.dt Guatemala and Her People of To-day, by Nevin O. Winter--A Project Gutenberg eBook
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GUATEMALA
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Works of
NEVIN O. WINTER
❦
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Mexico and Her People of To-day $3.00
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Guatemala and Her People of To-day 3.00
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❦
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
New England Building, Boston, Mass.
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PRESIDENT CABRERA.
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[Illustration: PRESIDENT CABRERA.]
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GUATEMALA AND
HER PEOPLE OF
TO-DAY
BEING AN ACCOUNT OF
THE LAND, ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT;
THE PEOPLE, THEIR CUSTOMS AND
CHARACTERISTICS; TO WHICH ARE ADDED
CHAPTERS ON BRITISH HONDURAS AND
THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS, WITH REFERENCES
TO THE OTHER COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL
AMERICA, SALVADOR, NICARAGUA,
AND COSTA RICA
BY
NEVIN O. WINTER
AUTHOR OF “MEXICO AND HER PEOPLE OF TO-DAY”
ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL AND
SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR
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[Illustration: Publisher’s Logo]
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BOSTON\_\_❦\_\_❦\_\_L. C. PAGE
AND COMPANY\_\_❦\_\_MDCCCCIX
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Copyright, 1909,
By L. C. Page & Company
(INCORPORATED)
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All rights reserved
First Impression, July, 1909
Electrotyped and Printed by
THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, U.S.A.
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The author’s route is printed in red.
(Click on the map for a larger version.)
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[Illustration: The author’s route is printed in red.]
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TO
MY SISTER
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For the better understanding of the pronunciation of
the names of towns and places in Guatemala and other parts
of Spanish-America, the rule for their pronunciation is
herewith given:
.ta l:7 l:10
|is pronounced like, in English
A | ah
E | ay
I | ee
J | h
O | oh
U | oo
Ñ | ny
Hue | we
LL | lli (in million)
H | is silent
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.pn vii
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PREFACE
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The very generous reception accorded “Mexico
and Her People of To-day,” by both public
and press, has led the author to believe that
there is a field for a book upon a part of Central
America covered by him in his travels, prepared
on the same general lines as that book, and
treating of the people and their customs, as well
as the country, its resources and present state
of development. There is also the belief in the
mind of the author that the English-speaking
people of America are becoming more and more
interested each year in the “other Americans,”
those who speak the Latin tongues; but who
proudly call themselves “Americans” also,
and are as proud of the New World as those
of Anglo-Saxon birth. This is his explanation,
or apology, for giving to the public another
book, which he hopes will receive as kindly a
welcome as its predecessor.
This book is not the result of hurried preparation,
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and its faults, whatever they may be,
are not the result of hasty compilation. Following
a tour through Guatemala and Honduras
a careful reading of the available literature
upon those countries has been made, and the
work of preparation has spread over a period
of almost two years. Care has been taken that
the statements herein made should be true to
the facts, and reliable. The publishers have
done their part well in their efforts to make the
book attractive and pleasing to the eye, and an
ornament to the library. It is hoped that the
wide range of subjects will render the volume
of interest and value to anyone interested in
the countries described.
The author desires to express his acknowledgment
of obligation to Mr. I. W. Copelin for the
use of a number of photographs taken by him
during a recent visit to Guatemala; also to the
publishers of the World To-day and Leslie’s
Weekly, for permission to use material and photographs
which had first appeared in their publications.
Toledo, Ohio, June, 1909.
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CONTENTS
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.ta r:6 h:30 r:5
CHAPTER | | PAGE
I. | Toltec Land | #1:ch01#
II. | From Ocean to Ocean | #16:ch02#
III. | The Capital | #54:ch03#
IV. | The Tropics and Their Development | #81:ch04#
V. | The People | #109:ch05#
VI. | Railways and Their Routes | #132:ch06#
VII. | The Ancients and Their Monuments | #149:ch07#
VIII. | The Story of the Republic | #165:ch08#
IX. | Religious Influences | #202:ch09#
X. | Present Conditions and Future Possibilities | #218:ch10#
XI. | British Honduras | #235:ch11#
XII. | Republic of Honduras | #245:ch12#
| Appendices | #281:appx#
| Index | #303:indx#
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
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| PAGE
President Cabrera | #Frontispiece:frontis#
Map of Guatemala | #iv:iv#
Lake Amatitlan; with the Volcanoes of Agua and Fuego | #6:i023#
Landing at Champerico | #19:i037#
The Volcano Agua | #29:i049#
Ox-cart and Native Driver | #30:i053#
Journeying Across Country by Mule | #34:i059#
Scene at El Rancho | #40:i067#
A Village near the Coast | #45:i073#
Plantation House on Lake Izabal | #47:i077#
Lake Izabal | #48:i081#
A Street of Antigua with the Volcano of Agua in the Background | #56:i091#
The Old Church of El Carmen, Guatemala City | #58:i095#
The Cathedral, Guatemala City | #60:i099#
A Typical Street in Guatemala City | #62:i103#
The President’s Guard of Honour | #64:i107#
Teatro Colon, Guatemala City | #67:i111#
A Bull-fight in Guatemala City | #68:i115#
Guatemalan Market Women | #74:i123#
Statue of Bull, Guatemala City | #77:i127#
Gran Hotel, Guatemala City | #78:i131#
Street Car in Guatemala City | #80:i135#
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An Indian with His Machete | #84:i141#
A Tropical Jungle | #86:i145#
A Native Hut | #93:i153#
A Sugar Plantation | #97:i159#
Drying Coffee | #105:i169#
A Mill for Hulling Coffee | #106:i173#
Indian Girl with Water Jar | #116:i185#
A Cargador on the Road | #123:i193#
Playing the Marimba | #125:i197#
A Group of Caribs | #128:i203#
A Scene along the Occidental Railway | #136:i213#
A Waterfall near Escuintla | #138:i217#
San Jose, the Port of Guatemala City | #140:i221#
The Weekly Train on the Guatemala Northern | #142:i225#
A Belle of Puerto Barrios | #146:i231#
One of the Columns at Quirigua | #156:i243#
Indian Girl | #166:i255#
A Peon | #179:i269#
J. Rufino Barrios | #190:i283#
Dugout Canoe on the Montagua River | #230:i325#
A Policeman of Belize | #236:i333#
English Homes at Belize | #239:i337#
A Street in Belize | #242:i343#
The Honduras Navy, the Tatumbla | #249:i351#
Puerto Cortez | #250:i355#
A Typical Beggar | #269:i375#
Soldiers of Honduras | #272:i381#
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GUATEMALA
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CHAPTER I||TOLTEC LAND
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There is a vast amount of ignorance and
wrong conception prevalent concerning the republics
of Central America. Mexico has been
exploited a great deal in recent years and the
whereabouts of Panama on the map is now
pretty generally known, but the five republics
lying between these two countries have been
too much overlooked by recent writers. We are
sometimes inclined to appropriate the term
republic and the name American to ourselves
as though we held a copyright on these words.
And yet here at our very doors are five nations,
each of which lays great stress on the term
republic as applied to itself, and whose citizens
proudly call themselves Americanos.
The ideas of many concerning the Central
American republics are drawn from the playlife
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of popular novels and the comic-opera
stage. Although there may have been some
foundation for their portrayal of political life
along the shores of the Caribbean Sea, and
there are some things approaching the burlesque
to our eyes, yet there is a more serious
side to life in these countries. There are
thousands of Guatemalans, Honduraneans,
Costa Ricans, Salvadoreans, and Nicaraguans,
who are seriously trying to solve the problem
of self-government, and they are improving
each year. A whole country can not be plowed
up and resown in a season as the corn-fields of
last year were transformed by the farmers into
the waving fields of golden grain this year.
It is a long and hard task that is before these
struggling Spanish-Americans, but they are
now on the right road and will win. They deserve
our sympathetic consideration rather
than ridicule; and it behooves Americans to
inform themselves concerning a people about
whom they have thrown a protecting mantle in
the shape of the Monroe Doctrine, and who lie
at our very doors. Furthermore, the opportunities
for commercial conquest invite the earnest
thought and study of the great American
public.
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Guatemala, the largest and most important
of these republics, has been described as the
privileged zone of Central America and is easily
reached from both sides by steamers, and
will soon be connected with the northern republics
by rail. It is a country of mountains,
tropical forests, lakes, rivers, coast and plains.
No portion of the earth presents a greater diversity
of level in an equal amount of surface,
or a greater variety of climate. Humboldt, the
great traveller, described it as an extremely
fertile and well cultivated country more than a
century ago. To this day, however, there are
great tracts of fertile virgin lands open to cultivation.
There are three minor mountain systems in
the country. Of these the northern series is
composed chiefly of denuded cones from fifteen
hundred to two thousand feet high with plains
between; the central consists of ranges running
from east to west and reaching a height
of from seven to fourteen thousand feet; the
southern branch comprises a number of volcanic
peaks which culminate in several notable
volcanoes. These ranges parallel the Pacific
and are known as the Cordilleras.
The Pacific side of Central America, from
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Guatemala to Nicaragua, is a highly volcanic
region, and Guatemala has her full share. The
many companion peaks and notched ranges as
they are seen from the sea look like great fangs.
In no country in the world can one find a
greater number of perfect cones than in Guatemala
where there are scores of these peaks
ranging from Tajumulco (13,814 feet), and Tacana
(13,334 feet), down to small cones only a
few hundred feet above the sea level, yet maintaining
the characteristic outline. Many of the
peaks have never been ascended so that little
is known about their formation. All of these
volcanoes are now extinct, or at least quiescent,
except Santa Maria (10,535 ft.), from which
smoke and steam constantly issue out of a fissure,
or crater, on the side several hundred feet
from the top of the cone or crater proper. This
volcano had been quiet so long that it was
looked upon as extinct until early in April, 1902,
rumblings were heard, and suddenly it belched
forth mud and sand, throwing the latter fifty
miles or more. By this eruption Quezaltenango,
hitherto an enterprising town and second city
in the republic, was almost ruined, and several
thousand of its inhabitants destroyed. A number
of villages near the base of the mountain
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were almost completely demolished and a part
of Ocos, the most northerly Pacific port, sank
into the sea during one of the earthquakes
which accompanied the eruption.
Since the settlement of the country in 1522
there are recorded some fifty eruptions and
more than three hundred earthquakes, the last
of which was in 1903. Nearly half of these
eruptions were by Fuego, which has been quiescent
for a number of years. This list does not
include many little earthquakes of mild quality
which frequently occur, thus showing that
the cooling and wrinkling process of the earth
is still proceeding. Innumerable hot springs
are found in nearly every part of the country,
while beds of scoriae, lava and great quantities
of volcanic sand present in so many places
testify to the numerous upheavals that have
taken place in centuries now past.
In former times the natives are said to have
cast living maidens into the craters of the volcanoes
to appease the spirits or gods who were
supposed to be angry. Later, after Christianity
was introduced, the priests held masses and
the people formed processions to calm the
angry mountains, until finally the happy
thought struck the priests of baptizing the volcanoes
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and formally receiving them into the
church in order to make them good. This was
finally done, but the “goodness” did not last,
for even Santa Maria, supposed to be one of the
“saintliest,” went back to her old tricks, and
her fall from grace was more disastrous than
any of the other recorded instances of her uncertain
disposition.
In the hollows of the mountains lie a number
of beautiful lakes. Lakes Atitlan and Amatitlan
are beautiful bodies of water almost as
blue as the famous Swiss lakes and reposing in
nearly as beautiful locations. The former is at
an elevation of more than a mile, has no visible
outlet and its depth is unknown. To replace
the effect of the glacier-topped Alps there are
the graceful conical peaks of the volcanoes.
Lake Peten is another large lake about twenty-seven
miles in length, but it is less beautiful
and less accessible than those first mentioned.
The town of Flores, capital of that province,
is situated on an island in the lake. Lake Izabal,
so called, but really an arm of the ocean, is
the largest lake, being about forty miles long
and from twelve to twenty miles in width. A
few of the streams are navigable a short distance
from the ocean for light craft, but none
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of them are very much aid to commerce except,
perhaps, the Polochic, which pours itself into
Lake Izabal.
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From the Bulletin of the International Bureau of American Republics.
LAKE AMATITLAN; WITH THE VOLCANOES OF AGUA AND FUEGO.
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[Illustration:
From the Bulletin of the International Bureau of American Republics.
LAKE AMATITLAN; WITH THE VOLCANOES OF AGUA AND FUEGO.]
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There are about one hundred and sixty miles
of coast line on the Atlantic, or Gulf, side of the
republic. Puerto Barrios is the chief port now
because of the railway terminal having been
established at that place and it has been in
existence less than twenty-five years. The
Spaniards established no large settlement on
this coast and the nearest city was Coban, at
an altitude of four thousand feet, and about
one hundred miles from the coast. To the English,
who were always seeking to establish coast
towns for the benefit of commerce, and with
whom there were few inland cities, the location
of the principal cities inland seems strange.
Yet south of us in Central America, where the
continent grows narrow and wrinkled, scowling
as it were, a territory larger than all New England,
this was the universal practice.
A commercial nation would long ago have
established a harbour at Livingston, about
twenty-five miles north of Puerto Barrios. It
is situated on a bluff where a large city should
be located, and has a far better climate than
Vera Cruz, Mexico. Although several hundred
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years old it is still nothing but a crude wall and
palm-thatched village. Lowell has said “What
is so rare as a day in June?” Here it is a perpetual
June where the thermometer seldom exceeds
86 degrees, and it is generally considerably
below that. Yellow fever has never become
epidemic here, and the deaths from it, and other
tropical fevers, are fewer than the victims of
tuberculosis in northern climates. Livingston
is at the mouth of the Rio Dulce (Sweet River),
which, after a few miles inland from the coast,
broadens out into Lake Izabal, and this lake
would make a beautiful and commodious harbour,
large enough to hold all the navies of the
world. At the present time some sand bars
impede the passage of vessels, but a few
dredges would soon make a fine channel into
the lake, where vessels would be perfectly protected
from the severe “northers” which
sometimes sweep over the Gulf.
The Pacific coast line with its indentations
is almost three hundred miles long. The commerce
in the early days was nearly all carried
on through the small ports on this coast and
transported to the cities in the interior. Guatemala
City, Quezaltenango, Totonicapan and
all the other principal cities on this slope, except
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Retalhuleu and Mazatenango, are located
at a distance of from sixty to one hundred miles
from the sea, which meant a journey of from
two to five days by the old means of conveyance
which are still necessary to reach many
of those centres of population.
Guatemala contains fifty thousand six hundred
square miles, being about the size of Illinois,
and extends from the thirteenth to the
seventeenth degree north latitude. Its greatest
length from north to south is three hundred
and sixty miles, and its greatest breadth from
east to west is three hundred and ninety miles.
The range of mountains, or Cordilleras, which
runs through the country northeasterly and
southwesterly, seems to be a connecting link
between the Rocky and Andes ranges. The
climate varies through the background of
mountains, the sloping direction, the nearness
to the sea, or the direction and force of the
periodical winds. Depending upon altitude the
climate ranges from torrid heat on the coast
to regions where snow occasionally falls on the
crest of the mountains. The tierra caliente
(hot land) is the name given to those lands
up to two thousand feet high. From two thousand
to five thousand feet is found the tierra templada,
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and above that is the tierra fria (the
cold land). From May to October the rainy
season occurs with great regularity. The coldest
months are December and January, and the
hottest months March and April. By reason
of this variation in temperature and soil, all
the products of the torrid and temperate zones
can be cultivated.
The average person has a habit of associating
tropical lands with the idea of intense and
disagreeable heat. This person does not stop
to think that the conditions are often much different
from what they seem on the map. Even
at the equator, which one would naturally think
almost uninhabitable, the upland sections are
just as well adapted for the abode of white
people as the temperate zone. If one should
start at sea level, at the equator, and ascend
the mountains one mile, he will experience the
same change in temperature as to go due north
one thousand miles. If he goes up another mile
he will find the summer temperature lower than
in that part of North America twenty-five hundred
miles north of the equator. The same is
true in Central America, for climate is determined
by altitude and not by nearness to the
equatorial line.
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The population of Guatemala in 1904 was
estimated to be 1,842,000, of whom about fifty
per cent are full blooded Indians and forty per
cent are Ladinos, or those of mixed blood. The
Ladinos are descendants of the early Spanish
conquerors and natives and are generally superior
to the natives, although in some instances
they seem to have inherited the evil of
both races. The remaining ten per cent comprise
the Creole, or Spanish, population, who
form the aristocracy. A few thousand foreigners
are also engaged in business in the country.
Guatemala is a republic modelled in form after
the United States. It is made up of twenty-two
provinces, termed departmentos, whose
chief officer is called a jefe politico and who is
appointed by the president. The departmentos
are again subdivided into municipal districts,
of which there are three hundred and thirty-one,
at the head of which is one or several alcaldes,
or mayors. Again, for political purposes,
the country is divided into thirty-eight
electoral districts. There is a congress of deputies
elected by the people on the basis of one
deputy for each twenty thousand inhabitants.
The President is elected by an electoral college
for a term of six years. He is not supposed
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to be re-elected without one term intervening,
but this little matter never seems to trouble
an ambitious President, for, if Congress is favourable,
the law can easily be changed. He
has six secretaries and an additional advisory
body of nine members of whom a majority are
selected by the House of Deputies and the remainder
appointed. There has never been a
real President, for each one has been a practical
dictator, and made the attempt, at least, to
run everything his own way. A dictator, however,
like Porfirio Diaz, one who was far-sighted
enough to see what was for the best
interest of his country and had the ability to
carry into effect his ideas for the upbuilding
of his country, would do far more for Guatemala
in her present condition than a man
elected president by popular suffrage.
It was curiosity, the mother of science, that
became the mother of the new world, gave birth
to continents, islands and seas, and gave form
as well as boundary to the earth. After the
first few discoveries were made the sea soon
carried the Spanish galleons to the newly-discovered
lands filled with the cavaliers and peasants
of that country. These adventurers who
carried the flag of Spain into the New World
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were men of great physical endurance, but possessed
of little character, and that little
dwarfed by the lust of gold. They were soldiers
of fortune who came to destroy and not
to create. Even Columbus, who ranked high
above the other conquistadores in character,
was led to make his first landing on the American
mainland by the sight of natives wearing
pieces of pure gold suspended around their
necks along the shores of the Caribbean Sea.
In looking for the source of this gold supply
he made an expedition of several weeks in what
is now the republic of Honduras, but without
profitable results. No serious attempts at colonizing
were made until the chief lieutenant
of Cortez, Pedro de Alvarado, made his memorable
and historic expedition against the
Quiché tribe, of the wealth of which people marvellous
reports had been brought. Alvarado
was a past graduate of the Cortez school of intrigue,
deception and duplicity, and soon made
himself master of the province which was designated
as the Kingdom of Guatemala. He was
reckless, impetuous, and merciless; lacking in
veracity if not common honesty, but zealous and
courageous. His forces comprised one hundred
and twenty horsemen, three hundred infantry,
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including one hundred and thirty cross-bowmen,
and twenty thousand picked native
warriors. Spain was at once declared the sovereign
power and Alvarado was established as
the representative of that government. The
incidents of the conquest of Mexico were repeated
in a smaller and less impressive way
since the number of the natives was not so
great, and no powerful and advanced tribe such
as the Aztecs held sway.
The Quiché Indians were, at that time, the
most powerful tribe in Guatemala, but the domination
of the country was shared with the Cakchiquels
and Zutugils. News of the white men
with their wonderful weapons of warfare had
already reached these people. Kicab Tanub,
King of the Quichés, tried to form an alliance
with the other kings against the invading forces,
but failed. This conference was held at Totonicapan
and was attended by two hundred thousand
warriors with great barbaric display. The
Zutugils entered into an alliance with Alvarado
after receiving certain promises. Alas! for
the proffered friendship and friendly hand.
It meant only vassalage for the natives and
death for the kings.
Thus by lying, deceit, intrigue, duplicity and
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even the good offices of some of the priests,
the power of these mighty tribes was broken
and the rule of Spain installed, and a new order
of things was established. The people, except
a few powerful chiefs, were enslaved. These
few chiefs were released upon accepting baptism
and went forth as missionaries to their
people. Thousands of the natives were set
at work making bricks, bringing stone and
other building materials for the capital,
which was established in a beautiful valley
between the mountains in the very shadow
of two volcanic peaks which were destined
to bring death and disaster upon the invaders,
as if in revenge for their trampling
upon the rights and freedom of those to
whom this valley rightfully belonged. The
labour of tens of thousands of enslaved natives
resulted in a beautiful city which was overthrown
and destroyed in a night of terrible
thunder and lightning, of frightful rumblings
of the earth, and of a terrific rushing of waters
which laid the whole city waste.
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CHAPTER II||FROM OCEAN TO OCEAN
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After a tour of the land of the Aztecs I embarked
at Salina Cruz, that new Pacific port of
Mexico whose importance in the commercial
world is just beginning to be felt, and started
on a journey to the land of the Toltecs. Passage
was taken on the good ship Menes of the
Kosmos Line, and never were passengers in
better hands. There were only five first-class
passengers and they made rather a cosmopolitan
gathering in the cabin each evening. They
were an American, a Scotchman, an Englishman,
a Spaniard and a Columbian and these,
together with three members of the crew, the
captain, doctor and first officer, all Germans,
made up the personnel of those who gathered
around the table at each meal. I did not mention
that there were ten Mexican bulls that had
taken passage on the first cabin deck destined
for a bull-fight in Guatemala City. As these
animals were safely boxed up, however, they
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were not very sociable on the trip and scarcely
made their presence known by even a bellow.
These coasting vessels are unique in the carrying
trade. They have an extraordinary
amount of deck space and carry everything
from mail to fresh lettuce, and perform the
functions of a freight steamer and market
gardener. Your beefsteak or mutton of to-morrow
stands on the hoof in the hatchway below,
gazing up at you with inquiring eyes, and, on
the upper deck, barnyard fowls blink reproachfully
at you through the slats of their double-decked
coops. The roustabout crew are Chilean
rotos, who look as though they might be pleased
to stick a knife between one’s ribs. There are
few tourists in the American sense of the word,
and the passengers are mostly German, English
or Yankee drummers, or engineers bound for
railroads or mines in Central or South America,
with occasionally a native army officer or merchant
travelling from one port to another.
The harbours all along this coast are open
roadsteads and the lack of harbour accommodations
was evident at the first stop, San Benito,
the southernmost port in Mexico, and only
a few miles from the Guatemala boundary.
The vessel anchored almost a mile from the
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shore. Because of a high surf it was necessary
to wait a half-day before the harbour official
could come out, and nothing can be done until
this formality is complied with. At last a
lighter, pulled by eight brown oarsmen standing
up on a running-board, flying a tattered
Mexican flag at the rear and a yellow quarantine
flag at the fore, approached. San Benito
boasts a lighthouse consisting of a light sustained
on two high poles, a signal station similar
to a band-stand in appearance, and a warehouse.
A donkey-engine is employed to pull the
boat through the heavy surf by means of a
cable. After unloading a mixed cargo and taking
on three thousand bags of coffee destined
for Hamburg, all of which required three days,
the ship steamed to Ocos, the first port in Guatemala.
The massive iron pier at this place
was destroyed by the last earthquake in 1902,
and it required a day to unload the cargo there
and take on a few hundred bags of coffee, and
then we started for Champerico.
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LANDING AT CHAMPERICO.
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[Illustration: LANDING AT CHAMPERICO.]
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Guatemala is a corruption of an Indian word
meaning “a land covered with trees.” And
so it seemed, for the whole shore was a dense,
impenetrable forest of tropical growth, whose
topmost points are the plumes of waving palms,
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clear to the background of mountains, from
which arise many volcanic peaks, making a
beautiful and impressive sight. We were
aroused in the morning by the snorting and
puffing of a little tug which now enlivens the
harbor of Champerico and jerks the lighters
around with a great show of hustle. Because
of the shallow water, it is necessary to anchor
out some distance from the shore, and the cargo,
as well as passengers, is carried back and forth
in these boats. After such a wait as the dignity
of the occasion demands, the commandante
came out rich in gold embroidered blue coat and
yellow-striped red trousers. The captain escorted
him into the cabin where a few samples
of bottled goods were inspected. A couple of
hours later the commandante came out smiling,
even if a little less steady on his feet, and we
were permitted to land. Landing at this port
is, in itself, quite an undertaking, for the passenger
is seated in a chair which is whisked
over the side of the boat by a steam crane and
dropped into a waiting lighter, together with a
medley of boxes, barrels, trunks, personal luggage,
and various other kinds of impedimenta.
The lighter was quickly drawn to the great,
lofty pier by the spiteful little tug with which
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it was connected by a long hawser. When near
the pier the hawser was dropped, but the distance
was well calculated and the lighter calmly
floated to the proper place, and we were lifted
up to the pier in another chair by a similar
operation. The process is probably less dangerous
than it looks, but the passenger breathes
freer when the operation is over with and he
is safely landed in this land of political disturbances
and make-believe money. It cost me
seven dollars to land, but when they exchanged
six dollars for one Mexican peso, it was not
so expensive, for the Mexican eagle on a silver
dollar was only worth half as much as the proud
bird of Uncle Samuel in the same place.
The piers at Guatemala ports are all the
property of private companies operating under
concessions, that simply receive passengers at
a fixed charge and freight at a given rate for
each hundred pounds and transport it to the
custom-house, which is invariably at the end
of the pier, so that there is no chance for escape
from the customs officers. Baggage exceeding
one hundred pounds becomes quite a burden as
the charges are excessive for the service rendered.
The Aduana, or custom-house, is no unimportant
factor in the scheme of government
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here as there is very little that escapes duty, although
it is hinted that some of the duties collected
never reach the government coffers.
Then, in addition to an import customs, there
is even an export duty on coffee which gives the
little, uniformed officials more to do.
My experience with these officials gave the
first insight into the suspicion with which a
stranger is regarded in that country during
troublous times, and nearly all times are more
or less unsettled under the present government.
The two officials carefully scrutinized every article.
A number of letters that I had received
in Mexico attracted their attention, both officials
carefully scrutinizing each one until they
reached a letter of introduction to “His most
Excellent and Illustrious Señor Don ——,”
a member of the President’s Cabinet, when they
carefully placed everything back and politely
told me that there was no duty to be paid. The
name of one so close to the President seemed
to remove all suspicion of smuggling at least.
I was obliged to give them my name and destination,
as I had already done at the pier, and
was met by an officer at the door who conducted
me to the commandante’s office, where my whole
pedigree was asked; and again at the station
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the same interrogatories had to be answered.
All of these experiences were amusing rather
than otherwise, for no discourtesy was shown
and all the soldiers were polite. They simply
served to break the monotony of tedious travel.
“Is there a revolution in Guatemala now?”
This was about the first question I asked after
sitting down to breakfast in the dining-room
of a small boarding-house run by a German
woman. The question was prompted by definite
reports which had reached us at San Benito,
Mexico, that ex-President Barillas was at
Tapachula with about twenty-five followers
“armed to the teeth.” At any time, however,
it would be the proper question to ask at breakfast,
or not later than dinner, for revolutions
are the only things that occur in a hurry down
there.
Absolute silence followed the question for
some time. Finally, a native Guatemaltecan
(thus it is they write it and not Guatemalan)
answered with “No, there is no revolution.”
After this man had gone out, an American
who had been sitting at the table took up the
question and said that there was considerable
talk of a revolution because of dissatisfaction,
and the government was very much alarmed.
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He added, “We have to be very careful what
we say, as spies are everywhere, and the man
who first answered you is one of them.”
Champerico is a town of perhaps fifteen
hundred inhabitants and not a very attractive
place, as a great part of it is made up of the
poor, native quarters. It is usually very hot
in the sun, although pleasant in the shade. The
railway promised an early escape, but the prospective
passengers were informed that the
train was off the track just outside the town
and it was late in the afternoon before the
train finally started. The train only went as
far as Retalhuleu that night, about twenty
miles, as the engineer would not risk running
after it became dark. The country through
which the road passed exhibited a rank and
luxuriant growth of tropical foliage, the product
of a swampy soil and moist climate.
That same evening in the Hotel Pantoja, a
very good ten dollar a day hotel, while sitting
in the office engaged in conversation with
another American, the landlord, who did not
understand English, walked by us twice with
a warning gesture to be careful what was said.
He afterwards explained that there was another
American present in the room who was looked
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upon as a spy. This alleged spy I met on the
train later, and he proved to be an aide on the
staff of President Cabrera. Although a citizen
of the United States by birth, he was a man,
who, as I afterwards learned, from personal
observation, stood quite high in government
circles and would scarcely have been a good
man to entrust with any plots against the government
of his chief.
We left Retalhuleu the following morning
before daylight for the ride to Guatemala City.
The distance is about one hundred and fifty
miles, but it was a fourteen hour journey according
to the schedule, which is a fair illustration
of the speed of railroad travel in this
country. The train was a mixed one made up
of freight and first and second class passenger
coaches, the latter being continually crowded
with Indians. After a soldier had taken the
names and destination of all the passengers the
train was allowed to proceed.
The mail coach on this train consisted of a
small corner in one car and was in charge of
one clerk. This fellow got off at a station for
some purpose but lingered a little too long, and
the train had started when he reached it. He
was afraid to jump on the train in motion and
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followed us as far as we could see him, waving
his hands wildly and racing in the hot sun. The
conductor was obdurate and would not stop for
him, so the last half day’s run was made without
a mail clerk and I do not know what the
people did for their mail. As a rule, however,
that is not very heavy. The conductor dismissed
the matter by saying that “he had no
business to leave the train.”
Through this part of the republic the cochineal
used to be cultivated extensively. The
cochineal is a little insect which clings to the
leaves of the nopal, a species of the cactus. The
insects on the leaves give it a very peculiar
“warty” appearance. Just before the rainy
season begins the leaves of the nopal are cut
off and hung in a dry place. Then they are
scraped, the insects being killed by being baked
in a hot oven which gives them a brownish
colour and makes a scarlet or crimson dye;
or, they are put into boiling water, when they
become black and furnish a blue or purple dye.
When prepared for market they are worth several
dollars per pound, as it is slow and tedious
work to separate the insects from the cactus.
It is estimated that there are seventy thousand
insects to the pound. When you consider that
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more than a million tons of the cochineal dye
were exported in a single year at one time, a
slight idea may be gained of the magnitude of
the industry before the cheaper chemical dyes
destroyed the market for the cochineal. At
present the insect is cultivated only for local
use, as the natives prefer it to colour their
gayly-hued cotton and woollen fabrics. It can
be said of it that the colour will stand almost
any amount of rain and sunshine and the tints
are as beautiful and pure as one could desire.
The greater part of the land along the line
of this railway is cultivated after a fashion,
but only in a careless and desultory way. None
of the towns are very large and the villages
poor but fairly numerous. At Escuintla the
passengers were obliged to change to the Central
Railroad and take the train which had
come up from the coast on its way to the capital.
After leaving Escuintla the road skirts
around the base of Agua and begins to climb
up the mountain range. In the next thirteen
miles the road ascends more than twenty-five
hundred feet, which takes it into another zone.
The track crosses numerous large and deep
gorges. The tangled, tropical forests have disappeared
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and coffee and cane plantations become
numerous. The smooth slopes of Agua
and Fuego are rich in cultivation. At nearly
every station women appear with all kinds of
fruits for sale, as well as eggs, cakes, dulces
(candies), etc. Never did I eat more delicious
pineapples than those secured right here. They
were great, luscious, toothsome fruits. Oranges
cannot compare with the cultivated and developed
fruit of California, but bananas were fine
and much better than the fruit generally sold
at our own fruit stands.
Lake Amatitlan is passed and a pretty little
body of water it is nestling in the hollow of the
hills. There are many boiling springs near
its shores, which show how near it is to the
unsettled forces of nature. The washwomen
take advantage of this water heated by nature,
as it saves them trouble and fuel and is always
ready for use. The villages become more numerous
as the city is approached, and factory
buildings and the white walls of the haciendas
which dot the landscape here and there make
a pleasing contrast. Some lava beds are passed
showing that nature has created disturbances
in the past quite freely. At last the final ridge
is passed, and there, nestling in the valley, is
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the City of Guatemala. Its situation is somewhat
similar to the valley of Mexico, though
it is not nearly so large; neither are the surrounding
barriers of the mountains so high;
nor are the lakes present, which gave the City
of Mexico the name of the New-World Venice.
A couple of years ago it was impossible to
travel by rail all the way from Guatemala City
to the Gulf coast, and it was necessary to leave
the city on the back of that sadly-wise, much-neglected
creature—the mule, for there was
no carriage road. This method of travel entails
hardships, but I believe that it has its
compensations. Byron says:
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“Though sluggards deem it but a foolish chase,
And marvel men should quit their easy chair,
The toilsome way, and long, long league to trace,
Oh, there is sweetness in the mountain air,
And life, that bloated ease can never hope to share.”
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THE VOLCANO AGUA.
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[Illustration: THE VOLCANO AGUA.]
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Two other Americans, residents of the country,
were going and invited me to join them.
The liveries wanted three hundred dollars each
from us for three saddle mules, a cargo mule
and mozo (servant). An old Indian in the
country furnished the same for sixty-five dollars
each—just about five dollars in gold—which
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was cheap enough for a four days’ journey
to the railroad and back.
It was the intention of our party to start at
five o’clock in the morning, as we had to cover
forty-eight miles that day in order to reach a
decent stopping-place for the night. The old
Indian did not show up until nearly six, and
he then came very much excited for some one
had broken into his stable and stolen a saddle
and a couple of bridles. He was able, however,
to fit us out in fairly respectable style, and we
started on our long and—to me—uncomfortable
but never-to-be-forgotten journey. It
was just at sunrise and the beauty of the picture
as we left the city and climbed the encircling
girdle of hills will ever remain with
me. I could not refrain from looking back several
times at the historic old city with its low
buildings and lofty churches which seemed to
have such an unusual height. The bells were
ringing out the mass and all was quiet, for the
traffic had not yet begun in the city. In the
distance the great volcano Agua looked down
upon the slumbering city from its stately, cloud-flecked
cone.
A few drivers of oxen had started their awkward
trains for the day’s work. The skill with
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which these drivers guided, turned, stopped,
and started these bulky “critters,” who draw
their loads entirely from the yokes attached
to their horns, is remarkable. No goad or whip
was needed, for a long slim stick, and a shrill,
sibilant hiss, seemed all that was necessary
to guide them. With heads bowed in submission,
these mild-eyed beasts of burden and
faithful friends of man seemed to obey the
carreteros implicitly except when, once in a
while, an unruly one might display a slight perverseness.
Then it was a revelation to listen
to the blood-curdling blasphemy that poured
forth in an unremitting stream from the amber-hued
driver’s lips.
For about twenty miles there is a rough carriage
road, and many journeyed in vehicles that
far in order to avoid as much of the long ride
on mules as possible. The scenery is beautiful
as the road winds along near a stream for a
long distance. We caught many glimpses of
domestic scenes in the little huts along the road
where the chickens, pigs and dogs seemed as
much at home in the house, which usually consists
of one room, as any of the human members.
One writer gives an account of stopping
at one of these huts at night. He says that
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OX-CART AND NATIVE DRIVER.
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[Illustration: OX-CART AND NATIVE DRIVER.]
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“ten human beings, twelve chickens, three
pigs, and insects innumerable passed the night
in a room not more than twenty feet square.”
I can well believe in the literal truth of this
statement from the sights that I saw all over
the country.
The most interesting feature of the journey
was the constant stream of men and women on
the road, most of them headed for Guatemala
City. The visitor to this country who confines
his journeying to the iron horse misses these
unique experiences and can not get so good an
insight into the country and its people as he
who is willing to endure a little hardship.
After about a seven hours’ continuous journey
we reached a place called Agua Caliente
(the warm water) where we were to obtain our
dinner. This was an event anxiously awaited
by me, for I was saddle-weary and nearly exhausted,
not being accustomed to the saddle,
and especially to mountain roads. Imagine my
disappointment when the “posada” consisted
of a poor cottage where a half dozen naked
children were running around, none of whom
would satisfy the modern conception of cleanliness.
The only articles of furniture were
some benches and a poor excuse for a table.
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Even tables are dispensed with in some of these
houses and meals are eaten off the shelves.
The fewer the articles of furniture, however,
the fewer lurking places are provided for cockroaches,
scorpions or centipedes. The kitchen
outfit consisted of a sort of stove made of plaster
and sticks, a pot or two, a tin pan, a few
earthen jugs, and a good metate on which to
beat the tortillas into shape.
After some parleying the good housewife
prepared for us tortillas, frijoles negros (black
beans), some soft boiled eggs, and coffee.
These people make a coffee essence by grinding
and roasting, or burning, the coffee berries,
which are then pulverized and boiled for hours.
This essence is placed in bottles which are set
on the table along with a jug of hot water so
that you can dilute it to suit yourself. Although
it tastes rather bitter at first, it has the
merit of being a great stimulant, as I can testify
from personal experience, and I grew to
rather like it. The tortillas are made of corn
which has first been soaked in lime water until
pasty, and is then rolled, patted and tossed, and
made into cakes in appearance about like pancakes.
They require more labour in preparation
than almost any other kind of food. Black
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beans are one of the staple foods of the country
and will be found not only in the humble cottage
of the peon at each meal, but on the table
of the rich man at least twice a day.
I wanted a drink of water and so requested
of the man of the house as soon as we arrived.
“In a moment,” he said. In fifteen or twenty
minutes I asked again for the water. The answer
was a “momentita,” a little moment. I
spoke of it several times, but after an hour and
half’s rest we left and the “momentita” had
not yet elapsed. It is simply an instance of the
character of the people.
Journeying across country by mule, and over
a rough road, is not a very sociable way to
travel. My mule was the slowest gaited one
and persisted in lagging behind about a quarter
of a mile until I became too weary to spur him
to greater effort. There was scarcely a mile
of level road, but it was first up hill and then
down, and the latter was hardest on the rider.
The path in places was very narrow so that
two mules could scarcely pass. On one side
would be a sheer declivity of several hundred
feet at the bottom of which a roaring mountain
stream ran with deafening noise. On the other
side was a wall of rock. The mule persisted in
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walking almost on the very edge much to my
discomfort. I let him have his own way, however,
according to advice, and had no reason
to regret it. A surer footed animal never existed
than the little tan mule allotted to me, for
on dangerous paths he never made a misstep.
Some of the descents were so steep that he was
obliged to zigzag across the path to prevent
slipping and possible fatality.
As we reached higher altitudes the views became
more and more magnificent. We passed
through groves of oaks and pines and encountered
relatives of the thistle and sunflower that,
in this land of botanical exuberance, have attained
to the dignity of shrubs and trees.
Olive-green mistletoe, in masses several feet
in diameter, hung from high branches and there
were birds so gay of plumage that they seemed
like fragments of a disintegrated rainbow as
they floated by us.
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Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York.
JOURNEYING ACROSS COUNTRY BY MULE.
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[Illustration:
Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York.
JOURNEYING ACROSS COUNTRY BY MULE.]
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It was four o’clock in the afternoon when we
reached the crest of the mountain. One of my
companions pointed out a village in the distance.
“That,” he said, “is Sanarate, where
we will stop to-night.” It seemed to me that
we ought to reach it in about an hour. Our
little party started to descend and we were an
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hour and half in reaching a level surface. Then
we crossed a stream, went up a hill and still
on, and always on, until darkness had fallen.
Had I been alone I should have dropped off
under a tree, or at a hut alongside the road,
or done anything but go on. And yet I could
not be blind to the magnificence of the night,
for the skies were brilliant with thousands of
stars unseen in these northern latitudes. At
times I could forget my troubles and see only
the blazing, radiant firmament. Thus it was
that I followed the leaders, and finally, weary
and aching, we entered the courtyard of a
cheery-looking, comfortable hotel where the
jolly German host made us welcome to the best
his house afforded. Never did the smell of
supper seem more refreshing, and never did
palatable food taste better than it did that
night to me in the fonda of Sanarate.
Here I experienced a sample of a native bed,
if such an arrangement of folding sticks and
tight-stretched canvas can be called a bed. It
is a simple cot of canvas without a mattress, a
microscopic pillow, and a few covers. One
writer graphically describes his experience
with such a cot: “I have tossed on this cot
racked with fever, listening day and night to
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the discords of a neighbouring graphophone
hoarsely venting grand opera and negro minstrelsy,
my temperature at one hundred and
seven, and with two hundred grains of quinine
scattered through my anatomy. I wish my
worst enemy a no more hideous experience.”
I was, however, weary enough to sleep on a
stone floor and never slept sounder than I did
that night on that hard, unyielding cot, and
awakened in the morning refreshed and ready
for the remaining twenty-four miles of the
journey.
Bright and early the next morning our little
cavalcade left this cheerful hostelry and wended
its way on toward the Gulf. We were thankful
indeed that our lot had been cast in such a
pleasant place. This hotel was made possible
by the number of foreigners engaged in surveying
and grading the new railroad which
passed through this village. Few towns of this
size in Guatemala can boast of a hotel, and, in
the absence of such accommodations, the traveller
is either obliged to take refuge at a native
hut or in the cabildo, the public hall, which is
always free and open to the traveller and is
generally anything but an attractive place, for
cleanliness is not one of its attributes, as it
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seems to be no one’s particular duty to look
after it.
There were no such steep ascents or descents
this day as we had on the first day’s journey
through the mountainous region, although we
were constantly going down into a lower altitude.
Scarcely had we left the village until our
path was sheltered from the sun by a wonderful
curtain of vegetation that seemed to belong
to fairy land. Woven into it were fantastic
ferns, lianes that swung from the tops of lofty
trees, splendid orchids and bromeliads, and the
rustling, waving fronds of many palms. It
was such a road as I had never seen before.
Reaching the end of this enchanted road I saw
my companions disappear down a densely-wooded
ravine, for my mule was lagging behind
as usual. I did not see them for more than an
hour, as the ravine twisted and turned so much
that one’s range of vision was very small, although
the scenery was beautiful. The path
crossed and re-crossed the little stream many
times. I grew rather alarmed when the paths
forked, but trusted to my nondescript steed
rather from necessity than confidence. We
finally left the ravine and came out upon the
first level road we had travelled since leaving
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Guatemala City, and there were my companions
at just about the regulation distance in
advance.
The number of natives travelling on foot the
same way we were going was unusually large
and kept increasing each mile. All the by-paths
contained their quota, who joined those on the
main road, like the little rivulets which made
up the great stream. All were dressed in their
best, for that is usually about all they possess;
at least their clothes were freshly washed and
looked unusually well. Men, women and children,
all in family groups, moved along at a
rapid pace as if drawn by a powerful magnet.
The number of Indians kept increasing more
and more for the next few miles, each carrying
their baskets of food and many stopping along
the road to eat. At last we reached a town
where a fiesta was in progress, and this seemed
to be their Mecca. All along the road from the
capital we had noticed decorated arches erected
over the road every few miles. A bishop had
come to this village and these arches had been
erected in his honour. It was the first time for
nine years that a clergyman had been in that
village. It was the duty of a priest living about
thirty miles away to come here at least once
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each year to perform marriage ceremonies,
baptisms, and other religious ceremonies. He
started each year, but failed to come because he
always got thoroughly saturated with liquor
each time before he had travelled this far.
One incident happened here which rather
discomfited an American liquor salesman whom
I met. He had sent several mule cargoes of
liquor over for the train that we were attempting
to make in order to ship it to Honduras.
It is necessary for each driver in charge of
such merchandise to have a “guia” showing
that all government fees had been paid. The
driver did not have his in proper shape, so the
commandante arrested the whole outfit, mules,
driver, and whisky. They extracted a few gallons
of the liquid cheer to aid in the proper
celebration of the priest’s coming, and then let
the driver proceed unmolested.
A journey of a few more hours brought us
to Rancho San Agustin, or, as it is generally
called, El Rancho, the end of our mule journey,
for a train at that time ran once a week to
Puerto Barrios. This train left El Rancho on
Sunday morning at 6.30, taking two days for
the one hundred and twenty-nine miles to the
Gulf, and just making connection with the
// 066.png
.pn +1
weekly mail steamer for New Orleans. Although
we had travelled forty-eight miles the
first day and twenty-four miles the second day
by one o’clock in the afternoon, our boy mozo,
who took a different route, and walked all the
way, driving the cargo mule loaded with our
baggage before him, arrived just about one
hour later than we did. Several other passengers
for the weekly train were already there,
having started a day earlier than ourselves.
Our hotel was a big two-story frame building—the
first frame building that I had seen in
the country. It looked almost colossal by the
side of a little thatch cottage in an adjoining
enclosure, and had been built by the railroad
company for its employees and patrons. It cost
only twenty dollars a day at this hostelry in
the stage money of the country.
.if h
.il fn=i067.jpg w=600px id=i067
.ca
SCENE AT EL RANCHO.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: SCENE AT EL RANCHO.]
.sp 2
.if-
This unfilled gap in the steel highway between
the two great oceans was a blessing and
delight, for a more interesting region would
be hard to find. Across the great Montagua
Valley to the north were the beautiful Sierras
de las Minas, whose slopes are kept always
bright and verdant by perpetual, though ever-changing,
clouds and mists. Even though they
are not snow-capped and rugged like the Alps,
// 067.png
.pn +1
// 068.png
// 069.png
these mountains of Guatemala have a weirdness
and fascination that it is hard to describe.
Everywhere the cacti-like trees reared their
thorny, spreading arms. Though the grasses
of the valley were sere and dry, for this was
the dry season, they were not dead, for the first
few days of summer rains transform them into
a carpet of vivid green.
The view from El Rancho is magnificent. It
is in a valley on the bank of a stream, while the
range of mountains towers above it in the distance.
On the slopes the green fields glistened
in the sun. Although the sun was hot and dry
in the village, over on the hills it was raining,
and we could hear peals of thunder and see the
bright flashes of lightning which accompanied
the tropical outpour. A small stream that
came from that direction soon became a raging
torrent, thus showing the violence of the storm.
It seemed good to hear the clanging of the
bell and the tooting of the whistle of an American
locomotive early the next morning. By
the noise it made one would think that it was
the overland limited impatient to be off. When
all was ready we started out and at no time did
the train move faster than eight miles an hour.
No one of the passengers, however, after looking
// 070.png
.pn +1
at the track and rails, where there were
scarcely two ties to each rail that would hold
a spike in many places, urged the engineer to
greater speed. The necessary water for the
engine was supplied on several occasions by
water carried from a stream to the tender by
a bucket-brigade which passed the bucket from
hand to hand along to its destination.
El Rancho is just within the border of the
tierra caliente, and the graceful cocoanut palm
is to be seen there as well as the tree cacti,
which increase in size and number according to
elevation. The presence of the cacti is a sure
indication of a dry season which prevails for
several months each year. The green cocoanut
furnishes one of the most refreshing and delightful
drinks of the tropics. The natives take
the cocoanut, chop off the end with a machete,
and drink the fluid that it contains directly
from the shell. This native weapon shaped
somewhat like an old-fashioned corn cutter is
a very useful instrument with these people. It
answers for a shovel, knife, axe, pump-handle,
fishing rod, and weapon of defence as well as
offence.
Gualan, fifty-five miles from the starting
point, marked the end of the first day’s journey.
// 071.png
.pn +1
It is a small town made up of a few adobe
buildings and many thatch cottages of natives.
It is a picturesque place on the high banks
above the Montagua River, which at this point
is a very swift stream. A picturesque ferryman
attracted my attention and I waited almost
an hour to get a good picture of him and
his dugout canoe. When he was in position the
sun would not shine and when the sun was visible
the boatman was missing from the picture,
and it was necessary to use the very quickest
exposure because of the swiftness of the stream.
A loud-voiced American with a big revolver
in his holster, looking like a cheap imitation of
the Western desperado, had attracted my attention
on the train, and he proved to be the
landlord of the half-caste hotel in this town.
As it was the only stopping-place in Gualan
there was no choice for the traveller. As the
evening hours wore away and his stock of
liquors was reduced by his own patronage of
the bar, the landlord became more noisy and
quarrelsome until one man took offence and
said a few sharp words which stopped his
braggadocia manner. It looked for a while as
though the quarrel would end in a shooting,
and would have done so, if the landlord had
// 072.png
.pn +1
not calmed down and retracted some of his
statements.
Many of the Americans scattered down
through the tropical countries are not very
representative characters. Alienated from all
home influences, they set up an alliance with
some native woman and abandon themselves
to the cheer of the cantina, or saloon. Many
of these men perhaps would only drink moderately
at home, if at all, but in these tropical
climes they let down every bar to vice and pander
to their baser natures. I will never forget
one American railroad man whom I met in
Guatemala City one morning. He had just
begun his drinking and was very communicative.
We were at the station and he looked
around and said: “They try to keep a fellow
in a perpetual state of intoxication down here.
See! there is a cantina, and there is another,
and another. You go to the Plaza and it is
cantina everywhere. I have been trying for
two years to save enough money to get back
to the States, but they won’t let me. Last
month, I earned $800 (about $60 in gold) and
I have only got a few dollars left.” Later in
the day I saw him at the bull-ring throwing
paper dollars at a crowd of boys who followed
// 073.png
.pn +1
// 074.png
// 075.png
him about until the police drove them away.
Soon he will join the ever-increasing band of
American tramps that one finds there. Beggars
are numerous in the country, but they are
not all natives, nor Indians, and the American
can be found among them fully as abject and
degraded as any others of that class.
.if h
.il fn=i073.jpg w=600px id=i073
.ca
A VILLAGE NEAR THE COAST.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A VILLAGE NEAR THE COAST.]
.sp 2
.if-
There are only a few villages from Gualan
to Puerto Barrios and they are not very populous.
They looked almost like African towns
with their huts made of palm and bamboo. The
paths in the villages were all narrow, and grass
and weed grown. There were thorns to scratch
the bare feet and hooked seeds of plants that
cling to the clothes—but this can be duplicated
almost anywhere. The building of a hut is a
simple proposition, for all the Indian has to
do is to go into the forest and cut some bamboo
poles and some palm leaves or banana stalks
for a roof, and he has all the material necessary.
A few poles are set into the ground, establishing
the size, and to these, by means of
vines, are attached many horizontal reeds or
poles. These may be close together or several
inches apart, and sometimes mortar or stones
are used to fill in the wall. The same style of
steep roof is always made. Sometimes the entrance
// 076.png
.pn +1
is closed by a hinged door, but a piece
of loosely swinging cloth answers the same purpose
and does just as well.
After an all-day’s journey we at last reached
Puerto Barrios. The nearer we approached
the coast the denser became the vegetation and
the more impenetrable the forests, or jungles,
which is really a more appropriate term.
Near Puerto Barrios and a few miles to the
west is the port of Santo Tomas. It is situated
on a bay which makes a good harbour and was
established in 1843 by a colony of Belgians.
Like many tropical colonies it proved a failure
because of the lack of foresight on the part of
the promoters and an absolute ignorance of
tropical conditions and the precautions necessary
for health and success. Several hundred
people comprised the original colony, but it soon
dwindled through deaths and departures until
now it is a small village although it is still a
port of entry. The railroad terminus being
established at its near-by rival sealed the doom
of its future prospects, although its natural
advantages are probably superior to its more
fortunate neighbour. The fate of this colony
is simply another illustration of the care and
foresight necessary on the part of those seeking
// 077.png
.pn +1
// 078.png
// 079.png
to establish colonies in a new country and
under conditions so much different from those
with which the prospective colonists are familiar.
.if h
.il fn=i077.jpg w=600px id=i077
.ca
PLANTATION HOUSE ON LAKE IZABAL.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: PLANTATION HOUSE ON LAKE IZABAL.]
.sp 2
.if-
It would be unfair to the reader and an injustice
to the country to leave this coast without
a description of Lake Izabal and the river
leading to it, for this river rivals the far-famed
Saguenay in beauty and grandeur of scenery.
It is a sail of less than two hours across the
choppy seas of the Gulf of Amatique from
Puerto Barrios to Livingston, which is situated
at the mouth of the Rio Dulce (the sweet river),
the entrance to which is through a high wall
of cliffs. For the first few miles after leaving
Livingston on the way up the river the shores
are lined with some fine banana plantations
and a succession of gently sloping and verdant
hills that reach an altitude of a thousand feet.
To the north are the Sierra de Santa Cruz
mountains running parallel to the river, and to
the south and in plain view are the more distant
Sierras de Las Minas, both of these ranges
being covered to their very summits with many
shades of rich green foliage. Then after passing
a bend in the river the little steamer enters
a narrow canyon with towering cliffs on either
// 080.png
.pn +1
side, and for several miles there is a succession
of scenes of wild beauty.
At one point the rocky walls rise almost perpendicularly
from the water to a height of several
hundred feet. Instead of barren cliffs,
however, the sides are almost completely covered
with vegetation so that the rocks are seldom
visible. From every foothold springs a
dense growth of tropical vegetation and from
every crevice hang vines and shrubbery swaying
like green curtains in the breeze, and dipping
their foliage in the river. Higher up are
giant trees, covered with thousands of beautiful
orchids, which cast their shadows in the deep
blue waters underneath. All of this renders
the scene one of dazzling beauty when the overhead
skies are clear and the bright sun brings
out the contrasts of sunlight and shadow.
.if h
.il fn=i081.jpg w=600px id=i081
.ca
LAKE IZABAL.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: LAKE IZABAL.]
.sp 2
.if-
At last the towering walls become broken and
finally recede, banana plantations again appear,
and the river broadens out into the Gulf
of Golfete, which is a pretty little body of water
about two miles broad and eight or ten miles
in length, and is dotted with a number of pretty
little green islands. Another connecting stream
leads into that inland sea called Lake Izabal.
On one bank of this stream stands the old
// 081.png
.pn +1
// 082.png
// 083.png
Spanish fort of San Felipe, which was never
very formidable and is now only a joke as fortifications
go. In the olden time Port Izabal on
the lake was the principal port and the approach
was protected by this fortification. It
is nearly forty-eight miles from Livingston.
The high walls stand out boldly, but they are
partly covered with climbing vines and mosses.
It affords, however, a fine view of Lake Izabal
with its broad expanse of blue waters and its
shores a seemingly impenetrable jungle, except
where a cleared space marks the location of a
banana plantation. Its wooded shores are low,
but the land rises gently to the background of
mountains many miles away. Occasionally
showers of short duration follow along the
mountain slopes, and when the clouds have
passed away the most brilliant of rainbows
appears. As there are showers within view
almost every day it might almost be called a
land of rainbows. The waters of the lake are
alive with many varieties of fish, the quiet
coves and bays are the haunts of the alligator,
while in the jungle may be found the small deer
and bear of the country.
The old town of Izabal, once the port and
a prosperous place, but now dwindled to a
// 084.png
.pn +1
straggling, thatch-roofed village, reposes in
perpetual siesta on the southern shore of the
lake. Santa Cruz is another village on the
north shore, where there is a sawmill and a
small collection of native huts and a few better
buildings which house the white inhabitant.
A number of small streams pour their waters
into Lake Izabal. The principal stream, however,
is the Polochic, which is navigable as far
as Panzos, a distance of about thirty or forty
miles, for light-draught steamers. There is
a regular weekly service maintained by a
steamer which brings down the mails, passengers
and freight from Coban, the capital of Alta
Verapaz, to make connection with the weekly
steamer sailings for New Orleans. The river
is not very wide, the course rather tortuous and
the current swift, especially in the rainy seasons,
so that boating is quite an exciting experience
for the novice. This route was formerly
and still is the main trade route for the natives
of the Coban and Peten district who bring their
produce down the Polochic and Chocon rivers
in their dugouts, called pitpans, to the lake and
then to the markets of Livingston. It is quite
a common sight to pass their boats loaded with
cocoanuts, bananas, plantains or other fruits
// 085.png
.pn +1
or fish, with the brown native and his wife industriously
paddling the same.
There are few places in the world where
there is such an abundance of life, both plant
and animal, as in the Lake Izabal district.
Perennial moisture reigns in the soil and uninterrupted
summer in the air, so that vegetation
luxuriates in ceaseless activity all the year
around. To this genial influence of ever-present
moisture and heat must be ascribed the infinite
variety of trees and plants. The trees do
not grow in clusters or groups of single species
as in our northern woods, but the different varieties
crowd each other in unsocial rivalry,
each trying to overtop the other. The autumn
tints of browns and yellows, crimsons and purples,
are as unknown as the cold sleep of winter.
The ceaseless round of ever-active life might
seem to make the forest scenery of the tropics
monotonous, but there is such an untold variety
and beauty in it that the scene never grows
tiresome. The beautiful description of spring
with its awakening life by Lowell is applicable
every day in the year in this region:—
.pm verse-start
“Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
// 086.png
.pn +1
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
—————
And there’s never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature’s palace.”
.pm verse-end
The last two verses are especially true, for
the insect life is almost incredibly abundant.
Mosquitoes and sandflies there are in great
numbers to annoy the visitor, and beautifully
coloured butterflies upon which to feast one’s
eyes. I met three naturalists, who were called
“bug hunters” by the people, one of whom
was making a collection of dragon-flies, and
another butterflies, and the third was gathering
specimens of ferns. All of them had visited
many parts of tropical America, but they found
this section the most fruitful field in each line
of research. Bugs and beetles, bees and wasps,
ants and plant-lice, moths and spiders, and all
the other little crawling and flying forms of life
are innumerable in the number of individuals
and a multitude in the variety of species represented.
The bright sparkling pools are the haunts of
myriads of dainty little humming birds. One
// 087.png
.pn +1
naturalist has figured that these little fairy-like
creatures equal in number all of the other birds
together. They may be seen darting in and
out among the flowers or, poised on wings, and
clothed in their purple, golden or emerald
beauty, hanging suspended in the air. Then,
after a startled look at the intruder upon their
haunts, turning first one eye and then the other,
they will suddenly disappear like a flash of
light.
// 088.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch03
CHAPTER III||THE CAPITAL
.sp 2
Guatemala City long ago laid aside its swaddling
clothes. While Boston was yet a mere
village, the capital of Guatemala was the abode
of one hundred thousand people, and was surpassed
in importance only by Lima, Peru, and
the City of Mexico. It was the home of some
of the most learned men in Spanish-America,
the site of great schools of theology and science,
the seat of the Inquisition and the headquarters
of the Jesuits. The present Guatemala City,
however, is the third one to bear that name,
the first two having been destroyed by volcanic
disturbances. It is now the commercial, political
and social centre of the republic, and in it
is concentrated the wealth, culture and refinement
of the whole country. Because of its superiority
over other Central American municipalities
Guatemala City has been called the
“Little Paris,” a designation very pleasing to
the inhabitants of the metropolis of Central
// 089.png
.pn +1
America. Its similarity to Paris is about as
great as that of St. Augustine to New York.
The present city was founded in 1776, just
about the time that the American patriots were
breaking the shackles which bound them to the
mother country. The former capital, now
known as Antigua, was located about thirty
miles distant, near the base of the volcanoes
Agua (water) and Fuego (fire), the latter so
called because formerly it constantly emitted
smoke and flames. Suddenly, one evening,
earthquake rumblings were heard, intense darkness
spread over the valley, and without warning
a great deluge of water overwhelmed the
city, demolishing the houses and destroying
eight thousand of the inhabitants. It was considered
a judgment of heaven because of certain
impious remarks that had been made. The
natural explanation is that the crater of the
volcano, then called Hunapu, had become filled
with water, the earthquake rent the crater, and
the water rushing down in torrents acquired
terrific force in its descent of several thousand
feet. After the first destruction in this unusual
and terrible way, in 1541, the city had been rebuilt
in grander style than before and the inhabitants
rested in fancied security within the
// 090.png
.pn +1
shadow of the lofty volcanic peaks which
abound here, and which fill the visitor with a
strange awe. These volcanoes had been baptized
and received into the church and were
supposed to be on their good behaviour. The
baptism of the volcanoes did not seem to have
a permanent effect upon their disposition, for
another eruption accompanied by a severe
earthquake destroyed the second capital in
1773.
.if h
.il fn=i091.jpg w=600px id=i091
.ca
A STREET OF ANTIGUA WITH THE VOLCANO OF AGUA IN THE
BACKGROUND.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A STREET OF ANTIGUA WITH THE VOLCANO OF AGUA IN THE
BACKGROUND.]
.sp 2
.if-
The city of ruins as it exists to-day is a most
interesting place to visit, and several thousand
people still make it their home. Nearly every
ruin houses a family who manage in some way
to secure shelter within the broken walls and
make a living by carving cane heads or making
the doll images and effigies which are used in
religious celebrations. The images are about
five or six inches high, representing the nativity
of Christ and are used at Christmas. It was
built on much the same general plan as the
present capital, with narrow streets laid out at
right angles to each other. It was well provided
with religious edifices, for there are the
ruins of almost sixty churches that can be
traced. They were all of solid masonry, many
feet in thickness with vaulted roofs, and must
// 091.png
.pn +1
// 092.png
// 093.png
have cost immense sums of money in material
and transportation, for much of the material
was imported from Spain. Now these vaulted
arches support masses of vegetation, and the
bells which formerly called Spaniard and Indian
to service are silent. The grand old cathedral
still stands a sad reminder of its former
magnificence. Within its shattered walls the
service of the church used to be performed in
all its solemnity, and the burning incense filled
every nook of the vast edifice with its fragrance.
Indians with baskets of fowls on their
back, and Spaniards whose very shoulders
drooped with the burden of elongated names
and lofty titles, knelt by a common genuflection
before these magnificent altars.
A number of the old buildings yet bear the
arms of Castile and Leon—two castles and
two lions rampant. Some of the images of the
saints still stand in their niches on the façades
of the churches, which causes them to be looked
upon with special veneration by the ignorant
natives, because only a direct interposition of
Providence could have kept them unharmed
during the frightful undulations of the earthquake.
The once imposing square is now
dotted here and there with the huts and booths
// 094.png
.pn +1
of the market people, and the present town is
a sad reminder of a once proud and powerful
city. After seeing the ruins you know that the
rickety old coach with its tires half off, which
brought you there, and the harness held on the
horses (or mules) by thongs, is just in harmony
with the place itself.
The present capital has been comparatively
free from these volcanic disturbances, although
several volcanic peaks are plainly visible in
this translucent atmosphere, which equals or
surpasses that of Colorado for clearness. It
is situated in a long, narrow valley with a
slight slope to the east. The hills surrounding
the valley are indescribably soft and beautiful
with deep shadowed ravines which contrast
with the green vegetation in the rainy season.
The grandeur of the scene is centred in three
towering volcanoes that rise sharp and distinct
against the blue sky—the symmetrical outline
of Agua, the serrated ridge of Fuego and the
isolated cone of Pacaya.
.if h
.il fn=i095.jpg w=600px id=i095
.ca
THE OLD CHURCH OF EL CARMEN, GUATEMALA CITY.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: THE OLD CHURCH OF EL CARMEN, GUATEMALA CITY.]
.sp 2
.if-
From the church of El Carmen, situated on
an eminence in the northeastern part of the
city, a fine view is obtained of the city and valley.
This church is made picturesque by the
// 095.png
.pn +1
// 096.png
// 097.png
outcroppings of quartz and the oriental appearance
of the building. It is more like a
small fortress, with its little round tower, and
the gray stone moss-grown wall surrounding
the hill, than a religious edifice. It is older
than the city, and in the bell tower is a bell
dated 1748, more than a quarter of a century
before the founding of the capital at this location.
The interior is dark and gloomy and its
walls are hung with examples of crude art.
Behind the church the plain stretches away to
the purple hills. In front and nestling at the
foot of the hill is the capital. The city is compactly
built, about two miles square, with
peaked and flat roofs covered with brown tiles,
and walls variously coloured, but rather dirty.
The only contrast to the rather dull colour is
the vivid green foliage in the open courts of
the houses. Because the houses are nearly all
one-storied, the twenty or more churches appear
unusually lofty and imposing. In particular,
the grand old Cathedral in the centre of
the city overtowers every other structure in
its majesty. In another direction, on the opposite
side of the city, the walls and towers of the
Castillo de San Jose stand out against the background
// 098.png
.pn +1
of hills and give a semblance of military
strength to the otherwise peaceful appearance
of the valley.
Guatemala City is nearly five thousand feet
above the level of the rolling seas and enjoys
a wholesome and salubrious climate. Of this
too much cannot be said, for it is truly delightful.
With an average temperature of seventy-two
degrees it has no extremes of heat and cold,
and the thermometer seldom varies more than
twenty to twenty-five degrees during the entire
year. In the so-called winter season the mercury
rarely goes below sixty-five degrees and
the summer heat does not usually exceed eighty-five
degrees. Foreigners who live there and
travellers who visit there fall in love with the
climate, and, when once acclimated, do not want
to leave. Seventy-five thousand or more people,
Spaniards, Indians and Ladinos, with a sprinkling
of Germans and Americans, are trying
to solve the problem of life and existence under
such favourable skies; and it is no wonder that
the strenuous life of our American cities has
few disciples in this favoured valley. Life runs
along a smooth, easy pathway, with nothing to
rush you, and it is equally as impossible to
hurry any one else. A newly arrived American
// 099.png
.pn +1
// 100.png
// 101.png
may start out with an impulsive eagerness to
do something, but, after a few futile attempts
to hasten results, will soon yield to the inevitable
trend of delay in this land of “to-morrow”
and “wait-a-while.”
.if h
.il fn=i099.jpg w=600px id=i099
.ca
THE CATHEDRAL, GUATEMALA CITY.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL, GUATEMALA CITY.]
.sp 2
.if-
The city is distant from the Pacific Ocean,
nearly seventy-five miles and from the Gulf of
Mexico twice that distance. There were probably
two reasons which influenced the Spaniards
to locate their capitals inland; one of
these was for safety and the other because, in
these tropical lands, the climate along the coast
is hot, rainy, and fever-stricken. It was certainly
not for the convenience of commerce, for
all imports and exports had to be transported
over narrow and rough trails on the backs of
men and mules, for a long period, before a roadway
was completed to the Pacific port of San
Jose. Governors and Archbishops, common
Spaniards and humble natives, were obliged to
ride over those trails on the backs of horses or
mules, and generally that of the latter obliging,
but contrary, “critters.”
The city is a typical Spanish-American town
in architecture, although recent improvements
have taken away the monastic appearance that
used to prevail. The streets are straight and
// 102.png
.pn +1
narrow and laid out at right angles to each
other. The ones running north and south are
called avenidas (avenues), and those east and
west, calles (streets). The sidewalks are paved
with smooth flagstones and are almost on a level
with the roughly-paved roadway which slopes
toward the centre for drainage. The streets
are bordered on both sides by low, one-storied
buildings whose tile roofs once red are now a
dirty brown, and whose plastered walls once
white are now soiled and blotched by the pieces
of plaster which have been broken out. The
walls are usually of adobe (sun-dried) brick,
or stone, covered with stucco, and are several
feet thick in order to defy any but the most
severe earthquake shocks. The windows are
broad and high, and are protected by iron bars
like the windows of a prison cell. If the house
is so fortunate as to have a second story, then
a neat little iron or wooden balcony is erected
in front of them. There is one entrance to the
house and that is guarded by great, heavy doors
studded with big nails, and fastened with a
massive lock fit only for a mediaeval castle.
The keys to these locks are frequently eight
or ten inches long and would fit no keyring that
is on the market to-day. Carriages, market
// 103.png
.pn +1
// 104.png
// 105.png
people, and high-born ladies, all use this common
entrance which leads into the patio around
which the house is invariably built. These
patios take the place of the lawn in northern
homes and are frequently beautiful little miniature
gardens filled with tropical plants and
fragrant with the blossoms of many flowers.
The living rooms all open out upon this court,
and here, sheltered from the wind, the people
can bask in the sun when it is cool and occupy
the shady side when it is hot, and thus keep
themselves fairly comfortable without the aid
of fires or electric fans.
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.il fn=i103.jpg w=600px id=i103
.ca
A TYPICAL STREET IN GUATEMALA CITY.
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.sp 2
[Illustration: A TYPICAL STREET IN GUATEMALA CITY.]
.sp 2
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The Plaza de Armas, which is in the center
of the city, is quite a pretty square and is surrounded
on three sides by public buildings,
while on the other side are retail stores with
the portales so common in these countries. On
the north side is the municipal building, on the
west side the National Palace and government
barracks, and on the east side lies the Cathedral
and Bishop’s Palace. In the centre is a
delightful little garden surrounded by an iron
fence, within which are many exquisite flowers
and pretty plants with wine coloured leaves.
A few evergreens, fountains, a statue of Cristobal
Colon, the ever present band-stand, and
// 106.png
.pn +1
an old square stone tower, or temple, with an
equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain complete
the adornments of this square. Across
one side rattle the little toy street-cars, and now
and then a hooded victoria slips through, the
top drawn like a vizor over the inside, so that
all you can see is the tip of a chin or a bit of
white parasol. It is not pleasant for the ladies
to appear on the street unless they are very
plain.
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THE PRESIDENT’S GUARD OF HONOUR.
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.sp 2
[Illustration: THE PRESIDENT’S GUARD OF HONOUR.]
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In front of the National Palace a company
of the President’s Guard of Honour parades
each morning. This organization comprises
about five hundred picked men from the army
who actually wear shoes and a jaunty cap, and
their uniforms look as bright as a working-man’s
new suit of blue jeans, and they are of
the same material. A good military band plays,
and, aided by the music, the company manages
to keep step occasionally, but only occasionally,
for that little matter does not seem to them
very important. Sedate Spaniards, descendants
of the proud hidalgos, and Indians whose
progenitors built the great palaces, or temples,
at Palenque, Copan and Quirigua, mingle here,
and types of several centuries may be seen
// 107.png
.pn +1
// 108.png
// 109.png
side by side. Customs of the sixteenth and
nineteenth centuries are here intermingled, but
the twentieth century can hardly be said to
have reached this city. The Indian with his
pack on his back passes by followed by a mule
dray, but the gasoline devil-wagon has not yet
made its appearance in this city, and the warning
horn of the street-cars takes the place of
the honk-honk of the automobile.
At night when the band concerts are given
the plaza is a good place to study the people,
for all classes turn out in great numbers and
parade around the central portion. The cock-of-the-walk
on such occasions is the student of
the military academy who struts around much-bedecked
in a red uniform covered with gold
braid, and with his sword invariably trailing
on the ground—much resembling the peacock
on dress parade with his tail feathers fluttering
in the breeze. The young dandies are there
with their bamboo sticks, tailor-made clothes
and smoking their abominable cigarettes. A
few foreign drummers or concessionaires stalk
around the plaza side by side with the substratum
of ladinos in their shabby attire. A few
families may stroll around with their little girls
// 110.png
.pn +1
in stiff little white gloves and their shy, velvety
eyes turning this way and that without a
sign of recognition.
The most imposing of all the churches of the
city, the Cathedral, and the same may be said
of all Spanish churches, is elaborately ornamented
with carving, giving it a rococo, or overdone,
effect, but the proportions are good. It
is flanked by two square towers. The entrance
is approached by many steps and is guarded
by four colossal saints supposed to represent
the four evangelists. They are not very saintly
in appearance, being carved out of a very rough
coarse stone and very much weather-beaten.
There are also several pillars with urns on top,
thus adding a Roman effect. The interior gives
a general impression of roominess with its fine
aisles, but the blue and white effect of the
ceiling is not very pleasing, although different
from anything I had ever seen in church decoration.
The floor is paved with stone. There
is a large main altar and a number of gilt side
altars with the usual collection of decorated
wooden saints. A number of images clad in
gauze and gaily-hued angels with tiaras are
placed within the various altars, while the Virgin
wears a fine velvet gown embroidered with
// 111.png
.pn +1
// 112.png
// 113.png
gold thread. The structure is about two hundred
and seventy-five feet long. Adjoining this
is the Episcopal Palace, which has on many occasions
been the centre of political intrigue and
sedition before the late President Rufino Barrios
curbed the power of the clergy.
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.il fn=i111.jpg w=600px id=i111
.ca
TEATRO COLON, GUATEMALA CITY.
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.sp 2
[Illustration: TEATRO COLON, GUATEMALA CITY.]
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All Guatemala is proud of its Teatro Colon,
the National Theatre, for the government in
these Spanish-American countries considers it
a part of its duties to furnish amusement for
its subjects. The building is modeled after the
famous church of the Madelaine in Paris. It
stands in the middle of a large enclosure surrounded
by a high iron fence. The grounds
are laid out as a garden with oleander and
orange trees and flowers of many kinds planted
in generous profusion along the walks, and
there are several fountains which send out
their cooling spray. The coat of arms of the
republic stand out prominently on the façade
and there are numerous other plaster ornaments
in relief against the stucco walls, which
are laid out in blocks to imitate stone. The interior
is in good taste and the stage is large
and roomy. The government allows a generous
yearly subsidy which enables good talent
to be brought from Italy, Spain and Mexico.
// 114.png
.pn +1
There are two tiers of boxes which run clear
around the hall and several proscenium boxes,
of which one is reserved for the President.
Silk hats are worn by the men and canes are
carried, while the women wear a few feathers
in their hair, but no hats, and much powder
and paste on their faces. During the long intermission
nearly everybody leaves his seat
and wanders out into the vestibule to visit and
smoke—even some of the ladies indulging occasionally
in this pastime.
The people are inordinately fond of amusements
as are all people of Latin blood. In this
enumeration the bull-fight should not be
omitted. In the large bull-ring which stands
just outside the central railway station all
classes meet on Sunday afternoon, and the
“carramba” of the Spaniard mingles with the
stronger expressions of his fairer-skinned
Anglo-Saxon or Teutonic neighbour. The
Spaniard believes that the bull-fight is an exemplification
of the superior prowess of his
race, for the Spaniard is as much superior to
all other men as the Spanish bull is more valiant
than all other bulls. The bull-fight in Guatemala
City is usually a poor imitation of the
sanguinary conflicts of the Iberian peninsula.
// 115.png
.pn +1
// 116.png
// 117.png
The victims are generally oxen, with perhaps
one or two bulls doomed to the death. The
town was all excitement during my visit, for
Mazzantini, the great Spanish matador, was
coming to give three “corridas” with imported
bulls. The boat that I came on carried
ten of these bulls in boxes, and the old custodian
with his bulls caused more trouble than all the
rest of the cargo, including the passengers, put
together. Excursions were advertised by the
railroad and it was the principal topic of conversation.
Everyone that I met, American and
native, urged me to stay for the first great
event to take place the following Sunday. I
had seen the bull-fight, however, in all its horrible
details in its native land, and it did not
appeal to me even with the great “Mazzantini”
taking part.
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.ca
A BULL-FIGHT IN GUATEMALA CITY.
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.sp 2
[Illustration: A BULL-FIGHT IN GUATEMALA CITY.]
.sp 2
.if-
I attended one bull-fight while there in order
to get some photographs, and was thoroughly
disgusted. Two bulls of the six advertised for
the occasion were doomed to the death and
there were two matadores. One of them was
a young Spaniard whom I had met on the
steamer. He wore the lock of long hair on the
side of his head which is affected by all bull
fighters, and claimed to be a good fighter. He
// 118.png
.pn +1
was agile and leaped over the bull with a vaulting
pole and planted the banderillos quite
adeptly. As a matador he was a failure, and
after he had made three ineffectual attempts
to kill the bull, and had buried three swords
in the poor creature’s neck, the crowd became
hostile and he was obliged to leave the arena,
followed by the anathemas and hisses of the
large audience. Then my bull-fighting acquaintance,
who had given me such a cordial invitation
in the morning to attend the performance,
retired in great discomfiture, and I have never
seen him since.
There is a prosperous American club in the
city to which many other foreigners belong, and
I was fortunate enough to be given a visitor’s
card. The social life of the expatriated American
centres around this organization and it
has considerable influence in the city and country.
It was very interesting to talk with the
older members of the stirring events in the
time of President J. Rufino Barrios and his
dramatic method of proclaiming the confederation
of all the Central American republics.
There are several hundred Americans in the
country engaged in various enterprises, from
promotion to construction, and from plantations
// 119.png
.pn +1
to manufacturing. The Germans occupy
the leading place in the commerce as they seem
to amalgamate more readily with the country,
for they come to make permanent homes, while
most of the Americans expect to make their
fortune and then leave for Uncle Sam’s domains
once more. A number of Chinese merchants
are also engaged in business here and
a few French. Jews are also numerous and a
Jewish synagogue is the only non-Catholic religious
edifice I saw, although there is a Presbyterian
Mission maintained in the city.
Nearly every business house runs a money
exchange department and the sign “Cambia de
Moneda” (money exchange) vies in number
with the “cantinas.” Even the bootblack in
the hotel wanted to exchange money and followed
the quotations each day as carefully as
any banker. During my stay it varied from
twelve and one-half to thirteen and one-fourth
paper dollars for one in gold with the American
eagle on it. Every merchant was anxious to
secure New York, London, or Hamburg exchange.
Prices of commodities varied from
day to day, for, although posted in paper
values, they were regulated on a gold basis.
Business begins about eight in the morning and
// 120.png
.pn +1
ceases about seven in the evening, but all business
houses put up their shutters and close up
tight for two or three hours in the middle of
the day during the siesta hours. You will
never know, however, unless you study the calendar,
whether the stores will be open or not,
for holidays and feast-days are many. There
is an old saying that Spanish holidays numbered
three hundred and sixty-five, not including
Sundays.
The principal market is a large structure in
the rear of the Cathedral, and has large gates
at each corner through which a line of people
are passing at all times during the business
hours. The entrance is nearly always obstructed
by women with fruit for sale, whose
presence was tolerable from the fact that they
sold it extremely cheap. Every available space
is filled with native merchants—mostly women—who
offer for sale home and foreign goods
and a great variety of indigenous fruits. Vendors
outside of the enclosure suspend straw
mats on poles for shelter from the torrid sun.
Beneath each one sat a woman or girl with her
articles for sale spread about and before her—a
little fruit, some vegetables, or even some
cooked meat. Inside the building one can get
// 121.png
.pn +1
a three course meal of native concoctions for
a few cents, or can buy the luscious fruits of
the country, including oranges, bananas, zapotes,
or pineapples, for a song almost. Although
the place is generally crowded there is
no jostling or confusion. It would be hard to
find a quarrelsome or disorderly person or any
one who would raise his voice above the tone
of polite conversation, and even the babies—of
whom there are always many—refrain
from crying. The dealers are all bargainers
and will invariably ask at least twice as much
as they would readily accept. A look of surprise
or astonishment at a price given will invariably
bring the query, “What will you
give?” There is no such thing as a fixed price,
and yet the lowest price that will be accepted
does not vary much among the different merchants,
as I found on several occasions.
There is a second native market in the western
part of the city. Near this market is a
road which is the great highway for the market
people coming from lowland and highland. It
was a sight that never grew tame or monotonous
to me to watch the never-ending procession
of men, women, children, burros, and
mules continually coming to the city, and, on
// 122.png
.pn +1
several mornings, I went out to watch it. Men
and women come marching down the middle
of the road in Indian file—the men with great
loads on their backs, and the women with large
market baskets on their heads, filled with fruits,
vegetables, pottery, eggs or poultry. Oftentimes
they travel for three or four days to market
with nothing but the cold stones or mother
earth at night for a bed. The whole load, when
marketed, may not bring more than a couple
of dollars in gold, but they would consider that
pretty good pay for a week’s work. In this
way the fruits of the hot lands are brought to
the city by those simple folks in just the same
manner as their ancestors have done ever since
the founding of the city. Sometimes an Indian
bearing fodder or other provender is scarcely
visible underneath his load. It is rather comical
to see an enormous box about the size of a
small house trotting down the street on what
seems to be its own pair of brown legs. Little
boys and little girls, as soon as large enough,
assume their share of the burdens and carry
their little bundles in the same way as their
elders. One writer describes a market woman
whom he saw as follows: “She carried an
open-work basket of fowls and ducks on her
// 123.png
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// 124.png
// 125.png
back on which was also slung a baby; in her
arms she carried a fine young pig, and on her
head was a tray of tortillas. As she jogged
along the baby cried, the porker squealed and
the poultry made noise enough to drown her
own groans.”
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GUATEMALAN MARKET WOMEN.
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.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: GUATEMALAN MARKET WOMEN.]
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.if-
Numerous public buildings are scattered over
the city. Perhaps the most noted is the University
of Guatemala, which has a great reputation
all over Central America. As a matter
of fact Guatemala City was noted for its learning
before any educational institution had been
established in the United States; and dust
had accumulated on its library before the first
little red school house had made its appearance.
This university has many professors, contains
a large and valuable collection of books, pamphlets
and manuscripts, and its museum has
a numerous and exhaustive collection of woods,
birds, pottery, gods, and ornaments of the former
races, and stuffed specimens of birds, including
a number of the rare quetzal. There
are also Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy,
Arts and Trades, a Polytechnic Institute, hospitals,
court house, and many other institutions
of government and justice. The post office is
situated in an old convent confiscated from the
// 126.png
.pn +1
church, and the same is true of a number of the
other government buildings now in use.
There are no great parks, but a number of
little breathing-places are scattered over the
city that lend their attraction. The Plaza Concordia
is the prettiest of all and occupies an
entire square surrounded by a massive brick
fence. Palms, bananas, cacti, flowers, shrubs
and large trees each lend an individual attraction.
Broad paths wind here and there through
the park, and on these the people promenade
while the military bands, of which there are
several, play popular and classical airs. Especially
is this an interesting place to visit on
Sunday afternoons when the aristocracy congregate
to listen to the bands.
The most ambitious attempt at ornamentation
is found in the Reforma, a wide boulevard
in imitation of the Paseo de la Reforma in the
City of Mexico. It is ornamented with trees,
numerous stone seats and statues, and a number
of fine modern homes face it, thus making
it the most modern vista in the city. The principal
statue is a rather creditable one of President
J. Rufino Barrios, who deserves such a
memorial more than any other of her former
// 127.png
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// 128.png
// 129.png
rulers. There is also a statue of a bull which
seems rather incongruous but probably deserves
a place in this land of bull-fights. The
Reforma leads out to the hippodrome, or race
track, and the Temple of Minerva, which is
dedicated to popular education and where a
public celebration is held each year to stimulate
interest in that valuable accomplishment.
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STATUE OF BULL, GUATEMALA CITY.
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.sp 2
[Illustration: STATUE OF BULL, GUATEMALA CITY.]
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Guardia Viejo, a suburb distant a few miles,
is a favourite resort of the populace on fiesta
occasions. Thousands of people at such times
throng the park and the streets in the village
and the typical holiday spirit of good nature
and freedom prevails. I had the good fortune
to be present during one of these celebrations
and it was an interesting experience.
Water is brought to the city by two aqueducts
running across the valley for many miles,
and the supply is abundant and the quality
good. There are a score of public fountains
with public laundry facilities connected. Circular
brick buildings are erected over small
sinks which anyone is permitted to use. First
come, first served, is the motto which is observed,
and they are generally in demand. The
clothes are laid out on the grass to dry. According
// 130.png
.pn +1
to custom here, it takes a week to get
a washing after giving it out, and even a Chinaman
will not do much better than that.
There is a good hotel in the city in which it
was a real pleasure to rest after experiencing
some of the crudeness in accommodation elsewhere.
It is built around a court yard which
is ornamented with orange and oleander trees,
ferns, vines and many flowers. Inclosed glass
corridors make a pleasant promenade and dining
place. At the Gran Hotel I encountered a
number of members of that strange legion who
are always in active service and on the firing
line—those men who go through the jungle
ahead of the railroad and over the mountains
before the engineers. To sell a bit of cotton
cloth or a phonograph they are ready to speak
as many languages as a German diplomat.
They cross deserts and run the risk of pestilence,
and have more adventures than an amateur
explorer would write volumes about.
These men are the salesmen who introduce the
manufactured goods of commercial countries
into the uncivilized and uncommercial lands of
the globe. Some of them deserve medals and
even pensions, but they are lucky if they get
their names in the papers when they pass away
// 131.png
.pn +1
// 132.png
// 133.png
in some far-off land. Many of them are very
interesting characters and as full of interesting
anecdotes of personal adventures as the
tropical jungle is of vegetation.
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.ca
GRAN HOTEL, GUATEMALA CITY.
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.sp 2
[Illustration: GRAN HOTEL, GUATEMALA CITY.]
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The tram lines extend all over the city but
the little “dinky” cars are almost a joke. The
only compensation is the cheap fares which are
just about one cent in real money, but a shilling
in the paper substitute. The city is unusually
well lighted with electric lights, and a creditable
telephone service has been installed.
The military element was in evidence everywhere,
as, at the time of my visit, there was
an unusual number of soldiers in the city, and
parades were of daily occurrence. The soldiers
were not awe-inspiring nor did they seem to
take their duties very seriously. The fort of
San Juan is a rather imposing fortress built
in regulation style with moat and drawbridge,
and its adobe walls painted to resemble great
stone blocks. I noticed that the guns all seemed
to point toward the city itself. Prisoners working
under guard were to be seen in many places
with more soldiers on guard than prisoners
working. At one place, I saw nine soldiers
lounging about and guarding four prisoners
who were at work. At another time there were
// 134.png
.pn +1
a half dozen soldiers forming a hollow square,
in the centre of which was one poor prisoner
who looked anything but a desperate criminal.
In the country, I have seen them marched along
across country with their arms tied with a rope
which was held by a soldier who rode on a
horse. The days of maudlin sympathy with
law breakers has not yet reached Guatemala.
Guatemala City is a perfect place to play
with life, cloistered away from the active world,
and yet so near to its bustling stir. The real
world and its manners are here, but there are
none of its problems. All things are reduced
to so small a scale that the individual need not
worry. People who have money have inherited
it or made it easy; those who have it not, never
expect it. There is no hustling, ambitious middle
class to stir up rivalry and discontent. The
people drift along placidly and, content with
what they have, covet not the riches or luxury
of another. The visitor can enjoy life and live
quietly, feeling that he can always go back to
the real world whenever he wants to, and that
a few days’ journey will transport him back
to the busy life of our great metropolis.
// 135.png
.pn +1
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STREET CAR IN GUATEMALA CITY.
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.sp 2
[Illustration: STREET CAR IN GUATEMALA CITY.]
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.if-
// 136.png
// 137.png
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch04
CHAPTER IV||THE TROPICS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
.sp 2
The growth of vegetation in tropical lands
is a revelation of what rich soil aided by a
hot sun and an abundance of water can do.
There are localities in the world where is found
the rich soil, but either warmth or water is
wanting and they are comparatively barren.
In this region where the soil is frequently eight
to fourteen feet in depth, where the fall of
water is from eighty to one hundred and twenty
inches annually, and where the sun furnishes
perpetual summer heat, nature reveals herself
in her grandest moods, and the stranger coming
here for the first time cries out in astonishment
at her prodigality.
The first feeling of one on entering a tropical
forest is that of helplessness, confusion, awe,
and all but terror. Without a compass or a
blazed path a man would be almost lost in a
few minutes if he should venture into such a
tangled growth by himself. The exuberance of
// 138.png
.pn +1
vegetation is fairly astounding and the English
language is utterly inadequate to express
the variety and luxuriance of the vegetable
world. It is equally as impossible to describe
the colours for there are so many tints of green.
The costliest amusements of our gayest cities
can never equal the gratuitous diversions which
nature provides for her favoured guests. Thus
it is that one feels when traversing the tropical
forests of Guatemala. Eastern Guatemala,
that part bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, is
an American Java, a botanical garden spot
where climate and the black soil vie with that
eastern isle. And no land can compare with it
in the number and variety of its birds and flying
insects, for it is a veritable natural museum
of living birds and butterflies.
Every growth on these shores is straining
upwards in perpendicular lines, and in fierce
competition, towards the light above so necessary
to its healthfulness. These upward shoots
are of every possible thickness and almost
every conceivable hue. The leaves are, for the
most part, on the twigs. The number and variety
of trees is almost infinite as compared
with our northern woods. There are more
varieties of palms alone, than all the arboreal
// 139.png
.pn +1
species of the New England woods. Among
these are the cohune palms with great clusters
of hard, oily nuts; another kind with fearful
spines but edible nuts; and even climbing, vine-like
palms that will reach a length of several
hundred feet. Bamboos are present everywhere
with their graceful stems, and tall reeds
with blossoms in striking contrast with the
dark-green leaves of the trees.
Great mahogany trees rise straight and with
uniform trunks in the forest like the great
oaks in our own woods, only higher. Immense
ceiba trees sometimes fifteen feet in diameter
stand up like veritable monsters of the forests
and occasionally throw out great buttresses, as
it were, for additional strength. When these
trees are cut a platform is built reaching above
these buttresses and the cutters stand on this.
Even the poor little villages are ennobled somewhat
by the noble palms and ceiba trees which
they contain. Decaying trees and branches
are seldom seen, for the elements quickly destroy
or the migratory ants devour them. If
a dead trunk or log is found it is so covered
with growths of parasites such as orchids,
mosses, ferns and flowering plants, that the
dead wood can scarcely be seen. One tree
// 140.png
.pn +1
drops its nuts, about the size of a hen’s egg,
into the water where they germinate and float
about until they anchor themselves on a bank
or shoal. The absence of sod is very noticeable,
for the foliage is so dense that grass will not
grow. Rosewood, ironwood, logwood, sapodilla,
cedar, cacao and fig trees—all are found
within these forests, and the mangrove on the
coast lands, or the banks of streams.
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.il fn=i141.jpg w=600px id=i141
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AN INDIAN WITH HIS MACHETE.
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.sp 2
[Illustration: AN INDIAN WITH HIS MACHETE.]
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.if-
There are no solitary tree trunks, such as we
are accustomed to, in the lowlands. All are
covered with vines and parasitic growths.
Some of the trees have enough orchids and
other plants growing upon them to stock a hot-house;
others have so many vines stretching
down from their branches to the ground that
you would think some kind of a trap had been
built. One vine may twine around another and
another, until a great cable is formed several
inches across and furbelowed all down the middle
into regular knots. There is sometimes
such a labyrinth of this wire rigging that it
keeps an Indian with his machete busy, for he
must cut vines right and left every few feet.
It must have been in such a forest that the
story of Jack and the Beanstalk originated,
for these vines bring it vividly to mind. One
// 141.png
.pn +1
// 142.png
// 143.png
parasitic vine—the matapolo—starts as a
slender vine, but gradually expands until it
looks like a huge serpent; and if several cling
to the tree they will kill it, but by that time
they will support the dead trunk. The sarsaparilla,
that health-giving plant, is one of these
dependent vines, indigenous to these forests,
and is a very common growth here. It belongs
to the Smilax family and climbs to a great
height. Only the long tough roots are used in
medicinal preparations. These are cut off by
the hunters and the stems planted in the
ground, when the roots will be replaced in a
short time by the alchemist, nature. The vanilla
is a parasitic orchid and also flourishes in
these damp, oozy forests.
When no vines are visible at the bottom,
dangling vines may be seen sixty or eighty feet
up in the green cloud above, growing out of
what looks like a gigantic nest of parasitic
growths, and frequently with arms as large as
a fair-sized sapling. You can only tell what it
is by felling the tree, and even then the trunk
may refuse to fall, for it is so linked and intertwined
with adjoining trees by the many vines.
When thirsty the natives cut a rough looking
vine, first above and then below, and from out
// 144.png
.pn +1
of this section pour out a pint or more of pure
cold water. This is the ascending rain water
hurrying aloft to be transformed into sap, leaf,
flower and fruit.
.if h
.il fn=i145.jpg w=600px id=i145
.ca
A TROPICAL JUNGLE.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A TROPICAL JUNGLE.]
.sp 2
.if-
In contrast to the silence of the northern
woods there is no stillness in these jungles so
long as the sun is above the horizon. The
music may vary from the screeching of the
innumerable flocks of parrots—for they never
go singly—to the feeble chirp of an insect, but
it is there. During the day there are birds that
incessantly chatter, whistle, croak, chirrup,
coo, warble and utter discordant noises, thus
making the air vocal with the varied sounds.
At night the pitiful howling of the spider
monkey breaks the silence that otherwise might
obtain. No country, so naturalists say, offers
a greater variety of bright-hued birds. The
great macaw is a polychromatic wonder rivalling
the proud peacock flaunting his plumage
in the sunlight. There are many varieties of
parrots and parroquets to be found. The quetzal,
which figures in the national emblem, has
tail feathers often reaching three feet in length.
These feathers are of a peacock green to indigo
in colour, the breast is scarlet and the wings
dark. This bird will not survive captivity, and
// 145.png
.pn +1
// 146.png
// 147.png
for this reason the founders of the republic
gave it a place on the nation’s escutcheon. In
ancient days, so highly was this bird regarded
that none but the royal family dared to wear
its plumes. There are some good specimens to
be seen in the museum at the capital, but a
live quetzal is rarely seen. Then there are pelicans,
kingfishers, mot-mots, pavos, curassows,
white cranes, doves, swallows, noisy yellow-tails
and the curious toucan with its enormous bill
and brilliant colour. Vampire bats about the
size of an English sparrow are common. They
will bite cattle, but are not so large, nor so
fierce, as the South American species that will
attack even human beings.
Two species of monkeys are found in these
forests—the white-faced mono, whose face is
nearly devoid of hair and beard, and the long-tailed,
howling monkey. These animals are
migratory and, as they build no nests, it is difficult
to locate them. It is really wonderful—so
hunters say—how fast these monkeys can
travel through the trees by jumping from one
limb to another sixty or eighty feet above
ground. They live on fruits and insects, especially
beetles and butterflies, and rob the nests
of birds for the eggs. Many of them are kept
// 148.png
.pn +1
as pets and they are quite intelligent and very
mischievous. Some of the natives prize them
as food. Among the other animals, more or
less common, are peccaries, jaguars (called by
the natives tigres), tapirs, ant-bears, wild hogs,
and a species of small, red deer. The sloth,
that peculiar tree-animal so different from
most tree-animals, which are usually very agile,
is found in some districts. Snakes are not so
plentiful as one would expect, although the
“chicken boa,” so called, sometimes reaching
a length of a dozen feet, is occasionally encountered.
Alligators are not very common,
though not a rarity by any means. Turtles
are very plentiful, and the edible hawksbill
turtle, whose shell is so valuable, because it
furnishes the tortoise-shell of commerce, is
very abundant on these shores, sometimes
weighing as much as one hundred and fifty
pounds. The iguana is one of the numerous
lizard family and is highly prized for food,
its flesh tasting something like chicken, so epicures
say. The natives prefer it to good beefsteak.
This curious reptile has a mouth like
a toad, green, glittering eyes, a ponderous under
throat, and lancet shaped spines along the
back, and sometimes reaches a length of four
// 149.png
.pn +1
feet. It is easily tamed, and it is a very common
sight to see them in the coast villages sunning
themselves around the cottages and apparently
as much at home as the dogs and
chickens.[#]
Great butterflies, whose outstretched wings
spread out eight inches, are a common sight.
Collectors flock to these shores each year for
butterfly specimens, for in no country is there
a greater variety. The natives can seldom be
hired to catch them as they think it is unlucky
and will injure the eyes. Spiders with legs two
inches across can be found. Scorpions and
centipedes abound, but both are sluggish and
are dreaded very little by the natives—not
much more than hornets in our own country.
.pm fn-start // 1
“These serpentes are lyke unto crocodiles, saving in bigness;
they call them guanas. Unto that day none of owre
men durste aduenture to taste of them, by reason of theyre
horrible deformitie and lothsomnes. Yet the Adelantado
being entysed by the pleasantnes of the king’s sister, Anacaona,
determined to taste the serpentes. But when he felte
the flesh thereof to be so delycate to his tongue, he fel to
amayne without al feare. The which thyng his companions
perceiuing, were not behynde hym in greedyness; insomuch
that they had now none other talke than of the sweetnesse
of these serpentes, which they affirm to be of more pleasant
taste than eyther our phesantes or partriches.”—An old
writer.
.pm fn-end
// 150.png
.pn +1
Many kinds of ants have their habitat in the
Guatemalan tropics. One species builds nests
in the tree tops, which resemble those of hornets.
Another kind, called the umbrella ant, is
one of the most interesting species in the family
of ants. They are so called because, when
seen, the worker is always carrying a piece of
leaf like a sail, which he holds tightly as if his
life or happiness depended on getting that particular
leaf to its destination. Several times
I took away the piece of leaf and the worker
would immediately attack another ant and endeavour
to get his leaf, and sometimes a number
of ants would become involved in the melee.
The ant finally left without a leaf would start
back on the trail, for it seemed to be an inviolable
rule never to go back to the nest without
a section of leaf. These leaves are stored away
where they ferment and form one of the foods
of these industrious little workers.
When Cortez made his memorable journey
from Mexico to the present site of Puerto Cortez,
in 1525, passing through Livingston, the
coast country of the Kingdom of Quahtemala,
as it was then called, was an almost unbroken
forest, swampy, and oozy, and subject to heavy
overflows in the rainy season. He sailed up
// 151.png
.pn +1
the Rio Dulce with eyes wide open in wonder
as the beauties of the stream unfolded. Almost
two-thirds of the available agricultural
land in Guatemala is still uncultivated for want
of labourers and the necessary industry. With
the advancement of modern science in remedying
the fever-producing conditions, these regions
can be made most desirable. One noted
scientist has recently predicted that tropical
lands will in the future be the favourite abode
of mankind, as they were in the early history
of the human race, because of the ease with
which a livelihood can be obtained. In a land
of perpetual summer, where fruits grow wild
and a small piece of land will produce enough
sustenance for a family, there is no need for a
man to work hard. Earning one’s bread by
the sweat of his brow becomes a jest. It is
little wonder that the natives bask in the sun
and dream their lives away.
Of all the rich soil so abundant in this republic,
there is little systematic cultivation. There
is no necessity to plow the land after it has
been cleared of the timber and undergrowth.
Even corn, of which three crops can be raised
in a season, without the aid of fertilizers, is
planted in holes made by a stick, and rice is
// 152.png
.pn +1
scattered broadcast. Corn will often grow
twelve feet in height and produce three generous
ears on the stalk. The land laws are
liberal in order to encourage settlers from
other lands to locate here. The public lands
are divided into lots of not more than fifteen
caballerias, which are sold for a price ranging
from $250 to $300 each by the government. A
caballeria comprises one hundred and thirteen
and five-eighths acres. Premiums have been
offered by the government for the cultivation
of India rubber, cacao, sarsaparilla, cotton, and
tobacco; and no tax will be levied for ten years
on lands devoted to the cultivation of these
products. The small farmer, however, cannot
make a small farm pay as well as in northern
lands, for he could not stand it to work so hard
and so regularly. Plantations to be successful
should be large enough to justify the establishment
of a colony of peon labourers on the
premises.
.if h
.il fn=i153.jpg w=600px id=i153
.ca
A NATIVE HUT.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A NATIVE HUT.]
.sp 2
.if-
One plantation of three thousand acres, and
employing from nine hundred to thirteen hundred
labourers, produced in one year three hundred
thousand pounds of sugar, twenty-two
thousand gallons of milk, three million bottles
of brandy, two thousand head of cattle and
// 153.png
.pn +1
// 154.png
// 155.png
more than a million pounds of coffee. The
labour laws require the owner of a plantation
to preserve order on his estate; to keep a
record of his employees, their wages, etc., in
Spanish; to provide suitable dwellings or materials
with which to build them (this, however,
is simple enough); to furnish medicines and
medical assistance in case of sickness; to keep
a free school for the children where more than
ten families are employed, if there is no public
school in the neighbourhood; and to see that
all persons are vaccinated.
Nature has done all that could be expected
or could be hoped for on her part. The only
thing necessary for success is the proper selection
of ground and intelligent cultivation of
the crops to which it is adapted. The diversity
of altitudes and climates allows a great range
of products. In no country in the world of
equal size, in all probability, is there such a
great variety of surface or such a diversity
of natural products. There are more than four
hundred species of wood of which one hundred
and fifty are commercially valuable, and some
three hundred and forty medicinal plants have
already been discovered; and the end of discoveries
in this line has not yet been reached.
// 156.png
.pn +1
Of the valuable woods, mahogany easily takes
first place. These great and majestic trees are
found in considerable number in the forests
of northeastern Guatemala. Those situated
near the larger streams have been cut down.
Farther inland the difficulty of transportation
makes the marketing of the logs an expensive
undertaking, although the standing trees can
be purchased from the government for a very
small sum. The logwood tree, as well as other
dyewoods, is found bordering on all the great
lagoons and some portions of the Gulf coast.
It is a tree of medium size and peculiar appearance,
attaining a height of twenty or thirty
feet. The trunk is gnarled and full of cavities,
and separates a short distance above the
ground. The heart, the only valuable portion,
is a deep red. The logwood is found in the
same localities as the mahogany, and they are
districts that are generally flooded in the rainy
season. The timbers are cut in the dry season
and then floated down to the ports in the rainy
season.
The palms are the most familiar of all tropical
trees and a landscape hardly seems tropical
without these graceful trees. It is doubtful
if there is a single class of the tropical trees
// 157.png
.pn +1
so essential to the native as the palms. Houses,
timber, firewood, fodder, food and drink, needles
and threads, wax and drugs are all obtained
from palms of various species. The
Royal palm is the most graceful and majestic
of all, and there is no more imposing scene of
arboreal beauty than the long avenues of these
beautiful trees so common in the American
tropics. Their smooth, tapering trunks, almost
as hard as granite, tower upward for eighty or
even a hundred feet above the earth, bearing
at the top a mass of green, drooping plumes.
These great white trunks, standing boldly out
upon verdure-clad slopes, so conspicuous among
the tangled sea of vines and jungle at their feet,
and their plumes swaying gently in the breezes,
are a beautiful and imposing sight.
The commonest and most useful of the palms
is the cocoanut, which is a conspicuous sight
in every village and rural scene in tropical
lands. As this palm most commonly grows in
spots exposed to the full sweep of the winds,
the trunk is gradually bent away from the
winds. It is seldom, indeed, that one will find
the cocoanut in an absolutely perpendicular
position. The stem is so strong and tough,
being composed of closely-interwoven fibres,
// 158.png
.pn +1
that the entire top may be torn off by the hurricanes
and the trunk remain uninjured. The
cocoanut commences to bear when from three
to ten years old and will continue to produce
fruit, year after year, for from seventy-five to
one hundred years. The nut is used for both
food and drink, and the shell is made into dippers,
jars, spoons and other household utensils.
The dried cocoa is a valuable article of commerce,
but the real value of the oil prepared
from the fresh meat is only beginning to be
realized. It is useful not only in the manufacture
of soaps, but a butter is prepared from
it that is superior not only to cottonseed oil,
but, so it is claimed, better than even animal
butter for purposes of food. There is no reason
why the tropics of Guatemala should not
produce large quantities of the oil and cocoa
meat for American and European trade.
.if h
.il fn=i159.jpg w=600px id=i159
.ca
A SUGAR PLANTATION.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A SUGAR PLANTATION.]
.sp 2
.if-
India rubber grows wild in the forests and
could be cultivated profitably, as it is now being
done in Mexico and other countries. The
government will give one manzana (113.62
acres) of land as a bonus for every two thousand
rubber plants set out for cultivation.
Sugar cane can be raised profitably, as the
stalks grow high, with many joints, and have
// 159.png
.pn +1
// 160.png
// 161.png
a greater percentage of saccharine than in most
countries where it is cultivated. Furthermore,
it does not require replanting for years in this
soil. The stalks will grow nine feet high in as
many months. At present about the only use
to which the cane is devoted here is in the manufacture
of “white-eye,” the native brandy.
Some of it is made into sugar by means of old-fashioned
sugar mills, which are simply vertical
iron-roll mills turned by oxen. There is
only one kettle used and no clarifier, and the
syrup is run into wooden moulds, where it is
cooled into dark hemispherical blocks—a form
much liked by the Indians.
The Guatemalan cacao is claimed to be the
very best in the world. It is not cultivated to
any great extent at present, although the propagation
is on the increase, as Ecuador practically
controls the trade. The best conditions
are an altitude of from eight hundred to two
thousand feet and a soil rich in moisture, or
capable of irrigation. Virgin lands from which
forests have been cut are the best. It requires
six years for the trees to mature, although they
will occasionally bear in less time. The cultivation
does not require nearly so much labour
as coffee, although care must be taken not to
// 162.png
.pn +1
hurt the “bean” when it is removed from the
pod. One day is given for “fermentation;”
after which they are dried in the sun for several
days. The cacao is then ready for the
market to furnish our delicious chocolate preparations.
The pods are from ten to twelve
inches long and contain many beans; they resemble
a musk melon in appearance, and grow
from the branches and trunks of the trees.
Nutmegs have proved a success on the Island
of Trinidad and would do just as well here.
The trees require at least eighty inches of rain
annually. They will produce nutmegs in eight
to ten years and will then bear and improve
for a century. Each tree will yield from one
thousand to five thousand nuts in a season, in
size varying from sixty-eight to one hundred
and twenty in a pound. Tobacco grows well
and of good quality at an elevation of from one
thousand to two thousand feet. Common and
sweet potatoes, yams, beans, breadfruit,
squashes, melons, tomatoes, peppers, the aguacate,
or alligator pear (weighing about a
pound), the granadilla (fruit of the passion
flower), and many other fruits and vegetables
can easily be cultivated at a fair profit.
Japan, India, or Ceylon can furnish nothing
// 163.png
.pn +1
more fascinating or stranger in their vegetable
kingdom than this favoured land. The fruits
are simply wonderful in variety and perfection.
The glowing sun and ardent breath of
the tropics ask little aid from the hand of man
in perfecting their products. One eats eggs,
custard and butter off the trees.
The mango is nearly as abundant and prolific
as the banana in some places. It grows on a
very handsome tree, the leaves being long,
lanceolate, polished, and hanging in dense
masses of dark-green foliage. In size it is like
a full-grown apple tree. The fruit is about the
size of an egg plum, and when ripe is yellow in
colour and very juicy. They grow in long,
pendent branches, and the rich, juicy, golden-meated
fruit is not only attractive to the eye,
but delightful to the palate.
That great broad-leaved, useful plant so
characteristic of the tropics, the banana, grows
in great profusion in Guatemala, where there
are fully two hundred varieties. Many of them
are too delicate for transportation so they will
never become a factor in commerce. All
through the lowlands of Guatemala and even
up to an elevation of two thousand and more
feet, the banana is more common than the apple
// 164.png
.pn +1
tree in New England; and few indeed are the
native shacks in those sections that do not have
their banana grove near. The uses of the banana
in its natural habitat are so many, and
its growth is so exuberant, that it might be
classed, with equal propriety, as a weed, a
vegetable, or a fruit.
Along the line of the Guatemala Northern
Railway and the borders of Lake Izabal, with
its connecting streams, are thousands of acres
just as well suited to the cultivation of this
delicious fruit as the neighbouring republic of
Honduras, or more distant Costa Rica. Much
of the land belongs to the public domain and
can be secured for a small sum, although the
first cost probably represents not more than
one-third of the investment that will be found
necessary. The land must be cleared, although
this is a simple matter, for the trees and underbrush
are simply left where they fall, as decay
is very rapid in this climate; and the banana
shoots, called hijos, are planted in the midst
of the rubbish from twelve to fifteen feet apart.
After about nine months the stalk will bear and
the bunch of bananas is cut while still green.
The parent stalk is cut down and one or more
shoots will spring up from the roots which will
// 165.png
.pn +1
bear fruit in the same time. Thus a marketable
crop is produced each week, bringing in a
steady and unceasing revenue.
The banana has a curious and prodigal
method of propagation. Even before the fruit
of the parent stalk has matured, new stalks
begin to spring up from the roots. As this
process is repeated indefinitely it follows that
unless these surplus stalks are cut out, a banana
field would soon become a miniature jungle.
Some growers follow the plan of allowing four
shoots to grow in one hill, and their gradations
are so arranged that while the oldest is bearing
fruit the second is in blossom, the third is
half-grown, and the fourth is just coming forth
from the ground. In the majority of cases a
new shoot will spring up from the old stalk
if cut near the ground and there is plenty of
rain.
The rapidity of growth of this shoot is a marvel
of tropical hustling. A prominent naturalist
has made a record of the growth during the
first few hours which seems almost incredible,
but is true. Twenty minutes after the stalk
was cut, the new shoot could be seen pushing
up from the center of the cut. Eight hours
after cutting, the shoot was nearly two feet
// 166.png
.pn +1
in height with the leaves forming. Thirty-one
hours after cutting there were four well-developed
and perfect leaves and the new shoot constituted
quite a respectable looking tree. This
great rapidity of growth is due to the spirally-wrapped
leaves that are contained within the
banana stalk, and which are merely pushed upward
and unroll. It is a fact that under those
circumstances the growth is so rapid that it
is almost discernible to the eye. Stalks grown
in this way, it is said, seldom bloom or bear
fruit.
The requirements for successful cultivation
of this fruit are a deep, alluvial soil, and plenty
of water either by rain or irrigation. The nature
of the soil, however, seems to have less to
do with the successful growing of the banana
than the amount of rainfall, which should be
at least one hundred inches annually, and the
temperature, which must be very warm. The
best results are obtained near streams, and an
occasional overflow is not a disadvantage.
About two hundred or two hundred and twenty-five
hills to the acre is the usual allowance.
The average yield will then be from two hundred
and fifty to three hundred bunches of
marketable fruit each year. It is practically
// 167.png
.pn +1
immune from insect pests, and a worm-eaten
banana, or banana stalk, is practically unknown.
It is so vigorous that it will hold its own amid
all sorts of weeds and climbing vines, although
the successful cultivator will keep his fields free
from such pests.
A careful writer has said that the same
amount of land that will produce enough wheat
to support two persons will raise enough bananas
to sustain fifty persons. The food value
of the banana and plantain, which is larger and
perhaps more nutritious than the former, has
never been fully exploited. They make an excellent
meal which is very nutritious when
dried and ground. At the present time most
of the profit goes to the transportation company
which holds a monopoly of the carrying
trade. They are sold to the fruit company for
less than half what they are worth in this country.
A vessel will carry twenty thousand
bunches in addition to a cargo of passengers,
and the loss on the fruit does not exceed fifteen
per cent. The fact that bananas can not
be kept for any length of time, except in cold
storage, requires their early marketing; and
the further fact that they will not stand much
handling requires their shipment in vessels especially
// 168.png
.pn +1
constructed for their transportation.
These vessels are all owned by one fruit-buying
trust. It is no wonder that this monopoly has
proved very profitable to its owners. Now that
the new railroad is opened up and regular
trains are running, this rich banana soil ought
to be rapidly developed, since the market for
this delicious fruit is constantly increasing and
the supply has never yet exceeded the demand.
Instead of a million bunches, Guatemala ought
to export five or ten million bunches each year.
All over the world the fruits, as well as other
articles of the tropics, are coming into greater
demand each year. In 1908 the United States
imported fruits and other food products of the
tropics, not including coffee, to the value of
more than two dollars for each man, woman
and child in the country. Sugar was by far
the largest item on the list, bananas second, and
cacao a close rival for that distinction. More
than 37,000,000 bunches of bananas were consumed
in the United States during that year,
an increase of fifty per cent in five years. The
general use of the banana is of very recent
growth, for it has come into use in Northern
climates almost entirely within the last quarter
of a century.
// 169.png
.pn +1
// 170.png
// 171.png
The Pacific slope of Guatemala, although
much less in extent, is far ahead of the Gulf
side in cultivation and is far more thickly settled.
The chief export from this district is
coffee which is cultivated everywhere at an altitude
of from one thousand to six thousand feet.
The soil is about the same as that of Chiapas,
the adjoining Mexican state, which also produces
a fine quality of coffee. Thousands of
bags of coffee are shipped from the ports of
Ocos, Champerico and San Jose, in Guatemala,
and San Benito, in Mexico, which is only a few
miles from the border. Coffee is not a natural
product of this soil, but was first introduced
into the New World by a Spanish priest in
Guatemala, who obtained the seed in Arabia.
It was found adapted to the soil and climate,
and coffee is to-day by far the most valuable
export, the shipments having reached as high
as eighty-five million pounds in one year, worth
as much as all other exports together. Most
of it is exported to Germany and England, as
it is a common saying throughout Mexico and
Central America, that only the poor grades of
coffee are sent to the greatest coffee-drinking
nation in the world—that of Uncle Sam—and
// 172.png
.pn +1
the national eagle ought to trail his feathers
in the dust at this reflection on his good
taste.
.if h
.il fn=i169.jpg w=600px id=i169
.ca
DRYING COFFEE.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: DRYING COFFEE.]
.sp 2
.if-
A coffee field is a beautiful sight with its
shrubs of dark green dotted here and there
with the white, fragrant blossoms and the
bright, crimson berries which look almost like
cherries. It must be remembered that coffee
grows on trees, which are set nine or ten feet
apart, for the trees will grow twenty feet high
if permitted, and ladders are necessary for the
pickers. The trees are raised in nurseries and
when a few months old are transplanted. It
requires a deep soil, careful cultivation, plenty
of rain, and shade for the young plants to reach
their highest development. The best altitude
is from 2,600 feet to 4,500 feet in this climate.
On the lower elevations the plants must be
shaded, and the banana is generally employed
because it also produces a valuable crop and
furnishes a revenue while the coffee trees are
maturing. Corn may be planted among the
trees if one is in a hurry to obtain returns from
the land. The trees will produce a profitable
crop in from four to six years after transplanting,
although coffee two years from the seed
// 173.png
.pn +1
// 174.png
// 175.png
is frequently seen. On the higher elevations
the plants must be protected from the north
winds of December to February, and a site is
generally chosen with a range of hills to the
north for shelter. The critical period is the
blooming season, when a heavy rainfall, while
the trees are in flower, washes away the pollen
and will prevent fructification. The “cherry”
ripens in October, and they are then gathered
and “pulped,” after which they are spread out
on the great paved yards, with which every
finca is supplied, to dry, after which they are
separated and hulled, and then stored. After
the pulp has been removed coffee is called in
pergamino; then after the parchment-like covering
has been removed, it is in oro.
.if h
.il fn=i173.jpg w=600px id=i173
.ca
A MILL FOR HULLING COFFEE.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A MILL FOR HULLING COFFEE.]
.sp 2
.if-
If one feels a decided call to till the soil old
Mother Earth will be about as generous to him
in coffee culture as in anything. Whatever cultivation
one undertakes, he must wait some
years to see his money come back. Even if he
engages in the raising of cattle, he must wait
for the calves to grow, and no calf will grow
faster than he pleases, unless you stuff him
with expensive grain. With corn, wheat or
barley, you must prepare the soil carefully each
// 176.png
.pn +1
season, and after the crop is cut and stacked,
the land is there again, bare as before. With
coffee, after the land is once planted, it does
not need replanting for many years.
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CHAPTER V||THE PEOPLE
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There are but two classes of people in Guatemala,
Creoles and Indians. The Creoles include
all those who are European or in whom
the European blood predominates. They are
the business and professional men of the country
and the land owners. Although numbering
not to exceed one-tenth of the population, this
class own all but a small fraction of the wealth
of the country. They busy themselves with the
business and politics of the country, while the
Indians do the real work and even the fighting
if there is anything of that kind on hand to
be done. A substantial middle class which usually
form the backbone of a nation’s strength
has not yet been developed.
The Creoles are an interesting race—kind,
considerate and courteous. They enjoy leisure,
always have time for a friendly conversation
and welcome a holiday as a relief from
the strain of business cares. If you should
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chance upon an acquaintance on the street he
is never in such a hurry that he would not stop,
shake hands, and inquire politely after each
member of your family, and would then politely
listen in turn to inquiries after each member
of his own household, which you would be in
duty bound to make, as a courtesy to his own
friendly interest. The punctuality of an engagement
never bothers them, and the man who
persists in keeping or insisting upon such a
thing is rather a bore. This easy-going, care-free
nature has not hastened the progress of
the country.
The Creole woman has ever been a favourite
theme of poets, and their black, bewitching eyes
have won many a eulogy from both poetic and
prose writers; and deservedly so, for woman
is ever an excuse for a eulogy and toast in all
countries and in all languages. The Spanish-American
woman is always interesting, and
perhaps, as often as in other bloods, is beautiful.
They are home lovers, and the casa, or
home, is jealously shielded from prying eyes
by the husband or father, who is lord and master.
The idea of political suffrage or woman’s
rights has never yet agitated their gentle bosoms.
Their life is a reminder of Oriental exclusiveness,
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and a young woman is seldom seen
on the street unless her mother or some older
woman is with her as a companion.
The windows and balconies furnish convenient
seats for the young women of the house,
who, forbidden by custom to walk the streets
unaccompanied, plant themselves there and inconsiderately
stare at all who pass, and especially
the men. You can look in return, for it
is only properly gallant and polite to stare at
them as frankly as if they were pictures or
flowers. To the foreigner it is quite embarrassing
to pass this gauntlet of curious eyes.
When the cool of the day comes Mamma, together
with Juanita and Carmencita, may be
seen in the window, all of them dressed up and
made very beautiful, watching the street with
their faces close to the bar. One who knows
them well may stop and talk with them, being
careful to pay all the attention to Mamma. It
is just the same at the bull-fight or theatre, for
opera glasses will be levelled with a steady
gaze, such as an American would never experience
in his own country. It is not the coquettish
glance seeking a flirtation, for it is
not accompanied by a smile, but is rather that
of curiosity, or a natural and uncontrollable
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interest in the genus represented—that is—man.
These same balconies and window-seats also
play a large part in the courtship of the country.
“Playing the bear” is the name given
to it, and it is very much the same as Mexican
love-making. A young man who is attracted
by the black eye or coquettish glance of a
señorita will follow her to her home and then
“play the bear” by passing back and forth in
front of the house for a long time each day
until he is rewarded by a smile or wave of the
hand from the object of his attentions. I
learned recently of one young man who used
a telephone by throwing one instrument up on
the balcony and keeping the other. In this way
the “bear” would talk with the young lady
for hours each day. Finally the suit progresses
until he can talk to her through the barred window.
Perhaps in the most casual way imaginable
she may let her fingers slip through the
bars, for there is just a chance that Mamma
may be asleep, for she sits with her eyes shut—it
is just a chance of course, but the risk
may be taken and Mamma was once young herself.
Later he may be invited to call at the
house by the father or mother after a family
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council, if his antecedents are all right, for
they have probably been investigated in the
meantime by the sagacious parents of a marriageable
young lady.
To the independent American woman such
a life is simply incomprehensible. It would be
dull, uninteresting—in fact, in many ways, aggravating.
From childhood to old age the
Spanish-American woman rarely does as she
likes, but is a slave to antiquated customs.
Think of a woman not doing as she wants! As
a child a servant accompanies her to school and
calls for her in the evening. When the marriageable
age is reached, her courting must all
be done in the presence of others; and there
are so many romantic spots to be found where
it could be done so much more pleasantly in
this warm climate. After the engagement the
vigilance of the parents is increased, and the
young couple are never even for a moment left
to themselves. If they should go to a dance,
the family accompanying, of course, the girl
must dance every dance with her escort. When
married the pleasure of a wedding trip is not
for her, unless the husband is wealthy. Last
of all, if the marriage proves unhappy, the consolation
of a divorce is even denied her!
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After marriage the Señora settles down to
a life of inactivity, and in a few years she has
lost her girlhood beauty. To do any of the
household work is beneath her, and the number
of servants is limited only by the means
of her husband. She enjoys life in a rocking-chair,
reads a little, plays her music when the
mood is upon her, and occasionally does needlework.
Families are large and, be it said to
her credit, she is usually a good mother and
devoted to her children. She knows nothing
of the joys of “bargain days,” for she usually
contents herself by sending to the store and
having the goods brought out to her carriage.
The cook practically runs the household and is
given a fixed allowance for the marketing, out
of which there must be some margin for
“graft,” or the cook will leave and seek a
more generous master. Seldom indeed is it
that a woman dares to depart from these conventionalities,
however great the desire, and
the universal reason given is that “it is not
the custom.”
Boys may be sent away to liberal schools,
but the girls are educated in convents and, if
sent abroad, go to Spain, thus retaining the old
Spanish customs. The girls are fairly pretty
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in youth, but this soon fades. Their minds are
not broadened by travel, and they grow up
with narrow views of life but proud of their
ancestry. They are very devoted to the outward
ceremonials of the church and spend more
time in learning the lives of the saints than
they do in reading useful literature. A
woman’s popularity in Guatemala City is
judged by the number of pictures of herself
that are sold by the photographer; and he is
at liberty to sell the photographs of his lady
patrons to whomsoever may desire them. The
more he sells the more his patron is pleased,
for it flatters her vanity.
The brown-skinned descendants of the ancient
Toltecs and children of a southern sun,
whose warm rays have implanted a permanent
tan on their cheeks, comprise the great majority
of the population and are an interesting
race. Dressed in their scanty garb, which is
generally clean, they loll away life basking in
the sun when it is cool, and hiding from the
same when it is hot. They may breakfast on
a glass of water and dine on a banana, yet
among themselves they are always happy and
laugh like grown-up children. Why should
they work much? is their philosophy. Fruit is
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abundant, game is plentiful, pigs and chickens
need little care, and kind nature richly rewards
every effort to cultivate her soil. In this climate
wants are few. The latest fashions have
no temptation; the woods and jungle furnish
material for their thatch and reed cottages,
and the morrow can take care of itself. They
sleep, eat and smoke when the inclination comes
upon them, and drink “white-eye” (native
brandy) when they have money with which to
buy it.
As an individual the peon is not a particularly
lovable character except for his fidelity.
He is much like a child in many ways and has
to be frequently treated as one. He even fails
to resent a chastisement by a knock-down blow
from his employer, if his conscience tells him
he deserves it. On the other hand a word of
encouragement or a courteous “buenas dias”
(good morning) brings a smile of genuine
pleasure to his face which is unmistakable.
The personal mozo, or body-servant of the master,
is especially useful and amiable. On a
journey he thinks little of himself, and never
until every want and wish of the master has
been met and gratified. Although to-day not
obliged to defend his master against brigandish
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attacks as formerly, yet he would be perfectly
willing to lay down his life for him if necessary.
Although times have changed, the mozo remains
just the same faithful, trustworthy and
careful servant as formerly. He is not over
intelligent, perhaps, or over cleanly in appearance
always, but he is as loyal and dependable
a servant as can be found anywhere in the
world.
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INDIAN GIRL WITH WATER JAR.
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[Illustration: INDIAN GIRL WITH WATER JAR.]
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Debt and improvidence is not confined to the
poor peon. While the latter is indebted to the
planter, the planter has probably mortgaged
his growing crops to the merchant, and the
merchant in turn demands long-time credit
from the foreign dealer. Thus it is that the
business is conducted on credit almost entirely
and little actual money is handled.
Guatemala has been called the land of “no
hay,” meaning “there is none,” because it is
such a common answer and it illustrates one
characteristic of this race. If the people do
not want to bother, that will be their invariable
answer. You might go up to a house where the
yard was full of chickens, the woman engaged
in making tortillas, and fruit trees loaded with
fruit in the yard, and yet have a conversation
about like the following:
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“Have you any meat?”
“No hay” (pronounced eye).
“Have you any eggs?”
“No hay.”
“Have you any fruit?”
“No hay.”
“Have you a house?”
“No hay.”
“Have you anything to eat?”
“No hay.”
In such a case the best way to do is to enter
the house and hunt around for yourself, and
blandly order the woman to prepare whatever
you chance to find. Then, if you leave a small
sum of money with her on departing, she will
not take any offence but will politely thank you.
Time is the only thing with which they seem
to be well supplied. It is equally hard to get
anything done, for, unless the party is willing
to do the work requested, he will find some
plausible excuse. An American travelling
across the country a few years ago found it
necessary to have his horse shod at one of the
small towns. There were three blacksmiths in
the town; of these one was sick but had supplies,
a second had no nails and the third no
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charcoal. As there was no lending among the
craft the horse could not be shod.
The great vices of the inhabitants are a general
indolence and improvidence, and for that
reason labour is hard to secure. This has led
to the system of peonage by means of which
the labourer is obliged to work for his employer
so long as he is indebted to him. This condition
is generally entered into voluntarily on the
part of the Indian by borrowing a small sum
of money from a plantation owner and the
signing of a contract of employment. The following
is a literal copy of one of these contracts
which I obtained from the manager of
a coffee plantation:
The mozo herewith employed binds himself:
1. To discharge with his work daily and personally
the debt contracted on this finca.
2. To do every class of work after the customs
established on the finca.
3. To absent himself from the finca on no
pretext without previous permission in writing.
4. To pay all expenses made necessary in
case of flight, and rendering himself subject to
the proceedings brought against him through
the proper authority.
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5. To remain on the finca eleven months of
each year.
6. To subject himself to all articles of the
law of labourers decreed by the government.
7. The loan is given not to the man alone but
to his entire family; and each and every one
will be individually responsible for what they
receive.
8. The mozo who becomes security for another
mozo (be it man or woman) assumes the
same responsibilities as the one who receives
the loan.
This latter clause is inserted because in most
instances one labourer goes security for another
by guaranteeing that the latter will carry
out his part, or he himself will assume it. If
the mozo flees, an order of arrest will issue and
an officer sent after him. For this purpose an
alcalde, or justice, is usually kept on each plantation.
When the labourer once assumes this condition
he is generally bound for life, as few of
them ever succeed in paying back the loan, and
the plantation owner never encourages him to
do it for he would lose his labourer. On his
part he is obliged to furnish medical attendance,
advance wedding, baptismal and burial
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fees, and, on the larger plantation, to furnish
a spiritual guide and teacher for the youth. It
is a sort of patriarchal relationship that exists
between employer and employee. The native
will not work more than about two hundred
days in the year because of the numerous
church and national holidays which he must
celebrate; likewise, every birth, death, and
baptism in the family gives another occasion
for a holiday, and the saint’s day of each member
of his family as well as those of the master
must be celebrated. Every person is named
after a saint, and they are surprised to find an
American who has not been named after any.
“Who will protect and keep you from harm?”
they will ask.
The Indians in the hot country are less inclined
to work than those on the uplands, and
one sees much of them. In fact you could not
look in their direction without seeing a great
deal of them, for they wear no superfluous
clothing. The men frequently wear only a
breech-cloth, the women a short skirt, and no
more. In fact, in travelling from the coast to
capital you pass through an entire evolution
in the matter of clothing from practical nakedness
to a complete suit of sandals, trousers and
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shirt. The dictator Barrios issued a decree
requiring all natives to wear sufficient clothes,
or his market produce would be confiscated
when he entered a town. Even to this day it
is not an uncommon sight in some places to see
the aborigine sitting by the roadside near Retalhuleu,
or Mazatenango, and enveloping himself,
or herself, in sufficient clothing to pass
municipal inspection. In the colder altitudes
where clothing is more necessary for physical
comfort, each tribe has a distinct dress and the
district from which the Indian comes can be
told by a glance at his outfit. In the hot country,
those who dress at all wear simply a white
cotton shirt and trousers.
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A CARGADOR ON THE ROAD.
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[Illustration: A CARGADOR ON THE ROAD.]
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The Indians are obliged by law to do carrying
work across the country when desired and
paid for their services. If the traveller is unable
to get a cargador, an appeal to the proper
official will secure one within a reasonable time.
That official will, if necessary, arrest a man
and lock him up over night in the cabildo, in
order to have him on hand when wanted. They
can only be obliged to go about a two days’
journey from home and carry a hundred
pounds. Their wages are only a few cents per
day in gold, so that their services do not come
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very high. In case of attempted overcharge
the Jefe (local governor) will settle all disputes,
and he is generally very fair in his conclusions.
Many of the cargadors use a framework
called a carcaste in which to carry their
loads.
If one desires to engage a cargador it is
necessary to give him enough time to prepare
tortillas for the journey. With a basket of
these, a plenteous supply of coffee, a cup, and
a few twigs for fire, the Indian is ready for the
journey. He will not need to buy anything
on the road except some fruit or a little “white-eye,”
the native brandy. Their excuse for this
extra would be like the old Guatemalan, who
said: “One wants to get rid of his memory
once in a while.” At night they light their
fires either in the public hall, or out-of-doors
under the brilliant starlit canopy, where they
make their coffee and warm their tortillas.
Embers of these fires may be seen on every
hand as one journeys across the country. The
men are unobtrusive, and even when gathered
together in considerable numbers they are quiet
if any strangers are present. Among themselves,
however, they are gay and light-hearted
and seem to enjoy life.
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These cargadors are an ancient and honourable
institution in Central America. From
time immemorial they have transported baggage
and produce from one part of the country
to another, and they rather look upon the encroachment
of railroads with disfavour, for it
will curtail their business. They will carry a
mule’s load of one hundred and fifty pounds
at even a greater speed, averaging five or six
miles an hour, for they travel at a sort of jog
trot. Some of the couriers in olden times were
very fleet of foot for they used to be kept busy
in time of war before the introduction of the
telegraph. President Rufino Barrios had a
runner in his employ of whom it is said that
he carried a dispatch thirty-five leagues into
the interior and returned an answer in thirty-six
hours, making the two hundred and ten
miles over mountains at the rate of six miles
an hour, including stops and delays for food
and sleep. When equipped for the road these
men wear a costume consisting of short trousers,
like bathing-trunks, a white cotton shirt
and sandals made of cowhide.
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PLAYING THE MARIMBA.
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[Illustration: PLAYING THE MARIMBA.]
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The Indians are very fond of music and show
considerable natural talent. Many native
bands, especially in the army, play popular
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and classical music in a very pleasing way.
One unique instrument, called the Marimba, is
met with only in Central America and southern
Mexico. It has some very pleasing tones that
it is truly delightful to listen to. The larger
ones are made of a frame seven or eight feet
long and two and one-half feet high upon which
strips of hard wood are placed, and beneath
which are fastened wooden resonators for different
tones. Some of them have as many as
six complete octaves of tones and semitones.
The sounds are produced by striking with a
rubber tipped stick the strips of wood, thus resembling
the xylophone. Those that I saw generally
had three players, each armed with two
sticks in each hand with which they struck the
wood strips. Their playing was sometimes
really marvellous in the dexterity with which
they played even difficult runs and maintained
almost perfect harmony—it seemed beyond the
ability of these uneducated Indians who played
entirely by ear. The tone of the Marimba is
sweet or, as one writer has described it, “like
several pianos and harps combined, together
with a bass effect not unlike a bass viol.” The
repertoire of the players is generally limited
so that it becomes monotonous after a while.
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Nearly all the soldiers, except officers, are
men of the Indian race. Guatemala has a compulsory
military law which compels every man
to serve in time of war and gives the government
the right to impress them into the military
service when, in their judgment, the
occasion demands summary measures. One of
the villages visited by me had just been the
scene of one of these “impressing” occasions,
and the impression made was still very vivid
among the inhabitants left. The military officials
had swooped down upon this village, literally
like the thief in the night without any
warning. If their purpose had become known
they would have found an Adamless village and
no man at home. As it was, they captured all
the men in the village who were capable of bearing
arms. Thereupon there was great weeping
and wailing among their fathers and mothers,
wives and sweethearts. The men, however,
were marched to a neighbouring village where
they were allowed to fill up on “white-eye.”
Their courage rose as the liquor disappeared
and they soon marched away to the music of
the band, shouting, “Long Live the Republic!”
“Long Live El President!” Hence,
while the women bewailed their lot at home,
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the men were eating government tortillas and
drinking the Cabrera brand of patriotism,
somewhere within the boundaries of the republic.
The samples of soldiers that one sees at the
various commandancias, or barracks, were not
very terror-inspiring although decidedly picturesque.
Dressed in jumper and overalls of
the familiar blue jeans, barefooted and wearing
a battered old straw hat of any shape, or without
shape, they looked like play-soldiers. They
are like children in their artlessness, and in fact
even an old Indian is a child in worldly wisdom.
The man who wore a pair of shoes was pretty
sure of promotion to sergeant. Many of the
soldiers were mere boys not older than sixteen.
The number of men under arms at that time
was said to exceed twenty-five thousand, and
the government claimed they could soon raise
it to fifty thousand. This does not seem like
a large force and yet it is as large in proportion
to the population as an army of a million
and a quarter would be in the United States,
which contains at least fifty times as great a
population.
The race generally known as Caribs, and who
dwell along the shore of the Caribbean Sea,
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predominate at Livingston and along this coast.
They have an olive complexion, round heads,
abundant black hair, which is usually straight
but sometimes kinky. They are also short and
erect, but muscular. It has only been in recent
years that they wore any clothing at all, and
they are not burdened with it yet. Every place
where there is water is a bathing resort, and
the only bathhouses are big mahogany logs,
hewn square. Sharks and alligators sometimes
make it exciting for them. The Caribs have
negro blood in them which dates from the
foundering of an African slave ship on these
shores, several centuries ago. They claim to
be good catholics but still retain much of their
pagan rites and superstitions; they are exclusive
and seldom intermarry with the native Indians
of whom Guatemala has more pure
bloods than any other of the Central American
republics.
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A GROUP OF CARIBS.
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[Illustration: A GROUP OF CARIBS.]
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The women wear the most picturesque costumes
in Central America and are more tastily
dressed than any of the native women in
Mexico, with the single exception of those in
Tehuantepec. They have a dark complexion—almost
as dark as a mulatto—and the young
women are famous for the beauty of their figure,
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which is as perfect as nature can make it
unaided by art. They walk erect with a graceful
carriage and with an elastic footstep full
of grace and freedom. Nearly all have raven
black hair which hangs down the back in a
double braid. They are kind hearted, frank
and good natured. By far the largest share
of the work falls upon the shoulders of the gentler
sex; but they bear their burdens with becoming
fortitude and are generally loyal to
their lord and master, even when the native
“white-eye” takes away what little sense he
has. Drunkenness is quite common. It is surprising
to an American to see a native stretched
at full length even in a public street in a
drunken stupor. No one pays any attention
to him, unless by a little kick, until the stupor
passes away and he is able to navigate for himself
again.
The fondness for bright colours among the
native women can be observed in their extremely
simple but artistic costume. The entire
outfit consists of three pieces and the style
does not change with the seasons. The skirt
consists of a piece of cotton cloth, generally a
plaid, wrapped around the hips and held in
place by a sash; the waist is a square piece of
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figured material, sometimes richly embroidered,
with a hole cut in the centre to pass the
head through and the ends tucked down under
the skirt. Their straight, black hair is usually
braided down the back and they are both bareheaded,
and barefooted, and, probably, rather
empty-minded. The man may afford a pair of
sandals made from a piece of sole leather and
strapped on his feet, but the women seldom
afford this luxury. A little washing would not
injure their natural complexion. They seldom
walk but go along with a peculiar swing, or
jog-trot, over hill and down dale, with a heavy
basket on their heads and baby swung over
their shoulders. In this way they will make
six miles an hour and will beat the average
mule. Some of the more fortunate ones come
leading or driving mules with loads almost as
large as themselves, but the owners themselves
walk. This gives them, however, a chance to
ride on the return to their humble cottage
home.
The women are not without their faults for
they can smoke to their heart’s content. There
is no law against it and custom seems rather
to approve of the vice. It is not only a common
sight to see them smoking cigarettes but cigars
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as well. One day I saw a mother with three
children, two boys and a girl, and the oldest
one not more than nine or ten years of age, each
puffing away at a big fat cigar that was black
enough to appal the average man smoker.
There is a naturalness and simplicity in their
manner that rather astonishes an American
when he happens to stumble upon a group of
them bathing without any regard for the simple
clothing that would be considered necessary
at Atlantic City, and they are not afraid of
strangers either. Then one can see them nursing
their babies and searching for specimens
in the little youngster’s hair at the same time.
Yet this absence of prudishness or unnaturalness
does not mean an absence of the virtues,
although morality has not yet reached an ideal
stage.
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CHAPTER VI||RAILWAYS AND THEIR ROUTES
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Guatemala has more miles of railway than
all the other Central American republics together.
And yet there are not more than half
enough to properly develop the country. There
are still a number of important cities and large
agricultural districts which have no rail communication
with either the coast or the rest
of the republic. Nothing will contribute more
to the prosperity and peace of the country than
an extension of the existing lines into even the
most remote sections.
The larger cities are all situated at some
distance from the coast and several of them
at an altitude of more than a mile in the mountains.
Communication with the coast and rest
of the country is over long, narrow and rough
trails. The transportation of commerce is slow
and expensive and requires thousands of cargadors,
mules and the patient burros. Furthermore,
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the very isolation of the people and
difficulty of communication keeps them aloof
from modern progress, and leaves them content
with things as they are, and with no ambition
for anything more advanced or better
than was enjoyed by their forefathers. The
Indians rather look with distrust upon the encroaching
iron highways as they fear they will
interfere with their employment. Their opposition,
however, is a mild one and contents
itself with looking on at the advancing track
in an idle and listless way. They aid in the
construction work when the mood is upon them,
or they are compelled to by the authorities; at
other times they refuse, and the question of
steady and satisfactory labour is sometimes
a hard one to solve by the railroad contractor.
The building of railroads has been encouraged
by the present government both by liberal
concessions and the granting of subsidies, and
about two hundred miles have been constructed
since Cabrera became President. Several
other concessions have been granted but the
government has not been in a position to meet
the payments promised, so that the projects
have been held in abeyance. It is absolutely
necessary for the government to meet a fair
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.pn +1
proportion of the construction expense, otherwise
railroad building would not be a profitable
undertaking because of the undeveloped condition
of the country.
The greatest undertaking before the country
at the present time is the Pan American Railway
of which little has been heard in the United
States until recently, and a great many think
that it is merely an idle dream. These people
may be surprised to learn that it will soon be
an accomplished fact so far as the North American
continent is concerned. A railroad by that
name has just been completed from San Geronimo,
on the Tehuantepec National Railroad,
in Mexico, to the Guatemala frontier, a distance
of about three hundred miles. More than
this, the road is already in operation and regular
through trains are running to Tapachula,
only a few miles from the boundary of Guatemala.
As soon as the Occidental Railway of
Guatemala is extended about thirty miles from
Retalhuleu to connect with the Mexican line
at the border, there will be an all-rail line from
Canada and the United States to Guatemala
City. A concession has already been granted
for this line and it will be built at once by the
same people who have just completed the Mexican
// 211.png
.pn +1
portion of this scheme so successfully. The
present line from Retalhuleu to Escuintla,
about eighty miles, will become a part of the
through connecting system that will be extended
at least to Panama, if not beyond. This
much is a certainty, and that it will be completed
within a very few years is my prediction.
Through trains will not be a possibility, however,
unless the Guatemala and other Central
American lines are broadened to standard
gauge, for at present all the Central American
lines in operation and in construction are built
of narrow gauge width. The Mexican connecting
lines are all of standard gauge construction.
A survey was made a few years ago from
Oaxaca, Mexico, to the northernmost railroad
connection in the Argentine Republic, and all
of the Spanish-American republics are looking
forward to the completion of this great scheme
at some day in the future. Its construction to
Panama would, I believe, be of great assistance
in preserving peace and in engendering a better
feeling between the states of Central America,
as it would facilitate commerce among them
and would give them one common interest. At
present there is no railroad in any of the republics
// 212.png
.pn +1
that reaches the boundary of any other,
so that communication is generally by sea and
through the ports.
The Occidental Railway starts at the important
port of Champerico and, with the Guatemala
Central, forms a through line to the capital
city. It has been in operation for several
years and has aided very much in the development
of this section of the country. The
first city touched by it on the way to the capital
is Retalhuleu, the capital of a department
and one of the principal cities of the republic,
which boasts a population of twelve thousand
inhabitants. The buildings are nearly all one-storied,
and the streets are narrow and ill-paved.
The sidewalks are scarcely wide enough
for two people to walk abreast. Door-steps
and window-sills project beyond the houses to
such an extent that walking abroad at night
is rather dangerous. It has an elevation of
nearly a thousand feet above sea level so that
its temperature is much better than on the
coast. It is now one of the principal shipping
points of the coffee for which this region is
famous, and quite a number of Germans are engaged
in that business in the city. There are
// 213.png
.pn +1
// 214.png
// 215.png
no manufacturing industries outside of the
small plants needed for local wants.
.if h
.il fn=i213.jpg w=600px id=i213
.ca
From the Bulletin of the International Bureau of American Republics.
A SCENE ALONG THE OCCIDENTAL RAILWAY.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration:
From the Bulletin of the International Bureau of American Republics.
A SCENE ALONG THE OCCIDENTAL RAILWAY.]
.sp 2
.if-
The road passes through many coffee fincas,
or plantations, after passing a small junction
point, Mulua. From this place a branch line
runs to San Felipe, within about twenty-five
miles of Quezaltenango, which city for a long
time was in control of the coffee market of the
country and the second city in the republic.
The earthquake of 1902 not only ruined that
city but destroyed many a fine coffee plantation.
It lies in a basin surrounded by hills
nearly a mile and a half above sea level and
is shadowed by the volcano Santa Maria. Before
disaster overtook it, the city housed a population
of twenty-five thousand people. It has
always been noted as one of the strongest centres
of the priestly power—at least second
only to the capital. The road to Quezaltenango
in the rainy season is almost impassable. Take
one of our country lanes, cut ditches across it,
dig deep pits in it, throw some big stones in
the centre of it, and run a few streams across
it, and you have a fair sample of what this
road is when the rains are beating upon it each
day. A concession has been granted to complete
// 216.png
.pn +1
this branch to Quezaltenango, and it is
an improvement much needed. The completion
of the line is promised in the near future
by the government.
A number of towns of more or less importance
are reached by the railroad. With the exception
of Mazatenango, a town of about the
size of Retalhuleu, and Patulul, they are all
sleepy looking places where the hungry-looking
dogs and buzzards are the only creatures that
seem to be busy or even looking for something
to do. It is a good thing for these places that
these scavengers do keep busy, for they are the
only health officers in commission, and they
have no human assistants. The most of the
dogs are not fed in order to encourage them
to forage for a living, and the number of thin,
cadaverous-looking dogs wandering around and
searching for a chance to fill a great aching void
in their interior anatomy is truly astonishing
and equals Constantinople. Bernal Diaz, the
historian of the conquest, says the natives used
to raise a certain species of dog that never
barked and was very good eating and the flesh
of which was sold in the market.
.if h
.il fn=i217.jpg w=600px id=i217
.ca
A WATERFALL NEAR ESCUINTLA.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A WATERFALL NEAR ESCUINTLA.]
.sp 2
.if-
At Escuintla the Occidental Railway connects
with the Guatemala Central, which runs from
// 217.png
.pn +1
// 218.png
// 219.png
San Jose, the principal port, to the capital.
This city seems destined to be the railway centre
of the country for here the Pan American
railroad will cross the interoceanic line. At
present it is a much less important city than
formerly, when it was the headquarters of the
dealers in the coffee, indigo, and the cochineal
trade. Aniline dyes have taken the place of the
old dyes, other towns have shared its importance
as a coffee centre and the town is said
to be only a ghost of its former self. It is,
however, still an ideal, lazy, tropical town
where the greater part of the twelve thousand
inhabitants take life easy. The narrow, cobbled
streets are bordered by dismal-looking
adobe huts, and palms line the Avenue of San
Luis which were ancient when the oldest inhabitant
was a youth.
In the winter time Escuintla is a resort for
the inhabitants of the capital who come here
for the hot baths and a warmer climate, for the
elevation is only about three hundred feet
above sea level. In the summer the temperature
at midday is decidedly hot and even animals
seek the shade. The large-leaved plants
fold up until about three o’clock, when the rain
begins first with a few large drops. A torrent
// 220.png
.pn +1
then follows which ceases as suddenly as it
began, when a new life appears, the plants
open, and the roses are again fresh and fragrant.
The Indian women of Escuintla are
quite attractive and will draw the attention of
an American as they walk along the street balancing
jars of water holding from three to
five gallons on their heads. They are well developed
and naturally graceful and wear many
coral necklaces or bangles of small silver coins.
From ten to thirty they are in their prime and
at forty they are old women.
The Central railway was built by C. P. Huntington
and his associates, and is the oldest
and, for a long time, was the only railroad in
the country. It is about seventy-five miles in
length and is a well-constructed road. The
most of the traffic from the capital and interior
to the Pacific passes over this line to its port,
San Jose, which is very similar in its facilities
to Champerico.
.if h
.il fn=i221.jpg w=600px id=i221
.ca
SAN JOSE, THE PORT OF GUATEMALA CITY.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: SAN JOSE, THE PORT OF GUATEMALA CITY.]
.sp 2
.if-
This road, in connection with the Guatemala
Northern, completed a year ago, makes the
third interoceanic railway south of our own
borders, the other two being the Tehuantepec
National, in Mexico, and the Panama railroad.
Another road will soon be completed in Costa
// 221.png
.pn +1
// 222.png
// 223.png
Rica, so it is claimed. Over the Guatemala
Northern Railroad it is now possible to travel
from Guatemala City to Puerto Barrios, the
principal Gulf port, by rail. This road was
the dream of President Rufino Barrios a quarter
of a century ago, as he had already at that
time granted a concession for its construction.
The first spike was driven in 1892 and two
years later the line was opened as far as El
Rancho, a distance of one hundred and twenty-nine
miles, while the entire distance from port
to capital is nearly two hundred miles. The
government finances running low by that time,
it was leased to a private company who operated
it for revenue only. It was not a bonanza
for the operators even when they used all the
income for profit and operating expenses without
placing any of it back in the road. The
difficulties in the operation of a railroad in a
tropical country are many and they were all
encountered here. The ties soon decayed, and
in the rainy season the streams became raging
torrents which washed away bridges and the
tracks along their banks. The rolling stock
was likewise neglected and in a few years the
road was practically abandoned. Furthermore,
the road being without a good terminus, the
// 224.png
.pn +1
freight offered for transportation was relatively
small.
Only one train each week to connect with the
mail steamers was run for several years. Finally,
in 1902, the government took up the project
with renewed vigour and secured the services
of Sir William Van Horne, the man who
made possible the Canadian Pacific transcontinental
line, and later built the Cuban railways.
Hundreds of men were placed at work
reconstructing the road, building new bridges
and completing the gap to the capital of about
seventy miles. This last extension was within
the mountain ranges and required some remarkable
engineering feats. There are many
tunnels and cuts through solid rock and the
longest stretch of straight track is less than
a mile. This last section was finally opened
for traffic on the 19th of January, 1908, and
imposing ceremonies were begun that day
which continued throughout the entire week.
President Cabrera and his cabinet, and the diplomatic
corps took part in the ceremonies, and
were passengers on the first through passenger
train which was run from the capital to
the Gulf on that date. The dream of several
presidents and the despair of many engineers
// 225.png
.pn +1
// 226.png
// 227.png
has at last become a reality, and another ocean-to-ocean
line has been thrown open for the
world’s commerce.
.if h
.il fn=i225.jpg w=600px id=i225
.ca
THE WEEKLY TRAIN ON THE GUATEMALA NORTHERN.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: THE WEEKLY TRAIN ON THE GUATEMALA NORTHERN.]
.sp 2
.if-
There are no large towns along the line of
the Guatemala Northern. Zacapa, a town of
about 10,000 inhabitants, is the largest place
and contains the railroad shops and offices.
From this city it is the ultimate intention to
build a branch to San Salvador, the only Central
American republic with no Atlantic seaport,
and give that republic an opening to the
Gulf of Mexico and the near ports of the United
States. The first rails for this very feasible
project have already been laid and this important
line will be of great advantage to American
merchants. It is said that the road will
be built without delay and I sincerely hope
that such will be the case. That word mañana
(to-morrow), however, cuts a very important
figure in affairs in this part of the world,
and money is not always as plentiful as desired.
After leaving Gualan, the next place of importance,
the road plunges into the denser tropics,
where forests of the graceful bamboo, and
the palms which are the personification of grace
and beauty, alternate with plains fit for grazing.
// 228.png
.pn +1
Ferns, tall canes, and the lianes predominate
in vegetation, while birds with strange
voices, insects with equally strange shapes and
noisy lizards become the visible life of the jungle.
The road follows near the Montagua
River with its ever-varying shores, where much
trouble has been experienced during the rainy
season. The large bridge across this stream has
been torn away twice during the rainy season,
and, in a number of places, the track has been
washed away or has slipped into the stream a
number of times. Every few miles there are
section houses for the accommodation of the
track employees built in the sombre forest.
The management found it almost impossible to
get the Indians to work in these tropical
swamps. Hundreds of southern negroes had
been brought over, being lured by the promise
of $1.50 per day, in gold, and their board. Most
of them would leave by the first boat if they
had money enough to get back or could work
their passage across. A party of twenty-two
had just come over on the boat that took me
away and a more dejected lot of “cullud gemmen”
I never saw, for they had already heard
of the life that was in store for them, and they
were trying to devise ways and means for their
// 229.png
.pn +1
return to “God’s Country,” as one of them
called it.
Puerto Barrios, the terminus of this railroad,
will be the great distributing centre not alone
for Guatemala, but also for San Salvador,
which is the smallest but most densely populated
of the Central American republics. It
is only a four days’ journey from New Orleans
and Mobile with the present service, and the
nine hundred miles of water could be covered
in two and one-half to three days easily. At
present it takes fifteen to eighteen days from
New York to Guatemala City, via Panama, and
nearly as long by the monthly steamer from
that city to Puerto Barrios. The steamers
from San Francisco to San Jose consume almost
an equal amount of time. With proper
service Guatemala City could be reached in
four days from New Orleans, which would certainly
give the United States a great advantage
over any European country in the commerce of
the future. The distance by rail from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, or from Puerto Barrios
to San Jose, is two hundred and seventy miles.
The opening of the railway will also reduce to
an appreciable extent the freight charges which
hitherto have been heavy because it was necessary
// 230.png
.pn +1
to transport everything on mule back for
seventy miles.
At the present time the real Puerto Barrios
consists of a single row of lazy, steep-roofed,
palm-thatched, native huts, that spring from
the very water’s edge. There are four large
wooden buildings which shelter the customs officials,
local garrison, commandante and officers
of the transportation company. There is also
a very creditable hotel. The port officers strut
around in their gay uniforms and make a very
close examination of both incoming and outgoing
baggage. Though the population is not
numerous, the languages are many, and one
can hear Spanish, German, French, English,
the sibilant Chinese, and the unintelligible gibberish
of the Carib.
.if h
.il fn=i231.jpg w=600px id=i231
.ca
A BELLE OF PUERTO BARRIOS.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A BELLE OF PUERTO BARRIOS.]
.sp 2
.if-
In addition to the lines already enumerated
there is a road about twenty miles in length
running from the Pacific port of Ocos inland
and which will reach the projected Pan American
railway. There is another short road extending
from Panzos, at the head of navigation
on the Polochic River to Pancajche, a distance
of about twenty-eight miles. This road was intended
to be built to Coban, a city of twenty-five
thousand people, and the largest city on
// 231.png
.pn +1
// 232.png
// 233.png
the Gulf side of the mountains. It is an old
place founded soon after the conquest, that
has been prosperous in times past but is probably
no larger now than a half century ago. It
is also in a rich coffee section which furnishes
the bulk of the commerce from there.
There should be a railroad from Coban to
the capital. At present it takes as long to
cover the intervening distance of one hundred
and twenty-five miles as to travel from Chicago
to San Francisco on the overland flyers.
There are also several important and fair-sized
cities, such as Huehuetenango, Totonicapan
and Santa Cruz del Quiché, in the mountains
which have no railway communication
and where such an enterprise would be welcomed.
Nothing is more needed and no improvement
will aid more in developing the
country than new railroads connecting these
cities with the outside world.
The engineers and conductors on all the
Central American roads are almost exclusively
Americans—many of them, as I learned, having
been discharged from American roads for
various offences. Some of them gravitate
that way by a succession of steps on Mexican
roads. It is, nevertheless, a satisfaction to an
// 234.png
.pn +1
American travelling there for he has some one
to talk to in his favourite language. There is
only one train a day on any of the roads, and
that a mixed passenger and freight, and the
speed is never great enough to alarm the timid
traveller.
// 235.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch07
CHAPTER VII||THE ANCIENTS AND THEIR MONUMENTS
.sp 2
.pm verse-start
“World wrongly called the New! this clime was old
When first the Spaniards came, in search of gold.
Age after age its shadowy wings have spread,
And man was born, and gathered to the dead;
Cities rose, ruled, dwindled to decay,
Empires were formed, then darkly swept away;
Race followed race, like cloud-shades o’er the field,
The stranger still to strangers doomed to yield.”
.pm verse-end
At the time of the conquest the Aztecs, who
were then at the height of their power and
glory, were the dominant race in what is now
Mexico and Central America. And yet the
broad plains of Yucatan and Central America
were the theatre of a much older civilization
compared with which that of the Aztecs was,
as one writer says, “as the brightness of the
full meridian moon to the splendour of the sun
that has already set.” As to whether the Aztec
culture was a borrowed culture or not has
been the subject of much vain speculation, and
little has been accomplished by actual investigation.
// 236.png
.pn +1
It is still a matter of dispute
“Whether the Maya culture was developed
on the soil where its remains are found, or
brought with the people from parts unknown;
whether the Aztecs borrowed from the Mayas,
or the Mayas from the Aztecs; or whether
both these great nations derived their culture
from the Toltecs. And again, it is claimed
that the Toltecs themselves are nothing more
than the figures of a sun-myth.”
.tb
From this it will be seen that of these early
races and their history little is known. It is
supposed that the Toltecs who appeared in the
Valley of Mexico about the seventh century
and built the city of Tula, and possibly Mitla,
wandered southward after their defeat by the
Aztecs and finally stopped in Guatemala where
they found rest from pursuit. This much at
least is known that the region comprising the
greater part of Guatemala, and the western
portion of Honduras, and Yucatan, was the
seat of an ancient American civilization as
highly developed and as interesting to the
archæological or anthropological student as
any of the primitive civilizations of the Old
World. Long before the dream of western
// 237.png
.pn +1
empire began to fire the ambitions of European
kings and incite the adventurous spirits
of the times, centuries before the empire of the
Montezumas had reached the height of its glory,
when it was destined to become the prey of
those avaricious adventurers, the curtain had
already fallen on the last sad scene that closed
the career of this Maya, or Toltec, empire, and
the ruined cities alone remained as a reminder
of their former splendour.
There are numerous remains of these cities,
or rather they might be termed ruins of religious
and governmental centres, for no ruins
have been found of private dwellings. Religion
and government seem to have been one and inseparable
among these early races. Among
these ruins are those of Palenque and Uxmal
in Yucatan, Utatlan and Quirigua in Guatemala,
Copan,[#] and some lesser known ruins in
Honduras. There are probably still other cities
in the wildernesses around Lake Peten awaiting
the coming of the traveller—cities that
had their birth so far back in the twilight of
time that not even a tradition remains to tell
who built them.
.pm fn-start // 1
See appendix for description.
.pm fn-end
There are some traditions which have come
// 238.png
.pn +1
down to us in a book called the “Popul Vuh,”
or sacred book of the Quichés, by an unknown
author. Two translations exist of this book,
one in Spanish by Ximenes, the other in French
by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg. Mr.
Brigham, in his excellent work, has translated
into English a number of the legends contained
in that quaint work concerning the founding of
the world, the creation of the first inhabitants
and other curious lore. I will quote but one
concerning the creation of the world:—
“Then the word came to Tepeu Gucumatz
in the shades of night; it spoke to Gucumatz
and said to him: It is time to consult, to consider,
to meet and hold counsel together, to
join speech and wisdom to light the way and
for mutual guidance. And the name of this is
Huracan, the Voice which sounds: the Voice
of Thunder is the first; the second is the Flash
of Light; the Lightning is the third. These
three are the Heart of Heaven, and they descended
to Gucumatz at the moment when he
was considering the work of creation. Know
that this water will retire and give place to
land, which shall appear everywhere: there
shall be light in the heaven and on earth: but
we have yet made no being who shall respect
// 239.png
.pn +1
and honour us. They spoke, and the land appeared
because of them.”
The Spaniards found numerous books among
the priesthood and old Indian families of many
pages, in which the history, traditions and customs
of the people are probably recorded. The
pages were covered with numerals, glyphs and
drawings quite beautifully executed in colours.
The Spanish priests destroyed all these writings
that they could get their hands on, just
as they did the records of the Aztecs in Mexico,
and made bonfires of the accumulated literature
of centuries. Thus, to satisfy a religious
bigotry, they have deprived us of a true knowledge
of the progressive races who once dwelt
in this favoured land. A few of these books
still exist and they are preserved in European
libraries, although copies have been reproduced
for other libraries.
Mr. Gordon, in an article in the Century
Magazine, describes these books as follows:—
“Four only have come down to us—priceless
relics that in some unknown manner found
their way into European libraries, where they
lay hidden until unearthed by scholars of recent
years. The books of the Mayas consisted
of long strips of paper made from maguey
// 240.png
.pn +1
fibre, and folded after the manner of a screen
so as to form pages about nine by five inches;
these were covered with hieroglyphic characters,
very neatly drawn by hand, in brilliant
colours. Boards were fastened on the outside
pages, and the completed book looked like a
neat volume of large octavo size. The characters
in which they are written are the same as
those found upon the stone tablets and monuments
in the ruined cities of Palenque and
Copan. This system of writing, which is entirely
distinct from the picture writing of the
Aztecs, was the exclusive possession of the
Mayas. It was a highly developed system, and
as investigations have shown, embraced a number
of phonetic elements. In this respect, as
in many others, the Mayas were far in advance
of any other American people.”
A flood of light might be let in upon prehistoric
America if these books and the inscriptions
on the many columns which have been
found, and which are very similar, could ever
be deciphered. It is known that many of the
hieroglyphics record dates, but the significance
of most of them is unknown. They are evidently
of a peaceful character as there is nothing
to indicate that they are memorials of strife
// 241.png
.pn +1
or anything of a warlike nature. These people
possessed a well-developed system of numeration
whose chief application seemed to be in
their time-reckoning. Their year was divided
into eighteen months of twenty days each, the
year beginning on the day of transit of the
sun by the zenith. As the months only gave a
period of three hundred and sixty days, the
remaining five days were arbitrarily added to
make the complete cycle.
Among the most remarkable and inexplicable
ruins of these people are those of Quirigua
which are not far from Port Izabal. These
ruins are completely hidden in a thick tropical
forest a few miles from a village of the same
name. They consist of several square and oblong
mounds and terraces, varying from six to
forty feet on each side, which were ascended by
flights of stone steps. The principal interest,
however, centres in several large, carved monoliths
of light-coloured, coarse-grained sandstone,
thirteen in number, arranged irregularly
around what were probably the most important
plazas. There are numerous hieroglyphic
inscriptions on these monoliths which have
Egyptian characteristics. The natives seem
to have no traditions respecting the ruins, and
// 242.png
.pn +1
they simply call them idoles, that is, idols.
Several of the stones are from three to four
feet square and from fourteen to twenty-five
feet high above the ground.
The entire surface, except top and bottom, is
covered with inscriptions. On the front and
back are full length human figures standing in
stiff and conventional attitude. Tiger heads
carved above these figures probably indicate
high rank, or chiefs, and a skull denotes death.
The mysterious symbols of the Greek cross
which is also found on these stones has been
the cause of much speculation among scholars.
If the human figures are portraits of persons,
who were they? Where did they live? and
what did they do that they should be thus immortalized?
.if h
.il fn=i243.jpg w=600px id=i243
.ca
ONE OF THE COLUMNS AT QUIRIGUA.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: ONE OF THE COLUMNS AT QUIRIGUA.]
.sp 2
.if-
Various theories have been propounded concerning
all these ruins of Mexico and Central
America, and it would be presumptuous for anyone
not a member of a dozen or more learned
societies and bearing several scientific degrees
to venture an opinion. A few writers ascribe
them to descendants of the lost tribes of Israel,
to the Phœnicians, and to the Egyptians. Some
ascribe to them great antiquity and others assert
that they are of comparatively recent construction.
// 243.png
.pn +1
// 244.png
// 245.png
The well-known traveller, J. L.
Stephens, says: “They are the work of the
same race who inhabited the country at the
time of the Spanish conquest, or of some not
very distant progenitors.” The great argument
against this view is, however, that there
were no traditions among the people found by
the Spaniards that shed any light as to their
origin, as would certainly have been the case
if he is correct. The people who built them
seem to have had a distinct, independent and
separate existence.
Professor Marshall H. Saville, of the Department
of Anthropology, in Columbia University,
and also one of the curators in the
American Museum of Natural History, is one
of the best versed authorities on the ruins of
Spanish-America, as he has visited many of
them in connection with scientific expeditions.
Through his courtesy I am enabled to give the
following description written by him of the
ruins at Quirigua:—
Of all the ancient cities in Central America,
the forest covered ruins of Quirigua are perhaps
the least known. They are situated in the
valley of the Motagua, or Montagua River,
about half a league from the left bank, and
// 246.png
.pn +1
about sixty miles from the mouth where it
empties into the Caribbean Sea. Entirely
overspread with the densest tropical vegetation
found anywhere in Central America, they have
remained unexplored and their extent unknown.
Now, however, the transcontinental
railway from Puerto Barrios to the City of
Guatemala passes through the valley at a distance
of not more than a mile from this wonderful
group of remains, and they are thus
brought within easy reach of the traveller.
As yet no systematic excavation has ever
been carried on there, although no field in Central
America offers a richer return to the archæologist.
It is not at all improbable that
still more valuable sculptures may be buried in
the paradise of luxuriant growth, in which
cacao, quina, india rubber, mahogany, bamboo
and gigantic ferns abound, through the depths
of which the jaguar, puma, tapir and peccary
roam at will, while birds of brilliant coloured
plumage are exceedingly numerous.
The ruins consist of a large number of
mounds, pyramids, terraces or platforms, both
square and rectangular, measuring from six
to forty feet in height, some standing in groups
of four arranged around a central square or
// 247.png
.pn +1
plaza, while others occupy an isolated position.
The greater number of these structures have
been faced with squared stones and had flights
of stone steps on one side leading to the top.
There are three principal structures in the
main group, near which are standing thirteen
large monuments in the form of stelae, and
large, rounded masses carved to represent
grotesque animals. These are in what is probably
the great plaza, or square, the heart of
the ancient city. At the northern end is a large
rectangular terraced structure about three hundred
feet long from east to west and one hundred
and seventy-five feet from north to south.
Near the northwestern corner is what appears
to be an artificial lagoon, or pond, which probably
has an outlet in the Montagua River. At
the southern base of the structure are standing
three stelae, or monoliths, ranging in height
from fourteen to eighteen feet and having
carved on the front and back representations
of human figures. On one is a man with a chin
beard. Both sides are entirely covered with
hieroglyphic writing in the form of squares,
called katuns. On another is perhaps the most
important hieroglyphic inscription yet found
in America. It consists of two kinds of writing.
// 248.png
.pn +1
The upper half of the inscription is in
pictures elaborately and intricately carved,
while in the lower half are the abbreviated and
conventional characters such as are commonly
found in the Mayan glyphs.
Undoubtedly an unravelling of the picture
writing will aid greatly in deciphering the hundreds
of inscriptions which are found in the
territory once occupied by the Maya race, formerly
the most advanced of all the ancient
peoples of America. In only two other monuments
is this form of “picture” writing found,
one example being in the ruins of Copan, Honduras,
where the back of a stela is entirely covered
with pictures.
About two hundred feet south of these three
monoliths are the two highest monuments
which have been discovered in the new world.
The first stands twenty-five feet above the
ground; the other is twenty-two feet high. The
first mentioned is leaning at an angle of forty-five
degrees, and as it stands there must be at
least ten feet of its length under ground.
There are full-face human figures carved on
the front and back, and a hieroglyphic inscription
on either side. (Fortunately it has been
accurately moulded by Mr. Maudslay in
// 249.png
.pn +1
plaster, and a cast is in the American Museum
of Natural History, in New York, and in the
Peabody Museum at Harvard College.)
The second stela, twenty-two feet high, is
by far the most artistically carved of all the
standing monoliths. It has large, full-face
human figures on the front and back, and both
sides are occupied by hieroglyphs. The figure
best preserved represents a man with a
small chin beard. He is standing on a platform
covered with symbolic carving. His feet,
which are placed heel to heel, are shod with
elaborate sandals. On his head is an immense
head dress, made up of five superimposed grotesque
faces or masks. From either side extend
feathers, which are carved gracefully
around the sides above the inscriptions, the
whole effect being most striking.
The ears of the person are almost covered
with huge ear ornaments. The breast and body
to the waist are loaded with ornaments, and
an elaborately worked loin cloth hangs from
the waist, down between the legs to the feet.
In the right hand is held a kind of wand or
sceptre, much resembling a “jumping jack.”
The upper part is a grotesque little figure, with
a long nose, representing a deity. From the
// 250.png
.pn +1
bottom of the stick hang feathers. The left
hand is covered by a shield, on the face of
which is a mask, probably a representation of
the sun god.
Near at hand are two fallen stelae about ten
feet in length, entirely covered with moss and
vegetable debris. About eight hundred feet
south of these two large stelae is a high truncated
pyramid, more than one hundred and
fifty feet in diameter at the base. A short distance
east and northeast are three large monuments,
and from three hundred to four hundred
feet south in a plaza enclosed on three sides,
is another group of stelae.
The most important of these is in the form
of a conventionally carved gigantic turtle, the
most extraordinary sculpture in Central America.
Roughly described, it is a cube about eight
feet in size and probably weighing twenty tons.
It is entirely covered with picture and hieroglyphic
writing, and representations of a symbolic
character, among which are several exaggerated
animal and human faces and figures.
(A plaster cast of this is also found in the
above named museums.) In addition, there is
an interesting figure carved on another stela,
representing a woman, with fat, round cheeks,
// 251.png
.pn +1
which has been called the enano, or dwarf. Besides
the monuments now standing there are
several fallen stelae, some complete, while
others are broken.
The rock out of which they are carved is a
gray porphyry, the quarries being several
miles from the ruins and more than six hundred
feet above the valley. The stones were probably
all transported in the rough and carved on
the spot where they now stand, the debris being
used in the construction of the pyramids and
edifices. The labour of transporting these immense
stones must have been stupendous, and
indicates a very high knowledge of mechanics.
In the mounds and pyramids all traces of
palaces and temples of stone have disappeared.
One excavation made, however, proves that
stone buildings have existed, for in the principal
pyramid several rooms have been uncovered,
revealing the triangular Maya arch, with
walls to the rooms, made of nicely laid stones,
covered with stucco or plaster, and with smooth
cement floors.
During the last decade decided advance has
been made in deciphering the Mayan inscriptions,
and the Quirigua hieroglyphs have received
considerable attention, especially since
// 252.png
.pn +1
the appearance of the work of Mr. A. P. Maudslay.
The careful drawings have given us material
for a comparative study of these inscriptions
with those of Copan and Palenque. Certain
parts of the writing have been unravelled
and the mystery surrounding them is being
slowly dispelled. Much remains to be done,
however, before the entire body of the inscriptions
is deciphered.
So far as they have been worked out they
relate to chronological counts extending over
a period of more than three thousand years.
This does not imply that they had a written
history of such respectable antiquity, but according
to their ingenious calendar system and
mode of reckoning time they are carried back
to a fixed date, very much as we reckon from
a fixed date, namely, the birth of Christ. The
later dates of the Quirigua inscriptions very
probably may be assigned to a place somewhere
about the beginning of the Christian era.
// 253.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch08
CHAPTER VIII||THE STORY OF THE REPUBLIC
.sp 2
“Gold,” said Columbus in a letter to King
Ferdinand, “is the most excellent of metals.
With gold we not only do whatever we please
in this world, but we can employ it to snatch
souls from Purgatory and to people Paradise.”
This was the keynote to the Spanish character
and explains the difference between the civilizations
established by Spain and other colonizing
nations. Thrifty activity was regarded
with disdain by the cavalier and each man
sought only enough money to live on the interest
of it, or to establish a trust fund for his
family. The government imposed on each of
its colonies a multitude of officials, since nowhere
in the world were there so many nobles
for whom it was necessary to provide honourable
employment, and an opportunity to acquire
the riches that were deemed so desirable.
This greed for gold and contempt for all industrial
and agricultural pursuits is perhaps
// 254.png
.pn +1
the most remarkable feature of Spain’s colonial
policy.
“The Spaniards,” says a historian, “conceived
the Americans to be animals of an inferior
nature, who were not entitled to the
rights and privileges of men. In peace they
subjected them to servitude. In war they paid
no regard to those laws, which, by a tacit convention
between contending nations, regulate
hostility and set bounds to its rage.” The history
of the conquest of Guatemala is but another
story of war, rapine and slavery similar
to the other conquests of Spain. We have the
testimony of Alvarado himself upon this point.
On one occasion he wrote to Cortez: “That day
I killed and captured many people, many of
them captains and persons of rank.” At another
time he wrote: “That I might bring
them to the service of His Majesty, I determined
to burn the lords; and I burned them
and commanded their city to be burned and
razed to its foundations.” Prisoners were
branded on the cheeks and thighs and sold as
slaves at public auction, one-fifth of the money
realized going to the Spanish crown in all
cases. It was not many months until Guatemala
acknowledged the sovereignty of Spain,
// 255.png
.pn +1
// 256.png
// 257.png
and, with Chiapas, now the southernmost state
of the republic of Mexico, was made a province
with a resident captain-general.
.if h
.il fn=i255.jpg w=600px id=i255
.ca
INDIAN GIRL.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: INDIAN GIRL.]
.sp 2
.if-
The rule of Spain lasted for nearly three
centuries, from 1524 to 1821. Under their system
of government the natives were looked
upon as lawful prey and were oppressed in
every possible way. Las Casas, and a few of
the other priests, endeavoured to prevent extreme
cruelty, although even their methods
would not appear very high, according to present
standards. The policy of Spain was always
narrow and selfish. The unlimited power
of the clergy and their immunity from the civil
laws made them arrogant and intolerant.
Even before the death of Alvarado, in 1541,
there were numerous uprisings of the Indians
which were crushed with an iron hand. The
false system of government created distrust in
all, so that no man put confidence in his neighbour.
The Inquisition, that terrible institution
of blind hatred and bigotry, flourished here
with all its malevolence and many were its
victims. Although the Indians were exempt
from its action, it gave a ready way to dispose
of anyone who made himself particularly obnoxious
to the powers that were, and the offenders
// 258.png
.pn +1
were turned over to the tender mercies
of those who seemed to rejoice in human suffering
and misery. We turn with horror from
the sacrificial altars of the Aztec and Toltec
races; and yet a careful search by historians
has not found any persecution for opinion’s
sake among these people, but their offerings
were all made to please their deities.
As generation after generation of American-born
but European-descended Guatemalans
arose and a certain national spirit and feeling
was developed, these persons demanded some
recognition and at least a limited degree of
home rule. This Spain would not grant, but
continued to send her viceroys, captains-general,
archbishops, etc., from the mother country.
Of the one hundred and seventy viceroys who
ruled in the Americas, only four were of American
birth, and those were reared and educated
in Spain. It was the same with the archbishops,
bishops, captains-general and other
chief officials.
The opening of the nineteenth century was
pregnant with important events both in Europe
and America. The success of the English colonists
in overthrowing the foreign yoke acted as
a leaven in spreading dissatisfaction throughout
// 259.png
.pn +1
the Spanish colonies. Napoleon was at the
height of his power and was upturning monarchies
with a reckless hand. Affairs in Spain
culminated in the detention by this Lord of Europe
of the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII, and
the other members of the royal family at
Bayonne, France, until he forced them to resign
their rights to the Spanish crown in his
favour. Joseph Napoleon, brother of the emperor,
was crowned as King of Spain. Heretofore
the Audiencia, captain-general and
archbishop of Guatemala, though many times
wishing for freedom, could not bring themselves
to discard the country that gave them
birth, religion and civilization. Even educated
Indians, though desiring independence,
looked upon the ruling power with fear and
an almost superstitious reverence. Napoleon’s
acts of violence and usurpation of the
throne upon which all Spanish subjects looked
with such veneration broke this enchantment,
greatly stimulated the desire for freedom and
gave it new impetus. Up to this time the subjects
of Spain in Central America had been
allowed no voice in their own government save
as timid petitioners. At last the right was
granted to Guatemala to choose a deputy who
// 260.png
.pn +1
should reside at the court, and on March 3rd,
1810, Manuel Jose Pavon y Munoz was chosen
for this position. Promises of reform were
held out by the Spanish Cortes, but nothing
seemed to be done in good faith and the patience
of those governed was gradually exhausted.
A constant espionage was maintained by the
police by way of intimidation. Informers and
spies seemed omnipresent. Jose Bustamente,
of Guerra, the newly-appointed captain-general,
adopted stringent measures to stem the
rising tide of insurrection. No intelligent native
was free from suspicion which frequently
resulted in his imprisonment or exile. A long
memorial sent to the Spanish Cortes setting
forth the causes of discontent resulted in the
adoption of an organic code which promised
reform and for a few months had a beneficial
effect.
It was on the 15th of September, 1810, that
the patriot-priest Hidalgo issued his famous
pronunciamento declaring the sovereignty of
Spain at an end in Mexico. The news of his
success again stimulated the germs of independence
in Guatemala and they began to germinate
in secret among the more intelligent of
// 261.png
.pn +1
both Creoles and natives. The government
used every means to keep the people in ignorance
of the real events in Mexico and South
America and spread reports of great government
successes in putting down the insurrections.
Restiveness and despair fell upon many
and the hopes of a better government by Spain
evaporated. Men were unwilling to live longer
under such despotism, and they began to look
upon even death as a relief.
In 1811, pronunciamentos began to appear
in a number of cities in the Kingdom of Guatemala,
and on November 5th of that year the
first blow was struck for freedom by the capture
of several thousand muskets and a large
sum of money in the Salvador treasury. The
Archbishop granted eighty days indulgences
for those not participating in the revolutionary
movements, but this promise had little effect
among the thinking classes. The masses, on
the other hand, were in a degraded condition,
socially, intellectually and morally, and controlled
by an ignorant fanaticism. The most
absurd doctrines and miracles were implicitly
believed in, and fealty to the sovereigns, so
they were taught, was a high virtue.
Spain was practically helpless because of her
// 262.png
.pn +1
troubles in Mexico and South America where
formidable revolutions were in progress. Because
of this no large armies were sent and
there was no great war for independence. During
the years from 1811 to 1821, however, there
were thousands of victims to the cause of independence
throughout all of Central America
and Chiapas—men who sacrificed life, liberty
and freedom. Even if there were no great
bloody fields of carnage or brilliant feats of
arms, as in Mexico, there were tragedies in
abundance, and the lives sacrificed upon the
sacred altar of patriotism were as precious as
those slain in battle in other countries. The
Betlen conspiracy, in 1813, led by a patriotic
priest, gained considerable headway, but the
conspirators soon found themselves in prison
through a betrayal of their plans. In 1814, a
national constitution was proclaimed by Spain
through her representative, Bustamente, but
few believed that it was in good faith. The
desire for separation from the galling yoke of
Spain had taken too strong a hold to be appeased
by a little sop.
Finally, in 1821, Spain’s representative,
Señor Gavino Gainza, joined the rebels. On
the 14th of September of that year the government
// 263.png
.pn +1
house in Guatemala City was thronged
by representatives of the people who came to
attend a meeting that had been called by
Gainza. Immediate independence was advised
by the majority of those representatives and
every attempt at a vacillating policy was defeated.
Every vote for independence was received
by the citizens who had gathered on the
plaza with loud applause and those against it
with groans. The anti-independents fearing
for their lives retired from the palace, but they
were not molested. An Acta de Independencia
was then drawn up, adopted, signed and sworn
to by all those who were present, and publicly
proclaimed on the following day. This act
declared Guatemalans to be a free and independent
people and invited citizens of the provinces
to elect at once representatives to a national
congress to be convened on the 1st day
of March, 1822, on the basis of one representative
for each fifteen thousand inhabitants.
This was just two hundred and ninety-seven
years, three months and nineteen days from the
time Alvarado and his followers took possession
of the country.
A provisional junta was formed to advise
with Gainza, who had apparently thrown his
// 264.png
.pn +1
die with independence, but secretly—so it is
claimed—intended to deal doubly. Chiapas
had proclaimed independence a few days
earlier and was the first province of the Guatemala
captain-generalcy, or Kingdom of Guatemala,
as it was called, to throw off the Spanish
yoke. San Salvador followed on the 21st of
September, Honduras on the 16th of October,
Nicaragua on the 21st of October and Costa
Rica on the 27th of October. All of these provinces
formally accepted the Plan of Iguala proclaimed
by Iturbide of Mexico, which provided
as follows: preservation of the Roman Catholic
Church; independence under a monarchical
form of government with a prince of the royal
house of Spain as ruler; union and equality of
Spaniards and Mexicans and Central Americans.
The change to freedom was not easy after
three centuries of misrule. The abolishment
of slavery forty years before the United States
freed her black men was one good omen. Two
parties, conservatives and liberals, sprang up.
The most of the enlightened ones espoused the
cause of the liberals, while the old families,
those with race prejudice, and the clergy adhered
to the conservative cause, although many
// 265.png
.pn +1
of the priests were in the front rank of those
battling for independence. Thus the state cast
adrift without any fixed policy.
The idea of annexation to Mexico began to
grow popular. Iturbide, who had in the meantime
made himself Emperor of Mexico, sent
messengers to Gainza, who espoused that
cause and began to persecute those opposed to
that idea. Republicans were insulted and even
conversations on the street on political subjects
were prohibited. The junta decreed annexation
on the 5th of January, 1822, and the
people were given all the rights of Mexican
citizens. This union only lasted for about fifteen
months and was dissolved soon after the
fall of the Emperor Iturbide. The only tangible
results of the union were internal strife and
heavy taxes.
In 1823 a congress of the states of Central
America was summoned to meet in Guatemala
City. This congress assembled in June as the
Asamblea Nacional Constituyente and remained
in session nearly two years. It founded
the United Provinces of Central America, but
difficulties soon set in between the different
provinces. A constitution was framed and
promulgated in 1825 for which the constitution
// 266.png
.pn +1
of the United States was taken as a model.
Arcé was proclaimed the first president in the
same year and was soon after recognized by
most of the leading powers. Conflicts arose
very soon between the federal and local authorities
in Guatemala City, which city had
been made the capital of the confederation.
The vice-president, Flores, retired to Quezaltenango,
where he was attacked by an infuriated
mob of natives on the 13th of October,
1826. He sought refuge in the pulpit of the
parish church from whence he was dragged by
a mob of women and literally torn to pieces.
The Indians had been aroused by a Spanish
priest who attributed a pestilence to him. A
reign of religious fanaticism soon followed and
troops from San Salvador invaded Guatemala
to restore order. Convents and monasteries
were suppressed by the government, but Arcé
found himself unable to preserve order, and
resigned the presidency.
In 1799, there was born in Honduras a child
named Francisco Morazan, who was destined
to be the greatest figure in this Central American
Confederation. His father was a Frenchman
and his mother a native Creole woman of
that country. We know little of his youth except
// 267.png
.pn +1
that he managed to acquire a fair education
for that age. He grew up to be a man of impetuous
but not sanguinary temperament, and
was possessed of great decision and perseverance.
His bearing was free and manly; his
manner was frank and open; his domestic life
was exemplary. After holding several minor
offices in Honduras he became secretary-general
of that province, then Senator and jefe, or
governor, but his bent was that of a warrior.
Revolution broke out at La Antigua, in Guatemala,
and this province then placed itself under
the protection and leadership of General Morazan,
who had an army of about two thousand
men, and who had espoused the cause of the
malcontents. With this small force Morazan
besieged Guatemala City, the capital of the federation,
and the city soon capitulated. General
Morazan thereupon assumed the power of state
and used much vigour, but was just. He afterwards
wrote, “No one was put to death or had
money exacted from him.” This was an almost
unheard of leniency in Central America, but
he had no cause to regret this magnanimity,
even though there was much blood to avenge
and there were many grievances to punish.
A period of reaction followed, for the servile
// 268.png
.pn +1
conservative party, which had been hitherto
dominant, fell. It seemed almost as though
Morazan had been called by Providence itself.
Some cruel measures by his followers and supporters
followed, but the best authorities do
not blame him personally for those acts, as he
seemed to be above petty measures for the purpose
of revenge. It was even decreed that all
salaries that had been paid for several years be
refunded to the national treasury and harsh
means were taken to collect them. A few
months later another man was elected president
by the new congress that had been chosen, although
Morazan was the real power behind the
throne, but at that time he preferred the military
command. Many prisoners were exiled,
the archbishop and a number of friars expelled,
and all monastic institutions, except one, were
suppressed by the new government. Because
of fear of trouble from Spain all property of
Spanish subjects was ordered sequestered until
that country formally recognized independence.
It was ever a struggle between the church
party and the anti-clericals. On one side were
arrayed the sincere adherents of the church and
the clergy, many of whom were bigoted as well
// 269.png
.pn +1
// 270.png
// 271.png
as covetous. In the other party were the honest
patriots and those who expected to reap
emolument from the confiscation of church
property. In addition there was a floating
class of professional revolutionists who threw
their lot with whichever party promised the
greatest reward, and the bandits who would rob
a church as cheerfully as a lonely traveller on
the road.
.if h
.il fn=i269.jpg w=600px id=i269
.ca
A PEON.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A PEON.]
.sp 2
.if-
It is difficult to realize how long it takes to
throw away temporal and spiritual fetters, even
though they are self-forged. The people of
Central America felt lost without harness and
reins, whip and spurs, as soon as a little freedom
had been gained. They did not know what
to do with their liberty which many interpreted
to mean license. They thought it consisted of
wranglings for place, of wars of brothers
against brothers, of priests against people. A
self-styled aristocracy and ignorant rabble both
contributed to the discontent.
They had copied the letter and not the spirit
of American institutions. The scheming politicians
would hesitate at nothing to attain private
ends or personal aggrandizement. The
aristocracy were impetuous by nature and impatient
of restraint, while the peons were indolent
// 272.png
.pn +1
and accepted whatever condition fell to
them.
Finally, in 1830, Morazan was elected president
at the regular election and assumed office
on the 16th day of September. Ignoring all
precedents this new ruler turned his first attention
and efforts to further education. Peace
reigned for a short time, but the demon of political
strife was soon let loose again. The former
president, who had just failed of re-election,
invaded Guatemala with about a hundred
discontented ones from Mexico, and another
revolutionist entered the country from the opposite
border with a couple of hundred negroes
from Honduras, but both were defeated by the
prompt measures of the government. Yet in
this victory was actual defeat, for the dissolution
of the confederation really dated from this
time. Congress adopted some liberal measures
at the instance of Morazan, among which were
absolute freedom of conscience and the right
to worship God according to the dictates of
conscience, both of which measures showed an
advanced spirit of toleration. This liberty, however,
angered the clericals who did not favour
the progressive policies of Morazan. Furthermore,
and this was the most powerful influence,
// 273.png
.pn +1
the smaller states were jealous of Guatemala,
because of her predominance both in population
and area, and they demanded an equal
voice in the government. It was one of the
same troubles that confronted the colonies during
the early days of the republic. Beginning
with the withdrawal of Nicaragua, in December,
1832, all the provinces formally withdrew
from the confederation within a few months.
A scourge of cholera in 1837 was taken advantage
of by certain fanatics of the clerical
party, who made the ignorant rabble believe
that the waters had been poisoned in order to
destroy the natives and make room for foreigners.
That such a movement should be successful
seems almost incredible in this day and
age, but its effect soon spread over the whole
land, and the government was helpless when
opposed by blind fanaticism. Cries for vengeance
were heard on every side, and many
physicians were put to death with cruel tortures,
such as being compelled to swallow the
entire contents of their medicine chests. Rafael
Carrera, whose hostilities resembled highway
robbery rather than civilized warfare, soon
became the head of the revolt, aided by a certain
class of priests who termed him the “Protecting
// 274.png
.pn +1
Angel Rafael.” The government put a
price on Carrera’s head and the following notice
was posted throughout the country:
.pm letter-start
“The person or persons who may deliver the
criminal Rafael Carrera, dead or alive (if he
does not voluntarily present himself under the
last pardon), shall receive a reward of fifteen
hundred dollars and two caballerias of land,
and pardon for any crime he has committed.
.rj 2
“The general-in-chief,
“J. N. Carvallo.
“Guatemala, July 20th, 1838.”
.pm letter-end
Outlaws and robbers joined this new leader,
while the main body of troops were men in
rags armed with all kinds of weapons from
rusty muskets to knives on long poles; and
even sticks shaped like muskets with tin-plate
locks were carried by many. As this oddly-assorted
band approached Guatemala City
thousands of women joined them with sacks
to carry away the loot and plunder. Viva la
religion! Death to the foreigners! were the
cries that filled the air as they entered the walls
of the capital. The government, knowing its
own weakness and also Carrera’s mercenary
// 275.png
.pn +1
disposition, finally compromised by paying
Carrera $1,000 for his own use and $10,000 to
be distributed among his troops, and making
him a general in the army. A foolish compromise!
An injudicious surrender! Temporary
quiet was followed by more and greater disorder,
and Morazan was compelled soon afterwards
to flee to San Salvador, then to Costa
Rica, where he was openly insulted, and finally
to South America, where he found peace and
quiet.
A quiet life did not suit the spirit of General
Morazan, for he soon after returned to Costa
Rica and became involved in the political troubles
of that country. As in Honduras and
Guatemala his sword was found on the side
of freedom and against oppression. Ill luck
followed his forces and he was captured by
treachery and the promise of immunity. He
was cast in irons and a mock trial held at which
he was condemned to die within three hours.
The prospect of death did not break the brave
spirit of this remarkable man, and he dictated
his will and a defence of his actions, and then
boldly faced the squad of executioners. He
himself gave the command to fire, after seeing
that good aim was taken by the soldiers. Thus
// 276.png
.pn +1
died at San Jose, Costa Rica, on the 15th of
September, 1842, the twenty-first anniversary
of freedom from the Spanish yoke, perhaps the
greatest statesman that Central America has
yet produced. He was misunderstood, maligned
and killed, but his last words were prophetic:
“Posterity will do me justice.”
Carrera was only about twenty-one years of
age when he first became the leader of the clerical,
or servile, forces. Of base birth, his
mother being a well-known market woman, he
was so ignorant that he could not even write
his name, and signed official documents with a
rubber stamp; of a violent and irascible temper
and the slave of violent passions, yet he
was bold, determined and persevering; constantly
beaten, yet he always managed to escape.
From a common servant he became a
pig driver and later the absolute dictator of
Guatemala for many years. At first the mere
tool of the priests, they were afterwards
obliged to put up with the insults and abuse
of the man whom they had raised up to a position
of power. His vanity knew no bounds and
there was no limit to his cruelty. He beat men,
pulled out their hair and beards; violated
// 277.png
.pn +1
women, cut off their tresses and ears; and,
while president, he occasionally shot men on
the plaza for effect. On one occasion he ordered
eighteen prominent citizens of Quezaltenango
shot on the plaza as an example to the
rest of the inhabitants.
John L. Stephens, an American diplomat,
who met Carrera many times, has given us a
vivid picture of this man. He describes him
as about five feet, six inches in height, with
straight black hair and an Indian complexion.
Stephens happened to be in a town that was
captured by Carrera. Every inhabitant was
compelled to shout, Viva Carrera! If the person
hesitated a gun would be aimed at his
breast and, if he refused, it would be fired.
Viva la Patria! was never thought of, for Carrera
was the government. He never talked of
how many prisoners he took, but it was always
how many of the enemy were killed, for prisoners
were not desired.
Carrera raised his army by promising the
natives the plunder of the capital, says Stephens.
He approached it with a tumultuous
mass of half-naked savages, men, women and
children, estimated at ten or twelve thousand.
Several well-known outlaws, criminals, robbers
// 278.png
.pn +1
and murderers were with him. The “General”
rode on horseback with a green bush in
his hat which was hung around with pieces of
cotton cloth covered with pictures of saints,
wore a pair of green, frieze trousers, and a fine
coat covered with gold embroidery. The natives
all had green bushes in their hats, looking
like a moving forest as they marched down the
streets of the capital. As they proceeded the
soldiers cried: “Viva la religion and death to
the foreigners.” One captive general was
placed sidewise on a mule with his feet tied
under the animal, and his face bruised, swollen,
and disfigured by stones and blows of machetes.
Many other prisoners were tied together with
ropes. This was similar to the invasion of
Rome by the barbaric hordes of the north.
Although virtually the head of the government
from the flight of Morazan, in 1839, he
was not formally chosen president until 1844.
The clerical party called him “Son of God”
and “Our Lord,” and hailed him as their
saviour. A few years later he resigned because
of trouble, but did not entirely give up his
power, and in 1852 was made president for life
and occupied that position until his death on
the 14th of April, 1865, just about the time of
// 279.png
.pn +1
the death of President Lincoln. He was even
able through legislative enactment to name his
successor. Congress had declared him a hero
and the preserver of the republic and ordered
his bust engraved on all coins. Guatemala had
finally declared her independence the 21st day
of March, 1847, as the Republic of Guatemala
instead of a state within the confederation, by
which designation it had formerly been known,
although the confederation had been practically
dissolved many years before.
His successor, Vicente Cerna, was a man of
very ordinary ability and a religious fanatic.
He was a warm friend of the Jesuits and his
greatest recommendation was that he went to
confession once each week as regularly and
conscientiously as he took his meals. He could
not control the discordant elements and insurrections
soon sprang up on every hand, even
though he had the united support of the church
party. New and powerful leaders of the opposition
came into prominence. The most influential
opponent of the government at this time
was Serapio Cruz, who was ably supported by
Granados and J. Rufino Barrios, hitherto a
refugee in Chiapas. Cruz invaded Guatemala
from Chiapas in 1869 with only twenty-five
// 280.png
.pn +1
men. His numbers gradually swelled as he
proceeded across the country, although only a
small portion were supplied with firearms.
Some carried machetes, while many more were
entirely unarmed. He was finally defeated in
an engagement with the government forces
near the capital and his head was carried into
the city as a ghastly trophy and a warning to
other revolutionists. Granados and Barrios
kept up the struggle with varying success for
many months. They finally gathered up a
couple of small armies and marched toward
Guatemala City. Their journey was almost a
triumphal procession and they entered that
city as victors as Cerna fled.
H. H. Bancroft, the able and painstaking historian
of Spanish North America, says that
the result of thirty years of conservative rule
in Guatemala was two hundred lazy and stupid
monks, two hundred almost useless nuns, one
archbishop, two bishops, fifteen vicars and canons,
a foreign debt of five million dollars.
There were no schools, roads, bridges, or telegraphs.
The postal facilities were inadequate,
and immense tracts of unproductive land owned
by the church brought no revenue for the support
of the government. This is a terrific arraignment
// 281.png
.pn +1
of that party and explains in a great
measure why that country has lagged behind
so far in the onward march of progress. And
yet its history down to that time is not much
worse than that of Mexico for the same period.
Granados was first made president after the
flight of Cerna, but he was soon after, in 1872,
succeeded by General Barrios, who ruled the
country with an iron hand for more than a
dozen years and was practically dictator during
that time. Opinions differ a great deal
concerning this man, but the passing years
show the farsightedness of his policies. I
talked with a great many people who knew him
at the American Club in Guatemala City. All
admit that he was a greater man than any of
his successors, and that he was a better one is
nearly as generally conceded. He was resourceful
and iron-willed, but progressive; he drove
his political opponents out of the country mercilessly
and made many bitter enemies as a
result; his friends were few because he never
confided his plans to them in advance, although
he would do anything for them that lay within
his power and did not conflict with his purposes.
One writer, who met him, has analyzed
his character as follows: “In disposition he
// 282.png
.pn +1
was sympathetic and affectionate; when he
liked a man he showered favours upon him;
when he distrusted, he was cold and repellent;
and when he hated, his vengeance was swift
and sure. He did everything with a nervous
impetuosity, thought rapidly and acted instantly.”
Guatemala began to make progress from the
very beginning of the rule—and I say rule,
not administration, advisedly—of Barrios. A
new constitution was adopted by the national
assembly convened for that purpose, and he
was re-elected president in 1880 by popular
suffrage, which was really the only constitutional
election ever held in the country up to
that time. With all the energy of his nature
he fostered education and endeavoured to uplift
the masses by improving their condition
and cultivating their understanding. Following
the example of the other Spanish-American
republics the Jesuits were banished, and much
of the church property was confiscated and appropriated
to the cause of education and for
other public uses. He gave liberal concessions
to railroads, constructed cart roads, erected
telegraph lines and greatly improved the
finances of the country by a new system of
// 283.png
.pn +1
// 284.png
// 285.png
taxation. He even persuaded the Presbyterian
Church of the United States to send a missionary
to the country, paying all of his travelling
expenses and providing him and his family
with accommodations. The missionary opened
a Sunday school in the capital, to which the
President sent his own children and urged his
officials to do the same. Thus, for a time at
least, the Protestant Mission was very popular
and fashionable. He enforced the observance
of the Sabbath and made everyone send their
children to the public schools or pay for the
privilege of sending them to private schools.
.if h
.il fn=i283.jpg w=600px id=i283
.ca
J. RUFINO BARRIOS.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: J. RUFINO BARRIOS.]
.sp 2
.if-
Although the government established by him
was not of the people nor by the people, he
fully intended it to be for the people. His
failure probably was due to his lack of that
conciliation and diplomacy which Porfirio Diaz
used so successfully during the first few years
of his presidency in Mexico, by which means he
united the discordant elements. In view of the
radical measures undertaken by Barrios it is
not surprising that powerful enemies were
made who on numerous occasions attempted
his life. One plot was made in a woman’s
house, similar to that of Mrs. Surratt’s, where
the plot to kill Lincoln was formed, but the
// 286.png
.pn +1
woman revealed it, and seventeen of the leaders
were executed on the main plaza in the capital.
One evening President Barrios and a couple
of friends were walking in the little garden
surrounding the theatre where they were going
to attend a performance. Suddenly there was
a streak of flame through the night air and
with a thud a bomb fell almost at the feet of
Barrios. The fuse sizzled and flashed as it
burned, but the man for whom it was intended
was as cool and unperturbed as if the deadly
bomb was nothing more than a toy firecracker.
Coolly picking it up, he put out the fuse with
his hand and, turning to his companions, said
in an unconcerned way: “The rascals don’t
know how to kill me.” The President displayed
magnanimity toward these plotters by
pardoning all those concerned except the leader,
who was sent into exile.
In 1881, President Barrios visited the United
States and was received with the highest consideration
by the government in Washington
and by the authorities in many other cities.
He came to invite this government to mediate
the boundary difficulties between Guatemala
and Mexico, which was done. The following
year he visited Europe and again crossed the
// 287.png
.pn +1
United States on his return. In this way he
endeavoured to get new ideas for the betterment
of his country, and went back home with
a renewed determination to establish a great
nation in Central America.
For years the idea of a union of all the Central
American republics had been cherished by
Barrios as it had been by a number of his predecessors.
In fact this idea has been the dream
of nearly every president of each one of the
Central American republics even to this day.
Barrios thought this would be beneficial not
only to his own land but to each one of the
states. The methods he pursued were no worse
than England and other countries have followed
from time immemorial to accomplish
similar ends. He was on good terms with all
of the republics. San Salvador had presented
him with a sword of honour in token of her
esteem, and Costa Rica had made him a general
in her army in recognition of her friendship.
The President of Honduras had signified his
willingness to enter into such a union. Likewise
the President of San Salvador had led him
to believe that he favoured the movement. Nicaragua
and Costa Rica refused to enter into
// 288.png
.pn +1
a confederation. Nevertheless, Barrios, trusting
in the ability of the three rulers to control
the situation, issued a proclamation on the 28th
of February, 1885, declaring a federation of
the five Central American republics and proclaiming
himself as Supreme Military Chief
until a choice could be made. President Zaldivar
of San Salvador played him false and the
scheme failed. Zaldivar was able to do this as
he controlled the cables and either refused to
send or garbled the dispatches forwarded to the
other powers. Barrios was not daunted, but
invaded San Salvador to compel Zaldivar to
yield. His oldest son was killed in battle on
the 21st of April, and Barrios himself was shot
from ambush when he went back to search for
the body of his son. His remains are buried
in a cemetery near Guatemala City, and the
grave is marked by a slender, broken column
set upon a great square, wooden cenotaph. His
widow and six children soon after embarked
for the United States, where Barrios had made
investments to provide for just such a contingency.
Barrios was succeeded by Manuel Lisandro
Barillas, a man of kind and benevolent instincts
but ill fitted to control a turbulent republic like
// 289.png
.pn +1
Guatemala. He at once withdrew the decree
of federation which had proven so ill-timed
and made peace with the other republics. Little
was accomplished by him, although he attempted
to continue the reform policies of
Barrios. He was elected for and served for
one full term, but was defeated for re-election
by a nephew of the elder Barrios. This soured
him and from that time until his death he was
a more or less turbulent factor in the Guatemala
political situation. When I was in that
country he was in Chiapas, on the border of
Guatemala, where, as I was informed by an
American who had seen him, he had a force
of twenty-five men “armed to the teeth.”
This seems like a small force, but Granados
had no more when he made his successful
march and overthrew the existing government.
Barillas had figured that the malcontents would
flock to him as soon as he entered the country.
He had sacrificed his all, and even his daughters
had sold their diamonds to purchase guns
and ammunition for his campaign. The President
of Mexico compelled him to leave their
territory, and President Cabrera rushed troops
to the border, so that the movement was a
fiasco. Had it not been for this, the result
// 290.png
.pn +1
might have been different, for the discontented
in Guatemala at that time numbered many.
Ex-President Barillas was killed in the City
of Mexico on the 7th day of April, 1907, aged
sixty-seven years. He was riding on a street
car when a youth of seventeen climbed aboard
and stabbed him twice in the neck, the first
blow severing the jugular vein. The assassin
was a young Guatemalan who seemed to have
come to Mexico for that purpose.
The successor of Barillas as president, José
Maria Reina Barrios, served only a few years
and developed no marked policy. He was a
man of energy and strong will, but did not possess
the ability or strength of character of his
uncle. During the first few years of his term
he gave the country a fairly good government
and worked much for the prosperity of Guatemala.
Near the close of his first term, however,
he sought by legislative enactment to extend
his term of office for five years, and a series
of revolutions followed. In February, 1898, he
was assassinated on the streets of Guatemala
City by a foreigner, evidently an anarchist,
and the country was left in a disastrous condition.
The Premier Designado, which corresponds
// 291.png
.pn +1
to the position of Vice-President under our
form of government, at the time of the assassination
of Reina Barrios, was Manuel Estrada
Cabrera. He was a lawyer by profession and
the first civilian to hold that office since the
establishment of the republic. Upon his accession
to the presidency he found the country involved
in many serious complications. The
foreign obligations were threatening to precipitate
trouble with international entanglements,
and the new President at once exerted
every effort to place this indebtedness in a
more favourable condition, and to organize the
finances in such a way that the legitimate demands
of creditors might be met. It is only
fair to Cabrera to say that he succeeded in
these efforts even more than might have been
expected by his most sanguine supporters.
His legal training stood him in good stead.
The finances of the country were reorganized,
foreign creditors were appeased, and, after
the first few years, for he was elected to a
full term in September of the same year, the
way to permanent peace and prosperity seemed
to open up wide. Guatemala appeared for a
while to be preparing to follow in the footsteps
of Mexico, and Cabrera’s adherents enthusiastically
// 292.png
.pn +1
prophesied for him a career as great and
meritorious as that of Mexico’s wonderful
statesman.
“Cabrera is a wonderful man. He will do
for Guatemala what Diaz has done for Mexico.”
Thus spoke a high official of that government
to me concerning Manuel Estrada Cabrera,
who has now been at the head of the
government for more than eleven years.
It seems to me, however, that President Cabrera
has signally failed in many ways. He
lacks in the quality of “simpatica,” a Spanish
term that it is difficult to translate into English.
He has failed to attract the affection and
confidence of his people sufficiently to establish
permanent peace and tranquillity. Although
revolutions have not been successful, or even
formidable, yet it has been only by the exercise
of the most severe military measures and police
espionage at all times that such has not been
the result. That severity alone does not suffice
to make a ruler respected, or even feared, has
been demonstrated over and over again. It is
not the schoolmaster who inflicts the severest
penalties who preserves the best order in the
schoolroom, and it is not the ruler who inaugurates
a reign of terror who lays the surest
// 293.png
.pn +1
foundation for permanent peace and prosperity.
In a Latin-American republic, where the
president is the ruler, and not a figurehead,
he must possess that peculiar and undefinable
ascendency of character, that personal magnetism
which lays a spell on the popular imagination
and impels them to submit to his wishes
willingly. If he lacks in either of those essentials,
his influence will soon wane, other leaders
will receive the popular plaudits, and a revulsion
of public favour will leave the late favourite
high and dry upon the deserted strand.
The best elucidation that can be made of this
subject is by a comparison between the careers
of President Cabrera and Diaz. The latter
succeeded to a government that had been in
the throes of revolution for three-fourths of
a century, with a bankrupt treasury and a large
foreign debt, the army disorganized, and the
country overrun with bandits; and yet in his
first term of four years, and in a country seven
or eight times greater both in area and population,
he accomplished far more for the betterment
of Mexico than Cabrera has in eleven
years at the head of affairs in Guatemala. Diaz
used harsh measures where necessary, but he
has accomplished more by diplomacy and the
// 294.png
.pn +1
exercise of good judgment than he has by the
use of mere force. To-day there is only one
party in Mexico and that is the Diaz party.
That there is great dissatisfaction in Guatemala
the events of recent years fully indicate.
In 1907 an attempt was made upon the life of
President Cabrera by exploding a mine, but
this failed. Severe measures were adopted by
the officials, and several of those suspected of
implication in the plot were put to death, while
a larger number were imprisoned incommunicado—that
is, without privilege of communication
with friends or counsel. Among this number
were several foreigners who were suspected
of designs against the President. Again, in
April, 1908, another attack was made upon the
President by some of his soldiers and he narrowly
escaped death by shooting. The conditions
that followed have been described as a
“regime of terror” because of the many executions
and incarcerations. An official report
stated that eighteen men were court-martialed
and sentenced to be shot for participation in
this conspiracy.
The worst condemnation, I think, was the
attitude of President Cabrera and his ministers
toward Mexico when that government
// 295.png
.pn +1
wanted him to give up certain persons for trial
on the charge of conspiracy in the murder of
ex-President Barillas, which had occurred on
Mexican soil. Cabrera absolutely declined to
grant this request, and his refusal almost resulted
in the breaking off of all diplomatic relations
between the two countries, and a conflict
between the two governments was for a time
imminent. This condition has, however, passed
away and cordial relations now exist between
the two republics. Furthermore, Cabrera has
consistently refrained from becoming involved
in the various conflicts that have raged between
Nicaragua and its neighbours, and has been an
active supporter of the Central American peace
conference which was brought about by the
influence of the United States.
// 296.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch09
CHAPTER IX||RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES
.sp 2
The ruins still existing throughout Mexico
and Central America teach us that the early
races occupying that country prior to the coming
of the Spaniards were a religious people.
It is true that their ideas of religious truth
were crude and not of a very high order, but
the element of worship of and responsibility
to a superior being existed and found expression
in various ways. Their theology had not
resulted in so many deities as the more imaginative
Greeks and Romans had created for
themselves, but they were polytheists and had
different gods endowed with different attributes
who claimed their devotion. They were
originally worshippers of one god, called Taotl,
but adopted other gods from those conquered
and from surrounding tribes, until they had a
fairly respectable number of divinities who
claimed their homage.
Quetzalcoatl, one of the two principal gods
// 297.png
.pn +1
of the Aztecs, was originally a Toltec god who
was worshipped with offerings of fruits of the
soil, and even flowers. And it is claimed that
the Toltecs were never, until their intercourse
with the Aztecs, given to human sacrifices. It
is true, however, that afterwards they did indulge
in those horrible practices of offering
human beings to their gods, and even indulged
in cannibalism. This is the condition that existed
when the Spaniards came with the religion
of the gentle Nazarene.
The craze of the Crusades led men to believe
that the kingdom of Christ could be extended
by the sword. Add to this religious motive
the love of adventure and military glory, and
the passion of avarice, and you have the elements
which moved men, and often the vilest
of men, to engage in such enterprises as conquering
the New World. The pope bestowed
the sanction of Heaven upon the Spanish expeditions
and gave the King of Spain complete
authority over all things temporal and spiritual
in the newly-discovered lands; the bodies and
souls, the property and services of the conquered
nations were to be his inheritance and
that of his successors for ever. Thus it was
that the pope Alexander VI pretended to hand
// 298.png
.pn +1
over to the Spanish dynasty vast continents and
islands which he did not own, and in which he
had no right to a foot of the territory or a
single human being upon them.
The “Christianization” of the millions of
human beings by a mere handful of military
adventurers and their few clerical helpers, generally
at the point of the sword, is a record
such as the world had never before witnessed.
A single clergyman baptized in one day five
thousand natives and did not desist until he
was so exhausted that he could not lift his
hands. Another priest wrote that “an ordinary
day’s work is from ten to twenty thousand
souls.” In the course of a few years baptism
had been administered to millions. It is not
surprising that converts adopted with such
undue haste, and who were neither instructed
in the tenets of the new faith nor taught the
absurdities of the old belief, mingled in hopeless
confusion their veneration for the ancient
superstition and their slender knowledge of the
new Christianity. They might be able to make
the sign of the cross and yet not know what
that symbol meant to humanity. These vague
and hazy sentiments were transmitted by the
new converts to their posterity and they have
// 299.png
.pn +1
not been thoroughly eradicated after four
centuries of the work of Spanish ecclesiastics.
“Christianity, instead of fulfilling its mission
of enlightening, converting, and sanctifying
the natives, was itself converted. Paganism
was baptized, Christianity paganized.”
These are the words of a scholarly and conservative
writer. Cruelty and avarice marked
the policy of the military chiefs, and the priests,
with a few exceptions, aided them. “The
victors,” says a Jesuit historian, “in one year
of merciless massacre, sacrificed more victims
to avarice and ambition than the Indians, during
the existence of their empire (Mexico), devoted
in chaste worship to their native gods.
The lands were parcelled out into immense estates,
and titles given to their Spanish owners,
while the millions of natives were reduced to
the condition of serfs. Under such conditions
the conquered races began their new life.”
The Church soon set itself to the task of acquiring
wealth, and with wealth came arrogance
and the greed for power which that gives.
The sale of masses for the dead and indulgences
for the living offered an unlimited opportunity
to the unscrupulous clergyman to
// 300.png
.pn +1
raise money. This phase has been well expressed
as follows: “When there was high
money, there was high mass; low money, low
mass; and no money, no mass.” Certain
masses, according to amount paid, would relieve
the souls in purgatory of from one thousand
up to thirty-two thousand years of torment.
These practices have not entirely disappeared
from Spanish-America to this day.
The clergy were “generally native Spaniards,
devoted to the interests of the King, the
Church, and the Inquisition, passing their
lives in criminal indulgence or luxurious repose.”
Hundreds of priests, monks, and nuns
were imposed on Guatemala. The people were
heavily taxed for their support and for every
office of the Church excessive fees were demanded.
Marriage fees were so high that the
poor peons could not afford the ceremony and
consequently the majority of children born
were illegitimate. Some of the priests became
very immoral and scandals in the convents
were not infrequent. The clericals were not
amenable to the civil courts but had a separate
tribunal in which every question relating to
their own character, their functions, and their
property was pleaded and tried. This position
// 301.png
.pn +1
immensely increased the power of the Church
in the politics of the state.
I have said that Christianity was paganized
and the conditions to-day prove the statement.
New ceremonies and symbols were substituted
for the old, and the saints took the place of the
former idols as a visible object of worship.
Religious fiestas, of which there are now about
two hundred each year, and processions were
established to attract and hold the natives to
the new worship and in an outward sense they
were a success. Many of the religious ceremonies
are performed with the most lamentable
indifference and want of decorum. Some of
the celebrations in the churches in the more
remote districts include dances of the most
grotesque description, being as near as possible
to the old rites of the natives. The priests
justify these ceremonies by saying that it is
necessary in order to hold them in the church.
“The old customs,” says one, “are respectable;
it is well to preserve them, only taking
care that they do not degenerate into orgies.”
These same simple natives will attend the
churches to-day and kneel before the sacred
images while making their prayers, and burn
// 302.png
.pn +1
their candles, and then go and consult their old
wizards and follow whatever his instructions
may be. The old and the new superstitions are
wofully confused in their minds, but they want
to be on the safe side by following both. They
even burn an incense made of gum opal before
the altars in the churches, the same as formerly
used in their idol worship. They will
sometimes kneel to a blank wall or door post
and mutter their prayers, being absolutely
oblivious to anything going on around them.
The impressive services, the chanting, the solemn
music attract the Indian but at heart he
is simply an idolater.
The Quiché Tribe of Guatemala, who are
the most numerous body of Indians in that
country, are descendants of that ancient race
of builders who held sway in the Valley of
Mexico from the seventh to the twelfth century—the
Toltecs. Driven from there by the
victorious Aztecs they fled south and early in
the sixteenth century were divided into two or
three powerful and flourishing kingdoms in
northern and northwestern Guatemala. These
people are also closely related to the Maya
race in Yucatan who have been such a source
of trouble to the Mexican government. They
// 303.png
.pn +1
carried with them some of the gods and the
horrible practices of their conquerors.
It is estimated that there are some three
hundred and fifty thousand of the Quiché
tribes now living in Guatemala. They are
quite industrious being engaged in agriculture
and the weaving of cotton and woollen goods.
Although nominal Catholics, yet they follow
their own customs of worship. They have
their own wizards, who are always old men,
and follow a strange mixture of fire and devil
worship. These old men, the wizards or
priests, are much feared and held in great
reverence by the people. It is well known that
the Indians have certain concoctions that will
produce madness, and it is claimed that these
wizards will sometimes give such herbs to the
victims of their displeasure. The people at
least credit them with such actions and fear
is but a natural result.
During the first century and a half of Spanish
rule hundreds of churches were built in
Guatemala. It became a pious duty for returning
Spaniards to bring paintings and statues
of saints for these newly-erected churches and
holy relics of the saints to place therein. Now
most of these sacred edifices are in a very
// 304.png
.pn +1
poorly preserved state. Much of the church
property has been confiscated. The wealth
thus having been taken away and the natives
being poor, the churches have a neglected appearance.
Even bats make their abode in some
of these structures devoted to the worship of
God.
The services are open to all and the Indian
with a crate of chickens or turkeys on his back
kneels side by side with a señorita who has
the bluest of blood in her veins. They meet
by a common genuflection. There are many
old crude organs yet in the churches with the
wind supplied by a bellows much the same as
that found in a blacksmith shop. And as if
this were not enough, native instruments, including
a drum made of hides stretched over
the hollow trunks of trees, are used, and bombs
and rockets are let off to add to the confusion
and make a deeper impression on the mind of
the poor native.
The most absurd paintings and statues are
used to portray sacred characters to the worshippers.
In one place God is represented as
a man with a bald head and white beard, almost
as hideous as some of the eastern idols. Christ
is represented both as a shaven monk and with
// 305.png
.pn +1
bent legs, and staples in the ankles to strap
him to a mule on Palm Sunday. Another figure
of Christ, according to a careful writer, represents
him with glass eyes, long human hair and
a crown cocked over on his left eye like a
drunken man. In the same church is an altar
piece with deeply sunken panel containing a
realistic crucifix with glass eyes, sweat, long
hair, blood drops and from five wounds proceed
skeins of crimson thread representing the blood
flowing—a horrible and repulsive sight that
seems to attract these simple people. On one
side of this panel are Roman soldiers mocking
the suffering of the Christ; on the other is a
Guatemaltecan general in full uniform (the
one who presented this gruesome work to the
church) weeping at the sight. In a church at
Esquipulas is a picture of the people lassoing
Christ, and in another is a picture of a priest
offering a consecrated wafer to a kneeling
ass.
Huge figures, which are really dolls, represent
the Virgin and other Marys. Nuestra
Señora de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe,
is generally represented as a large doll, all lace
and tinsel, and is carried through the streets
accompanied by music, flowers and fireworks.
// 306.png
.pn +1
On December 8th is celebrated the feast of the
Immaculate Conception. On this occasion religious
processions are held which march over
the principal streets and women dress up as
devils and animals and dance before the image
of the Virgin in many places. Many rockets
are fired and candles are burned in almost
every window. Holy week is also filled with
processions in which images of the Virgin,
Christ and the saints are carried through the
streets. The day is a public holiday and
candles are burned in almost every window.
The most famous shrine is that at Esquipulas,
called Our Lord of Esquipulas, and where the
statue (if such it can be called) generally
known as the Black Christ, is found. This was
made in Guatemala City in 1594. The image
is less than life size and has long female hair.
Formerly as many as fifty thousand pilgrims
came there in a year even from far away Mexico
and Panama. Money then flowed into this
shrine in great abundance, but it is now rather
neglected.
It is little wonder that the men of the Creole
class very seldom attend the services. Bringing
down the Christian worship to such a low
level cannot do otherwise than alienate one
// 307.png
.pn +1
who thinks for himself. The majority of the
men simply stand by without interfering with
the services, but at heart they are atheistic and
it is little wonder.
Several Catholic writers have been the most
severe critics of the religious conditions in
many parts of Spanish-America. The cause,
in my opinion, has been the mixture of the religious
with the political, in which the corruption
of the latter lowered the high plane on
which religion should stand. Those of the
clergy who were ambitious for power cloaked
their movements under the guise of religion
and thus brought the odium of their political
movements upon the Church, which, as an organization,
had nothing to do with it. It is
impossible, however, to absolutely separate the
two in treating of the conditions which have
existed in times past and which still exist in
some places.
The Roman Church, as a body that has done
great good in times past, and is doing great
work in other countries such as the United
States, owes it as a duty to itself to reform the
Church in Mexico, Central and South America,
and lift it to the high standard it has reached
elsewhere. The priesthood should be improved
// 308.png
.pn +1
and the immoral and unworthy members removed
from that office. The fees for the services
of the Church should be reduced so that
the poor Indians can have the offices of the
Church for marriages, burials, confirmations,
etc. The Church could also assist greatly in
advancing the work of educating the native.
I believe that conditions are improving to a
great extent and I know that there are scores
of hard-working and conscientious priests of
the Catholic Church in Guatemala who are
honestly endeavouring to inculcate the truths
of religion among the natives, and the results
are seen in the communities in which they work.
To them all praise and honour is due.
Protestantism has scarcely made an impression
in Guatemala as yet. The Presbyterian
Church maintains missionaries in Guatemala
City and Quezaltenango who preach there and
occasionally in outlying towns. The Wesleyan
Methodist ministers living at Belize hold services
at Puerto Barrios at infrequent intervals,
and one or two other missionaries are stationed
at other points in the republic. The priests are
generally hostile, naturally, and very little has
been accomplished.
I quote from the Presbyterian missionary
// 309.png
.pn +1
stationed at Quezaltenango in a report made
to the home board in 1906:
“Just a week ago while passing along the
street in San Marcos in company with the missionary
of that Station we had about eight or
nine stones thrown at us, but fortunately none
of them struck us. Later many of the better
people of the town on hearing of it came to us
repudiating such conduct toward the Christians.
The church here in Quezaltenango has
grown but little in numbers during the past
year and there have been many failings among
the believers. There is noticeable growth
among some that is encouraging enough to
cheer the missionary in spite of the falling
away of others. The work at Retalhuleu has
been given up indefinitely as the Mission force
here has not been sufficient to provide a worker
there, and until there are more missionaries on
the field it would be unwise to attempt to reopen
it or start any new work whatever.”
Also from a report by another missionary
located at the capital:
“There is a wide open door for us among
the poor people, where there will be no conflict
with local physicians and where there will
be no intrusion upon the territory of another.
// 310.png
.pn +1
Children and poor people literally die here by
the hundred without any proper medical care.
The story in this line is simply pathetic, heartrending.
My wife has, with her very limited
knowledge, saved the lives of many, and if she
had the strength could have done much for
many more people, but she has had to give up
this work, almost entirely.”
There is a broad field, I believe, for missionary
work, and the medical missionary will accomplish
the best results just as is the case in
oriental lands. Good physicians are few and
the poor people cannot afford to pay them for
their services. A lack of hygiene is prevalent
everywhere and the people are ignorant of
ordinary sanitary measures which would lessen
sickness and suffering in a great degree. A
moral awakening is badly needed also and the
field is ripe for such a movement either from
within the Catholic church or through the
evangelizing efforts of Protestant bodies. Institutional
churches would, in my opinion, best
meet the situation so that the social as well as
spiritual side of the people could be brought up
to a higher plane. The field is there and it only
awaits the workers.
In Guatemala City there is a good opening
// 311.png
.pn +1
for a Young Men’s Christian Association. It
could accomplish a great work both among the
foreigners residing there and the native residents.
It could, because of its undenominational
character, be made a centre not only for
religious work but for the social and intellectual
life of the capital in a way that no other
institution could fill. I met many Americans in
business there who expressed the need of such
an institution for the expatriated citizens of
foreign countries.
// 312.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch10
CHAPTER X||PRESENT CONDITIONS AND\
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
.sp 2
The foreigner in Guatemala is absolutely
safe, and travelling in that country is as free
from danger as in our own land. Sensational
rumours sometimes appear in American newspapers
about the imprisonment of American
subjects, but, if the reports are true, the persons
arrested no doubt deserve punishment, for
meddlers and persons seeking to escape punishment
for wrong-doing in other lands frequently
seek an asylum in the Central American republics.
Were they innocent our own officials
would be called upon to right the injustice, and
this government has not deemed it necessary
to interfere. The country is practically free
from robbers and it is absolutely unnecessary
for the traveller to make of himself a walking
arsenal before visiting Guatemala. The natives
are harmless and trustworthy. One can
entrust thousands of dollars with a cargador
to be carried across the country, and, if he is
// 313.png
.pn +1
informed that he will be held responsible for
his charge, the native will accomplish his mission
or die in the attempt. This trait of fealty
to trust is a striking characteristic of the native
character.
The cause of education has been promoted
very much in recent years and schools have
been established in many of the villages. The
“Festival of Minerva” was instituted as an
annual commemoration in the interest of education.
It was thought that a popular celebration
would draw the attention of the people to
the value of education and would stimulate the
desire for greater learning. To a certain extent
it has succeeded, and there is no doubt that
a larger percentage of people can read and
write to-day than was the case a decade ago.
At least limited facilities for primary education
exist in most of the villages, but the schools
are entirely inadequate to accommodate those
of school age. Education is compulsory in
theory, but practically voluntary in practice,
because of the non-enforcement of the laws.
The appropriations are wholly inadequate for
efficient results.
There are six papers published in the capital.
“The Diario Official” is a government organ.
// 314.png
.pn +1
Then the other more important publications are
the “Diario de Centro-America,” “La Republica”
and “La Nacion.” In all there are
about thirty papers published in the entire republic.
All of these newspapers are subject to
strict government supervision and censure.
Any mention whatever of a revolutionary
movement would bring severe punishment upon
the head of the offending editor. It is even
forbidden to give an account of murders and
assaults that take place. It is easy to see that
an editor’s position is not an easy one, for his
range of news is limited and an overslip might
lead to confiscation and imprisonment.
The fluctuating value of the currency of the
country is an unfortunate condition. There is
absolutely no silver or gold money in circulation.
A customs examination of my baggage
upon leaving the country caused me to inquire
the purpose of it. The reply was that the law
forbids the taking of silver out of the country.
As I had not seen a silver coin in circulation
this explanation made the examination seem
like a jest. Paper certificates issued by the
banks, together with minor coins of alloy, constitute
the sole currency. The value of these
dollars fluctuates from six to eight cents on a
// 315.png
.pn +1
gold basis. This is rather to the advantage of
the investor, however, as he pays for all native
supplies and labour in the depreciated currency
of the country and sells all his productions at
gold values. The wages of unskilled labourers
are very low, averaging from one to two and
a half dollars in paper per day, or from eight
to twenty-five cents per day. The best results
are obtained by assigning a task to the peon.
He will perform the allotted task, but extra
pay is no inducement for him to work overtime.
The only consideration that will move
him to do extra work is the promise that the
overtime will be credited on another day in
order to give him an extra holiday.
The foreign trade of Guatemala slowly increases
each year. The last year for which
statistics are available, 1907, show total exports
amounting to $10,174,486 and imports of
$7,316,574. Of the exports, the bulk of which
is coffee, Germany is the largest consumer,
taking 53.79 per cent. of the total, while the
United States uses only 21.6 per cent. In
the matter of imports the proportion is different
and the United States has a fair proportion
of the trade. Of the total imports the United
States furnished 58.1 per cent., and its nearest
// 316.png
.pn +1
competitor is England with about 22 per cent.
to her credit. Spain, the mother country,
brings up the rear with less than two per cent.
of the whole. The value of the goods imported
from the United States for 1905 was only
$1,442,000, and those sent in return $2,292,000,
showing a considerable balance of trade in favour
of Guatemala. The chief imports from
the United States consist of foodstuffs, hardware,
railroad supplies and cotton goods. Germany
has the lead in machinery, and England
provides by far the most of the cotton manufactures,
furnishing at least three-fourths of
the entire imports of that line of goods.
Guatemala, because of its nearness to our
seaports, ought to be an unusually good market
for the United States. With the opening of
the new railroad to the Gulf, the Capital, which
is the chief distributing point, is placed within
such easy communication of our southern ports,
such as Galveston, New Orleans and Mobile,
that Europe can not successfully compete if
all other conditions are made satisfactory.
American concerns ought to furnish practically
all the manufactured articles needed by
Guatemala, and can do so if the business is
properly looked after.
// 317.png
.pn +1
Upon this subject a recent consular report
says: “If this field is properly worked and
sufficiently long credit is given, practically
nothing but American goods need be found in
the markets of Guatemala, for they are generally
conceded to be the best. The market is
worth cultivating, for the next few years will
see great development here. Everything points
that way, and the national resources are great.
Packages should be very firmly nailed and
bound by band iron, so that they would be difficult
to open, as there is much complaint about
goods being stolen from boxes in transit. It
will pay exporters to pack well everything they
ship. Dollars spent in this line will bring hundreds
in profits.”
Another report says: “It must be borne in
mind that the importers of this republic are for
the greater part Germans, and their interest
and inclination lead them to trade with the
fatherland. England also is preferred over the
United States, possibly because Guatemala
merchants can more easily identify themselves
in England, and get better credits. American
goods therefore are imported only when their
quality places them so far ahead of the European
article that the merchant is almost compelled
// 318.png
.pn +1
to have them in stock. The American
manufacturers should become better acquainted
with this trade, ascertain who are worthy of
credit, and extend it. The long voyage and
delay en route compel the importers to ask long
credits. It is sometimes two or three months
after shipments destined for this city leave the
manufacturer, before they can be displayed in
the store of the importer. The custom duty
on about all cotton goods is collected on gross
weight of the package. Great care should be
taken with invoices for custom-house purposes;
the goods must be described in exact phraseology
of Guatemala custom tariff.”
A credit of nine months is generally asked,
and this is readily granted by European merchants,
but Americans usually demur at this
long credit and trade is lost. Furthermore,
American salesmen seldom understand the
Latin nature or even the language, and endeavour
to hurry sales. They want to get away by
the next train or steamer, while a European
drummer will cultivate his trade leisurely. In
the end the sales are large enough to justify
his methods and very little is lost by failures
if reasonable precaution is exercised.
The conquest of what have heretofore been
// 319.png
.pn +1
regarded as the unhealthful and disagreeable
features of the lowlands of the tropics is now
at hand. Those localities where yellow fever
has prevailed and that troublesome mosquito,
the stegomya fasciata, has heretofore held
sway, will soon come into their own. The
transformation that has taken place at Panama,
Colon and Havana will be repeated along
the whole Caribbean Shore and great and prosperous
ports will take the place of the little
towns which are now found. When modern
methods of drainage and sanitation, sewerage,
and water supply have been installed, those
coasts will be the site of prosperous cities almost
as desirable as those more distant from
the equator.
The possibilities of life in the tropics are so
favourable that an almost unlimited population
can be supported. The island of Java,
with an area scarcely as large as Guatemala,
supports a population of twenty millions of
people. Bangkok, the capital of Siam, located
at sea level, about the same distance from the
equator as Guatemala, is a city of wealth and
good sanitary conditions and has a population
of about four hundred thousand. These comparisons
might be made in great numbers, all
// 320.png
.pn +1
tending to show what capabilities of development
now lie inert right at our very doors.
The Spanish-Americans have a great many
good qualities which we have heretofore failed
to appreciate. Americans are too much inclined
to thoughtlessly criticize everything and
everybody that is not as we would have it. The
world would be a prosaic world indeed if all
nations were alike, just as it would be if all
individuals were cast in the same mould. Environment
and heredity have given them different
characteristics which will always prevail.
We should look upon our Latin neighbours
with more sympathy and aid them
wherever possible, for Americans themselves,
though an especially favoured people, are not
perfect. The Spanish-Americans have an innate
courtesy which is sadly deficient in our
own land, and they admire Americans, but they
resent that superior, not-as-good-as-I attitude
adopted by so many of our people.
We assume to exercise a guardianship over
the Latin-American republics. Whether the
Monroe Doctrine is a good thing for those
countries or not depends upon ourselves. It
can be made a good measure or it may become
a curse. European domination would be better
// 321.png
.pn +1
than political chaos, and the Latin-Americans
resent the Monroe Doctrine. It is advisable for
us to study our wards. It behooves all classes,
professional and business, to realize the importance
of Latin America, which comprises three-fourths
of the two Americas, and study her
economic and political needs. In that way any
barrier that may still exist will be broken down.
Seventy millions of people are found among
those nations and such an aggregation of people
are worthy our interest and friendship.
“Mañana” and “no es costumbre” are
expressions that explain two of the elements
in the Spanish-American character which account
for his non-progressiveness. The first is
the “to-morrow” spirit—the desire to put
everything off until the future. It is almost
impossible to get him to do anything promptly,
but it is delayed from day to day in the blandest
way imaginable. It can well be called the
land of “to-morrow” and “wait-a-while.”
The other expression means “it is not the
custom” and illustrates the adherence to usage
which is so prevalent. If you attempt to do
anything in a different way, and even a better
way, he is not interested because it has not been
the custom to do it that way with his forefathers.
// 322.png
.pn +1
He meets your argument with the
terse expression “no es costumbre” and the
matter is dismissed. It is for this reason that
a crooked stick with an iron point is still used
in plowing, for that has been the unchanging
method since “the memory of man runneth not
to the contrary,” as Blackstone, the great law
giver, would say. This habit makes the Guatemalan
slow to adopt new devices, even though
they might be a convenience and labour-saving.
He is satisfied until his neighbours adopt it,
and then his pride is aroused and he will begin
to use the articles or adopt the new methods
himself.
Guatemala will never be a manufacturing
country unless coal is found in greater abundance
than has yet been done. Even the fuel
used in locomotives is imported, and it becomes
very expensive because of long and difficult
transportation. Some waterfalls exist which
might be utilized to develop electric power.
This would be a profitable undertaking at this
time as some small factories for domestic needs
always exist, and electric energy for light and
electric street railway system is needed. The
only factories that are now found are for the
manufacture of coarse textiles, hats, pottery,
// 323.png
.pn +1
foundry products and the necessary railway
repairs. Pottery ware in the average home is
used for flour barrels, cisterns, stoves, baths,
stew-pans, coffee-pots, dishes, lamps, floors,
etc. The looms in use are of the very crudest
pattern, being simply two harnesses worked by
the foot of the weaver, and the bobbins are
wound on bamboo sticks which are shoved in
and out through the web.
The mineral riches have been practically unexploited.
The mining archives of the old colonial
government show that during the three
centuries of Spanish occupancy more than thirteen
hundred mines of gold, silver, lead, copper,
tin and iron were successfully worked and were
a source of great revenue to both church and
state, and that enormous quantities of gold and
silver were taken from those mines. From one
group of mines the records prove that nearly
fifty millions of dollars in silver were coined
besides large amounts that were shipped to
Europe in bullion. From 1627 to 1820 more
than thirteen hundred mines of valuable metals
were discovered and worked under the Spanish
domination, for that government kept an elaborate
and accurate record of the mines of the
precious metals.
// 324.png
.pn +1
On the banks of the Montagua River a few
gold mines are being worked. Judging from
the few American miners I met, not all of them,
at least, are getting rich out of the precious
metal. Guatemala is not as highly a mineralized
section as Mexico. Little scientific prospecting
or exploiting has been done as yet. In
Honduras several valuable gold mines are being
worked, and Guatemala, sandwiched in between
that country and Mexico, must contain
some gold. Silver mines are being worked
profitably in some parts of the country, and
very rich veins of argentiferous lead have been
located. Lead, tin, copper, antimony, marble
of superior quality, sulphur, asbestos and alabaster
have been discovered, and coal in small
veins. Mining experts have reported extensive
veins of all those metals, but little has been done
since the establishment of the republic in working
them. These mines will offer great inducements
as soon as the transportation facilities
are improved and new cyanide mills constructed
for the thorough and economical working of the
raw ores. The very isolation of the mines and
difficulty of establishing communication have
heretofore prevented the working of the veins
already known.
// 325.png
.pn +1
// 326.png
// 327.png
The small quantity of coal is a serious detriment
to the development of manufactures, for
fuel becomes an expensive item in manufacture.
There are a number of waterfalls, however,
which might easily be used for the generation
of electric power for manufactures and railroads.
This field remains entirely undeveloped
at the present time, but it is certainly worth
investigation.
.if h
.il fn=i325.jpg w=600px id=i325
.ca
DUGOUT CANOE ON THE MONTAGUA RIVER.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: DUGOUT CANOE ON THE MONTAGUA RIVER.]
.sp 2
.if-
Railroads are now needed more than anything
else. Only four hundred miles of railroad
in a state nearly as large as Illinois illustrates
the difficulty of communication. For instance,
the distance from Guatemala City to
Totonicapan, a city of twenty-five thousand
people, is only one hundred miles, yet it requires
almost as long to travel this distance as
it does to go from New York to San Francisco
on one of our express trains. A mule path is
the only road, and the average traveller will
not make it in less than four days. Five hundred
or a thousand miles of new railway lines
would do far more to develop the country than
anything else, for the telegraph and telephone
would follow the iron rails. At present there
are about three thousand miles of telegraph
and a few hundred miles of telephone wires
// 328.png
.pn +1
that spread over the country. These improvements
would also go far toward establishing
peaceful conditions, for they would enable the
central government to learn promptly of any
disaffection, and hurry troops there before the
movement could become at all formidable.
Guatemala is a land of possibilities. Everything
that can be raised in the temperate and
tropical zones will grow here. If irrigation is
provided in the tierra templada there need be
no unproductive season for the warm air and
bright sun will propagate the seeds that are
sown at any time of the year. Two crops of
wheat and three crops of corn will reward the
industry of the planter. Fertilizers are unnecessary,
for the heavy rains of the rainy season
wash down the rich soils from the sides of
the mountains and fertilize the plains. The
great secret is therefore for the agriculturist
to adapt his cultivation to the nature of the
climate and soil and his success is assured.
Greater success will be realized on plantations
where a colony of peon labourers is maintained,
however, because otherwise it is difficult to
secure labour when needed, and the farmer can
not expect to do as much with his own hands
as in a cooler climate.
// 329.png
.pn +1
Continued peace, stability of government,
construction of more railways and the investment
of foreign capital are the four essential
needs for the growth and prosperity of Guatemala.
No one can travel through that republic,
or the neighbouring one of Honduras, and
note their nearness to the great markets of the
world, variety of climate, wealth of natural
resources and vast areas suited to profitable
agriculture and not be deeply impressed.
Stability of government will come, I believe,
very soon. The Spanish-American character
is developing. The prosperity of Mexico and
railway connections with that country will have
a far greater influence in bringing about that
result than any one other condition. The peace
conference held at Washington in 1907, composed
of prominent representatives of all the
Central American republics, was a notable
event, and will have a far-reaching effect in
bringing about permanent peace among those
turbulent states. The meetings were characterized
by an earnestness of desire and seriousness
of intention that were pleasing to one interested
in the welfare of those countries. Already
many millions of foreign capital, including
about eight millions of American gold, are
// 330.png
.pn +1
invested in Guatemala, and the aggregate is
increasing each year. Tourists and commercial
salesmen are going there in greater numbers,
and each one comes back enthusiastic over the
possibilities of development of that country.
Guatemala is the most important of the Central
American republics and is the nearest to
the United States in geographical situation.
It is a short journey for the traveller in search
of new and novel sights, and should not be
overlooked by the merchant or manufacturer
on the lookout for new fields of conquest. The
near-west is just as good a field as the far-east
and the exertion is less. The land is yet virgin,
for the wants of the people have not been
developed. The leaven is working, however,
and the transition period is near at hand. It
began in Mexico and is slowly working its way
downward toward Panama. Its progress can
be hastened by judicious and studied effort. It
is not a thankless or profitless task, for the returns
will compensate for the effort expended.
// 331.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch11
CHAPTER XI||BRITISH HONDURAS
.sp 2
It was with romantic feelings that I sailed
along the coast of British Honduras, past the
numerous little coral reefs, called cays, and
into the beautiful harbour of Belize. For
many years these shores were the rendezvous
of organized bands of pirates, who practically
ruled the Caribbean seas during a good part
of the seventeenth century. Each wooded
island and cay has its legend of buried treasure,
but no one has ever been able to locate a single
“caché,” although expeditions in search of
this fabled treasure-trove are still organized
and as often fail. Each new leader feels that
he has discovered the true key to this hidden
wealth, and comes to these shores armed with
“magnetic needles” or “divining rods,”
which will be sure to point out the exact location
of the buried gold.
The pirates who sailed the Caribbean waters
// 332.png
.pn +1
were of many nationalities, Dutch, French,
Spanish and British. An old Scotch buccaneer,
named Peter Wallace, with eighty companions,
was the first to enter the port of Belize, which
name was originally given to the whole settlement.
These men immediately erected houses
at that place enclosed by rude palisades for
defence. From here they set out on their expeditions
after stray merchantmen. It was not
long, however, before the shrewd Scotchman
discovered that there was more and surer
money in marketing the native woods than in
the uncertain and dangerous occupation of
robbing ships. Logwood at that time was in
such demand for the manufacture of dyes that
it sometimes brought as much as one hundred
dollars a ton, and is now worth not one-tenth
of that price because of the cheaper chemical
dyes. So prosperous had this colony become
by 1733 that Yucatan sent troops and attempted
to drive away the colonists by force.
.if h
.il fn=i333.jpg w=600px id=i333
.ca
A POLICEMAN OF BELIZE.
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[Illustration: A POLICEMAN OF BELIZE.]
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England had at one time laid claim to the
“mosquito coast,” which is now a part of the
Republics of Honduras and Nicaragua, and
which was at that time nothing but a howling
wilderness occupied by a hybrid race of negroes
and Indians, called “Zambos,” who were
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// 334.png
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ruled by a hereditary king. When difficulties
arose with Spain England waived all her rights
to that shore in return for the sovereignty of
Belize, which since that time has been known
as British Honduras. Spain afterwards repented
of her bargain and sent a formidable
(?) fleet in 1798 to capture the place which was
ignominiously defeated in the “Battle of St.
George’s Caye,” which is much celebrated locally.
The United States and Great Britain
entered into the treaty known as the Clayton-Bulwer
Treaty in 1850, which provided that
neither country should occupy, fortify, colonize,
or exercise dominion over any portion of Central
American territory, except Belize, or make
use of a protectorate in any form.
British Honduras forms a slice of land off
the northeast coast of Guatemala and lying between
that country and Yucatan. Its greatest
length is one hundred and seventy-four miles
and its greatest width sixty-eight miles, and,
with the adjacent cays, contains an area of
about seven thousand five hundred and sixty-two
square miles. On the coast it is swampy
and covered with dense tropical vegetation, but
the interior is composed of ridges which reach
the dignity of good-sized hills. There are a
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number of little villages along the coast from
which bananas and other tropical fruits are
shipped, and in the interior are the settlements
of the logwood and mahogany workers, but
none of the places pass beyond the dignity of
villages. The total population is in the neighbourhood
of twenty-five thousand, of which negroes
predominate, and the whites are only a
small percentage.
Belize, the principal town, and capital, is the
largest and most important town on the Caribbean
coast of Central America. As our steamer
wended its way through the cays and low green
islands, the long line of white buildings setting
amidst rows of royal palms, with here and there
a clump of cocoanut trees, made a picturesque
and beautiful sight. As we came to anchor a
mile from shore a number of fleet sail-boats
manned by coal-black negroes came out to meet
us and take the passengers ashore. I afterwards
learned that this place is the negro’s
paradise, for they have absolute social and political
equality. They are the soldiers and
policemen, and fill nearly all the other important
positions except governmental. These
places at least are reserved for the members
of the small white colony.
// 337.png
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ENGLISH HOMES AT BELIZE.
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[Illustration: ENGLISH HOMES AT BELIZE.]
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It has been said that the Englishman always
carries his atmosphere with him no matter in
what latitude it might be. I have visited several
British colonies and have always found
that true, and nowhere is it more impressed on
you than here at Belize. It is such a contrast
from the Spanish-American towns that the
change is almost startling. Although there are
perhaps not more than two or three hundred
Englishmen there, you will see all the characteristic
of that race in their native land. There
are of course always a few concessions made
in order to conform to local conditions but, as
a rule, they are not many in number.
As one writer says of his visit: “We were
not at all surprised to find that the black native
police wore the familiar blue-and-white striped
cuff of the London bobby, the district attorney
a mortar-board cap and gown, and the colonial
bishop gaiters and an apron. It was quite in
keeping, also, that the advertisements on the
boardings should announce, and give equal
prominence to, a Sunday-school treat and boxing
match, and that officers of a man-of-war
should be playing cricket with a local eleven
under a tropical sun, and that the chairs in the
Council room and Government House should
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be of heavy leather stamped V. R. with a crown
above the initials. An American official in as
hot a climate, being more adaptable, would
have had bamboo chairs with large, open-work
backs, or would have supplied the council with
rocking-chairs.”
The Governor’s House is a large building set
in a little grove of royal and cocoanut palms
and with a fine view of the blue waters of the
bay. The background of blue sea is filled with
the dories of the Caribs, which are merely huge
logs hollowed out and rigged sloop-fashion with
white sails, or sails that had once been white.
Several cannon are set up in the yard and a
number of dusky-hued natives in the uniform
of a British soldier pace back and forth in the
hot sun—this giving a semblance of the power
of the British lion.
The city of Belize contains a population of
about eight thousand souls, and a very cosmopolitan
population it is with its negroes, British,
Americans, Spaniards, Mexicans, etc., etc.
The city itself is generally clean and tidy, but
not so picturesque as the Spanish towns. The
Belize River divides the town, and over it there
is one bridge. Across this bridge passes in
review the entire life of the town like the famous
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Rialto bridge at Venice. The houses are
generally three stories in height and painted
white. Cistern water is used exclusively for
domestic purposes, and immense cisterns
twenty to thirty-five feet high and greater in
circumference are a common sight. The water
is rendered delightfully cool by porous earthen
jars which are placed in a draught of air, and
the water is thus cooled by the rapid evaporation
of this climate. Around the houses are
flowers in endless variety, of which the most
conspicuous are the oleander trees which frequently
reach a height of twelve feet, and
whose beautiful white blossoms contrast so
strongly with the dark-green foliage of other
trees such as the mango.
The market is a most interesting place for
an American. The stalls are generally presided
over by negro women or Carib men who
have brought their produce in a dory. Every
kind of tropical fruit can be purchased at a
low price, from the delicious mango to a peculiar
fruit that very much resembles ice cream
in appearance, though not in temperature.
Many of these tropical fruits are delicious and
would be popular in our northern markets, but
they are too delicate for transportation, so that
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it is very doubtful whether they will ever be
found for sale so far from their natural habitat.
In the flower department one can find
many kinds of beautiful blossoms, and at prices
so cheap that it is almost a sin not to buy them.
The traveller will find many flowers with which
he is familiar mingled with new varieties whose
appearance is no less beautiful because of their
strangeness. He will find times and seasons
much confused in the assortment of carnations,
marigolds, sweet peas, poppies, gladioles, dahlias,
roses, fuchsias, lilies and mignonettes
which meet his astonished gaze. Then there
are many beautiful orchids over which many
people fairly rave. Pigs of the razor back variety
and with a porcupine-like coat of hair
are for sale, being held by the owner with a
string attached to a hind leg. Here every one
comes for their table supplies of vegetables
and fruits, and at times it is a very animated
place.
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A STREET IN BELIZE.
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[Illustration: A STREET IN BELIZE.]
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Belize is a delightful place to be during the
months from December to March. While people
in Northern latitudes are bundling themselves
up as a protection against the chilly
blasts of old Boreas, the populace of Belize are
enjoying pleasant summer weather and wearing
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// 344.png
// 345.png
their warm-weather clothes. At night the
trade winds which nearly always blow across
this bay lower the temperature so that refreshing
sleep can be obtained. It is healthful and
there is no more fever than at our own Gulf
ports, and yellow fever very seldom gets any
foothold whatever, even though the town is
only a few feet above the level of the sea. The
most disagreeable occasions are when the
“Northers” sweep across the Gulf with indescribable
velocity and lash the waves with
great fury. Then the inhabitant on shore may
congratulate himself that he is not at the mercy
of old father Neptune.
British Honduras has few modern improvements.
There is not a railway in the land, and
even the cart roads are only passably good.
It contains within its borders possibilities of
development that are hardly believable to one
who has not seen these incredibly rich tropical
lands. Although considered small, it is several
times as large as our smallest states, and its
agricultural possibilities far exceed those commonwealths.
Its nearness to markets makes
it especially attractive, and its stable government
renders investments absolutely safe. At
present its chief distinction is its logwood industry,
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of which Belize is in the lead, and the
mahogany which is floated here in rafts from
its own borders and the neighbouring forests
of Guatemala and the State of Campeche, Mexico.
The Belize River with its tributary streams
leads back into the great tropical forests of
Peten where mahogany is abundant. Much of
the mahogany lands are in the hands of large
owners or companies who have the business
thoroughly organized, although large tracts
still belong to public lands, where concessions
can be secured for cutting the valuable export
woods. The timber is roughly squared and then
floated down the streams during the rainy season,
and most of it finds its way to Belize,
where it is put in shape for the market. The
mahogany grows rapidly, and it is said that
in thirty years a tree will grow from a shoot
and furnish logs of large size. This city is
also a great market for the chicle gum, which
is obtained in the neighbouring forests and
shipped to the United States to be used in the
manufacture of chewing gum, for which more
money is spent by the great family of Uncle
Sam than is sent to all the foreign missions of
the world by the same nation.
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.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch12
CHAPTER XII||REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS
.sp 2
The Republic of Honduras is situated immediately
east of Guatemala and has a frontier
line of perhaps two hundred miles next to that
republic. On the Caribbean Sea its coast line
from Guatemala to Cape Gracias-a-Dios
(thanks to God) measures about four hundred
miles. The true boundary line between Honduras
and Nicaragua has caused much confusion
and misunderstanding in the past, and it
is hardly well defined yet, although several
commissions have been appointed by the two
governments and made their reports. It has
but a small coast line on the Pacific in the Bay
of Fonseca.
There are many rivers which rise in the interior
and wend their way toward the ocean.
The principal rivers flow northward and empty
their waters into the Gulf of Mexico. Of these
the largest is the Ulua, which drains a large
expanse of territory and discharges a greater
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amount of water into the sea than any other
river of Central America. It is navigable for
a distance of a hundred and twenty-five miles
for light-draft vessels, and regular service is
now maintained on it by a small combined
freight and passenger steamer operated by an
American company. It opens up a rich agricultural
district to commerce. The Aguan,
Negro, Patuca and Coco, or Segovia, rivers are
also considerable streams which are navigated
by the natives. The Lake of Yohoa, the only
lake of any note, is about twenty-five miles long
and from three to eight miles broad.
Cortez reported to his sovereign that Honduras
was a “land covered with awfully miry
swamps. I can assure your majesty that even
on the tops of the hills our horses, led as they
were by hand, and without their riders, sank
to their girths in the mire.” The great conqueror
doubtless landed during the rainy season,
when the rains are literally “downpours”
and the rivers become torrents. At that season
the mud does seem to be almost without bottom,
and the immense areas of mangrove-tree
swamps which cover the mud flats in the immediate
vicinity of the mainland made the finding
of a good landing-place a difficult matter.
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Although he found the natives tractable and
the country was easily subdued, yet he could
not control nature, which here exhibits herself
in her wildest and most terrible aspects. He
named his landing-place Puerto Caballos, because
he lost a number of horses, but it has
since been named in his own honour.
Honduras is not all swamp, for this condition
only exists along the coast of the Atlantic
and Pacific and for a distance varying from
only a few miles to fifty miles inland. Then
the land begins to rise, gradually spreading
out into plains and plateaus, until the mountainous
region is reached with its many volcanic
peaks which lift their graceful heads
above the clouds. The same general mountain
system that has been described in Guatemala
enters Honduras, and with many breaks takes
a general southeasterly course through the republic
to Nicaragua. The mean altitude is not
nearly so high as in Guatemala, nor are there
so many lofty peaks, but there can be found
almost every possible variety of climate, soil
and production.
Nature has been prodigal in her gifts to this
republic, and nowhere upon the whole earth
can greater returns be realized with a minimum
// 350.png
.pn +1
of effort. It seems that all Nature is
awaiting with welcoming arms the farmer, the
rancher and the fruit-grower, for there is very
little of the land that is not susceptible of some
sort of profitable development. Nowhere on
earth are there more fertile valleys, more
genial suns, softer breezes, or fairer skies. And
yet with all these natural advantages, and with
all this inducement to labour and development,
there is no place on this great globe where nature’s
gifts are so poorly utilized or so little
appreciated, and to-day Honduras is the least
advanced of all the Central American republics.
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.ca
Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York.
THE HONDURAS NAVY, THE TATUMBLA.
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[Illustration:
Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York.
THE HONDURAS NAVY, THE TATUMBLA.]
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It is as difficult and almost as long a journey
from New York to reach the capital of Honduras
as the capital of Persia, which seems so
far away, while Central America is so near.
One must go by steamer to Colon, across the
Isthmus of Panama by rail, then a several
days’ journey on the Pacific to Amapala, and
lastly a three or four days’ journey by mule
to Tegucigalpa; or, he can take the steamer
to Puerto Cortez, railroad to San Pedro Sula,
and an eight or ten days’ journey over the
mountains on the long-eared, but short-legged,
nondescript quadrupeds above named. There
are no accommodations or comforts along the
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// 352.png
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way and, on arriving at the capital, one is
obliged many times to depend on the good will
of citizens for a decent stopping-place as the
hotel is not a very desirable hostelry.
The harbour of Puerto Cortez, in the northwestern
corner of the republic, is large, commodious
and safe. As our boat steamed
through the blue waters of the bay, the town
set in among clumps of cocoanut palms following
the sweep of the shore, and with its background
of mountains, made a beautiful picture
that lingers in the memory. We passed by the
Honduras navy resting at anchor. It consisted
of a single vessel, the Tatumbla, which made
a great show of strength with its two little guns
which have seen little more warlike service
than to fire a salute when a foreign man-of-war
has appeared in the harbour. Formerly
it was the private yacht of an American, then
saw service in the Spanish-American war, after
which it was sold to Honduras.
Puerto Cortez is the principal Gulf port of
the country and is a fair-sized town of twelve
hundred or more. There are a few frame and
corrugated-iron buildings which house the railroad
office, custom-house, steamship freight
house, commandancia, and offices of the United
// 354.png
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Fruit Company, generally known as the banana
trust. A few frame houses are the homes of
the various consular agents stationed at this
port. The native quarters are made up of a
row of mud and thatch huts facing the bay and
almost hidden by the foliage of the palms which
overtower them. A syndicate is now at work
filling up the lowlands and converting it into a
modern seaport by the aid of steam shovels
and a good force of workmen.
Puerto Cortez is very subject to yellow fever
and is often quarantined for months at a time
in the summer. I had one letter from a business
man written in July in which he stated
that they had been quarantined since May 22nd
and that it would probably last until about the
first of October. This condition seriously interferes
with business, for visitors cannot come
in and the planters all flee to the higher lands
for safety. Anyone desiring to visit the country
should do so from October to March when
there is no danger of quarantine delay, and during
the dry season travelling is much pleasanter.
Some day, perhaps, the government
may learn a lesson from Havana and Panama
and introduce modern sanitation, and thus destroy
the breeding places of the troublesome
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// 356.png
// 357.png
stegomya fasciata, the yellow-fever mosquito,
which is at present the bane of the country.
.if h
.il fn=i355.jpg w=600px id=i355
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Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York.
PUERTO CORTEZ.
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.sp 2
[Illustration:
Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York.
PUERTO CORTEZ.]
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The most pretentious building in the town
is a large two-storied building surrounded by
verandas, looking like an old colonial home.
In the yard were two flag-poles, on one of which
was the stars and stripes and on the other the
blue and white flag of Honduras. A closer inspection
showed that it was the home of the
exiled Louisiana State Lottery, now known as
the Honduras National Lottery. After being
driven from the United States by the action
of the Postmaster General, and later by the
State government of Louisiana, that State having
refused a renewal of its franchise, this insidious
monster, which at one time absorbed
profits of many millions of dollars annually
from the people, and supported its officers in
luxury, was obliged to seek a new domicile.
Mexico refused it a charter and even poverty-stricken
Colombia and liberal Nicaragua denied
it a home. Honduras, however, gave it a local
habitation and a name upon the promise to
pay an annual license fee of twenty thousand
dollars and twenty per cent. of its gross receipts.
So here it was housed in a great building,
and here once each month a drawing took
// 358.png
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place to see which one of the many foolish persons
investing their money was the successful
gambler. There is not a Spanish-American
country, however, which does not charter some
one or more public lotteries, generally to raise
money for charitable purposes, and in almost
all of these the vendor of lottery tickets is a
familiar sight on the streets.
From Puerto Cortez a railway runs about
sixty miles inland to Pimienta. The principal
town on this transcontinental line, however, is
San Pedro Sula, about thirty-eight miles from
that port. The train runs every other day at
irregular intervals, and is made up of some poor
coaches, a poor engine, and banana freight cars
something like the open cars for the transportation
of live stock. The track at that time was
in harmony with the equipment. This line was
built by an English company which took the
contract for constructing the line from coast
to coast, passing through the capital. The
company was to do the work on a percentage
basis and the government to foot the bills. The
construction company worked in so many extras
and padded the bills so that the government
was obligated for twenty-seven millions
of dollars by the time the road reached San
// 359.png
.pn +1
Pedro Sula, or nearly three-quarters of a
million dollars per mile of actual track. By
this time the government was bankrupted and
construction work stopped. Most of the bonds
issued have never been paid and a great part
have been repudiated, although they are still
the subject of international dispute.
The road passes through a fine stretch of
tropical swamp and jungle. Sometimes there
are veritable tunnels of palms which reach
within a few feet of the track. Beyond there
is an impenetrable net-work of vines, creepers,
ferns, and trees covered with all kinds of orchids.
For many miles the road passes
through banana fields, or forests, they might
be called, for these tropical plants grow fifteen
or twenty feet high in this rich soil. It requires
almost four hours to cover the distance
between the two towns, but the entire run was
fortunately made without an accident.
San Pedro Sula lies in a beautiful broad valley
sixty miles long and from five to thirty
miles in width, which is known as the plain of
Sula. It is drained by several rivers, is comparatively
low and level, and is one of the richest
districts in the entire republic. In spite of
its low altitude it is remarkably salubrious,
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which is due to the constant winds. Banana
fields surround it on all sides except one where
it nestles close to an imposing mountain. It
is the most modern town in Honduras and contains
many good frame buildings. There are
also a couple of fairly good hotels in this city
conducted by Americans, so that an American
can stop here under pretty favourable conditions
so far as physical comfort is concerned.
A number of streams of clear water run
through the town which add to its attractiveness
and cleanliness. There is, of course, a
native quarter much similar to other towns, but
the foreign influence has had a good effect even
among them.
While in San Pedro an American “gentleman
of colour” and a Jamaican negro got into
an altercation and the latter was terribly cut
by the other, for of course the weapons used
were knives. The latter, although seriously cut
and unable to walk, was arrested, and the
former was tied with ropes and conducted to
the jail. It is an almost invariable rule that
both parties to an affray are arrested and
thrust into prison. They are there held “incommunicado.”
This means to be incarcerated
seventy-two hours in solitary confinement,
// 361.png
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without bail, at the end of which time a judicial
examination is given. Their theory is that
after a man has been kept in solitude for three
days with only his own thoughts for company,
he is more likely to tell the truth than if he had
been in communication with his lawyers,
friends and reporters all that time. Witnesses
are sometimes held in the same way, so that it
is advisable for a stranger to keep away from
scenes of trouble or, if it arises in his vicinity,
to get out of that neighbourhood as soon as
possible.
The railroad runs inland a few miles farther,
but San Pedro Sula is generally made the starting
point for the capital for it is easier to
secure good mules and mozos at this point. It
is necessary not only to have those but a certain
amount of impedimenta in the shape of hammocks,
blankets, etc. must be carried along, and
it is even advisable to carry such provisions as
will not be affected by the climate. The trail to
the capital, Tegucigalpa, is nothing but a mule
path, narrow and winding, and for the average
traveller it is an eight days’ journey. The road
passes through forests which comprise an enchanted
wilderness where the white-faced
monkeys peer at you from the branches of the
// 362.png
.pn +1
trees and gaily-plumed parrots screech as they
fly overhead; again it winds among the mountains
on a narrow ledge which causes the uninitiated
traveller to hold his breath when he
gazes at the chasm below; at other times it
follows the bed of streams which, during the
rainy season, are raging torrents.
There are no hotels and few public inns on
the route. It is generally necessary to stop
with the natives in the villages, or the public
cabildo, which is always at the service of the
wayfarer. Hammocks are used for sleeping
on account of the insects. As one writer has
put this superabundance of insects:—“There
will be sometimes as many as a hundred insects
under one leaf; and after they have once laid
their claws upon you, your life is a mockery,
and you feel at night as though you were sleeping
in a bed of red pepper.”
Richard Harding Davis has given us an
amusing account of his experience one night as
follows: “I took an account of the stock before
I turned in, and found there were three dogs,
eleven cats, seven children, five men, not including
five of us, three women, and a dozen
chickens, all sleeping, or trying to sleep, in the
same room and under the one roof. And when
// 363.png
.pn +1
I gave up attempting to sleep and wandered
out into the night, I stepped on the pigs, and
startled three or four calves that had been
sleeping under the porch and that lunged up
out of the darkness.”
The only town of any importance that is
passed is Comayagua. This was the former
capital and at one time the largest city in the
country. This city was selected under direct
orders of Cortez who directed one of his lieutenants
to lay out a capital midway between
the two oceans. If a straight line should be
drawn across the country, Comayagua would
be in the exact centre. Its one time thirty
thousand inhabitants are now reduced to seven
thousand who sleep and dream away life in the
warm sunlight and surrounded by groves of
orange trees. It is a dull and desolate place
of one-storied buildings and contains a half
dozen or more old churches, some of them with
roofless walls overgrown with moss and vines
that stand as a silent reminder of the religious
fervour of the earlier days. There is a fine old
cathedral which stands as a good example of
the Spanish-Moorish architecture so prevalent
in every land colonized by the Spaniards. This,
the second city in the republic, is situated in a
// 364.png
.pn +1
broad fertile valley which stretches away for
miles, while dim, cloud-crowned mountains surround
it like grim sentinels. The elevation is
less than two thousand feet. It has gradually
lost its former prestige since the seat of government
was removed to its rival.
Tegucigalpa, the capital since 1880, is situated
on a bare, dreary plain and is surrounded
by several abrupt hills which guard the sleeping
city. It is a city of twelve thousand inhabitants
and is a typical Spanish-American
town with all the characteristics which have
heretofore been described. The houses are
usually painted pink, blue, yellow, green, white
or some other pronounced colour. The public
buildings are not pretentious, although it contains
the administration buildings, hospitals,
colleges, etc. A clock on the cathedral tower
marks the time of which the inhabitants have
a supply more than equal to the demand. The
town is divided by a small stream which is the
public laundry, and this is the only industry that
is always running, for women may be seen here
from early morning until late at night rubbing
and pounding their clothes to a snowy whiteness.
Although the hills contained enough
water to supply the city in abundance no effort
// 365.png
.pn +1
was made until a few years ago to utilize it, and
all the water used was carried into the city in
jars from the river upon the heads of the
women. A reservoir has been constructed in
the mountains a few miles away from which
water is now brought to the city by a pipe line
so that the city is well supplied with this necessity.
Tegucigalpa was founded in 1579 and soon
grew to be as large a town as it now is. For
venerable antiquity Americans must doff their
hats to this old city. While Chicago was yet
the site of Indian wigwams and long before our
great Eastern metropolis was more than a
small town, Tegucigalpa was a noted city. The
name of the town comes from two native words—Teguz,
meaning a hill, and Galpa, meaning
silver; thus it means the “city on the silver
hill.” A half-century ago it was perhaps a
larger town than it is to-day. There are several
public squares of considerable beauty. In
Morazan Park, the principal square, there is
a fine equestrian statue of General Morazan,
the liberator of Central America. For a wonder
in a Spanish town there is neither a theatre
nor a club, so that the cafés furnish the only
social centres.
// 366.png
.pn +1
Although hard to believe from its somnolent
character, yet Tegucigalpa has been the scene
of stirring events and has been a hotbed of
revolutions. Only a few years ago Tegucigalpa
was besieged for six months, and many buildings
show the mark of bullets fired by the revolutionists.
In this city the execution of revolutionists
has frequently taken place along the
walls of one of the churches, and there is a row
of bullet holes in the wall just about the height
of a man’s chest. A revolutionist meets death
bravely and stoically as though he looked forward
to that end with pleasure. He is often
compelled to dig his own grave which he does
with equanimity. He takes the gambler’s
chance in a revolution. Success may take him
into the presidential chair and failure will probably
place him before a squad of soldiers with
guns aimed at his heart.
Richard Harding Davis in “Three Gringos
in Venezuela and Central America” gives the
following instance of the varying fortunes of
revolutionists: “I saw an open grave by the
roadside which had been dug by the man who
was to have occupied it. The man who dug this
particular grave had been captured, with two
companions, while they were hastening to rejoin
// 367.png
.pn +1
their friends of the government party. His
companions in misery were faint-hearted creatures,
and thought it mattered but little, so
long as they had to die, in what fashion they
were buried. So they scooped out a few feet
of earth with the tools their captors gave them,
and stood up in the hollows they had made, and
were shot back into them, dead; but the third
man declared that he was not going to let his
body lie so near the surface of the earth that
the mules could kick his bones and the next
heavy freshet wash them away. He accordingly
dug leisurely and carefully to the depth
of six feet, smoothing the sides and sharpening
the corners. While he was thus engaged at
the bottom of the hole, he heard shots and yells
above him, and when he poked his head up over
the edge of the grave he saw his own troops
running down the mountain-side and his enemies
disappearing before them.”
Honduras has perhaps suffered more from
revolutionary disturbances than any of the
other Central American republics. Bordering
as she does on all these states, except Costa
Rica, she has not only had to contend with her
own troubles but has been the helpless and unwilling
battleground for contentions between
// 368.png
.pn +1
Nicaragua on the one side and San Salvador or
Guatemala on the other. Weaker than any of
these her own government has often been dictated
by one or more of her more powerful
neighbours. With all the machinery of a republic
and with an excellent constitution and
laws on paper, a change of rulers is usually
effected by a revolution as that seems to be the
only way the will of the people can be determined.
They are sometimes almost bloodless
as two armies manœuvre around until one decides
it is weaker than the other and takes to
flight. Selfish partisanship too often passes for
patriotism, and the leaders are only too willing
to plunge the country into war to gain the
spoils of office for themselves and their followers.
Although many men may not be killed in
these revolutions, as very many times they are
only local, nevertheless they keep the country
in a continual ferment, for the vanquished
never quite forgive the victors. The most
formidable disturbance in recent years was a
war between Nicaragua and Honduras in the
winter of 1906–07. This war resulted in a victory
for Nicaragua, partly because of the
revolutionary party in Honduras grasping advantage
// 369.png
.pn +1
of the conditions and taking arms
against the government. As a result Manuel
Bonilla, who had been president for several
years, was driven from office and General
Miguel Davila became his successor. This war-revolution
lasted for several months and as a
result the business was demoralized to a great
extent for the whole country was involved.
United States marines were landed at Truxillo
and Puerto Cortez to preserve order. Since
that time there have been no serious disturbances.
The agreement recently entered into
between the five republics promises to do away
with the interferences from other more powerful
states in the internal affairs of Honduras,
and the extension of railroads and telegraphs,
and the investment of foreign capital promise
much better conditions for the future.
Most presidents have begun their career as
revolutionists, or, I suppose, they would rather
be termed reformers. A man is spoken of as
a “good revolutionist” as we would speak of
a “good lawyer” or a “good doctor,” meaning
that he is successful in that line of work.
The fate suffered by many unsuccessful revolutionists
would not be a bad one for some of
our own corrupt and selfish politicians.
// 370.png
.pn +1
The history of Honduras down to 1840 is so
closely identified with Guatemala that it does
not need special mention. With the election of
Francisco Ferrera as president in that year it
began a separate existence. There was much
agitation among the various towns because of
the heavy burdens imposed on them, and in
1847, during the Mexican war, one president
practically declared war against the United
States, which challenge was ignored. On several
occasions Great Britain sent warships to the
coast of Honduras to enforce her demands
which were not always just. During a part of
the time that Carrera was ruling Guatemala,
President Guardiola was in charge of the affairs
in Honduras. He was a man of the same
stripe, part negro, and is said to have been
“possessed of all the vices and guilty of about
all the crimes known to man. At the very mention
of his approach, the inhabitants would flee
to the woods.” One writer calls him “the
tiger of Central America.” He was finally assassinated.
Internal trouble and disputes with
her neighbours kept Honduras in turmoil down
to 1880, when President Soto was inducted into
office. During his term of three years, and
that of his successor, General Louis Bogran,
// 371.png
.pn +1
progress began, agriculture was stimulated
and trade increased.
Honduras is a country about the size of Ohio
and contains forty-six thousand four hundred
square miles of territory, although the estimates
vary greatly for no accurate surveys
have ever been made. For governmental purposes
it is divided into sixteen departments,
each of which has a civil head. Its governmental
divisions and its legislative and judicial
systems are very much like those of Guatemala.
The president is assisted by a cabinet and circle
of advisers.
On the Atlantic coast are five large and a
number of smaller islands, known as the Bay
Islands. One of these, Roatan, has been described
as a lazy man’s paradise. It is forty
miles long and about three miles in width, with
a population of three or four thousand. It is
a beautiful and prolific island where the people
are lazy because work is not necessary. Even
the cocoanuts will drop to the ground to save
the inhabitants the necessity of climbing after
them, and all he has to do is to strike them on
a sharpened stake driven into the ground in
order to prepare them for eating. Native yams
will grow to a weight of forty or fifty pounds,
// 372.png
.pn +1
and a piece of cane stuck into the ground will
renew itself almost perennially. Roses and
flowers grow wild. The climate ranges from
66 degrees to 88 degrees, and the air is not even
disturbed by revolutions. The only jail is a
little one-room hut in which a drunk occasionally
sleeps off a stupor.
Cassava bread, one of the staple articles of
food, is made from the tuberous roots of the
manioc which often weigh as much as twenty
pounds. The roots are grated into a coarse
meal which is then washed carefully to remove
the grains of starch. The mass is next placed
in a primitive press and the poisonous juice
pressed out. The squeezed mass is then made
into flat loaves which are dried and then baked.
It is said to make a nutritious and quite palatable
food. This bread forms one of the principal
articles of food of these natives.
The half-million inhabitants include a considerably
smaller percentage of Spanish descendants
and a much larger number of negroes
than Guatemala. The “Zambos,” a mixture
of Indian and negro, used to be quite numerous
along the Mosquito coast, but many of them
have migrated to Nicaragua. They were formerly
ruled by a hereditary king. The Caribs,
// 373.png
.pn +1
who were originally inhabitants of St. Vincent,
have taken their place in the Gulf settlements.
They are the best sailors along the coast and
can be seen at any time out on the sea in their
dories. These dories are hewed out of solid logs,
equipped with sails, and vary in length from
thirty to sixty feet, and are from three to eight
feet across the beam. Their houses are always
the same, with a high, peaked and thatched roof,
sometimes twenty-five to thirty feet in height.
No nails are used in the construction. They
sometimes look almost like huge stacks of hay
from a distance.
The Caribs are said to have lived on the
island of St. Vincent, where, at the conclusion
of the war between England and France, they
were found to be in such sympathy with the
French that they were deported to the island
of Roatan. From there they drifted to the
mainland and established a number of settlements
all along the coast. One writer describes
them as follows:—“They are peaceable,
friendly, ingenious and industrious. They are
noted for their fondness of dress, wearing red
bands around their waists to imitate sashes,
straw hats turned up, clean white shirts and
frocks, long and tight trousers. The Carib
// 374.png
.pn +1
women are fond of ornamenting their persons
with coloured beads strung in various forms.
They are scrupulously clean and have a great
aptitude for acquiring languages, many of
them being able to talk in Carib, Spanish and
English. Polygamy is general among them,
some of them having as many as three or four
wives; but the husband is compelled to have a
separate house and plantation for each. It is
the custom when a woman cannot do all the
work for her to hire her husband. Men accompany
them on their trading expeditions, but
never by any chance carry the burdens, thinking
it far beneath them.”
The average native or half-breed on the
higher lands lives from year to year in his
thatched hut. He may look after a few cows
and make cheese from their milk. He plants
a small patch of maize each year and grows a
few bananas and plantains for food. He is
content to live on the plainest food and in the
simplest way in order to live an indolent life.
Thus he exists during his allotted years until
he drops into his grave and in a year or two
there is not even a sign to show where he was
laid. Occasionally graves of the early inhabitants
are found, but the burial-places of later
// 375.png
.pn +1
// 376.png
// 377.png
generations are practically unmarked and no
attempt is made to preserve their location as
there are no tombstones and after a few months
there is nothing to show its location.
.if h
.il fn=i375.jpg w=600px id=i375
.ca
A TYPICAL BEGGAR.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration: A TYPICAL BEGGAR.]
.sp 2
.if-
Beggars are not very common except the
blind, the lame and the sick. The necessaries
of life are so easily procured, so little clothing
is required, and any one may find land upon
which to plant a little maize or bananas that
it does not require much money or much exertion
to sustain life. The condition of those
who are helpless, however, is pitiable in the
extreme and the sympathy of a stranger is
aroused each day by a sight of some poor unfortunate.
Next to maize (corn) bananas and plantains
form the principal food. The latter are cooked
in many ways, boiled, baked or made into pastry,
but are never eaten raw. Maize was indigenous
on those shores, because the Spanish conquerors
found it growing and it formed the
principal food of the people. The banana is
believed to have been introduced by the Spaniards,
and the one argument used for this theory
is that all the names of this plant are of Spanish
derivation. In Honduras a sort of beer is
brewed from maize that the natives are very
// 378.png
.pn +1
fond of, but they prefer on “fiestas” the
aguardiente (brandy) because it is stronger
and affords more exhilaration. This is a drink
brought by civilization, for the earlier inhabitants,
not having any distilled liquors, had to
be contented with the milder fermented forms
of intoxicants.[#]
.pm fn-start // 1
Note. “On the warmer plains the
wine-palm is grown. The wine is very simply prepared. The
tree is felled and an oblong hole cut into it, just above
the crown of leaves. The hole is eight inches deep, passing
nearly through the trunk. It is about a foot long and
several inches broad; and in this hollow the juice of the
tree immediately begins to collect, scarcely any running out
at the butt where it has been cut off. In three days after
cutting the wine-palm the hollow will be filled with a clear
yellowish wine, the fermented juice of the tree, and this
will continue to secrete daily for twenty days, during which
the tree will have yielded some gallons of wine.”—Thomas
Belt.
.pm fn-end
Cock-fighting is one of the principal forms
of amusement among the people of Honduras.
Their mode of cock-fighting is very cruel, as
they usually tie long sickle-shaped knives onto
their natural spurs with which they are able to
give each other fearful gashes and wounds. It
is no unusual sight to see a game cock tied up
at the door by the leg, or in some other part of
the house, and being treated as an honoured
member of the family. The comb is cut off
near the head in order that his opponent cannot
// 379.png
.pn +1
grasp him there and thus place him at a
disadvantage. Bets are made on every fight
and considerable money is lost and won on this
sport.
Education is not far advanced although the
number of schools has been increased each
year. There are very many full-grown boys
and girls who do not even know their letters.
Perhaps not more than half the inhabitants
can boast of even a rudimentary education.
There are only about seven hundred schools for
primary instruction in the entire republic, with
an average attendance of about twenty-five
thousand pupils. The wealthier families send
their boys to the famous university in Guatemala
City for their education. They are not
so much interested in the matter of education
for girls.
A large force of soldiers is always kept
under arms—that is, large in proportion to the
population. Its standing army is almost half
as great as our own with about one one-hundred
and fiftieth of the population. Every town and
village of any size has its commandancia, or
barracks, in which a force of troops is quartered.
They are not formidable looking troops,
and yet they sometimes have a reckless way of
// 380.png
.pn +1
shooting that is destructive to human life.
Military service is compulsory for men from
twenty-one to thirty years of age, and after that
they remain members of the reserve until they
are forty. This is the written law but the unwritten
law of the revolutionary leader is far
more potent.
As I have stated above, Honduras is the least
progressive of the five republics of Central
America, and yet it is a country of wonderful
natural resources and is burdened with plenty
of opportunities. The low coast land sloping
up to the high mountain plateaus furnish every
variety of climate and give a wide range of
agricultural possibilities. Bananas, cocoanuts,
oranges, sugar cane, wheat, corn, rice, rye,
barley are among the list of profitable products
that can be cultivated. Few fields are properly
plowed and the care bestowed on growing crops
amounts to nothing. The ground is so fertile
that the mere insertion of a kernel of corn in
the earth is sufficient. A kernel thus planted
on Thursday has been found four inches high
by the following Monday. With all this fertility
there is sometimes an insufficient food supply
for the cities. Agriculture is in the most
primitive condition and will probably remain
// 381.png
.pn +1
// 382.png
// 383.png
so until there are better roads, better markets
and cheaper transportation facilities.
.if h
.il fn=i381.jpg w=600px id=i381
.ca
Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York.
SOLDIERS OF HONDURAS.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
.sp 2
[Illustration:
Copyright, 1907, by Judge Company, New York.
SOLDIERS OF HONDURAS.]
.if-
In many parts of Honduras there are lands
well suited to cattle raising. They may be
found grazing on the sterile slopes of the mountain
ranges as well as in the more fertile valleys.
There is much fine rolling land, well
watered during the rainy season and rich in
pasturage, to be found in the republic, which is
well suited to this industry. In the dry season,
however, many of those plains, or savannahs,
furnish scant fodder for the cattle. As irrigation
has not been attempted the cattle have a
feast half the year and a famine the other half.
No care whatever is taken of their herds by the
owners and they are left to forage as best they
can. It is not much wonder that the grade of
stock is poor, although hundreds of thousands
of cattle are raised in this way, and wander
over the public domain. Each rancher has his
own brand which is recorded the same as in
the United States. Thousands more would be
raised and sent out of the country were it not
for the heavy export tax.
There are no industries in the country
worthy of mention except aguardiente manufacture
which is a government monopoly. The
// 384.png
.pn +1
sugar cane growers enter into a contract with
the government to furnish a stipulated amount
of this brandy each month, and it is then sold
by the government to the regularly licensed
dealers at a fixed price. A large part of the
revenue of the republic is derived from this
source as many hundred thousand gallons are
consumed each year. A cheap grade of “Panama”
hat is also manufactured in one province
which is exported to the neighbouring republics
and the United States.
Nearly the whole of the republic, except the
lowlands, is mineralized. Old workings among
the gold-bearing formations show that the aboriginal
tribes understood the art of separating
the gold from quartz. Documents deposited
in the archives of Tegucigalpa show that
the Spaniards found the mines of Honduras
very profitable, and the king’s tithe no doubt
aided in building real castles in Spain. The
Spaniards were good prospectors but poor
workers, for they did their work in the most
primitive way. Their work was mostly done by
slave labour so that this was an inexpensive
item to them. Any of the natives could be
drafted into this work upon the initiative of the
government. They were seldom carried to any
// 385.png
.pn +1
great depth, so that there are hundreds of mines
scattered over the country to-day which are
abandoned and filled with water. They cannot
be operated successfully until roads are constructed
over which machinery can be transported.
The chief mining district is not far from the
capital city. The Rosario Mining Company is
the most successful and best-known company
and has been placed on a profitable basis. Silver
ores are the most abundant but gold has
been washed on the rivers of Olancho for many
years in small quantities. Silver is generally
in combination with lead, iron, copper or antimony.
There are some valuable copper deposits
in some places containing eighty per
cent of pure copper. Iron ores are common,
zinc occurs, but coal has been found only in
very small quantities. Opals have been found
in considerable numbers and many of them are
large and beautiful. About one million dollars’
worth of the various minerals have been mined
annually in recent years.
Honduras has a small coast line on the
Pacific with Amapala as its only seaport on
that ocean. It is situated on the island of Tigre
about thirty miles from the mainland, and
// 386.png
.pn +1
nearly in the centre of the magnificent Bay of
Fonseca. This is a very poor open roadstead
with no pier, so that lighters are the only means
of loading and unloading vessels. The Atlantic
coastline is much longer and well protected by
outlying islands which affords much better protection
to vessels. Ceiba is a pretty little port
at the foot of the Congrehoy, the highest volcanic
peak in the country. It has a population
of several thousand and is in the centre of a
rich banana belt. Recently a short railroad of
about thirty miles in length has been constructed
here which reaches out through this
fertile field and will aid in developing this section
of the country. Many hundred thousand
bunches of bananas are shipped from this port
each year and the number constantly increases.
Truxillo, or Trujillo, is another fair harbour
on this coast. The town is not very large yet,
although it is nearly four centuries old, having
been founded in 1525. The filibusterer William
Walker, who made himself dictator of Nicaragua
at one time, was captured by Honduras’
troops at this place and executed, thus ending
a romantic and venturesome career.
Honduras has never attained the prominence
in commerce that her natural resources would
// 387.png
.pn +1
warrant one to reasonably expect. The total
imports for the year ending July 31st, 1908,
were $2,829,979, according to the statistics of
that government. Of this amount the United
States furnished more than half. The exports
to the United States for the same period
amounted to nearly $3,000,000, which was
nearly five-sixths of the whole exports.
This is accounted for by the fact that
the principal export is bananas nearly all
of which are sent to the various ports of
Uncle Sam. After minerals coffee and hides
furnish the next two largest items of export.
All import duties are levied by weight, so that
the duties on many articles comparatively inexpensive
in first cost become expensive luxuries
in Honduras. An ordinary cooking range
might be cited as an example. The shipping of
imports and exports is almost entirely in the
hands of Germans who conduct all the great
commission houses and do a very profitable
business. The importation of goods is oftentimes
a complicated matter for in addition to
the fixed import duties there are the fees for
manifest, custom-house permit, transfer fee,
sanitary fee on goods destined for the interior,
and a municipal impost at some towns. Add
// 388.png
.pn +1
to this the brokerage fees and the total expense
oftentimes amounts to quite a sum.
The money of Honduras is on a silver basis
and is subject to all the fluctuations of that
metal. Guatemalan and Chilean silver coins
are the principal currency in circulation although
one bank is authorized to issue paper
currency which passes at par with the silver.
The silver peso or dollar is the standard. As
exchange varies from 215 to 250 per cent it
will be seen that its value ranges from about
forty to forty-five cents in gold. Even this is
better than the paper money of Guatemala.
What shall be done with this great unimproved
country? That question is reserved for
the future to decide. I believe that the influence
of America and Americans will do far more
toward the settlement of the turmoil which has
been so general in that country and the development
of the natural resources than any other
one influence. The number of Americans residing
in Honduras is increasing each year, and
their influence is already being felt wherever
they reside. Sometime the people themselves
may awaken to the fact that they have been
living in poverty with wealth at their very
doors.
// 389.png
.pn +1
The eastern coast is developing more rapidly
than the western because of the nearness to
the markets of the United States. Good steamship
service is now maintained so that it is only
a four or five days’ journey to New Orleans and
Mobile. Let Americans waken up to the great
possibilities of trade and development that lie
at their very door. Let American merchants
and manufacturers exploit their goods and secure
the trade of this country that is now controlled
by British and German merchants. The
people generally prefer American goods, but
the merchants of this country have never
learned the art of dealing with the Spanish-American.
It is a situation that must be
studied, but success is worth the effort.
“Adios,” with the Spaniard means “how
do you do,” “good-bye,” and “a pleasant
journey to you.”
I close this narrative with this one word to
the reader which is greeting, benediction and
farewell, all three combined, trusting that our
acquaintance has been mutually beneficial.
.sp 2
.nf c
ADIOS.
.nf-
// 390.png
.pn +1
// 391.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=appx
APPENDIX I
.sp 2
The following table gives the names of the
departments in Guatemala, the name of the
chief town, or capital, and the number of inhabitants
and elevation of that city, the compilation
being made from the latest and most
reliable statistics available:—
.sp 2
.dv class=font85
.ta l:12 l:12 r:8 r:8
| DEPARTMENTS |CHIEF TOWN|\
INHABITANTS |ELEVATION (feet)
Alta Verapaz | Coban | 24,475 | 4,010
Amatitlan | Amatitlan | 10,000 | 4,212
Baja Verapaz | Salamá | 7,125 | 2,831
Chimaltenango | Chimaltenango | 14,000 | 5,365
Chiquimula | Chiquimula | 10,602 | 1,232
Escuintla | Escuintla | 12,000 | 1,248
Guatemala | Guatemala City | 85,000 | 4,810
Huehuetenango | Huehuetenango | 10,000 | 7,052
Izabal | Livingston | 1,500 | 45
Jalapa | Jalapa | 10,000 | 4,777
Jutiapa | Jutiapa | 12,000 | 2,821
Peten | Flores | 6,000 | 478
Quezaltenango | Quezaltenango | 22,265 | 7,351
Quiché | Sante Rosa del Quiché | 6,237 | 5,492
Retalhuleu | Retalhuleu | 10,000 | 968
Sacatepequez | Antigua | 8,000 | 5,314
San Marcos | San Marcos | 10,000 | 7,150
Santa Rosa | Cuajinicuilapa | 2,000 | 3,214
Sololá | Sololá | 15,000 | 6,974
Suchitepequez | Mazatenango | 10,000 | 1,085
Totonicapan | Totonicapan | 25,196 | 7,894
Zacapa | Zacapa | 12,000 | 536
.ta-
.dv-
// 392.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2
APPENDIX II
.sp 2
The Republic of Honduras is composed of
sixteen departments, or provinces, and one territorial
district. The territory of Mosquitia is
situated in the extreme northeastern section of
the country and is the second largest political
division in the republic, comprising about one-fifth
of the entire landed surface and with a
population of four thousand, mostly a mixed
race of negroes and Indians. This is an average
of about one person for every two square
miles. The country is covered with a dense
forest of tropical verdure, through which the
waters of several rivers course. Along the rivers
the lands have been partially explored but
much of the interior is still unknown. The Bay
Islands department comprises a group of five
low islands lying at a distance of from twenty-five
to fifty miles from the northern shore. The
names of the islands are Utila, Roatan, Elena,
Barbareta and Bonaca, and they contain a total
population of about five thousand whites,
negroes and Indians. The English language is
// 393.png
.pn +1
quite commonly used on those islands for they
were long under the sovereignty of England.
The names of the different departments, together
with the capital city, its population and
elevation, according to the best and most recent
statistics available, are as follows:—
.dv class=font85
.ta l:12 l:12 r:8 r:8
DEPARTMENT |CAPITAL|\
POPULATION |ELEVATION (feet)
Tegucigalpa | Tegucigalpa | 12,000 | 3,200
Copan | Santa Rosa | 10,000 | 3,400
Choluteca | Choluteca | 8,636 | 250
Gracias | Gracias | 5,324 | 2,520
Olancho | Juticalpa | 11,103 | 1,500
El Paraiso | Danli | 8,878 | 2,300
Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | 3,593 | 750
Valle | Nacaome | 8,913 | 110
Comayagua | Comayagua | 7,206 | 1,650
La Paz | La Paz | 4,490 | 2,000
Intibuca | La Esperanza | 4,026 | 4,950
Cortes | San Pedro Sula | 7,182 | 255
Yoro | Yoro | 6,127 | 2,000
Colon | Truxillo | l4,040 | sea level
Atlantida | La Ceiba | 3,379 | sea level
Bay Islands | Coxin Hole | l500 | sea level
.ta-
.dv-
.sp 2
The uneven character of the configuration
of the earth’s surface and the effect of the trade
winds gives the Central American republics a
great variety of climate. The so-called “seasons,”
the wet and dry, do not always express
the real conditions, for local conditions influence
the temperature and amount of rainfall.
// 394.png
.pn +1
There is a wide difference, for instance, between
the Atlantic and Pacific slopes. On the Atlantic
coast there is literally no dry season. The
central plateaus have a climate of their own
subject neither to excessive droughts or heavy
rains. When you consider that the highest
temperature inland rarely exceeds 90° F. and
does not go below 50° F. it will be seen that
the land is quite inhabitable, for there are no
great extremes. The “wet” season from May
to November is called invierno, or winter, and
the “dry” season from November to May is
termed verano, or summer.
In order to set forth clearly the temperature
I herewith give a table of the thermometer
readings at Tegucigalpa for an entire year as
given in a handbook compiled by Mr. A. K.
Moe, formerly United States Consul at that
city, and issued by the International Bureau
of the American Republics, to which same book
I am indebted for some other valuable information
herein contained:—
.dv class=font85
.ta l:6 c:9 c:9 c:9 c:9 c:9
| | AVERAGE | AVERAGE | | | EXTREME
| MONTHS | MINIMUM | MAXIMUM | LOWEST | HIGHEST | DIFFERENCE
January | °F. 60 | °F. 76 | °F. 54 | °F. 79 | °F. 25
February | 60 | 81 | 52 | 84 | 32
March | 61 | 83 | 55 | 88 | 33
April | 63 | 84 | 56 | 89 | 33
May | 67 | 84 | 63 | 90 | 27
// 395.png
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April | 63 | 84 | 56 | 89 | 33
May | 67 | 84 | 63 | 90 | 27
June | 67 | 82 | 65 | 86 | 21
July | 67 | 81 | 64 | 84 | 20
August | 66 | 81 | 62 | 84 | 22
September | 65 | 82 | 61 | 84 | 23
October | 65 | 79 | 61 | 83 | 22
November | 65 | 78 | 61 | 82 | 21
December | 59 | 75 | 50 | 81 | 31
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// 396.png
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APPENDIX III||VOLCANOES
.sp 2
People living in volcanic regions do not seem
to fear the presence of these lofty peaks any
more than people living in mountainous regions
fear their overhanging ridges. One would think
that the terrible and destructive eruptions of
Vesuvius would leave that region depopulated,
but no sooner have the earth’s tremblings ceased
than the people flock again to their accustomed
haunts, and the fertile fields once more respond
to the efforts of the farmer and gardener. And
so it is in Central America, where volcanic peaks
abound and mild earthquakes are common.
The volcanoes of Hawaii are larger, those of
South America loftier, some in Italy and Java
more destructive, but nowhere on the world is
there such an unbroken line of volcanic peaks
as along the Pacific coast of Central America.
The Atlantic coast has but one distinct cone of
any great height and that is the Congrehoy
(8,040 ft.), which runs clear to the water’s edge.
// 397.png
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It is the only lofty peak in Honduras and has
perhaps the sharpest and most clearly marked
cone in that section of the world.
Little is known of the early history of the
eruptions of these volcanoes and earthquake
disturbances, called by the natives “temblors.”
The early natives believed that earthquakes
were caused by a god, Cabracan, who was in the
habit of shaking the mountains. The stories
of the Spanish conquerors are so mingled with
devils and their work that they are incredible
and convey no enlightening information. Their
chroniclers tell an amusing instance of the attempt
of a friar to draw up the lava, which had
the appearance of molten gold, in an iron bucket
from a crater. The bucket and chain as well
melted as soon as it approached the seething
lava.
History records the birth of the volcano,
Izalco, in San Salvador in 1770. For several
days strange subterranean noises accompanied
by earthquake shocks had been heard in that
vicinity and the people fled in terror. After
a few days a lateral opening appeared in a field
from which fire, smoke and lava belched forth.
This was followed by sand and stones from
which a cone has been gradually built up, until
// 398.png
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now it is higher than Vesuvius. It has been
named the “lighthouse of Salvador” by the
sailors, because it is nearly always visible at
night.
I append an account of an ascent of Santa
Maria made a few months after its destructive
eruption of 1902, which appeared in the Scientific
American:—
“I began the ascent of the volcano from the
plantation of La Sabina, a favourite health resort
famous for its springs of mineral water.
Journeying from Palmar to La Sabina we
passed two plantations whose buildings were
ruined and fields devastated. We found the
hotel of the town buried many feet beneath
mud. I found the crater a huge pit some 500
feet in depth, from the bottom of which spouted
a magnificent geyser. The steam issued with
terrible force, roaring and crackling. Almost
at my very feet arose another geyser, through
the vapour of which there could be dimly seen
a large pool formed by the condensed steam.
Besides the large geysers, innumerable small
jets of steam spouted from the edge of the crater
in a vapourous fringe, sending forth little
clouds toward the centre. At intervals a strong
odour of sulphur assailed the nostrils. It is
// 399.png
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probable that when the volcano was in full eruption
the entire crater was open, for the earth
seemed to have fallen in and to have formed
a kind of floor. Otherwise it would be impossible
to account for the enormous mass of material
ejected by the crater.”
The following table gives a list of the principal
volcanic peaks in Guatemala, all of which
are classed as “extinct,” or “quiescent,” except
Santa Maria:—
.sp 2
.ta l:15 r:8
VOLCANIC PEAK | HEIGHT feet
Tajumulco | 13,814
Tacana | 13,334
Acatenango | 13,012
Fuego | 12,821
Agua | 12,300
Atitlan | 11,849
Cerro Cerchil | 11,830
Cerro Quiché | 11,160
Cerro Calel | 10,813
Santa Maria | 10,535
Cerro Quemado | 10,200
Quezaltenango | 9,238
Pacaya | 7,675
Ipala | 6,019
Chingo | 6,019
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.h2
APPENDIX IV||RUINS OF COPAN
.sp 2
No American has spent so much time in exploring
the ruins of this mysterious city of
Honduras as Mr. George Byron Gordon. For
a number of years he spent the greater part of
the year in making excavations, removing debris,
and in exploring every nook and corner
of this ancient seat of civilization. Through
the courtesy of The Century Company I am
permitted to give the following description of
Copan as written by Mr. Gordon and published
in the Century Magazine, which, though greatly
abbreviated, is yet sufficiently full to give the
reader a fair idea of the one-time grandeur and
magnificence of this ancient city:—
.pm letter-start
Hidden away among the mountains of Honduras,
in a beautiful valley which, even in that
little-travelled country, where remoteness is a
characteristic attribute of places, is unusually
secluded, Copan is one of the greatest mysteries
// 401.png
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of the ages. Not only do the recent explorations
confirm the magnitude and importance
of the ruins, but the collection of relics now in
the Peabody Museum is sufficient to convince
the most skeptical that here are the remains of
a city, unknown to history, as remarkable and
as worthy of our careful consideration as any
of the ancient centres of civilization in the Old
World. Whatever the origin of its people, this
old city is distinctly American—the growth of
American soil and environment.
The area comprised within the limits of the
old city consists of a level plain seven or eight
miles long and two miles wide at the greatest.
This plain is covered with the remains of stone
houses, doubtless the habitations of the wealthy.
The streets, squares, and courtyards were
paved with stone, or with white cement made
from lime and powdered rock, and the drainage
was accomplished by means of covered
canals and underground sewers built of stone
and cement. On the slopes of the mountains,
too, are found numerous ruins; and even on
the highest peaks fallen columns and ruined
structures may be seen.
On the right bank of the Copan River, in the
midst of the city, stands the principal group
// 402.png
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of structures—the temples, palaces, and buildings
of a public character. These form part
of what has been called, for want of a better
name, the Main Structure—a vast, irregular
pile rising from the plain in steps and terraces
of masonry, and terminating in several great
pyramidal elevations, each topped by the remains
of a temple which, before our excavations
were begun, looked like a huge pile of
fragments bound together by the roots of trees,
while the slopes of the pyramids, and the terraces
and pavements below, are strewn with
the ruins of these superb edifices. Its sides
face the four cardinal points; its greatest
length from north to south is about eight hundred
feet, and from east to west it measured
originally nearly as much, but a part of the
eastern side has been carried away by the swift
current of the river which flows directly against
it.
Within the Main Structure, at an elevation
of sixty feet, is a court one hundred and twenty
feet square, which, with its surrounding architecture,
must have presented a magnificent
spectacle, when it was entire. It was entered
from the south through a passage thirty feet
in width, between two high pyramidal foundations,
// 403.png
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each supporting a temple. The court itself
is inclosed by ranges of steps or seats rising
to a height of twenty feet, as in an amphitheatre;
they are built of great blocks of stone,
neatly cut, and regularly laid without mortar.
In the centre of the western side is a stairway
projecting a few feet into the court, and leading
to a broad terrace above the range of seats
on that side. The upper steps in this stairway
are divided in the midst by the head of a huge
dragon facing the court, and holding in its distended
jaws a grotesque human head of colossal
proportions.
One temple, in many ways the most interesting
yet explored, furnishes a typical example
of this class of building. From the stone-paved
terrace above the western side of the court, a
great stairway, with massive steps, leads up to
a platform which runs the whole length of the
building, and is carried out at each end upon
solid piers to the line of beginning of the steps.
From the head of the stairway two graceful
wing stones, extending across the platform,
guard the approach to the first entrance, which
gives access to the outer chambers. This doorway
is nine feet wide, and was covered with
a vaulted roof, now fallen. Directly opposite
// 404.png
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it, in the interior, is a second doorway, leading
to the inner chambers. In front of this second
entrance is a step two feet high, ornamented
on the face by hieroglyphics and skulls carved
in relief. At each end a huge death’s-head
forms a pedestal for a crouching human figure
supporting the head of a dragon, the body of
which is turned upward, and is lost among the
scrollwork and figures of a cornice that runs
above the doorway. All the interior walls were
covered with a thin coat of stucco, on which
figures and scenes were painted in various colours;
and the cornices were adorned with
stucco masks and other ornaments, likewise
painted. The roofs, with the massive towers
which they supported, had fallen and filled the
chambers completely. The horizontal arch
formed by overlapping stones was always used
in the construction of roofs—a type that is
common to all the Maya cities. The outside of
the building, profusely ornamented with grotesques
at every line, bears witness to the ambitious
prodigality of the architect, his love of
adornment, and his aversion to plain surfaces—a
characteristic that is manifested on all the
monuments and carvings at Copan. An elaborate
cornice with foliated design, adorned with
// 405.png
.pn +1
plumage, all beautifully carved, ran around the
four sides. Higher up, a row of portrait-like
busts was also carried around the entire building.
Whatever of plain surface remained was
covered with pure white stucco, and the same
material was used upon the sculptures to give
a finish to the carving and a suitable surface
for the colours that were used to produce the
desired effect.
The northern slope of the main structure
goes down abruptly, in a broad, steep flight of
steps, to the floor of the plaza, which stretches
away to the north, and terminates in an amphitheatre
about three hundred feet square, inclosed
on the eastern, northern, and western
sides by ranges of seats twenty feet high. The
southern side is open, except that its centre is
occupied by a pyramid that rose almost to a
point, leaving a square platform on top. In
the plaza stood the principal group of obelisks,
monoliths, or stelae, as they are variously designated,
to which Copan owes its principal fame.
There are fifteen in all scattered over the plaza,
some overthrown and others still erect. Although
affording infinite variety in detail, in
general design and treatment these monuments
are all the same. They average about twelve
// 406.png
.pn +1
feet in height and three feet square, and are
carved over the entire surface. On one side,
and sometimes on two opposite sides, stands a
human figure in high relief, always looking
toward one of the cardinal points. Upon these
personages is displayed such a wealth of ornament
and insignia that the figures look over-burdened
and encumbered, giving the idea that
the chief object of the artist was the display
of such adornment. While nearly all these
human figures are disproportionately short,
the accurate drawing and excellent treatment
of the smaller figures in the designs surrounding
the principal characters show that this is
not owing to deficient perception on the part
of the sculptor.
The sides of the monuments not occupied by
human figures are covered by hieroglyphic inscriptions.
In front of each of the figures, at a
distance of a few feet, is a smaller sculpture,
called an altar. These measure sometimes
seven feet across and from two to four feet in
height. The design sometimes represents a
grotesque monster with curious adornments;
but a common form of altar is a flat disk seven
or eight feet in diameter, with a row of hieroglyphs
around the edge. Much of the carving
// 407.png
.pn +1
on these obelisks and altars is doubtless symbolical;
and until this is better understood it
is useless to speculate upon the character of the
monuments themselves—speculations in which
our ignorance would allow us unlimited scope.
Two of the figures have their faces hidden by
masks, a circumstance which seems to preclude
the theory that they are portraits, although that
is suggested by the striking individuality of
many of the faces. But who can tell? The
statues may be those of deified kings or heroes;
on these altars a grateful people may have paid
the tribute of affection; or, as some would have
us believe, they may have been idols, insatiate
monsters, on whose reeking altars the bloody
sacrifice prevailed. We would fain believe that
the Mayas were a humane and gentle people,
given to generous impulses and noble deeds;
that these relics of their art, in which the
thought and feeling of the people strove to find
expression, had for their object and inspiration
a better motive than the deliberate shedding of
human blood.
No regular burying-place has yet been found
at Copan, but a number of isolated tombs have
been explored. The location of these was
strange and unexpected—beneath the pavement
// 408.png
.pn +1
of courtyards and under the foundations
of houses. They consist of small chambers of
very excellent masonry, roofed sometimes by
means of the horizontal arch, and sometimes
by means of slabs of stone resting on the top
of the vertical walls. In these tombs one, and
sometimes two, interments had been made. The
bodies had been laid at full length upon the
floor. The cerements had long since moldered
away, and the skeletons themselves were in a
crumbling condition, and give little knowledge
of the physical characteristics of the people;
but one fact of surpassing interest came to
light concerning their private lives, namely,
the custom of adorning the front teeth with
gems inlaid in the enamel, and by filing. The
stone used in the inlaying was a bright-green
jadeite. A circular cavity about one-sixteenth
of an inch in diameter was drilled in the enamel
of each of the two front teeth of the upper row,
and inlaid with a little disk of jadeite, cut to a
perfect fit, and secured by means of a bright
red cement.
Besides the human remains, each tomb contained
a number of earthenware vessels of
great beauty and excellence of workmanship,
some of them painted with figures in various
// 409.png
.pn +1
colours, and others finished with a peculiar polish
resembling a glaze. Some of these vessels
contained charcoal and ashes; in others were
various articles of use and adornment. The
beads, ear-ornaments, medallions, and a variety
of other ornaments, usually of jadeite, exhibit
an extraordinary degree of skill in the art of
cutting and polishing stones, while the pearls
and trinkets carved from shell must have been
obtained by trade or by journeys to the coast.
In the same tombs with these ornaments were
frequently found such objects of utility as
knives and spear-heads of flint and obsidian,
and stone hatchets and chisels. These were
doubtless family vaults, though none of them
contained the remains of many burials.
As to the antiquity of the city, although we
have no data that will enable us to fix a date,
there are certain historical facts that remove
it from the reach of history or tradition, and
place the era of its destruction long anterior
to the discovery of America.
.pm letter-end
// 410.png
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.h2
APPENDIX V||BIBLIOGRAPHY
.sp 2
For the benefit of those who may wish to
pursue their study of these countries more extensively
I append herewith a list of a few of
the books which give information about Guatemala
and Honduras:—
.sp 2
.dv class=font85
Bard, S. A.: Waikna: Adventures on the Mosquito Shore.
London, 1855.
Brasseur de Bourbourg: Popul Vuh. Sacred book of the
Quiché Indians. Paris, 1861.
Bancroft, Hubert Howe: History of Central America. San
Francisco, 1886.
Bancroft, Hubert Howe: The Native Races of the Pacific
Coast of North America. San Francisco, 1880.
Brigham, William T.: Guatemala: The Land of the
Quetzal. New York, 1887.
Casas, Bartolomeo de Las, Bishop of Chiapas: London,
1699. This is a narrative of an eye witness of the Spanish
invasion in Mexico and Central America. A very interesting
and very rare book.
Charles, Cecil: Honduras: The Land of Great Depths.
Chicago, 1890.
Curtis, William Eleroy: Capitals of Spanish-America.
New York, 1888.
Diaz del Castillo, Bernal: True History of the Conquest
of New Spain. Madrid, 1632. An English edition. London,
1844.
Dunn, Henry: Guatemala in 1827–8. London, 1829.
// 411.png
.pn +1
Davis, Richard Harding: Three Gringos in Venezuela and
Central America. New York, 1896.
Humboldt, Alexander von: Political Essay on New Spain.
Berlin, 1811.
Keane, A. H.: Central America and West Indies. London,
1901. (Stanford’s compendium of geography and travel.)
Morlan, A. P.: A Hoosier in Honduras. Indianapolis,
1897.
Maudslay, Anne C. and Alfred P. A glimpse at Guatemala
and some notes on the ancient monuments of Central America.
London, 1899.
Pepper, Charles M. Guatemala, the country of the future;
a monograph, Washington.
Squier, E. G.: Honduras; descriptive, historical, statistical.
London, 1870.
Stephens, John Lloyd: Incidents of Travel in Central
America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. New York, 1841.
Vincent, Frank: In and Out of Central America. New
York, 1896.
Wells, William V. Explorations and Adventures in Honduras.
New York, 1857.
.dv-
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// 413.png
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.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=indx
INDEX
.sp 2
.ix
Agriculture, #26#, #91#;
in Honduras, #272#.
Aguardiente, #270#.
Agua, volcano of, #55#.
Agua Caliente, #31#.
Aguacate, #98#.
Alcaldes, #120#.
Alvarado, Pedro de, #13#, #14#, #166#.
Amapala, #275#.
Amatitlan, Lake of, #6#, #27#.
American Club, #70#.
Americans, #43#–#44#.
Amusements, #68#.
Aniline dyes, #139#.
Animals, wild, #88#.
Ants, #83#.
Antigua, #55#–#58#.
Aqueducts, #77#.
Army, the, #127#.
Atitlan, Lake of, #6#.
Aztecs, the, #149#.
Balconies, #111#.
Bamboo, the, #83#.
Bananas, #99#, et seq., #253#.
Banana plantations, #47#.
Baptism of natives, #204#.
Barillas, President, #22#.
Barrios, J. Rufino, #67#, #70#, #76#, #124#, #141#, #188#, #190#–#194#.
Barrios, José Maria, #196#.
Bargaining, #73#.
Bay Islands, #265#, #282#.
Bear, playing the, #112#–#123#.
Beds, native, #35#.
Beggars, #269#.
Belgian colony, #46#.
Belize, #235#, #238#, #244#.
Belize River, #240#, #244#.
Bibliography, #300#–#301#.
Birds, #86#–#87#.
Bogran, General, #264#.
Books, Ancient, #153#–#154#.
Bonilla, Manuel, #263#.
Boys, #114#.
Brandy, native, #97#.
Bull-fight, #68#–#69#, #111#.
Butterflies, #89#.
Cabrera, President, #24#, #126#, #195#–#201#.
Cabildo, the, #122#.
Caballeria, #92#.
Cacao, #97#–#98#.
Cakchiquels, #14#.
Calendar of the ancients, #155#.
Campeche, #244#.
Cantinas, #44#.
Caribs, #127#–#128#, #240#, #267#.
Caribbean Sea, #235#–#236#, #264#.
Carcaste, #123#.
Cargadors, #122#–#125#.
Carera, Rafael, #181#–#187#.
Casa, the, #110#.
Cassava bread, #266#.
Cathedral, the, #59#, #66#.
Cattle raising, #273#.
Ceiba trees, #83#, #276#.
// 414.png
.pn +1
Central America. United Provinces of, #175#, #193#.
Central America, conquest of, #12#. et seq.
Central Railroad, #138#–#139#.
Cerna, Vicente, #187#.
Chocon River, #50#.
Cholera, #181#.
Champerico, #19#, #23#.
Chicle, #244#.
Churches, #209#.
Cisterns, #241#.
Cities, location of, #61#.
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, #237#.
Climate, #8#, #10#, #60#, #248#, #284#.
Clothing, #121#–#122#.
Coban, #7#, #50#, #146#–#147#.
Cochineal, #25#, #139#.
Cocoanut palm, #95#.
Cock-fighting, #270#.
Coffee, #105#–#108#, #136#.
Columbus, Christopher, #13#, #165#.
Colon, statue of, #63#;
theatre, #67#.
Comayagua, #257#–#258#.
Commandancias, #127#.
Commerce in Honduras, #276#–#278#.
Congress, First, #175#.
Congrehoy, #276#, #286#.
Conventionality, #113#–#114#.
Copan, ruins of, #151#, #160#, #164#, #290#, et seq.
Cordilleras, #9#.
Corn, #91#.
Cortez, Hernan, #90#, #246#.
Costa Rica, #100#.
Costume, #129#.
Courting customs, #112#–#113#.
Credit, #117#, #224#.
Creoles, #109#, et seq., #212#.
Cruelty of Spaniards, #166#, #205#.
Crusades, the, #203#.
Currency, #220#–#221#.
// 415.png
.pn +1
Customs, #33#, #65#, #71#–#73#, #110#–#111#, #227#.
Custom-house, #20#.
Dandies, #65#.
Davila, Miguel, #263#.
Debt, #117#.
Departments of Guatemala, #281#;
of Honduras, #283#.
Diaz, Porfirio, #12#, #199#.
Dogs, #138#.
Drunkenness, #129#.
Earthquakes, #5#, #287#–#288#.
Education, #75#, #114#–#115#, #219#;
in Honduras, #271#.
El Carmen, church of, #58#.
El Rancho, #141#.
Engineers, American, #147#.
Escuintla, #26#, #138#–#139#, #140#.
Exports, #221#–#222#;
of Honduras, #277#.
Farming, #92#.
Fiestas, #38#, #77#, #207#.
Flores, Vice-President, #6#, #176#.
Flowers, #241#–#242#.
Fonseca, Bay of, #245#, #276#.
Food, #32#.
Foreigners, #71#.
Foreign trade, #221#–#222#.
Forests, tropical, #81#, et seq.
Fruits, #98#, #241#.
Fuego, Volcano of, #5#, #55#.
Gainza, Gavino, #172#–#173#.
Golfete, Gulf of, #48#.
Gracias-a-Dios, Cape, #245#.
Granados, #187#, #188#, #189#.
Granadilla, #98#.
Gualan, #42#, #143#.
Guardiola, President, #264#.
Guardia Viejo, #77#.
Guatemala, Kingdom of, #13#.
// 416.png
.pn +1
Guatemala, area of, #9#;
population of, #11#;
travelling in, #24#, et seq.
Guatemala City, #8#, #54#, et seq., #115#, #141#, #271#;
destruction of, #5#, #55#.
Guatemala Northern Railway, #100#.
Hidalgo, #170#.
Hieroglyphs, #155#, et seq., #294#.
Holidays, #121#.
Honduras, #100#.
Honduras, History of, #204#.
Hotels, #78#, #254#, #256#.
Houses, #62#.
Humming birds, #53#.
Hustler, a tropical, #101#.
Hut, building of, #45#.
Idols, #156#.
Iguala, Plan of, #174#.
Iguana, #88#–#89#.
Imports, #221#–#222#;
of Honduras, #277#.
Improvidence, #117#–#119#.
Indians, #31#, #38#, #74#, #116#;
Customs of, #115#–#118#.
Independence, #173#, et seq.
Industries, lack of, #273#.
Inquisition, #167#.
Insects, abundance of, #52#, #86#, #89#, #256#.
Izabal, Lake, #6#, #8#, #47#, et seq., #100#;
town, #49#.
Java, an American, #82#.
Jefe, #123#.
Jesuits, #190#.
Labor, laws of, #93#.
Land, cost of, #92#.
Las Casas, #167#.
Laundries, public, #77#.
Livingston, #7#, #47#, #128#.
// 417.png
.pn +1
Logwood, #84#, #94#, #243#.
Lotteries, #25#.
Machete, #42#, #84#.
Mahogany, #83#, #94#, #244#.
Maize, #91#.
Mañana, #143#, #227#.
Mango, #99#.
Mangrove-tree Swamps, #246#.
Manufacturing, #228#.
Manzana, #96#.
Marimba, the, #125#.
Markets, #72#–#74#, #114#, #241#.
Marriage, #112#–#113#.
Matapolo, the, #85#.
Mayas, the, #150#, #297#.
Mazatenango, #9#, #122#, #138#.
Medicinal plants, #93#.
Mexican War, #264#.
Mexico, Annexation to, #175#.
Military service, #272#.
Minerva, Festival of, #219#;
temple of, #77#.
Mining, #229#;
in Honduras, #274#–#275#.
Missions, Protestant, #191#, #214#–#216#.
Mistletoe, #34#.
Monroe Doctrine, #2#, #226#.
Montagua River, #144#, #157#–#158#, #230#.
Montezuma, #151#.
Money, #20#, #72#, #220#–#221#, #278#.
Monkeys, #86#–#87#.
Morazan Francisco, #176#–#179#, #184#, #259#.
Mosquito coast, #236#, #266#.
Mountains, #3#, #247#.
Mozo, the, #116#–#117#, #122#–#125#.
Mulua, #137#.
Music, #124#–#125#, #210#.
Museum, #75#.
Nature, Prodigality of, #247#–#248#.
Natives of Honduras, #267#–#269#.
National Palace, #63#.
// 418.png
.pn +1
Navy of Honduras, #249#.
Negroes, #144#, #238#.
Newspapers, #219#.
New Orleans, #145#.
“No hay,” land of, #117#–#118#.
Nopal, the, #25#.
Northers, the, #243#.
Northern Railroad, #140#–#145#.
Nutmegs, #98#.
Occidental Railroad, #134#, #136#–#138#.
Ocos, #5#, #18#, #146#.
Opportunities, #222#;
in Honduras, #278#–#279#;
in British Honduras, #243#.
Orchids, #83#, #242#.
Outlaws, #182#.
Oxen, use of, #29#.
Pacific slope, #105#.
Palms, #82#, #94#.
Panama, #135#.
Panama hats, #274#.
Pan American Railroad, #134#–#136#.
Panzos, #146#.
Parasitic growths, #83#.
Parks, #76#.
Parrots, #86#.
Paseo de la Reforma, #76#.
Passion-flower, fruit of, #98#.
Patio, #63#.
Patulul, #138#.
Peonage, #119#–#121#.
Peten, Lake, #6#, #50#, #151#.
Picture writing, #154#.
Pirates, #235#–#236#.
Plaza de Armas, #63#.
Plants, medicinal, #93#.
Political divisions, #11#.
Polochic River, #7#, #50#, #146#.
Popul Vuh, #152#.
Possibilities in tropics, #225#.
Post office, #75#.
Pottery, #229#.
Presbyterian missions, #71#, #191#, #214#–#216#.
// 419.png
.pn +1
President, term and election of, #12#.
Prisoners, #79#.
Priests, Spanish, #153#, #206#.
Prisons, #254#–#255#.
Pronunciamentos, #171#.
Processions, Religious, #212#.
Protestant Missions, #214#.
Puerto Barrios, #7#, #46#, #145#–#146#.
Puerto Cortez, #249#–#252#.
Quahtemala, Kingdom of, #90#.
Quetzalcoatl, #201#–#202#.
Quetzal, #75#, #86#.
Quezaltenango, #8#, #137#, #176#.
Quiché Indians, #14#, #208#–#209#.
Quirigua, #151#, #155#, et seq.
Railroads, #132#, et seq., #231#;
of Honduras, #252#–#253#, #276#.
Rancho San Agustin, #39#.
Religion of ancients, #151#.
Retalhuleu, #9#, #23#, #122#, #136#.
Revolutions, fear of, #22#, #261#–#263#.
Rio Dulce, #47#, #91#.
Rivers of Honduras, #245#–#246#.
Roads, #33#.
Roatan, Island of, #265#, #267#.
Routes to Honduras, #248#.
Royal palm, #95#.
Rubber, #96#.
Ruins, #149#, et seq., #202#.
Saint day, #121#.
Salina Cruz, #16#.
Salvador, San, #143#.
Santa Maria, Volcano of, #4#, #6#, #137#, #288#.
San Benito, #17#.
Sanarate, #34#.
San Felipe, Fort of, #49#.
San Felipe, #137#.
San Jose, #139#.
San Juan, Fort of, #79#.
San Pedro Sula, #252#–#254#.
Santo Tomas, #46#.
// 420.png
.pn +1
Sarsaparilla, #85#.
Scavengers, #138#.
Schools, #75#.
Señoras, #114#.
Señoritas, #111#–#113#.
Servants, #116#.
Sierra de Santa Cruz, #47#.
Sierras de las Minas, #40#, #47#.
Sloth, the, #88#.
Smoking, #130#–#131#.
Snakes, #88#.
Soldiers, #64#, #79#, #126#–#127#, #271#.
Spaniards, Government by, #165#, et seq.
Spanish-American women, #101#–#101#.
Staring, custom of, #111#.
Sugar cane, #96#–#97#, #274#.
Superstition, #209#.
Tacana, Volcano of, #4#.
Tajumulco, Volcano of, #4#.
Tapachula, #22#, #134#.
Tegucigalpa, #248#, #255#, #258#–#259#.
Temperature of Honduras, #284#.
Theatre, #111#.
Tierra caliente, #9#, #42#.
Tierra fria, #10#.
Tierra templada, #10#.
Timber, variety of, #93#.
Tobacco, #98#.
Toltecs, the, #150#.
// 421.png
.pn +1
Tortillas, #75#.
Totonicapan, #8#.
Travelling, #61#, #255#.
Tram cars, #79#.
Transportation, #132#.
Tropics, vegetation of the, #51#.
Tropical fruits, demand for, #104#.
Truxillo, #276#.
Tula, #150#.
Turtles, #88#.
Umbrella ants, #90#.
University of Guatemala, #75#.
Vanilla, #85#.
Vegetation, #37#.
Volcanoes, #4#, #56#, #286#–#290#.
Wages, #221#.
White-eye, #97#.
Wizards, Indian, #209#.
Women, #110#, #128#–#129#, #140#.
Yellow fever, #250#.
Yohoa, Lake of, #246#.
Yucatan, #149#.
Zacapa, #143#.
Zambos, #236#, #266#.
Zutugils, #14#.
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.it Transcriber’s Notes:
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.it Typographical errors were silently corrected.
.it Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a\
predominant form was found in this book.
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