cane 1p) F i tite ite fe i at tf Rates ee RES SRS Schein en athena eRe a vist Os, rr Braste een IS SSeS Sees = Cet eas Roepe at RAM Sr reise 5 Steven ai ( | any ae » @ If ei (ch I, 4 (et af Mobile WAI = vr a Skad Wie th Wa ow NNN MY Sow SS soy SN » & » » - ans New Orle 9g ww » eG Lap b oY ea Anon « g Wn o \ RY wt \\ yy Hey ag DOO \ " \ . RE \\ Suro “y re AON ys AY Y yw Or. A iy, , e 2 Maa 5 ® e YGLESIAMA yor EX -LIiBEae RICARD° DE R°BINA eo wwe Ss mages f- % g Y4 tat BS BZ Gs Theva. “aaa ; ta ad ww, age ‘thy CA, y4 (Sette “Y GZ Mee “GY £°S L g eet 4 bscLto Go te. es CGO Z, i) 4 Y/, bp ! ay 9 yy) a Ay ; phyal Q Ifa: My x : yh q s t) ' M, { , > | : nN Ny " i ") iis is: IW HOISIYD WWE BF OONISOIG Fite Tie woes OINW INS ; bill < oO SOLS hasty V HIX x 4° SEC RESUS ERy ae pa .f: Vp astON3 nowy ood wah atin sebacie eb aA 4 a a YD anu” = ysowsaH)* : sie Ss CALLUS Af rs y » J AIN6 oe re ars 0% one? enw Veal SS (""\ r 3 s , J aa NI S Wr oe ® S3 9 Si S a a Ae " ca a =a [Blown TRIBES AND TEMPLES A RECORD OF THE EXPEDITION TO MIDDLE AMERICA CONDUCTED BY THE TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA IN 1925. VOL. I. Published by THE TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA New Orleans, La. 1926 An edition of fifty numbered copies this book has been printed on special paper. ~- a: a pal oom - le jeae > wee fe a mrt A i. ae > en ae This book is dedicated to ALFRED P. MAUDSLAY who was the first to explore the Maya ruins in a modern scientific way, and who in the section on archae- ology of the Biologia Centrali Americana gave the world a monumental collec- tion of material for future research, EXPEDITIONARY STAFF Frans Brom, Archaeologist, in Charge Oxiver La Farce, Ethnologist, Assistant Lazaro HERNANDEZ GUILLERMO, Guide CONTENTS OF VOLUME I PAGE eee ELL LUSTRATIONS) ses sss nee as Ata fae ee ws I-V LETS ORES Meal GIN a eg eR oale 920 Pn cae 1-2 CrAPTeER I. ‘ PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT. . . 3-8 erties ie START i0 e S 9-28 Cuaprer III. AMONG THE INDIANS OF THE TUXTLA VE OTT AUN SOs Wee ie tee eee 29-48 CuaptTer LV. OPRSERVATIONS ON THE INDIANS OF THE SAN Martin Pagarpan REGION. . . 49-66 CHAPTER V. DHE COATZACOALCOS BASIN: 55/2). 67-92 CuaptTer VI. Wee viAv A COUNTRY ssa... 0 on OLS CuaAPTER VII. ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF CHIAPAS. . 139-166 Sawin Ly. “PALENGUE. 7. ce 0 37 cpm ae LOt- 198 CHAPTER IX. INTO: THE, BiG FORESTOS.. 6.) le et - 2 EO CHAPTER X. HINCANTOU Gs) 5 ole ee a ee ee eee eens Copyright by : THE TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOU Seat e eae Fee re — — 11. ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME I. MAPS PAGE Key Map, shewing route of expedition in relation to New Orleans ..on Cover paumiern part of the State of ‘Veracruz, Mexico (2.22... 5. ti ss. .. 14 The State of Tabasco, Mexico............ a Eee Dae | RO Tae 60 sete SiMe ee eg oy 92 Perea Dp Of theshulnsoote balengue. ec. set ob, ook oe fee Riel ecg lee 180 PLATES Palenque. Example of fresco painting on exterior wall on House E........ 172 Palenque. Stucco ornament with original colors from Temple of the 1ST Bate VRB STE Pm vee Reg ot mae ew <1 Saat Ne oe! SP elt te a EEE aes 174 A Bcck ILS LS As i ES sn ee ee. is ee eae ce PE Peery ee em ee 228 Wels chien’ odie © RZ AI) BSc ioe > 50s: Seek emanates Ree Ce aN rear eRe LOE EP 232 Remn SOW ULL = Caer te ree one ce eae Roeee har art een LAR 232 GS cine, UCR Ned Be NS a <2 eats a a Et BRE RN WRN lS DUPE nye ad 232 Mie SMELT URE LGV i seco case ce wncian gc tucee renee saee thas Ee ea ne 234 FIGURES Peripicu Oil tankers “entering “Tamesi River® 9 anipico.. Mounds by the,Gorgas Hospital... Ae ee 10 Pere cone Unbarvael Urine Mol. 20. ee IN es ee 7 ees Hig Tampico. Public scribes on the principal square....:27................... aera Pe 11 Pimecotiae Wii. End-view) of ancient walls.c0e7 eee eae 12 Huexotla, D. F. Section of mound showing various floor levels.............. 13 Prpexotla) ol... OldsSpanish bridge. 2. ace ee 13 Texcoco, D. F. Section of mound built of adobe brick..............0........ ...... 14 Coyoacan, D. F. The Avenue of Famous Men in the garden of Casa Bebe AO o-oo Se ak eee Ne. te ee ee 14 Mexico, D. F. Maya limestone stela in the yard of the National Wi set oes 2) Bec 2 ee eR ee ee ee 15 Mexico, D. F. Inscription from Maya stela in the yard of the ational GMinseum' Wake fo. ee a ee ee eee ee 16 Cocuite,.Vex. | Spindle whorl*painted. withtasphalt-5 2 es eee 16 Cocuite, Ver. Totonac clay idol of the laughing face type... 22.27.0722 17 ocuites Ver. \ Design -on: idols Figure #13... 22... ee eee 18 pane Andres’ Duxtla,” Ver. Stone) idol representing’ frog) a 19 San Andres Tuxtla, Ver... Three rabbits’ heads. of stone... 19 ner Aztecy hieroglyph of Sl uxtlan l= ie ey ee eee eet 20 Catemaco, Ver. View of Catemaco village, the lake, and the sacred Inland sAgpaltepéet 2) aig. eae ee Be ee 21 Catemaco, Ver. Fragment of stone idol................. cs oe ae ee 22 Catemaco,>Vér,. Grotesque ustone: head i702 a2 ee 22 Catemaco; Ver. Egg-shaped idol*from Tenaspi Island == 2. 22 Agaltepec Island. Rough plan of the eastern part of the island............ 23 Matacanela, Ver. Rabbit's head carved in stone..-.....05022-2.-2--- 24 i Or Or MH Or Or TH GOIANEWNHES Or Matacanela, Ver. I'wo stone boxes... fcc.ceeeccsccscuesess--. ee ee 24 Matacanela, Ver: Serpents: head «of ‘stone...........2e..-..... ee ee 25 Matacanela, Vers Cireulan‘altar.,.2. 40 ee ee 26 Catemaco, Ver. Volcanic cone at the end of village street___...._..............- 26 Ocozotepec, Ver. Principal street with the Santa Marta mountains in (the chackproutid <3 es ieee. de eee eee eee ee 28 san Martin Mountain and oak-forests.. 22.0.0 ..ccu-act =~ oo Mecayapan, Ver. ‘The Tulane Expedition on the trail... eee 30 Mecayapan, Ver. Church and “steeple. 2... 3 ne 13 Tatahuicapa, Ver. Hammock. bridge made of vines.......4....2..25. 32 Tatahuicapa, Ver. View of the village with the San Martin Pajapa Voleano in the background.2o a 33 Tatahuicapa, Ver.. Indian huts under “mango tree”. 2... 34 Tatahuicapa, Ver. Indian woman going to the river for water................ 35 Tatahuicapa, Ver. Indian child carrying clay pot on her head................ 36 Piedra Labrada, Ver. Anctent-imetate.... -......!J2. eee cw ee Piedra Labrada, Ver. -Stela Nov 1c. be... eee 40 Piedra Labrada, Ver. Small grinding stone in form of animal.............. 41 Piedra Labrada, Ver. Fragment of female idol_.........2) eee 4] San Martin Pajapan, Ver. Drawing of idol from top of the volcano made by Ismael Loya. in’ 1897_........... -e AA San Martin Pajapan, Ver. Drawing of same idol as fig. 51 as it mOW stands. cite 3 me , ea a’, 5 et! PREFACE In March, 1924, an anonymous friend of Tulane University created an endowment, the income from which would be used for the study of the Middle American countries. It was then decided to conduct an archaeological and ethnological investigation through library research and expeditions to be sent into the fields formerly inhabited by the most notable of the ancient population of America, the Maya Indians. Mr. Frans Blom was selected to take charge of the first expedi- tion, assisted by Mr. Oliver La Farge. They started from New Orleans on the 19th of February, 1925. The object of the expedi- tion was to study ancient remains, as well as the customs and languages of the Indians. At the same time notes were taken on various other subjects. The work was so distributed that Mr. Blom made studies of everything pertaining to archaeology and he also collected geo- graphic data. Mr. La Farge gathered material relating to the cus- toms and languages of the present-day Indians. In the following pages will be found the report of this, the First Tulane University Expedition to Middle America. It is based on the journals kept day by day throughout the expedition. The sec- tions on archaeology have been written by Mr. Blom and those parts relating to the present-day Indians, by Mr. La Farge. An attempt has been made to present the material in such a form that the gen- eral reader, unacquainted with the history of the ancient inhabitants of Central America, will find it interesting, and at the same time to uphold a standard satisfactory to the scientist. For this reason paragraphs describing the mythology, calendar, and customs of the pre-Columbian Maya have been woven into the text, forming a background to the discoveries made by the expedition. The style used by the writers is distinct, as is also the material they present, but as many things of interest would be lost in splitting it into separate publications, it was decided to make this report in the form of a book of travel. For the convenience of those searching for special information, a detailed index will be found at the end of the second volume. 1 EXPLANATIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS Stela —A monolith, either plain or carved. Plaza —A square enclosed by mounds or temples. Finca —A large ranch. Cabildo—A Municipal House. Tams. —State of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Ver. —State of Veracruz, Mexico. Tab. —State of Tabasco, Mexico. Chis. —State of Chiapas, Mexico. 1 km.—Kilometer, equals 3,280 feet 10 inches. 1 m. —Meter, equals 3.28 feet. 1 cm.—Centimeter, equals .3937 inches. All maps and plans are made to the true north, — using a magnetic declination of 7° east. Where nothing else is indicated on the plans, north is always towards the top of the page. CHAPTER [| PREPARATIONS AND EQUIPMENT For centuries man has been interested in the deeds of his ances- tors. Innumerable discoveries of prehistoric objects have served to rouse his interest and imagination and have made him draw hasty con- clusions, and weave fascinating fabrics of fact interwoven with many threads of fancy. Giants, dwarfs, dragons, knights and fair maidens, inhabited planets and lost continents, were the designs in these richly- textured compositions. Today archaeologists tell stories which resemble these gaudy fabrics, the newspapers give much space to discoveries in all parts of the world, the public reads and is thrilled. Rarely, though, is it known what goes before a discovery. The reader pictures the ex- plorer stumbling on a ruined city, without realizing that training and careful research precede every expedition into the unknown. He does not see the scientist working late hours over old maps and docu- ments. He does not see him selecting his equipment with the great- est care. He does not see the toilsome days when the expedition fights dense forests, bad trails, and millions of insects—not for a few days, but week after week, month after month. Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome have their his- torians. You learn about them in school. We can reconstruct the daily life of the Kgypt of three thousand years ago to the minutest details. One has heard something about the North American In- dians, but few are those who know that 1,500 to 2,000 years ago a civilization, the Maya, that can well be compared with those of the Old World, and on certain points even surpassed them, flourished on the American continent. The Spanish Conquerors and their priests wrote about the people they met on their hunt for gold and souls. The first modern explorer to visit this territory was an American, John LL. Stephens. After him came French, German, and British. ‘The leadership in this field of research again passed to America when the Peabody Museum of Harvard University began its work, followed by the Carnegie In- stitution of Washington, and now quite lately Tulane University of Louisiana. Each expedition has brought home material that adds to our knowledge of the civilizations of Ancient America. The general history of Egypt, Greece, and Rome has been writ- ten. The history of the foremost civilization of ancient America has 3 A, TRIBES AND TEMPLES not yet been written, but the day will soon come when the story of an American race as artistic, as scientific, and as human as most of the races of the Old World will be opened to those who are fascinated by bygone days. We will follow the Tulane expedition from its start to its end, and glean from its records a little of the history of the ancient Maya, the Maya country, the daily life of the Maya descendants, and the methods used in modern archaeological research. The less equipment one intends to take on a long expedition, the more difficult it is to get it together. This sounds paradoxical, but none the less it is true. When one has a long journey ahead, and knows that it will cover difficult trails, every piece of equipment has to be selected with the greatest care. Far away from towns it is impossible to get many things needed on an expedition which has archaeology and ethnography for its main purpose; everything must therefore be carefully considered beforehand. The 1925 Tulane Expedition to Middle America was carefully planned months ahead. A multitude of maps was consulted and compiled into a main expedition map. There are maps of most of the Middle American countries, and the greater number of them look well, but are remarkably inaccurate in their details. None the less, it is of value to compile all available data before starting. Books on the region were consulted, and extracts made so that we would have a handbook of condensed information to be used when far from libraries. _ After the route had been carefully considered, the next step was the selection of the equipment. We knew that, for the greater part of our journey, we should have to depend on horse or mule trans- portation, and that we should have to cross tropical forests where there is an abundance of trees, but no grass on which to feed the animals. We also knew that there would be steep mountains to cross. Furthermore, as the expedition was planned to be a recon- naissance trip more than an excavation expedition, light equipment would be necessary. Light fibre boxes specially made for transpor- tation on pack animals were secured. They are called “kayaks,” and measure 58 cm. long x 23 cm. broad x 49 em. high. They will hold about 100 pounds each, two boxes being a convenient cargo for one animal, and one box the usual weight carried by an Indian. Though there were only two white men on the expedition, an aluminum cooking set for four persons was bought. It is always best to have a cooking outfit for two or three more than the party ~ EQUIPMENT 9) numbers, to take care of guides, and visitors. Knives and forks go with the set, but extra knives for skinning game, etc., have to be provided. No camp cots were taken, but hammocks with specially made mosquito nets. These nets have a sleeve at either end through which the repes of the hammock run. Indian huts are built of poles and the forest is full of trees, so there is always a place to hang the ham- mock. We found sheets both cool and comfortable when our bodies were itching with tick bites, and they can be used as bandages in an emergency. A rubber wash basin also proved very convenient. A folding table was carried for use not so much as a dining table, as for a place on which to complete our field notes and water colour sketches. It is comparatively rare to find tables in Indian houses. For chairs we used our kayaks. No complete tent was taken along, only a fly-sheet, this proving sufficient for general use in covering ourselves and the cargo. There are usually elephant-ear leaves, or small palm leaves in the forest, so that in a short time one can build a shelter sufficient for a couple of days, even if it should rain quite hard. As it happened, the ex- pedition was fortunate enough not to encounter a full day’s rain as long as it was on the road. The trip was so planned that we would be well up in the mountains before the rains started in the lowlands along the Gulf Coast. Furthermore, this year proved very favour- able in that the rains were late in the highlands. No member of such an expedition should ever be without a com- pass, a snake-bite pencil, and an army emergency ration. All three things are carried for obvious reasons. The compass serves to find one’s bearings. The snake-bite pencil, which looks like a small foun- tain pen, contains in one end a small lancet with which to enlarge the wound inflicted by the snake, in the other, permanganate crystals, which, when smeared into the incision made with the lancet, have proven a potent antidote against snake bites. The army emergency ration contains three cakes mainly composed of chocolate, each rep- resenting a meal. For geographic reconnaissance work a Brunton pocket transit was used. This is a remarkable instrument, light and compact. It serves both as compass and clinometer. Mounted on a small camera tripod it gives quite accurate readings, and the person trained to use it can make very good traverses. As it contains a mirror, it can even be used when shaving. It is a well known fact that the ancient inhabitants of the region which we proposed to explore oriented the greater part of their buildings to the cardinal points. They knew the true north, but not 6 TRIBES AND TEMPLES the magnetic north. Our compasses were, therefore, corrected to true north, using a declination of 7° E. This declination is an aver- age of declinations ascertained by surveyors of several oil companies who have been, and in some instances still are, working in the region. A French barometer compensated for temperature was used for taking altitudes over sea level. We carried three watches, which were checked with each other, and used in combination with the barometer when observing alti- tudes. All measurements were done in the metric system. For the con- venience of those not conversant with this system, a table giving the equivalent in feet is found in Appendix X. In measuring buildings a 25-meter steel tape was employed, and larger distances were paced. All plans of ruins were drawn to scale on the spot. Long descriptions of arrangements and dimensions of buildings are tiresome, and do not give a picture of their plan to the reader. ‘Those who wish to study the drawings in more detail can easily ascertain the dimensions with the help of a graduated ruler. Pedometers are not reliable, so when pacing, every fifth step was punched on a tally. The smaller impedimenta used in this section of the work in- cluded drawing boards, rulers, protractors, water colours, and col- oured crayons. Next came the choice of photographic equipment, which should not be too bulky. For rough work a No. 1-A Autographic Kodak, Jr., with roll film and anastigmat F 7.7 130 mm. lens was used, to this we also had a portrait attachment. This small camera gave very good results, though roll film is always difficult in moist tropical countries, as it is apt to stick to the covering paper when rolled tight. For more special work, such as photographing monuments and buildings, we used a Graphix camera with a Kodak anastigmat lens, F .4.5, 144 inches, size 314 x 51% (post card size). Very good results were produced with this machine. The speed of the camera was of no account; all the exposures save two were made on time, with the use of a tripod. It was of great value to be able to focus the camera exactly with the help of the ground glass, and this camera is not so heavy and bulky as a Graflex. Pack film was used exclusively with this machine. The individual films in the pack lie loose between sheets of black paper, so that the tropical moisture is not so apt to damage them as with roll film. EQUIPMENT 7 It is a great help to carry an instrument, put out by the Kodak people, with which you can tilt your camera to any desired angle. This is specially helpful when photographing monuments which are lying flat on the ground and are difficult to raise. Though we were able to secure a very good collection of photo- graphs with the two mentioned instruments, we have come to the conclusion that small cameras with exceptionally good lenses really are more serviceable than large ones. It is just as easy to make an enlargement from a small, sharp negative as from a larger negative. A small camera is much easier to handle both when on foot and on horseback. Before leaving for the field we were given a medical examina- tion, and this same was repeated upon our return. The first inves- tigation was to ascertain that we were in fit condition for a long, strenuous journey, and the second to find out if we had succeeded in collecting some interesting germs in our blood which might be of importance to medical students. A small medical kit from Burroughs, Wellcome & Co., served us very well. The products of this company are wonderfully com- pact and of high grade. We carried a large stock of quinine, which was chiefly used to help the Indians. For work in the ruins we had folding shovels, trench picks, a 114 ton jack for lifting and turning fallen monuments, stiff brushes to scrub moss and lichens off the monuments, and some sheets of: tin for use as reflectors when photographing monuments and hieroglyphics. These sheets of tin were cut so that they would fit inside the kayaks. When selecting saddles and pack saddles it is advisable to get the kind commonly used in the country to be visited. The North American horse is larger and broader than his Central American brother, and the McClellan and Texas saddles are generally too broad for the Central American animals and are apt to damage their backs. We, therefore, bought saddles of the usual Mexican type. Muleteers are accustomed to particular types of pack saddles, and much annoyance and delay is avoided when the traveler buys the kind of pack saddle his servants are acquainted with. Our personal equipment was very small, consisting chiefly of riding breeches, flannel and linen shirts, heavy boots, and broad brimmed Stetson hats. For protection against rain we had native ponchos made of cloth covered with native rubber. ‘These are very practical, as they cover the entire saddle and saddle bags. Only a small supply of canned goods was carried for emergency purposes. For the greater part of the journey we lived off the 8 TRIBES AND TEMPLES country, buying our supplies of sugar, salt, coffee, beans, and rice in the villages we passed through. No firearms were carried on the first half of the trip, but in Palenque we purchased a small Win- chester .22-calibre rifle which proved to be sufficiently powerful to kill such food game as curasaw, wild turkey, and monkey. A stock of glass beads, bandanna handkerchiefs, and a collection of chromo prints of saints were carried for bartering with the In- dians, or as gifts to the more important members of the tribes with which we came in contact. Leafax notebooks were used for our field notes, and all notes were made with a carbon copy. Original and copy were kept in separate places and whenever we had a safe opportunity of sending out mail, the carbons were shipped home, so that if we should have the bad luck to lose our equipment, our field notes at least would be safe. CuHapter II THE START New Orleans was cheering the first Mardi Gras parade of the year 1925 when the steamer Copan on the 19th of February went down the river carrying the writer and the greater part of the First Tulane Expedition’s equipment on board. By dawn on Sunday morning we steamed into the mouth of the Tamesi River followed by eight huge oil tankers, (fig. 1) lying high on the water, as they were empty. We were all heading for the oil city, Tampico. Tank- ers steadily come and go there. They come to be filled with crude oil, lubricating oil, and gasoline, and Jeave for all ports of the world. Fic. 1—Tampico. Oil Tankers Entering Tamesi River. Tampico is the heart of the oil region running along the Mexican Gulf towards Vera Cruz. The river bank is crowded with refineries. Everything is oil—large islands of it float on the river, even the air is saturated with its stench. We anchored in the mouth of the river to undergo a superficial medical inspection, after which we proceeded to the city. A town grown up around oil camps is never attractive, and though millions and millions of dollars have gone into Tampico’s municipal treasury, 9 10 TRIBES AND TEMPLES the tewn is still without paved streets and very dirty. Only where the foreign oil companies have built their quarters does one see well kept houses and gardens. On a large field close to the Gorgas Hospital are several ancient Indian mounds through some of which new roads have been cut, and all of them have been dug into by treasure hunters (fig. 2). Only a few pot sherds were found, and these did not give any indication as to the authors of the mounds. ‘The cross sections made in the mounds by the road builders show successive layers of cement floors about a foot apart. The mortar in the floors has been made from burnt oyster shells, and chiefly consists of a conglomerate of oyster shells with a thin smooth surface. As many as sixteen layers of mortar were counted in one mound. Fic. 2—Tampico. Mounds by the Gorgas Hospital. A visit was made to the famous old pot hunter, Professor William Niven. He has changed his residence from Mexico City to Tampico and here continues his eager search for antiquities. In his rooms he had a collection of small clay figurines, all females and of quite primi- tive character (fig. 3). Several of them had black paint on their head-dresses. Mr. Niven reported them to have been found near a station called Paso Vera Cruz on the railroad. It was carnival time in Tampico, and during the afternoon crowds were circulating through the streets in decorated cars, and the pave- ments were littered with paper streamers and confetti. On the main plaza sat the Public Scribes, unaffected by the gayness around them, typewriting love letters for illiterate Mexican swains (fig. 4). TAMPICO AND VERACRUZ iba Seme cargo was unloaded and then we proceeded to Vera Cruz, where the S. S. Copan was to load bananas. Again we went through Fic. 83—Tampico. Clay Figurine. (% Size). a cursory medical and customs inspection. Once outside the customs station, one is attacked by a swarm of carriers, all crying at the top of their voices and offering to carry your luggage to the hotel. Woe to the poor traveler who does not drive a careful bargain in advance! He invariably will be overcharged, and when he makes a row about it, the carrier will call in a policeman, who will force the traveler to pay up, and then the two of them, carrier and policeman, will go out in the street and split the dividend. In Vera Cruz also it was carnival time. Sun- shine and flowers, bright colors and gay crowds— everybody seemed to enjoy the peace that now prevails in the country. Indians were dancing in the streets, and decorated cars and floats moved slowly up and down. A shot was heard. A man disengaged himself from the crowd and limped over the Plaza towards a Red Cross station. Blood was dripping in his trail. He Fic. 4—Tampico. Public Scribes on the Principal Square. was shot through the foot. Nobody seemed to take any notice, and the carnival went on. In Mexico City it was necessary to acquire government permits for the work of the expedition, and various letters of introduction. 12 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Every department of the government with which we came in touch offered the University whole-hearted co-operation, and furnished the Expedition with letters to the State Governments, as well as to the Military and Civil authorities. Oliver La Farge joined me in Mexico City, and together we visited various ruins in and round the capital. Guided by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, a trip was made to the ruins of Huexotla, where some very interesting ancient walls and foundations for buildings are found (fig 5). This is a large group of ruins. The top of one mound has been excavated. No walls of build- ings are on this mound, but a series of platforms, and Mrs. Nuttall suggested that it might have been used as a market place. The side of the mound has been washed out and shows several successive layers of floors with stone rubble and dirt between (fig. 6). On one of the largest mounds stands a beautiful old Spanish church, and in front of this is the fragment of an idol. The whole group of ruins lies along a deep baranca and along the edge of this a retention wall was. built in ancient times. Now the baranca is crossed by a very picturesque old Spanish stone bridge* (fig. 7). On the same trip we visited Fig. 5—Huexotla, D. F. End View of a mound near the large town of Ancient Wall. Texcoco. ‘This mound is built entirely of adobe brick covered with plaster (fig. 8). Mrs. Nuttall is widely known as an expert on the ancient history of Mexico, and her beautiful old Spanish home in Coyoacan is a meeting place for all prominent people visiting Mexico. Many are those who think of the garden of Casa Alvarado as one of the out- standing places of beauty in the Valley of Mexico, and many are *L. Batres. 1904. MEXICO CITY 13 Fic 6—Huexotla, D. F. Section of ‘Mound Showing Various Floor Levels. those who have enjoyed Mrs. Nuttall’s charming hospitality. The garden is rich with beautiful flowers, and here and there among the flowers stand Aztec stone idols. One of the paths in the garden is lined on both sides with such idols and has wittily been christ- ened, “Avenida de los Hombres Illustres,’ The Avenue of the Famous Men (fig. 9). Much time was spent in the National Museum studying the magnificent collections of Mex- ican antiquities. Unfortunately, this collection is very badly cata- logued and the origin of many of the specimens is totally un- known. For example, a Mava stela carved in the style of the Usumacinta Valley stands in the patio of the Museum, and nobody knows from which an- cient city it came (fig. 10). A fragment of another stela carries a much weathered in- Fic. 7—Huexotla, D. F. Old Spanish Bridge. 14 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Fic. 8—Texcoco, D. F. Section of Mound Built of Adobe Brick. Fic. 9—Coyoacan, D. F. The Avenue of Famous Men in the Garden of Casa Alvarado. eT Pg Ss “7.2, ~ % or in dy Che Southeen Part of the State of VERA CRUZ MEXICO mano sranvaN MARTIN, Rea Mme VOLCANO iS. - anTeco ‘es vig “PAL § Tee y, > osan ia90 Tuaila , Teo'tepec TIN nla op Tenaspi Ist, “2 LAT Coyame () 40a * 4 caet can? Matacanela ARTIN PAJAPA STA.MARTA MAREE) VoLCan Ocota 2 Occ %o/ Q Grande? “Face Pa a Cana » BS § race OstioneS SR G,, ie = a 2 a Venta. SSg gi 110 > 1 Tuxanlepe a : ¥ Lixhuatlan * ~ y PasoNuevo ate ipPity Santa) eMoloacan Paraye Solo 4 em Tee SSss S, e 5 Raney e 5 “Cosoleacague. Cerro Acalapa ¥ S$ 5.8 van Gi vangells. Jo ee ANE Josedel Carmen ¥ . % Q ‘ LTabas uano Ly, e e BS S 4 Playa Vicente ~ f lL g ss Ss SS S - . > ws Filesola aTecuanap2 ( \ SK \ Fe < S Sar mene a i 5. enistobat } ‘ VQ S a. . =- Ze nh! 4 Ruins 3 : ’ : ge F i Cascajal ox ae“ ; ; . see ; Mancuepnillas dé ex ix Pca os _ Rees K 4 Cerro Nanchital wee se iN - 1370 m. MG ° i i ra \ c 1e 2 ] gavtepe os 3 ee " < tea f\ \ 4 ] ‘ a? r¢) A sitio Vie] 5, % Pa) Ns \. h ry ar - \ "i? Ly VERACRUZ AND COCUITE 15 scription of which only a few glyphs could be drawn, but which, nevertheless, seem to record the date 9-17-15-0-0 5 Ahau 8 Muan.* In the Hall of Monoliths are two monuments which undoubtedly come from the ruins of Tonina in the State of Chiapas, which will be discussed when describing those ruins. After all our letters of introduction were in order and our equip- ment completed, the real expedition was ready to start. By train we returned to Vera Cruz, and there our civilized clothes were packed and shipped home to New Or- leans. On the 12th of March we donned our rid- ing clothes and high boots and boarded the small train running southward towards the Isthmus of Tehuante- pec. The train bounced along on a miserable track, at first following the Gulf Coast. Out in the blue waters of the Gulf we got glimpses of the Isla de Sac- rificios, where the Spanish Conquerors found aban- doned temples with newly sacrificed victims lying on the altars, when they anchored off the coast in 1518. At the station of Mader- 5. eros, 55 kilometers from Fic. 10—Mexico, D. F. Maya Limestone Stela in the Yard Wera Cruz. are several large of the National Museum. > mounds, and here also starts the road for the Cocuite Oil Camp, where many clay figurines have been found. It is rumored that the Oil Company drilling there mistook arti- ficial mounds for mud volcanoes, the latter said to be good oil indi- cations in this region. The pottery from Cocuite is chiefly of To- *Glyph A-1 is erased, but is undoubtedly the Katun glyph. B-1 shows O Tun. A-2 and B-2 are O Uinal and O Kin respectively. The numeral to A-3 is not distinct; the glyph must be Ahau. B-3 may be a supplementary series glyph, and A-4 appears to be 8 Muan. In case this last reading is correct, this should give the above recorded date (fig. 11).—Morley, 1923, Page 263. 16 TRIBES AND TEMPLES tonac character. Some pieces are painted with Chapopote, as the Indians call asphalt (fig. 12). Mr. Ibarola, Mexican Government Inspector of Oil, has in his possession a very fine Totonac figurine found here. It is one of the few specimens where one of the well- known “laughing faces” of Totonac origin usally is seen on a complete figure (fig. 13). The h (comp figurine has a band around its breast and a rh (ox small apron on which are designs* (fig. 14). is covered with dense bush, now and then changing into extensive savannas. In the vicinity of Tierra Blanca the Oaxaca Mountains come in sight. Whereafter the train runs parallel to them, crossing inu- merable rivers. In several places we passed single mounds, or whole groups of mounds. Hl \ | The land is low and humid, and covered with dense tropical second growth, here and Fic. 11—Mexico, D. F. Inscription there broken by banana plantations. To rom ihe Natiqnl Mieu « pass the time we reviewed our knowledge of the National Museum. (1:10). of the route lying ahead of us. = A eG» It was a long and dreary journey, with im hs >= pps etal Oe train vagal g@ and jumping on a Wh! r( wretched track and us wondering how long | 4) it was going to keep on going. The country | Ee oe Doorn ot “( og La-O y\) ae The country we were traveling through was one of the first to be settled by the Spanish Conquerors. These rich alluvial plains had good crops, and Cortez granted himself lands here. In the rivers around 'Tuxtepec in the mountains, which we could see to our right, the Indians washed gold, and paid it as tribute to the rulers of Mexico, who in turn were forced to deliver it to the Spaniards. We were headed for the volcanic moun- tains around San Andrés Tuxtla. Sometime around the year 1900 a small nephrite statuette was found in the Canton of the Tuxtlas. This object eventually drifted mto the National Museum at Washington, D. C., and there it was discovered that the figure was covered with hieroglyphs—Maya hieroglyphs at that—which opened with the date 8-6-2-4-17 8 Kaban 0 Kankin in Maya figures, later correlated with our Fic. 12—Cocuite, ver. Spindle Whorl ; Painted with Asphalt. calendar to be the year 98 B. C. The so- (Full Size). *Professor Byron Cummings of the University of Arizona has recently made excavations at “El Cocuite,’’ and states that he found burials in the sides of mud volcanoes. THE TUXTLA REGION Li called Tuxtla Statuette carried nothing less than the oldest date recorded in writing from the whole of the American Continents.* Since the finding of this statuette only a few scientific expedi- tions have entered the area. The German archaeologist, Dr. Eduard Seler, has worked at Matacanela, and the Geologist, Dr. Imanuel Friedlaender, has studied the voleanoes of the district. There was a good reason for not going into the country. Constant revolutions had made that wild mountain region a hiding place for all kinds of bandits, rebels, and political refu- gees. These people had imposed brutally on the Indian tribes, who considered the forests their property and, therefore, turned hostile to all strangers. The great Maya cultural cen- ters lay east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. An outlying branch of Indians speaking a dialect of the Maya language is still found in the Huasteca, south of Tampico. Little is known about the link between these two, and it has long been desirable to investigate the re gion between the Maya proper and the Huas- teca. The lack of information on the area between these two groups of the same language, and the existence of the Tuxtla Statuette was enough to warrant an expedition to the Tuxtla Mountains. To add to this, a photograph of a monolith had recently been received at Tulane ** 1) ,Cepnite yer peng cm high). University —a stone monument carved with figures that looked somewhat like Maya glyphs. This photograph was sent by a Mexican engineer, Sr. Rafael de la Cerda, of Mexico City, who had made some explorations in the region in question in search of petroleum. At a place called Piedra Labrada he had seen some other stone monuments. Now we sat in the train speculating on what we would find in these fascinating mountains. Would we find Indians speaking a *Throughout this report the correlation between Maya and Christian Chronology established by Dr. H. J. Spinden in his book, “Reduction of Mayan Dates,” 1924, will be used. 18 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Maya dialect? Would we find that the figures on the monuments were Maya? Were there any hopes of discovering a date still older than the one on the Tuxtla Statuette — and what about the rebels and the hostile Indians? To be frank, they occupied our minds much less than the prospects of some archaeological discovery. The train stopped for a while. Something had gone wrong with the engine. After about an hour’s waiting we started off again, and finally limped into the station of Kl Burro, where we had to stop over for the night. The train, though, was scheduled to go on to Santa Lucrezia, but as the engine was out of order, it did not re- sume its tedious progress until about 2 o’clock in the morning. We were glad that we could get a room and beds, and that we did not have to spend the night in the mosquito-infested cars. The small wooden shack hotel, run by a Chinaman, was not bad, and quite clean. At table we were seated with Mexican cowboys, a German and a Chinese trader, a few passengers and all the crew from the train. From now on we would certainly be in very picturesque company. The following morning we boarded a small branch line train. A _ re- modeled box car serving as first class compartment, we christened the “Cat- tle Pullman.” The jolting was not as bad as the day before, but we moved more slowly. Right and left , on the track we saw mounds and at Fre, 14—Cocalte, Ver. Design on Idol. ~ Kilometer 17” beside the; sta;ianmaae Cafiada, there was quite a large group of mounds arranged around a court. Again at El Laurel we saw a mound of average size, and here it is undoubtedly that Mr. Seler had seen one of his stone idols. As we crossed the Cuautotolapdin River the Tuxtla mountains became visible ahead of us. The nearer we got to the mountains, the more hilly became the country, and the more the track wound in and out among the hills. Progress was very slow, and La Farge amused himself picking flowers from the car windows. About noon we finally reached our destination, San Andrés Tuxtla. At the bottom of a picturesque kettle-shaped valley formed by high volcanoes, lies a group of white houses with red tiled roofs and large clusters of bouainvillea hanging over the garden walls. SAN ANDRES TUXTLA 19 The town is the proud owner of one Ford and a truck, has its own electric light plant, and a telegraph line. It has its old church, a nice Plaza, a market place, and all the rest of the paraphernalia be- longing to a good-sized Mexi- can town — including an army of about a hundred men, and a General. As a circus was expected in town the good citizens at once decided that we were part of the show, and all the village youngsters crowded around us as we worked our way to the only “Hotel,” a combination boarding house and cigar fac- tory. Shortly after our arrival we Re i Bee ne ido went in search of antiquities. Willing village youngsters led us up to the church and showed us a stone figure representing a frog crudely carved in voleanic rock* (fig. 15). We soon found that we were the great sensation of the town. 'Men and children crowded around us and it required a struggle to get room enough to take photographs. ‘The crowd was, however, not without its uses— everybody showed himself eager to tell us about idols and caves. Soon we were the center of a procession walking towards the cemetery. Here we were shown three stone heads representing rabbits (fig. 16). The name of the Canton is Tuxtla, a Spanish corruption for the Aztec Toxtli, which means rabbit, and undoubtedly these rabbit heads represent some kind of coat of arms (fig. 17). Fried- laender states that these rab- bit heads, as well as the frog, all of Olivine Lava, have been brought from the ruins re- ported on the southern side of the Santiago volcano.t It is always a good plan to pay official visits to the town authorities and the chief of the garrison, so this was done, and we were assured of all Sie Ae Heads GaRERE CG fCak eT ahs, ae *C. Seler, 1922. Page 544, Plate 5, 2. 7Friedlaender, 1923. Page 155. 20 TRIBES AND TEMPLES support. ‘Then we visited an old German school teacher, Don Federico Sandrock, a pleasant old gentleman who knew much about the surrounding country. He showed us some huge fossil bones found by an Indian at Xanasca near the town. His Mexican wife told us of imprints of the feet of a man, a child, and a dog on a lava block near San Juan los Reyes. These imprints, may well be of recent origin as the last eruption of the Fic. 17_The Aztee 9€Nn Martin volcano began with underground thun- De ee dering on March 2, 1798, and a serious eruption occurred on May 22nd. Previous eruptions had oc- curred in 1664 and fumaroles were reported as late as 1829.* All the volcanoes in the Tuxtla region are now extinct, and covered with vegetation. Close to San Andrés is a small crater lake called Laguna En- cantada — the Enchanted Lagoon — and the popular belief is that the waters of this lagoon rise during the dry season and fall during the wet season. , The Santiago Volcano is considered sacred by the Indians and, as already mentioned, ruins are reported on the southern side. We heard of groups of mounds at Tatocapan and Tula. Mr. and Mrs. Seler saw a colossal stone head between Los Lirios and Tres Zapotes.t At Montepio, on the Gulf Coast, some mounds are reported, and it is also said that here is a cave formerly used by the famous pirate, Lorenzillo. The distance between San Andrés Tuxtla and Catemaco is about 15 kilometers over a fairly bad motor road. We loaded all our equipment on a truck and with a Mexican driver set out for Cate- maco, the last point that could be reached with mechanical trans- portation. About midway we passed through the tobacco planta- tions of Siguapan and Natacdpan, both belonging to a German company. At the first place were some small mounds, and at the latter, a group of very large mounds, some of which have been dug into by the owners of the plantation. The road was quite rough, and after many ups and downs we reached the rim of a hill range and came in sight of the Catemaco Lake. All around the lake tower voleanic mountains and odd-shaped volcanic hills are thrown, thrust, and flung into the landscape. Down below us lay the picturesque grass-roofed village on the shores of the lake and beyond the lake *Mozino, 1913—Robelo, Jardin de Raises, Aztequismos, Page 886—Friedlaender, 1923. 7Seler, C., 1925, Plate V-1—Melgar, 1871, Page 104—Lelmann, 1922, Plate 38. CATEMACO eek were high, forest-clad mountains (fig. 18). We began to realize that we had heavy work ahead of us. We were to cross those mountains and find hidden archaeological cities in the forest beyond. Before noon we reached the town and found quarters in a Mexi- can house of the usual wood and adobe type, with chairs standing stiffly against the walls of the main room, and the walls decorated with polychrome almanacs and beer posters. Shortly we were served with a huge meal of fish from the lake and the everlasting Mexican “pollo,” a flattering name for an old hen. Then we went to see Mr. Jacob Hagmaier, the German manager of several of the tobacco plantations along the lake shore. He at once placed himself at our disposal and, thanks to his kindness and help, we succeeded in get- ting some excellent men for our trip through the mountains. He Fic. 18—Catemaco, Ver. View of Catemaco Village, the Lake and the Sacred Island Agaltepec. took us into his warehouses, where long rows of Indian girls were sitting on straw mats and sorting tobacco leaves into first, second, and third grades. ‘These grades are exported to Germany. ‘The fourth grade is very poor and is used for the domestic cigarettes. It was very interesting to see the fermenting of the tobacco, which reached as much as 65 centigrades (200° F.), and the pressing of the finished leaf in bales. The guide provided by Mr. Hagmaier took us to see a mound in the outskirts of the town, also some stone idols, one lying outside a house close to this mound (fig. 19). The idol probably repre- sents a human figure with the head knocked off. Its lower half was roughly chipped and served as a plug. Inside the same house was a small stone head with a tenon at its back, this has grotesque fea- 22 TRIBES AND TEMPLES tures with broad upturned lips, and ears perforated for ear ornaments. It undoubtedly should be ascribed to the 'Totonac culture (fig. 20). Close by, in front of another house, we saw an egg-shaped boulder with a face carved on it, very well done, and giving an impression of slight Maya influence (fig. 21). This idol is reported to come from the Tenaspi Island in the northern end of the lake. The patron saint of Catemaco is the Sefiora del Carmen and _ the aera riaericde ce Indians come from far away to svope) Leek worship on the day of this saint. Towards evening we went to a point north of ag the village and there found a small group of me 2—catemaco, Ver. mounds in an enclosure. From there was also a Crete ee very good view of the Agaltepec Island (fig. 22). eta ge It appeared to us that the position of this island was so central in rela- tion to the country surrounding the lake that some important Fic. 21—Catemaco, Ver. aaeieetie es Idol from Tenaspi Island. SO em. hig mounds ought to be found on it, but all our inquiries in the village produced only negative answers. Sunday morning we got a small gasoline launch and crossed the lake to Finca Victoria. It was gray ‘and windy and the waves were ~ MATACANELA 23 quite choppy. At La Victoria on the east shore of the lake Mr. Hagmaier had arranged for horses, and soon we were in the saddle on our way to Matacanela. The trail wound steeply up a moun- tain side, and the lake lay like a beautiful panorama below us. Then we crossed a small range and rode in high forests. Gradually climb- ing, after about half an hour’s ride, we reached the small finca Mata- canela, where Seler is reported to have made excavations, though we have not been able to locate a description of these. Mrs. Seler mentions some stone figures, and we found these in front of the main house.* They had been brought there by some captain in the rebel army and set up very nicely, where they remainded until a few years later when some gov- ernment troops_arrived and scattered them. We found sev- eral stone boxes, also a few pieces of sculpture. Among the latter was another rabbit, or at least the fore-part of a rabbit, with the legs and part of the | Zeke body complete (fig. 23). The | ©” stone boxes were decorated on all four sides, one with some Rouph Plan of Bastern Point of AGALTEPEC ISLAND excellently carved bivalve shells (Pecten) and another with a row of circles (fig. 24). Estimated Distance- Some mounds lay close to the house, and a sculptured stone is reported to have tumbled down intomaesmalivstream close: by) “eeee par or ae iid We tried to locate it, but with- out success. A crude stone serpent’s head lay close to a small palm hut (fig. 25) and with the stone boxes stood a circular stone altar on a base (fig. 26). All these objects have been carved out of volcanic rock, and they show unusual skill in the stone mason’s art. They look very Aztec, especially the stone box with circles, but neverthe- less I believe them to be connected more closely with the 'Totonac culture. The Aztec intrusion into this region must have been of a late date. *Seler, C., 1922. Plate V, 4. 24 TRIBES AND TEMPLES The different German caretakers on the plantations we visited were all very helpful, and one must admire the tenacity with which they fight the exuberant vegetation and the restless social condi- tions which have prevailed through so many years. At the time of our visit Mexico was calm, and it is earnestly to be hoped that peace may last, as it is a country of un- limited commercial and natural possibilities. By one o'clock we had returned to Catemaco, and after a meal we again set out in the launch, this time to investigate if our suspic- ions that there were monuments on Agaltepec Island were cor- rect. Mr. Habele, the owner of the small launch, was most enthu- Fic. 23—Matacanela, Ver. Rabbit’s Head siastic about the vessel. He had Sore ee eres built the small craft himself, and was very proud of its ability to stand a threatening storm. Huge black rainclouds were gathering along the eastern side of the lake, blown in from the sea through a gap in the mountains. Due to this gap the eastern side of the lake has a rainfall almost double of that on the western side. For a short time the small craft chopped and jumped in the waves, until we got in under the island. This island is crescent shaped, and it did not take us long to judge from its profile that it had Fic. 24—Matacanela, Ver. Two Stone Boxes. AGALTEPEC ISLAND 25 been remodeled by man. We landed at its eastern point, and soon stood on the first mound. A rapid survey showed us that every square foot of the island had been under the hand of man. On the low east and west points were mounds around courts; the high cen- tral part had been terraced, and on its top were a series of mounds. In vain we search- ed for monuments. But in several places we found walls built of a coarse - grained StO lM €.o-casy to carve into square blocks, and used to this day by the inhabitants for their houses. The court on the eastern point was the most interest- ing. A truncated pyramid lay to the east, and from this a raised road led to the northeastern-most point of the island, apparently a ceremonial road. 'To the west of the pyramid was a court in which we found one stone which may have served as a monument. Fic. 25—Matacanela, Ver. Serpent’s Head of Stone. The island les in a position where it can be seen from every mountain pass leading into the Catemaco Basin, and it is also visi- ble from nearly every place on the lake shore. A more excellent and dominating location could hardly be found on which to build a place of worship. In between these visits to ruins we had arranged for horses and pack animals for our trip over the mountains, and Mr. Hagmaier’s help again proved val- uable. He placed us in communication with a Mexican, Don Juan Brisuefio, caretaker of the Cuezalapa cattle ranch. He was a tall, slow-spoken man _ who had gone through the Fic. 26—Matacanela, Ver. Circular Altar. 26 TRIBES AND TEMPLES shifting phases of many revolutions, remaining friends with fed- erals, rebels, and Indians — just the man we needed to help us get through. On March 16th we were at last in the saddle. Don Juan took the lead as we rode out of Catemaco (fig. 27), and we followed with saddle horses for ourselves and our chief guide, cook, and interpreter, Enrique Hernandez, several pack horses, and two Mexicans on foot. The First ‘Tulane Expedition had reached the beginning of the trail. We rode along the northern shore of the lake, and time after time Don Juan stopped his horse to tell us about the country. Large volcanic cones lay on our left, and we also passed two crater lakes, then we came in sight of Tenaspi Island, from which one of the Fic. 27—Catemaco, Ver. Volcanic Cone at the End of Village Street. idols in Catemaco is reported to come. Don Juan told us that much pottery was to be found there. Not far from Teotepec we saw a small mound with rough stone walls, and shortly afterwards Don Juan made us dismount and took us to a well of mineral water. It seems that there are several wells of this kind along the northern shore. The water bubbles slightly, and has a very pleasant mineral taste. Then we traversed the root of a small peninsula, and again our guide had something to tell. A small enclosure of sticks marked the place where a fleeing rebel had been shot in the back by the moun- tain Indians. THE RIDE BEGINS pegs When we reached the lake shore we found another mineral well, called Coyame, a short distance from the shore. A stone wall has been built around it and several dugouts lay alongside it, and some Indians were there filling their bottles with the water. All the in- habitants around the lake send for their drinking water to this place. Here the trail runs along the foot of a vertical cliff, the cliff on one side and the lake on the other, a favorite place for ambushes during many revolutions. At Tebanca we passed through the remains of a coffee planta- tion. There are now no signs of coffee bushes, and the houses lie in the most picturesque ruin. ‘This plantation was situated some- what above the lake on its eastern shore. Don Juan informed us that the peak of the snow-clad Orizaba volcano could be seen from here on a clear day. Finally, about 2 o’clock, we reached Cuezalapa, our destination. Here ended our first day’s ride and we certainly were a little stiff, but a drink of bush-cognac, concocted of very little water, some sugar and lemon, and a large amount of sugar cane rum, soon brought us to life again. The houses of the finca were in a sad state of decay caused by time and the shifting tides of revolution. During the evening Don Juan told us of the extraordinary life he has been living at this place. The ranch was a favorite haunt for bandits and rebels. Some nights they would come and stay until dawn, and a few hours later federal troops would arrive. Sometimes fleeing men would hide here — one rebel general stayed here for months curing his wounds, alone in a little hut, hidden away in the forest. The federal troops passed by, and all the time Don Juan had to be friends with everybody. “And when they stopped coming because of peace in the country, it was quite strange and lonesome,” he told us. We were sitting by a fire outside the house when an Indian boy turned up with a bow and some iron pointed arrows. We had long before heard that the Indians we were going to visit used bows and arrows, but not until now, on the verge of entering their country, had we seen any of them. The sight was highly suggestive. The mountains lay as a black silhouette against the night sky, and we sat wondering what lay in store for us. Cuapter III AMONG THE INDIANS OF THE TUXTLA MOUNTAINS At Cuezalapa an Indian was added to our outfit. He was armed with an old muzzle loader, and looked quite dangerous. We our- selves did not carry any firearms whatsoever, as we deemed this a safe course. Don Juan gave our guide, Enrique, his final instructions, telling him how to make friends with some of the worst Indians, and what to do about getting food for us. Then we mounted and followed by our host, we rode towards the forest. At the end of a long Fic. 28—Ocozotepec, Ver. Principal Street with the Santa Marta Mountains in the background. mountain spur which gradually ascended towards the heights, Don Juan bade us farewell, and we started our climb. Following the spur, we soon came onto a narrow ridge, and this we followed to the top. On either side of us stood dense semi-tropical forest. Here and there trees had fallen, leaving an opening in the thick vegeta- tion, through which we could look down over the mountainside. We made slow progress as the trail was wet and slippery, and steep as well. In several places we got off our horses in order to lighten their burden. Our boys were driving the pack animals with loud cries, and now and then we had to stop to readjust cargo. Our guide pointed out the tracks of a tapir which had crossed the trail, and shortly afterwards we met the first family of monkeys, 29 30 TRIBES AND TEMPLES some of the amusing and inquisitive small, white-bellied spider monkeys. ‘The top of the pass is called the Cerro Bastonal and is part of a chain of voleanic cones which extends from the volcano Santa Marta towards the southeast and forms the western side of the Coatzacoalcos basin. We reached the top (1,050 meters) about noon and made a short stop to rest the animals and ourselves. About two hours later we came out of the tropical forest into low second-growth and open country with a corn field here and there, and finally about 3 o’clock we reached the village of Ocozo- tepec, two rows of grass-roofed huts on either side of a red earth ridge, the bare ridge forming the main street (fig. 28). Here we had our first contact with the Indians. It took some time to locate the chief who carries the proud title of Municipal President. This gentleman was not very enthusiastic about our Fic. 29—San Martin Mountain and Oak Forest. arrival, but finally quartered us in the “Municipal Office,” a grass thatched hut with mud walls recently built and not quite so miser- able as the other houses of the village. Next to the office was the jail and here we stored our saddles. In front of us we had the church, also a grass thatched house with mud walls, the largest building in the village. These three buildings were lying on the highest part of the ridge. Looking north we saw the vivid red soil of the village street bordered by squalid huts. Beyond were forests, and far away loomed up the San Martin Pajapan voleano which we had planned to ascend (fig. 29). POPOLUCA INDIANS ot The male part of the village of Ocozotepec crowded around us next morning to watch our preparations for leaving, and after much touching of hands—one does not shake hands here, but barely lets the hands touch—we finally got away. The trail ran through hilly country covered with open oak forest and here and there a pine. The ground is carpeted with grass and the soil, where it shows, has a deep red color (fig. 30). An hour and a half brought us to Soteapan, a more bleak and miserable place than Ocozotepec. Rebels and bandits have in turn had their fling at the village with fire brands, so only little was left of the houses. The women were sitting in the huts and the men were loafing around the office. Fic. 30—Mecayapan, Ver. The Tulane Expedition on the Trail. A friend of the University had advised us that the Indians of Sotedpan were supposed to be blonds, having faded blond hair about the color of drying corn silk and dirty blue eyes, and that they all should be at least six feet high. We found the Indians to be of exactly the same stature and type as those of Ocozotepec, and fur- thermore, that they likewise speak the Popoluca language. —The vil- lage cannot now contain more than about 20 families, but is un- doubtedly the same as the one called Xocotapa by Villa-Sefior y Sanchez, and at the time of his writing it contained 358 families of Indians.* *Villa-Sefior y Sanchez. 1746. Vol. I., Page 367. 32 TRIBES AND TEMPLES From Soteapan the trail wound more towards the northeast, and soon we reached the large and prosperous looking town, Mecayapan, a change from the last two villages. All the houses were well built and in the middle of the village lay an immense grass roofed church with adobe walls. ‘Two bronze church bells hung outside the church under a separate little roof (fig. 31). Women were busily engaged around the houses; one was spinning, turning the whorl in a basket; others were weaving. ‘They were dressed only in gay colored skirts and prettily woven belts of cotton. We stopped to salute the chief who was loafing outside the “office” and had a chat with him. Here the Indians all speak the Nahua tongue and they are of much better physical appearance than our Popoluca friends. Fic. 31—Mecayapan, Ver. Church and Steeple. Again we took the trail, which led up and down stony hills and over cool mountain streams, the path winding through an oak forest looking like a beautiful park. ‘The Guasantla river was forded and shortly before reaching our destination we crossed the Tesisapa and there found a fine hammock bridge newly made of vines slung across the river (fig. 832). ‘Then we rode in among the small huts of Tatahuicapa and up in front of the large brick church which the Indians had built for themselves (fig. 33). Rumors of our coming had preceded us, and soon the village chief and his council of elders turned up. ‘They took us to an old store behind the church, and we at once started to unpack. The first things to come out of our boxes were some red handker- chiefs and other trinkets we had brought as presents. Then after TATAHUICAPA 33 some talking and explaining we invited the most prominent men of the town to take a little drink with us, thus establishing friendly relations. We told them of our wish to find old carved stone monu- ments, and a host of young fellows at once volunteered to show us one which they said was sitting on the top of the San Martin Paja- pan voleano. This we had heard of before. We also asked for guides to go to Piedra Labrada on the north side of San Martin. We questioned them, and the answers came slowly, but apparently they were friendly. The village has a guard, armed with some old, rusty rifles. They patrol during the night in order to be on the lookout for stray in- truders. ‘This guard also made an appearance and, as it is well to Fic. 32—Tatahuicapa, Ver. Hammock Bridge Made of Vines. be in standing with the higher powers, they also were invited to have a drink. 'Then the captain of this formidable army in a somewhat dispassionate way told us that he, about ten days before our arrival, had killed some Mexicans who had arrived heavily armed to seek shelter. These were rebels against the government and were fleeing. They, however, had made themselves obnoxious and the villagers had simply killed them. That was a fine hint. We unpacked our folding table.. This table, by the way, turned out to be one of our main drawing cards. In every Indian village or hut where we set it up, it caused great Joy and admiration. Then by the light of a storm lantern we sat down to write our field notes. 34 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Along the wall stood and squatted the village authorities, smoking and spitting, and with a small hope for another little drink slumber- ing in their hearts. They conversed in their own Indian (Nahua) language, and now and then questioned us as to what we were doing. One man turned up with a dozen tortillas, another with some eggs, as presents to the strangers. Now and then the guard would appear in the doorway and join in the chatting. Presently they started to tell us of their hardships, how one party of bandits after another had come plundering, burning, and raping, and how finally when they could stand it no longer, they took matters into their own hands. It seems that they had sought support from the Mexican authorities, but in governmental affairs Fic. 33—Tatahuicapa, Ver. View of the Village with the San Martin Pajapa — Volcano in the background. they are subject to the rule of the neighboring town of Pajapan, whose good people graft all they can from Tatahuicapa, so a strong enmity between the two towns, which may break out in fighting at any time, has resulted. Tatahuicapa must have at least a thousand inhabitants, and is a clean and peaceful place. The roofs of the houses are made of bunches of grass, tied closely together on rafters; the walls are of mud mixed with grass; and the doors are of boards. Windows seem to be unknown, and all doors are on the southern side of the house. This is the warm side, and is protected against the blast of the cold northern winds (fig. 34). INDIANS FRIENDLY 35 We made up our minds to leave some of our equipment here while we rode out along the coast to Piedra Labrada, where the monument which was the chief object of this part of the expedition was supposed to be located. Then having examined that place, we planned to return to Tatahuicapa, and from there to ascend the San Martin Pajapan. One by one the spectators disappeared into the dark, to go home and tell the women about the sensational arrival of the friend- ly strangers. The guard passed once more, and we gave them some cigars with which to pass away the night. Closing the door we went to sleep in our hammocks. It was somewhat of a triumph for us to be sleeping peacefully among these Indians considered by all out- Fic. 34—Tatahuicapa, Ver. Indian Huts under Mango Tree. siders to be so warlike and unfriendly, but really a peaceful com- munity when left alone, and a kind people when treated the right way. The men here all wear straw hats, shirts, and long trousers of cotton, with sandals on their feet. 'They tend to the cornfields and do the hunting. Most of their time is spent in front of the office discussing their all-important local politics. The women dress in gaudy coloured striped skirts held up by finely woven white belts. Shoulders and breasts are naked, and as they are well built they certainly gave a pleasant impression, espe- cially the young women when they passed by our hut on their way to the river, walking straight and willowy with a large earthen jar 36 TRIBES AND TEMPLES or basket of corn on their heads (fig. 35). Many wear flowers or leaves as a crown in their hair. The small girl children are carried astride the hip of their mothers, and as soon as they can walk they trail along after them, always with flowers in their hair, shiny glass bead chains around their necks, and dressed in small skirts—an exact miniature of their mothers (fig. 36). The young boys run around stark naked. The town was preparing for a “fiesta,” a great celebration in honor of its patron saint. ‘These “fiestas” rarely take place with- out much noise and shooting of rockets imported from the Mexican towns along the Te- huantepec railroad. We were, therefore, not astonished when awakened about two o’clock in the morning by some shots, rockets going off to tell the world that Tatahuicapa would be celebrating before long. Reducing our packs to two cargoes, we set out the next morning towards the Gulf coast. Where the territory of Tata- huicapa and of Pajapan meets, the Indians have erected a cross, and this is constantly kept deco- rated with flowers. First we reached Pajapan, a place more sophisticated than. Tatahuicapa, with several houses built in Spanish style, anda huge old Spanish Colonial Fic. Ai one acer oot eee going to church. As we passed through | we, as usual, presented our respects to the chief, an old white-haired Indian, who looked perfectly unreliable. He glanced at our govern- ment papers and called for his secretary, saying that he could not see very well. That is the excuse always used when the good chief cannot read and write. Pajapan lies on the eastern slopes of the San Martin Pajapan volcano, and from the village Plaza is a fine view both of the moun- tain towards the west and over the Laguna de Ostiones (the Oyster Lagoon) in the lowlands of the Coatzacoalcos valley to the east. ALONG THE GULF COAST 37 ,, It was still early when we continued towards the coast. First we passed through a high forest and then rode out among low bush and grass clad hills.. We had to cross several small streams, and, as was to be expected, one of: the horses could not miss the chance of getting bogged. We pulled and pushed and at last had to un- Joad him. But he did not seem to want to stir until our men, and ‘we too, for that matter, opened up on him with a shower of pro- fanity. That helped. Soon we could hear the waves breaking against the shore; a distant murmur that grew to thunder when we rode over a sand dune, and saw the Gulf lying before us. Following the sandy beach §| towards the west we came to a wall of lava projecting far out into the sea, and at its end lay an isolated rock looking like a sentry of lava thrown there by his majesty, the volcano. A crack leading up to the back of the lava stream was found, and we then rode along on an open grass plain for some time, wind- ing in and out in order to avoid large cracks in the cliff. Then we scrambled down again to the sandy beach, and followed it. The sun was now high, and the glittering white of the sea and sand pained our eyes. Another lava stream had to be crossed Fic. ey hen eae child carrying yt thereafter, the beach lay be- fore us unbroken as far as we ‘could see. To our right lay the blue Gulf showing white teeth of foam-tipped rollers, tn to our left, a belt of forest out of which rose the volcanoes, San Martin and Santa Marta. It was a place of rare beauty. While we rode along, it entered our minds that four centuries ago a small band of Spaniards, some of the “Conquistadores,” had followed this same strip of coast going towards the east in search of a port where the great Captain, Cortes, could land his ships; and 38 TRIBES AND TEMPLES with them were some of the men of the Emperor Montezuma with a map of native paper “on which were painted and marked very true to nature, all the rivers and bays on the northern coast from Panuco to Tabasco, that is, for a matter of one hundred and forty leagues, and the river Coatzacodlcos was marked on it.”* Few are those who since then have followed this coast. We were told that here and there pirates had taken shelter, and we heard stories of political refugees who had taken this route. But other- wise, it had apparently been deserted by everybody for centuries. Some small rivers had to be forded, but only one of these was so deep that we found it necessary to place our feet on our saddle in order to keep dry. We were on the lookout for a trail which should turn inland to the settlement of Piedra Labrada, and did not find it until late in the afternoon. This trail was very narrow and its entrance well concealed. Into an opening in the bushes we drove our horses, and then struck a low and muddy path. ALl the time we had to be on the lookout for branches, and as our horses stuck to the edges of the trail in order to avoid the mud, we had to be on the alert not to get our knees smashed against the trees. Our guide insisted that we were now nearing the settlement, but we rode on for an hour and a half without seeing a sign of human beings. Then he gave up, and another guide, whom we had christ- ened “the Pope,” his name being Bonifacio, set us on another trail which by five o’clock brought us to all that was left of the settle- ment of Piedra Labrada—a few charred house posts over-grown with plants. Nine hours in the saddle, and then to reach an aban- doned and burnt settlement! But that was not all our trouble. Huge black clouds were gathering around the mountain tops; a storm was near. Hastily we rigged up our tent fly on three charred posts, hung up our ham- mocks, and set to prepare a well-earned lunch. When we climbed into our hammocks for rest and sleep, it had begun to rain slightly. The rain gathered force during the night, the tent fly sagged, and pools of water formed on it and started to drip on us. We managed to keep fairly dry, though La Farge had a fight to stop a small river from running down his hammock ropes. The “boys” huddled together under our hammocks and really had the dryest place in camp. Shortly after dawn, two of the “boys” set out in search of some rumored inhabitants and the third tried hard to make a fire with some wet wood. He finally gave this up and turned to a job which pleased him infinitely more—he sat quite still for an hour looking *Diaz, Bernal, Maudslay Edition. PIEDRA LABRADA 39 at the rain water dripping from the edge of the tent into a bucket. This he enjoyed because if the bucket would fill he need not go down to the river for water. The bucket finally did fill. The rain started in real tropical fashion, coming down in streams. Every- thing was now wet, and our breakfast was perforce limited to some cold rice left over from the previous evening and a few slices of sausage. About half past nine our scouts returned bringing not only a local Indian guide, but also dry weather, so at once we packed up our belongings and started off for some Indian huts reported to be nearby. Before leaving our camp a photograph was made of a small stone idol which some of the former inhabitants had found in the bush and brought to this place. This idol has a human face, but is so crudely done and has so little character to it, that it is hard to place it in any particular culture. We had not gone very far before we reached some very well- kept corn fields with a trail leading through them, flanked by rows of pineapples. Here and there were clusters of bananas and in another place was a patch of sweet potatoes and calabash. It was apparent that the owner was a hard-working man. José Albino, an old Indian who spoke Popoluca, was the proud possessor of these corn fields, a score of pigs, eight sons, two daugh- ters, one son-in-law, and a kind, hard-working old Indian wife. He lodged us in a small corn barn with a good, solid palm-leaf roof to shelter us against the rain, and after a while we went over to his house to enjoy a good meal he had prepared for us. Some small low huts were clustered together in the centre of the cornfield. In front of them was a palm roof under which the women were preparing the food (see fig. 49), and behind them was a pig sty where the prides of the family were kept. The old lady of the house served us with eggs, coffee, and hot tortil- las. The corn for the latter we had Fic. 27—Piedra Labrada, Ver. Ancient seen her grind on an old metate, or Indian grinding stone, which had been found in the forest near the ruins we were in search of. This grinding stone was quite elaborate with the high leg at its upper end carved as shown in the accom- panying drawing (fig. 37). 40 TRIBES AND TEMPLES The Indians insist that these grinding stones found in the ‘ground are far superior to those manufactured today, as they are of a better grain, and the corn, therefore, can be ground much finer on them. The preparation of the corn for grinding and subsequent baking into tortillas is done in the following way. First the corn is boiled in water containing lime, whereby it swells up. Then this swollen corn is taken to the river where the lime is washed out by sieving ‘the corn in a basket. Well cleaned in this way it is laid on the grind- ing stone. ‘The person grinding stands at the higher end of the stone, and grinds by pressing and rolling a cylindrical stone pestle over the corn. This operation is repeated many times until the dough has the desired fineness. Then the dough is flattened out in the hand to make thin cakes varying in size according to the custom of the district, and laid over a clay disk resting on the three stones of the fireplace. The tortilla is baked on both sides, and is then ready for eating. These tortillas are the principal food of the Indians. ‘To make them is a slow process and hard work. The In- dian women spend, it appears, two thirds of their time in front of the metate preparing tortillas for the household. After our meal we at once set. out for the reported monuments. One of the sons of the house took it upon himself to guide us to them. ‘They were there, to our great relief. Through the forest and across a small stream, the Xuichapa, we came out in a clearing, and soon discovered that this clearing re- cently had been used as a pasture for cattle. It was infested with ticks, and before long we were covered with these pests. Walking along we would brush them off the smaller bushes onto our clothes, and these insects, as large as the head of a pin, at once started for every opening in our clothes in order to get at us. On a slope facing towards the sea were several artificial mounds, and between two of these we at last came across the monument we were in search of. The information we had received from Mr. La Cerda, the Mexican engineer friend, who first drew our attention to this stone, proved correct. It was well carved, and around it lay several other carved stones. The principal monument, Stela 1, was a monolith, 2.02 meters long, the lower 18 c.m. of which was shaped into a plug. ‘This plug fitted a nearly circular hole in a square stone tablet lying close to the Stela. Undoubtedly the monument once stood upright, the square stone forming the base. The Stela was an average of 35 c.m. broad, and on its front were a series of carvings. At first sight they looked Maya, but a closer investiga- tion proved them not to be so. The best description of this monu- PIEDRA LABRADA RUINS 41 ment is the attached drawing. To. this only shall be added that above what resembles the Maya glyph Pax is a bar with two dots underneath, and over this bar is a con- ventionalized head of some monster seen fully “en face” and over this a scroll. The monument has plain sides and back and is carved out of hard voleanic rock, as are the other monuments in this place (fig. 38). To state definitely to what culture this monument belongs is difficult. The carv- ing in the hard rock is so skilfully done that it might be made by the Totonacs but, search as we may, we have not been able to find any similar design with which to compare and classify our discovery.* Close to this Stela lies the base, a square block 1.04 x 1.23 x 0.55 meters, with an approximately circular cavity in the centre, 45 c.m. across and 35 c.m. deep. A few paces from these stones is a small stone basin, broken, and a small crouching stone Jaguar with its head gone, and at the foot of a mound is a large metate, likewise with an animal head and its legs doubled up under it. (1 meter long and 23 c.m. high). (fig. 39). On the top of the small mound are charred house posts of a recent dwelling. It was agony to draw and photograph these monuments, as hoards of ticks were crawling over us. We were glad when the ordeal was over and we could prepare to return to camp. But the guide had an- other surprise in store for us. He led us into the high forest again, and at the foot of a huge Zapote Mamey tree, he showed us a fragment of a female stone figure. This fragment was 70 cm. high, and Fic. 38—Piedra Labrada, Ver. | showed head and breasts of a woman. The Stela No. 1. ° ° : long hair was indicated by fine parallel *Recently Dr. W. Lehman, of Berlin, said that the monster head was the hieroglyph for Ieotihuacan, and that the monument was Toltec. 42 TRIBES AND TEMPLES lines down the back. The head was well carved, somewhat broader at bottom than top, and well rounded, giving the impression of a bald-headed person when seen from in front (fig. 40). This piece of sculpture is very in- teresting. There is something about it that reminds one of the much smaller Tuxtla Statuette, and it also shows similarity to some small green stone idols in various collections, as well as one seen by us in Comitan at Fig, 80—Piedra Labrada, Ver. Small grinding 4 later stage nl SOUn ieee Though the hieroglyphs on the Tuxtla Statuette are Maya, the statuette itself was executed by a people of another culture. A rough plan was made of the structures, and for a short mo- ment we enjoyed the view from one of the mounds over the forest to the blue waters of the Gulf. Then the itching of millions of tick bites drove us back to camp where we at once stripped and started the slow process of removing the insects with a concoction of tobacco leaves soaked in alcohol. The little wretches dis- liked this treatment and fell off, but left wounds which could be felt for some time after. As we woke up the next morning it was raining again, so we got hold of the son-in-law of the house and, as he was a little more intelligent than the rest of the family, we succeeded — in getting a short list of words of his language. The settlement here is a Popoluca outpost. The inhabitants migrated to this place in the old man’s time from Ocotal Grande. Our informant was very ill. He = 4? site Labrada, Ver. epee ingen could not be more than 28, but looked 35 to 40 years old, and walked with difficulty; his limbs were thin and withered, and he could not eat without becoming nauseated and vomiting. RETURN TO TATAHUICAPA 43 Our house stood on a small mound, and great quantities of sherds lay scattered about, but not one with incised drawings or paintings on it to give us a clue as to origins. The cornfield itself was very well kept, and so clean that it could be planted three times without re-cleaning. The stalks of the first growth lay bent down to the ground, and the second planting stood high. By ten o’clock the rain had entirely stopped, so after having pre- sented our hosts with some small trinkets and a beautiful chromo print of a saint, we bade farewell. We were to return not by the beach, but by what was said to be a much shorter way through the forests, passing between the volcanoes of San Martin and Santa Marta. One of our men went ahead to find a local guide, and after some time he returned advising that the guide would meet us along the trail. We stopped at the given point, and while we were waiting the rain started again with full force. For one-half of an hour we sat patiently in our saddles, and meanwhile our guide was waiting just as peacefully a few hundred meters further up the trail. We found our new guide sitting on a log. He was dressed in a much torn cotton shirt, and the pants of the same material rolled up well above his knees. An old torn straw hat and a home-made cigar completed his costume. During the morning we forded several rivers, now quite full after the recent rains, and then we started up hill. Possibly this trail was shorter as the crow flies, but the trail along the beach had the advantage of being horizontal for its greatest part. The trail was vertical, up and down the walls of cafions with cool mountain streams at their bottoms. There have long been rumors of gold in the San Martin moun- tains, though we were not able to trace them down. In several places there are, on the other hand, large indications of oil in form of asphalt seepages, also there are springs of sulphur water, and deposits of sulphur. Cinnabar is also said to be abundant.* The occurrence of cinnabar is of interest to the archaeologist, as it was highly treasured by the ancient Maya, and was often used as offerings in burials. Well into the afternoon we reached the highest point (600 meters) and there found two trails, one leading off to the south- east to Ocotal Grande, and the other more to the north and north- east through Encinal Amarillo to Tatahuicdpa. Just before reach- *Williams, 1852. 4A, TRIBES AND TEMPLES ing the first mentioned place, we came across a man and four boys well armed with bows and arrows. ‘They were cleaning a curassow they had just shot. Encinal Amarillo is a cluster of falling huts, all very poor look- ing and dirty, and, as far as we could see, only inhabited by old shriveled-up, half naked women and totally naked children. Just as it was getting dark we came in sight of Tatahuicapa. Crossing the river we scattered a crowd of lightly clad women who were chatting around the public washing and gossiping place—the local newspaper. We rode up to the “Oficina” and were heartily welcomed by our friends, the chief and the armed guard. Hungry? Indeed we were, after a day’s ride without a bit of food, but first we attended to our tired animals. ‘Then our diplo- matic agent, Mr. Demijon, showed himself, much to the joy of our Indian friends. Everybody had a drink, and we at last sat down to a hearty meal. | In Latin America, like everywhere else, it is important to know the right people. In some places these are senators bankers, and other big men; but in Southern Mexico the best people are some- times men with loose guns and knives, or bad Indian chiefs. If one from the beginning gets hold of the right man, everything is easy. So with our trip—from the start we got hold of one man who was friends with all the leading elements around, and, thanks to his direction, we went through without any trouble. To climb the San Martin Pajapan volcano was our next objec- tive. Guides were procured in Tatahuicapa, and we left the village on horseback. But after an hour’s ride we were forced to tie our horses near a small Indian coffee plantation, and then proceed on foot. The Indians grow a little coffee which they carry over the mountains and trade in Catemaco. We now left the trail and entered the forest, climbing at an easy grade until we reached a small stream at an altitude of 506 meters. Here, our guide told us, was the last place where we could get a drink of water before we started the real ascent. In this part of the forest every rock and stick was covered with some sort of white larvae the size of one’s little finger. ‘There were hundreds of thousands of these, and we wondered what kind, of plague they represented. The underbrush was dense with small palms with thorny trunks, but as we reached higher altitudes they disappeared. 'The trail was very steep. The path followed a narrow ridge, and we saw very little outcropping rock. ‘The ground was covered with fine, rich, IDOL ON SAN MARTIN 45 black soil. As we neared the top the trees grew short and wind- beaten, and their branches were covered with moss. Up to the very top the mountain is covered with forest, which indicates that it must be a very long time since the crater was active. The top has two peaks, and on the highest point of the southernmost of these we found a big stone boulder marked with the number 1211. This num- ber was carved in the rock by a Mexican engineer, Ismael Loya, who made a survey of this area in 1897. ‘The number stands for the alti- tude of the mountain, 1211 meters. Loya was the first one to see the idol on the mountain top, and he told the writer in 1922 that he had removed this idol a short dis- tance in order to use it as a corner mark for his survey. In doing so, he broke the arms of the image. Before having broken it, though, he made a drawing of it which is shown in figure 41. Under the figure a small pit was found in which stood some pieces of pottery containing various small ob- jects of jade. Mr. Loya had given all these away but one, which is a small piece of light green jade carved in the form of a rattlesnake. The idol is squatting and according to Loya’s drawing, holds a bar horizontally with Fic. 41—San Martin Pajapan, Ver. Drawing of Idol both hands, its body leaning meee nostcloyern isete be forward. Arms, feet, and the bar have disappeared, and the face is badly mutilated. The total height of the figure is 1.35 meters, of which 57 c.m. is taken up by the head-dress. The head is well carved and has large plugs in the ears. The head-dress is very elaborate. On its front is a face with slanting eyes, a small broad nose, and a downward curved mouth with a broad flaring upper lip. This face resembles a jade head now in the National Museum of Mexico City. Over this is a kind of small hat, the top of which appears to have been broken off. Seen from the side, the head-dress shows a band with some figures that may represent a conventionalized rattlesnake, and over this band are feathers (figs. 42 and 43). 46 TRIBES AND TEMPLES This monument stands on a small level in the saddle between the two highest peaks of the crater rim. It may represent a fire or mountain god. For the time being we would not venture to ascribe it definitely to any culture. Clouds had gathered around the mountain top and it was rain- ing slightly while we were working with this monument, but when we started our descent the wind tore a momentary rift in the clouds and we got a most magnificent view of the Coatzacodalcos basin, with the town of Pajadpan and the Laguna de los Ostiones in the fore- ground, and a glimpse of the Chiapas mountains far away to the southeast. Our old guide was searching the landscape for his dear “pueblo.” It is remarkable to note how these people are attached to their home towns. It is the first and last to them; the fate of the coun- tj, try as a whole does not concern them. vag The descent was not so Ur J bad as we had expected, wee UY; fil though in some places we tite ‘ were sliding rather than Cs teas walking downwards. A eal family of monkeys fol- \ lowed us for a while, \ jumping from one tree top to another. Te Sa eT aia, ake ag it now etaude | tnaemiae Returning to Tatahui- capa we found everybody busily engaged in preparing for a fiesta. Hunters were out to kill deer in the forests, pigs were being slaughtered, and boys came in with bundles of fire wood. The women were gathered in groups of fifty or sixty in different parts of the aioe Sheltered by light structures built of palm leaves, they were grinding corn, baking TATAHUICAPA 47 tortillas, and cooking other food. Chatting was in lively progress. Some women were carrying water, children were playing around, and in the background some of the elder men were watching the behaviour of the gay youngsters. The colours of the women’s skirts and belts, their bronze bodies and their black hair adorned with flowers made an excellent picture. We walked from group to group watching the work, and were able to persuade the Indians to sell us some of their bows and arrows as well as some samples of the textiles made in the village. Our chief “boy,” Enrique, gave an amusing description of how he had seen a group of about twenty Indians hauling at a rope trying to throw a bull. The bull jumped about, the rope broke, and the twenty Indians fell on top of each other with much noise and laughter. The Indians were much in- terested in our photographing and we were requested by the elders to take some pictures of the village saint. This could not be done in the dark inte- rior of the church, so the saint was moved to the door, which called for much ceremony and drumming. Several Indians N were beating wooden drums Bagg made out of hollow logs cov- FR ered with deer skin. ‘Those gg romecre. carrying thei Saint," eae ee a never touched it directly with “““ "" “top of the mountain, their hands, but used a cloth when handling the image. They set the saint on a table and deco- rated it with natural and paper flowers; whereafter we took his photograph. (See fig. 52.) Our friends were urging us to stay for the fiesta, but unfortu- nately we were not able to do so. We packed our animals and left these friendly “bloodthirsty” Indians, who had treated us with so much kindness. A broad trail leads to Chinameca, a station on the Tehuantepec railroad, but unfortunately there is also a broad trail leading to 48 TRIBES AND TEMPLES some of the Indian corn fields. We took the wrong trail which cost us two hours delay and forced us to ride very hard in order to reach Chinameca in time for the daily train to Puerto Mexico. All along the road we met parties of Indians on their way to the fiesta in Tatahuicapa, the men generally riding and the women | trotting behind carrying baskets and bundles. A little procession of Indians, in all seven or eight men, all of whom had had several drinks for breakfast, stopped on the roadside at one point, and every one of them insisted on shaking hands with us. As we rode along the line, we bent over from our horses and shook hands with each and every one of them, wishing them a pleasant fiesta. We were now down on the lowlands, in the Coatzacoaleos basin. Within sight of the station, and right in the main street of China- meca, our rush to catch the train was stopped by one of the pack horses running into a mud hole and getting bogged. The delay was irritating, but had no serious results. We had to unload, and haul and pull the poor animal before we got it out, but reached the sta- tion with just time enough to pay off our boys and check our bag- gage. Late that afternoon we reached the town of Puerto Mexico. ~CwHaptTer [TV OBSERVATIONS OF THE INDIANS OF THE SAN MARTIN PAJAPAN REGION The San Martin Pajapan area between Lake Catemaco and the _ coast is cecupied almost exclusively, by Indians speaking Nahua and ~Popoluca. The country is mountainous, rainy, and extremely fer- tile. The lower parts are covered with thick jungle; the higher, ' whether from clearing or through a change in soil; are open grass and oak country; while the slopes of the San Martin Volcano itself are covered with jungle and thick woods. This growth of jungle, .a quantity of steep ridges and deep stream beds, and the mountain- ous quality of the interior have made it difficult of access and a ' natural refuge, for which reason, probably, it has been so well pre- served to its original inhabitants. , At the time of the Conquest, Montezuma had Aztee garrisons at several points in this region. The Spaniards regarded it as part of _the province of Coatzacodlcos, and some of the Conquerors held land-grants in the area. Early descriptions of the area are meagre, and not until 1746 do we get much information about the towns and inhabitants. In that year, Villa-Senor y Sanchez published his book, ‘““Theatro Americano ” and though he deals only with part of the towns, he gives us some idea of the fertility and general Petate, Or the district, for which reason we quote him here at some length.* “CONCERNING THE JURISDICTION OF ACAYUCA AND ITS TOWNST The town of Acayuca (Acayucan) is the capital of the province of Guzacualco (Coatzacoalcos) at a distance of 100 leagues from the city of Mexico. It is situated on the northern coast, but the district starts to the southeast. Its temperature is warm and humid, and the land so fertile that it gives four crops of corn a year; and, as this has no outlet to other jurisdictions, this same abundance of crop is the cause of the Indians being very little energetic in working, because to make their fields, they only have to cut the bush and make holes in the ground with pointed sticks, and they do the same with beans, without using plow or any other implement of cultivation. Here the Alcalde Mayor lives, together with the Gov- ernor and Officials of the Indian republic. Its population consists of 13 families of Spaniards, 296 Indians, and 70 of Mestizos and Mulatos. It has a district church with a priest and a vicar who speaks the Mexican Janguage. This is a *Villa-Senor y Sanchez, 1746. Chap. XXVIII., Page 366. +Modern names are given in parentheses. 49 50 TRIBES AND TEMPLES small number of preachers for such a backward administration and large number of parishioners, and some of the towns are at such distance from the principal town that they in many days do not have a chance of even hearing the sacred mystery of the mass, for which just reason it would be of service to both majesties to establish some mission in this province. “The towns pertaining to this doctrine and government are: San Pedro Xoco- tapa located in the hot zone on the southern slope of the San Martin Mountain at a distance from the principal town of eight leagues, and it contains 358 families of Indians; the town of Macayapa (Mecayapan) is also located on the slopes of said mountain, but towards one-quarter northwest, two leagues distant from the last mentioned town, and is inhabited by 107 families; to the east of said principal town at a distance of one league is the town of Santiago Zoconusco (Soconusco), having 295 families; the town of San Juan Olutoa lies one league to the southeast, and in it live 97 families; in the same direction is the town of San Miguel Thesis- tepec (Tesistepec) three leagues from the principal town, and having 50 families; and the ome named San Andres Zayultepec (Sayultepec) at a distance of two leagues, located between north and south, and with a population of 140 families of Indians; the climate of these towns is warm and humid and their trade and maintenance are their corn fields, beans, fruits, and rope of fibre (pita) which makes the best rope for general use, and has its market in many parts of this kingdom as substitute for the fine French twine which is brought here from Europe. “The town of San Juan Tenantitlan is a republic of Indians with a governor and is the principal town of the curate of Chinameca (Chinameca). It is eight leagues towards the east from the principal town (Acayucan), and is situated in the hot climate. Its population consists of 50 families of Mulatos [Mulatos Mili- cianos], and 32 of Indians who speak the Popoluco in which they are preached to by a priest of their district church, and to which doctrine and government the following towns belong: the one of San Francisco Menzapa at a distance of eight leagues to east one-quarter northeast, inhabited by 63 families of Indians; and at the same distance is located the town of Oteapa (Oteapa) towards the east one- quarter south, and in this town are 69 families; following the same direction and at a distance of ten leagues is the town of San Felipe Cozolcaque (Cosoleacaque) with 51 families; the town of San Francisco Xaltipac (Jaltipan) lies at a distance of six leagues towards the east of the principal town and in it live 97 families of Indians who trade in the same fruits as those of the principality. “The town of Santiago Moloacan (Moloacan), eighteen leagues from the prin- cipal town in direction east one-quarter southeast, is the principal of the district of the Ahualucos numbering 109 families of Indians including those of the town of Pochutla (Pochotla), which lies so close that it is only separated by the dis- tance covered by one shot of a musket. At a distance of eighteen leagues is situated the town of San Cristobal Ixhuatla (Ixhuatlan), in warm climate and with 47 families. The town of San Francisco Ocuapa is the principal of the district of the Ahualulcos, is forty-three leagues distant from the principal town towards the south, and is inhabited by 4 families of Spaniards, 20 of Mulatos, and 20 of In- dians, who are preached to in the Popoluco language by a priest of the district church of this town, under which lies the previously mentioned town, and the one of San Cristobal Huimanguillo, with its suburb San Pedro Ostitan, a distance of five leagues towards the south from the head town, and in these two the number of Indian families is 66; and in the same vicinity is that of Macatepeque (Meca- tepec), one league towards the east with 18 families; and the one of Tecominucan, two leagues away following said direction and having 26 families of Indians, who cultivate the same fruits as those previously mentioned, and they are the only ones VILLA SENOR Y SANCHEZ 51 in this jurisdiction who do, because though they have cattle and cultivate fruits and vegetables, it is only in accordance to the annual consumption of the inhabi- tants, as they, for the greater part, occupy themselves little with the cultivation of the ground. “The province suffers from the great calamity that it at certain periods is flooded with grasshoppers, which destroy the plants and fields in the most sad way, and, as no human remedy has been found for such great destruction, the inhabitants have sought the favor of the divine forgiveness through help of the most holy Virgin, miraculous in the mystery of the pure conception, whose picture can be seen in the head town of this district, Chinameca, whose patron saint she is, because she has freed the fields from these obnoxious insects, and this marvel has been felt because when the insects abound, they take out the holy image in procession, then the number of insects diminishes and the destruction which they cause to the fields stops. “This country is watered by the large river Guazacualco, which gives its name to the province. It runs from north to south, always running in the center of the province until it empties in the sea, and on its banks on each side grow trees of great height capable of serving as they, in fact, do for the construction of large ships, for which reason woods, spars, boards, and whole trunks are carried to Vera Cruz, and at the present moment this business is run by the Royal Hacienda. It is a fact that if the cutting of trees was more regular they would be more useful and the Bar of the Guazacualco river would be constantly protected if the town of Espiritu Santo would again be inhabited, but this town now is totally abandoned, and the name only remains of that which it once was.’’* At present, in the interior as at Mecayapa, mentioned by Villa- Sefior y Sanchez, there are no avowedly “mestizo” or non-Indian families to be found. If this description is accurate for its period, the Popoluca (‘‘Po- puloco”) area must have considerably diminished. Huimanguillo, there mentioned, is no longer in the definitely Indian territory; Chinameca has become a sophisticated town of the ordinary Mexi- can type. The Nahuatl group has been, on the whole, expanding, side by side with the Spanish. At Piedra Labrada we were told that the following towns still speak Popoluca: Ocozotepec, Soteapan, Amameloya, Ocotal Grande, Ocotal Chico, Aguacate, Cuilonia, Buena Vista, Piedra Labrada. These towns make a small island, or rather a group of islands, scattered about among Nahua-speaking and Spanish peoples. *Abandoned because of frequent attacks by English Pirates. 52 -- TRIBES AND TEMPLES | fas SICAL Ne gtdbeeie GLB Be “The aie sea eines -up of the Tadias fea not appear to vary with the linguistic division, save that the Nahuatl groups may be a triflle broader in face, and heavier built than their neighbours. On the whole they are of good stature, estimated at about 1.65 meters for the men, with round heads, brachycephalic, and fairly high-bridged noses tending to mesorrhine with some platyrrhine. ‘The brachyceph- ly is emphasized by a flattening of the skull just above the forehead, ae in the men to the use of the tump-line from early infancy, causing the skull to come up ‘to a conical point in back.. | __ Musculature is heavy, especially in the legs (see figs. 44 and 50). Very small boys begin using the tump-line to carry fire-wood, ac- Fic. 44—Tatahuicapa, Ver. Trading for arrows with the Indians. customing themselves to considerable burdens, although in this re- spect they are not so specialized as the Tzeltal and other Chiapas tribes later observed, nor have they developed, as with these latter, a walk which, even when unburdened, suggests the burden-bearing habit. The women do not use the tump-lne, but carry loads on their heads, carrying a small ring of cloth for that purpose. This practice gives them a very straight carriage and great grace of movement. The large gourd borne by the woman in fig. 35 is a typical water- vessel, and when filled must have no small weight. In common with most Indians of Mexico, these are capable of sustained travel on foot without fatigue. A guide who accompanied us from Piedra Labrade to Tatahuicapa, an eight-hour trip over a INDIANS OF PAJAPAN 53 very bad trail, was always ahead of the horses, obviously slowing his pace at times so that they might catch up, and less exhausted than they at the end of the day. Anyone who has travelled with Indians in Mexico can duplicate this experience. Hair-form and distribution is typical, the form being straight, black, and coarse, its distribution sparse on the chin and rare or lacking elsewhere on the body. Short, straggly beards on the chins of the old men may have some correlation with the more long-faced type; not enough bearded people were seen, however, to assure this. Eyes are dark brown, and fairly wide set. No marked Mongoloid traits were observed. LANGUAGE The Indians belong linguistically to two stocks, the Nahuatl, and Mixe-Zoque. The Nahuatl is predominant, being spoken probably by a population of several thousand. The Mixe-Zoque is repre- sented by one of the many dialects known in Mexico as Popoluca. The name is unfortunate, for the various Popolucas are unrelated; Berendt* says of them, “It is a grave error to consider all these dif- ferent . . . Popolucas as scattered parts of the same whole.” The nearest dialect of that name to Pajapan is Popoluca of Puebla, which is entirely distinct, being associated with Mixteco. No attempt was made to study the Nahuatl, beyond noting that the final 7 of the nominal ending tl was dropped off, as cuawhuit for cuauhitl, and that the n of the suffix pan was often omitted, Pajapan becoming Pajapa in daily speech. Lists were made of Popoluca at Ocozotepec (called teuj’ko by the natives), and at Piedra Labrada, which while lacking in gram- matical forms and very brief, supports Berendt’s* statement that the language belongs to the Mixe-Zoque stocks although the affilia- tion would appear to be more directly with Zoque, and not, as he said, with Mixe. Out of 145 words compared,t 85 show a recogniz- able lexical similarity, and root forms may be traced in many more. The verbalizing suffix given by de la Grasseriet and Lehmann{ as pa or ba, appears in a majority of the Popoluca verba as pa or pu, cor- responding to a general, although irregular, vowel-shift from a to uw. Many words have been replaced by Spanish; and elements in- troduced in recent times almost always have Spanish names. All men speak Spanish fluently, but the women ordinarily cannot. The native numerals only go up to seven, although we were told that some of the old men could count up to monyi, the Mexican tzontle. *Berendt, 1876. Page 9. +See Appendix for word-lists and more full discussion. tDe la Grasserie, 1898—Lehmann, 192 54 TRIBES AND TEMPLES The presence of a Zoque group here on the Atlantic coast is of considerable interest, giving support as it does to Brasseur de Bour- bourg’s* theory that the Mixe-Zoque people originally lived north and east of their present home in Oaxaca, being pushed back by the conquering Zapotecs. That theory offers the best explanation for the Pajapan dialect, on the supposition that a small group, split off from the main body, went north to take refuge in this mountainous country. MATERIAL CULTURE COSTUME. The men in all the villages dress in ordinary Mexican-EKuropean costume of cotton purchased outside. Ordinarily this consists of white trousers and collarless shirt, sandals, and straw sombrero of Jocal make, with a slightly smaller brim than that’ used by Mexicans. Ready-made coloured trousers and shirts are not at alluncommon. At Pajapan there is a store, and in the other villages traders coming in at fiesta times bring such goods. Their hair is worn short, and banged across the forehead (see fig. 44). The women wear skirts and sashes of their own weaving (see figs. 35-36). The skirts are uncut rectangles, wide enough to reach from the waist to the ankles, and long enough to go well around the body and overlap, without hampering the legs. ‘The width is ob- tained by sewing two strips together. These skirts are striped, either with broad bands of colour divided by lines, or narrow stripes on a coloured background, always running the long way of the cloth. Buff, grey, yellow, and blue predominate; red is more highly prized, but we were told that the red dye could only be obtained by trade. The other dyes are made from native plants. Ordinarily the women do not wear any other clothing, save in the towns nearest the railroad. In time of fiesta, however, they do wear blouses, which are bought from traders. Cheap earrings and necklaces, preferably rosaries are worn. The hair is done in two braids; on the head it is drawn tight and parted down the middle. Bright-coloured flowers are placed over the ear or worn in a chaplet by women of all ages. HOUSES (tek!). Dwellings are built with palm-roofs and stick or dirt walls, with a rectangular ground-plan. The essential frame-work consists of four uprights on which two long plates are laid, following the lines of the two long walls of the house. The corner-posts are often of very heavy, squared logs. Between the plates four cross pieces are *Brasseur de Bourbourg, 1859. - HOUSES 55 laid, with ends projecting. From these the frame-work of a gable or of a hip roof is built up to the ridge pole. Thatching-poles are laid along this frame-work, parallel to the ground. ‘The members are tied together with vines (see figs. 81 and 34). The wall (tuk ntana) is of sticks or roughly split boards set into the ground and standing independent of the house. If the wall is to be of mud, the sticks are set about 20 centimeters apart, and cross-sticks are interwoven at the same interval, forming an open wattle. On this a mixture of mud and grass is built up. For a stick or board wall, the upright members are placed at an interval of about a centimeter, and bound together by passing long, slender vines in a loop around each for the length of the wall. The thatch is of grass bundles, from 20 to 60 centimeters thick. It is allowed to hang low over the eaves (see fig. 31). The floor is sometimes partially boarded to serve for storing corn, and the space over the cross pieces is often similarly made. into an attic, for corn or general storage. The fire and kitchen may be indoors, but are usually in front of the house, or under a wall-less shelter hard by. The metate is sup- ported on a low table, with legs sunk into the ground. The fire- place itself consists of three stones, to support the round-bottomed pots (see fig. 49). The doors face south, to get the sun, and away from the constant cold winds and rainstorms coming down from the volcano to north- ward. Community structures are built on the same principle as ordi- nary houses, with the exception of some churches. The Cabildo, or Town Hall, is always mud-walled, usually a little larger than the dwellings, and provided with windows and hinged doors (fig. 45). Large shelters of thatched roofs without walls are maintained for shade, and for the common preparation of food at fiesta times. (See Social Organization, fig. 51). The churches may be, as at Ocozotepec and Mecayapan, merely unusually large buildings. Whenever possible, however, they are tiled roofed, and occasionally, as at Tatahuicdpa, of brick and stucco. The plan remains a plain rectangle with a gabled or hip roof. At Tatahuicdpa the very simple facade shows a faint echo of Spanish tradition (see fig. 33). Near the Trans-Isthmus Railroad some attempt at decoration of houses was observed. At Mizapa the church, although grass-roofed, was white-washed, with a dull red and ochre stripe painted around 56 TRIBES AND TEMPLES it, floral designs on the side, and a crude facade painted on each side of the door. At Chacalapa several houses had stripes and floral deco- rations. ‘This is the most sophisticated section of the Indian country. WEAPONS. Ethnologically, a feature of unusual interest is the revival of the bow and arrow among a people who had almost forgotten its use. At the end of the Diaz régime, archery was, as with us, an amuse- ment for children, who made small bows of sticks, fitted probably with unpointed arrows. Such play outfits may be seen in many Indian houses today in Southern Mexico. ‘They are not much su- perior to the blunt-ended arrows and cotton-stringed bows sold to American children, although they are in more common use. About Fic. 45—Ocozotepec, Ver. The Municipal House. 1910, or shortly thereafter, large groups of outlaws came into the Pajapan country for refuge, who immediately proceeded to take all fire-arms from the Indians. The latter thus found themselves not only defenseless in the presence of a well-armed enemy given to plundering their villages, but deprived of the means of hunting, an important factor in their food-supply. The Indians reverted to the bow and arrow, which, at the time of our arrival among them, had been developed for some fourteen years into a powerful weapon (fig. 47). We found here a situation which must in some degree re-enact the original evolution of the bow and arrow at the time of its first invention. In many respects these weapons here are unique among primitive tribes, and in each case the distinctive character is one of incomplete sacar eC and still active experimentation. BOWS AND ARROWS 57 The bows (bekcin )* average about 1.15 meters in length, are un- backed, plain, with a slight tendency to a reverse curve. Saragossa wood is preferred. The fish-arrows (kaapi’’ ) which have a pointed, very heavy iron wire head, average 80 centime- ters in the shaft, and 50 in the head. Light reed shafts are preferred. Deer arrows, with laurel-leafed heads of hammered iron, are about 60 centimeters in the shaft, with a head averaging 10 centimeters in length. Ordinarily, the arrows are notched. Feathers are never used (fig. 46). The unique characters to which I have referred occur in the complete lack of standardization of any part. The statement given above summar- izes the general type, and the form towards which the bow-makers are tending. At present, it may be said that no two bows or arrows are of the same length. Some bows are finely smoothed, rounded on one side, flat on the other; some are knotty, retain part of the bark, and are almost flat, or faintly convex, on both sides. In most cases, the curved side is towards the string, but not in all. The string itself may be of ixtla, hennequen, or cheap, commercial cord; it may be finely braided, two or three-strand rolled, or a loose, fuzzy twine. The detach- able end may be tied in a loop with a bowline or square knot, or made P : Fs we Zin a Fic. 46—San Martin Pajapan, Ver. Bows and Arrows. A fast with a timber hitch. The fast end is usually tied with a clove or timber hitch. The deer-arrows are fairly well standardized, probably because the difficulty of working the iron enforces a standard, small size of head. Fish arrows, on the. other hand, show the widest possible *“Popoluca”’ names are given. 58 TRIBES AND TEMPLES variation. There is no constant relation between the shaft and the head. The shortest observed was little over 80 centimeters in total length; the longest, taller than the man who sold it, and twice the length of his bow, was 1.75 over all. Ordinarily, bow-using tribes standardize their weapons very ex- actly in form, decoration, and either by an absolute measurement or by a set relation to the body of the archer, as we standardize skis. Moreover, the number of arrows to a set is often pre- scribed; as, with the Lacandone, a quiver must contain one arrow of each kind made; or, with the Navajo, arrows are always made in fours. In the Pajapan country there is no such specifi- cation. The number of arrows varies from one to four, and deer arrows may or may not be included. The metal used for these arrow-points is thick fence wire for the fish arrows, and old discarded files, bought in the villages by the railroad, for the deer arrows. These files are cold-hammered by the Indians to the desired shape. It would be interesting if the development of this weapon here could continue; however, Bis. 47—Ocozotepec. Ver. Fopotucg man showing the oming are Ta pidly: Det aise duced, and probably the bow will disappear, unless the easily-made arrow for fishing, already by far the more common, is retained for that use. The names “fish” and “deer-arrow” are taken from the Indians themselves. The deer-arrow, we understood, is also used in fight- ing, and the fish-arrow, while best adapted to shooting fishes, is cer- tainly put to many other uses. The fire arms now coming back are the usual percussion-cap, muzzle-loading fowling-piece, with a few bolt-action rifles provided by the government to assist the Indians in keeping the country free of refugee outlaws, which, when properly armed, they seem well able to do. MATERIAL CULTURE 59 ARTS AND INDUSTRIES TEXTILES. The loom in use is the usual, narrow, simple type, with single heddle. The head stick is made fast to a branch or stick in the wall; the foot is fastened to the weaver (see fig. 59). Weaving is done by the women. This loom weaves long, narrow strips of cloth for skirts (see costume). Both warp and woof are handled in double strands of fine cotton thread. : The ribbed weave of the sashes is more intri- . ZZ hag VES N ? WLLL LRTI TZ REZZZEZZN N N cate. We did not find 5 ec eal oe out how it is done, or if cmmyooma eats a special loom is used (fig. 48). Looms are. seldom to be found in use, as weaving is only done as the cloth is needed. Fic. 48—Tatahuicapa, Ver. Drawing of Weave. The spindle is a stick about 18 centimeters long, with a clay disk near the bottom for a weight. The lower end is placed in a small half-gourd for spinning. WOOD-WORKING. The native mandolin, or jarana, is made by the men. In shape and size it resembles a ukelele, but is adapted to playing actual tunes. ‘Tobacco pipes are made, with very small bowls and reed stems. (See also the description of bows and arrows under Weapons). Chairs and squatting seats are made of wood. The chairs are of a simple European model, straight-backed, with a square seat. All the pieces are nicely mortised into each other, and held with wooden pegs or, occasionally, nails. The work is neat and well finished. Squatting seats are simply squared light logs, with a handle at one end and often concave on the under side to save weight. OTHER CRAFTS. The arrow-points mentioned under Weapons are made locally. The fish-arrows have for head a length of heavy iron wire, about 3 millimeters in diameter, hammered at the end to a four-sided point. The head of the deer-arrow is a laurel-leaf shaped piece of iron, hammered out from a file, with a shank at the butt to insert in the end of the shaft. It is ground smooth and is fairly sharp all around. Pottery is undecorated and simple. The typical form is nearly a sphere, with a wide mouth and slight curved lip. (See pot carried by woman in fig. 835). Gourds are used as much or more than pots. 60 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Baskets are of wickerwork, with split reed warps and splint frames. Metates are ordinarily bought from stores in the outside towns, but old metates found buried in the neighbourhood of prehistoric sites are much preferred, and used whenever obtainable. Volcanic rock, suitable for making metates, is to be found in the area, but presumably the Indians prefer excavation or purchase to the toil of manufacture (see fig. 37). FOOD SUPPLY AGRICULTURE. The rich soil of the jungle sections is ordinarily used for farm- ing, in preference to that of the more open, grass and oak country. Fic. 49—Piedra Labrada, Ver. Populca Indian woman grinding corn, and girl baking tortillas. It is possible, indeed, that the open land is produced by partial ex- haustion of the soil due to “bonanza” methods of farming.* Aban- doned fields that we saw were growing up in grass and small, thick second growth. The jungle is cut, and the dead wood burned on the field, after such wood as may be useful is carried off. On the whole, the clear- ing here is neatly done, ‘the fields being fairly free of rubbish. The soil is prepared with a digging stick, only the top soil *The effects of soil depletion from Mexican Indian methods of farming are described in detail in 0. F. Cook’s ‘Vegetation Affected by Agriculture in Central America,” 1909. FOOD SUPPLY 61 being disturbed. ‘There is no plowing. Old machete blades are used for weeding. Corn is the staple crop, and to it the larger part of every field is given over. With it are planted beans, melons, papaya, pine- apples, and sweet potatoes. Gourd trees are cultivated, and a bush with a red fruit called in Spanish ajon, used for flavouring meats. Two crops of corn a year are raised except at Piedra Labrada where three are usual. Small coffee plantations are made in jungle or woods handy to the town, the underbrush being cleared out. DOMESTIC ANIMALS, Pigs are kept by all families for food, and also serve as scaven- gers. Poultry provide both meat and eggs. Keeping cattle is rare if not unknown. Besides cultivated plants and flocks, many wild fruits are eaten, and game, especially birds and wild pig, are important. The Indians hunt fish with spears, arrows, and traps in the many rivers of the country. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION The general governmental system is that of a Mexican district, with its center at Pajapan itself. The individual villages have each their Presidente Municipal and Secretario, elected as in any Mexi- can town. The feeling, however, is not that of belonging to the district as a whole, but of inde- pendent villages related to each other only in so far as their in- terests join, and as the local of- ficials at Pajapan can make their influence felt. INTER-VILLAGE RELATIONS. The local native garrisons, or “Guardias Municipales,’ main - tained by the government to sup- press banditry, occasionally serve also as the nucleus for village war parties, in the occasional disputes over lands or rights. Thus Tata- huicdpa, a town of some four hundred families, is sometimes Fic. btug t corer apredoiay Or Indian boy with 62 TRIBES AND TEMPLES hostile with its neighbour on one side, Mecayapa, because Mecayapa, although smaller, is the head town of the sub-district. It has also had fights with Pajapan, its other neighbour, over the ownership of a coffee plantation. It must not be inferred that the villages are constantly quarrel- ling, rather the reverse. Although the Pajapan people came and destroyed the Tatahuicapa brick-kiln when the latter were building their new church, and they, in turn, had recently possessed them- selves anew of the coffee land, Indians of Pajapan came freely to partake of the general hospitality of the Tatahuicapa fiesta. Fic. 51—Tatahuicapa, Ver. Women preparing tortillas for the Fiesta. FAMILY GROUPS. At Piedra Labrada we had occasion to observe a single family, attached to no village, whose organization, thus noted in isolation, may be taken as typical of the whole area. The father is the head of the family, and carries on business negotiations as far as they affect the whole. Individuals, however, have their own possessions and rights. One of his sons, hiring out to us, made his own bargain, and, in other cases, where we bought textiles woven by the women, either the women did the trading, or dictated the price charged by the men. In case of marriage, the man pays the woman’s father, in goods and labour. Once the marriage is completed, the new couple sets up its own unit independently. Between such separate groups _ the ties are very much the same as those between related families SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 63 among ourselves, with, perhaps, less recognition of the influence of the original head of the family. The men work in the fields, cut wood, hunt, and take a hand in shelling and stacking corn. Women also work in the fields and cut wood, but their chief care is the house and the kitchen, drawing water, grinding corn, and weaving. Fic. 52—Tatahuicapa, Ver. The Village Saint, San Isidro. COMMUNITY PROPERTY AND LABOUR. Ownership is individual in all smaller things. Land, however, forms of labour which affect the village as a whole, and property connected with religion are common. ‘The village land has been allotted to it originally by the government, individuals hold parcels so long as they occupy or cultivate them. Fighting the present 64 TRIBES AND TEMPLES plague of grasshoppers, and occasionally the clearing of large new areas are undertaken co-operatively. At the time of a fiesta, food must be prepared for the whole village and a tremendous number of guests. This is done by all the women, working together under big sheds maintained for that pur- pose (fig. 51). The village of 'Tatahuicdpa owned a bull, which was killed on the day of the fiesta for distribution to all guests and to the village. Evidently this was not an old custom, at least in this form, for none of the men in the village knew how to slaughter the animal, and one of our men had to do it for them. Fic. 53—Ocozotepec, Ver. Indians beating drums in honor of their Saint. RELIGION All the Indians of San Martin Pajapan are Christian im doc- trine. In each village the church, always the most important build- ing, houses the patron saints (fig. 52). Near to it are lodgings kept for the occasional visits of the priest. These visits, and the Saint’s Day of the town, are the occasion for fiestas, a combination of ceremony and celebration. Drumming, music of flutes, jaranas, and various foreign instruments, such as mouth-organs, accompanied by rattles, begin sometime before the fiesta proper. Dancing is done before the saint, as a rite, and generally as an amusement. Often, as at Ocozotepec, the image, there a Virgin, is moved out into a bower of green branches hung with streamers (fig. 53). Whenever the saint moves, whatsoever the occasion, drums must be rolled, as RELIGION 65 when the saints and altar were brought forward for us to photo- graph at Tatahuicapa. Aguardiente is brought in from the Mexi- can towns for the fiesta, and a supply of rockets which are set off all during the period. General hospitality is extended to all comers. The visit of the Priest is occasion for baptisms, confession, and mass. ‘The photographs of the saints at Tatahuicapa were wanted for affixing tp pardons to be made out by him. The priest is main- tained by the village during his stay. At this time the doorway of the church and the priest’s house are decorated with palms. The inside of the church is hung with palms, streamers, coloured paper, and flowers. CHAPTER LV THE COATZACOALCOS BASIN In the earliest reports of the Conquerors we find mention of the Coatzacoalcos River. Grijalva passed the mouth of the river, and Bernal Diaz speaks of it as follows: “As we sailed along we noted the position of the great river, Coatzacodlcos, and we wished to en- ter the bay (not merely) to see what it was like, but because the weather was unfavourable. Soon we came in sight of the great snow mountains which have snow on them all the year around, and we Fic. 54—Puerto Mexico, Ver. The mouth of the Coatzacoalcos River. saw other mountains near the sea which we called the range of San Martin, and we gave it that name because the first man to see them was a soldier from Havana who had come with us, named San Martin.’’* The snow clad mountains here mentioned are undoubtedly the peak of Orizaba, which can sometimes be seen from the sea, and the San Martin mountains are those which the Tulane Expedition had just traversed. Later, when Hernan Cortes had arrived at Tenochtitlan, we again hear of the river. He was looking for a port more favourable *Bernal Diaz. Maudslay translation. Vol. I., Page 50. 67 68 TRIBES AND TEMPLES than the anchorage off the coast at Vera Cruz and men were sent along the coast guided by Indians, and with a map drawn on agave cloth. The leader of this expedition was Diego de Ordaz. They followed the coast until they reached the mouth of the Coatzacodlcos without finding any other suitable port. Montezuma had told Cortes that he did not reign over the tribes living along the river, and he gave an order to the chieftain of his garrison somewhere near it to aid the Spaniards as much as possible. When Ordaz reached the river the local chieftain, 'Tuchintecla, gave the Spanish explorers canoes so that they could make sound- ings (fig. 54). “They found the shallowest part at its mouth, 214 fathoms in depth, and 12 leagues up the river they found the great- est depth of 5 or 6 fathoms. From their observations they judged it had about the same depth for 30 leagues up from its mouth. On its banks are many large towns with an innumerable population, and all the province is level, and rich, and abundant in produce.”* Bernal Diaz further writes: “When Ordaz had taken the sound- ings he went with the Caciques (chieftains) to the town, and they gave him some jewels of gold and a very beautiful Indian woman and they offered themselves as servants of his majesty, and they complained of Moctezuma and some of his warriors.” + A little further in the same narrative it is told how the inhabit- ants fought the Mexicans and killed many of them. ‘The place where this battle was fought they called Cuylonemiquis, which in their language means “where they killed the Mexican profligates.” This may be the place named “Cuilonia” today? Still later, Cortes sent another expedition to the Isthmus and Bernal Diaz joined this. Now the Spaniards found the natives hostile to them. The ill feeling resulted in a battle, in which the leader of the Spaniards surprized the principal town at night, and seized a woman “to whom all in those parts obeyed and everything quieted because she sent to call the chiefs and ordered them to ob- serve whatever was commanded them.” The Spaniards then founded the town of Espiritu Santo, and many of the Conquerors received grants of land along the river. From Bernal Diaz’s accounts we constantly hear of fighting with the natives in the district, and also that Dona Catalina Suarez, the wife of Cortes, landed on the coast in a place called Ayagualulco, and passed through Espiritu Santo on her way to the capital. The old soldier, Bernal, finally grew tired of fighting and wanted to settle down on his properties, but the Indians did not leave him *Cortes’ Second Letter. Edition MacNutt, 1908. Page 245. +Bernal Diaz. Maudslay translation. Vol. II., Page 132. ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 69 alone. In one of the fights against them he was wounded in the throat by an arrow; then he got orders to join Louis Martin on an expedition to Chiapas, where he underwent more hard fighting. Finally in November, 1524, Cortes came to Espiritu Santo on his way to Naco, in Honduras, and he ordered Bernal Diaz to join him. This is all the early information we have about the Coatzacodlcos basin. Up until around the year 1800 we hear little about it. Hum- boldt states that the climate of the area is very unhealthful.* In 1829 and 1830, several ships left France with colonists for Coatzacodleos. They had been tempted by a get-rich-quick scheme which quickly broke down. Another ship left in 1831, and one of the participants in this expedition, Pau Pierre Charpenne, tells us about the total failure of this colonization scheme. Most of the French colonists died from fever and several of them committed suicide. Now only a few place names remind one of the struggles and hardships these people went through.t Cortes was the first to propose a communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific by way of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. After him came, in 1774, a reconnaissance for a road made by the engineer, August Cramer, in the times of the Viceroy, Antonio Bucareli. In 1842 a contract was made between the Mexican Government and the Louisiana-Tehuantepec Railroad Company for a steamship line from New Orleans to Minatitlan and a service of coaches over the Isthmus. This road was much used during the California Gold Rush in 1849, and many were the eager gold hunters who died here of fever, on their way to the promised land. The Louisiana Company did not fulfill its contract, and pro- longed discussion followed between it and the Mexican Govern- ment, resulting in a new contract of 1852. The famous Americanists, L’Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, crossed the Isthmus in 1859-60. He has not much good to say for the way in which the American company managed the transporta- tion. In his book on this voyage he gives a charming report of his experiences, and also a large amount of interesting historical data.§ A more serious study of the Isthmus was made by the U. S. Government engineers, at the direction of the Secretary of the Navy in 1870. This survey was conducted in order to see if it was practicable to make a ship canal from coast to coast. Various methods of crossing the higher points of the Isthmus were proposed, *Traite Politique de M. de Humboldt sur la Nouvelle-Espagne, 1811. +Charpenne, 1836. : tWilliams, 1852. Supremo Gobierno, 1853. Ramirez, J. F., 1853. §Brasseur de Bourbourg, 1862. 70 TRIBES AND TEMPLES such as locks, hauling the ships over on tracks, and a tunnel through the mountains. A very instructive report with many maps and cross sections were presented to the Senate, but no definite steps were ever taken to execute this plan.* Finally, around the year 1900, a railroad was run across the Isthmus, and a few years later a British firm built huge port works at the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos on the Atlantic side and at Salina Cruz on the Pacific side. For a few years an enormous quantity of merchandise was hauled over this road. Coatzacodlcos, formerly a settlement of a few Indian huts, grew into a town and was named Puerto Mexico (figG5)tue Une revolution against President Diaz was a blow to this project and. finally the opening of the Panama Canal entirely killed it. Now the magnificent wharves at Puerto Mexico are rotting away, and the Pacific Ocean is building a bar of sand across the mouth of the port of Salina Cruz. The northern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is wa- tered by the Coatzacoalcos river and its numerous tributaries. The climate is sub-tropical, the year being divided into two sea- sons: a rainy season from June to the middle of December, and a so-called dry season, during which small. showers are fre- quent. During the months of October and November, strong northern winds, called “Northers,” bringing cold and heavy downpour, occur several times a month. Fic. 55—Puerto Mexico, Ver. Street. The whole Isthmus is low and swampy, cut by many rivers and dotted with lagoons. The ground is covered with thick, luxuriant, tropical bush, here and there alternating with open savannas. The soil is, for the most part, very rich, though only sparsely cultivated. It is said that some places will give as much as three crops a year. The town, Minatitlan, was originally the port, exporting ma- hogany. When oil was found in the region, and a refinery built, the town gained new life. Puerto Mexico now has tank farms and is *Schufeldt, 1872. MALINCHE 71 the shipping point for the oil refined at Minatitlin. Though exten- sive drilling has been conducted, no great quantities of oil have yet been found in this district. All wells seem to produce small quanti- ties of paraffin base oil of very high grade. Formerly mahogany grew in great quantities along the river bank, but cutting was so thorough that now it is rare to see a ma- hogany tree. The Spanish and Mexican population reside in towns, and there are also several large Indian villages, though a great part of the population lives scattered in clusters of small huts along the river banks. As the archaeological and ethnological material of this area has never been collected, we will give some extracts of notes made by the writer during his stay in the Isthmus in 1920-21. Mr. Ismael Loya has already been mentioned as the one who first ascended the San Martin Pajapan volcano. He formerly lived in the small town, Jaltipan de Morelos, on the Tehuantepec railroad. Having traveled widely over the area and also having married an Indian woman he possessed a great amount of valuable knowledge. He was the first to draw attention to the monuments at Piedra Labrada, and also spoke of burial mounds in the vicinity of San- tecomapa. Near Los Cerritos, at a distance of about 20 kilometers from Puerto Mexico, Loya had seen some hills which appeared to be artificial and on which are traces of walls. These hills are entirely surrounded by swamps and would form an excellent stronghold. From the railway station to the town of Jaltipan is a short dis- tance, which now is covered by truck. Just as one enters the town, to the right of the road lie several artificial mounds, the largest of which is called the “Cerro de Malinche. It is said in Jaltipan that Malinche, the famous interpreter of Cortes, was born and raised in the town. All the early chronicles disagree as to the place where she was born. The tradition which still persists in Jaltipan about Dofia Marina, the Spanish name for Malinche, has previously been reported by Dr. C. H. Berendt.* Brasseur states that the Islands of Tacamichapa formed by two branches of the Coatzacodlcos river, was given to the family of Dona Marina by the Spanish crown.t Mr. Young, of the International Oil Co., which has its offices in Frontera, Tabasco, told us this year that some lands near China- meca were given to the family of Marina, and remained intact until *Icazbalceta, Page 178, Note 2. 7Brasseur, 1862. Page 57. ie? TRIBES AND TEMPLES the year 1687. This land was called Chamulco. ‘The owner of it, a woman named Ana Tobar, sold parts of the property in that year. Mr. Young stated that he had seen the documents relating to this property a short while ago. Doria Marina is one of the most outstanding personalities of the Conquest of New Spain, and the Spaniards would undoubtedly not have succeeded if it had not been for her. It is said that she was born in the province of Coatzacoalcos, and that her mother married a second time, and gave birth to a son. When this son was born she agreed with her second husband to dispose of the daughter, and therefore, sold her to some Indians from the town of Xicalango in Tabasco. As a slave she was sold several times, and finally she was presented, together with nineteen other girls, to Cortes. In her home she had been brought up to speak the Aztec lan- guage, and in Tabasco she learned the Maya. In Cortes’ retinue was a Spaniard, Geronimo de Aguilar, who had lived among the Mayas, and who had joined Cortes when the latter landed on Cozu- mel Island. Thus, at the beginning of the Conquest, Cortes gave his orders in Spanish to Aguilar, who translated into Maya to Mal- inche, who again translated into Aztec to the Mexicans. In this way, she was of prime importance to the Conquerors. She soon learned enough Spanish so that she could dispense with Aguilar, and as she furthermore became Cortes’ mistress, she was really the one who held the fate of the Spanish army in her hands. After having risen to great power she again happened to return to her country, where she met her mother and her young half- brother, whom she recognized. Her mother was afraid of her re- venge and asked Dofia Marina for forgiveness. This was granted and at the same time Dofia Marina loaded her family with gifts of jewelry and land. ‘This is the land mentioned in the traditions of the town of Jaltipan. There are now considerable numbers of Spaniards and Mexicans in the town. They live in houses of brick with tiled roofs, and along the edges of the settlement are large Indian quarters. The sur- rounding country is likewise inhabited by Indians who all speak the Nahua language, and still maintain many of their old ceremonies. The ancient custom of dancing before the village saint is one of those which has thus survived. After the Conquest, the friars noted how fond the Indians were of dancing. In order to divert their attention from the idols to the saint, the priests arranged dances in honour of the latter. The Saint-feast of Jaltipan is held on the 30th of August. The Indians from the vicinity take possession of a square in front of the church. INDIAN DANCE, JALTIPAN 73 The men are dressed in their ordinary cotton cloth garments, but on their faces they wear masks carved out of wood and painted red and green (fig. 56). Some of these masks have moustaches made of horse hair and we saw one which had a small pair of deer’s antlers on the forehead. On their heads they wear bonnets covered with feathers of fowl and the long red tail feathers of the macaw termi- nating in small tufts of cotton (fig. 57, a, b, ec). They all carry hooked sticks and in the middle of the procession walk two drum- mers, one carrying a small drum, the other a large double drum. These drums are made out of hollowed tree trunks. The small drum is covered with deer skin on both ends, while the large one has skin only on the top (fig. 57, d). The drummers are followed by three Fic. 56—Jaltipan, Ver. Indians dressed for dancing. men playing flageolets. After the men come a procession of women, all carrying lighted candles and small Mexican flags. The procession stops in front of the church and while the women go inside, the men form a circle and commence to dance. About twenty take part in the dance. Carefully following the rhythm given by the drums, they commence very slowly, little by little gaining momentum. Then again they slow down. Sometimes they dance in a circle, one moving behind the other, and sometimes they divide into two parties, each party attacking the other with their staffs. Again they return to the dance in a circle, changing the staff from one hand to the other. The man wearing the mask with the deer antlers leaves the men in the circle, and goes into the center. Then 74 TRIBES AND TEMPLES the man wearing the mask with a moustache also leaves the circle, chasing the person representing a deer. ‘The deer dances inside the ring, sometimes fleeing outside, continually followed by the hunts- man, both moving to the rhythmic beat of the drums. The hunts- man tries to catch the deer by its left heel in order to throw it, and the deer defends itself with its antlers. : tga aS TTR) Finally, the huntsman catches Lo the deer, throws it on the ground, and goes through the motions of cutting off its, left leguse ties the deer frees itself and quickly crawls away on all fours. The huntsman sneaks after as it tries to escape, and it is caught at last. Then the huntsman cuts off its head and skins it, ending the dance. During the whole of this pan- tomime the rest of the dancers have been circling around the two chief actors, moving now slowly, now quickly to the tunes of the flageolets and to the beat of the drums. D After a short pause the In- dians begin another dance, a more common one called “Moros y Cristianos,” wherein both Cor- tes and Montezuma, as well as parties of Indians and Spaniards are represented. After finishing this dance, the men also go into the church to worship the Saint of the village. J altipan _Ver. In Jaltipan the remnants of a Fie. 57—Jaltipan, Ver. Dram and meskes ued bY collection Of /antiqiesmn sam J. M. Rodriguez was found in 1922. A few words should be said about this man. It is believed that he was of pure Indian descent. He was much given to the study of the antiquities, and eagerly collected the ancient artifacts from the surrounding country. His daughter married a Spaniard named Villegas, and when the old man died, his collections were put JALTIPAN 75 in sacks and moved with the family from one house to another. The greater part of this collection was naturally soon broken to pieces. What survived was given as toys to the children of the family. The only object saved is now in the possession of Sefora Villegas. It is a clay bowl (fig. 58). In the house was found the greater part of the old man’s collection of books. Among them was a nearly complete set of the ‘“Anales del Museo Nacional” of Mex- ico, on the pages and covers of which the old man had made a lot of valu- able notations, as well as many pencil sketches (fig. 59). Mr. Ansell, an Englishman, living in Jaltipan, says that the greater part of the above mentioned collection came from Tesistepec and Sayula, both in- dicated on our map. The small bow] from the collection indicates that these objects must have been of Aztec origin. The most important town of that ee es nia? "section of the country-is Acayucan. It is said that a colossal stone figure is found approximately three hours ride to the northwest of this town. This figure is called “La Piedra Colosal de Hueyapan,” and can- not be the same as the head described by Melgar and Seler (see page 21). It was removed from its original position before the. work of bringing it to the museum in Mexico City was abandoned due to the Revolution in 1911. If we follow the river Coatza- codlcos upstream from its mouth, we will see some hills on its right bank near Nanchital. Here an ancient mound has been used as base for an oil tank. There are some oil drillings about fifteen kilometers inland towards the east | : of this place. Cae Paes alee y descriptivas dispuestas 8 i A. short distance further up [P| the river lies the ranch Tuzantepe, | — and near by, is a low hill with center ; geen some larve blocks of stone: on: it, 2"! eee 76 TRIBES AND TEMPLES The Indians of the region state that these stones were brought there by the ancients, “Los Antiguos”; that they found these stones far away and moved them by touching with a magic wand. These stones have the appearance of being an outcrop of rock. F’rom this place runs the main trail to the large Indian village of Ixhuatlan (fig. 60). The inhabitants of this village speak Nahua and Spanish. The proximity of the oil camps is having a disastrous influence on them. They are acquiring all the white man’s vices and getting thoroughly unreliable. The chief product of the village is pineapples, which are carried down to the river by the women and from there rowed to the market in Puerto Mexico by the men. Near the trail at a short distance from the village used to stand an idol, about 75 cm. high, carved in igneous rock, and representing some kind of an animal (fig. 61). It is now said to have been removed to the village square. Further inland is the Indian town Moloaecan, where the In- dians likewise speak the Nahua language. These Indians have been exposed to influences from the outside much less than those of Ixhuatlain, and do not look kindly upon strangers who stop over night in their village. Half way between this last village and the ranch San José del Carmen, on the Tancochapa river, some idols are reported near Paraje Solo, where there is also an outcrop of voleanic rock. Oujul seepages are frequent through- » out this region. Fic. 60—Ixhuatlan, Ver. The Village. Several mounds le scattered over the savannas around San José del Carmen, and J. J. Williams, who worked on a survey of the region in 1852,* teils us the following: “Tt seems important to state that in connection with the finding of precious metals in these streams, that among the many remains of the indigenous people who formerly occupied this locality, there are a number of artificial wells on the west bank of the Tancochapa, *Williams, 1852. MISCELLANEOUS ARCHAEOLOGY poe which seem to be rather huge jars of earthenware, four or five feet high and three in diameter, buried in the ground, and which cor- respond precisely to those now (1853) existing in Sonora and other gold districts of Mexico. The peculiar construction and locations of these receptacles, and the abundance of drinking water in close proximity, justify the conclusion that they were formerly used for washing gold . . . “The number and variety of mounds found near San José render it a place of considerable interest. These are scattered over various points and generally composed of chalky earth, alternated by vari- ous coloured clay, beneath which are fragments of ancient vessels. In examining some of these mounds, several copper hatchets and other antiquities have been discovered. The banks of the arroyos exhibit great quantities of plumbic ocre, and usually intersect strata of variegated clay suit- able for purposes of pottery.” Mr. Williams states that gold has been washed in the rivers of the dis- trict. Now and then a few grains can still be washed out of the river sand, but the amount is so small that it has not been found profitable. This view is confirmed by the reports of the Con- querors, who tell us that they found only gold of poor grade in this district. Unfortunately the writer was not Fig, 61—Ixhuatlan, Ver. Idol found near acquainted with the Williams report a eee when he, in 1921, passed through San José del Carmen, so that he was not able to investigate the wells which are mentioned. Returning to the river, we continue upwards until we reach Paso Nuevo. It is the tradition that the town Espiritu Santo, the first town founded by the Spaniards, was located here. Now one only sees a few wretched huts on a hill. The surrounding corn fields, though, are full of potsherds and obsidian chips. Thirty kilometers up the river from its mouth we pass the Uspanapa river, one of the main tributaries to the Coatzacoalcos, and shortly afterwards we reach the large oil refinery at Minatitlan, and the village supported by this industrial plant. It is an unat- tractive place, and the native inhabitants are more so. 78 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Antiquities have been found in a multitude of places along the Uspanapa river. At Filesola, pottery was found; in Ribera del Carmen and Tecuanapa, large quantities of pottery in streams; in Cascajal, a pottery stamp of Aztec type (fig. 62). Arroyo Man- cuernillas is well known among the Indians because they have found many ancient corn-grinding stones (metates) at this place. The area is of importance, as the contact line between western civiliza- tions, such as the Totonae and Aztec, with the eastern, the Maya, must have been here. A small clay figurine such as the Eg haviieeret etre tices Stages one found by the oil camp near San Cristobal on the Coachapa river sug- gests Maya influence (fig. 63). On the other hand, the clay seal from Cascajal further east is purely Aztec. Puerto. Mexico has nothing attractive about it. Some high sand dunes face the Gulf, and in the lee of these lie a few streets of miserable houses (see fig. 55). The greater part of the houses are built of board and corrugated iron; only the offices and quarters of the oil companies are built of brick. When it is dry and windy, sand blows into everything, and when it rains the streets turn to rivers which carry the refuse of the town out into the big Coatzacoalcos river. In this hole we stayed for ten days waiting for a boat to take us to Frontera in the State of Tabasco. Telegrams re- ceived told us that Director Gates of the Tulane De- partment of Middle American Research, as well as the members of the Tulane Botanical Expedition to Tabasco, Messrs. Haskell and Hartenbower, would soon arrive by steamer from Vera Cruz. NO On the Expedition schedule was a visit to some ruins reported near Tonala, five hours ride from Puerto Mexico, so for several days we tried to get animals in order to ride eastward along the coast to Tonald, and from there search for the ruins. But the Ver. Ciay ‘neuripe recent De la Huerta revolution, of which Puerto eee Mexico was for some time the headquarters, had done away with nearly all private animals, and the horses available cost up to $7.50 a day. However, we were able to charter a small sloop, and boarded it in the belief that such a small craft could go and come as it pleased; TONALA 79 but no, both customs officials and port captain had something to say about it, and as the port captain was going on a picnic, he would not give us clearance papers to leave port on Sunday morning. At last on Monday morning we hoisted the Tulane pennant on the good sloop “Lupata,” and sailed out into the Gulf. We fol- lowed the low coast towards the east. With all sails set and a small auxiliary motor running we made good progress, and after four and one-half hours we entered the mouth of the Tonala river. Tonala means “hot place” in Aztec, and the sun certainly was blazing down on the sandy “streets” of the small cluster of palm huts which forms the town. The little settlement lies picturesquely hidden behind sand dunes beside a shallow bay formed by the river, which is the boundary be- tween the States of Veracruz and Tabasco. It was here that Bernal Diaz landed in 1518 when he was on Grijalva’s memorable trip of discovery along the coast of Mexico. Let us use Bernal Diaz’s own words: “There came many Indians from the town of 'Tonala which is at a distance of about one league from here, and they were very peaceful, and they brought us bread of corn, and fish, and fruits, and they gave it to us with good will, and the Captain flattered them much and told them to give green beads and diamonds, and said to them through signs that they should bring gold for exchange and that he would give them of the things we had for exchange, and they brought jewelry of low grade gold, and he gave them beads for this. And also those from Guazacaleco (Coatzacodlcos) came, and from other towns around and they brought their jewelry, which was not very much, because in addition to this exchange all the Indians of these provinces usually brought some hatchets of copper, very brightly polished for refinements or adornment with handles of painted wood, and we thought they were of low grade gold. We commenced to trade for these, and I tell you that in three days we got more than six hundred, and we were very content believing them to be of low grade gold, and the Indians still more with their beads, and we all came out empty handed for the hatchets were of pure copper and the beads a little or nothing. And one sailor had bought seven hatchets, and was happy about this, and I also remember that one soldier by name of Bartolomé Pardo went to a house of idols which was on a hill, and of which it is already said that they are called Cues, which is as much as to say House of One’s God, and in that house he found many idols and much copal, which is like a rosin with which they fumigate (the idols), and knives of flmt with which they sacrificed and circumcized, and in a chest of wood he found many bits of gold which were diadems and collars, and two idols and others as cast beads, and the soldier took the gold for himself. and 80 TRIBES AND TEMPLES the idols and the other objects of: sacrifice he brought for the Cap- tain, and it did not miss that somebody saw this and told it to Gri- jalva, and he wanted to take it, and we prayed him not to do this, and as he was in good humor he ordered that the Royal fifth should be taken and the rest was given to the poor soldier and it had the value of 150 pesos. “And I also want to tell how I planted some seeds of an orange next to another idol house, and this happened in this way: Because as there were many mosquitoes in that river, ten of us soldiers went to sleep in one of the tall idol houses, and next to this house I planted the seeds which I had brought from Cuba because it had been told us that we were going out to settle, and they grew very well because the priests of those idols cultivated them and watered them and cleaned them as soon as they noted that they were plants different from their own, and from these came all the oranges of that province . . .”* In this narrative are several points that interest us. First, the ruins, described as located about one league from the mouth of the river, were undoubtedly those which we were in search of; secondly, the small tale of the planting of the orange seeds. Here is then the place where the first oranges were planted on the Ameri- can continent (and not in California) . We anchored near the settlement for a time and went ashore to pro- cure guides and food. The guides told us of two ways by which to reach the stone monuments reported at the ruins. The one was by a dugout over the river and then following a small stream, a little more than a league from the Tonala river. The other lay up the Tonala river and then in through a tributary, the Blasillo river. This last route would give us a shorter distance to walk and to carry our equipment, so we decided on it. With our motor going and the sail stretched out to protect us from the sun, we then proceeded up the Tonala river. This river has several names. At the mouth it is called Tonala, further up from the tributary Zanapa, to a place called Buena Vista, its name is Tancochapa, and from this last place it splits into two rivers, the Rio de las Playas, which runs nearly due south, and the Pedregal, *Diaz, Bernal, Garcia Edition, 1904. Page 46-47. Fic. 64—Sailing Vessel on the Gulf Coast. TONALA RIVER 81 which runs more to the southeast, and together with the Tancochapa and the Tonala forms the boundary between the States of Veracruz and Tabasco. ‘The two rivers above the place where they join are swift and narrow with many small rapids, but along its lower reaches, the river is slow and deep. The section we followed was broad, and the banks were covered by a thick growth of mangrove. Here and there white herons would be frightened up by the noise of the motor and fly along the river in front of us. After two hours and a half we reached the mouth of the narrower Blasillo river and turned into it (fig. 65). We had to progress with care as snags were plentiful. In some places huge Fic. 65—Rio Blasillo, Tab. The Sloop Lupata chartered by the Expedition. trees had fallen into the river and nearly stopped our advance. At last towards evening we reached a small Indian ranch called Blasillo, where we remained for the night. One of the first things we did was to hang up our hammocks and mosquito nets. The place was infested with these bloodthirsty in- sects, and when we went to rest we heard millions of them sing woeful serenades outside our nets. We were up before dawn, and after a meal set out for the ruins. Leaving the river, we had to cross low ground, so low in some places that we had to wade along in water above our knees. Our guide told us that La Venta was an island entirely surrounded by swamps, 82 TRIBES AND TEMPLES the island itself being covered with low hills, with soil excellent for growing all kinds of plants. The land is divided into lots, each lot belonging to one Indian family. As we neared La Venta we met several Indians on their way to their corn fields or going hunting. We stopped them and persuaded them to help us as guides, and to clear the thick growth which we were sure would cover the monuments. After an hour’s brisk walking from Blasillo, we at last turned off from the trail and stood in front of the first idol. This was a huge stone block, 2.25 meters high, 86 c.m. broad, and 72 c.m. thick. It had fallen on its back and showed us a human figure carved crudely in deep relief, the deep- est carving being 14 c.m. (fig. 67). Our jack was not strong enough to swing this huge block, so we could not see if it had carving or inscriptions on its back. ‘There is no distinct stvle to this figure, though its general appearance may be said to give an impression of a slight Maya contact. Close by, in a northwest di- rection, we saw a long row of stones like small pillars, averag- ing 80 c.m. high with tops brok- en off, set in the ground in a row and close together, forming something like a fence (fig. 68), " Fic. 66—Rio Blasillo, Tab. View of the River. and in the center of these to the east, a huge block, probably an altar (Altar 1), rough on the under side and with figures en- graved on the smooth upper surface. This altar is approximately circular, between 1.5 and 2.0 meters in diameter, and has rolled over so that it stands at an angle where it is impossible to get a good photograph of it. Moreover, the Indians have had corn fields here, and after cutting the bush they burned it off, thereby badly damaging the stone by heat. There was no hope of turning it without a large gang of workmen and some ropes, so we had to content. ourselves with making some drawings of the best preserved of the figures engraved on the surface. LA VENTA RUINS 83 From this monument we went back over the trail to a pyramid about 25 meters high, which was facing south. There was no sign of a structure on its top, and if Bernal Diaz really was at this place, the idol house he slept in must have been a palm-roofed build- ing possibly with adobe walls. The next monument found by our guides we named Stela 2 (fig. 69). This was a large monolith, 3.20 meters high and 2.00 meters broad. Fortunately, it also lay on its back, showing us a standing human figure with a large head-dress and holding a ceremonial bar diagonally across its breast (figs. 70-71). It is a full face figure, carved on the somewhat rough surface of the stone, standing out bold- ly against a set of three smaller figures on either side. These are carved in low relief follow- ing the irregularities of the stone. They turn their knees towards the main figure, heads away, and also hold staffs in their hands (fig. 72). There is no doubt that this figure is strongly influenced by Maya art, if it is not really Maya. The ruins of Comalcal- co, the nearest Maya city pre- viously reported, lies 100 kuilo- meters to the east. The crudity of some of the La Venta figures must undoubtedly be ascribed to the hardness of the material in which the carving was done. All the monuments at La Venta are of igneous rock and are all il | | QUO (rss , ? i i! Fic. 67—La Venta, Tab. Stela No. 1. of great size. Inquiring of the oil geologists who work for the Cia. Mex. de Petroleo El Aguila, we were told by one of these, Mr. N. F. Keller, that rock of this kind could not be quarried nearer than 100 kilometers up the river at a place called La Laja. At Paraje 84 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Solo, on the trail between the Nahua speaking village of Molocan and Rivera del Carmen, is an igneous outcrop, and another geologist of the same company, Mr. S. W. Lesniak, reports an idol at that place. Here again we stand before one of the amazing riddles of an- cient engineering. How did the Indians transport these large blocks of stone over a distance of more than 100 kilometers, across swampy ground or along the rivers? We had bad luck. at La Venta—one whole pack of film, La Venta the one containing our photo- ‘TARASCO graphs of the most interesting monument, Stela 2, turned out totally blank, so we can only present some of our drawings of this monument. After having worked Stela 2, monuments appeared in rapid succession. Altar 2 is located at the foot of the pyramid, to eAltar 2 the south. It lies with face up, Colossal “Altar 3 and on it is carved a crude 7 ve figure sitting in a niche with [Rate] legs cross Turkish fashion (fig. = 73). Stela 2 Altar 3 is a square block standing close by, carved so that it gives the appearance of having a cushion on its top. On ean its north side, 1. e., facing the Ee Fr ‘ough Plan pyramid, is a deeply carved ' niche in which a figure is sitting gia ate AN pte regan gin bent forward with legs crossed. To the left of the niche is a panel on which a standing figure in low relief is engraved (fig. 74). A similar panel was probably also on the right side, but this side of the altar has been damaged. The southern side of the altar is plain, but on the western side two sitting figures are seen engraved (fig. 75). 'They face each other and appear to be in some kind of dis- pute. We had to dig a little in front of this altar in order to get a photograph. After this we came to the most amazing monument of them all —a huge bell-shaped boulder. At first it puzzled us very much, but LA VENTA RUINS 85 after a little digging, to our amazement, we saw that what we had in front of us was the upper part of a colossal head. It had sunk deep into the soft ground, and it was out of the question to expose it (fig. 76). The visible part of the head measures 6 meters in circumference, and protrudes 1.35 meters from the ground. In the lower right hand corner of the photograph which we made of this monument one Y Fic. 71—La Venta, Tab. From head-dress of main figure Stela No. 2. Fig. 72—La Venta, Tab. Small figure on Stela No. 2. Fic. 70—La Venta, Tab. Fic. 69—La Venta, Detail of main figure Tab. Stela No. 2. Stela No. 2. sees the left eye of the head. ‘The colossal head reminds one of the one found by the Selers between Los Lirios and Tres Zapotes in the Canton of the Tuxtlas. La Venta is certainly a place of many puzzles, and further work should be done there in order to ascertain more definitely where this ancient city should be placed in our se- quence of cultures.* *Seler, C., 1922. Plate VI. 86 TRIBES AND TEMPLES On our way to the next monument we stopped by an Indian hut to get something to eat. We were received in a friendly manner by an old Indian woman dressed in a white cloth wound around her waist. Long flabby breasts were hanging down _ beneath her belt line, and flowers were in her hair. Another woman with a face like that of a horse apparently was overcome with shyness, and rushed out to get a chemise with which to cover herself. But the loveliest mem- ber of the family, a young girl Fic. 73—La Venta, Tab. Altar No. 2. of about 15 years of age, ap- peared in the doorway in all her golden brown glory, plus a white cloth around her waist, and some red flowers in her hair. She was beautifully built, with laugh- ing eyes, and the most exquisitely shaped breasts. We stayed for lunch, enjoying a dish of black beans, tortillas and coffee, as well as occasional glimpses of the young Venus walk- ing to and fro inside the hut, now and then stealing up to the door to get a look at the strangers outside. The old lady told us that her father came to this place from Jaltipan, on the Tehuantepec railway, and that all the inhabitants around La Venta speak Mexicano, i. e., Nahua. This settlement is Fic. 74—La Venta, Tab. Altar No. 3. LA ‘VENTA RUINS 87 undoubtedly recent, as are also the Nahua settlements at Moloacan, Ixhuatlan, and Chichigapa, all on the Coatzacoaleos and its tribu- tary, the Uspanapa. After our meal the guides brought us to a lot of land owned by an In- dian, Leopoldo Sarabia, and here showed us another huge altar. This, Altar 4, was a large square block of stone, 3.15 meters long along the top, 1.90 meters deep, and with about 1.5 -\t 77 meters exposed above the ground. Po eeeciated the:mass o1 this blocks " “22 Vente, Tab. Ancised drawing to be at least 9 cubic meters. On its north side is an incised ornament along the upper rim of the table, and under this is a deep niche in which sits a human figure, legs crossed ‘Turkish fashion. The front of the altar had sunken into the ground, and only with some difficulty were we able to expose enough of the ornament to get a fairly good photograph of the figure (figs. 77-78). There is a strong Maya feeling about this monument. The person in the niche resembles figures on Stela E at Piedras Negras, and the design above the figure undoubtedly represents a conven- tionalized animal’s head. Fic. 76—La Venta, Tab. Colossal Head. 88 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Fic 77—La Venta, Tab. Altar No. 4. gee SORA NaS Tew as Fic. 78—La Venta, Tab. Altar No. 4. LA VENTA RUINS 89 For many years two large stone monuments have stood in the yard of the Instituto Juarez, a school in Villahermosa, the capital of the State of Tabasco. Reports differed as to where they had come from. Some people said that they came from Blasillo, others that they came from La Venta. We were able to get the history of these monuments and to ascribe them definitely to the ruins of La Venta. About twenty years ago Don Policarpo Valenzuela, of the well- known ‘Tabasco family, had a concession for cutting lumber in the territory along the Tonala river. He found these monuments and removed them from La Venta to Blasillo on the river with the help of the oxen he was using in hauling lumber. We were told that he had likewise tried to remove Altar 4, for which purpose he had dug a trench in front of the monument, but found it too heavy. He was unable to haul away the altar, and it sank down into the trench. The idols now found in Villa- hermosa are carved out of fine- grained sand stone just as the majority of the other idols of La Venta? ‘The larger of these represents a sitting fig- ure resting his hands on his feet. The smaller of the two has four faces, and is badly weathered. These two figures we have numbered Idols No. 1 and 2, number 1 being the larger (figs. 79-80). The last monument shown us was a sand stone block, 2.10 ae ty Lergenidel, pnewsin meters broad, 3.70 meters long, and 1.30 meters thick, lying on the side of a small hill. It may have fallen face down, and as we were not equipped to turn such a huge block of stone we could not see whether it had carvings on its under side. On the back of the stone are some incisions made in recent days with steel tools. The Indians told us that they had tried to break it to see what was inside it, as they often had seen smoke rising from the stone. I think this smoke can be explained by the fact that the sandstone is porous and soaks up water when it rains, and when heated by the 90 TRIBES AND TEMPLES sun, the evaporation would look like smoke. This monument mea- sures at least ten cubic meters. One more monument was reported by the Indians, but as it was said to be far away, and as we were anxious to get back to Puerto Mexico in order not to miss our boat, we did not see this. It might be well to summarize the discoveries at La Venta. We have here a collection of huge stone monuments, and at least one large pyramid. Some features of these monuments are similar to things seen by us in the Tuxtla region; other features are under strong influence of the Maya | culture to the east. The Maya features in Stela 2, the stand- ing figure with diagonal cere- monial bar and huge head-dress, and in Altars 3 and 4, are so strong that we are inclined to ascribe these ruins to the Maya culture. Upon our return to Blasillo our boatman had a good meal ready for us, and as soon as it had been consumed we started downstream towards Tonala. The ebb and flood is very notice- able in these rivers during the dry season, and salt water runs far inland during flood tide. The Indians always take into consideration the ebb and flow when they travel on the rivers in their dugouts. Fic. 80—La Venta, Tab. T Idol i It was after dark when we ec A or lahermasas reached 'Tonalé and went ashore to sleep in one of the Indian houses, and early the next morning we returned to Puerto Mexico. Several times the steamer for Frontera was reported delayed and when it finally arrived we were more than eager to leave. We had the choice of two boats for leaving Puerto Mexico, either the National steamer, “Jalisco,” on which Mr. Gates and his party were to arrive, or a large twin screw motor boat “Reina” belonging to the Aguila Oil Company. The “Jalisco” plies up and down the coast, and does not enter the port of Frontera, but anchors outside the mouth of the river. ‘This means that equipment has to be un- SHIPWRECK 91 loaded into barges and brought into Frontera by that means. The “Reina,” on the other hand, was scheduled to go direct to the wharf of Frontera and from there up the Grijalva river to Villahermosa, for which place we were bound. We, therefore, chose the latter for our trip. Mr. Gates and his party arrived in due course and brought us mail from home, and the following evening the “Jalisco” and the “Reina” left Puerto Mexico, both of them carrying Tulane scien- tists. The “Reina” is a big tub with a heavy mast set right in the middle of the boat and a tremendous cabin and bridge tacked on clear aft. The crew consisted of twelve Mexicans and the passen- gers, two geologists of the Aguila Oil Company, Messrs. Campbell and Reed, the two Tulane men, a Mexican Government oil inspector and his huge revolver, and a family, or rather a litter, of Mexicans consisting of a man, cheerfully drunk, who spent his day spitting on the deck, and smoking cigars as near the gasoline cargo as he could get, a woman lying on the deck groaning with seasickness, and a half dozen kids who took turns in howling at the top of their voices. We strung our hammocks on the boom, and the Mexican family camped right below us. It was an unattractive lot to look upon from our lofty position, and we could hardly get out of our ham- mocks without stepping on at least one of the youngsters. About dawn we had a cup of coffee to drink, and a coffee cup full of water to wash ourselves in, whereafter we returned to our hammocks. During the early morning we made good headway towards the east, with the low sand dunes of the coast in sight all the time, but suddenly the boat started to travel around in figure- eights and circles, as if the captain had gone mad and were chasing porpoises. At first nobody knew what was the matter, but even- tually it was discovered that we had only lost our rudder. For a short time the captain tried to sail without it, but at last he gave this up and issued orders to anchor in sight of the Tupilco light- house. Tupilco is probably the place Cortes mentions in his fifth letter to Charles V. He describes the crossing of a river at Cupilco, and this 1s probably identical with this place.* The captain sent two men ashore, ordering them to try to get through to El Paraiso and from there to communicate with Puerto Mexico and instruct the oil company to send out a tug boat to rescue Us. *Cortes, MacNutt Edition. Vol. II., Page 2384. 92 TRIBES AND TEMPLES All day long we watched the coast to see if our messengers were coming back. Darkness fell, and then we saw some lights on the shore, but after some discussion it was decided not to send in our boats, as those signalling might be bandits. At dawn the next morning we finally saw a large fire, and the boat was sent in, bring- ing back our two messengers. ‘They had gone to the lighthouse on foot and from there in canoes to Paraiso. In this place they stayed for an hour, sending off telegrams and getting a little food, where- upon they immediately returned. ‘They were not the people who had lighted the fire the previous evening. By noon the crew had rigged up a new rudder made out of a pipe and some boards, and, steering with this, we again started on our way to Frontera. The rudder worked quite well, but progress was slow. Fortunately for us the sea was quiet, as in case of a storm we would undoubtedly have been swept up on the coast. Several times we sailed through large schools of porpoises, and once we saw a shark chasing a big fish. It was a great battle, the shark churning the sea and spinning around, the fish sometimes jumping clear out of the water across the shark. We did not linger to see how the struggle ended. Towards dark a wind began to blow, the waves were crested with white, and as night fell the water was shining with a bluish green phosphorescence. It was very beautiful and strange. ‘The moon rose fiery red, and everybody was on constant lookout for the low coast, as for a long time we could not see the lighthouse of Frontera. At last it came in sight and at about 10:00 p. m. we anchored, as it would be too dangerous to try to enter the river at night. The following morning we had to wait a long time for the pilot boat to come out, and when it arrived, it was only a small launch. They tried to tow us, but did more damage than good, and finally left us to zig-zag our own way up the river to the town. Frontera is the only port of the rich State of Tabasco. Formerly it had a large trade in the agricultural products of the State. Its main exports were cattle, cocoa, coffee, bananas, and mahogany and cedar wood. As the State is rich, it has been a “happy hunting ground” for rebels and bandits. The town is more attractive than Puerto Mexico, having many red tiled brick houses, and a pretty park. ‘Today its trade is small. A few mahogany companies still receive rafts of logs which come drifting down the river from Chiapas, and an oil company has its headquarters here, but the banana companies have all withdrawn, partly due to the uncertain conditions as to delivery of fruit, and partly to the rulings of the labor government of the State. AN) es NN N NN \ AN Nw PAW ARRAN baa S Part of The State of TABASCO MEXICO ala Venta ed. Blasillo RioHias Lite ey oe et oe oo ae oe pera —- as ae CHAPTER V THE MAYA COUNTRY The first pomt on the American mainland to be reached by Europeans was Cape Catoche in northern Yucatan. The first In- dian tribe met by the Europeans on the mainland was the Maya. For many years this courageous tribe waged a fierce fight against the strangers. The Spaniards were in quest chiefly of loot, and as the Mayas gave them much trouble, and little gold was found in their country, they centered their energies upon the highlands of Mexico where gold was plentiful. Moreover, the Maya civilization was in decay, and the Aztec civilization at its zenith at the time of the Con- querors. Much was written home to Spain about the latter, and very little about the former. It is only during the last fifty years that scientists have begun to realize that the Maya race produced the highest civilization of the American continent, and only very recently has the world taken an interest in this ancient civilization. The “Maya area,” as we now style it, lies between 87° and 95° west longitude and 15° and 22° north latitude. Roughly, it may be said to extend from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on the west to the northwest part of Spanish Honduras on the east. To the north it is bounded by the Mexican Gulf and the Caribbean Sea, and to the south by the Sierra Madre Mountains. The present-day geographical division is the States of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo of the Republic of Mexico, British Honduras, the greater part of the Republic of Guatemala, and the northeastern fringe of the Republic of Hon- duras. Linguistically, this area is inhabited by peoples who speak May- ance dialects up to this day. Only one outlying zone of Maya lan- guage exists—the Huasteca, living along the Panuco River in the northern part of the State of Veracruz. By the hand of nature the area has been divided into two sec- tions, and strangely enough these sections correspond to the two major divisions of Maya history. As we now stand in our knowl- edge of this history, we divide it into two periods, the Old and the New Empires. Roughly, a line drawn from the Laguna de Tér- minos on the Gulf Coast to Chetumal Bay on the Caribbean, marks the division. What lies south of this line pertains to the Old Em- pire, and what lies north to the New Empire. 93 94 TRIBES AND TEMPLES The greater part of the area in which the Old Empire culture developed is, but for the plains of Tabasco and the lowlands of Petén, a mountain region. The landscape is broken by limestone ranges, intersected by broad valleys. ‘The general trend of the mountains is from northwest to southeast, following the line of the main geological fault. When studying the maps of the region one will see that in Tabasco, Chiapas, and the highlands of Guatemala there are many rivers. In the Petén, on the other hand, rivers are scarce, the ancient cities generally being located beside aguadas, or water holes. Geologically, the State of Tabasco is quaternary, but as soon as the mountain ranges are reached, one gets into tertiary limestone which continues until the Sierra Madre is reached, close to the Pacific coast. In the New Empire region, 1. e., on the peninsula of Yucatan, conditions are different. ‘The limestone underlying this area is young (quaternary) and very porous, so we do not find any rivers. The vegetation is chiefly of bush character. ‘The ancient settlers were forced to build their cities by water holes or caves containing water, as, for example, the Cenotes at Chichén Itza, or the caves of Bolonchén. Up to the present day, the inhabitants of the whole of this area speak languages of Maya stock, as already stated. In most archaeological fields one is able to follow the develop- ment of culture from a very primitive stage. 'The deeper one digs, the more primitive are the objects found. This is called archae- ological stratification. By a careful study of such stratification the archaeologist is able to follow the gradual development of the an- cient inhabitants of one particular place, and_to estimate the ap- proximate age of the objects found. Such stratifications are well known, for example, in Egypt and in the Mexican Valley. But no such stratification has as yet been found in the Maya country. In most parts of the area bed rock is reached after a few feet of digging; only objects from the fully developed culture period, but hardly any primitive objects have been found. The question arises: Where did the Maya race come from? By the way of answer, a multitude of theories have been launched, most of them based on superficial resemblances between Maya ob- jects and the products of cultures from other parts of the world. Some maintain that the Mayas came from Egypt, or even are descendents of African races; some place the cradle of the Mayas on the lost continent of Atlantis; and others say that they arrived from Asia on elephants with their culture fully developed. MAYA ORIGIN 95 The theory of an Asiatic origin is probably nearest to the truth. but the tribes who migrated from Asia left that continent at a very low stage of development. They drifted slowly down to the North American continent into Central America. In the rich Central American highlands and valleys they cultivated maize, or corn, built up a culture, and constructed mounds. From this centre the culture spread—returned north, and also extended towards the south, carrying the corn culture along with it. Many things indicate that the Maya culture was indigenous to Central America, but they cannot be discussed in this short descrip- tion. Only this much can be stated—that when we first meet the Maya, i. e., when the monuments were executed which carry the oldest dates, they already had a fully developed system of writing, and were experts in handling numerals, chiefly for the purpose of astronomical calculations. We find them at full cultural swing just around the time of the birth of Christ. They carved hieroglyphs on stone, built temples of cut limestone blocks and mortar, and ar- ranged them around squares oriented to the cardinal points. We have already spoken of the Tuxtla statuette as having the oldest date on record on the American Continent (98 B.C.) ‘The next is the Leyden Plate dated 8-14-3-1-12 1 Eb 0 Yaxkin (60 A.D.) Both these objects are light of weight and carved in jadite. The oldest large standing monument is in Uaxactun, Depart- ment of Petén, Guatemala, where Stela No. 9 records the vear 68 A. D.* These dates are intriguing. The Tuxtla statuette was found out- side the western limits of the Maya area, the Leyden plate near its eastern boundaries, and Stela 9 from Uaxacttin stands in a ruined city in the center of the area in which the Old Empire flourished. Around this latter place are a series of monuments on which are engraved very early dates, and it is therefore likely that the Maya culture had its first growth in the heart of what is now the big forests of the Department of Petén.t Our sources of information of the history and activities of the ancient Maya can be divided into the following groups: ancient manuscripts and inscriptions on stone written in Maya hieroglyphs; historical records written in the Maya language but with Spanish characters; descriptions written in the Spanish language by people who arrived in the Maya country shortly after the Conquerors; and finally, archaeological and ethnological data collected by modern explorers among the Maya speaking people. *Discovered by Dr. S. G. Morley of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. tMorley, 1925. 96 TRIBES AND TEMPLES Under the first of these headings fall a vast number of hiero- glyphic inscriptions on stone, wood, shell, and bone, as well as three hieroglyphic manuscripts written on paper made of ficus tree bark covered with a fine surface of chalk. These three manuscripts, the Dresden codex, the Tro-Cortesianus codex, and the Perez codex are preserved in European libraries. The deciphering of the hieroglyphs is advancing rapidly. Thirty years ago little was known as to what they contained. Now every- thing relating to the astronomical calculations of the sun, i. e., the Solar Calendar, can be read. We know that the monuments con- tain dates and astronomical calculations, and it is believed that they furthermore contain some historical data. 'The manuscripts more justly may be called books of astrology combined with astronomical tables. To the second group belong the books of Chilan Balam, the Popol Vuh, and the Anals of the Cakchiquels, written by Indians who had learned to use the Spanish characters shortly after the Conquest. The Conquerors themselves were more occupied with wielding the sword than the pen, so it fell to the clergy to write the first records about the Mayas. Foremost among the sources of the his- tory of the Mayas stands the “Relaciones de las Cosas de Yucatan,” by Bishop Landa, closely followed by books of Cogolludo, Lizana, Remesal, Nuriez de la Vega, and others. Most of what we know regarding the religion and customs of the ancient Maya we draw from these sources. Under the last heading comes a multitude of explorations done in the various fields of Maya research in recent times, such as studies of language and dialects, and records of: the daily life, the superstitions and beliefs of the now living Mayance Indians, as well as explorations of the ruined cities. The greater part of the Mayance Indians of today are officially Catholic, but when living among them one soon discovers that they really lead, so to say, an archaeological life. They worship the Catholic Saints with pagan ceremonies. They live much as their forefathers, and have adopted exceedingly few modern facilities, of which the most important is the machete, or steel bush knife. Turning to the history of the Mayas, we soon see that the writ- ten sources begin with purely mythological data, and do not reach historical ground before the period when the Mayas founded a colony at Bacalar, in the southern part of the peninsula at Yucatan. This means that we have no history connected with the Old Empire region, the region where we find such great quantities of ruined cities. We must, therefore, reconstruct the history of the Old Km- CONQUEST OF TABASCO 97 pire on the basis of our knowledge of the New Empire, helped by a study of the architecture and art expressed in the Old Empire cities, as well as of the life now led by the Indians of Maya descent. Today huge tropical forests cover the greater part of the coun- try in which the Maya culture was developing towards its first great period two thousand years ago. The oldest cities, Uaxactiin and Tikal, lie in the heart of the jungle. There the large public squares between the buildings are covered with impenetrable bush; the pyramids lie hidden under a carpet of trees and vines; and the roots of big trees are penetrating the walls of the temples, day by day completing their destruction. Disembarking in Frontera, we stepped on Maya soil. T‘rom this point onward, we were going to explore the area inhabited by the ancient Maya race; so we again halted a few days to finish our notes on the country which we had passed over, and to freshen up our knowledge of the country and people which we were about to study. Entering the mouth of the Grijalva river we again reached his- toric ground. It was, as a matter of fact, the ground touched by the first Kuropean Conquerors on their first voyage. In 1518 Gri- jalva discovered this river, trading with the Indians along its banks and giving them glass beads for gold. Again in 1519 the Cortes expedition entered the river. Only one of the three ships of this expedition could cross the bar. Upon entering the river, the Span- iards found it full of Indian canoes crowded with great numbers of armed men. At first the relations between Indians and Spaniards were friendly; but it was not long before war broke out. Several battles were fought, and here for the first time horses were used on the American Continent. Both horses and firearms were new to the aborigines and threw them into consternation, leaving victory with the small troop of Spaniards. The main battle was fought at Centla, and several investigations have been made to locate this place. The general supposition is that it was at the place now called Bellota, across the river from the modern Frontera. Just opposite Frontera is the ranch El Coco, formerly owned by Americans who made excavations of several ancient Indian mounds. From this ranch there is said to be a long string of mounds extend- ing as far as the Laguna del Remate. The first modern explorer to visit the ruins of Centla was Berendt, whose notes were published by Brinton. Charnay saw some ruins near Bellota, and tells us that burnt brick was used there 98 TRIBES AND TEMPLES in the construction of temples on the top of mounds. He also pic- tures a stucco relief. Finally, Seler visited the ruins and published some photographs of mounds. The Tulane Expedition did not go to Centla, but as we later explored the ruins at Comalcaleo and found them to be constructed of burnt brick and to have stucco reliefs on their walls, it is well to make note here of the similarity of the mounds at Bellota and those of Comalecalco. In Frontera we paid a visit to the Forestry Inspector, the en- gineer, Mr. Fraire, who has made a detailed study of the vegeta- tion of the Tabasco coast. He has travelled much in the region, and as he is a man of many interests he has also made a small col- lection of antiquities. Among the objects he was kind enough to show us were two copper bells, all that were left of eight found near Sotavento Chico, by Carmen, in the vicinity of the Bellota ruins. This checks well with the reports of the Conquerors that there were many copper implements among the Tabasco Indians. ‘This cop- per must have come into the region through trade with Toltee or Nahua traders, as no copper is found in the alluvial plains of Ta- basco. Accordingly these objects must be of late date, since we know as a fact that the Old Empire Maya did not possess this metal. A feature of importance mentioned by Berendt is that the mounds are covered by a layer of stucco, making the earth works appear to be of stone.* Cortes’ party brought with it several interpreters, among whom Geronimo de Aguilart was foremost. He was able to speak to the Indians of Tabasco in the language he had learnt during his stay as a prisoner amongst the Mayas of Yucatan. There is, therefore, no doubt that we here have true Maya Indians, and that at Frontera we had reached the Old Maya territory. It was also here that Cortes received the Indian girl, Malinche, later Dofia Marina, as a gift from the chief of the country, one Tabzcoob {or Tabasco) from whom the whole province later was named. In the Fraire collection were some specially fine specimens of clay figurines from the banks of the Usumacinta river (fig. 81). From Tenosique, where this river comes out of the Chiapas lime- stone mountains and winds its ways through alluvial plains to Fron- tera, the high water of the rainy season each year washes a multi- tude of clay objects out of its banks. These objects are gathered by *Diaz, Bernal. Edition 1632, Page 8—Charnay, 1880. English Translation, 1888, Page 187, ff—Berendt, 1869, Published by Brinton, 1896—Seler, E., 1904. Vol. V.. Page 149. fRegarding Geronimo de Aguilar, see S. K. Lothrop, ‘‘The Ruins of Tulum.’”’ Carnegie Inst., 1924. JONUTA MOUNDS 99 the Indians and offered for sale. Mr. Fraire had collected several good examples, of which we shall reproduce only a few. One is a small clay head of a man, exquisitely modeled, and showing artificial flattening of the forehead and tatooing around the corners of the mouth. ‘This artificial flattening of the forehead is typical in the figures represented in stucco on the walls of the temples at Palenque. The tatooing has as yet not been noted there, but is nearly always seen on clay figurines from the mounds at the town Jonuta, on the lower Usumacinta river. This gives an opportunity to say a few words about the mounds at Jonuta. Where the two branches of the Usumacinta livece leet. there “are, several mounds, one of which is quite large. This large mound lies so that it has a dominant view of both arms of the-river. From its foot the town of Jonuta ex- tends downstream. Constant ex- cavations for streets and house foundations there have brought to light a large amount of pot- tery figurines. These all show a skillfull modeling, and all are of distinct Old Empire type. When the writer passed through Jonuta several years ago, he was so fortunate as to secure a few of them (fig. 82). They are generally in the form of hollow whistles with a mouth- Fra. 1 Fgontera, Tab, ava Cay Ever piece and from one to five holes for notes. The figure most commonly represented is an owl-like animal, but human figures are also frequent. It should be noted that the figurines found along the Usumacinta and down to a short distance from the coast are all typically Old Empire. Then just along the coast appear a series of figurines either of a type similar to those found on the east coast of Yucatan, such as one in the Fraire collection, or like an incense bowl belong- ing to Captain Stout of Frontera, which is extraordinarily like the 100 TRIBES AND TEMPLES bowls made by the present-day Lacandon Indians in the heart of the Chiapas forests. Captain Stout told the writer that this bowl had been found together with a similar, though somewhat smaller, bowl in a mound quite close to the coast west of Frontera. In the outskirts of the town of Frontera to the east are a few ancient mounds. ‘The Tulane Expedition visited and studied them, but as we did not dig in- to them, they rendered little information. The only thing of interest were some fragments of a stucco floor, found by the side of an excavation | made for the placing of Fic. 82—Jonuta, Tab. Maya Clay Figurine. a telephone post. The material of this floor was identical with the floors in other Maya mounds. Upstream on the right bank of the river, in the southern end of the town, at a place called Pravia, are some more mounds. We only place on record the fact of their existence, as we did not visit them. While staying in Frontera we were assisted in many ways by both the American Consul, Mr. Ott, and the chief and staff of the International Oil Company. Several delightful hours were spent with these American gentlemen, and they furnished us with much valuable information. Here it was, for example, that we learned from the company’s land agent, Mr. Young, about the document relating to Dofia Marina’s property at Jaltipan on the Isthmus, and it was here that the company’s engineers and surveyors placed maps and observations at our disposal. It was a great help to us to check our own information as to the magnetic declination for the area with the observations made by the men of the International in their dif- ferent oil camps. The usual small game of trying to overcharge us was played by the local stevedores. The “best” local hotel was found to be just fit for pigs. We found quarters in a small house on a grass covered street, and deeply enjoyed a change in our diet of black beans by partaking of the meals at the International’s mess. On the Tabasco rivers are many kinds of transportation, vary- ing from native canoes to stern wheelers and fast oil company launches. The first boat out of town was a barge with gasoline motor, a flat bottomed boat with a two story cabin. Though we had a cabin to ourselves, it was so stuffy that we preferred to rig our hammocks up on deck. At nightfall we left Frontera, and as VILLAHERMOSA 101 we labored up against the current, we passed the launch of the Governor of the State of Tabasco, Tomas Garrido. It looked like a moving circus. On the roof of the cabin was an orchestra, and tied to the railing along the stern was a flock of turkeys and chickens. A bunch of heavily armed Lazzaroni formed the guard for this most powerful man. if Long before dawn we were chased out of our hammocks by a heavy shower, and thereafter huddled together under our rubber ponchos with our backs against the wall of the cabin. We tried to sleep, but did not have much success. Daylight came, and with that, some food. Then the sun broke through the clouds and dried us out. The banks of the river are low, and planted with bananas. Here and there lie plantation houses, all in an advanced state of decay. Twice we passed the wrecks of steamers which had been dynamited by the rebels during the last revolution to stop the Government gun boats from approaching the capital of the State, Villahermosa. Sighting a fast launch, we signaled it to come alongside, and the owner took us on board. This made better progress than our barge, and by noon we at last reached Villahermosa, and there found Mr. Gates and the two agronomists of the Tulane Botanical Expedi- tion, Messrs. Hartenbower and Haskell. Villahermosa is the Spanish for “Beautiful City,” but alas, the name is the only thing beautiful about that place. To quote La Farge, verbatim, “There is little to say about it except that it is mis- named and smells worse than any town we have yet been in. The mediaeval atmosphere is completely preserved.” Dirt and flies were so plentiful that we decided to leave the following day. Mr. Gates put his important botanical projects aside for a few days and joined us in order to make himself acquainted with our archaeological work. Here again we met difficulties in buying animals, and as we were to return through Villahermosa a string of animals were hired to take us to Comalealco. The country between the capital of the State and the town of Comalcalco consists of alluvial plains cut by many rivers, and covered with extensive pastures and scattered groups of trees. During the dry season it is preferable to travel at night, and we therefore left Villahermosa about 4:30 p. m. An hour’s ride from the town we reached Tierra Colorada, where we had to cross a broad and swift river called Rio Hondo, or Gon- zales, or Platano—all rivers here appear to have several names. Here our animals had to be unsaddled, and swim across, while we and our luggage went over in canoes. 102 TRIBES AND TEMPLES An hour later we forded the Rio Cedro and then rode at a quick trot towards the north and northwest. For a long distance we fol- lowed the river bank. It was like riding through a beautiful park, and the trail being a “Camino Real,” we found it well cleared. It was growing dark, and we hastened more, knowing that the people living at the next river crossing usually did not come out to ferry travelers over the river after nightfall. The night was magnificent with millions of stars and millions of fireflies. Fortunately we found an Indian with a lantern at the second pass and persuaded him with silver to ferry us over the river. Picturesque enough was the black water, the heads of the snorting horses alongside and an Indian at each end of the canoe balancing an 18-foot paddle. On and on we rode until after 11 o’clock we clattered in on the cobble stone pavement of the village of Nacajuca. A nice, small town it was, with red tiled roofs and colonnades in front of the houses. Here and there hung a kerosene lamp. ‘The noise of our cavalcade brought the dogs out to bark. Not a soul did we see until we reached the Plaza, where we found two heavily armed policemen and the local inebriate, celebrating with a phonograph. To our question, where we could find quarters for the night, the village drunkard replied by leading us to the house of one Doria Teresa. Several times we knocked on her door without getting any answer. Again and again our friend called, “Dofia Teresa, Dofia Teresa.” We were just going to give up hopes of getting into what was said to be the only Inn of Nacajuca when we spied the flickering light of a candle through a crack in the door and heard whispering voices inside. ‘Two women were discussing whether or not it would be safe to open the doors at that time of night; it might be bandits or rebels. Then one of the doors opened slightly and those within caught a glimpse of the writer’s travel-soiled and blonde hair. Strange as it sounds, that sight induced her to open the door, and we were ad- mitted into a vast room in which were two chairs and one table in addition to a child’s bed in a far corner. We unloaded our animals outside the house and then led them right through the parlor out into the back yard. While we were hanging up our hammocks, the old lady produced a good meal. The outstanding feature of Nacajuca is its jail, not that we got into it, but we were impressed by it as we rode past. The building looks solid, has two heavy wooden doors with monstrous locks, and an inscription in red letters on its end wall: “Sal $i Puedes,’ which means “Get out if you can” (fig. 83). The road beyond Nacajuca was good and hard, but this was the dry season; when it rains, it must be nothing more than a ditch full of mud. Along the sides of the road are rows of a century-plant NACAJUCA 103 called Ixtle, from the fibre of which rope is made, and the finest of these fibres look like silk. We know that it was used for textiles in ancient times. Just after having passed through another town, Jalpa, we were told that a bridge on the direct road to Comalealco had broken down. We therefore made a detour, but soon had to get a guide, who took us over narrow back-trails out to the main road again. This same gentleman carried a bottle of rum as his provisions, and every time he met a friend they had to stop and talk business. Chichigalpa was the last small Indian town we rode through be- fore we crossed the stone bridge and entered Comalcalco. This town consists of one interminable street lined by white houses with red tiled roofs. At the northern end is the Plaza with Fic. 83—Nacajuca, Tab. The Village Jail. The inscription on the wall reads: “Get out if you can.” royal palms and an attractive church. We clattered along until we found the Municipal President’s house. There we showed our credentials. The document had been written in the office of the Governor of the State. As the government calls itself bolshevik, both letterhead, text, and signature were in red. That is what one may call thorough. The effect was instantaneous.