—“Any opinion | | as to who were the mound builders must be speculative. It is quite | | probable that they were village Indians from New Mexico, and | | having found the climate too severe for their type of village | | life, retired gradually from the country.” Although it has to be | | admitted that all theories as to the Mound Builders must be | | necessarily indeterminate, yet nothing has been found amongst the | | ornaments or weapons that were placed in their burial mounds, | | which supports the hypothesis that they were different in race or | | intelligence from the tribes that surrounded them. | | | | [31] The school teacher, Miss Maud Osborn, requested me to accept | | this spear head in memory of my visit. | | | | [32] The Missouri joins the Mississippi after having pursued a | | devious course from the Rocky Mountains, for a distance estimated | | to be nearly three thousand miles, of which the greater part is | | navigable at that season of the year when its waters are at their | | highest level. | | | | [33] Nauvoo was once brought into prominent notice in connection | | with the Mormons, as it was here that they built their first great | | temple. | | | | Judge Williams had personally known Joseph Smith, the founder of | | Mormonism, and Rigdon his chief colleague. Joseph Smith, he said, | | was an illiterate man, but, was remarkable for a kind of | | shrewdness combined with great insight into character. | | | | Rigdon, who had been formerly a Baptist preacher, was well | | educated, and was generally employed in obtaining converts and | | explaining to them the meaning of Smith’s visions and the | | doctrines of the new religion. | | | | He described Brigham Young, with whom he was also acquainted, as | | being a person of determined character, with a domineering manner. | | | | When I was at Salt Lake City, in the following December, I had a | | long interview with that able and astute leader of men. | | | | Within twenty years from the time when he conducted the flight | | of the Mormons across the deserts from Nauvoo to Utah, he had | | succeeded in establishing a highly satisfactory condition of | | good order and prosperity throughout the territories under his | | government; and controlled, with unquestioned authority, a | | community consisting of one hundred and forty thousand people. | | | | [34] As I looked at the cliff and the reflection of its shadow in | | the calm smooth waters of the lake, I recalled to mind a similar | | scene viewed from the deck of H.M.S. Racer when passing at sunset | | the promontory of Cape Leucate, in Santa Maura, the classical site | | of Sappho’s leap. There is a special interest attached to the | | fate of Winona, for it proves that Indian girls of Dakota birth | | are capable of higher degrees of sentiment with regard to their | | marriage, than those believed to exist among other tribes. She | | was not permitted for some tribal reason to marry the man she had | | chosen, and preferred death to marriage with the warrior to whom | | she was assigned by the command of her parents. | | | | [35] The accompanying illustration is drawn from a pencil sketch | | made by the author near this spot. | | | | [36] “I was greatly surprised,” states Captain Carver, “at | | beholding an instance of such elevated devotion in so young an | | Indian, and instead of ridiculing the ceremonies attending it, as | | I observed my Catholic servant tacitly did, I looked on the prince | | with a greater degree of respect for these sincere proofs he gave | | of his piety; and I doubt not, but that his offerings and prayers, | | were as acceptable to the universal Parent of mankind, as if they | | had been made with greater pomp, or in a consecrated place.” | | _Travels in North America_, pp. 62. | | | | [37] Archæologia Americana, Vol. II, pp. 128. | | | | [38] In Chapter xvii it will be seen that the Aztecs or Toltecs in | | Yucatan, also, in certain cases, killed the victim by a flight of | | arrows. | | | | [39] One of the best authenticated instances of this custom of | | torturing prisoners was witnessed by a Mr. James Smith who, during | | the time that he was a captive amongst the Delawares, was present | | when the English prisoners taken after General Braddock’s defeat | | were brought into camp by the Indians. | | | | He states that, upon that occasion, about a dozen of the prisoners | | were stripped and tied to stakes, tortured with fire-brands and | | burnt to death. | | | | The ferocity of the Indians towards their captives after battle | | was well known to the British and French commanders, and was one | | of the difficulties that attended their employment as allies. | | There is a subject indirectly connected with these Indian customs | | in war which may here be considered. It is that of cannibalism. | | | | Investigations into this question lead to the conclusion that | | there is no evidence to show that any of the North American tribes | | were in the habit of following this revolting custom except under | | rare circumstances during the prosecution of a serious war. | | | | I only know of two instances, seen and recorded, of Indians | | devouring human flesh. In both cases it is evident that the acts | | were committed in accordance with the usages of hostile tribes | | when engaged in war. | | | | The first case is mentioned in a report made to his superiors, by | | the French missionary, Father Roubaud, who accompanied the Indian | | allies of the French troops during the operations against the | | British forces in 1757. | | | | An English captive, who was believed to have been an officer, was | | cooked and eaten by the Ottawas under circumstances singularly | | repulsive. The Father Roubaud, who was present and witnessed part | | of the proceedings, was horrified by what he saw, and finding that | | he could do nothing to check the tribe in their savage feast was | | forced to withdraw to his tent. | | | | The other instance occurred after the capture of the garrison of | | Michel Mackinac by the Chippewas. Mr. Alexander Henry, the same | | person who, at another time, undertook the mining operations on | | the shores of Lake Superior which are mentioned in a preceding | | chapter, was a captive. He states that one of the white prisoners | | was killed and divided into five parts which were cooked in five | | kettles and then eaten at a special feast. | | | | Mr. Henry was of opinion, from what he observed, that this food | | was taken with repugnance. An Indian told him that what he saw was | | done to inspire the warriors with courage. | | | | [40] When I was at the village of San Domingo del Palenque in | | Central America, Dr. Coller, a resident there, told me he had | | carried out, during several years, a series of investigations to | | ascertain the reasons for the existence of large green savannahs | | in the heart of the adjacent forests. He had formed the conclusion | | that those open spaces were caused by the exceptional character of | | the ground which, he said, differed from that upon which the trees | | grew. The similar openings amongst the forests in Ceylon called | | patenas, are, I believe, also supposed to be the effect of the | | nature or poverty of the land. | | | | It is noticeable that the forests usually skirt or surround | | savannahs in sharp well-defined outlines like an enclosing | | barrier, in the same manner as the meadows, formed by the | | consequences of the action of beavers, occur in Michigan. | | | | [41] After my return to England I happened to discuss this subject | | with Colonel Yule, who had just then completed his work of editing | | the Travels of Marco Polo. He told me that when he was in Burmah, | | Lord Dalhousie, who was at that time Governor-General of India, | | sent him into the interior to visit the forests of Aracan. | | | | He found within them several large clearings, and observed that | | the new growths were of a different character from the old trees | | and were invariably bamboos. He also saw amongst the mountains | | many deciduous trees which were quite bare of leaves whilst their | | branches were covered with brilliantly coloured flowers. | | | | Upon another occasion Dr. Rae, who had passed much of his life in | | the Hudson Bay Territories and became known by his discovery of | | the relics of Sir John Franklin’s expedition, mentioned to me that | | he had frequently seen that when trees had been uprooted, | | raspberry bushes sprang up in their place thus showing that their | | seeds must have been in the ground. Dr. Joseph Norwood, Assistant | | Geologist, in his report of the survey of the region west of Lake | | Superior, undertaken in 1847, states that from facts which had | | come under his observation, he was led to believe that, “if after | | the clearing of the pine forests, the annual fires cease, a growth | | of oak springs up in some places and aspen in others.” (_Owen’s | | Geological Survey_, pp. 296). In British Columbia the ancient | | forest pines are often succeeded by cedars or alders. | | | | [42] The subject of the destruction of snakes is mentioned by Mr. | | Murray, in his “Travels in North America.” | | | | When passing through a ravine in the territories of the Pawnees | | he observed, “I never should have believed it possible that so | | many rattlesnakes could have been assembled together as I saw in | | that ravine. I think there must have been nearly enough to fatten | | a drove of Missouri hogs,” and he adds in a note. “It is well | | known that in the Western States where rattlesnakes are still | | plentiful the hogs kill and eat them; nor is their bite formidable | | to their swinish enemy, on whom its venomous fangs seem to produce | | no effect. It is owing to this well-known fact that families | | resident in those districts conceive that hogs-lard must be a kind | | of antidote to their poison, and frequently use it (I believe | | successfully) as a remedy.” (_Travels in North America, by Hon. | | Charles Augustus Murray, Vol._ ii, _pp._ 42.) | | | | An Englishman who had a large farm in West Virginia, told me that | | the hillsides were cleared of the snakes, which had previously | | infested them, by turning out pigs upon them. | | | | A similar result took place in Minnesota and upon the prairies | | east of the Missouri. | | | | [43] “Etudes Philologiques sur quelques Langues Sauvages de | | L’Amérique,” Montreal, 1866. | | | | [44] In the Encyclopædia Americana (1886), the total Indian | | population is said to be (exclusive of Alaska) 264,369. The | | Dakotas are stated to number thirty-one thousand. | | | | [45] The Council building on the reservation was called the Long | | House, not on account of its size or shape, but in accordance with | | an ancient tradition. | | | | When the separation of the Iroquois took place, it was decided by | | the Council that the expression Long House was to be used as a | | symbol, that the nations were theoretically under one roof, which | | extended over all the lands occupied by them. In pursuance of this | | theory, certain tribes were given particular duties. The Senecas | | had to guard the gates looking towards the sunset, and the Mohawks | | were to watch the approaches to the gates placed in the direction | | of sunrise. | | | | As far as it is possible to form conclusions, with respect to the | | state of the Indian tribes in the sixteenth century, it appears | | that the Iroquois, in consequence of their league, had attained | | to a comparatively advanced state of warlike capacity, and had | | organised methods of conducting a campaign. | | | | They also formed regular alliances, and made treaties which they | | faithfully executed. | | | | In their treatment of captives they were cruel and barbarous, but | | they possessed in the highest degree the qualities of courage and | | endurance. | | | | [46] I should here mention that, when I was at Boston, I was much | | assisted in making investigations into certain characteristics of | | the North American Indians by Mr. Francis Parkman, whose | | researches upon all subjects relating to the condition of the | | aboriginal tribes in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, have | | placed him in the first rank of the historians of that period. | | | | Mr. Parkman was personally well acquainted with the Dakotas, | | amongst whom he had dwelt for nearly two years. | | | | He, on several occasions arranged, in the kindest manner, that I | | should meet those who were interested in the native races. Upon | | one of these occasions I met Mr. E. G. Squier, whose original | | surveys of the ancient earthworks in Ohio were published by the | | Smithsonian Institution. | | | | The introductions given to me by Mr. Parkman to the distinguished | | archæologists, Mr. Lewis Morgan and Professor Daniel Wilson, were | | also most useful. | | | | [47] In the prison at Omaha I saw three Pawnees named Blue-Hawk, | | Yellow-Son and Tall-Wolf, who had endeavoured to commit suicide in | | order to avoid being hanged. One of them, I think it was Blue-Hawk | | (Sha-to-ko), had managed to conceal a long piece of hard wood, | | one end of which he had rubbed down to a sharp point. He was | | employed in pushing this through his body, between the ribs, when | | he was observed by the warder and prevented from completing his | | purpose. Another prisoner had removed a brick from the floor and | | was trying to fracture his skull with it. All of them had torn | | away portions of their skin and cut themselves in many places with | | small fragments of glass which they had obtained secretly. The | | warder told me that he had taken every precaution to stop these | | desperate attempts of the Indians to destroy themselves. They | | seemed to be able to bear these self inflicted wounds without | | showing signs of distress. | | | | [48] The supernatural powers attributed to the “medicine men” are | | not worthy of attention, except so far as they illustrate the | | credulity of Indians, and show the influence of certain methods of | | imposture upon them. Their tricks are usually of a kind which are | | perfectly within the capacity of an ordinary juggler. | | | | Their pretension of possessing the power of making rain is however | | a subject of a different nature. | | | | This particular act is chiefly remarkable because there is no form | | of imposture which can be so readily detected. Nevertheless the | | Indian tribes throughout the western parts of North America | | usually have “Rain-makers,” in whose powers they appear to have | | confidence. | | | | I met in California a young Englishman who had been living for | | several months with various tribes near the coast, between British | | Columbia and New Mexico. | | | | He told me that he had been present upon an occasion when a | | successful attempt at rain-making occurred. The event took place | | upon a promontory in the southern part of California. | | | | The tribe wanted rain, and their rain-maker declared that he could | | obtain what was desired. He proceeded to make upon an adjoining | | hill, a large bonfire which was kept well supplied with fuel and | | gave out dense volumes of smoke. The fire was kept burning for | | over twenty-four hours, and then the efforts of the rain-maker | | were rewarded by a good and sufficient fall of rain. Here, as | | elsewhere, the Indians employed fire and smoke as agents for | | producing rain. | | | | [49] See Chapter VI. | | | | [50] The offerings are sometimes made to appease the angry spirit | | dwelling in the serpent. | | | | Occasionally the Dakotas sacrifice a dog to it. | | | | [51] “Indian Tribes of North America.” Vol. IV. pp. 51. | | | | [52] The remaining daughters were alive when I was in Minnesota. | | One of them was married to a man of the tribe. The other was the | | wife of a white man, who, Faribault said, was employed as a | | drummer at Fort Snelling. | | | | [53] With many of the Dakota and Chippewa tribes there existed a | | custom of placing upon the scaffolding a wand which was painted | | red, blue and white. They believed that the spirit of the Indian | | had to cross a river over which was a long log of wood. Upon | | reaching the opposite bank, the spirit met the spirits of his | | enemies. To one of them he would show the red, to another the | | blue, and finally he pointed to the white and then all enmities | | ceased. | | | | [54] The albatrosses in the Southern ocean which, like the | | pelicans, are birds of great size and weight (I have measured some | | which exceeded twelve feet across the wings) maintain for hours an | | equal height above the level of the sea. | | | | In the high latitudes south of the Cape of Good Hope and the | | Crozet Islands there is always a strong gale blowing, and | | consequently by a very slight and imperceptible movement or | | inclination of the wings the albatrosses obtained the necessary | | pressure which enabled them to rise, descend, or maintain their | | hovering position. | | | | In the case of pelicans moving rapidly in a perfect calm, the | | method by which they maintain their height in the air is not so | | easily understood. | | | | [55] The foreign residents living in Guatemala, included Mr. | | Corbett, our Chargé d’affaires; M. de Cabarrus, chief of the | | French legation; the Duke and Duchess de Licignano, Dr. Wynne, Mr. | | and Mrs. Hague, Mr. and Mrs. Hockmeyer, and M. Hardy: to all of | | whom I was indebted for much kindness and hospitality. | | | | [56] Author of “A New Survey of the West Indies,” published in 1648. | | | | [57] “Relation of what happened by the Will of God, on Saturday, | | the 10th of September, 1541, two hours after sunset in the town of | | Santiago de Guatimala.” Ternaux-Compans. | | | | [58] Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España escrita | | por el Capitan Bernal Diaz del Castillo, uno de sus | | Conquistadores. | | | | [59] The substances thrown out from craters frequently differ in | | their character. Judging from the composition of the surface of | | portions of the land near the Guatemala volcanoes, especially upon | | the slopes of the barrancas, it is evident that large quantities | | of pozzolana were ejected. One of the latest eruptions that has | | occurred was at the Island of Santorin in the Grecian Archipelago | | in February, 1866. I was present when the new volcano emerged from | | the sea. | | | | The inhabitants of Santorin, upon seeing volumes of steam and | | smoke issuing from the waters of the bay, apprehended some serious | | peril to be imminent. They feared the possibility of their town | | being overwhelmed by an eruption of ashes, and made a request that | | a ship of war should be sent to the spot to render any assistance | | that might be necessary. I immediately went there in the “Racer” | | and remained until all fears of danger had passed away. | | | | The crater of the volcano, afterwards called Aphroessa, rose | | slowly from the surface of the water, and it was possible to | | observe the nature of the interior during the intervals between | | the eruptions. There was no lava or pozzolana, but only large | | cinders which, as they issued from the crater, were thrown into | | the air, and then fell upon the outer slopes, thus gradually | | forming an island. | | | | It was a very remarkable scene; during the day there were heavy | | volumes of smoke and constant rumbling sounds, as the pent up | | forces below the mouth of the crater were gathering strength to | | throw forth the mass of cinders that closed them in. At night the | | glare caused by the reflection of the fire of the interior upon | | the dense clouds immediately overhanging it was very vivid. The | | surface of the surrounding waters was over-spread by running | | tongues of brilliantly coloured flames. The island was composed of | | cinders and ashes, whose porous nature could never permit any | | lodgement of water upon them. I examined several of the craters of | | the extinct volcanoes on the islands adjacent to Aphroessa, and | | there was no instance of any small pond or collection of water | | existing within them. The interior of the Volcan de Agua, possibly | | contained a thick substratum of water-bearing pozzolana. | | | | An account of the volcanoes of Santorin was given by Sir Charles | | Lyell. “Principles of Geology.” Vol. ii, pp. 70. | | | | [60] “History of the Kingdom of Guatemala,” by Don Domingo Juarros, | | translated by J. Baily, Lieutenant R.M., pp. 384. | | | | [61] Bernal Diaz states that “Pá-pa,” was the name given by the | | Indians in Yucatan to their chief-priests. The Spaniards were much | | surprised to find upon their arrival in America, that the Indian | | chief-priests were called by the same name as the Pope of Rome. | | “Kues” were temples or altars. | | | | [62] Quetzales are birds with bright green plumage, having their | | tail feathers of great length, and are found chiefly in the | | highlands of Guatemala. | | | | [63] Palacio’s Report was published for the first time in the | | original Spanish by Mr. E. G. Squier, in 1860. As it is important | | that the author’s meaning should not be misunderstood, I have | | translated it literally, as far as this is possible, considering | | that it is written in the Spanish of the 16th century. | | | | [64] Carved and polished ornaments made of hard stone of green | | colour. | | | | [65] Diaz observes that Guatimozin—who, after the death of | | Montezuma had become the Emperor of the Mexicans—sent the hands | | and feet of the Spaniards that had been sacrificed, together with | | the heads of the horses that had been killed, to the Indian chiefs | | who had formed a league of alliance with Cortes, and sent them | | messages to the effect, that the remaining Spaniards would soon be | | conquered, and that consequently those chiefs should submit to the | | Aztec power and send ambassadors to him. In the meantime, human | | sacrifices took place daily in the great temple, accompanied by | | the dismal sound of the drum, the discordant noises of the shell | | trumpets, and the horrible shouts and yells of the Mexicans. | | During the night large fires were kept burning on the platform, | | and on each night several Spaniards were sacrificed. | | | | These ceremonies lasted for ten days, until all the captives had | | been sacrificed; and during this time the Mexicans made frequent | | and furious attacks upon the troops. Diaz relates, that the Indian | | soldiers told them that they were wretched creatures who would | | soon be all killed, and that their flesh was disagreeable to taste | | and bad to eat. “Vuestras carnes son tan malas para comer.” | | | | The last Spaniard who was sacrificed was Christobal de Guzman. | | | | [66] Bernal Diaz, Historia Verdadera, chap. clii. | | | | [67] First Report of Pedro de Alvarado to Cortes, dated Utatlan, | | 11th April, 1524. | | | | [68] See the 5th letter of Cortes, to the Emperor Charles V. | | | | [69] Small black beans. | | | | [70] Juarros, Baily’s Translation, p. 457. | | | | [71] In Guatemala this prayer is called La Oracion. | | | | This custom is familiar to those who have travelled upon the | | Italian coasts, or who have visited the western parts of Brittany | | near Carnac and in the Morbihan, where the faith of the peasants | | still remains strong. | | | | The Indians living amongst the hills frequently assemble in | | considerable numbers, and, kneeling on the ground, worship outside | | the doors of their churches; and there is a singular resemblance | | in the manner of their devotion to what is to be seen at the | | “Pardons” of the Bretons, where the peasants come from long | | distances, light their candles, and kneel before the church door, | | the line of the worshippers often extending beyond the precincts | | of the churchyard. | | | | [72] A name given by Spanish priests to the ancient temples and | | shrines of the Indians. | | | | [73] Las Casas, who was Bishop of the adjacent diocese of Chiapas | | in the sixteenth century, mentions that it was the custom there | | amongst the lower classes to give a year’s service to the | | parents.—“Pero la gente comun tenía de costumbre de servir in sus | | labores un año al padre de la que por mujer queria, de la manera | | que Jacob sirvio à Laban por sus hijas Rachel y Lya.” This was | | also the custom in Yucatan. | | | | [74] Long capes made of sackcloth. | | | | [75] When I passed through Mexico, the execution of the Emperor | | Maximilian and the unhappy fate of the Empress Carlotta, were | | subjects of discussion. It has often been a matter of surprise, | | that Juarez should have thought it necessary that the sentence of | | the court-martial should be carried out. The French troops, upon | | whom the stability of the empire depended, had been withdrawn, | | and the success of the National party was assured. An act of | | forbearance upon this occasion would have met with approval, and | | have been acknowledged as a wise exercise of superior authority. | | It was however otherwise determined, and the Emperor was shot | | outside the walls of Querétaro. | | | | In the American official book upon Mexican affairs, there is a | | memorandum of the conversation between Mr. Seward, the Foreign | | Secretary, and Señor Matias Romero, the Mexican Minister, at | | Washington. Mr. Seward stated, that England, France and Austria, | | had desired the United States to use their good offices for | | Maximilian, and further observed, that “Mr. Seward does not fear | | any contingency possible in virtue whereof any European power may | | attempt to invade or interfere in future in Mexico, or in any | | other Republican nation on this continent. For this reason he does | | not think that Mexico need fear any attempt at reprisals on the | | part of any European powers, as a consequence of any extreme | | decision which the Mexican Government may take; but at the same | | time, Mr. Seward also believes that a feeling universally | | favourable, conciliatory and friendly towards the Republic of | | Mexico and the other American Republics, would probably be the | | result of the act of clemency and magnanimity, which the United | | States have thought proper to recommend.” | | | | Clemency is not a quality that naturally exists in the mind of a | | North or Central American Indian. | | | | [76] It recalled to my memory an old Spanish picture belonging to | | Dr. Pusey, which always held the principal place upon the walls of | | his library in Christ Church, Oxford. | | | | [77] The method of building their huts varies amongst different | | tribes, but the general principles are much the same. I have | | passed many hours of the day and night within them, and noticed | | their practical convenience in tropical climates; and although, | | according to civilised ideas of comfort, there is much that is | | wanting, yet for the purposes of the simple and solitary lives of | | these shy and inoffensive Indians, it would be difficult to | | contrive any shelter more suitable for their requirements. | | | | [78] I had previously observed when travelling in the Cyrenaica in | | the regions around Cyrene, that the Bedouins could perform a long | | day’s hard work and subsist upon a few handfuls of grains of wheat | | moistened with water. | | | | [79] Dr. Coller was surprised to see me. It was supposed that I was | | the first Englishman who had come to Palenque from the coasts of | | the Pacific, Mr. Stephens, my predecessor being an American. I am | | however under the impression that his companion, Mr. Catherwood, | | was an Englishman. | | | | [80] Dr. Coller’s hut at San Domingo del Palenque was not a Castle | | of Lirias, but probably the lines quoted by Gil Blas were often in | | his mind. Indeed there are many others who, if they saw that | | hamlet as I saw it in the month of March, would concur with him in | | saying: | | | | “Inveni portum. Spes et Fortuna valete. | | Sat me lusistis: ludite nunc alios.” | | | | [81] In the final chapters, xix-xx, will be found the conclusions | | that I have formed with regard to the temple and tablet of the | | cross. | | | | [82] See frontispiece. | | | | [83] The areas occupied by the temples differed considerably in | | their extent. The largest of them which I measured was that of the | | Temple of the Cross. | | | | Its interior dimensions were forty-three feet seven inches long | | by twenty-five feet four inches deep; the outer walls were three | | feet thick. Therefore the ground space covered by the building was | | nearly fifty feet in frontage and a little more than thirty-one | | feet in depth. Its exterior height was about twenty feet. The | | measurements of the temple on the adjoining pyramid were less. | | | | [84] A clear and instructive memoir by Professor Charles Rau, upon | | the subject of the interpretation of the Palenque hieroglyphs, is | | to be found in one of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, | | published in 1879. | | | | Investigations have also been made in England, France and Germany. | | I believe it has been ascertained that a dot means one, a bar | | five, a bar with two dots seven, and two bars represent ten. It | | has also been discovered that the hieroglyphs are to be read from | | left to right, and from the top downwards. If this is correct it | | is a discovery of considerable importance. Upon an examination of | | the illustration in the frontispiece of the Palenque altar tablet | | it will be observed, from the position of the leading groups of | | figures on the left slab, that the heads are probably intended to | | represent the chiefs of the Toltec tribe. | | | | The numerous explorations that have latterly taken place | | throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Yucatan have practically | | determined the positions and extent of all the ancient Indian | | ruins that still exist in those lands. Therefore it is not | | expected that any more discoveries of importance will be made. It | | is however possible that one or more small temples or structures | | may be found hidden among the forests in the line of direction | | between Ocosingo and Flores. | | | | In the United States much attention is being given to the study of | | the Mexican and Maya manuscripts. | | | | It is to be hoped that methods of interpretation will be | | established upon a sound basis, and that the characters written | | upon the codices, and the hieroglyphs graven upon the idols and | | stone tablets will be ultimately deciphered. | | | | [85] Some years after my return to England I had a long | | conversation upon the subject of alligators with Mr. Bates, who | | was then our Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, and | | whose knowledge upon all matters concerning the habits of animals | | in tropical lands was very extensive. In his book “The Naturalist | | on the Amazons,” he mentions a case that happened at a place | | called Carcara. | | | | An Indian, one of the crew belonging to a trading canoe, whilst in | | a half-drunken state went down to bathe in the lake and stumbled. | | A pair of gaping jaws seized him round the waist and dragged him | | under water; after a short lapse of time the brute came up to | | breathe and was seen with one leg of the man sticking out from his | | jaws. | | | | Other instances of this kind have been mentioned by naturalists, | | but I do not remember any cases of men being seized when actually | | swimming in the water. Possibly my Indians may have known from | | hearsay or experience the truth of what they stated. | | | | It has been said that alligators, owing to the formation of their | | throats, cannot swallow their prey in the water, but are obliged | | to go to the banks for that purpose. | | | | It was not, however, upon the subject of the danger to men from | | approaching these reptiles that the conversation chiefly turned. | | | | We discussed the question of their food supply. Mr. Bates said | | that they lived upon fish. I observed, with reference to that part | | of the river where I had seen them congregated in such amazing | | numbers, that it was impossible that the supply of food from fish | | alone could be sufficient, and also that in consequence of the | | filthy state of the water no fish could live in it. | | | | Mr. Bates after some consideration said that their food must be | | fish, but he added, that it was probable that they could live in | | an almost torpid condition for long periods. | | | | Mr. Bates felt assured that fish formed the food of alligators. It | | was not possible to feel quite satisfied with this solution of the | | problem, especially under circumstances where alligators abound in | | stagnant lagoons in which fish must necessarily be scarce. | | | | In the unfrequented parts of the estuaries of rivers flowing into | | the Caribbean sea, it can be understood that at certain seasons of | | the year the supply of fish may be great, and we have the | | authority of that careful observer Mr. Bartram, for the statement | | that upon those occasions the numbers of alligators crowding the | | rivers in Florida were astonishing. | | | | In 1853 the “Vestal” happened to be cruising off Cuba, and I was | | sent in charge of the boats to look for fresh water in Guantanomo | | harbour, at a spot which was reputed to have been a favourite | | haunt of pirates in the seventeenth century. | | | | After some search we discovered a small stream, but the entrance | | was defended by such crowds of alligators that we had great | | difficulty in passing through them. If, as was possible, they were | | waiting for the arrival of fish from the upper waters, it may be | | inferred that a comparatively small supply of food suffices for | | their sustenance. | | | | [86] “Cartas de Hernan Cortes,” collected by Don Pascual de | | Gayangos, p. 407. | | | | [87] “Almaizal, a sort of veil or head attire used by the Moorish | | women, made of thin silk, striped of several colours, and shagged | | at the ends, which hangs down on the back.” Baretti’s Dictionary, | | 1807. | | | | [88] See “Landa’s Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan,” edited and | | translated by L’Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg. | | | | [89] See chapter vii. | | | | [90] Landa “Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan.” p. 164. | | | | [91] See chapter xi. | | | | [92] The facing stones placed upon the walls of the ruins of Mitla, | | in the Mexican province of Oaxaca, are fitted, or bedded, into the | | mortar and rubble in the same manner as at Uxmal. | | | | At one of the evening conversaziones given by the Royal Society at | | Burlington House, in the spring of 1892, I happened to discuss the | | subject of Palenque and Uxmal with Mr. Woolner, the sculptor. Some | | experiments had previously been carried out in France which had | | proved that with stone chisels it was possible to carve granite, | | limestones, and hard sandstones. | | | | The investigations did not, however, make it clear how it could | | have happened that the Indian sculptors were able to work with | | such facility that they covered their buildings with deeply | | chiselled ornamentation. Mr. Woolner said that he thought it | | probable that the Indians may have been acquainted with some | | strong acids, and that they may have used these to soften the | | stone and make it more workable. | | | | We were looking at some photographs exhibited by Mr. Maudslay, | | who had lately returned from Palenque, and the question of the | | method of carving the outlines of the figures on the stone slabs | | of the courts came under consideration. Mr. Woolner thought that | | the subject was very difficult, but that it was possible that the | | figures had been previously traced and then worked with acid as he | | had already suggested. | | | | [93] When I heard of this Indian practice my thoughts went far away | | from the forests of Palenque. Memories of the Eton playing fields | | were recalled and an old Eton Latin grammar, and the familiar | | line, “Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque | | turres.” With Indians, as with others, the fatal footstep cannot | | be turned aside. | | | | [94] For a description of this ceremony see Landa, chap. xxvi. | | “Manner of baptism in Yucatan. How it was celebrated.” | | | | [95] See “Historia de la Guerra de Castas de Yucatan,” p. 77. | | Merida, 1866. | | | | [96] As the little Aguinaga was timidly seeking for an anchorage, I | | remembered a far different scene in which I had taken part in | | 1853, seventeen years earlier. | | | | The Vestal, a twenty-six gun frigate in which I was then serving, | | had captured three slavers off the north coast of Cuba. One of | | them was a fast sailing vessel called the Venus. She had become | | notorious for her success in evading our cruisers and landing | | large cargoes of slaves. | | | | When we arrived off the mouth of the port of Havannah we formed | | our fleet of prizes into line and passed between the castles in | | triumph: our movements being watched by thousands of the Spanish | | inhabitants as we took up our anchorage in the centre of the | | harbour. | | | | [97] “Work in Mound Exploration of the Bureau of Ethnology,” by | | Cyrus Thomas, Washington, 1887. | | | | [98] “The Mounds of the Mississippi Valley, Historically | | Considered,” by Lucien Carr, Assistant Curator of the Peabody | | Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology, Cambridge, Mass. | | | | [99] See Note, chapter iv., p. 69. | | | | [100] In the sixteenth century, the Cherokees occupied the lands in | | that part of America where the States of North Carolina, Alabama | | and Georgia border upon the State of Tennessee. | | | | [101] See chapter v., p. 94. | | | | [102] Merida now occupies the site of Tihoo. The stones, with which | | were built the pyramids and temples, were used in the construction | | of the new city. | | | | [103] Relation des choses de Yucatan, p. 351. | | | | [104] According to Humboldt, the Toltecs arrived in Anáhuac | | (Mexico) A.D. 648, and reached Tula in 670. The pyramids of | | Téotihuacan, a few leagues north of the modern city of Mexico, | | were built by them. They afterwards raised the great pyramid of | | Cholula, and on its platform built a temple for the worship of | | Quetzalcoatl. From Cholula, colonies of the Toltecs went to | | Tabasco and Yucatan. | | | | The Aztecs arrived in Mexico in 1190, and found there the pyramids | | which they believed to hive been the work of their predecessors | | the Toltecs, who had obtained a knowledge of hieroglyphics and | | of methods of computing time by calendars. The Aztecs founded | | Tenochtitlan (the city of Mexico) in 1325. | | | | [105] The custom of confining captives or slaves in wooden cages | | for the purpose of being prepared for sacrifice, was supposed to | | have been established by the Aztecs about a century after they had | | settled in Mexico. | | | | There is reason to believe that in consequence of their being | | surrounded by enemies and engaged in constant wars, they | | considered it necessary to propitiate the war god in the most | | terrific manner. Thus when the great Teocalli, erected for the | | worship of Huitzil-pochli, was completed, many thousands of | | victims were sacrificed as propitiatory offerings. When colonies | | of the Aztec race were advancing in the direction of Tabasco and | | Yucatan, similar sacrificial ceremonies were performed. | | | | Bernal Diaz saw, in one of the Indian towns that had been captured | | by the Spaniards, three large cages full of prisoners who were | | waiting to be sacrificed. They were fastened by collars to prevent | | their escape. They were taken out of the cages and sent back to | | their own tribes. He elsewhere observes that the Indians devoured | | human flesh after the victims had been sacrificed, in the same way | | as the Spaniards devoured oxen. It is evident that great numbers | | of the aboriginal natives must have been kept in slavery and, in | | time of war, were killed and eaten by the Aztecs. | | | | [106] Bernal Diaz, chapter xxix, and Landa, p. 12. | | | | [107] It was noticed soon after the Spanish conquest that the | | Indians died rapidly from causes of a mental character. They died | | because they did not wish to live. The conditions of slavery they | | were forced to endure had such an effect upon them that they | | gradually lost their strength. After submitting for a time to | | the hardships imposed upon them they appeared to become resigned | | to their fate. Life was a burden. They lost heart and died from | | misery. This was particularly the case in Cuba and Hispaniola. | | | | [108] The Indians in Yucatan, had a chief priest who had a general | | control over all matters relating to the priesthood. He nominated | | the priests to the villages, examined them in their sciences and | | ceremonies, provided them with books and sent them to attend in | | the service of the temples. | | | | According to Landa “they taught the sons of other priests and the | | younger sons of the chiefs that were brought to them for this | | purpose when they were children, if it was observed that they were | | inclined towards this office. The sciences which they taught were | | the computations of the years, months, and days, the festivals and | | ceremonies, the administration of their sacraments, the days and | | times that were fatal, the manner of divinations and prophecies | | and coming events, the remedies for sickness and things concerning | | antiquities, and to read and write with their books, and | | characters with which they wrote and with figures which explained | | the writings.” | | | | In Yucatan, as in Mexico, the calendar was carefully constructed. | | The year consisted of three hundred and sixty-five days and six | | hours. Landa observes that the months were of two kinds. One was | | lunar and was regulated by the movements of the moon. The other | | method of computation was formed by dividing the year into | | eighteen divisions or months, each consisting of twenty days and | | there were five days and six hours over. Of these six hours one | | day was made every four years. For these three hundred and | | sixty-six days they had twenty letters or characters by which they | | were named. (Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan, pp. 42; 202). | | | | Las Casas observes in his Apologética Historia, chapter cxxi, that | | “the year of the Mexican people consisted of three hundred and | | sixty-five days divided into eighteen months and five days. Each | | month was twenty days, and the week was thirteen days of which | | they had constituted a calendar, and for each day of the week, of | | the month and of the year they had its idol with its own name, and | | these names were of men, or of women which they held or had held | | as gods; and thus all the days were filled up with these idols | | and names and figures in the same manner as our breviaries and | | calendars have for each day its saint.” | | | | The illustration of the calendar stone is from a photograph | | taken from the original stone in the city of Mexico. This great | | astronomical record was discovered in the year 1790, buried | | several feet below the surface, in the spot where stood the chief | | pyramid and temple of the Aztecs. It is made from a large mass of | | basalt, and the circular part has a circumference of more than | | thirty-eight feet. It is probably one of the earliest and one of | | the most elaborate of the sculptured works of the Toltecs. It will | | be observed that the points have a singular resemblance to those | | of the mariner’s compass. The head placed in the centre has been | | supposed to represent the Mexican god of the sun. It is possible | | that it may have been intended to represent Quetzalcoatl, the | | traditional teacher and originator of the Mexican knowledge of | | astronomy. | | | | [109] The fact of men wearing beards would be considered | | extraordinary by the American Indians. Landa states that | | “Cucul-can raised several temples, established regulations for the | | maintenance of good order, and then left Yucatan and proceeded | | towards Mexico.” | | | | [110] Apologética Historia, chapter cxxiii. | | | | [111] With respect to the ancient Indian structures it is expedient | | to give a brief consideration to those that were raised at Copan | | and Quirigua. The earliest account of the sculptures existing at | | Copan was given by Palacio in 1576. In his Report to the King of | | Spain he mentions that within the ruins was a stone cross three | | palms high, and beyond it “There was a statue more than four yards | | high, sculptured like a bishop in his pontifical robes with his | | mitre well worked and with rings in his hands.” | | | | After describing other large statues and the ruins overlooking the | | river, Palacio observes, “I enquired with all possible attention | | for any traditions from the ancient people as to what people lived | | here, and if anything was known of their ancestors, and whether | | there were any books concerning these antiquities ... They say | | that anciently there came there a great chief of the province of | | Yucatan who made these edifices, and after several years he went | | back to his country, and left them solitary and unpeopled.... It | | also appears that the style of the said edifices is like what was | | found in other places by the Spaniards who first discovered | | Yucatan and Tabasco, where figures of bishops were seen and armed | | men and crosses, and since such things have not been found in | | other regions it can be believed that those that made them were | | probably of one nation.” (Report of the Licentiate Dr. Don Diego | | Garcia de Palacio to the King of Spain, 1576.) | | | | It is recorded by Juarros that in the year 1700, Fuentes, who | | wrote the Chronicles of Guatemala, stated with respect to Copan, | | that the figures, “both male and female were of very excellent | | sculpture, which then retained the colours they had been enamelled | | with; and what was not less remarkable, the whole of them were | | habited in the Castilian costume.” The same author relates that at | | “a short distance, there was a portal constructed of stone, on the | | columns of which were the figures of men likewise represented in | | Spanish habits, with hose, ruff round the neck, sword, cap, and | | short cloak”.... | | | | “All the circumstances,” observes Juarros, “lead to a belief that | | there must have been some intercourse between the inhabitants of | | the old and new world at very remote periods.” | | | | The information given traditionally by the Indians living at | | Copan, is singularly in accordance with the traditions of the | | priests and caciques in Mexico and Yucatan with respect to the | | arrival of a stranger who commanded temples and pyramids to be | | built and then went away and never returned. | | | | It is remarkable that, in the first interview between Montezuma | | and Cortes, a singular tradition was mentioned by that Emperor. | | Cortes in his second letter (Segunda carta-relacion) dated 30th | | October, 1520, relates that Montezuma spoke to him as follows:—“We | | know from our writings that we received from our ancestors, that I | | and all those who live in this land are not the natives of it. We | | are strangers and came into it from very distant regions. We also | | know that our nation was led here by a chief whose vassals all | | were. He afterwards went back to his native country. Afterwards he | | returned and found that those he had left had married the native | | women (mujeres naturales) and had many children, and had built | | villages where they lived, and when he wished them to proceed with | | him they did not want to go, or even receive him as their chief | | and therefore he went away.” | | | | [112] The author of the Popol Vuh, does not mention the tradition | | about Votan. | | | | [113] Las Casas in commenting upon the subject of the Cozumel | | cross, mentions that it was ten palms high. In the course of | | the extensive explorations carried out by M. Desiré Charnay, in | | 1880–82, a similar stone was discovered at Téotihuacan. It is | | considered to be the emblem of Tlaloc, the god of rain. | | | | [114] Professor Rau in his memoir upon the Palenque tablet, states | | that it is his belief that the Maya language, or a kindred | | dialect, was spoken by the builders of Palenque. | | | | With regard to this subject it has to be observed that when the | | Toltec tribes, or the tribe that built the temples, settled at | | Palenque they had possibly forgotten their own original language, | | which may have been a Pawnee or Dakota dialect. | | | | It would naturally happen after their wives had been taken from | | among the aboriginal race, that the children would speak the | | dialects of their mothers. It has been mentioned by an early | | Spanish writer that the Aztecs, when they settled in Mexico, | | endeavoured to establish their own language, but without success. | | | | [115] Vol. iv., p. 333. | | | | [116] According to Gibbon, the Goths under the command of King | | Roderick, were defeated by the Saracens on the plains of Xeres in | | the neighbourhood of Cadiz, upon July 19–26, A.D. 711. This great | | battle decided the fate of Spain. It was supposed that Roderick | | was drowned in the river but it was not known with certainty what | | became of him as his body was never found. | | | | Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. li. | | | | The subject of the flight of the bishops, was afterwards brought | | into notice by a report of the discovery of the island where they | | had settled. This fabulous report was believed, in the fifteenth | | century, to be true. An historian states that:— | | | | “In this yeare also, 1447, it happened that there came a Portugal | | ship through the Streight of Gibraltar; and being taken with a | | great tempest, was forced to runne westward more than willingly | | the men would, and at last they fell vpon an island which had | | seuen cities, and the people spake the Portugall toong, and they | | demanded if the Moores did yet trouble Spaine, whence they had | | fled for the loss which they had received by the death of the King | | of Spain, Don Roderigo. | | | | The boatswaine of the ship brought home a little of the sand, and | | sold it unto a goldsmith of Lisbon, out of the which he had a good | | quantitie of gold. | | | | Don Pedro, understanding this, being then gouernor of the realme, | | caused all the things thus brought home, and made knowne, to be | | recorded in the house of Justice.” | | | | The Discoveries of the World, by Antonio Galvano. | | | | [117] Antilia appears as a large island in the Atlantic in the rare | | maps of Andreas Bianco (1436) and Bartolomeo Pareto (1454). On | | Martin Behaim’s globe (1492) it is placed about eighteen hundred | | miles west of the Canaries. In the earliest maps published after | | the return of Columbus to Spain, Antilia is placed near the newly | | discovered islands of the West Indies. | | | | The legend upon the accompanying map may be rendered as follows:— | | | | “The island of Antilia was, at some period, discovered by the | | Lusitanians, but the exact time is not known. There have been | | found there in it families who speak Spanish as it was spoken in | | the days of Roderick, who was the last King of Spain in the time | | of the Goths, and they are supposed to have fled to this island | | from the face of the Barbarians who had then invaded Spain. They | | have here one Archbishop with six other Bishops, each of whom has | | his own proper city, hence it is called by many the island of the | | seven cities. The population are strict Christians and abound in | | all this world’s wealth.” | | | | [118] In the first voyage of Columbus the vessels left the Canaries | | on the 6th of September and arrived off Guanahani on the night | | of the 11th of October, having been thirty days at sea. They had | | traversed a distance, according to the Admiral’s journal, of 1,092 | | leagues or 3,276 miles. On the second voyage from the Canaries to | | Dominica they left on the 3rd of October and arrived on the 3rd of | | November. Upon the last voyage, Columbus left Ferro (one of the | | Canary islands) on the 26th of May and reached St. Lucia in the | | West Indies on the 15th of June. This was a quick passage and only | | occupied twenty days. | | | | In the Vestal, a sailing frigate of 26 guns, we left the island | | of Gran Canaria in the year 1852, on the morning of the 27th of | | September, and passed between Antigua and Guadeloupe at noon on | | the 16th of October after a voyage of nineteen days, having sailed | | over a distance of 2,800 miles. During the whole of this time we | | were running before the wind with our studding sails set, steering | | West. A favourable N.E. wind prevails from Florida to Yucatan and | | the Mexican coast. With respect to Columbus’s first voyage it | | should be observed that his landfall at Guanahani was four or five | | days’ sail further west than the islands of Dominica and St. | | Lucia. | | | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+