e OF CAUFOHNIA o o THl UMVMSrTY o 8 \ o TK K> A*VWn 3HL o ' V Or CALIFORNIA o SANTA BARBARA \ / o VWWVfl V1H * o do Awmn IHI IHI UMAHY OF e I AUSliAINO 3H1 e VUV9UV9 Vltm o \ O THE LIBRARY Of o WflKMITVO JO o OF CAlFOtNM o O THE UNIVERSITY o s SANTA ftAABARA O THE UNTVEtSITT O \ o VWMV9 V1NVS o \ e Of CAtffOtNIA o o JU1SWAINO 3H1 o THE UN1VCT5ITY o S e OF CAUfOKNIA o SANTA BARBARA THE UNIVERSITY o 8 JO ABVKn 3H1 o THE IIMARY OF e SANTA BARBARA o VUV9HV9 V1NV o VINDCWIIVD iO \ e THE LIBRARY OF I O VWOTVt V1NVS e OF CMIFORNM e ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. BOSTON: C.H. PEIRCE AND G.C.RAND THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, ANTIQUITIES OF THE INDIANS NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA: BY THE AUTHOR OF PETER PARLEY'S TALES BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY RAND AND MANN, No. 3 ConihilL 1 i4U. L , , PKESS OF GEORGE C. R.VN1J & CO. PREFACE. WE have already given to the public two volumes upon the Indians of North and South America. The first, entitled " Lives of Famous Indians," presented the history of some of the master spirits of the red race ; the second, entitled a " History of the American Indians," was designed to furnish a brief outline of their story, from the earliest existing records to the present time. We now offer a view of the Manners, Customs, and Antiquities of the Indians, both of the northern and southern portion of the Continent. The subject is erceedinJPfertile in curious phe- nomena, and, though our brief space confines us to mere sketches, we believe enough is presented to enlist the sympa- fhy of the reader, and to open new sources of deep and touch- ing interest. The picture of one of the great families of our race living apart from the rest of the world, and working out their destiny in isolation, presenting the spectacle of man's progress when left as a savage without contact with civilization IV PREFACE. for ages, cannot fail to urge a strong claim to our attention. The varied phases of humanity, under such circumstances, will be found to suggest many new views of human nature, and will doubtless lead to many useful reflections. CONTENTS FAGE. THE MEXICAN INDIANS, ...... 7 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA, .... 89 INDIANS OF PERU, 105 THE ARAUCANJANS, r 164 THE ABIPONES, . . . . . . . 174 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES, .... 178 THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA, . . . 186 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE SAVAGE TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA, 189 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE LEADING INDIAN TRIBES OF THE WEST, . ^^ . . . 295 HASHERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS, THE MEXICAN INDIANS. WHEN Cortes landed upon the coast of Mexico, in 1519, the country immedia^j^ around the city of Mexico, bore the general nQPI of Anahuac. This embraced several states, \vmcn at this period con- stituted the proper kingdom of the emperor, Mon- tezuma, though he exercised domain over a much wider territory. The regions occupied by the Mex- icans, had been long peopled, but the early inhabi- tants were savages. A nation called Toltecs came hither from the north, probably in the seventh cen- tury, and settled there. These were skilled m O THE MEXICAN INDIANS. agriculture, the mechanic arts, architecture and astron- omy. They were therefore the source of that civili- zation which was found among their successors, the Aztecs, or Mexicans. The noble ruins of religious and other edifices, found in Central America and the contiguous regions, are referred to this people. After three or four centuries, this race, who had extended their dominion over the whole of Anahuac, being greatly reduced by war, famine and pestilence, disappeared, and probably emigrated to the south, where they founded the cities of Copan, Palenque, &c., whose majestic ruins still excite the wonder of the beholder. The Toltecs were followed by other races, some of them in a savage state, and others bearing the marks of incipient civilization. Among these were the Az- tecs, or Mexicans, and the Tezcucans, who in due time became the masters of such portions of the coun- try as they occupied. While the former remained in a state of poverty, the latter rose to a considerable pitch of prosperity and po\ver. They continued, however, to maintain an alliance with each other; though their two camMk, Mexico and Tezcuco, both on the Mexican Lak^^Pcame populous and wealthy cities. By degrees the Mexicans triumphed over the diffi- culties by which they had been oppressed, and under a series of able kings had stretched their dominion across the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This extent of empire is remarkable, considering it as the acquisition of a people who had recently been confined to a single city. This point in the history THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 9 of the Mexicans, bears a singular analogy to that of Rome in her earlier days. The history of the conquest of Mexico* cannot be detailed here : it will be sufficient to say, that after landing on the continent, Cortes received assistance from the Tlascalans, and, marching to Mexico, he speedily made himself master of that capital. The whole country soon fell under the Spanish dominion, in which condition it remained till the people declared their independence, in 1821 ; since that period it has been a separate state. The population of the territory of Mexico, or Ana- huac, at the time of its conquest, cannot be easily estimated ; but it is supposed to have been, at least, equal to what it is at present ; which is about eight millions. It is probable, indeed, that it was even greater. INHABITANTS. When Cortes landed among this strange people, separated by the ocean from civilized and enlightened nations and surrounded by savages, he was still surprised to find that they possessed many arts and customs of civilization, strangely blended with atrocious barbarities. Their countenances appeal lave been equally enigmatical ; for while their rormd faces, farther re- moved from the oval than that of any other people, bore, to a casual observer, an innocent expression, it disguised their more uniformly sullen and distrustful character. Their foreheads were low, their lips thick, and their noses pointed down towards their upper lip. Their hair was straight and black ; their eyes, small * See "History of the Indians of North and South America." 10 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. and black or chesnut colored ; they were keen-sighted, and discerned objects at a great distance. Although the men were well shaped, they had not hardy consti- tutions, a fact which the Spaniards imputed to their spare diet. DRESS. The men wore two or three mantles over three or four vests oM^rious colors, which were woven in figures of anim^Hptd flowers, of feathers and fine rabbit hair ; they wore also a very large belt with the ends twisted and hanging before and behind. The women were attired in a square mantle about four feet long, two ends of which were tied upon the breast or on one shoulder; the gown was a square cloth in which they wrapped themselves from the waist down to the middle of the leg. This, with an under vest or waistcoat, completed their usual costume. THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 11 The dress of the poorer classes was made of coarse thread from the mountain palm, while that of the rich was of the finest cotton embellished with many colors. The nobles wore shoes worked with gold and jewels, and soled with leather, while the poorer people sub- stituted for these a coarse cloth of the palm, tied with strings. The hair was worn long, and floated on their shoul- ders, or was bound in tresses. All classes except the consecrated virgins thought they were dishonored by having the hair cut. There was much extravagance and display in feathers and jewels ; their necklaces and bracelets were of pearls, emeralds and amethysts ; in their ears, upper lips and noses they also wore jewels, and those who could afford nothing better, even deco- rated themselves with shells and pieces of crystal. The Mexicans, like all Indian nations, had a pecu- liar fancy for painting their bodies of a red color with a certain kind of earth, found among them. The mine of Guancavelica was formerly of no other use than to supply them with materials for painting their bodies. Cinnabar was also employed for the same purpose. It may seem strao^^tluit those whose natural color was red, should WH^t color for artifi- cial decoration ; but connoisseOTWn dress, who un- derstand the harmony of colors, know that strong contrasts do not so well display the complexion as the hues which blend with each other. A husband's toilette was of infinitely more impor- tance than the wife's ; the most beautiful jewels were reserved for him, and she often spent much time in painting her lord and master. 12 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. The taste for magnificence in decoration and dis- play, is exhibited in the following description, from Mr. Prescott's history, of the first interview between Montezuma and Cortes. " The Spaniards now beheld the glittering retinue of the emperor, emerging from the great street which led then, as it does now, through the heart of the city. Amidst a crowd of Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of state, bearing golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin blazing with burnished gold. It was borne on the shoulders of nobles, and over it a canopy of gaudy feather work, powdered with jewels, and fringed with silver, was supported by four attendants of the same rank. They were barefooted, and walked with a slow, measured pace, and with eyes bent on the ground. When the train had come within a conve- nient distance, it halted, and Montezuma, descending from his litter, came forward, leaning on the arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan, his nephew and brother, both of whom, as we have seen, had already been known to the Spaniards. As the mon- arch advanced under the canopy, the obsequious attendants strewedBfck ground with cotton tapestry, that his imperial Blight not be contaminated by the rude soil. Hil^TODjects, of high and low degree, who lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward, with their eyes fastened on the ground as he passed, and some of the humbler class prostrated themselves before him. Such was the homage paid to the Indian despot, showing that the slavish forms of Oriental adulation were to be found among the rude inhabitants of the Western World. THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 13 " Montezuma wore the girdle and ample square cloak, tilmatli, of his nation. It was made of the finest cot- ton, with the embroidered ends gathered in a knot around his back. His feet were defended by sandals having soles of gold, and the leather thongs which bound them to his ankles were embossed with the same metal. Both the cloak and sandals were sprin- kled with pearls and precious stones, among which the emerald and the chalchivitl a green stone, of higher estimation than any other among the Aztecs were conspicuous. On his head he wore no other orna- ment than a panache of plumes of the royal green, which floated down his back, the badge of military, rather than of regal rank. " He was at this time about forty years of age. His person was tall and thin, but not ill-made. His hair, which was black and straight, was not very long : to wear it short was considered unbecoming persons of rank. His head was thin ; his complexion somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather copper- colored, race. His features, though serious in their expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, indeed, of dejection, which cbfl^^rizes his portrait, and which may well have s^l Hi them at a later period. He moved with digrnr^^md his whole de- meanor, tempered by an expression of benignity, not to have been anticipated from the reports circulated of his character, was worthy of a great prince." The taste for display was by no means confined to the monarch, for it was visible in the dress of all ranks. v. 2 14 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. House of the better class. DWELLINGS. The Mexicans affirmed that when they first came to inhabit their country, they used no other materials for building houses than mud and reeds; but success attending their efforts, they built a better city, of good houses, principally of stone and lime, two stories high. Each house had a hall and a large court- yard. The chamberewere well arranged ; the floors were of plaster, ^^f^ level and smooth; and the roofs flat and rafl 'he best houses had terraced walls, so white amWmining, that they appeared at a distance to be of silver. Some houses had gardens with fish-ponds and walks symmetrically laid out. The larger ones had, likewise, two entrances, the principal one opening to the street and the other towards the water. Pietro Martin ?nys, " The doors of their houses and chambers were full of diverse kindes of shells hanging loose by small cordes; that, being THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 15 shaken by the wind, they make a certaine ratteling and also a whisteiing noise, by gathering the wind in their hollow places ; for herein they have great de- light, and impute this for a goodly ornament." In describing the habitations of the common peo- ple, we may also use the quaint language of Pietro. " They are made round like bells; their frame is raised of exceeding high trees, set close together and fast rampaired in the ground, so standing aslope and bending inward that the toppes of the trees joyne to- gether and bear one against another ; having also with- in the house certain strong and short proppes or posts, which sustayne the trees from falling. They cover them with the leaves of date trees strongly compact and hardened, wherewith they make them close from winde and weather. At the short posts, or proppes, within the house, they tie ropes of the cotton of gos- sampine trees, or other ropes made of certain long and rough roots ; these they tie athwart the house from post to post. On these they lay, as it were, certain mattresses made of the cotton of gossampine trees, which grow plentifully in these lands, and thus they sleepe in hanging beds." Like the rudest Indians, se^B ^pnilies often resi- ded under the same roof, withorBBmng any separate apartments. The common people, like most inhabi- tants of hot countries, appear to have been little soli- citous about their habitations, often taking shelter from the sun under thick trees, and forming a shed with their branches and leaves. Upon the Lake of Mexico they had floating islets, with dwelling huts upon them, which werj moved 16 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. from bay to bay, as the inhabitants required sunshine or shelter. The dwellings of the cities will be more particularly described hereafter. FOOD AND DRINK. The Mexicans raised maize, or Indian corn, for food, and used the manioc, which grows to the size of a large shrub, with roots like the parsnip. After carefully squeezing out the juice, these roots were grated down to a fine powder and made into thin cakes, which were called cassada bread. As the juice of the manioc is a poison, it has occasioned no little surprise that the Indians could convert it into nutritious food. The potato was common, and roasted The Pimento or Allspice tree. plantain supplied the place of bread. A favorite sea- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 17 soning for everything was the pimento, which yields an aromatic spice, and was almost deemed an elixir of life. Chocolate was of universal consumption, and the favorite drink of persons in every rank of life. Pulque, which is the fermented juice of the mag- uey, and is still used as a beverage in Mexico, was a common drink at their feasts. It is slightly intoxi- cating, and was sometimes taken to excess by the elder guests. Intemperance in the young was severely punished. Hunting and fishing likewise supplied them with food ; but a staple article was the flesh of their enemies taken in war, which they devoured with a rapacity equal to the most ferocious savages. It furnished the supply at their feasts, and was eaten raw. At other times the flesh of their enemies was salted .and pre- served, and presented to their nearest friends. At their entertainments, their table was well pro- vided with substantial meats and game, especially the turkey, which was abundant. They had vari- ous dishes of vegetables, and many delicious fruits. Their viands were prepared with delicate^ sauces^aifd;' seasoning. The palate was ak|Megaled by confec- tions and pastries, for which j^^^pand the flour of maize supplied ample rnateriaIs.'*At celebrations the flesh of a slave sacrificed for the purpose, and dressed with epicurean skill, formed a favorite embellishment of the feast. The meats were kept warm by chafing-dishes, and the table was ornamented with delicately wrought ware of silver and gold. They had drinking cups and spoons of the same materials, and also of tortoise B 2* 18 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. shell. They not only used chocolate, or ckocolatl, fla- vored with vanilla and different spices, as a drink, but the froth was converted into a solid form and eaten cold. The fermented juice of the maguey, in various forms, was the chief drink of the elder guests. The feast was closed by dancing, accompanied with plain- tive music. The women shared in these entertainments, which were often conducted on a magnificent scale. The guests were served by numerous attendants of both sexes. The halls were scented with perfumes, the courts strewed with fragrant flowers and plants, and rich bouquets were handed to the guests as they arrived. The ceremony of ablution was performed before and after eating ; cotton napkins and covers of water being placed for the purpose. After the meal, tobacco, mixed with aromatic sub- stances, was provided, either in pipes or in cigars, furnished with tubes of tortoise-shell or silver. Whether the women partook of this indulgence, as is now the custom in Mexico, we are not told. It ap- pears that they were accustomed to use tobacco in the form of snuflf. ^^ TRAVELLING. 'jHpmode of travelling by land was on foot, for theyraid no domestic quadrupeds, and by water, in canoes, with which they could easily ascend rivers against the rapidity of the stream. So inured were they to this labor, that no crew of white people could equal them. AMTJSEMENTS. The dance was their serious occu- pation, as well as their favorite amusement, and seems U> have accompanied all their important dealings with THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 19 each other. If an Indian came with an emblem of peace, he must approach with a solemn dance, while the caciques received him in the same manner. If war was denounced against an enemy, a dance expressed their resentment. If the wrath of the gods was to be appeased, or their beneficence celebrated, they danced. Rejoicing at the birth of a child, or mourning for its death, had both their appropriate dances ; nor were the sick and dying free from these tumults, for if una- ble themselves to join in the dance, their physician or conjurer performed the ceremony around them. While to the Spaniards their music seemed simple and monotonous, to the Mexicans it was in the high- est degree inspiring and animating. Their war-dance was a complete pantomime of their campaigns. It represented the solemn departure from their homes, their steady march upon the enemy, their caution in encamping, their skill in stationing their party in ambush, and their manner of surprising and rushing on the foe. Then succeeded the strug- gle of the combat, the seizing of the prisoners, the triumphant return, and the unrelenting torture of their victims. Into this spoj they entered with such wild enthusiasm, such ^^Hkent gestures and terrific countenances, that the Europeans could scarce believe it a mimic scene, or view it without emotions of fear and horror. They engaged in games of hazard with great eager- ness, as did the whole Indian nation ; while thus employed they became rapacious, noisy and almost frantic. They would stake all they possessed, and even their personal liberty, on a single cast of the 20 THE MEXICAN IKDIANS. die. Southey gives the following description of the amusement called the Flyers, founded on the account furnished by Clavigero. "But now a shout went forth ; the Flyers mount, And from all meaner sports the multitude Flock to their favorite pastime. In the ground, Branchless and bark'd, the trunk of some tall pine Is planted ; near its summit a square frame. Four cords pass through the perforated square And fifty times and twice around the tree, A mystic number, are entwined above. Four Aztecas, equipped with wings, ascend, And round them bind the ropes ; anon they wave Their pinions, and upborne on spreading plumes, Launch on the air and wheel in circling flight, The lengthening cords untwisting as they fly. A fifth above, upon the perilous point Dances and shakes a flag ; and on the frame Others the while maintain their giddy stand, Till now with many a round the wheeling cords Draw near their utmost length, and toward the ground The aerial circles speed ; then down the ropes They spring, and on their way from line to line Pass, while the shouting multitude endure A shuddering admiration." DOMESTIC LiFE^Blptwithstanding the atrocious customs which we nna among these ancient Mexi- cans, we shall find many pleasing traits in the picture of their domestic life. The women were handsome, possessing a serious and somewhat melancholy cast of countenance. They were treated with kindness by their husbands, spending their time in indolent repose, or the feminine occupations of spinning and embroidery. The maidens beguiled the hours by the THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 21 rehearsal of traditionary tales and ballads. The dis- cipline of children was severe, especially at the schools. When arrived at maturity, the girls were treated with great tenderness by their parents. They counselled them to preserve neatness of attire, personal cleanliness, simplicity of manners, and innocence in conversation. They inculcated modesty as the chief ornament of the sex, and enjoined implicit reverence for their husbands. They were accustomed to soften their counsel by many epithets of endearment, displaying the fulness of parental affection. There appears to have been much kindly inter- course in society. They consoled their friends in moments of affliction, and congratulated them upon the occasions of marriages, births and baptisms, ac- companying these attentions with costly presents of dresses and ornaments, or groups of chosen flowers. Ceremonial visits were regulated with Oriental pre- cision, and embellished with many expressions of esteem and affection. TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS. Among the instruments used by the Mexicans were hatchets of stone, shell, and bone. With these they not only formed their necessary utensils, but other 'fcbrks of art. Cold and phlegmatic in temperament, they would return to their task day after day, with the most tedious method, - and " the work of an Indian," was a phrase used among the Spaniards, when they wished to describe anything by which long time had been employed and much labor wasted. They were well acquainted with the mineral trea- sures of their kingdom ; not only silver and gold, but Z THE 3IEXICAN lead, tin and copper were in use. They had mines in the solid rock where they opened extensive galleries. As a substitute for iron, the use of which was un- known, they used an alloy of tin and copper. Of this bronze they made tools, with which they cut metals ; and by the aid of a silicious dust, they even wrought porphyry. They cast vessels of gold and silver, and chased them in a delicate manner with their metallic chisels. Some of their silver vases were so large, that a man could not encompass them with his arms. They possessed the wonderful art of so mixing their metals, that the feathers of a bird or the scales of a fish would be alternately of gold and silver. No European artizan could equal them in these delicate manufactures. An important cutting instrument was made of itzli, or obsidian, a hard, transparent min- eral, abundant in their hills. With this they wrought stone and alabasters for their public works. Of the same material they made knives, razors and serrated swords ; also mirrors, which were sometimes set in gold. PAINTING, SCULPTURE, &c. Painting was greatly used among the Mexicans, an art derived from the Toltecas. In a voMfibe preserved in the library at Bologna, there are particular historical events in their paintings, codes of laws, civil and religious, and records chronological, astronomical and astrological, together with their calendar, the position of the stars, changes of the moon, eclipses, and prognostications of the weather ; they painted, also, images of their gods and heroes. These the Spaniards regarded as emblems of heathen worship, and burned such as they found. They like- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 23 wise painted the geographical extent of their bounda- ries and possessions, the situation of places, and direc- tion of the coast, and the course of rivers. Mexican Painting. Cortes says, in his first letter to Charles 5th, that Montezuma presented him with a painting which re- presented the whole of the coast, from Vera Cruz to the river Coatzacualco. Their chief school for painting was at Tezueca, and the paintings were "all collected there in such a mass, that it resembled a little moun- tain," to which, unfortunately for the cause of knowl- edge, the Spaniards set fire. Had they preserved these records, they would have formed a complete history, since everything was delineated by painting. This was an inexpressible grief to the Indians, and even 24 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. to the Spaniards when they knew their error. They afterwards endeavored to collect paintings from every quarter ; but it will be readily believed that the Indi- ans concealed their labor of years, and no inducement could tempt them to part with them. Humboldt furnishes us with a copy of a Mexican painting, which is supposed to represent the story of Adam and Eve, derived from the traditions of the fathers of the race. The preceding cut is a copy of this curious relic. The serpent is supposed to be tempting Eve; the figures at the right, to represent Cain and Abel, and those at the left, their two altars. They painted on cloth, made of thread from the aloe or palm, and on sheepskin, as well as on paper made of the leaves of the aloe, steeped like hemp, and afterwards stretched and smoothed. Their colors were very beautiful, being extracted from wood, leaves, flowers, and various animal substances. Their paint- ers knew little of the distribution of light and shade; but the proportions were accurately observed, and as the pictures were generally made in haste, sometimes parts of objects only, but such as might be easily understood, were portrayed. The Mexicans had arrived at greater perfection in sculpture, casting metals and in mosaics than even in their painting. The aspect of their graven images strong- ly reminds us of similar antiquities in Egypt. The engraving upon the next page represents one of these. After their conquest of the country, the Mexicans made idols in honor of the gods who had given them success. As the arts progressed these were formed of stone and wood ; every attitude of which the hu- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. man body was capable was expressed, and every obstacle was surmounted by these phlegmatic people in working stone by the use of the chisel. Acosta mentions with praise, two statues, one of Montezuma, the other of his son, cut in basso relievo. They were nearly as large as their idols, and the first church in Mexico had its foundation laid from these statues. The entrances and angles of the edifices of Mexico, were profusely ornamented with carved images of animals and fantastic deities. Sculptured images were exceedingly numerous, and a cellar can hardly be dug in the present city of Mexico, without turning up some of these relics of barbarian art. Specimens v. 3 26 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. of these lie scattered about the town, and obtain little respect from civilized roan. The two celebrated reliefs of the last Montezuma and his father, cut in the solid rock, in the grove of Chapoltcpec, were delib- erately destroyed by the order of government, within the last century. The most remarkable piece of sculpture is the great calendar stone disinterred in the great square of Mexico, in 1790. It consists of dark porphyry, and when taken from the quarry, Aveighed about fifty tons. It was transported from the mountains, for many leagues over a hilly country, intersected by rivers, lakes and canals. In crossing a bridge it was precip- itated into the water, and recovered with difficulty. The transportation of so enormous a fragment, in the face of such obstacles, and without the use of cattle, suggests no mean ideas of the mechanical skill to which these people had arrived. They excelled, likewise, in metal castings, and also made images of gold and silver, parrots with movable heads, tongues and wings, and movable apes. In short, says one author, the works were so admirably finished, that even the Spaniards, who thirsted for gold, thought more of the workmanship than of the gems and the gold and silver of which they were made. So debased and indolent, however, did the Indians become, after their conquest by the Spaniards, that it would now be easier to find some specimens of their ancient art in the cabinets of Eu- rope, than in Mexico. But of all their works of art, the most curious were their mosaics in feathers. On this art they highly THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 27 valued themselves; and for this purpose they reared great numbers of birds of fine plumage. The execu- tion of this species of mosaic is thus described. " In undertaking a work of this kind, several artists assembled, and after agreeing upon the design, they fix upon the proportions, and each artist has some particular part of the image assigned to him, and so diligently did he exert himself, that frequently a whole day would be spent in the adjustment of a sin- gle feather, first trying one and then another, viewing- it sometimes in one way and then another, until one was found that gave his part the ideal perfection pro- posed. When each artist had completed his part, they assembled to form the entire image, and if any part happened to be deranged, it was wrought again, till perfectly finished. They laid hold of the feathers with small pincers, which did not injure them in the least; they were pasted on cloth by some glutinous matter, and united at all points upon plate or copper ; the feathers were then flattened gently, until the surface was so equal and smooth that it appeared to be the work of a pencil. It was wonderful indeed to see feathers producing the effect of the pencil, and far surpassing it in colors ; a side appearance was so beautiful, so lively, and so animated, that it gave de- light to the sight, and rivalled the best paintings of Spain." This art lingered after the conquest, and persons could still be found, who could copy a painting in feathers with wonderful exactness. The last cele- brated artist in this way, was Payanam, but he died in 1800, and the art has perished with him. There was also, a kind of mosaic in shells, which 28 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. is still wrought in Guatimala. Imitations of mosaic were also made of flowers and leaves, upon mats, which were used at festivals. These continued to be made, and were eagerly sought after by the Spanish nobility, who settled in the country. Some workmen skilfully imitated with silk the Mexican mosaic in feathers ; but the latter was always preferred as the most brilliant and beautiful. The arts of cutting and polishing stones and gems, as we have stated, were well understood. The gems in use then, were the emerald, amethyst, carnelian and turquoise. The emerald was so common, as to be little valued by the rich ; even the common people had them attached to their lips when dead, to serve in the other world in place of a heart. When Cortes first returned to Spain, he carried with him five emeralds which the jewellers valued at 100,000 ducats ; the first was in the form of a rose, the second of a horn, the third of a little fish with eyes of gold, the fourth in the form of a bell, with a fine pearl for its clapper ; the fifth was a small cup, with a foot of gold, and four little golden chains uni- ted in a pearl in the form of a button. For this alone the Genoese offered 40,000 ducats, in order to sell again to the Grand Seignor ; besides these, there were two emerald vases valued at 300,000 ducats, which were lost by shipwreck in an expedition of Charles 5th, against Algiers. There are no gems of such value found or wrought at the present day, nor is it known where the emerald mines were There are still extant some masses of this precious stone ; among which are two of great THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 29 value in the churches, which the priests secure with iron chains. Pielro Martin says, that "among the presents which Cortes sent to Spain, were two helmets covered with blue precious stones, one edged with golden belles and many plates of gold, two golden knobbes sustaining the belies. The other covered with the same stones, but edged with 25 golden belles crested with a greene foule silting on the top of the helmet, whose feet, bill and eyes were all of gold and several golden knobbes sustained every bell." MANUFACTURES. The manufacture of cloths of various kinds was generally known and extensively practised. Cotton, silk, hemp, hair and other materials were used in their fabrics, but no wool. In weaving hammocks, coverlets and other coarse cloth, they were accustomed to take up thread after thread, and after counting and sorting them, each time to pass the warp between them ; so that in finishing a small piece of these stuffs, they frequently spent more than two years. Lint and hemp were made from the fibrous part of the leaves of the aloe. This thread was sometimes of great fineness. The above materials were often mixed with fine down from the bellies of rabbits and hares, and spun into thread. Beautiful cloths and winter waistcoats for their lords, were made in this manner. Their cotton manufactures were equal to any in Europe at that time. Of feathers interwoven with cotton, they made mantles, bed-curtains, carpets and gowns, exceedingly beautiful. Such garments are 3* 30 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. not now to be found, unless in a few instances among the wealthy nobles. They manufactured various utensils of earthen ware for the common purposes of domestic life. They formed cups and vases of lacquered wood, gaily col- ored. The cochineal was first used by them, and introduced from Mexico into Europe. They had plantations carefully cultivated, where the little insect that furnishes this brilliant dye, was produced and nourished. The colors imparted to their cloths were exceedingly brilliant. The Mexicans understood the construction of arches and vaults, and there remain buildings with cornices and other ornaments, square and cylindrical columns adorned with figures in basso relievo ; it was their great ambition to use stone in architecture. Among their most remarkable works were two aqueducts which conveyed water to the capital, a distance of two miles. These were constructed with stone and cemented two feet high and two paces broad upon a road prepared for that purpose. RELIGION. It has been justly said that " the aspect of superstition in Mexico was gloomy and atrocious, its divinities were clothed with terror, and delighted in vengeance." They were exhibited to the people under detestable forms which excited horror. - The figures of serpents, tigers and other destructive animals, decorated their temples. Fear was the only principle that inspired their votaries. Fasts, mortifications and penances, all rigid, and many of them excruciating to an extreme degree, were the means employed to appease the wrath of their gods. The Mexicans THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 31 never approached their altars without sprinkling them with blood drawn from their own bodies. But of all offerings, human sacrifices were deemed most acceptable. This religious belief mingling with the implacable spirit of vengeance and adding new force to it, every captive taken in war was brought to the temple and devoted as a victim to the deity, and sacrificed with rites no less solemn than cruel. The head and heart were the portion consecrated to the gods; the warrior by whose prowess the prisoner had been seized, carried off* the body to feast upon it with his friends. Under the impression of ideas so dreary and terrible, and accustomed daily to scenes of blood- shed, rendered awful by religion, it would seem that the heart of man must be hardened and steeled to every sentiment of humanity. Yet, we have already shown, that, however unfeeling towards their enemies, among themselves many gentle sentiments survived the influence of their atrocious superstitions. Why it was that religion assumed such a dread- ful form among the Mexicans, we have not sufficient knowledge of their history to determine. But its influence was visible, and produced an effect that is singular in the human species. The manners of the people of the New World who had made the greatest progress in the arts, and who possessed many gentler impulses, were in several respects the most barbarous that have been known, and some of their customs exceeded, in this respect, even those of the savage state. The Mexicans had some idea, though an imperfect one, of a supreme, absolute and independent being. 32 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. They represented him in no external farm, because they believed him to be invisible ; and they named him only by the common appellation of God, or in their language Teotl. They applied to him certain epithets which were highly expressive of the grandeur and power which they conceived him to possess ; Ipal- nemoani, "He by whom we live," "and Tloque Nahu- aque, " He who has all in himself." They distinguished three places for the souls when separated from the body. Those of soldiers who died in battle or in captivity among their enemies, and those of women who died in childbirth, went to the house of the sun, whom the Mexicans considered as the prince of glory. Here they led a life of endless delight. Every day at the first appearance of the sun's rays the former hailed his birth with rejoicings; and with music of instruments and voices, attended him to his meridian. They were then met by the souls of the women, and with the same festivity he was accompanied to his setting. And it was supposed that after spending four years in this way, these spir- its went to animate the clouds or birds of beautiful feathers and sweet song ; these being always at liberty to rise to heaven or descend upon the earth, to warble and. feast upon the flowers. The souls of persons who were drowned or struck by lightning, or who died of wounds, dropsy, tumors and other similar diseases, went with the souls of children, especially those which were sacrificed to Tlaloc, the god of water, to a cool and delightful place called Tlalocan, where that god resided. Here they enjoyed the most delicious repasts, wjth every other kind of pleasure, THE MEXICAN INDIANS. X The third place was regarded as the residence of the souls of all others, and was called Mictlan, which was deemed a place of utter darkness, in which reigned a god called Mictlantenetli, Lord of Hell, and a god- dess named Micilancihuatl. The Tlascalans believed that the sotils of chiefs and princes became clouds, or beautiful birds, or precious stones, whereas those of the common people would pass into beetles, rats, mice, weasels and other vile and disgusting animals. There were three yearly sacrifices to Tlaloc. At the first, two children were drowned in the Lake of Mexico, but in all the mountainous districts, they were sacrificed on the mountains, in which case their bodies were preserved in a stone chest. At the second sacri- fice, four children, from six to seven years of age, who were bought by the chiefs for that purpose, were shut up in a cavern and left to die of hunger; the cavern was not opened till the next year's sacrifice. Of this horrid custom Southey gives a touching description. " Half way up A cavern pierced the rock, no human foot Had trod its depths, nor ever sunbeam reached Its long recesses and mysterious gloom. To Tlaloc it was hallowed ; and the stone Which closed its entrance never was removed, Save when the yearly festival returned, And in its womb a child was sepulchred, The living victim. Up the winding path That to the entrance of the cavern led, With many a painful step the train ascend, But many a time upon that long ascent Young Hoel would have paused, with weariness c 34 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. Exhausted now. They urge him on, poor child! They urge him on ! * * * Oh better had he lived Unknowing and unknown on Arvon's plain, And trod upon his noble father's grave, With peasant feet unconcious ! They have reached The cavern now, and from its mouth the priests Roll the huge portal. Thitherward they force The son of Llaian. A cold air comes out ; It chills him and his feet recoil ; in vain His feet recoil ; in vain he turns to fly, Affrighted at the sudden gloom that spreads Around ; the den is closed, and he is left In solitude and darkness, left to die ! " The third sacrifice continued for the three rainy months, during which time, children were offered up on the mountains. The heart and blood of these were used in sacrifice, while the bodies were feasted upon by the chiefs and priests. The latter wore large white garments like surplices, with hoods, and after a sacrifice they might be seen with their long matted hair dabbled with blood. They were themselves subjected to painful ceremo- nies, and the Chololtecas performed the most severe penances every four years. All the priests sat round the walls of the temple holding censers in their hands ; from this posture they were not permitted to move, except when they went out from necessity. They might sleep two hours at the beginning of the night, and one hour after sunrise; at midnight they bathed, smeared themselves with a black unction and pricked their ears to obtain blood for an offering; the twenty- one remaining hours they sat in the same posture offer- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 35 ing incense to the idol, and occasionally snatching a little sleep. These performances continued for sixty days ; if any one of the priests slept beyond his time, his companions pricked him. After the sixty days, the ceremony continued twenty more, though with miti- gations of these severe duties. Historians differ much as to the number of human sacrifices yearly offered, but the smallest number given is very great. On the death of a cacique or any one distinguished among them, a certain num- ber of his attendants were put to death, that he might have them to administer to him in another world. This sacrifice was deemed so great an honor, that many offered themselves as victims for the purpose. Tlalocatecuhtli, the god of the waters and lord of Paradise, as he was called, was the oldest among their gods. His image was that of a man sitting on a square seat, with a vessel before him, in which were specimens of all the grains and fruit in the country, to be offered to him. This image consisted of a kind of pumice stone found on the mountains. One of the kings of Tezcuco ordered a better idol to be made, which was destroyed by lightning, and the old one was brought back again, but one of his arms being broken in the removal, it was fastened on with three golden nails. In the lime of bishop Zumarraga the golden nails were taken away and the idol destroyed. This god of the waters was said to dwell among the moun- tains, where he collected the vapors and dispensed them in rain and dew. A number of inferior deities were at his command. The cave of Mistecas was sacred to this god but its 36 ' THE MEXICAN INDIANS. mouth was known only to a few. In entering, it was necessary to crawl for a hundred paces ; the way was then intricate for a mile. At last the passage terminated in the great dome, 70 feet long and 40 wide, where was an idol formed of incrustations by a spring of petrifying water. Many persons perished in attempting to find this cave. A Spanish friar dis- covered the idol and destroyed it r filling up the entrance. Quetzalcoati* was the god of the winds. " Hi emple was circular; for as the ayre goeth rounde about the heavens, even for that consideration, they made his temple rounde. The entrance of that temple had a dore made lyke unto the mouth of a serpent, and was paynt- ed with fonle and divilish gestures, with great teeth and gummes wrought, which was a thing to feare those that should enter thereat, and especially the Chris- tians, unto whom it represented very hell with that ougly face and monsterous teeth." Mexitli was another Mexican deity, from whom the nation took their name. They had a tradition that during their emigration he was carried before them in a seat called "the chair of God." There was a temple consecrated to him, "the floor of which," says Bernal Diaz, who was an eye-witness, "was flaked with blood and filled with a putrid stench." The great temple of Mexico was a huge square mound, and was called the great Cn. It had 114 steps to the summit. That at Tezcuco had 115 steps. That at Cholula, 120. Go!d and jewels, and the different seeds of the country were thrown in when * See "Lives of Celebrated Indians." THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 37 the foundations of the temple of Mexico were laid. When it was afterwards levelled by the Spaniards, to make room for a church, these treasures were found. It is related by Bernal Diaz, "that they had in their temple an exceeding large drum, and when they beat it the sound was such, and so dismal, that it was like an instrument of hell, and was heard for more than two leagues round. They said that the cover of that drum was made of the skin of huge serpents." He also gives a terrific account of their temple serpents. "The head of a sacrificed person was strung up ; the limbs eaten at the feast; the body given to the wild beasts which were kept within the temple circuits; moreover, in that accursed house they kept vipers and venomous snakes, who had something at their tails, which sounded like morris bells, and they are the worst of all vipers; these were kept in cradles and barrels and earthen vessels, upon feathers, and there they laid their eggs and nursed up their snakelings, and there they were fed with the bodies of the sacrificed and with dogs' flesh. We learnt for certain, that after they had driven us from Mexico and slain above 850 of our soldiers and of the men of Narvaez, to be offered to their cruel idol, these beasts and snakes were supported upon their bodies for many days. When the lions and tigers roared, and the jackalls and foxes howled and the snakes hissed, it was a grim thing to hear them and it seemed like hell." Before the Mexican temples were large courts, kept neat and clean, and planted with trees which were green throughout the year. These bestowed a pleasant shade, and here the priests sat and awaited v.-4 39 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. those who came to make offerings and sacrifice to the idol. The mother of Mexitli was a mortal woman, but for her son's sake she was made immortal, and appointed goddess of all herbs, flowers and trees. The following was their tradition concerning her as given in the words of the poet Southey. " She at eve Walked in the temple court, and saw from heaven A plume descend as bright and beautiful As if some spirit had embodied there The rainbow hues, or dipped it in the light of setting suns. To her it floated down, she placed it in her bosom, to bedeck The altar of ihe god. She sought it there ; Amazed she found it not, amazed she felt Another life infused." In many of the religious rites and ceremonies of the ancient Mexicans, we see resemblances to those of the Greeks and Romans, the Mussulmans, the Tartars, and the Catholics; but the most singular coincidence is that in their baptism. In naming their infant chil- dren, they sprinkled the lip and bosom with water, and the " Lord was implored to permit the holy drops to wash away the sin that was given before the founda- tion of the world and that the child might be born anew!" Their prayers, in which they used regular forms, also remind us of Christian morals, in passages Like these : " Wilt thou blot us out, O Lord, forever? Is thy punishment intended, not for our reformation, but our destruction ?" " Impart to us, out of thy great mercy, the gifts which we are not worthy to receive, through our own merits." "Keep peace with all: bear injuries with humility, for God, who sees, will avenge you." THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 39 The influence of the priesthood was not only great, chrough the reverence they inspired, but also by their numbers. No less than 5000 were attached to the chief temple of the capital. WAR, &c. It is not surprising from this view of their religion that the Mexicans should have been ferocious in war. The four most honorable titles among their soldiers were " The Tiger of the War," " Shed- der of Blood," "Destroyer of Men," and "Lord of the Dark House." Gomarra thus describes the Tlascalan army, which may also apply to the Mexican troops. "They were trimme fellowes, and wel armed according to their use although they were paynted so that their face? shewed like divels with great tuffes of feathers and triumphed gallantly. They had also slinges, staves, spears, swordos, bo\ves and arrowes, skulles, splinters, gantlettes, all of wood, giite, or else covered with 40 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. feathers or leather ; their corslets were made of cotton woole, their targettes and bucklers, gallant and strong, made of woode covered with leather and trimmed with cotton and feathers ; theyr swordes were staves with an edge of flint stone, cunningly joyned into the staff which would cutte very well and make a sore wound. Theyr instruments of music were hunter's horns, and drummes called attabals made like a caldron and cov- ered with vellum." The dress of the higher warriors among the Mexicans, was picturesque, and sometimes magnificent. Their bodies were covered with a vest of thick quilted cotton, sufficient to resist the slight missiles of Indian warfare. This was found so ser- viceable as to be adopted by the Spaniards. The wealthier chiefs sometimes wore a cuirass of gold or silver, instead of this cotton quilt. Over this was thrown a garment made of the gorgeous feather-work which we have described. Then helmets were of THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 41 wood, fashioned like the heads of wild animals, or of silver, on the top of which waved a bunch of plumes, sprinkled with precious stones and ornaments of gold. The armies of the country were formed into divisions of 8000 men, and these into companies of three or four hundred each with its own commander. The Tlaxcaltecas had two arrows which they regard- ed with great reverence and used as means of pre- dicting the event of a battle. Two of their bravest chiefs were to shoot them at the enemy and recover them, or die. If the arrows struck and killed or wounded, it was held to be an omen that the fight would be prosperous, but if they neither struck nor drew blood, the army retired. The national standard of Mexico exhibited the armorial ensigns of the state, wrought in gold and feathers. The companies and greater chiefs had also their particular banners. The army in marching thus gorgeously decorated, exhibited a splendid and daz- zling appearance to the beholder. The soldiers ad- vanced briskly to the attack, singing and shouting their war-cries. They often retreated, and returned again upon the enemy. They did not sustain a firm and regular charge, but were much addicted to ambuscades and sudden surprises. In marching, they moved for- ward gaily, but in good order. In battle, they sought rather to capture than to kill their enemies. They never scalped, like the northern tribes, and a warrior's valor was estimated only by the number of his pris- oners. Although their prisoners were not put to death with aggravated bodily torture, it was a refinement of cru- 4 42 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. elty among them to attach them to life by feastings and caresses, with maidens to wait upon them, while their doom was irrevocable. At the day appointed for their death, they were despatched by a single blow. The people then feasted upon the bodies, and be- smeared their children with the blood of the slain to kindle in their bosoms hatred for their enemies. Some of the principal warriors covered themselves with the skins of the slain and danced before the people, exult- ing over their enemies. In some provinces they covered their drums with the skins of their captives, thinking that when the kindred of the slain heard the sound of these, they would immediately be seized with fear and take to flight. Their military code bore the same stern features as their other laws. Disobedience of orders, desertion of colors, attacking the enemy before the signal was given, and plunder of another's booty, were all pun- ished with death. \Ve must not omit to mention their hospitals for the sick and wounded soldiers. These were established in the principal cities, and were attended by the ablest surgeons. It is remarkable to find such institutions in this country, long before they had been adopted in civilized Europe. GOVERNMENT. On the arrival of Cortes, Mexico was the leading power from the Atlantic to the Pacific, exercising over the several states either a partial or complete dominion. Its government atthat period was an elective monarchy, four principal nobles constituting the electors, and the choice being con- fined to the brothers or nephews of the last prince. The candidates received an education suited to their THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 43 A Mexican chief, or cacique. royal dignity, and one who had distinguished himself in war was always preferred. The new monarch was installed with great parade and ceremony. The captives he had taken in war, graced his triumphal entry into the city, and furnished victims for the bloody rites which signalized his coro- nation. Amid the pomp of human sacrifices, a crown ornamented with gold, gems and feathers, was placed on his head by the lord of Tezcuco. He received the title of emperor to indicate his superiority, even over the confederate monarchies of Tlacopan and Tezcuco. The Aztec princes lived in a state of oriental pomp. 14 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. They were attended by a numerous council, who aided the monarch in the transaction of business, and were surrounded by an extensive body guard, made up of the chief nobility. The people were divided into several orders. There was not only a class of nobles with large landed estates, but there were also chieftains, who held extensive estates and lived like independent princes on their own do- mains, and appear, like the feudatory barons of Europe in former days, to have held their privileges apon condition of rendering military services to the crown. It would seem that there were about thirty of these great caciques, each of whom could muster 100,000 vassals. They were required to live at least a^part of the year in the capital. The legislative power resided wholly in the monarch, who held his office for life. Each city had a supreme judge, from whose decision there was no appeal. There were also inferior courts, of various degrees, and magistrates appointed to watch over the conduct of the people and report to the higher authorities. Every eighty years all the judges were assembled in the capital, for the final adjudication of important suits. Over this body the king presided in person. On the whole, justice appears to have been well administered, and we cannot but look with admiration upon many of the features which belong to the civil institutions of this people. Corruption in a 'judge was punished with death. At his trial, the king presided. The proceedings in the courts were conducted with decency and order. No counsel was employed, the parties managing their own case. The oath of both plaintiff and defendant THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 45 was admitted in evidence. After the testimony was given in, the whole case was laid before the court, by the clerk, in emblematic paintings. These were exe- cuted with such precision and fidelity that in suits respecting real estate, they were long after produced as good authority in the Spanish tribunals. When a sentence of death was decreed by the court, it was recorded by a portrait of the convict with an arrow drawn across it. The laws of the Aztecs were registered and exhib- ited to the people in hieroglyphical paintings. All the great crimes against society were capital. Mur- der even of a slave was punished with death. Adul- terers, as among the Jews, were stoned. The pun- ishment of thievery was slavery or death. Prodigality, intemperance, and various other misdemeanors, were visited with the severest penalties. The marriage rites were celebrated with great for- mality, and the institution was held in equal reverence. Prisoners taken in war were reserved for sacrifice- Criminals and public debtors were made slaves. Per- sons in extreme poverty sold themselves and even their children into slavery. The services exacted from the slave were limited. He was permitted to have his own family, to hold property, and even other slaves. His children were free a favorable distinction known in no civilized land where slavery is permitted. The royal revenues were derived from crow r n lands, which were extensive, and taxes upon the agricultural and manufacturing products, which were paid in kind. Among the articles received by the king, were cotton dresses, mantles of feather-work, ornamented armor, 46 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. gold dust, bands and bracelets, jars and goblets, bells, arrows, paper, grain, fruits, copal, amber, cochineal, cacao, birds, wild animals, timber, lime, mats, &c. The more wealthy chiefs were also required to pay various kinds of tribute. Garrisons were established in the larger cities, and tax-gatherers were distributed throughout the king- dom. Couriers conveyed information from one ex- tremity of the country to the other : there were post- houses on the great roads, at convenient distances. The courier bore his hieroglyphic despatches from one to another of these. Here it was taken by another messenger, and thus it was conveyed to its destination. These couriers, trained from childhood, ran with incredible swiftness sometimes twelve or fifteen miles an hour. We are told that despatches were carried 200 miles in a day. The profession of arms ranked with that of the priesthood. There were various military orders, and an inferior kind of knighthood. Questions of war were discussed in a council by the king and his chief nobles. Ambassadors were every where entertained at the public charge, and their persons held sacred. Religion was an institution of state. The temples and the priesthood were sustained by the government. There were extensive church-lands, throughout every district of the empire. This property was managed by the priests, who also received rich gifts dictated by superstition. The excess beyond what was required by the priesthood, was distributed among the poor. Thus we see in the Mexican religion, the most contra- dictory qualities ; a gentle charity, dispensing its THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 47 blessings to the unfortunate, with the superstition which delighted in the revolting spectacle of human sacrifices. EDUCATION*. This subject appears to have received great attention among the Mexicans. The children of both sexes were placed under the care of the priest- hood at an early age. Buildings within the enclosures of the temples were provided for their accommodation. Under the care of priests the boys were drilled in the routine of monastic discipline. They decorated the altars of the gods with flowers, fed the sacred fires and' took part in the religious chants and festivals. Those in the higher school were taught the traditions of the country ; hieroglyphics, government, astronomy and natural science. The girls, intrusted to the care of priestesses, learned to weave and embroider coverings for the altars and other feminine duties. The utmost deco- rum prevailed, and ofiences were rigorously punished. Fear, not love, was the inspiring principle of educa- tion in these institutions. Such was the training of the higher and middling 1 classes, at institutions of a monastic character, the purpose and tendency of which, was to establish a reverence for the religion of the country in the minds of the leading people. At the age of maturity, the pupils were dismissed with much ceremony from the convent, and the recommendation of the principal, often introduced them to important stations. In respect to the children of other classes, it may be stated, generally, that parents are said to have been indefatigable in teaching their children the history of 48 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. their nation, and to have made them learn speeches, discourses and songs relating to it. Picture-writing was their mode of recording history, and their tradi- tions explained the hieroglyphical representations, which would otherwise have been unintelligible. In this way were perpetuated the memorable deeds of heroes, striking examples of virtue, mythological rites, laws and customs. Bajiana and cacao trees. AGRICULTURE AND PRODUCTS. Nearly all the North American tribes cultivated the soil to some extent. Wherever a small opening was found between the forests, they planted maize and beans; yet their hus- bandry was slovenly in the extreme. It was other- wise in Mexico. For here agriculture had made the THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 49 same advance as the other arts of life. It was indeed greatly respected, and was blended with the civil and religious institutions of the country. There were deities to preside over it, and festivals having refer- ence to it. Taxes were often paid in agricultural produce. All except the soldiers and great nobles toiled in the field ; the men performing the hard labor, and the women the lighter tasks, as scattering the seed, husking the corn, &.c. The grounds were tilled with judgment; the exhausted soil being permitted to lie fallow and the dry grounds irrigated by artificial canals. The de- struction of woods was severely punished, and ample granaries were provided for the harvest. Among their productions we may notice the exu- berant banana, the cacao, from which they made their chocolate, and the vanilla, with which they flavored their food and drink. Their great staple was the maize, of which they understood the manifold uses. It grew with great luxuriance, and from this instead of the cane they extracted their sugar. But "the miracle of nature," was the Mexican aloe or maguey, whose pyramids of flowers were seen spreading over many a broad acre in the country. " Never," says Mr. Prescott, " did nature enclose in so compact a form, so many of the elements of human comfort and civilization, as in this plant. It was meat, drink, clothing and writing material to the Mexicans. It afforded a paste of which their paper was made. Its fermented juice furnished pulque, their favorite bever- age. Its leaves supplied a thatch for their humbler dwellings. Thread and cord were made of its fibres, D V. 5 50 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. pins and needles of its thorns, and bread was formed of its roots." The Mexicans were well acquainted with the rich fruits and gorgeous flowers which belonged to their prolific climate. These were systematically arranged by the people, according to their qualities, and exten- sive nurseries existed for their cultivation. It is sup- posed that these suggested those " gardens of plants," which have been subsequently introduced into Europe. The Mexicans appear to haye had great skill in horticulture, whether of the useful or ornamental kind. Around the margin of the Lake of Tezcuco, there were floating gardens, which particularly excited the adroiration of the Spaniards. These consisted of scows or rafts, formed of reeds, rushes and other fibrous materials, firmly woven together, and covered with rich earth drawn up from the bottom of the lake. They were frequently two or three hundred feet long, and afforded a sufficient soil for raising flowers and vegetables for the market of the city, and even, in many cases, trees of considerable size grew upon them. Often, too, the Indian built his slight dwelling of reeds upon this floating territory, and here he lived with his family. If he desired to change his position, he was able to do it by pushing with a pole against the bottom of the shallow lake; and thus these gardens were often seen moving like enchanted islands over the level bosom of the water. As Cortes and his men approached the city of Mexico across the great dike that led through the lake from the south, they looked with mingled curiosity and amazement on these fairy islands, undulating with the tide, or gliding over its THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 51 surface, and with their busy and thronging population, giving the whole scene an aspect of enchantment. Nor were the more sumptuous gardens of the rich objects of less interest and curiosity. Not only in the city of Mexico, but in other places, persons of wealth appear to have taken great delight in surrounding their dwellings with the choicest products of the vege- table kingdom. On approaching Mexico, Cortes and his army were entertained by the brother of Monte- zuma at Iztapalapan, a city on the Lake of Tezcuco, distant only a few miles from the capital. His gar- dens are described as covering a great extent, and being laid out in regular squares, with neat walks, bordered by trellises supporting creeping plants and aromatic shrubs, which loaded the air Avith perfumes. It was stocked with fruit trees from wanner climates, and a great variety of flowering plants, scientifically arranged, were seen blooming on every side. The arid soil was watered by canals running through every part of the land, and a canal was cut affording a com- munication with the lake. Nor were these the only objects that excited sur- prise and admiration. In this lovely spot there was an aviary filled with birds of brilliant plumage, and an artificial basin of water, nearly a mile in cir- cuit, filled with every variety of fish. Its sides were faced with stone curiously sculptured, and a walk also made of stone, encircled it, of sufficient width for four persons to walk abreast. Such was the earden of Iz- tapalapan when the conqueror approached the city of Mexico: but a few years had passed, however, before the city, which was populous, as well as these won- 52 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. derful gardens were a heap of ruins. The stranger now visiting the spot, will find it a loathsome morass, where, amid the fragments of noble edifices that once excited the admiration of the beholder, hideous reptiles of various forms find an undisturbed retreat. TRADE AND COMMERCE. The fifth day of each week was fair day, on which occasion, articles of every kind were brought to market, and exhibited in a great square for sale. These fairs were attended by buyers and sellers, and as there were no shops, not only agricultural products, but every species of manu- facture was offered to the purchasers. A particular quarter was assigned for each kind of article, and all the transactions being regulated by magistrates, were conducted with order and fairness. The traffic was carried on partly by barter, and partly by means of a regulated currency of different values. This consisted of quills of gold dust, bits of tin in the form of a T, and bags of cacao containing a certain number of grains. Trade was held in estimation, and the occupation of a merchant was particularly respected. The Mexican merchant went from place to place, often extending his excursions not only to the frontiers of Anahuac, but to other countries. He dealt in rich stuffs, jew- els, slaves and other valuable commodities, all of which he carried with him in the fashion of an east- ern merchant. At Azapozalco, a few miles from Mexico, was a great slave market, where the slaves were exhibited, dressed in the. gayest attire, and made to dance and sing, and display themselves in a man- ner to attract the attention of dealers. Slave dealing rras an honorablo calling among the Mexicans. THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 63 The merchants went in caravans, on foot, attended by their slaves and several assistants. Each man carried a load of fifty pounds. Sometimes the number was several hundreds, and if the party was attacked, they made a formidable resistance. Great privileges were allowed to the merchants by the sovereign, who often employed them as spies, and not un frequently consulted them on matters of public importance. Thus the profession of a merchant was not only the path to wealth, but also to political preferment. SCIENCE AND LEARNING. The picture-writing of the Mexicans was executed with some neatness, and in its invention displayed no little mental effort. The pic- tures were symbolical ; a tongue denoted speaking, a foot-print, travelling, &c. The symbols, however, were often arbitrary: as, a man sitting on the ground signi- fied an earthquake. There were also phonetic signs : or those which derived their meaning from sounds, as in our language. The names of persons were often significant of their character and adventures, as with the North American Indians. Still more frequently they resorted to direct pictures of things. By these several modes, they recorded their laws, tax-rolls, calendars and rituals, and their political annals carried back to a remote period. They had also a complete system of chronology, and could spe- cify with accuracy the dates of important events. These records were, however, interpreted by their oral traditions, the acquisition of which, constituted a large part of education. In the college of the priests, the pupils were instructed in these various branches of science, and some of them were regularly brought up 5* 54 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. in the profession of picture-writing. They had numer- ous historical, chronological and religious works, which, together with the traditions, constituted their literature. Their manuscripts were of cotton cloth, skins, silk prepared with gum, and a juice from the leaves of the aloe. This last resembled the papyrus of antiquity, and was even more soft and beautiful than parchment. Some specimens still existing, exhibit all the original brilliancy of the painting. They were sometimes done up in rolls, but more frequently in folds, and enclosed between tablets of wood, which gave them the appearance of books. These manuscripts were very numerous, and had they been preserved, Mexican history and literature would have been fully under- stood. But unhappily the Spaniards regarded them as magic scrolls, and the priests ordered them to be burned. The soldiers imitated this example, and every volume that fell into their hands was destroyed. A few have been preserved and are scattered among the libraries of Europe. The traditions of the country were embodied in songs and hymns, and were sedulously taught in schools. These embraced the legends of their heroes, blended with softer passages of love and pleasure. Many were composed by scholars and persons of rank, and the events they commemorated were regarded as authentic. Of these, only a few poetic odes have come down to us. The translations with which we are furnished of their prayers and public discourses, give a favorable idea of their eloquence. They had theatrical pantomimes, in which the faces of the performers were marked. THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 65 Their science, however, greatly eclipsed their liter- ature. They had a very simple and convenient arithmetic ; large sums were reckoned by twenties ; the square of twenty or four hundred, was represented by a plume ; the cube of twenty or eight thousand, by a purse : half or three quarters of a plume represented those portions of four hundred ; and the same may be said of the purse. The year was divided into eighteen months, of twenty days each ; five days were added, as in Ancient Egypt, to make the complement of 365. These five days belonged to no month, and were reckoned as unlucky. The month was divided into four weeks, of five days each, the last being market- day. To make up the period of six hours, which was lost by their reckoning each year, they resorted to the intercalation of twenty-five days in even," 104 years. This arrangement shows an astonishing pre- cision in adjusting their civil to solar time ; and in this respect, surpassed any European calendar of that period. This surprising fact is accompanied by others in their chronology. The epoch from which they reck- oned, coincided with the year 1091 of the Chris- tian era. Cycles of fifty-two years each, were called sheafs, and represented by bundles of sticks. The priests had a lunar calendar by which they regulated their festivals, sacrifices and astrological calculations. The latter were founded less upon planetary influences, than upon the arbitrary signs of the months, and were the means by which the attempt was made to pene- trate the mysterious veil of the future. In no country have the dreams of the astrologer been regarded with more implicit reverence. At the birth of an infant, he 56 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. was called to cast its horoscope, and the family hung in trembling suspense, while he was supposed to unroll the dark volume of destiny. The Mexicans were acquainted with the cause of eclipses, and recog- nized some of the constellations. They used the dial; and the calendar-stone disinterred in 1790, as \ve have already related, shows that they had the means of determining the precise hour of the day, the periods of the solstices, the equinoxes, and the passage of the sun across the zenith of Mexico. We cannot better conclude our account of Mexican science, than by an extract from Mr. Prescott's work, to which we are largely indebted for the preceding sketch, giving a description of the remarkable festival held at the termination of the great cycle of 52 years. " We have seen, in the preceding chapter, their tradi- tion of the destruction of the world, at four successive epochs. They looked forward confidently to another such catastrophe, to take place like the preceding at the close of a cycle, when the sun was to be effaced from the heavens, the human race from the earth, and when the darkness of chaos was to settle on the hab- itable globe. The cycle would end in the latter part of December, and as the dreary season of the winter solstice approached, and the diminished light of day gave melancholy presage of its speedy extinction, their apprehensions increased; and on the arrival of the five " unlucky" days which closed the year, they aban- doned themselves to despair. They broke in pieces the little images of their household gods in whom they no longer trusted. The holy fires were suffered to go out in the temples, and none were lighted in their own THE MEXICAN INDIANS. O/ dwellings. Their furniture and domestic utensils were destroyed ; their garments torn in pieces ; and every thing was thrown into disorder, for the coming of the evil genii who were to descend on the desolate earth. " On the evening of the last day, a procession of priests, assuming the dress and ornaments of their gods, moved from the capital towards a lofty moun- tain, about two leagues distant. They carried with them a noble victim, the flower of their captives, and an apparatus for kindling the new fire, the success of which was an augury of the renewal of the cycle. On reaching the summit of the mountain, the proces- sion paused till midnight ; when, as the constellation of the Pleiades approached the zenith, the new fire was kindled by the friction of the sticks placed on the breast of the victim. The flame was soon communi- cated to a funeral pile, on which the body of the slaughtered captive was thrown. As the light streamed up towards heaven, shouts of joy and triumph burst forth from the countless multitudes who covered the hills, the terraces of the temples, and the house-tops, with eyes anxiously bent on the mount of sacrifice. Couriers, with torches lighted at the blazing beacon, rapidly bore them over every part of the country ; and the cheering element was seen brightening on altar and hearth-stone, for the circuit of many a league, long before the sun, rising on his accustomed track, gave assurance that a new cycle had commenced its march, and that the laws of nature were not to be reversed for the Aztecs. " The following thirteen days were given up to fes- tivity. The houses were cleansed and whitened. 58 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. The broken vessels were replaced by new ones. The people, dressed in their gayest apparel, and crowned with garlands and chaplets of flowers, thronged in joy- ous procession to offer up their oblations and thanks- givings in the temples. Dances and games were instituted, emblematical of the regeneration of the world. It was the carnival of the Aztecs, or rather the national jubilee, the great secular festival, like that of the Romans, or ancient Etruscans, which few alive had witnessed before, or could expect to see again." The temple of Mexico. CITIES. The vale of Mexico, in which the capital was situated, was about 200 miles from the sea ; it was of great extent, and encircled by mountains, some of which were always capped with snow. The valley contained eight lakes, of considerable size ; that of Tezcuco, in the centre of which Tenochtitlan, the ancient name of Mexico, was situated, was nearly as THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 69 salt ns sca-waler. Lake Chalco, lying close to it, is of fresh water. The present town of Mexico, though upon the same site as the ancient city, is three miles from the water ; a fact to be explained by the circumstance that owing to evaporation, the lake has shrunk to a small portion of its former extent, being now but 14 miles long and 8 broad. Though modern Mexico is one of the finest cities in America, yet it is far less interesting than was the ancient capital upon whose ruins it was founded. Tenochtitlan was built upon a group of low marshy islands, nearly in the middle of lake Tezcuco. and many of its houses were raised upon spiles. The chief access to the city passed over the lake from the south, and came into a broad street which crossed the town : this led to another causeway which traversed the lake to the north. Beside these two dikes, there was another which connected the island city with the main land on the west. These dikes were built of solid mason work, of sufficient width to allow ten horsemen to pass abreast, and were defended by draw- bridges. They continue, to the present day, to be the chief avenues to the city. The first settlers of this wonderful city, built their frail dwellings of reeds and rushes, covering them with the leaves of the aloe ; but in due time, they laid solid foundations, and constructed noble edifices of light colored free-stone, found in the vicinity. The houses of the great chiefs were on a scale of rude magnificence ; they were seldom of more than two stories, and were arranged in quadrangles around a 60 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. court ; the latter was encircled by porticoes, embel- lished \vith porphyry and jasper. A fountain of crys- tal \vater often played in the court, shedding its grateful coolness over the atmosphere. The dwellings of the common people had foundations of stone, with walls of brick, crossed by wooden rafters. Dwellings of the meanest kind were mingled with the more splendid edifices, giving the streets a rude and broken aspect. The water flowed through the town as in the famous Italian city of Venice, by means of numerous canals which crossed it in every direction. The principal street, extending in a straight line from the southern to the northern causeway, afforded a noble view, in which gardens rising in terraces, and displaying every variety of fruit and flower, were seen intervening between the long ranges of buildings. The population of the capital, at the time of the conquest, was supposed to be at least 300,000 souls ; but we must consider that its immediate vicinity was teeming with people. Its circuit was about three miles. Fresh water was brought to the city, a distance of nearly a league, by an earthen pipe, constructed for the purpose. This fed the fountains and reservoirs of the principal inhabitants ; the water was also trans- ported to all parts of the city, by means of canals, for general use. Montezuma, who had a taste for magnificence, erect- ed a pile of buildings for his palace, of vast extent, which occupied a part of what is now the great square of Mexico. The roofs of the chief buildings were terraced, and were of such extent, that the Spaniards declared them to be sufficient for a tournament of THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 61 thirty knights. Its exterior Avas profusely decorated, the apartments were hung with fanciful draperies, and its roofs, held together without a nail, were inlaid witn cedar and other odorous woods. Its rooms were spa- cious, and Cortes in his enthusiasm declared them to be superior to anything of the kind in Spain. Adja- cent to the principal edifice, was an armory, filled with military weapons and dresses, and kept in the most perfect order. There were granaries for articles of food, and warehouses for apparel. There was an immense aviary, in which parrots of every tribe, pheas- ants, cardinals, hurnming-birds and other birds of brilliant plumage were assembled from all parts of the empire. This establishment was in the charge of three hundred attendants. There was also a separate building for vultures and eagles, and such was their immense number, that they were allowed five hundred turkeys for their daily food. Adjoining the aviary was a menagerie of wild animals of various kinds. The serpents were kept in long cages, lined with feathers, or in troughs of mud. Extensive gardens were spread around these build- ings, filled with fragrant shrubs and flowers and me- dicinal plants. Amid a labyrinth of sweet-scented groves and shrubberies were seen sparkling jets of water, scattering their refreshing dews over the blos- soms. There were large reservoirs stocked with fish and frequented by various tribes of water fowl, whose ti-stes were so nicely consulted that salt water was provided for those whose habits were supposed to re- quire it. The picture of this luxurious palace would be v. 8 62 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. incomplete, without a sketch of the monarch. His domestic establishment was on a scale of barbaric splendor ; his wives being as numerous as those of an eastern sultan. They were lodged in their oivn apart- ments, and spent their time in the feminine employ- ments of weaving and embroidery. The palace was supplied with numerous baths, and the monarch set the example in his own person of frequent ablutions. He changed his dress four times a day, and never wore a garment a second time. Besides a numerous female retinue, the palace was filled with nobles, the haughty Montezuma refusing to be served by any other than men of gentle blood. He took his meals alone in a saloon, the floors of which were covered with mats. The bill of fare embraced hundreds of dishes, game from remote forests, and fish which the day before were swimming in the distant Gulf of Mexico. The meats were served by attend- ant nobles, who soon resigned their office to maidens selected for their personal grace and beauty. The emperor was seated on a cushion and the dinner was served on a table covered with fine cotton cloth. The dishes were of the finest wares of Cholula, though he had a service of gold for religious occasions. During the repast a screen, richly gilt, was drawn round him, to conceal him from vulgar eyes. The solid dishes Avere succeeded by sweetmeats and pastry, rolls, wa- fers, and at last chocolate. This was served in golden goblets, with spoons of the same metal. The des- sert surpassed in luxury that of any prince in Eu- rope. It embraced the fruits of the tropics, and more temperate regions, gathered even from distant climes, THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 63 and transmitted with the speed of steam to the capi- tal. After the meal, water was brought in a silver basin, with which the monarch performed his ablution. He was then supplied with pipes, and regaled himself with the fumes of tobacco, mingled with liquid amber, sometimes drawn in by the nose, and at others, by the mouth. During this soothing process he was cheered by the exhibition of mountebanks and jugglers, of whom a regular corps was attached .to the palace. Sometimes, also, he amused himself with the jesters who belonged to the court, or with the graceful dances of the women accompanied by a low and solemn chant, celebrating the heroic deeds of the Aztec warriors. When sufficiently regaled, he took his siesta, after which, he gave audience to ambassadors, or persons of rank, who entered his presence barefoot, and with downcast eyes. " Surely," says Cortes, " neither the Grand Senior, nor any other infidel, ever displayed so pompous and elaborate a ceremonial." Beside the crowd of retainers already noticed, there were numerous artisans employed about the buildings, and jewellers who made trinkets for the dark-eyed beauties of the harem. The mummers and jugglers were also numerous, and such was the number of dancers attached to the palace, that a particular district in the city was assigned for their use. The main- tenance of this host, amounting to several thousand, required heavy disbursements, yet an exact account of these was kept in an apartment appropriated to the purpose, where the whole economy of the palace might be seen recorded in hieroglyphic ledgers. On the arrival of the Spaniards, the treasurer who had charge 04 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. of this office was a trusty cacique, named Tapia. Such is the picture of the palace of Mexico, with the habits of its luxurious lord. In these we cannot fail to see a striking resemblance to the manners and cus- toms which belonged to the more sumptuous princes of the Tartar race. The great temple or teocalli, of the capital, occupied the large tract which now contains the cathedral of Mexico, part of the market-place, and some of the adjoining streets. It stood in the midst of this vast area, and was encompassed by a wall of stone eight feet high, ornamented on the outside with figures of serpents, wrought in bas relief. This wall was pierced by four gateways, opening to the four principal streets of the city. It was a pyramidal structure of earth and pebbles, coated on the outside with hewn stone. It was square, and its four sides faced the cardinal points. It con- sisted of five stories or platforms, with a stairway, which was so arranged as to pass four times around the whole edifice in ascending. This contrivance gave a splendid effect to the religious processions which ascended and descended the temple. It was about three hundred feet square at the base and a hundred feet high. The view of the city of Mexico, from the top of this temple, as a central point, was truly sublime. Be- low, the beholder could see the city spread out like a map, with its streets and canals, and every portion of it teeming with life and bustle, and business. Hun- dreds of canoes were glancing on the canals, the streets were thronged with gaily dressed people, and the whole air was filled with the hum that came up from the mar- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 66 ket-place. Encircling the city was seen the lake of Tezcuco, and at a distance the fresh water expanse of Chalco both bordered by numerous towns. The view extended over a wide prospect beyond, displaying, amid cultivated and luxuriant fields, the burnished walls of numerous temples, until at last the eye rested upon the circle of mountains which enclose the valley, and whose tops, covered with perpetual snow, pre- sented a spectacle of eternal winter, looking down upon a region of almost perpetual spring. The vast area on the top of this pyramid was occu- pied by a large block of jasper, where the victims of the sacrifices were slain. At the other end were two towers, of three stories each. In the lower divisions w r ere the gods, the utensils of sacrifice, the altars and the ever-blazing fire. Other apartments were de- voted to different uses, and some of them, when visited by Cortes, displayed not only the horrid symbols of the Mexican religion, but they were stained with human gore, and were scarcely to be endured on ac- count of the suffocating stench which pervaded them. The priests, clotted with blood, and with aspects more fit for demons than ministers of religion, were seen passing from place to place and performing the revolt- ing rites of the several gods to whose worship they were devoted. As Cortes and his companions became familiar with the streets of Mexico, they remarked that the people here were generally better dressed, than in other parts of the country which they had seen. The women, who went abroad as freely as the men, wore several skirts or petticoats, of different lengths, one above E 6* 68 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. another; these were richly embroidered, and were sometimes covered with flowing robes, reaching to the ankle. No veils were worn here, as in some other provinces ; and the hair floated luxuriantly over the shoulders, displaying the serious and somewhat melan- choly, though often beautiful, features. The men wore cloaks, tied round the neck and fastened about the loins by an ample sash. These were often highly ornamented and as the weather became cool, the cotton fabrics gave place to others of fur or feather- work. There was, perhaps, nothing in this wonderful city, which excited more surprise in the Spaniards, than the great market-place. In this vast area, encircled by porticoes, the whole trade of the city was carried on, there being no shops for the purpose. Each trade had its particular quarter, duly assigned by the attend- ing officers. In one place might be seen cotton goods piled up in bales, or manufactured into dresses, curtains, coverlets and tapestries : in another were the goldsmiths, with their curious toys and trinkets and a multitude of other articles for more substantial use. In one quarter were articles of pottery, coarse and fine ; in another, vases of wood, elaborately wrought, gilt and varnished ; there were hatchets of tin and copper a tolerable substitute for iron razors and knives of stone ; blank books and maps ; paper of many kinds ; casques, doublets, lances, arrows, and swords, for the soldier ; meats, and grain, and fish of every kind, and vegetables in great variety. Amid this busy scene, was also to be found the THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 67 barber, ready to shave his customers with a tazor of stone ; and a multitude of dealers with smoking viands alluring beverages and tempting confectionary, pre- pared for use. Pastry, bread, cakes, chocolate, pulque, and a variety of other articles were offered from stands beneath the portico, all of which were almost smoth- ered with a profusion of gaudy and fragrant flowers. Nothing could exceed in bustle and activity, this won- derful spectacle where not only a large part of the people of the city were gathered, but multitudes from the gardens, towns and villages around the lake, and from the adjacent country. The number assembled here was often at least forty thousand, and probably, on some occasions, many mere. Such were some of the wonders of the city of Mexico, at the time it was visited by Cortes, and who, being received with lavish hospitality, repaid the kind- ness of his royal entertainer with a cruelty and treach- ery which finds no parallel in history. He came with professions of peace, kindness, and charity ; yet his conduct was that of a robber and murderer, whose plunder amounted to unnumbered millions, and whose victims were only to be reckoned by hundreds of thou- sands. In reading his history, we are lost in mingled wonder and indignation, at his fanaticism, his courage, his duplicity, and the terrible ravages which followed his sway, and speedily resulted in sweeping from the earth, the whole fabric of Mexican civilization its arts cities people, princes and government leaving behind only the ghastly relics to shadow forth the departed days of former glory. After this description of Mexico, it is not necessary 68 "THE MEXICAN to give a minute account of the other cities of Anahuac. None of them rivalled the capital, though many were populous, and abounded in fine buildings. Tezcuco, fifteen miles north-east of Mexico, was once a noble city, and was the residence of the monarch of that rich and flourishing kingdom. The history of the Tezcucans is hardly less interest- ing than that of the Mexicans. They appear, indeed, to have preceded their Aztec neighbors in civilization, and at a period a little before the time of Montezuma, their laws, policy and arts, seem to have indicated a degree of improvement even superior to that of the Mexicans, in the time of Cortes. The remains of their literature surpass any thing that has been left by their neighbors. The palace in the city of Tezcuco is described as having been in the highest degree magnificent ; and there were other edifices of great extent and no incon- siderable degree of barbaric splendor. For a long period, the kings of Tezcuco were in alliance with those of Mejxico, notwithstanding that their territories were contiguous, and the capitals within sight of each other. Under this union, both nations flourished, and in the reign of Nezahualcoyotl, who died in 1470, Tezcuco rose to a high pitch of prosperity. This was considered its golden age. The monarch was not only a warrior and statesman, but a poet of no mean capacity. He was doubtless the greatest prince that ever sat on an American throne. His son, Nezahualpilli, possessed his father's talents, but he became depressed with superstitious fears, and shrunk from the active cares of government. Taking advintage of this weakness, the crafty Montezuma THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 69 stripped him of his principal tributary territories, and Tezcuco thence became secondary to Mexico. Its capi- tal soon fell into the hands of the Spanish conquerors, and its temple? and palaces crumbled away beneath the tread of the destroyer. The ancient city of Cholula lay nearly sixty miles south-east of Mexico, and is described by Cortes as containing 20,000 houses, and perhaps 200,000 inhabi- tants. It was founded by the Aztecs, and long main- tained a sort of republican government. It excelled in various mechanical arts, especially in working metals and in manufacturing cotton and pottery. It was ven- erable for its antiquity, and having been the residence of Quetzalcoatl, was held in religious reverence. Upon the great pyramid, surpassing in magnitude every other religious structure on the globe, were the altars of this deity. They were enclosed in a sump- tuous temple, which also contained the image of the mystic god. The sanctity of the place, hallowed by tradition, brought a multitude of pilgrims from the remotest boundaries of Anahuac, to offer up their devotions at the shrine of Quetzalcoatl. In no city were there such a concourse of priests, so many processions, and such ceremonial pomp of sacrifice and festival. Cholula was in short the Mecca of Anahuac. Tlascala was about twenty miles north of Cholula, and was a populous town in the time of Cortes. The houses were for the most part of mud, the better sort being, however, of stone or brick. They were without doors or windows, but mats were hung in the entrances to the house, and being fringed with pieces of copper, 70 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. gave a tinkling sound, which answered the purpose of bells in announcing any one's approach. The streets were narrow and dark. At the fairs, held as usual every fifth day, 30,000 persons were present. Barbers' shops and baths were common in the city. The Tlascalans occupied an elevated and rugged territory, cultivating the land, however, with skill and success. Their bracing atmosphere and hardy pur- suits imparted to them great vigor of character, and that jealousy of liberty which led to the mainten- ance of a republican government, and rendered them impatient of the authority claimed by Montezuma. Their hatred springing from this source, led them to hail Cortes as a deliverer, and to receive him into their capital with demonstrations of unbounded joy. Yet the friendship of the Spaniard proved as fatal as his enmity, and nothing remains of the great city of Tlas- cala but a miserable village, containing a few hundred inhabitants. There were other cities scattered throughout Ana- huac, many of them populous and some remarkable for their edifices. Among these were several in the vicin- ity of Mexico, the remains of which still bear testi- mony to their former splendor ANTIQUITIES. It is scarcely possible to conceive of a greater change than has taken place in Mexico, since the conquest. Not only are the palaces and cities of the Aztec race swept away to give place to modern towns ; not only are the Indian temples either levelled down or in ruins, over which trees and plants seek to throw a veil of oblivion, but the very aspect of the country, in many places, has lost its original character. THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 71 A recent traveller speaks of the approach to modern Mexico as presenting " scenery arid and flat ; and where the waters of the lakes, covered with gay canoes, once surrounded the city, forming canals through its streets, we now see melancholy marshes, little enlivened by the great flocks of wild ducks and waterfowl that rise from them." This shrinking of the waters of the lake, and the desolation which has consequently usurp- ed the place of former fertility, seem fit emblems of the blasting influence of the Spanish dominion in this favored clime. It is the peculiar disgrace of the conquerors of Mexico, that while with bigot zeal the)' quenched the light of civilization that existed in the country, blotting out its history, destroying its libraries, demolishing the works of art, crushing the fabric of government, desolating the cities, butchering the inhabitants almost by millions, and trampling down the original races beneath the iron heel of despotism, after more than three centuries they have hardly produced a state of society better than that which they found. Reducing the nations to a state of abject poverty and servitude, they have given them in compensation of their un- numbered wrongs, only the Catholic religion, which, however, is used by the Indians as the vehicle through which they still worship their bloody gods, and as the instrument by which they are plundered of their hard earnings. After such a process of worse than Vandal destruc- tion, few antiquities of great interest can be expected to remain. The city of Mexico has been wholly trans- formed the great temple, the palace of Montezuma, 72 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. the stately edifices of the nobles have vanished for- ever. A colossal statue of the goddess of war still remains, but it is buried that it may not rouse the dormant superstitions of the natives. When a few years since it was taken up that a cast might be made from it, these people, in attestation of their lingering reverence, dressed it in flowers ! The drapery of this idol is of twisted serpents, and two snakes supply the- place of arms. The necklace represents human hands and skulls, fastened together by entrails. This statue is nine feet high. Within the enclosure of the present cathedral is an ancient mass, called the stone of the sacrifices. It is of porphyry and nine feet wide. In the centre is a head, in relief, surrounded by 27 groups of figures. The hideous use of this stone is indicated by a groove, made to carry off the blood of the victims ! The great stone, disinterred in 1790, called Monte- zuma's watch, or the Mexican calendar, has been al- ready noticed. Besides the remains o'f monuments which were chiefly works of magnificence, there are others abounding around the city of Mexico, and all over the country, which attest the high degree of civ- ilization which their builders had attained. Among these were roads constructed of huge blocks of stone, and frequently carried on a continued level, so as to be viaducts across valleys. The remains of bridges, also, of great strength and durability, are still found in different parts of the country. A little to the west of Mexico is the royal hill of Chapoltepec. It is a lofty crest of porphyritic rock, and now occupied by a gloomy and desolate castle, THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 73 erected by Galves, the Spanish viceroy. In the days of Montezuma, its base was swept by the waters of the Tezcuco, and on account of the enchanting pros- pect it afforded, it became the favorite residence of the luxurious emperor. Here he had a palace, and his gardens extended for miles around the base of the hill. Amid tangled shrubbery, twining myrtles, and the dark shadows of gigantic cypresses, some interesting relics, consisting chiefly of reservoirs, for baths, are still to be seen. A recent traveller, speaking of this now desolate spot, has the following words : " Could these hoary forests speak, what tales might they not disclose, standing with their long gray beards and outstretched venerable arms, century after cen- tury, already old when Montezuma was a boy, and still vigorous in the days of Bustamente ! Here has the last of the Aztec emperors wandered with his dark-eyed harem. Under the shade of these gigantic trees he had rested, perhaps smoked his ' tobacco mingled with amber,' and fallen to sleep, his dreams unhaunted by visions of the stern traveller from the far east, whose sails even then might be within sight of the shore. In these tanks he has bathed. Here were his gardens, his aviaries and his fish-ponds. Through these, now tangled and deserted woods, he may have been carried by his young nobles in his open litter, under a splendid dais, stepping out upon the rich stuffs which his slaves spread before him on the green and velvet turf." Other places of great interest exist in the Valley of Mexico. Tezcuco is now only a mass of ruins, but these are peculiarly grand. The foundations and v. 7 74 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. remains of temples, fortresses, palaces, and other ex- tensive buildings, attest a period when it must have been one of the greatest cities of America, and capital of the kingdom of Acolhuacan; still later, it was the seat of literature and art, the Athens of America. The remains of the palace of the former tributary king could not be viewed without forming an elevated idea of the ancient Mexican architecture. It must have covered several acres, was raised on sloping terraces, and built of materials at once durable arxl beautiful. All around Tezcuco are seen mounds of brick, mixed with aqueducts, ruins of buildings of enormous strength, and many large square structures nearly en- tire. Here the blind zeal of the first bishops collected and committed to the flames, all the monuments of Aztec history and literature. Near Otumba, once large and flourishing, but now little more than a village, are he pyramids of Teoti- huacan, the two principal of which appear to be tem- ples dedicated to the sun and moon; the highest of these has been recently estimated at 221 feet. They were formerly crowned by two immense stone idols ; these were covered with gold which was stripped off by the Spanish conquerors. The whole plain around these pyramids was called the pathway of the dead. Hundreds of smaller pyramids surround the two larger ones, and are disposed in regular streets, which ter- minate at the temples of the sun and moon. This was probably an ancient burial place, and is spoken of by a recent visitor, as an Aztec Pere-la-Chaise, or roof- less Westminster Abbey. Human sacrifices were also offered here, and stone knives and arrows, with THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 75 which the priests opened the breasts of their victims are still found about the plnce. Cholula has been already mentioned. It is now a small town, and its mighty pyramid, crumbling with age, is covered with vegetation. It is 177 feet high, and one side of its base measures 1440 feet. Though far less elevated than the great pyramid of Jizeh, it greatly exceeds it in bulk, for that measures but 7C3 feet at the base. This celebrated temple is said to have resembled that of Belus, in Babylon. There are other interesting monuments of antiquity in Mexico, especially in Yucatan and the vicinity, of these we shall hereafter give a particular account. Indians of the city of Mexico. PRESENT STATE OF THE INDIANS OF MEXICO. In the preceding pages we have not noticed several tribes occupying the northern border of Mexico, which in the time of Cortes lived a wandering life, and main- tained their wild independence. Many of these were never subdued, and others have but partially submitted 76 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. to the Spanish authority. There are still numerous bands of these, called Indios Bravos, who preserve their savage habits, though their condition has been modified by the use of horses and firearms, which Indians of the country near Mexico. they have adopted from the Europeans. Among these tribes are the Camanchees, who live partly within the territory of Mexico, and partly within that of the United States. These will be hereafter noticed, and a description of their manners and customs will give a general idea of this class of the Mexican Indi- ans. Our descriptions have had a primary reference to the several nations and tribes embraced within the empire of Montezuma, who had adopted some degree of civilization. These people, who were once the masters of the country, have since the conquest been a subjugated and depressed race; and though they have been placed in contact with the arts and institutions THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 77 of civilization, they have hardly been improved in their condition. They have, indeed, parted with the bloody rites connected with their religion ; but nearly the same idolatrous superstitions linger in their minds, as in former days. On the whole, it would appear that the mental and physical characteristics of the Mexican Indians, have shared in the paralyzing effects of the Spanish domin- ion. Though shorter and apparently less athletic than our northern savages, they bear the general fea- tures of the great American family. They have the same swarthy or copper color, the flat and smooth hair, thin beard, squat body, long eye with the corner curving up towards the temples, prominent cheek bones, thick lips, and an expression of gentleness in the mouth, strongly contrasted with a gloomy and se- vere look. Their hair is coarse, but smooth, and so glossy as to appear in a constant state of humidity. They share with the rest of their countrymen, and with most races of very swarthy complexion, an ex- emption from almost every species of deformity. Humboldt never saw a hunchbacked Indian, and squinting and lameness are very rare. They escape the goitre, even in districts where it is prevalent. None of the causes which have been assigned for this exemption in nomadic nations, can apply to a labori- ous, agricultural race like the Mexican Indians ; and therefore, this immunity must depend on something peculiar in their structure. It has been supposed that few attain an advanced age, because none of them are ever seen with grey hair. Yet it is not uncommon for a peaceful cultivator to b$ 7* 78 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. vigorous at the age of an hundred years. The extrav- agant use of pulque, especially in respect to those who frequent the markets of the capital, has a very debas- ing influence. The police of the city are accus- tomed to send round tumbrils to collect the drunk- ards, like so many dead bodies. These are punished by being chained, and made to work in the streets for several days. Although most of the Aztec nobles perished in the ruin of their country, yet some still remain, and are looked upon with veneration by their countrymen. They are usually invested with the government of the villages, and are accused of exercising their power in a tyrannical manner, even over their kindred race. The Indians pay a tribute or capitation tax, varying at different times and places, from one to five dollars. A few of them have amassed considerable wealth: but in general, they labor under severe poverty. They bear the aspect of a depraved and depressed people, and the beauty of the females which seemed to excite the admiration of Cortes and his companions, has generally departed. A recent observer describes them in the following terms. " The common Indians whom we see every day bringing in their fruit and vegetables to market, are, generally speaking, very plain, with a humble, mild expression of countenance, very gentle and wonderfully polite in their manners to each other ; but occasionally in the lower classes, one sees a face and form so beautiful, that we might suppose such another was the Indian who enchanted Cortes ; with eyes and hair of extraordinary beauty, a complexion dark, but glowing, with the Indian THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 7V beauty of teeth like the driven snow, together with small feet and beautifully shaped hands and arms, however imbrowned by sun and toil." Notwithstanding their degradation, the Indians ap- pear to be gifted with a clear apprehension, a natural logic, and a capacity for cool and even subtle reason- ing, but to be destitute of any warmth of imagination, or flow of sentiment. Yet, the love of flowers, for which they have been remarkable since the conquest, seems to indicate a taste for the beautiful. In the public market of the capital, the Mexican shrouds himself with an entrenchment of verdure, and the ground around him is embellished with festoons of flowers which are daily renewed. They evince a great attachment to the arts of painting and carving, and imitate with great facility any models which are presented to them. A peculiar apathy marks the deportment of the Mexican Indian. He is grave, gloomy and silent; he seems to throw a mysterious air over the most indifferent actions, yet is often seen to pass at once from a state of seemingly profound repose to one of violent and unrestrained agitation. The Indians are almost entirely destitute of every species of education, except such as they acquire by observation. They have lost the means of instruction afforded by their own priesthood, and the Spanish government have made no provision to supply their place. They have, however, adopted some Spanish customs. It is not uncommon to see them playing the guitar or to hear them singing simple European airs. The Catholic religion was pressed upon them by the Romish priests and monks, who flocked to 80 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. South America. So intent were they, that long before they were themselves sufficiently acquainted with the language of the Indians to explain to them the mysteries of their faith, or the precepts of duty, they received them into their church and baptized them. While this rage for conversion continued, a single missionary baptized in one day above five thou- sand, and did not desist until he was so exhausted by fatigue, that he was unable to raise his hands. Not- withstanding they seemed to consent to Christianity, when out of the reach of the Spaniards they returned to their idolatrous rites. It may, however, be observed, that the Romish re- ligion seems to have been sown here in a soil not wholly unprepared for its reception. Even at the time of the conquest, certain Christian rites and notions of morality appear to have existed among the Mexi- cans, strangely blent with their heathen idolatries. We have already noticed the ceremony of baptism, and we may add that the symbol of the cross was already known long before the arrival of Cortes. There was a temple at Cholula dedicated to the holy cross, by the Toltecs, the predecessors of the Mexican race. At Yucatan and other places, this emblem was common. These and other equally singular facts have led to various theories, one of which is, that St. Thomas was a missionary to these regions ! We need hardly add, that the subject remains involved in inscrutable mystery. The Spaniards consider the Indians as being now converted to the Christian faith ; and this might seem to be justified by their devotion to catholic ceremo- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 8t ^ nies. An able writer, however, remarks that " the change has evidently been not a change of creed, but a commutation of one ceremony for another, and in some cases their ancient ceremonies are retained. Humboldt seems to suppose that they merely consid- ered the Spanish gods to have vanquished their gods, and thence to have been entitled to their homage. They even persuaded themselves, and it is said were assured by the Spaniards, that the emblem of the third person in the Trinity, was identical with the sacred Mexican eagle. Be this as it may, the Mexi- cans display an extraordinary ardor in adorning the churches with pictures and statues, and in collecting and grouping flowers, fruits and every thing which can increase the splendor ofreligious festivals. But their favorite form of worship is dancing 'round the altar, and with astonishment is it perceived that these dances are the same with which their ancestors cele- brated the immolation of human victims to the dread- ful god of war. The warrior departs attired in the full costume of the days of Montezuma; he meets another; fights, vanquishes and drags him by the hair before the emperor. The spectator almost expects to see the blood begin to flow." We have already men- tioned the fact, that when the image of the goddess of war that is sunk in the square of the cathedral, was dug up for the purpose of taking a cast of it, the Indians dressed it with flowers. Some of them also remarked, that after the cordial manner in which they had leceived the Spanish gods, they might have been allowed to retain a few of their own. The season called holy week, is noticed in the city F 82 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. of Mexico with a vast deal of religious ceremonial: in the country there are melodramatic representations of the sufferings, death and burial of Christ. In these, the Indians take a peculiar interest, as they seem suited to their taste and capacity. The following description from a work already quoted,* gives a good idea of these scenes. The place at which the events occurred, was Coyohuacan, in the vicinity of Mexico. " The first evening we arrived here, there was a representation of the Pharisees searching for Christ. These were very finely dressed either in scarlet stuff and gold, or in green and silver, with helmets and feathers, mounted upon horses which are taught to dance and rear to the sound of music, so that upon the whole, they looked like performers at Astley's. They came on with music, riding up the lanes until they arrived in front of this house, which being the principal place hereabouts they came to first, and where the Indian workmen and servants were all collected to see them. They rode about for some time, as if in search of Christ, until a full length figure of the Saviour appeared, dressed in purple robes, carried on a platform by four men and guarded on all sides by soldiers. It is singular thai after all, there is nothing ridiculous in these exhibitions ; on the con- trary, something rather terrible. In the first place, the music is good, which would hardly be the case in any but a Mexican village ; the dresses are really rich, the gold all real, and the whole has the effect of *"-Life in Mexico, by Madame C. de B.," an exceedingly clever performance, giving a lively view of Mexican manners THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 83 confusing the imagination into the belief of its being a true scene. " The next evening the same procession passed, with some additions, always accompanied by a crowd of Indians from the villages, men, women and children. Bonfires were made before the door of the hacienda, which were lighted whenever the distant music was heard approaching, and all the figures in the proces- sion carried lighted lamps. The Saviour was then led up to the door, and all the crowd went up to kiss his feet. The figure which is carried about this eve- ning, is called " Our Saviour of the Column," and represents the Saviour tied to a pillar, bleeding and crowned with thorns. All this must sound very pro- fane, but the people are so quiet, seem so devout, and so much in earnest, that it appears much less so than you would believe. " The cross was planted here in a congenial soil, and as in the Pagan East, the statues of the divinities frequently did no more than change their names from those of heathen gods to those of Christian saints, and image worship apparently continued, though the mind of the Christian was directed from the being repre- sented to the true and only God who inhabits eternity. So here the poor Indian still bows before visible rep- resentations of saints and virgins, as he did in former days before the monstrous shapes representing the un- seen powers of the air, the earth, and the water; but he, it is to be feared, lifts his thoughts no higher than what the rude hand has carved. The mysteries of Chris- tianity, to affect his untutored mind, must be visibly represented to his eyes. He kneels before the bleed- 84 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. ing image of the Saviour who died for him, before the gracious form of the Virgin who intercedes for him ; but he believes that there are many Virgins, and possessing various degrees of miraculous power, and different degrees of wealth, according to the qual- ity and number of the diamonds and pearls with which they are endowed, one even who is the rival of the other, one who will bring rain when there is drought, and one to whom it is well to pray in sea- sons of inundations." Among the many acts of injustice inflicted upon the nation by the Spaniards, it is pleasant to record an incident of another character, and which happened under the viceroyalty of a Spaniard, distinguished for his vigor in the discharge of official duty. The story is as follows: " A poor Indian appeared before the viceroy, and stated that he had found in the street a bag full of golden ounces, which had been advertised, with the promise of a handsome reward to the person who should restore them to the owner; that upon carry- ing it to the Don he received the bag, counted the ounces, extracted two, which he had seen him slip into his pocket ; and had then reproached the poor man with having stolen part of the money, had called him a thief and rascal, and instead of rewarding, had driven him from the house. With the viceroy there was no delay, immediate action was his plan. De- taining the Indian, he despatched an officer to desire the attendance of Don with his bag of ounces. He came and the viceroy desired him to relate the cir- cumstances, his practised eye reading his falsehood at THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 85 n glance. ' May it please your Excellency, I lost a bag containing gold. The Indian now in your Excel- lency's presence, brought it to me in hopes of a re- ward, having first stolen part of the contents. I drove him from the house as a thief, who, instead of recom- pense, deserves punishment.' " ' Stay,' said the viceroy, ' there is some mistake here. How many ounces were in the bag you lost? ' 'Twenty-eight.' 'And how many are here?' 'But twenty six/ 'Count them down. I see it is as you say. The case is clear, and we have all been mis- taken. Had this Indian been a thief, he would never have brought back the bag, and stolen merely two ounces. He would have kept the whole. It is evi- dent that this is not your bag, but another which this poor man has found. Sir, our interview is at an end. Continue to search for your bag of gold ; and as for yon, friend, since you cannot find the true owner, sweep up these twenty-six pieces and carry them away. They are yours.' So saying, his excellency bowed out the discomfited cheat and the overjoyed rustic." The following sketch, of the Indians of Uruapa, is derived from the same source as the preceding ex- tracts, and will give an idea of the condition of the people in a large part of Mexico. The dress of the Indian women here, is pretty, and they are altogether a much cleaner and better- looking race than we have yet seen. They wear " naguas," a petticoat of black cotton, with a narrow stripe, made very full and rather long; over this, a sort of short chemise made of coarse white cotton, and v. 8 86 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. embroidered in different colored silks. It is called the sntunacua, over all is a black reboso, striped with white and blue, with a handsome silk fringe of the same colors. When they are married, they add a white embroidered veil and a remarkably pretty col- ored mantle, which they call guipil. The hair is divided, and falls down behind in two long plaits, fastened at the top by a bow of ribbon and a flower. In this dress, there is no alteration from what they wore in former days : saving, that a woman of a higher class, wore a dress of fine cotton, with more embroidery, and a loose garment over all, resembling a priest's surplice, when the weather was cold. Among the men, the introduction of trousers is Span- ish, but they still wear the majtlatl, a broad belt with the ends tied before and behind, and the tilmaili or tilma as they now call it, a sort of square, short cloak, the ends of which are tied across the breast or over one shoulder. A number of the old Indian customs are still kept up here, modified by the introduction of Christian doctiines in their marriages, feasts, burials and super- stitious practices. They also preserve the same sim- plicity in their dress, united with the same vanity and love of show in their ornaments which always distinguished them. The poorest Indian woman still wears a necklace of red coral, or a dozen rows of red beads, and their dishes are still the gicalli, or as they were called by the Spaniards gicaras, made of a species of gourd, or rather a fruit resembling it, and growing on a low tree, which fruit they cut in two, each one fur- nishing two dishes ; the inside is scooped out, and a du- THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 87 ruble varnish given it by means of a mineral earth of different bright colors, generally red. On the outside they paint flowers, and some of them are also gilded. They are extremely pretty, very durable and ingeni- ous. The beautiful colors which they employ in painting these gicaras are composed not only of vari- ous mineral productions, but of the wood, leaves and flowers of certain plants, of whose properties they have no despicable knowledge. Their own dresses, manu- factured by themselves of cotton, are extremely pretty, and many of them very fine." As already stated, the present population of Mexico is about 8,000,000. These consist of four classes ; the native Spaniards, who are in a depressed state since the revolution, and amount only to a few thousands ; Spaniards born in the country, called Creoles, and constituting the most wealthy and influential class; the mixed castes, a numerous body, and the Indians. The Creoles are many of them descended from the first conquerors, and are not only proud of their de- scent, but having engrossed the greater part of the mines and other sources of wealth, are the proprietors of the substance of the country. They are fond of splendor in dress and equipage, and delight to appear on fine horses gaily caparisoned. An income of 200,000 dollars a year, is not uncommon among them. One individual has been known to receive 1,200,000 dollars a year from his mines alone. This wealthy and dominant portion of the community is much ad- dicted to gaming and other kinds of dissipation. The white race altogether, is estimated at 1,500,000: the Mestizoes may be 2,500,000, and the Indians 83 THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 4,000,000. These constitute the lowest and most de- pressed rank, and may be considered as the cerfs of the country. Their number is about half what it was at the time of the conquest. The history of the wars by which thousands of them were slain ; of their being compelled to work in mines, by which many per- ished, and multitudes were led to put an end to their unhappy existence; with the continued pressure of despotism for three centuries, and the consequent degradation, will sufficiently explain this wasting of the race. It is painful to admit, in taking leave of this renowned nation, that the future seems to offer a prospect but little brighter than that which lies in the backward view of the dark and painful past. ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. THE country which was formerly known under the name of Guatimala, has recently adopted a republican government, and is known by the title of Central America. It lies to the south of Mexico, and consists in part of the isthmus which connects North and South America. The country is mountainous, and has at least twenty volcanoes in constant activity. Its chief livers are the Chiapa and St. Juan, and the principal S* 90 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTBAL AMERICA. lakes Nicaragua and Leon. The western coast is subject to terrific earthquakes, which have over- whelmed cities, and exterminated complete tribes of people. It is a prolific country, abounding in the use- ful and luscious products of nature. At the time of the invasion of Cortes, this and the adjacent territories were occupied by the Toltecs, who appear to have moved hither, and farther south, after their departure from Mexico. The country was then exceedingly populous, and was studded with numerous and flourishing cities. The country of Guatimala was occupied by a peo- ple called Quiches. Their king was Tecum Umam, and their capital Utatlan. A Spanish commander named Alvarado was despatched by Cortes to conquer this country. In this he succeeded, after many des- perate struggles. Six battles took place on the banks of the river Zimala, which in that vicinity received the title of the River of Blood. At this time Utatlan abounded in palaces and other sumptuous edifices, being hardly surpassed in splendor by Mexico and Cuzco. It was encompassed by a lofty wall, and was capable of being entered only at two points ; on one side by a causeway, and on the other by a flight of steps. Within, the buildings stood high and compact. In the hope of exterminating their ene- mies, the Quiches invited the Spaniards into their capi- tal, pretending a willingness to submit. After their entrance, the Quiches set fire to the city, and if the Indians of another tribe had not been false to their countrymen, Alvarado and his followers would have perished. Having escaped this danger, the Spaniards ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 91 pursued their victorious course until all opposition was crushed, and in 1524 laid the foundation of the city of Guatimala. The bigpt rage of the Spaniards was directed not only against the superstitions of the Indians, with the temples and idols consecrated to them, but even against the palaces and other monuments of the people whom they conquered. The city of Mexico, as is well known, was totally destroyed by Cortes. The other cities of Mexico and Guatimala were in process of time de- populated, fell into decay, and their ruins became so overgrown with trees that all knowledge of them for the most part was lost. Dr. Robertson, in a note to his History of America, makes the following state- ment : " I am informed by a person who resided long in New Spain, and visited almost every province of it, that there is not in all the extent of that vast empire, any monument or vestige of any building more ancient than the conquest ! " The author of another account in manuscript observes that " at this day there does net remain even the smallest vestige of the existence of nny ancient Indian building, public or private, either in Mexico or in any province of New Spain." In the course of the last century, however, some vague ac- counts reached Europe respecting the ruins of an ancient city at Palenque, on the southern border of Mexico. These were explored by order of the Span- ish government, and found to exhibit architecture and sculpture of a very extraordinary character. But such was the jealousy of this government, that the results of these researches were for a long time concealed from the world. 92 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTKAL AMERICA. The first new light thrown upon the subject of Mexican antiquities was by the celebrated traveller Humboldt, who visited the country at a time when by the cautious policy of the government, it was almost as much closed against strangers as the empire of China. The monuments of the country were not a leading object of his inquiries, but he collected from, various sources information, and drawings of many antiquities, particularly of those at Mitla, in the south- ern part of Mexico : this name is a contraction of the word Miguitlan, signifying, in the Mexican language, the Place of Woe, or Desolation. The term appears to have been well chosen for a site so dreary and lugu- brious that, according to the narration of travellers, the warbling of birds is there scarcely ever heard. According to the traditions that have been preserved, this was the spot where the ashes of the Tzapotec princes reposed. The sovereign, at the death of a son or brother, withdrew into one of the habitations which were here erected over the tombs, to deliver himself up to grief and religious rites. These edifices are now in ruins, but the plans of five separate buildings have been made out, and they seem to have been dis- posed with great regularity. The walls of these build- ings were covered with ornaments consisting of mosaic and carved work, remarkable for their elegance. In the neighborhood of these ruins are the remains of a great pyramid. Another singular monument of which Humboldt obtained information, was Xochicalco or the House of Flowers, near the city of Cuernuvaca. This struc- ture consists of five stories or terraces, narrowing as ANTIQUITIES OF CENTKAL AMERICA. 93 they ascend, and about sixty feet high. The platform at the summit is a square of 200 feet by 280. In the centre of this square are the remains of a pyramidal structure five more stories in height. Every traveller has been struck with the polish and cut of the stones, and the nicety with which they are joined without cement. These stones are covered with sculptures, among which are figures of the heads of crocodiles O O spouting water, and men sitting cross-legged according to the Asiastic custom. Notwithstanding these orna- ments it is evident that Xochicalco was designed for a military fortress. The terraces are furnished with stone battlements, and the whole structure is surround- ed by a deep and very broad ditch, so that the whole fortification is above two miles in circumference. Humboldt assures us that on the heights of the Cor- dilleras of Peru he has seen monuments still larger than this ; and that the American works of this class resemble those which are daily discovered in the east- ern parts of Asia. The most successful of all the explorers of these antiquities has been Mr. Stephens, who made two expe- ditions to this part of the world for the purpose of antiquarian research. It is to his works that we are indebted for the substance of the following description. The first ruins which he visited were those of Copan, which stand on the branch of a small river falling into the bay of Honduras. Copan was once a very large and well-built city, but the ruins are now almost en- tirely overgrown with trees. Many remains of the city wall are to be seen, of cut stone, well laid, and in good preservation. " We ascended," says the travel- 94 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. ler, " by large stone steps, in some places perfect, and in others thrown down by trees which had grown up between the crevices, and reached a terrace, the form of which it was impossible to make out from the density of the forest in which it was enveloped. Our guide cleared a way with his matchete (chopping-knife) and we passed, as it lay half buried in the earth, a large fragment of stone, elaborately sculptured, and came to the angle of a structure, with steps on the sides, in form and appearance, so far as the trees would enable us to make it out, like the sides of a pyramid. Diverging from the base, and working our way through ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 95 the thick wood?, we came upon a square stone column about fourteen feet high and three feet on each side, sculptured in very bold relief on all four of the sides from the base to the top. The front was the figure of a man, curiously and richly dressed, and the face, evidently a portrait, solemn, stern, and well fitted to excite terror. The back was of a different design, un- like anything we had ever seen before, and the sides were covered with hieroglyphics. This our guide called an idol, and before it at a distance of three feet was a large block of stone, also sculptured with fig- ures and emblematical devices, which he called an altar. The sight of this monument put at rest, at once and forever in our minds, all uncertainty in re- gard to the character of American antiquities, and gave us the assurance that the objects we were in search of were interesting, not only as the remains of an unknown people, but as works of art ; proving, like newly discovered historical records, that the peo- ple who once occupied the continent of America, were not savages. " With an interest perhaps stronger than we had ever felt in wandering among the ruins of Egypt, we followed our guide, who, sometimes missing his way, with a constant use of his machete, conducted us through the thick forest, among half buried fragments, to fourteen monuments of the same character and ap- pearance; some with more elegant designs, and some in workmanship equal to the finest monuments of the Egyptians; one displaced from its pedestal by enor- mous roots, another locked in the close embrace of branches of trees and almost lifted out of the earth : 96 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. another hurled to the ground and bowed down by huge vines and creepers: and one standing with its altar before it, in a grove of trees which grew around it, seemingly to shade and shroud it as a sacred thing: in the solemn stillness of the woods, it seemed a di- vinity mourning over a fallen people. The only sounds that disturbed the quiet of this buried city, were the noise of monkeys moving among the tops of the trees and the cracking of dry branches broken by their weight. They moved over our heads in long and swift processions, forty or fifty at a time, some with little ones wound in their long arms, walking out to the end of boughs and holding on with their hind feet or a curl of the tail, sprang to a branch of the next tree, and with a noise like a current of wind, passed on into the depths of the forest. It was the first time we had seen these mockeries of humanity, and with the strange monuments around us, they seemed like wandering spirits of the departed race guarding the ruins of their former habitations. " We returned to the base of the pyramidal structure, and ascended by regular stone steps, in some places forced apart by bushes and saplings, and in others, thrown down by the growth of large trees, while some remained entire. In parts they were ornamented with sculptured figures and rows of death's heads. Climb- ing over the ruined top, we reached a terrace overgrown with trees, and crossing it, descended by stone steps into an area so covered with trees that at first we could not make out its form, but which, on clearing ihe way with the machete, we ascertained to be a square, and with steps on all the sides almost as perfect as those of the ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 97 Roman amphitheatre. The steps were ornamented with sculpture, and on the south side about halfway up, forced out of its place by roots, was a colossal head, evidently a portrait. We ascended these steps and reached a broad terrace a hundred feet high, overlooking the river, and supported by the wall which we had seen from the opposite bank. The whole terrace was covered with trees, and even at this height from the ground were two gigantic ceibas, or wild cotton trees of India, about twenty feet in circumfer- ence, extending their half-naked roots fifty or a hun- dred feet around, binding down the ruins and shading them with their wide spreading branches. We sat down on the very edge of the wall and strove in vain to penetrate the mystery by which we were sur- rounded. " Trudging once more, next morning, over the dis- trict which contained the principal monument, we were startled by the immensity of the work before us, and very soon we concluded, that to explore the whole extent would be impossible. Our guides knew only of this district, but having seen columns beyond the village, a league distant, we had reason to believe that others were strewed in different directions, com- pletely buried in the woods and entirely unknown. The woods were so dense that it was almost hopeless to think of penetrating them. The only way to make a thorough exploration, would be to cut down the whole forest and burn the trees. This was incompa- tible with our immediate purposes, might be consid- ered taking liberties, and could only be done in tho dry season. After deliberation, we resolved first to G v. 9 93 ANTIQUITIES o? CENTRAL AMERICA. obtain drawings of the sculptured columns. Even in this there was great difficulty : the designs were very complicated and so different from anything Mr. Cath- erwood had ever seen before, as to be perfectly-unin- telligible. The cutting was in very high relief, and required a strong body of light to bring up the figures; and the foliage was so thick and the shade so deep, that drawing was impossible. "After much consultation we selected one of the idols, and determined to cut down the trees around it and thus lay it open to the rays of the sun. Here again was difficulty. There was no axe ; and the only instrument which the Indians possessed was the machete, which varies in form in different parts of the country. Wielded in one hand it was useful in clear- ing away shrubs and branches, but almost harmless upon large tree>, and the Indians, as in the days when the Spaniards discovered them, applied to work with- out ardor, carried it on with little activity, and like children were easily diverted from it. One hacked into a tree, and when tired, which happened very soon, sat down to rest, and another relieved him. While one worked there were always several looking on. I remembered the ring of the woodman's axe in the forest at home, and wished for a few long-sided Green Mountain boys. But we had been buffeted into patience, and watched the Indians while they hacked with their machetes, and even wondered that they succeeded so well. It is impossible to describe the interest with which I explored these ruins. The ground was entirely new; there were no guide books or guides ; the whole was a virgin soil. We could ANTIQUITIES OF CENTHAJL, AMERICA. 99 not see ten yards before us, and never knew what we should stumble upon next. At one time we stopped to cut away branches and vines which concealed the face of a monument, and then to dig around and bring to light a fragment, a sculptured corner of which pro- truded from the earth. I leaned over with breathless anxiety while the Indians worked, and an eye, an ear, a foot or a hand was disentombed : and when the machete rang against the chiseled stone, I pushed the Indians away and cleared out the loose earth with my hands. The beauty of the sculpture, the solemn stillness of the woods, disturbed only by the scramb- ling of monkeys and the chattering of parrots, the desolation of the city, and the mystery that hung over it, all created an interert higher, if possible, than I had ever felt among the ruins of the Old World." Many drawings of the sculptures above described, have been published in the work of Mr. Stephens. Viewed with reference to their rank as works of art, they may be placed high in the scale of architectural sculpture. To the elegance and sublimity of the Greek and Roman schools, they have no pretensions whatever; nor have they the severe grandeur of the best specimens of the Egyptian ; but they appear to be vastly superior to anything which India or China or Japan has ever produced. Their chief merit lies in their general effect. The figures are ill propor- tioned, and even hideous, and the subordinate parts confused and overcharged ; but they differ from all the barbarous styles of sculpture with which we are acquainted, in this, that their general effect is not only rich and beautiful, but dignified and imposing to a 100 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. degree which we could hardly have supposed possible to result from the combining of so many uncouth and incongruous parts. Bus relief at Ptdenque. At Palenque, in Mexico, are very interesting anti quities, surrounded with thick woods, like those of Copan. They consist of palaces and other structures of stone abounding in sculptures. As works of art they are greatly superior to the antiquities of Co- pan. All of these are built on high terraces, form- ing the summit of a truncated pyramid. The largest structure stands on an artificial elevation of an oblong form, forty feet high, three hundred long, and two ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 101 hundred and sixty broad. The roof of the building was made to curve in a sort of arch by successive layers of stones, each overlapping that immediately beneath it, and plastered over so as to represent a smooth curved surface. The top of the doorway in the middle wall is by this means wrought into an exact resemblance of a Gothic arch*. This structure abounds with courts, corridors, galleries, towers, &c., and was, without doubt, a royal palace. The piers, or square columns, of which there are many, are cov- ered with bas reliefs in stucco. The faces of the human figures are all in profile, which seems to indi- cate the want of a sufficient skill to delineate the front face : but the limbs are correctly formed, and fre- quently graceful. There is also some attempt to arrat.ge the figures in groups, so as to tell a story ; and ec^3 before him the work of a race of men deserving ;he name which has been bestowed upon them by their historians, of savages, ignorant of art. If it stood at this day in one of the capitals of Europe, it would form a new order of ar- chitecture, if not equalling the remains of the Egyp- tian, Grecian and Roman art, at least not unworthy to stand side by side with them. The antiquities we have described, are only a por- tion of what may be seen by a traveller in Central America: tho=e countries, doubtless, contain the re- mains of many ancient cities, yet undiscovered. But 104 ANTIQUITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. what we have related will give the reader an insight into the state of civilization which existed among the uborigines of this region at the period of its discovery by the Spaniards. The present state of the Indians of Guatimala, is similar to that of those in Mexico. They are about half the population of the republic, which is 1,200,000. INDIANS OF PERU, Manco Capac and Mama Qelh. PEKU lies on the western coast of South America, and is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean. It came to the knowledge of the Spaniards about the year 1513, and was soon after visited by the celebrated Francis Pizarro. In 1531, this adventurer penetrated into the country with a small force, seized upon the Inca, or emperor, and treacherously put him to death. He then proceeded to subjugate the kingdom and 106 INDIANS OF PEEtT, reduce it to the Spanish authority. It remained as a dependency of Spain till the year 1S20, when a revo- lutionary war broke out, which resulted in the inde- pendence of the country. The early history of this region, as derived from the traditions of the people for there were no written or pictured records was as follows : It was originally occupied by independent tribes, justly reckoned among the most savage, even in America ; living more like wild beasts than men. For several ages they lived in this manner, when suddenly there appeared on the banks of a lake called Titicaca, a man and woman of majestic form and clothed in decent garments. They declared themselves to be the Children of the Sun, sent by their Beneficent Parent to instruct and reclaim mankind. The names of these two extraordinary personages were Manco Capac and Mama Oello. At their per- suasions, several of the dispersed savages united, and. receiving their commands as heavenly injunctions, fol- lowed them to Cuzco, where they settled and began to lay the foundations of a city. Manco Capac taught the men the arts of agriculture, and his wife instructed the women in spinning, weaving, and other house- hold duties. Manco Capac, whose pride would acknowledge no less illustrious an ancestor than the sun, founded the empire of Peru, A. D. 1025. Whence he came is not known ; but it has been suggested that Japan was his original country. At any rate, after high gales of wind, junks have frequently been driven ashore on the western coast of America, which may INDIANS OT PBRTT. 107 indicate by what means a portion of the settlers reached Peru. Be his derivation, however, what it may, Manco Capac and his lineal successors estab- lished regulations so judicious, and laws so wise, governed with such ability, and reclaimed so many wild tribes from savage life, that, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, their empire extended from the river Ancosmayu, between Pasto and Popayan, to the river Maule, in Chili, in 35 deg. south, a length of thirty-seven degrees of latitude, or about two thousand miles in a straight line. Its breadth varied from three hundred to one thousand miles, and its population was estimated by Garcilaso de Vega at above ten millions. According to a statement made by Seiior Morales y Duares, reported in El Diario de las Cortes of the llth of January, 1811, the census taken in 1575 by Loy- aisa, assisted by the Oidor Don Andres Ziancas, and the Dominican friar Domingo Santo Thomas, gave for the total, 8,225,000 souls ; so that the population had already decreased nearly 2,000,000. The Guichua was the national language throughout the empire of the Incas, and is to this day spoken by a majority of the inhabitants of the republic of the Excuador, (for- merly the captain-generalship of Quito,) and in Peru, as well as by the inhabitants of Santiago del Estero, a midland province of the Argentine Pampas. This last circumstance proves that the dominion of the Incas extended very far to the east, as well as to the west, of the Andes. These monarchs were hereditary, and their rule partook something of the patriarchal character. Un- der the sway of twelve successive Incas, Peru advanced 108 INDIANS OF PERU. rapidly in the arts of peace and \var, and prospered for upwards of five hundred years, until the death of Huayna Capac at Quito, in 1525, a few months after the Spaniards had made their first appearance on the coast of Choco. Thus, as we are told, was founded the empire of the Incas, or lords of Peru. At first its extent was small, the territory of Maneo Capac not reaching above twenty-five miles from Cuzco, his capital: but it was gradually extended, rather for the benign purpose of spreading the blessings of peace and the arts than for conquest, until it embraced the great territory we have described. INHABITANTS. Though the vast dominion of the Incas embraced many different tribes, and of course there must have been some diversity of character among them, still they all possessed the leading traita of the great American family : the copper color, long, lank, black hair, a thin beard, broad Hat nose, and black eyes set obliquely in the head. The Peruvians, however, were marked with a gentleness of character which greatly distinguished them from the Caribs and Brazilians occupying the eastern coast of South America. They had small feet, well turned limbs, and generally a somewhat less robust form than the Indians of other tribes. Their institutions and civili- zation, so remarkably contrasted with those of Mexico, seemed to harmonize with their gentle character, and to be a just reflexion of their mental and moral na- ture. They are supposed to have belonged to the Toltec branch of the American race, and it has been inferred that their ancestors came to this country from INDIANS OF PERU. 109 the north, passing west of the great chain of the Cor- dilleras. DRESS. It would appear that the Peruvians pos- sessed that love of display common to a barbarous people. When Atahualpa had his first interview with Pizarro, he appeared before him with nearly the same pomp that attended Montezuma in his introduction to Cortes. The Inca approached the Spaniard, being preceded by four hundred men in a uniform dress. He was himself seated on a throne, the latter being decorated with plumes of various colors and covered with plates of gold and silver, sprinkled with precious stones. Behind him came some of the chief officers of his court, carried in the same manner. The dress of the common people was made of cloth from various substances, especially from the hair of the llama. The body of both men and women was covered below the waist. The head of the chief peo- ple was usually ornamented with a crown of feathers set upright in a circle, and their persons were deco- rated with precious stones. Jewels were often worn in the ears of all classes. Besides a petticoat, the women wore shawls, fastened at the corners upon the left shoulder : the men had square pieces of cloth, worn as cloaks. BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES. The superior ingenuity of the Peruvians was obvious in the con- struction of their houses and public buildings. In the extensive plains which stretch along the Pacific Ocean where the sky is perpetually serene, and the climate mild, their houses were very properly of a fabric extremely slif vhe j.32 INDIANS OF PEIUT. worship of the Sun, as the visible agent of Pachaca- mac, ihe " soul or upholder of 'the universe." Txo sacrifice was ever offered, no worship paid to this un- known First Cause ; but he was, nevertheless, the object of internal adoration, and the name of Pacha- camac was never pronounced without being accom- panied by signs of profound veneration. The Sun engrossed the adoration of the Peruvians, though the Moon was revered as his wife ; and the Pleiades, with the other stars, acquired a kind of derivative honor, by being considered as her handmaidens and servants. The planet Venus was regarded as the page in wait- ing on the Sun ; thunder and lightning were his min- isters. The rainbow, believed to be an emanation from the sun, was adopted as the armorial bearing by the Incas, and, as well as each of the heavenly bodies we have mentioned, had chambers respectively allotted to them, in the temples. The temples erected to the Sun were numerous, and their service was maintained with great pomp and ceremony. The sacrifices instituted in honor of the Sun, consisted chiefly of animals, fowls and corn, and they even burnt their finest cloths on the altar, by way of incense. They had also drink offerings made of maize, or Indian corn, steeped in water. Nor were those oblations the only acts of adoration in general use among them. When they first drank after their meals, they dipped the tip of their finger into the cup, and lifting up their eyes with great devotion, gave the Sun thanks for their liquor before they presumed to take a draught of it. Beside the worship of the Sun they paid some kind INDIANS OF PERU. 133 of veneration to the figures of several animals and vegetables that had a place in their temples. These were generally the images brought from the conquered nations, where J,he people worshipped all sorts of creatures, animate or inanimate, it being the custom when a province was subdued, to remove all their idols to the temple of the Sun at Cuzco. Temple of the Sun. Exclusive of the solemnities at every full moon, four grand festivals were celebrated annually. The first of those, called Raznic, was held in the month of June, immediately after the summer solstice, and was kept not only in honor of the Sun, but of their first v.-12 134 INDIANS OF PERU. Inca, Manco Capac, and Mama Odh, his wife and sister, whom the Incas considered as their first parents, descended immediately from the Sun, and sent by him into the world to reform and polish mankind. At this festival all the viceroys, generals, governors and nobil- ity, were assembled at the capital city of Cuzco ; and the emperor, or Inca, officiated in person as high priest, though on other occasions the sacerdotal function was discharged by the regular pontiff, w r ho was, usually, either the uncle or brother of the Inca. The morning of the festival being come, the Inca, accompanied by his near relations, drawn up in order according to their seniority, went barefoot in proces- sion at break of day to the market-place, where they remained looking attentively towards the east in ex- pectation of the rising sun. The luminary no sooner appeared, than they fell prostrate on their faces in the most profound veneration, and universally acknowl- edged him to be their god and father. The vassal princes, and nobility that were not of the royal blood, assembled in another square, and performed the like ceremony. Out of a large flock of sheep the priests then chose a black lamb, which they offered in sacrifice, first turning its head towards the east. From the entrails of the victim, on this occasion, they drew prognostics relating to peace and war and other public events. That the Peruvians believed in the immortality of the soul, appears from the practice of the Incas, who constantly taught the people, that on leaving this world they should enter into a state of happiness provided for them by their god and father, the Sun. INDIANS OF PERU. 135 It appears that the Peruvians had a marriage cere- mony, and the marriage obligation was faithfully observed. Notwithstanding the mild character of the Peruvian laws and religion, there was one custom that marked a barbarous state of society. On the death of the Inca, or any great chief, a number of his vassals, in one instance amounting to a thousand, were interred with him, so that he might be served with proper dignity in the other world. There were, also, deposited a portion of his wealth, and many precious and useful articles destined for his use. The opening of these hicacas, or tombs, has often proved a great prize to European adventurers ; and in one instance, there was found a treasure of gold amounting to no less than 700,000 dollars. The Peruvians indicated their belief in the immor- tality of the soul, not only by their burials, but by cata- combs secured by enduring structures of stone. In the province of Chapapogas, are still to be found conical mausolea, which, as well on account of the solidity of the materials, as the inaccessible sites on which they are erected, display great skill in architecture and ambition for immortality. That they were extremely solicitous on this latter point, is attested by the multitude of" mummies, which after a lapse of so many years are to be found in great numbers in catacombs throughout the country. It appears that they had the art of em- balming, and a specimen of their mummies, greatly resembling those of Egypt, may be seen in the Mu- seum at Salem. WAR. The character of the Peruvians, however it 136 INDIANS OF PERU. might have once been otherwise, was averse to war in the time of Pizarro. For this reason, their coun- try fell almost at once, before a handful of invaders. Y"et, when roused by the death of the Incas, and the atrocities of the Spaniards, they defended Cuzco with vigor, and displayed a capacity for military tactics, superior to that of the Mexicans. They observed the advantages obtained by the Spaniards by their discipline, and endeavored to imitate it. They armed a body of their bravest warriors, with swords, spears, and bucklers taken from the enemy, and endeavored to marshal them in compact and regular order. Some appeared in the field with muskets which they had taken, and a few of them ventured to mount the cap- tured horses. In order to obstruct the march of cav- alry, they threw among them ropes, with stones at each end, which wound around the legs of the horses, and embarrassed their progress. SCIENCE AND ARTS. Before the arrival of the Span- iards in America, the Peruvians were acquainted with some points of astronomy. They had observed the various motions of the planet Venus, and the different phases of the moon. The common people divided the year only by the seasons ; but the Incas who had dis- covered the annual revolution of the sun, marked out the summer and winter solstices by high towers, which they erected on the east and west of the city of Cuzco. When the sun came to rise immediately opposite to four of those towers on the east side of the city, and to set against those on the west, it was then the summer sol- stice; and in like manner, when it rose and set against the other towers, it was the winter solstice. They had INDIANS OF PERU. 137 also erected marble pillars in the great court before the temple of the Sun, by which they observed the equi- noxes. This observation was made under the equator, when the sun being directly vertical, the pillars cast no shade. At these times they crowned the pillars with garlands of flowers and odoriferous herbs, and holding festivals, offered to the adored luminary rich presents of gold, and precious stones. They distinguished the months by the moon, and the weeks were called quarters of the moon ; but the days of the week, they marked only by the ordinal numbers, as first, second, &c. They were astonished at the eclipses of the sun and moon. When the former hid his face, they concluded it was on account of their sins, imagining that this phenomenon portended famine, war, pestilence, or some other terrible calamity. In a similar state of the moon, they apprehended that she was sick, and when totally obscured, that she was dy- ing. At this alarming crisis, they sounded their trumpets, and endeavored by every kind of noise to arouse the lunar planet from her supposed lethargy ; teaching their children to cry out, and call upon Mama Quilla, or " Mother Moon," not to die and leave them to perish. They made no predictions from any of the stars, but considered dreams, and the entrails of beasts which they offered in sacrifice as instructive objects of divina- tion. When they saw the sun set, they imagined that he plunged into the ocean to appear next morning in the east. Among a people devoid of letters, the speculative, essays of the understanding must have been very rude 12* 138 INDIANS OF PERU. and imperfect. They had, however, amenlas, or phi- losophers, who delivered moral precepts, and likewise cultivated poetry. Comedies and tragedies composed by these bards, were acted on their festivals, before the king and the royal family, the performers being the great men of the court, and the principal officers of the army. The amentas also composed songs and ballads, but if we may judge from the rudeness of the music, with which they are said to have been accom- panied, they were far from being agreeable to the pol- ished ear. That the Peruvians were not unacquainted with the arts of painting and statuary, appears from the furniture and ornaments of their temples and palaces ; but in all the implements of mechanic arts, they were extremely deficient. Though many goldsmiths were constantly employed, they had never invented an anvil of any metal, but in its stead made use of a hard stone. They beat their plate with round pieces of copper, in place of hammers, neither had they any tiles, or graving tools. Instead of bellows for melting their metals, they used copper pipes of a yard long, almost of the form of a trumpet. Having no tongs to take their heated metal out of the fire, they made use of a stick, or copper bat. Their carpenters had no other tools than hatchets, made of copper, or flint ; nor had they learned the use of iron, though the country afforded mines of that metal. Instead of nails, they fastened their timbers with cords, or the tough twigs of trees. A thorn, or a small bone served them for a needle ; and instead of thread, they used the sinews of animate or the fibres of some plant. Their knives made of fiint or INDIANS OF PERU. 139 They had no idea of mortising their wood work together, nor could they give any great degree of sta- bility or perfection to their structures of timber. Their works in stone, display amazing perseverance, and astonishing power, for some of the masses found in their structures, are 30 feet long, 18 wide, and 6 thick. But the several pieces were not reduced to any uni- form length, shape, or size. They were joined as they came from the quarries, or fell from the mountains, some being square, some triangular, &c. They were united by making a hollow in one, which was matched by a corresponding projection in the other. This opera- tion was performed with such nicety, that at the present day, in the ancient structures at Cuzco, it is impossible to insert a knife-blade into the joints. In the construction of roads they displayed great skill and perseverence. Two public works of this kind, extended from Cuzco to Quito, a distance of nearly 1500 miles. One led through the interior, over moun- tains and valleys, and the other, across the plains along the coast. They were fifteen feet wide, and as no vehi- cles nor quadrupeds, other than the llama, were in use, they were in many parts slightly formed. But in the mountainous regions, elevations were levelled, and hollows filled up, and such was the firmness of the work, that portions remain entire to this day. At proper distances stone houses were erected for the ac- commodation of the Inca and his attendants, in his journeys through the country. The Peruvians were unacquainted with the arch, and therefore they had no bridges resembling those of the present day. But they made cables of withs 140 INDIANS OF 1'EKTJ. and the fibres of the aloe, and stretching six of these across a stream, they wove the whole compactly to- gether by ropes of twigs. The appearance of these bridges, which bend with their own weight, and wave with the wind, was frightful at first, but the Span- iards have found them the easiest mode of crossing the mountain torrents of Peru. The Peruvians had a more simple contrivance for passing smaller streams : a basket in which the trav- eller was placed, being suspended by a strong rope stretched across the river, it was pushed or drawn from one side to the other. The precious metals were possessed in greater abundance by the Peruvians, than by any other people of America. They obtained gold by washing it from the sand, and silver by striking shafts into the bowels of the earth. These were not of great depth, but they displayed considerable ingenuity. They had discov ered the art of smelting the silver ore, either by the simple application of fire, or by placing it in a small oven so constructed that the air performed the function of a bellows. Such was the abundance of silver, and the facility in working it, that many of the common utensils of life were of this metal. Enough has perhaps now been said of the works of the Peruvians to demonstrate the opulence and power of the Incas. Although of the genuine history of Peru under the Incarial sceptre much is wanting, records were systematically kept by means of giiipos, or bunches of knotted twine of divers colors, and his- torical events were systematically taught to the higher classes. INDIANS OF PERU. 141 This curious substitute for letters had probably been brought to all the perfection of which it was suscepti- ble, when it was suddenly lost, and the records of the nation perished with the nation itself on the arrival of the Spaniards. The word quipu or quipo, as it is usually written, signifies to knot, and in a figurative sense, to reckon : for numbers and quantities were thereby summed up. The quipos seemed also to preserve the memory of past occurrences, and to answer other purposes to which letters are applicable. A hank, or bunch of quipos, was composed of pendant strings. Each string was about twenty-five inches long, made of three or four threads twisted as tightly as whip-cord, and resembling in some respects the girdle worn by Franciscan friars. To the main strings were sus- pended shorter lengths of supernumerary threads, serv- ing to note exceptions to general rules, and to make a kind of marginal observations. Different colors repre- sented different things ; for instance, yellow stood for gold, white for silver, red for the soldiery, and so forth. Colorless things were enumerated in a fixed order, determined by their relative importance, as Indian corn, barley, peas, &c. Among warlike weapons, the lance claimed precedency, after which followed the bow and arrow, the club, &c. Accounts of the revenue receipts and the progress of population also were kept by means of quipos, and delivered in every moon. In making out the an- nual census from the monthly ones, the knots in one string gave the number of males above seventy years of age, another string, those above sixty, and so on ; 142 INDIANS OF PERtT. the females were reckoned distinctly; the numbers of widows and widowers, were shown by knots in the supernumerary threads. But the greatest difficulty was experienced in rep- resenting abstract ideas, which, however, was effected by ingenious combinations of knots. Histories were written in this manner, containing not only details of facts, but reflections, also. It is not, therefore, because annals had not been regularly kept, that the accounts we possess of ancient Peru are defective, but rather because the first conquerors and their immediate suc- cessors were for the most part regardless of every pur- suit but that of gold and glory. The inconsiderate zeal of the priests contributed also to the destruction of the annals of past events ; and a knowledge of the stringed alphabet was consequently lost, or only imperfectly retained in the pastoral reck- onings of the husbandman, whose herds or harvests were too insignificant to tempt rapacity, or were hidden amid the mountains, rocks, or on table-lands, too distant, or difficult of access to repay the labor of ordinary pillage. General Miller states that, in 1825 being prefect of the department at Puno, he had means of ascertaining the fact, that the quipo was still understood and practised in that district by shepherds. Deprived of the assistance which a knowledge of the historical language would have afforded us, we are compelled to have recourse to traditions imper- fectly preserved, partly in consequence of the slight knowledge of the Guichuan language ever attained by the Spaniards. This will not be surprising when we consider that even Pizarro could not write. Numer- INDIANS OF PERTT. 143 ous public documents in the archives of Cuzco, are signed by his rubrica X, or mark, at the end of his name, which was written by his secretary. The sig- natures of many of his companions are affixed in the same manner to the same documents, whereas the hand- writing of Valverde and of Caravajal is particularly bold and plain. But the principal and best-informed of the Spanish conquerors met an early and violent death in the bloody strife which broke out from time to lime amongst themselves. Very few, indeed, died a natural death, so that those who survived were incom- petent to give an accurate description of the interesting commonwealth they had laid in ruins. The historian Garcilaso de la Vega Inca may be considered an exception. He was the son of a noble Spaniard, who married the grand-niece of Huayna Capac, the eleventh Inca. Born in 1540, he was ed- ucated in Peru, among the relatives of his mother, from whom he learned most of the facts recorded in his Commentaries, and wrote in 1586. According to this historian, the empire of Peru was divided into four parts, called Tavantinsuyu, subdivi- ded into provinces, and governed on the principle of centralisation. The adult male population being reck- oned by tens, a decurion, called a chunca camayu, was appointed to watch over the remaining nine, together with their families and household dependants. The next superior officer had the surveillance of five tens, the next of ten tens, the next of fifty tens, and the next of a hundred tens, the highest number compre- hended in this decimal arrangement. The duty of the chunca camayu was to ascertain 144 INDIANS OF PEET7 the specific wants of the individuals placed under his supervision, to make those wants known to the proper authority, and, on obtaining the required supply, to distribute it. In this manner provision was made of corn to sow or to consume, of Alpaca wool, or cotton for clothing, of materials or manual assistance to repair or rebuild dwellings going to decay, or burned down, or levelled by earthquakes, and for every other requis- ite. He was also expected to denounce the crimes of those under his supervision, and rarely failed to do so, as he was himself made responsible. Justice was ad- ministered in this extraordinary empire with severity and despatch. In the reign of Huayna Capac, a district chief underwent the sentence of death for having caused the land of his kinsman, a cacique, to be tilled out of his turn, and before the land of a certain widow. In respect to the judicial system of the Peruvians generally, we can only state that it corresponded to the other institutions of the country. In training the people, the blended code of morality and legislation, was no less simple than beneficial to the greatest number. Three concise precepts formed the foundation of the educational system. "Ama sua, ama quella, ama tlulla." Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not be idle. These expres- sions were used as terms of greeting whenever the Pe- ruvians met or parted, and continued to be so until in 1783 the Spaniards rigorously forbade the interchange of these colloquial expressions, and compelled the abor- igines to adopt the Catholic salutation of "Ave, Maria, purissima ! " Hail, Maria, most pure ! which was replied to by " Sin pecado concebida," conceived with- INDIANS OF PEKTT. 145 out sm. An Indian never passed a white man on the highway without giving the orthodox salutation, and if "Ama sua" was given in reply, which they well understood, they appeared half alarmed, as if consider- ing themselves in danger of being entrapped into a transgression of the law. AGRICULTURE. In Peru, agriculture, the art of primary necessity in social life, was more exensive and carried on with greater skill than in any part of America. The Spaniards in their progress through the country, were so fully supplied with provisions of every kind, that in the relation of their adventures, we meet with few of those dismal scenes of distress occa- sioned by famine, in which the conquerors of Mexico were so often involved. The quantity of soil under cultivation, was not left to the direction of individuals, but regulated by public authority, in proportion to the exigencies of the community. Even the calamity of an unfruitful season, was but little felt, for the pro- duct of the lands consecrated to the Sun, as well as those set apart for the Incas, being deposited in the Tambos, or public store-houses, it remained there as a stated provision for times of scarcity. As the extent of cultivation was determined with such provident attention to the demands of the state, the invention and industry of the Peruvians were called forth to extraordinary exertions, by certain de- fects peculiar to their climate and soil. All the vast rivers that flow from the Andes, take their course east- ward to the Atlantic Ocean. Peru is watered only by some streams which rush down from the mountains like torrents. A great part of the low country is sandy v. 13 146 INDIANS OF PERIT. and barren, and nerer refreshed with rain. In order to render such an impoverished region fertile, the in- genuity of the Peruvians had recourse to various exper- iments by means of artificial canals, conducted with much patience and considerable art. From the tor- rents that poured across their country, they conveyed a regular supply of moisture to their fields. They enriched the soil by manuring it with the dung of sea-fowls, now called guano, The use of the plough, indeed, was not known. They turned up the earth with a kind of mattock, of hard wood. Nor was this labor devolved wholly upon the women. Both sexes joined in performing the necessary work. Even the Children of the Sun set an example of industry, by cultivating a field near Cuzco, with their own hands, and they dignified this subject by denominating it their triumph over the earth. TRADE AND COMMERCE. It does not appear that trade and commerce were carried on to any great extent in Peru. Cuzco was the chief mart in the empire, and even here, it does not seem that there was any- thing like the busy activity seen on market days in Mexico. This may be explained by the manner in which property was held, and the mode of regulating the industry of the country, which prevented that com- petition in society, which is the result of independ- ence, and individual effort stimulated by the conscious- ness that each person may command the fruit of his industry. Though living in a community as one great family, may produce tranquillity, it can never carry society to its highest pitch of improvement. I INDIANS OF PERU. 147 CITIES. Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas, is said to have been built by Manco Capac, in the tenth or eleventh century of our era. In the year 1534, when it was taken by Francis Pizarro, the Spaniards were astonished at the magnificent build- ings which it contained, especially the temple of the Sun. Of this temple, there remain at present, only some walls of singular construction, upon which stands the magnificent Spanish convent of Santo Domingo. The town is built at the foot of some hills in the middle of a wide valley, which has an undulating surface. This valley extends eastward to a mountain stream, the Quilla Camba, and in the lower part is well cultivated, the fields having the advantage of ir- rigation. The houses of modern Cuzco are built of stone, covered with red tiles. Many of them still retain their original walls the great size of the stones used in their construction, the variety of their shapes, and the excellent workmanship which they display, give to the city an interesting air of antiquity. The cathedral, the convents of St. Augustin, and of La Merced, are very large buildings, inferior in architecture to few in the Old World. Many of the Spanish houses of Cuzco, are the original Peruvian dwellings, fitted up to suit their present masters. Whole streets of these re- modelled houses are to be seen, the walls of which are almost exactly as they were when the country was conquered. The house occupied by Valdivia, the companion of Pizarro, is still standing. Upon a lofty hill, a little north of the city, are the 148 INDIANS OF PERU. ruins of a great fortress of Zarsahuman, many parts of the wall of which are even now in perfect preserva- tion. They consist of stones of extraordinary size, and of polygonal shapes, placed one upon another without cement, but fitted with such nicety as not to admit the insertion of a knife between them. This stupendous work was erected by the Incas for the protection of their capital. Dr. Robertson states, that Cuzco was the only city in the empire of Peru ; but the ruins remaining to this day assure us that the statement is incorrect, and that numerous other towns of great extent were scattered over the country. Of their history, however, we have no definite records. ANTIQUITIES. We have already mentioned the remains of ancient structures at Cuzco and other parts of the country, as well as the huaeas. or burial places of the dead. It may be remarked that almost every work of art was destroyed by the rapacity of the Spaniards in their thirst for gold. Pizarro and his associates were less elevated in their views and feel- ings than the conquerors of Mexico. The walls of Cuzco and the ponderous masses of the temple of the Sun, defied their rage, and subsist, though in ruins, to attest alike the energy and power of the Peruvians, and the gothic ravages of the Spaniards. But the royal gardens, once adorned with animals, birds, in- sects, trees, shrubs, flowers, corn, &c., in massive gold and silver, all grouped in natural order, were laid in ruins, and are at present cultivated with wheat and lucerne. Five noble fountains, within, the pre- cincts of the temple, were destroyed by the Spaniards, INDIANS OF PERU. 149 for the sake of the golden pipes which conducted the water in channels beneatli the ground ! The remains of the works of the Peruvians still exist, in many parts of the country. Among these, the ruins of the ancient fortress of Ollantaitambo, nine leagues north-east from Cuzco, are among the most astonishing relics of the art and grandeur of the ancient Peruvians. Walls, of great height, and of curious masonry, rising as they recede one above another, with their respective terre-pleins, clothe the side of a steep and rugged mountain, the top of which is crowned by a tower that must have been impregnable. It seems to have contained spacious apartments, from which subterranean passages, now choked up with earth or rubbish, led to several out- works, erected at a considerable distance on the sides, and almost inaccessible summits of neighboring moun- tains, or precipices. Other subterranean works, con- ducted to extensive plains, intersected by the river Tambo, near the confluence of which with the Aqua Callente, are situated the principal buildings and fortifications. The enormous, irregularly shaped, yet highly polished masses of rock of which these structures are composed, have evidently been conveyed from a quar- ry a league distant, on the opposite side of the Aqua Callente. Two of these stones which were mea- sured in 1835, were of the following dimensions, namely, the one thirteen feet eight inches in length, seven feet four inches in width, and five feet eight inches in thickness ; and the other, nineteen feet in length, four feet four inches in width, and four feet 13* 150 INDIANS OF in thickness. It should be added, that the latter lies midway between the quarry and Tambo, having, perhaps, been found too difficult of transport, whilst the other forms part of the tower. It almost surpasses belief, that weights so enormous could have been conveyed across the deep and rapid torrent of Aqua Callente, then lastly fixed with such nice precision, one upon another, without the aid of machinery for there is no record of the ancient Peruvians having possessed engines suitable for the purpose. It is equally difficult to conjecture how the circular monuments of Celestani were constructed. There are numerous other fragments of Peruvian architecture remaining, of which it would be useless to attempt any enumeration. They are nearly all of a character similar to those already described ; being remarkable, chiefly for their dimensions, and the diffi- culties which must have been overcome by their builders. Worship and defence were the purposes to which they were usually devoted. The remains of the works of the Peruvians, which were constructed for the benefit of agriculture, are still to be found in many parts. The whole of the coas': of Peru is a continued sandy desert, with here and there an oasis, or fertile valley. No rain ever visits these spots, and cultivation is, therefore, only effected by artificial means of irrigation. The an- cient inhabitants, as we have stated, had recourse, for this purpose, to numerous subterranean water- courses or conduits, which still remain in many places. In the valley of Nazca, they are about two feet in height, and one in breadth, lined with un- OF PERU. 161 Cemented masonry and covered with slabs. Most of these conduits are choked up with sand, but some of them remain unobstructed, and supply sufficient water to impart great fertility to the valley, where the vine, which is extensively cultivated, often equals in girth an elm of ten years' growth. How far under ground aqueducts extend, or whence flow the head waters, is not known ; but the works of the Peruvians in this branch of rural economy were wonderful. Every new acquisition to territory, was followed by the construction of azequias, as these channels were called. Their importance may be judged from this fact, that wherever they have become obstructed, and this has occurred in many places, there stretches a parched level, where formerly were fertile fields and meadows. In many provinces of the interior, there are mountains, on the sides of which, artificial terra- ces, faced with rough stone, were constructed, resem- bling those which may be seen on some parts of the Rhone. These terraces rise one above another, to a great elevation, and once produced subsistence for a large population. They are now, for the most part, uncultivated, overrun with useless herbage, and with- out an inhabitant. At Chilca, twelve leagues south of Lima, a village inhabited to this day exclusively by aborigines of un- mixed blood, there are quadrangular pits, containing each an acre, or half an acre of ground. Mr. Stevenson informs us that some of the tribes of wild Indians bury their dead in the house where they live, and then abandon it, building for themselves another, and he seems to think there is reason for 152 INDIANS OF PERU. supposing, that this was an ancient custom of the country. He adds, that he dug up many of their bones which had been deposited under their houses, and they appeared to have been buried with whatever belonged to them at the time of their death. " I have found," he says, " women with their pots, pans, and jars of earthen ware, some of which are very curious. One kind is composed of two hollow spheres about three inches in diameter ; they are con- nected by a small tube placed in the centre and a hollow arched handle to hold it by, having a hole on the upper side ; if water be poured into this hole till the jar is about half full, and the jar be then inclined first to one side and then to the other, a whistling noise is produced. Sometimes the figure of a man stands on each jar, and if the water is poured down an opening in the head, a similar noise is produced. I saw one of these at the Carmelite nunnery, at Quito, having upon it two Indians carrying a corpse on their shoulders, laid on a hollow bier, resembling a butch- er's tray. When the jar was inclined backwards and forwards, a plaintive cry was heard, resembling that made by the Indians at a funeral. " The jars and other utensils, were made of good clay, well baked, which, with the ingenious construc- tion just alluded to, proves that the Indians were acquainted with the art of pottery. I have also found in these huacas long pieces of cotton cloth, similar to that which is made by the Indians at the present time, called tocuyo, many calabashes, quantities of Indian corn, quinua beans, and the leaves of plantains, feathers from the ostrich, from the plains of Buenos Ayres, and INDIANS OF PERU. 153 different dresses ; spades of palm-wood, jars filled with chiche, which was quite sweet when discovered, and became sour after being exposed to the air for a short time. " I have found small dolls made of cotton, similar in dress to those worn at present by the females of Caja- tamba. It consists of a white petticoat and a piece of colored flannel, two corners of which are fastened on the left shoulder by a cactus thorn, the middle being passed under the right arm, girt round the waist with a colored fillet, and open to the left side down to the bottom, and a piece of flannel of another color, of about two feet square, was brought over the shoulders and fastened on the breast with two large pins of silver or gold called topas. The hair is divided into two side tresses, and these are fastened behind at the ex- tremity, with a colored fillet." The principal motive for digging the huacas, is to search for treasure. Rings and small cups of gold beat out very thin, and about as large as half of a hen's egg-shell, are found there ; and it is supposed that they were worn in the ears, for a small shank is attached to them, like the buttons worn by the Indian females at present. Slips of silver about two inches broad, and ten long, as thin as possible, are also fre- quently dug up. The small pieces of gold which were buried with them, were placed in their mouths. Owing to the nitrous quality of the sand, and to its almost perfect dryness, the bodies are quite entire, although many of them have been buried at least three centu- ries. The cloths are also in the same state of preser- vation, but both soon decay after being exposed to the snn and air. 164 INDIANS OF PERU. Near the village of Supe there are the remains of a large Indian town, built on the side of a rock ; galleries being dug out of it, one above another, for the purpose of making room for small houses. Many remains of these are still visible ; and also, of small parapets of stone, raised before them, so that the hill has the appearance of a fortified place. Other vestiges of towns abound in all parts of the country. PRESENT STATE OF THE PERUVIAN INDIANS. Not- withstanding the cruelties and oppressions practised upon the Indians of Peru, they constitute a large portion of the present inhabitants of the country. They present nothing of that fierce aspect, and that untamed and ferocious character, which rendered the Caribs, the Brazilians, and the Indians of Canada, so terrible to European settlers. They have small features, little feet, well turned limbs, sleek, coarse, black hair, and scarcely any beard. Ulloa and Bouguer have re- presented them as sunk in apathy and insensibility ; as beings to whom good and evil fortune, honor or dishonor, life or death, appeared to be all alike. But, though a certain lameness of character may have been generated by their former despotism, it appears that the shy, reserved, and gloomy aspect which they present to Europeans has chiefly arisen from the ex- perience of oppression and accumulated wrongs ; and when it is often said that no expedient can rouse them from their gross ignorance, Mr. Stevenson tri- umphantly asks, what expedient has been employed for that purpose ? The Indians assuredly live in very miserable huts; and they show a wonderful patience under the great- - INDIANS OF TEHtr. 155 est privations ; yet they do not neglect the means of improving their condition ; they are industrious cul- tivators, arid often manufacture beautiful fabrics, from very simple materials. Several of them have distinguished themselves in the pulpit, and at the bar ; and, when completely at their ease, they are found to talk with even an excess of fluency. Chastity, espe- cially in the married state, is a national virtue ; bui they are apt to indulge in too deep potations of chica, their favorite liquor. They have been converted to something which they call Christianity ; that is, they celebrate the festivals of the Church by drinking enor- mous quantities-of chica; dancing through the streets to the sound of the pipe, with bells fastened to their legs, and cudgels, which they apply to any who attempt to obstruct their progress ; in these devout exercises, sometimes a whole week is consumed. They have, in a good measure, wiped off the charge of cowardice, by late achievements in the cause of Old Spain. Yet they retain the deepest and most mournful recollection of the Inca, and in all the remote districts annually celebrate his death by a sort of rude tragedy, accompanied by the most melting strains of national music. The Guichuan, or Inca language, with some varia- tion, continues to be spoken by about two thirds of the inhabitants of Peru proper. Into this language the New Testament was in process of translation, by a native of Cuzco, descended from one of the Incas, who was engaged to undertake this important service, for the British and Foreign Bible Society. We do not know whether it has been finished. Some 158 INDIANS OF PERTT. of the Indians have been sufficiently educated to shine in the legal profession at Cuzco, Lima and Quito, and many also have received holy orders. In the north of Peru, are Indians bearing a strong resemblance to the ancient Incas. They wear the hair cut straight across the forehead, and cropped close behind ; are tall, with good figures, and a com- plexion of tawny yellow ; hair lighter than the com- mon Indians, with a bright expression of countenance. They wear sashes of thin white bark, that fall both before and behind, and have their heads and arms or- namented with the long feathers of the scarlet macaw. The Indians who live in Lima, make fringes of gold and silver lace, epaulettes and embroidery ; some are tailors ; others attend the markets, but very few are servants or mechanics. Some are fishermen, subsisting on fish, maize, and the sugar cane, of which there are plantations. In 1825, Edmund Temple, a young Englishman, went out to Potosi as agent for a mining company formed in London. On his return, he published an account of his travels, and of his residence in Peru, and as he gives some descriptions of the Indians in the mining districts, we offer a few extracts : " The Peruvian Indians are a strong, healthy race, though not very tall, and generally laborious, for every kind of labor is performed by them. In Potosi, how- ever, the miners, all Indians, have acquired a charac- ter for habits of idleness, and a propensity to defraud their employers, which it must be admitted is not alto- gether without foundation, though I think the cause of the evils complained of may be traced to harsh INDIANS OF PERU. 167 treatment, or to unwarrantable exactions of some sort, aggression being as frequent on one side as delin- quency on the oiher. " I know from experience, that, by proper manage- ment, their faults and the disadvantages arising from them may be guarded against, and in a great degree corrected. A worm, or, if it be thought more appli- cable, the adder, will turn when trod upon, and will then resent the injury; so has it been with these Indians before now ; but, with kind usage, fair remu- neration for their services, and an impartial conduct towards them, they are perfectly tractable, and may become good, faithful, and willing servants. " During my residence at Potosi I have had occa- sion to employ many Indians as well miners as those of other trades and occupations ; there is no want of hands, as it has been generally supposed, and I can- not say that I have any cause of complaint against them ; they performed the work for which they were engaged to the best of their abilities, and at the com- pletion of it I paid them their hire. " Sunday, after the hour of early mass, is the cus- tomary time of paying the miners, and all persons employed in the ingenios ; this practice I did not ad- here to, having preferred settling all such matters, so far as I had control, on Saturday evening. " At the appointed hour they assembled in the court before my office, accompanied sometimes by their wives and children, and if I happened to be en- gaged in any business, (despatching the couriers, for instance, when, in the absence or illness of my com- panions, I have been employed many hours of the v. 14 158 INDIANS OF PERL*. day ' \vriting against time,') these people would re- main, without evincing the slightest impatience, and never approach to ask to be settled with till called by name as they stood upon the list of the major-domo. " They always expressed their thanks when they received their wages, upon which subject we never had the most trifling misunderstanding, and only once upon another, namely, upon the subject of a pickaxe that had been stolen out of our ingenio. It was worth fifteen shillings at Potosi, and might have been worth five in England ; but the example, not the value, de- termined me upon giving a color of infinite importance to the case. " After the depredation had been made known to me, and when the workmen had assembled to receive their week's wages, two shillings per diem each man, I called them all into my office, merely for the sake of exhibiting myself in the highest possible degree of dignity, (a clerk never looks so dignified as behind his own counter,) and whilst they stood like culprits in humility before me, with their hats off, I sat proudly elevated upon my judgment-seat, with my hat on, and in my hand a pen a just emblem of my office, it is true, and at the same time calculated to convey terror to the mind of the thief, who knew that, if detected, I should instantly employ it in an applica- tion to the alcade for the infliction of fine and im- prisonment. " When I had fixed the attention of the party, I commenced the dread inquisition. Alas ! many of their forefathers, for crimes of as little note, or even the bare suspicion of them, had been condemned by a INDIANS OF PERU. 159 more horrible inquisition, and before judges less dis- posed to render justice and mercy than their present one, although it will appear that even he was obdu- rately relentless. I put the question, " ' Who stole my pickaxe ? ' Dead silence, each looked at each, and all looked at me. " ' Who stole my pickaxe, I say ? " " ' Quien sabe ? ' (who knows ? ) said a low voice in the crowd. " ' Who knows ? ' said I ; " why, some of you know ; and I, too, must know, before I pay you one rial of your wages.' Then I proceeded to question each in- dividual by name. " ' Gregorio Medrano, did you steal the pickaxe ? " " No, Senor. 1 " ' Bernandino Marquete, did you steal the pick- axe ?' " ' No, Senor: " ' Casimiro Chambi, did you ? ' "'No, Senor.' And so on through the whole list with the same profitless result. The Indians, like the lower class of Irish, pre- serve inviolable secrecy respecting their own con- cerns ; an informer is looked upon as a wretch un- worthy to live among honest men, or if permitted to live, is loathed as a demon. Assured, therefore, that I should never succeed in detecting the exact thief, although we all well knew he was one of the party present, I proceeded to judgment upon all of them. " Know, then, hermanos mios, (dear brothers,) that my sentence is this ; that the major-domo do now, 160 INDIANS OF PERU. immediately, and on the spot, put into his hat as many grains of mats as there are of you here present ; that those grains shall be all white save one, which shall be black ; and he who draws that black grain shall pay for a new pickaxe.' " Here consternation became general and evident, but, from the natural darkness of the Indian complex- ion, it was impossible to discover the delinquent from any change produced on his countenance by the in- ward workings of his mind. " ' Now, seiior major-domo, shake your hat well shake it ! I say, that no suspicion of partiality may be entertained. Let each man in succession put his hand in and take one grain of mats, then withdraw it, taking care to keep his hand shut, and not to open it until ordered so to do.' " This being done, they all stood before me with their right arms stretched out at full length, and the hand firmly closed. " ' Now for the detection of the thief! Open ! Que es eso ? (What is all this ?) Major-domo ! what is the reason of this ? ' said I ; for, to my astonishment, every hand was empty. " ' I really don't know, sir ; they must have drawn the grains and swallowed them, for not a single one remains in my hat ! ' said the major-domo, turning his hat-mouth downwards to prove that nothing was there. " Amazement was at its height ; it was evidently a case of bruxeria, witchcraft. Inaquinte Sambrano observed that it was the miraculous interference of Saint Dimas, the patron saint of robbers, to provo INDIANS OF PERU. 161 that there was no thief among them. But, notwith- standing my surprise and confusion, I determined that the saint should not keep my pickaxe without paying for it. "I desired the major-domo to give me his hat; upon examining it the witchcraft was explained. In obeying my orders, ' to shake the hat well,' every grain of maize had absconded through a rent in the crown, and the floor being covered with thick straw matting, they fell upon it unheard. " We therefore proceeded with more caution to a second drawing, when the black bean appeared, on the show of hands, in that of Basil Calamayo, from whose wages I directed the major-domo to purchase the best pickaxe that could be had in Potosi. From that hour I never heard of any pilfering." We do not record this procedure of Mr. Temple as an example of justice. In taking the worth of the pickaxe in the manner he did, from Basil Calamayo, he probably punished an innocent person, and excited the unreasonable fears of the ignorant Indians. Still he seems disposed to tell the truth, and bears testi- mony to their good as well as bad qualities. The following passage speaks volumes in their favor. Mr. Temple might well ask whether, in civilized England, he would have found as elevated examples. " When I have arrived weary and faint at a Peru- vian hut, with what pure feelings of gratitude have I made my acknowledgments to the family, who, from sheer benevolence, have ceded to me the only little store they possessed. Often have I alighted from my horse at an unseasonable hour and asked for K 14* 162 INDIAN'S OF PERU. milk, offering dollars. " The answer invariably was, ' No hai ! no hai, Senor ! ' They would not take the trouble of getting it for money. " But when I said, ' I am very unwell, my brother; do me the favor and God will repay you,' my feeble voice, pale cheek, and sunken eye, bearing testimony to what I said, the sire of the family, or the matron, would mutter something in Quichua, the language of the country, when instantly an earthen ware pipkin would be seized by one of the younger members, who would glide away in pursuit of the flock, and return- ing quite breathless from the haste he used, would present me with the milk, without a question as to the payment. " And this is savage hospitality ! Could I expect more among the most polished people of the earth ? Should I always have obtained as much ? " In another place Mr. Temple observes, " I felt no apprehension of losing a single article of my bag- gage ; it had been entrusted to the Indians, and in their charge required neither guards, nor swords, nor pistols, to protect it, or to insure its safe delivery. " On the whole, I believe I am not singular in the opinion that the worst qualities of the Peruvian Indi- ans have been imported, and that their virtues are their own. They possess a peaceable, unoffending spirit, free from even an accusation of those great moral crimes which disgrace civilized nations. " The dress of the men, excepting the hat, which is precisely the shape of Don Quixote's helmet without the niche in it, reminded me of that of the peasantry of Connaught. Thev wear coarse brown frieze cloth INDIANS OF PERU. 163 breeches, with the waistband very low, and always open at the knees, the buttons being for ornament, not for use. Shirts are seldom worn ; the legs are bare, with the exception of pieces of hide under the soles of the feet, tied sandal-fashion round the instep and toes. " The dress of the female Indians consists of a pet- ticoat, worn much shorter by the unmarried than by those that are married, and a scarf of sundry colors round the shoulders, which is pinned on one side of the chest with a topa, a large silver pin ; but some- times they use a spoon, the handle of which being pointed serves as a pin. " Cholas, those descended from Spanish and Indian parents, are very fond of dress. I have seen them with topas of gold, set with pearls and precious stones of considerable value." 164 THE ARAUCANIANS ARAUCO, or Araucama, occupies the western slop? of the Andes, in the southern part of Chili. Though an elevated district, the soil is fertile, and the climate delightful. It is indeed a beautiful region, and suited to the interesting people who inhabit it. When Chili was invaded by Almagro, the compan- ion of Pizarro, in 1535, he found the country inhabited by numerous tribes possessing a warlike character, THE AttAUCAMANS. 165 md in this respect, being strongly contrasted with the Peruvians. Disgusted with the hardships he encoun- tered, he returned to Peru. Valdivia succeeded him, and after a severe contest of ten years, subdued the greater part of the country, and founded several cities. But he had yet to contend with the Araucanians, a brave nation of mountaineers, who had made some advances in civilization, and who cherished their liberty as above every other possession. Valdivia marched against them, but he was defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death. The exploits of the Arau- canian leaders, ^Caupolican and Lautaro, have fur- nished an interesting theme for the muse of the Span- ish poet Ercilla. In spite of the efforts of succeeding generals, the Araucanians baffled every attempt to subdue them, and remain to this day in a state of in- dependence, possessing the soil which was the home of their fathers. They have entered into a treaty with the republican government of Chili and even agreed to a kind of union. The Araucanians have introduced some European customs, though they are not greatly changed since the days of Valdivia. They have now horses and horned cattle, and have adopted the rude agriculture of the Spaniards. They have added the musket to their original arms of the bow, arrow and club, but their religious belief, and most of their customs are the same as those of former times. Their complexion is of a reddish brown, though * For the history of the Araucanians, and the Life of Can- polican, see "History of American Indians," and "Lives of Famous Indians.'' 166 THE AKAUCAN1AK3. considerably lighter than that of other Indians. They have round eyes, full of expression, flat noses, hand- some mouths, and remarkably even, white teeth. The hair is thick and black, and, growing to a great length, is twined in tresses around their heads. The men exterminate the beard with great care. They are seldom grey before 60 or 70 years, and baldness or wrinkles are rare at so early a period. They often live to the age of a hundred, retaining their sight and teeth unimpaired. They possess the elements of a high moral character ; generous and faithful, intrepid and courteous, enthusiastic and patient, they seem formed to challenge the admiration of more civilized nations. DRESS. The clothing of the Araucanians is chiefly of wool. The men wear a shirt, vest, and pair of breeches, usually of a greenish blue. They have also a cloak, which they call poncho, consisting of a square piece of cloth of ample length, with a hole in the mid- dle for the head. This garment is often made of fine materials, and some of them are so elegant as to sell for 150 dollars. A broad sash for the waist is common. The head is covered with a cap, or bandage in the form of an ancient diadem. The common people go barefoot. Persons of condition wear sandals and woollen boots of many colors. The dress of the women is a tunic of turquoise color, a girdle, and a short cloak, fastened in front, as well as upon the shoulders with brooches and buckles. This is without sleeves. Their dress is never varied, except as to diversities of color and finery. They divide their hair in several tresses which float upon THE ARAUCANIANS. 167 their shoulders. They use a profusion of false emer- alds, necklaces and bracelets of glass, and ear-rings of square pieces of silver. Each finger is also often decorated with a silver ring. DWELLINGS. The Araucanians live in scattered villages, in houses large or small, according to the wants of the family. They are usually of mud, but sometimes wholly or in part of stone or wood. Noth- ing beyond ordinary comfort is sought, either in the construction or furniture of the house. Cleanliness is a prevailing virtue. Bathing is common with all classes. The women sweep the houses and courts several times a day and are scrupulous to wash their utensils as soon as used. They are very neat in their persons, combing their heads twice a day, and every week washing them with soap made from the bark of the quillai. A spot of dirt is not to be seen on the dress of an Arauraninn woman. 168 THE ARAUCANlAXb. FOOD AND DRINK. The principal subsistence of this simple people, consists of several kinds of grain and pulse which they prepare in many ways. Maize and potatoes are their chief articles of food. The lat- ter are among the finest in the world, and no less than thirty different kinds are cultivated. They eat little flesh, and less fish. They live in families, the mas- ter of the house presiding at the table. Their com- mon drinks are beer and cider. They have feasts and entertainments upon occasions of interest, as funerals, marriages, &c. No pains are then spared to promote festivity. Three or four hundred people are often together at such times, and the entertainment is kept up for two or three days. These revels are frequent throughout the year: the men of property being ambitious to signalize their hospitality in this way. AMUSEMENTS. Music, dancing and play constitute their chief sports. They have the same instruments of music, whether for peace or war. These are exceed- ingly harsh, and combined with the singing, produce an effect not unlike that of filing a saw. In their dances they are seen trotting through the rooms with uncouth movements, adapted to their songs. Among their favorite games is that of comican, which greatly resembles chess. The quechu has an affinity to back- gammon. The youth exercise themselves in running, wrestling and other gymnastics, all of which are imi- tations of war. RELIGION. The Araucanians acknowledge a su- preme being whom they call Pillau, meaning the Supreme Essence. They give him the titles of THE ARAUCANIANS. 169 Spirit of Heaven, the Great Being, the Thunderer, the Creator, the Omnipotent, the Eternal, the Infinite. His universal government is a prototype of their civil policy; he is considered the great toqui of the invisi- ble world, and as such he has his ulmenes, or assist- ants, to whom he commits subordinate affairs. These ulmenes constitute the inferior deities, which are nu- merous, descending even to the grade of household gods and familiar spirits. The people are supersti- tious, believe in divination, and pay great attention to omens. The Araucanian warrior, who fearlessly faces death in a battle, trembles at an unseasonable meeting with an owl. Many of them believe in ap- paritions, phantoms, and hobgoblins; but their wise men laugh at these follies. They have no temples or idols, and offer no' exte- rior worship to their gods, though, in cases of calami- ty, they sacrifice animals and burn tobacco, as a grateful incense. They believe in the immortality of the soul, and that after death, they all go to a country toward the sea, which is divided into two parts ; one of which, the abode of the good, is filled with everything that can delight the heart; the other, the habitation of the wicked, is a desolate region, where disease, want, and poverty prevail. Their funeral are occasions of great ceremony. The dead body is laid out in its best dress, and during the night which follows its decease, the relatives, with those who come to console them, pass around it weep- ing, eating and drinking. After two or three days the body is borne by the principal relations to the burial place. It is there laid on the ground, and v. 15 170 THE ARAtCAMANS. being supplied with implements and provisions, it is covered with earth and stones, arranged in a py- ramidal form. The attendants then take leave with many tears, wishing the departed a prosperous jour- ney. MEDICINE. The medical practice of the Arauca- nians is blended with superstition. They have some physicians, who are skilful herbalists ; there are oth- ers whose process of cure is a mere incantation. This is performed at night, in the sick room, lighted with torches, and consists of various mummeries. GOVERNMENT, &c. The country of Arauco is di- vided into four districts, each being governed by a hereditary ruler, called toqui. These are confederat- ed together, for their mutual benefit, both in peace and war. Particular portions of these districts are governed by inferior chiefs, also hereditary, who bear the name of ulmcnes. When war is declared, the toquis elect a general among themselves, or the peo- ple at large, and he assumes the command. Their arms are spears, shields, bows, arrows, clubs, and of late years, the musket. When they set forth on an expedition, each man merely carries a small bag of parched meal, trusting that, ere long, they will be comfortably quartered on the territory of the enemy. Their leaders have shown great military talent, as well in the planning as the conducting of their cam- paigns ; and the common soldiers display a courage and daring which no nation has ever surpassed. Never have the Araucanians been known to sue for peace, and the terms of accommodation between them and the Spaniards have always been dictated by the mountaineers. i: AKAl"CAMA\S. 171 The cliief towns of the country are Arauco, Tarbul and Tucapel. These, however, are mere villages, perched on the top of almost inaccessible rocks. The Araucanian Warrior. abode of the principal cacique in one of these towns was, a few years since, a thatched house, with mud walls, sixty feet long, and twenty broad. In the rear, throughout the whole extent, was a series of stalls, used for sleeping apartments. Polygamy prevails among the chiefs and wealthy men. The hard labor is generally performed by the women, who plough, sow, and reap. They also 172 THE ARAUCANIANS. weave the ponchos, which are the chief manufacture of the country. Marriage is always celebrated with a show of violence, for, even after her consent is obtained, the bridegroom conceals himself on the road, and as the bride approaches, he seizes her and carries her off. This pantomime is carried through with great dramatic effect on both sides. The bridegroom then takes the bride to his house, where friends are collected and an entertainment suitable to the joyous occasion, is provided. ORATORY, &c. The Araucanians have no books, and no other literature than what is found in their tradi- tions. Oratory, however, is held in high estimation, and cultivated with success. The son of a chief who has not this gift is thought to lack an endowment proper to his rank. Some of them understand Span- ish, but they are careful to avoid the corruption of their own language by the intermixture of foreign words. Their taste in composition is exceedingly critical, and the common people will often stop a pub- lic speaker, to correct him in his language. They have their poets who are called Qitempin, lords of speech. These are guided only by the impulse of the imagination. Their effusions are chiefly allegori- cal, and are generally devoted to the exploits of their heroes. They are full of lively images and startling metaphors, and appear to possess the art of moving the sensibilities of those to whom they are addressed. They use blank verse of eight or eleven syllables measures which are always pleasing to the ear. Rhymes are sometimes introduced. The Araucanians are a proud race ; believing them- THE ARAUCAXIANS. 173 selves the noblest of their kind, they despise the rest of the world. Their kindness is easily won ; but their anger is also speedily roused. Contempt they never forgive. To each other they are full of kindness, and their complaisance even runs to excess. Not a beg- gar, or indigent person, is to be found in their whole territory all are decently clad, and the natural hos- pitality of the people banishes want from the land. A stranger is welcome among them, and a traveller may go from one end of thp Country to another, without expense. 174 THE ABIPONES THE Abiponians are one of the most remarkable of the original tribes of America. They formerly occu- pied the province of Chaco, a large tract in the centre of Paraguay. Being disturbed by a branch of their people, the Mokoby tribe, they went eastward in 1770, and founded the colony of Las Garzas, under the protection of the Spaniards. Here they have retained nearly their original character, in spite of the efforts of the Catholic missionaries to convert them. According to the account of the Jesuit missionary, DobrizhofFer, the Abipones are an interesting and ex- traordinary people. They are a well made, tall and handsome race, with faces of the European form, and THE ABIPONES. 175 a skin quite light colored. Their bodies are robust, and capable of enduring the greatest extremes of hunger and fatigue ; their vigor endures even till old age, and a man of a hundred years may be often found who can leap on his horse, and continue riding for several hours. The teeth and sight continue un- impaired, and if a person dies at eighty, he is thought to have come to an untimely end. The Abipones have strict notions in regard to dress, deeming it unseemly to go naked. They use a square piece of linen thrown over the shoulders, con- fining it to the body, and above this they wear a mantle, also of linen, tied unde'r the chin. The men have the beard and eyebrows plucked out by old wo- men, with a pair of horn tweezers. They shave their heads, leaving a circle of hair. Both sexes are tattooed with ineffaceable black dye. The face, arms, and other parts of the body are decorated with various figures. This process, which consists of pricking the liquid into the flesh by means of thorns, is exceeding- ly painful, and performed by old women. The girls, at a marriageable age, are obliged to submit to this torture, and if they shrink they are jeered into com- pliance. The greater the number of figures a wo- man displays, the higher is her rank in the scale of fashion. The men wear ear-rings, and the women adorn their necks with strings of vanilla seeds, and beads of gum. The Abipones make considerable use of the flesh of animals taken in the chase. They are said to be fond of tiger's flesh, and to drink melted fat from the body of that animal. They reject mutton, fish, eggs 176 THE ABIPONES. and other things of the kind, as producing sloth of body, and cowardice of soul. They make bread of the manioc or cassava, and take their meat almost raw. These people live in houses made of poles thatched with mats. They frequently remove from place to place, usually travelling on horseback. The wife's horse is generally loaded with her husband's bow and quiver, as well as all the pots, gourds, jugs, shells, and other furniture, together with the infant, if there be one. In crossing rivers, they frequently take hold of the tail of the horse and are thus drawn over. They sometimes make a boat of a bull's hide, for the purpose of transporting their baggage. They are unacquainted with spades, ploughs, and axes. The women spin threads of bark, which are formed into cords, nets, and coarse cloths. They use thorns for pins and needles. Of the caraquata they obtain soap and sugar. The women, also, mould pots and jugs, of earth, make combs of bristles, and harnesses, horse cloths, carpets, and wrappers of the skins of the jaguar. Their religious notions are ob- scure ; they believe in an evil spirit, and call the con- stellation of the Pleiades their grandfather. They have many superstitions, and jugglery is largely practised among them. In war the Abipones are in the highest degree savage and ferocious. They are among the most dexterous horsemen in the world, seeming to rival the Camanchees in their equestrian feats. Upon a march they proceed with amazing rapidity, crossing rivers, and deserts, and astonishing their .enemies by bursting THE AB1PONES. 177 suddenly upon them,* On going to battle, they often strip themselves naked, as if to express con- tempt of the weapons of the enemy. Their govern ment consists in dividing the people into several hordes, each of which is headed by a chief, who ex- ercises magisterial authority. The number of the tribe is now greatly reduced, there being scarcely more than 5000 of the pure blood. * For a further account of these people, see " Famous In- diaas," article, Ychoalai. 178 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. Head of a Patagoniari. PATAGOMA, the southern portion of South Ame- rica, is still in possession of the original tribes, who remain to this day a race of savages. They are expert horsemen, pursuing and catching -the rhea, or American ostrich, as well as wild cattle, with the lasso. They are of large stature, and for a long pe- VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TUIBKS. 179 riod were deemed a race of giants. They dwell in miserable huts, go half naked, and feed on flesh and vegetables, scarcely cooked. They believe in an in- visible god whom they call lochu, the Unseen. They believe the sick possessed of demons, and the physi- cians beat drums about them, to exorcise the evil spirits. They often bury the dying before the breath of life has departed. The Fuegians, who dwell around the chill and stor- my coasts of Terra del Fuego, are a miserable and squalid race, living chiefly on fish. They are of a low grade of intellect, and seem debased both in body and mind. Though their atmosphere is filled with sleety rain a great part of the year, they go half naked, and their habitations are frail tenements of sticks, bark and earth. The Gauchos, who inhabit the wild surface of the Pampas of La Plata, and appropriate to themselves the countless herds that roam over them, are a singular race. They are Europeans, who have lived so long as hunters, apart from civilized society, that they have became almost mere savages. They are a great part of the time on horseback, and are so little accustomed to the use of their feet that they can hardly walk. Their vigor in the chase is almost supernatural. The houses are cottages of mud, and infested with vermin. Many of them are robbers, and woe to the traveller who falls in their way. The Indians of the Pampas are still somewhat nu- merous, and are even more savage than Gauchos. The two races maintain desperate hostilities with each other. The savages nre finely mounted, and pos- 180 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. sess the vigor of character belonging to their Arauco blood, of which they are descended. They delight in midnight surprises, butchering the men and carry- ing off the girls for wives, who, in this capacity, are kindly treated. The Indians of Brazil are in a much more uncivil- ized state than those of the former Spanish territories. They have never been incorporated with the Eu- ropean population, but have usually retired, before the march of civilization, into the depths of the forests. The missionaries have done something for a few of the tribes, and these have adopted the fashion of covering the body. But none of them cultivate the soil, or have tame animals. They subsist solely upon the spontaneous products of nature ; they dig up roots, and use the arrow with amazing dexterity. They eat monkeys, and it is said, human flesh. VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 181 As among other savages, some most uncouth cus- toms prevail. The Botocudos, who inhabit the back settlements of Porto Seguro, have a favorite mode of ornamenting themselves by what is called the botogue. This consists of large pieces of wood pendent from the ears and the under lip, to which they are fastened by holes made for that purpose. The result is that the ears are stretched till they hang down, like wings, sometimes to the shoulders, while the lip is made to project, and half the lower teeth are protruded in the processes of eating and speaking. They sometimes also paint themselves frightfully, the body black and the face red, probably to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies. The Furies, Pataches, Macha- caries, with sundry other tribes, of name and aspect equally uncouth, have the same general character with sundry fantastic peculiarities belonging to each. Along the banks of the Orinoco, there are still va- rious tribes, which seem to have made small advances in civilization. Some of these believe that their fa- thers grew upon a tree ; and one of the rudest tribes among them, the Othomacas, suppose themselves de- scended from a pile of stones upon the top of a huge rock. At death they suppose they all return to stone, as they came from it. It is one of their odd customs to give, for a first marriage, a young girl to an old man, and a youth to an old woman ; for they say if the young people came together there could be no good household management. Polygamy is not prac- tised among them. Their color is of a yellowish cast, inclining to cop- per, and their long coarse hair grows low down on v. 16 182 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. their foreheads ; their noses are said to be sharp at the point, as of a person worn out by illness. They have large mouths and thick lips, \vilh eyes black, melancholy and inexpressive ; their general air is heavy and sad. Mr. Semple, a late traveller, gives a description of some parties of Indians he saw going to seek for work in the coffee plantations, where they were employed in picking the berries ; the men were strong, though not so well limbed as the Indians of North Ameri- ca. Some of them, he observes, " while they rested their burthens, amused themselves by blowing into a species of flute, one of the rudest ever sounded by the human breath. The sound was like that of tu < wind sighing in the forest or among rocks some- times rising almost to a scream, and then dying away almost to a whisper. This alternate rise and fall constituted the whole of the music, which, except- ing the drum of the negroes, consisting of a ^olid piece of wood beat by two sticks, was the rudest I ever heard. It seemed, however, to afford infinite sa- tisfaction to those for whose ears it was designed ; they listened in silence, and when the performers reached the height of screaming, all eyes wore turned towards us, to see if we were not yet touched by such masterpieces of melody." These people travel over mountains and valleys more than a hundred miles, to Caraccas, with poultry, in*huge basket cages, made of canes and rushes, some of them six feet high. They have a conical top, di- vided into five or six stages, full of fowls, monkeys and parrots. They carry ihem on their backs sup- VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 1S3 ported by a broad strap, which goes over the forehead. The boys begin with email cages, gradually increas- ing their size and weight, until they arc able to carry the largest. When arrived at this point there is great exultation among them. The nations on the banks of the Mar an on and Ori- noco, are acquainted witli a poison called Wouiali, in which they dip their arrows employed i.i hunting, and if they only pierce the skin, the blood fixes and con- geals, and the strongest animals fall motionless ; but the flesh may be eaten with entire safety, and retains its native relish and flavor. The chief ingredient of the poison is the juice extracted from the root of the curac, a kind of shrub. In the other parts of South America, they use the Manchenille which operates with the same activity. THE CARIES. When Columbus, in 1493, discovered the beautiful cluster of islands, called the Antilles, they were the abode of the Caribs, a people who were regarded almost as demons by the gentle and effemin- ate Indians of Cuba, and the adjacent islands. They were indeed warlike, and, to their enemies, ferocious. They were also cannibals, and followed other revolt- ing practices of savage life. They were, however, further advanced in the arts than the other inhabitants of the West Indies, and possessed in a higher degree the moral and intellec- tual elements of civilization. They had houses, called carets, set on posts, and thatched with leave* of the plantain. These were divided into rooms, according to the wants of the family. They had boats with sails, forty feet in length ; they fabricated hammocks 184 VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. of cotton cloth, nicely fitted and highly ornamented ; they made bread of the manioc ; had seasonings of pimento and lemon juice for their meats, which were well cooked ; and possessed the art of making intoxi- cating beverages. They manufactured cotton, but not to cover the body, for they went naked. They deco- rated their persons with metallic ornaments, and their heads with feathers. Painting the body was univer- sal. Even when a person died, his corpse was painted red, and the mustaches were rendered peculiarly black and shining. In war they used poisoned arrows. Their love of liberty was indomitable. Their con- querors attempted to reduce them to a state of slavery, but they chose rather to die, than to submit to such servitude. Under continued wrongs and oppressions, they dwindled away, and have faded from the islands where they were first discovered, and to which they gave their name. The whole race was supposed to have perished, but Humboldt discovered that some of the Indians on the Orinoko, are of this stock. These are described as a fine race, with figures of a reddish copper-color, resembling antique statues of bronze. They shave a great part of the forehead, which gives them somewhat the appearance of monks ; they wear only a tuft on the crown. They have dark, intelligent eyes, a gravity in their manners, and in their features an expression of severity, and even of sadness. They still retain the pride of a conquering people, who, be- fore the arrival of the Spaniards, had driven before them all the native tribes in that part of the continent. A great proportion of them, however, have now been civilized in a surprising degree by the missionaries, who exercise over them an almost absolute sway. VARIOUS SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES. 185 Each holiday they present themselves, loaded with offerings of almost every kind which can be acceptable to ihe priest ; and after divine service, those of both sexes, who have been guilty of any offence, receive in his presence a sound whipping, which they bear with exemplary patience. They cruelly torment their children by imprinting on them the barbarous orna- ment produced by raising the flesh in stripes along the legs and thighs. They are free, however, from the equally savage practice of flattening the head by compression, which is general among the other tribes of the Orinoco, the specimens of whose crania, shown as destitute of forehead, are merely skulls shaped between planks. In this country occur the caste of Albinos, with white hair, of weakly and delicate constitution, low stature, and very effeminate character : they have large eyes, and are so very weak-sighted, that they cannot endure the rays of the sun, though they can see clearly by moonlight. 16 186 THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OE NORTH AMERICA. THE country east of the Mississippi, from Florida to Hudson's Bay, was in the possession of various tribes of Indians, when the first English settlement was made at Jamestown, in 1607. Their number has been variously estimated from 500,000 to 4,000,000. In the space of a little more than two centuries, they have been swept away, with the exception of a few insignificant remnants. Most of the tribes are entirely extinct, and are without a name, except in the pages of the historian. A few have receded before the tide of civilization, and their descendants are found scat- tered throughout the Great Valley of the West. The most celebrated of these eastern tribes, were the Massachusetts, who occupied the shores of the bay which bears their name, and were resident at the places now known as Salem, Charlestown, Lynn, and the islands of Boston harbor : the Pokanokets, the Narragansetts of Rhode Island, the Pequots of Con- necticut, the Five Nations of New York, embracing the Mohawks, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas and Canan- daiguas, the Delawares of the Middle States, the Yem- assees of the Carolinas, and, farther south, the Cataw- bas, Cherokees, Creeks, and Chickasaws. There were many other tribes, and some of considerable im- portance, but these we have named, chiefly figure in the early history of the country. THE ATLANTIC TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. 1S7 These Indians were all in the strictest sense sava- ges. They had none of them the slightest knowledge of the use of iron, nor had they any tame animals. Their government was of the simplest form, and their arts extended no farther than to supply them with the common necessaries of life. Their religion was a crude superstition, embracing the general idea of a Great Spirit, with notions of many inferior divinities. Their dwellings were rude tenements, made of poles, thatched with leaves, or covered with skins. They had no towns, and no commerce. Yet these people appeared to live for the most part a life of ease, in the midst of abundance, enjoying the wild pleasures of savage life. Around the heads of bay?, and along the banks of rivers, where fish were plentiful, and where also the deer was abundant, they seemed to collect in swarms. In other parts of the country, they were more scattered, and there were some considerable districts entirely uninhabited. In two respects the American Indians were a very remarkable race. There is a striking resemblance throughout the whole family, from Labrador to Pata- grnia. There is no other example of a population so widely spread, which bears such uniformity of form and aspect. At the same time, these people seemed to be peculiarly unchangeable in their physical char- acteristics. Even those who remain among us, the descendants of the Penobscots and the Mohicans, though degraded by imbibing the vices of civilized so- ciety, have still the same general aspect as their pro- genitors two centuries ago. Wherever you meet an Indian, you are struck with a look of mingled mystery 88 THE ATLANTIC TK1BES OF NORTH AMERICA. and melancholy in his countenance, a peculiar lofti- ness in his bearing, and a taciturnity which it is diffi- cult to overcome. The tribes that remain in the West possess the same aspect and the same physical attributes as their fore- fathers. They have also many customs which have come down to them from their ancestors. Yet most of them have undergone serious modifications in their modes of life. Nearly all have obtained horses from the white people, and some of them are rich in these animals. Most of them have fire-arms, and instead of skins for clothing, they get blankets and cloths from the \vhites. They have also knives, beads and trinkets of various sorts, which they obtain from the white traders. They are all savages, however, except the Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, who have partially adopted the habits of civilized life. We propose now to give a general view of the savag'e tribes of North America, chiefly as they were between one and two centuries ago. We shall then present a separate sketch of the leading tribes, noticing some of the striking customs of each. 189 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE SAV- AGE TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA. GENERAL VIEAV. THE aspect of the North American Indians is grave, even to sadness ; at the same time they are modest and respectful ; and, however ignorant and degraded, there is about them a native dignity that commands respect. They are, in general, near the height of Europeans. There is among them a great 190 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. uniformity .of color, which is compared to that of cop- per, but they may be said to be nearer the complexion of well smoked ham. Among their prominent fea- tures are high cheek bones, with the face, in the line below the eyes, uncommonly wide ; long, sleek, black hair, finer than a horse's mane, but much resembling it. A beard was universally considered disgraceful, and was plucked out with great perseverance. Mr. Jefferson says, he has seen an Indian beau with a look- ing-glass in his hand for hours together, pulling out every hair upon the chin he could discover. Their foreheads were almost invariably retiring. They were remarkably straight and well limbed, and a deformed person was rare among them. Health was generally enjoyed by all; they were capable of enduring great fatigue and severe hardships. The Indian has been truly called " the Stoic of the woods, the man without a tear." It has been said, that in amputation and other surgical operations, their nerves do nut shrink or siiow the same tendency to spasm with those of the whites. When a savage, to explain his insensibility to cold, had reminded the white man how little his own face was affected by it, in consequence of constant exposure, he added, " my body is all face." Many of them lived to a great age, but none of them were much esteemed unless they had great bodily strength. When parents or relatives became old, and infirm, it was considered as an act of mercy for the nearest of kin to release them from the sorrows of life. They did not allow themselves to be hurried in their words and actions, by an intemperate warmth, except in cases of hatred to their enemies, which INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 101 sometimes carried them to excess. The best trained courtier has not a countenance so inaccessible to the displays of emotion as the Indian. If he i"? absent many months in war, or huming, and is met by his wife ana children on his return, he con- tinues on homeward, without taking the slightest notice of them ; and when arrived at his hut, he sits down and smokes with an aspect of entire unconcern. It may be several hours before he relates what has happened, although a father, brother, or son may have been left dead on the field. Should he, in hunting, go many days without food, and call at the hut of a friend, he takes care not to show the least impatience at his famishing condition, lest he should be wanting in fortitude, and be called a woman. An Indian seldom jests, and generally speaks low and under his breath ; loquacity he deems an indica- tion of being a trifling person, whose deeds are so much less, just in proportion as his words are more. If you tell him that his son has taken many scalps, he says, " It is well ;" if his son is slain, he says, " It does not signify; " and yet, notwithstanding this, there are many proofs of parental and filial affection, that vie with those in the cherished tales of antiquity. If an Indian has a friend in danger of being killed, o o by some one to whom he is obnoxious, he does not tell him so in plain words, but he asks, in an indiffer- ent manner, what way he is going that day ; then with the same indifference he tells him, a dog lies near that spot that might do him harm, and the hint proves sufficient. Their politeness never allows them to contradict a statement ; so that it is often difficult to know what impression is made on their minds. 192 INDIANS OF NORTH AJIERICA. As a general custom the women are the drudges c o of the community bringing home their game per- forming the out-door labor of their simple agriculture, &c. They also prepared the ordinary food and be- verage in use among them, and took care of the chil- dren, of whom the fathers had no charge. While the women were invariably the slaves of the men, still the servitude was less oppressive with some tribes than with others. From a happy conformation, their con- finements detained them but a few hours from their laborious occupations. The newborn infant is soon placed on a board, stuffed with moss ; it is laid on its back and wrapped in skins to keep it warm, and se- cured with small bent hoops fastened with strings. It is then hung to the branches of trees, or a stump, post, or stone, while the squaws go on with their labor. When they are taken out, the boys go naked ; the girls wear a shift or short petticoat. The Indians in walking are remarkable for placing one foot in a right line before the other, and seldom turn their toes from that line. When several are tra- velling together, they walk in a line, one after another, or what is called "Indian file." Mr. Flint says, " We have frequently seen the husband and wife, the mother and daughter, the father and son, and even two equals in age, walking together, apparently engaged in earnest conversation, but never advancing abreast." Among the tribes who have horses, the women ride astride, and sit with their knees bent, a custom which makes them walk badly. The habits of minute observation, cultivated by their mode of life, are well illustrated by the following INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 193 anecdote. A hunter belonging to one of the vestern tribes, on his return home one day, to his hut, discov- ered that his venison, which had been hung up to dry, had been stolen. After making observations upon the spot, he set off in pursuit of the thief, whom he tracked through the woods. Having gone a little distance, he met some persons of whom he 1 enquired if they had seen a little old white man, with a short gun, accompanied by a small dog with a short tail. They replied in the affirmative ; and, upon the Indian assuring them that the man thus described had stolen his venison, they desired to be informed how he was able to give such a minute description of a person he had not seen? The Indian replied thus, "the thief I know is a little man, by his haying made a pile of stones to stand upon, in order to reach the venison from the height I hung it standing on the ground ; that he is an old man, I know by his short steps, which I have traced over the dead leaves in the woods; and that he is a white man, I know by his turning out his toes when he walks, which an Indian never doos. His gun I know to be short by the mark the muzzle made in rubbing the bark of the tree on which it leaned; that his dog is small I know by his tracks ; and that he has a short tail, I discovered by the mark it made in the dust where he was sitting at the time his master was taking down the meat. DRESS. Before the arrival of the Europeans in America, the usual dress of the Northern Indians was composed of the skins of wild beasts, which were dressed with great care, and made into robes, petti- coats, trousers and blankets. In summer their clothing M v._17 194 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. hung loosely about them, and was, by the men, often laid entirely aside ; but in winter they wrapped their garments closely about their waists. Upon their feet they wore shoes without heels, generally made of moose-hide or buckskin, and called moccasins. These .vere fitted tightly to the shape of the foot, and were gathered at the toes and ankles, and fastened with thongs. In winter they wore snow-shoes, consisting of a net-work of deer skin thongs, upon a frame-work of small sticks. Upon the loose edges of the skins which formed their clothing, they fastened porcupine- quills, and often even the scalps of their enemies. The common dress of the women, who paid great re- gard to the claims of modesty, was a shift of leather, INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 195 which covered the body, leaving the arms bare ; and a Snow-shoes. petticoat of the same material, reaching from the waist to the knees. The Virginian and other Southern Indians, dressed in much the same manner with those of the north, ex- cepting that they were obliged to adapt their dress to the greater heat of the climate. In the hottest parts of summer, very little clothing of any sort was used. In later times, furs and skins have gone very much out of vogue, giving way to the cloths and cottons of the manufacture of the whites. The garment now usually worn by the men is a figured cotton shirt ; the women wear petticoats of the same material. Blank- ets and leggins of blue, red, and green cloth, are in ordinary use by both sexes. The Indians have always displayed a great taste for personal decorations, and have perhaps, as much vanity in respect to their necklaces of fishbones, and earrings of sea shells, as the fashionables of Broadway for their laces and silks. The quantity and beauty of their ornaments depended not only upon the rank 196 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. or business of the wearer, but upon the tribe to which he belonged, as well as upon his ambition to wear and his power to obtain. The hair was sometimes braided and decorated with small ornaments of silver ; some- times it was filled with plumes and feathers, and often cut and fashioned into fantastic and whimsical shapes. The northwestern tribes shave the hair entirely off the head, considering it a point of chivalry, however, to leave a tuft on the top, so that, in war, if the more difficult part of capturing is accomplished, the busi- ness of scalping may be easily performed. Necklaces, arm-bands, wrist-bands, broaches, and buckles, made of beads, shells and silver, are very commonly used. The Indians of some tribes, upon festive occasions, fasten brass bells and thimbles around their ankles, which produce a tinkling noise, and thus attract the attention of spectators. Ear-rings of bone, sea-shells, and stone, are very common ; they formerly wore pendants in the nose, made of silver, and re- sembling a dollar in size and shape. This ornament, which was once indispensable to a fashionable Indian's toilet, has lately gone almost entirely out of fashion. The use of paint and grease, by the Indians, can hardly be said to have been solely for the purpose of ornament, for a permanent coat over the whole skin was generally formed by their mixture, serving as much the purposes of utility as of decoration. It de- fended the body from cold, and from the numerous insects which fill the forests in summer ; and helped to preserve the strength of the warrior or hunter, by checking perspiration. Tattooing consists in making gashes in the flesh, INDIANS OF NOKTII AMERICA. 197 with some sharp instrument, and then filling them with some indelible dye or ink, so as to make .images permanent through life. The figures thus formed, vary according to the fancy of the individual. The necessity of watchwords is, by this means, some- what removed, as most of the tribes had one figure in common, called their totem, by which all the mem- bers were at once known. Foppery in dress is almost entirely confined to the men, the women being usually modest and sim- ple in their attire. Mr. Flint gives us the following description of an Indian dandy. "A young Indian warrior is notoriously the most thoroughgoing beau 17* 198 INDIANS OF NORTH AIMEUICA. in the world. Broadway and Bond street furnish no subjects that will spend as much time, or endure as much crimping and confinement, to appear in full dress. We think that we have observed such a char- acter constantly employed with his paints and his pocket-glass, for three full hours, laying on his paints and arranging his tresses, and contemplating, with visible satisfaction, from time to time, the progress of his attractions. The chiefs and warriors, in full dress, have one, two, or three clasps of silver about their arms, and generally jewels in their ears. Paint- ed porcupine quills are twirled in their hair. Tails of animals hang from the head behind, or from the point where they were originally appended to the animal. A necklace of bears' or alligators' teeth, or claws of the bald eagle, or common red beads, or, wanting these, a kind of rosary of red thorns hangs about the neck. From the knees to the feet the legs are ornamented with great numbers of little, perforat- ed cylindrical pieces of silver, or brass, that tinkle as the person walks. If to all this, he add an Ameri- can hat, and a soldier's coat, of blue, faced with red, over the customary calico shirt, he steps firmly on the ground, to give his tinklers a simultaneous noise, and apparently considers his appearance with as much complacency, as the human bosom can be supposed to feel." HABITATIONS, FURNITURE, &c. The dwellings of the American Indians, both Northern and Southern. were so much alike in their general appearance, that the Europeans, on their arrival, could detect no dis- tinction in their forms, and the materials of which INDIANS OF NORTH A31E1UCA. 199 they were composed, though the manner of driving ".he stakes was sufficient to inform an Indian what ribe had encamped. All the American Indians, but Chipperca lodges of the present day. more particularly those of New England, constructed their habitations by bending and twisting young trees together, in the form of an arbor, and interweaving with them, nets and rushes ; at other times they would drive stakes into the ground, and cover them with skins. These dwellings were called wigrcamx. They had no chimneys, and the smoke of their fires was al- lowed to pass out by an opening left in the top of the house. Their doors were merely apertures, which, in stormy weather, were covered with pieces of skin. They chose their situations for their villages with great discrimination, and were always guided in their choice by the chances they saw of obtaining plenty 200 I^iDlA.NS OF SOitTU of fuel and fooJ. They were never attracted by a picturesque and romantic spot, nor by a commanding prospect ; but \vher. j thcr-j wure rivers and brooks \viih fresh water and fresh fish, there you might ahvays see clusters of Indian huts and wigwams. The following description of the houses of the New England Indians is from Wood's " New England Pros- pect," published in London in 1664. " The frames of their houses are formed like our garden-arbours, something more round, very strong and handsome, covered with close-wrought mats of their owne weaving, which deny entrance to any drop of raine, though it come both fierce and long, neither can the piercing North winde, finde a crannie, through which he can conveigh his cooling breath ; they be warmer than our English houses ; at the top is a square hole for the smoakes evacuation, which in rainy weather is covered with a pluver: these bee such smoakie dwellings, that -when there is good fires, they are not able to stand upright, but lie all along under the smoake, never using any stooles or chaires, it being as rare to see an Indian sit on a stogie at home, as it is strange to see an Englh.k rman sit on his heels abroad. " Their housesjire smaller in the summer, when their families be dispersed, by reason of heate and occasions. In winter they make some fiftie or threescore foote long, fortie or fiftie men being inmates under one roofe ; and as is their husbands occasion these poore tectonists are often troubled like snailes, to carrie their houses on their backs sometimes to fishing places, other times to hunting places, after that to a planting place, where it abides the longest." INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 201 The only difference between the dwellings of the Northern and Southern Indians was, that while the former were built merely with reference to the conve- nience of their owners, the latter were constru-ted with some regard to beauty and order. This fact is accounted for by supposing that the Indians of the south had a greater abundance of fuel and food, a wanner c'i'nuic, ami a more fertile soil, and thus had some leisure for respecting the claims of decency and regularity. Their dwellings were therefore more tasteful, and their general appearance more neat. They had a very common custom, also, of surround- ing whole villages with fortifications of upright poles, set in the ground, against their enemies, generally ten or twelve feet high, and often of two or three thick- nesses. Even when the whole settlement was not thus defended, they enclosed within palisades, the house of the king, their idols and sacred relics. The furniture used by the Indians of America was always of the simplest kind, and the smallest value. Their beds were composed of mats, skins, leaves, or boughs. Roger Williams says, " their fire is instead of our bed-clothes. And so themselves and any that have occasion to lodge with them must be content to turne very often to the fire, if the night be cold, and they who first wake must repaire the fire." Chairs and stools were entirely unknown. Their beds, such as they were, furnished all the seats they required. They had wooden and stone vessels, and baskets of osier and birch-bark. Their sharp instruments were composed of stones, shells, bones or reeds ; the use of iron and steel beins: unknown. Utensils of curious 202 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. shapes and for purposes not understood, are at this day continually found buried in the soil. The manners of the Indians of the north and west are gradually becoming improved by their contact with the whites. Their dwellings, therefore, are better, and the improvements of civilization are finding their way into their midst. They now often make their floors of planks, and nails are used to some extent. In the remotest parts of the country, however, the customs of the whites have not penetrated, and the huts and furniture of the inhabitants are much the same as those used by their ancestors two hundred years ago. The wandering tribes use tents, covered with skins, which are carried with them from place to place. Some of these bands have mud villages where they reside in winter, being accustomed to remove from place to place during the summer. FOOD. The food of the Indians was coarse and simple in the extreme, and totally destitute of season- ing ; and although the vast prairies of the west, are covered for miles together with an incrustation of salt, and though the country abounds in salt-springs, in their primitive state, they never look unon it as an article of service. They fed upon the flesh of the bear, the buffalo, elk, deer, beaver and raccoon ; upon wild geese, turkeys and ducks ; in short, upon every variety of flesh, fish and fowl, which the country af- forded. In summer they eat a mixture of corn and beans, called succotash, of which they were very fond. Their winter's food consisted of such vegetables as they could save during the summer, together with acorns, nuts and roots. " These akornes they drie," says INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 203 Roger William?, " and in case of want of cornc, by much boyling they make a good di^h of them ; yea, sometimes in plentie of corne doe they eat these akornes for a novekie." All the tribes sat cross-legged at their meals, or rather with their ankles crossed in front of them ; or sometimes they rested in a reclining posture, leaning upon one elbow, in the fashion of the ancient Romans. They had no regular meals, but eat whenever they were hungry, and then in a most voracious manner. They sometimes fasted for many days, but when any food was to be had, amply repaid themselves for their previous privation. Their only drink was water, cold and fresh as it bubbled from the spring. At the banquets the men formed the first groups ; in the next were the wo-.nen, children and dogs, a hetero- geneous assemblage, who were often very gluttonous; while the men were comparatively moderate. It is said, that on the aggregate, there never was a nation or people who seemed to care less for the pleasures of the table, and who in reality consumed less than tho North American Indians. They understood the mean- ing of the maxim, though they had never heard it, " eat to live, not live to eat." The southern Indians suffered less from scarcity of food, than those of the north, for their rivers gave them more fish, the woods supplied them with more fruits, and the fields with more game. In Virginia and the neighborhood, there were large quantities of cherries, plums, currants and berries ; chestnut*. bazlenuts and walnuts; grapes, melons, potatoes and pumpkins They used to bruise the strawberry in a 204 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. mortar, and mix it with meal, thus forming a kind of bread. They also made a dish to this day called hominy, by boiling pounded corn ten or twelve hours. Of the cooking of the Indians it has been said, " It has nothing commendable in it, but that it is performed with little trouble ; they have no other sauce but a good stomach, which they seldom want." They had three ways of cooking their flesh and fish. They boiled them in vessels of clay, or bark, by putting into them stones heated for the purpose. They broiled on the naked coals, and roasted by covering with hot ashes. Another method was to Larbacue their meats, which consisted in hanging it up on sticks placed at a short distance from the fire. They used parched corn to a great extent. They extracted sugar from the maple tree, and used it to sweeten their cakes which were made of ground corn mixed with chestnuts, beans and berries. The food of the Indians of the present day continues to be much the same as in former times. Their mode of cookery has altered but little, and the change has been caused by the neighborhood of the whites. They have obtained from them various convenient utensils for cooking, of which their ancestors had no knowl- edge. Wild rice is now one of their staple articles of fond, which grows abundantly among the marshes of the west. The Chippewas and other tribes in the vicinity of the Great Lakes, subsist at certain sea- sons to a great extent upon the white fish, which is considered as being superior to the trout or salmon. Amoncr the Rocky Mountains, on the banks of rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean, there are tribes who INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 205 eat nothing but fish, and look upon' everything of the fle.-ih kind with superstitious dread. There is a great difference among the various tribes of Indians in regard to taste and choice of food. The Chippewas will eat almost everything, from the wild- cat and wolf, to the horse and dog, which the Dela- wares and other southern Indians would rather die than touch. The Five Nations were never scrupulous in their selection of food. Some savages cut up their feath- erjd game and boil and eat it without any other pre- paration than to pluck off a few of the larger feathers. It has been said of the Indians, as a mass, that they were accustomed to eat human flesh ; in short, that they were cannibals. This charge has been unsup- ported by proof, and indeed, all the light obtained on the subject seems to refute rather than to sustain it. Cases have undoubtedly occurred, when, pressed by famine, the savage has killed and eaten one of his own race ; but so has the white man in like circumstances. A remarkable incident has been furnished by Mr. Henry, a traveller among the Indians, which will serve to give us some information on the subject, tt is a belief among the Indians, that a person who has once eatan human flesh, will never be satisfied with any other food. A young Indian, belonging to a tribe who had fled from their home on account of famine, came suddenly into that part of the country where Mr. Henrv was. His appearance is described as ac- tually frightful ; he was in an exhausted and starving state. Fro-n various circumstances which were con- nected with his arrival, he was suspected of having eaten human flesh to appease his hunger, and this v. 18 206 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. was afterwards found to be the fact. He seemed per- fectly indifferent to the food which was prepared for him, but keeping his eyes fixed upon some children in the lodge, frequently exclaimed, " how fat they are ! " His behavior, of course, excited alarm, and the Indians, apprehensive that he would find some means of killing and eating their children, determined to put him to death. Without informing him of their resolution, they despatched him the next day with a single stroke of the axe. It is a remarkable fact that the savage tribes of North America, should have been thus free from cannibalism, while it is well known that the civilized Mexicans sacrificed human victims by thousands and devoured their flesh, not only in cele- bration of religious rites, but also as a delicious treat. There can be but little doubt that this horrid custom was introduced by the priests, and that religious fan- aticism subverted the natural instincts of the race against the practice. As we have said, the Indians in early days had no other drink than water, and all kinds of intoxicating beverages were wholly unknown to them. They were not slow, however, in making acquaintance with spirituous liquors, introduced by the whites. These, which they called fire-water, became the bane of the race, and were one of the chief instruments by which they were first degraded, and then swept from the earth. Spirits are now introduced among the western tribes by the unscrupulous traders. When they are once under the influence of liquor, they lose all self- command, and have rather the appearance of demons than men. Even the chiefs give themselves up to the INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 207 intoxicating spell, and during its influence, appear to be totally bereft of their reason. The women are not permitted to engage in these revels : it is deemed their province to remain sober and take care of their drunk- en husbands. When they see that these are becoming intoxicated, they prudently conceal their knives, toma- hawks, bows and arrows, and other weapons, so that they may not kill each other in their brawls. EDUCATION. The children were left almost entire- ly to form their character under the influence of exam- ple and experience. Nothing like regular training was adopted. They were never chastised with blows lest it might damp their spirit and substitute slavish motives for that love of liberty which their parents desired them to feel in its fullest extent. When grown, they were never commanded in an authorita- tive manner, and even the wishes of the chiefs were made known rather in the form of persuasion than imperative injunction. Great efforts were made by the parents to inspire their children with revenge against their enemies, and they were made to drink the blood of their captives to increase this feeling. They were also instructed in the traditions of their fathers. Great respect for old age was inculcated, and the advice of a grandfather was considered like the words of an oracle. Obe- dience to parents is obtained by appealing to the pride and ambition of the children. If a father says, " I want such a thing done ; I want one of my children to run upon such an errand ; let me see who is the good child that will do it," the word good operates as a powerful incentive, and the children generally SOS INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. vie with each other in fulfilling the wishes of the pa- rent. Praise always follows good actions, and the ambition of the boys is particularly stimulated to ex- cel in athletic exercises, and in every daring and manly achievement. Awkwardness, ignorance, and coward- ice ate made the theme of the bitterest ridicule. The names of children are generally given after animals, as the beaver, otter, rattlesnake, black fish ; and other titles, perhaps significant or descriptive, are bestowed according to some qualities which the chil- dren are fancied to possess. In after life, other nan.?'' are added, having allusion to remarkable events. Indian woman and child. DOMESTIC LIFE. In civilized society, the chief in- terests of life lie within that little kingdom which is INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 209 called home. But with the savage, the larger portion of his thoughts and feelings are bestowed upon objects beyond the precincts of the domestic circle. War and the chase absorb the souls of the men, and out-door cares occupy a considerable share of the attention of the women. William Wood, whom we have be- fore quoted, thus speaks of the duties of the New England Indian women : " An other work is their planting of corne, wherein they exceede our English husband-men, keeping it so cleare with their Clamme shell-hooes, as if it were a garden rather than a corne-field, not suffering a choak- ing weede to advance his audacious head above their infant corne, or an undermining worme to spoile his spumes. Their corne being ripe, they gather it, and dtying it hard in the sunne, conveigh it to their barnes, which be great holes digged in the ground in forme of a brasse pot, seeled with rinds of trees, wherein they put their corne, covering it from the in- quisitive search of their gurmandizing husbands, who would eate up both their allowed portion, and re- served seede, if they knew where to finde it. But our hogges having found a way to unhindge their barne doorcs, and robbe their garners, they are glad to im- plore their husbands helpe to roule the bodies of trees over their holes, to prevent those pioners, whose theeverie they as much hate as their flesh. " An other of their employments is their summer processions to get lobsters for their husbands, where- with they baite their hookes when they goe a fish- ing for basse or codfish. This is an every dayes walke, be the weather cold or hot, the waters rough N 18* 5210 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. or calme, they must dive sometimes over he.id and eares for a lobster, which often shakes them by their hands \vith a churlish nippe, and bids them adiew. The tide being spent, they trudge home two or three miles, with a hundred weight of lobsters at their backs, and if none, a hundred scoules meete them at home, and a hungry belly for two days after. Their husbands having caught any fish, they bring it in their boates, as farre as they can by water, and there leave it ; as it was their care to catch it, so it must be their wives paines to fetch it home, or fast: which done, they must dresse it and cooke it, dish it, and present it, see it eaten over their shoulders; and their loggerships having filled their paunches, their sweete lullabies scramble for the scrappes. " In the summer these Indian women when lobsters be in their plenty and prime, they drie them to keepe (or winter, erecting scaffolds in the hot sun-shine, making fires likewise underneath them, by whose smoake the flies are expelled, till the substance re- mains hard and drie. In this manner they drie basse and other fishes without salt, cutting them very thinne to dry suddainely, before the flies spoil them, or the raine moist them, having a speciall rare to hang them in their smoakie houses, in the night and dankish weather. " In summer they gather flngges, of which they make matts for houses, and hempe and rushes, with dying stufTe of which they make curious baskets with intermixed colours and portractures of antique Image- rie : these baskets be of all sizes from a quart to a quarter, in which they carry their luggage. In winter INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 211 time they are their husbands' caterers, trudging to the clamm bankes for their belly timber, and their por ters to lugge home their venison, which their lazi- nesse exposes to the woolves till they impose it upon their wives shoulders. They likewise sew their hus- bands shooes, and weave coates of Turkic feathers, besides all their ordinary household drudgerie which daily lies upon them." Of the treatment of babes the writer says : " The young Infant being greased and sooted, wrapt in a beaver skin, bound to his good behaviour with his feete upon a board two foote long and one foote broade, his face exposed to all nipping weather ; this little Pappouse travells about with his bare footed mother to paddle in the ice Clamm banks after three or foure dayes of age have sealed his pnsseboard and his moth- ers recoverie. For their carriage it is very civill, smiles being the greatest grace of their mirth ; their musick is lullabies to quiet their children, who gene- rally are as quiet as if they had neither spleene or lungs. To hear one of these Indians unseene, a good eare might easily mistake their untaught voyce for the warbling of a well tuned instrument. Such com- mand have they of their voices." In the outset of Indian life, the husband usually pro- vides the wigwam for his family to live in, together with the axes, hoes, and implements of agriculture ; he builds a canoe, and makes a variety of bowls, dishes and other utensils for culinary purposes. He then proceeds to supply his family with food and clothing, which he procures by fishing, hunting arid trapping. This duty is constant, and sometimes severe. He 212 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. rises very early, and frequently has the good fortune to return to his wigwam with a deer or wild turkey for breakfast. The duty of the wigwam for the wife is very tri- fling; there is no scouring of paint, nor scrubbing of floors. A single kettle over the fire, or a cake made of meal, in the ashes, is all that requires her attention in the cooking department. But she has work to per- form in the field, such as sowing, reaping, and hoe- ing. After the harvest, she has little to do, except to procure firewood and cook the daily food. The care of the children does not impose a heavy burden. During infancy they remain a large part of the time strapped to the cradle, and demand little attention. Lilian cradle. When farther advanced, their clothing is slight, and they are left much to themselves. On the return of the husband from a journey, on entering the house he says, " I am returned," his wife replies, " I rejoice." He then asks after the health of the family, and, being satisfied on this point, says nothing of himself or his adventures till the evening, when he tells them all at full length to his neighbors and family. In general, the intercourse between the husband and '.vife is of a kindly nature. She is proud of his INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. achievements in war, and is gratified to see him the object of attention and respect. She desires also to see him well dressed, and he has a similar feeling with respect to her. If she is sick, he takes the ut- most pains to procure tnt-dicine and dainties for her. A Delaware has been known to travel forty miles to obtain some cranberries for his sick wife ; and in a similar case, another Indian travelled a hundred miles to get some corn, which, at the time, was very scarce. He was able to obtain only his hat full, but for this he parted with his horse, and returned on foot. Hospitality is among the chief virtues of the In- dians ; they will even share their last mouthful with a stranger and those of a different nation. If any re- fuse to partake of their food it is a matter of offence. All are allowed to enter any lodge, even that of the chiefs, when they are hungry and take what they can find to eat. The most worthless drone is not an ex- ception to this rule, though an improvident person, who lives upon others, is branded with the epithet of poltroon and beggnr. Chateaubriand says that " Hospi- tal ity still lingers on the banks of the Mississippi; it will accompany the advanced, guard of settlers down the shores of the Missouri, be driven thence to the neigh- borhood of the Columbia river, and be finally drowned in the Pacific." MAKRIAGK. Courtship with the Indians is usually a brief and simple affair. If there are no parents, a man makes a direct proposition to a woman he fan- cies, to become his wife. If the answer is favorable, she usually goes to live with him immediately. In some cases, the admirer goes to the cabin of the ob- 214 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. ject of his affection and regard, and sits by her side If she suffers this, it is significant of her assent, and the marriage accordingly follows. In most cases, where there are parents, the mother of the lover conducts the negotiation, generally opening it with a present to the mother of the girl, with a leg of veni- son, or a piece of bear's meat, saying that the animal was killed by her son. If the proposal thus implied is acceptable, the mother of the girl prepares a savo- ry dish, perhaps of succotash, and carries it to the mother of the lover, saying, " This comes from my daughter's field." A few other presents are usually exchanged; intimacy between the young people en- sues ; the man raises a wigwam, and, being supplied by his parents, with a few bowls and baskets, an axe, a hoe, and a kettle, the bride and bridegroom take possession of their new residence, and live as man and wife. The marriage is celebrated by no particu- lar ceremony. The customs in relation to courtship vary in the different tribes. In many cases, the whole affair is managed by the parents. Divorce is allowed, and frequently practised. If the husband is dissatisfied, he may put away the wife, and she may leave him when she pleases. In point of fact, however, repu- diation or desertion, without serious cause, is regard- ed as disreputable, and thus restraints are imposed xipon improvident and causeless separations. Polyga my is allowed, and an Indian usually has as many wives as he is able to maintain. These, trained to their lot, generally live together without jealousy or disagreement. If, indeed, the husband pays a dis- INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 215 proportionate attention to one wife, the neglected partner will sometimes indicate her feelings by kick- ing his dog, or spilling his food on the ground. In cases of separation, the children are divided between the parents. When it chances that two wives quarrel, the tongue, teeth and nails of the parties are often called upon to aid in carrying on the war. In these cases the husband usually sits by with an air of un- concern, smoking his pipe, and seeming lost in thoughts about something else. If the dispute becomes serious, he rises with the air of a judge and separates the combatants. ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. The utensils were few in number, and simple in kind. Their dishes and spoons were made of a kind of box-wood, and also of the skulls of bisons. They manufactured a few earth- en vessels, and made bowls of the knotty excrescences of the maple tree. They wove very neat baskets of osier and birch bark. Having no iron, their knives consisted of sharp stones, bones or shells. They also made mortars and chisels of stone. A cockle shell served for a spoon, and a gourd for a water jug. Among many tribes the only utensil used for boiling, was a piece of hard wood, hollowed out and filled with red hot stones, till the process was accomplished. Their spears and arrow-heads were made of hard stone, and fashioned with great labor. . The tomahawk was made of a softer kind of rock. The wooden part of the arrow was a straight stick cut from an elder- bush, or other light wood. The bow-string was made of the sinews of deer, or the Indian hemp. The bow wus usually about six feet in length. The stones most used for arrow-heads were quartz and flint, 216 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. which were preferred on account of the facility of sha- ping them, the keenness of the points and edges, Tdodern tomaJiarcJc. which they readily present under the blows of a skil- ful manufacturer, as well as their superior hardness and imperishable nntnre. Multitudes of specimens still exist, which show the various forms and sizes to which the red man reduced stones of these kinds; and they excite our admiration, by their perfect slate of preservation, as well as by the skilfuhiess of their manufacture. Other stones, however, were not unfrequently use^l : and a collection will present a considerable variety of materials, as well as of sizes, shapes and colors. Hard sand-stone, trap, or grey wacke, jasper, and chalcedony, appear occasionally ; some almost transparent. These arrow-heads were fastened to the shaft, by inserting the butt into the split end, and tying round it a string of deer's sinews. A groove or depression is commonly observable in the stone, designed to receive the string. The Indians knew nothing f navigation, beyond the construction and uses of canoes. These were of bark, and more frequently of the trunk of some soft- wooded tree. The largest would hold fifty . mm, though many smaller ones svere used. To aid them INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 217 in bringing down a tree, fire was applied around the trunk, and it was afterwards burnt off at the desired Birch-bark boat. length. The bark was then stripped off, and the log was hollowed out by means of instruments and gentle fires. This was all the process necessary to form a canoe. Some northern tribes construct their canoes of bark, in the same manner as they are made at present by the Chippewas and others. Wampum was an ornament manufactured from va- rious colored shells ; they filed these into bits, and per- forated them, giving them the shape of pieces of broken pipe-stems ; they strung them on deers' sinews, and wore them on their necks, or wove them into belts. They were also used to record treaties and other pub- lic matters. On the Atlantic coast, wampum was highly valued as a species of money, instead of coins, of which they had no knowledge. So many strings, or so many hands' breadths, were the fixed value of a horse, a gun, or a robe. In treaties the wampum was passed as a pledge of friendship, and from time immemorial it was sent to hostile tribes as a messinger of peace. The fur traders at the West have manufac- tured an imitation of the Indian wampum, so closely resembling it, and it is sold at so low a price, that the value and meaning of the original article are destroyed, v. 19 218 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. and a string of the genuine manufacture is now rarely to be found in any part of the country. Among the Indians, there were a class of persons who professed to have remarkable power in the cure of diseases. Most of these were impostors, who per- formed certain incantations, serving no other purpose than to delude the patients, and enable the quack to extort from them an exorbitant fee. They were generally persons who held a sort of sacer- dotal character, and were called medicine-men. Of these, we shall give a more particular account here- after. There was another class, who might with pro- priety be called doctors, and who really possessed considerable knowledge of the medicinal virtues of plants. They had antidotes for the bites of venom- ous reptiles, and could cure many of the diseases common among the savages. In surgery they had also no small degree of skill ; their practice, however, was often blended with gross quackery, and in most cases of serious disease, superstitious juggles constitu- ted a great part of the treatment. Frequently a med- icine would be prepared with strange incantations, and SAvallowed by the physican in order to cure the patient. Mr. Heckewelder tells us that he once saw an emetic given to a Delaware who was poisoned, which consisted of a piece of burnt raccoon skin, dry pounded beans and gunpowder. It may well be believed that such a dose procured the vomiting that was desired. The juggler who professes to cure diseases Avhich spring from witchcraft, having received an ample fee, such as a horse, or a rifle-, usually commences opera- tions by dressing himself in a frightful manner. He INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 219 then approaches his patient with a variety of strange contortions and grotesque gestures. He breathes on him; blows in his mouth; squirts medicine in his nose and mouth; rattles beans, or pebbles in a dry gourd, and continues to make horrid gesticulations to frighten away the disease ; he then leaves the patient to await the issue of the experiment. There are also jugglers who performed various feats of legerdemain. Mr. Flint tells us that " these undoubtedly possess a rigidity of muscle, a callousness of nerve, and a contempt of pain and wounds, that enable them to achieve swallowing fire, putting knives and swords down their throats, and such like exploits tvith great success." The picture writings that are often found on the rocks in various parts of the country, consist of the symbolic names of Indians who have visited these places. Catlin remarks that from the feeling of vanity everywhere belonging to man, has proceeded the habit of recording their names or symbols, such as birds, beasts, or reptiles, by which every family and each individual is known. The paintings on their robes, being also a species of hieroglyphic writing, were in many cases very curious, and generally represented the exploits of their military lives which they are always anxious to record. The same system was to some extent adopted for more practical purposes. Thatcher- says that on a piece of bark, or on a large tree, with the bark taken off for the purpose, by the side of a path, they can, and do give every necessary informa- tion to those who travel the same way. They will in this manner let them know that they were a war 220 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. party of so many men, from such a place, of such a nation, and of such a tribe ; how many of each tribe were in the party ; to which tribe the chief or captain belonged ; in what direction they proceeded to meet the enemy ; how many days they were out, and how many returning ; what number of the enemy they had killed ; how many prisoners they had brought ; how many scalps they had taken ; whether they had lost any of their party, and how many; what enemies they had met with, and how many they consisted of: of what nation or tribe their captain was, &c., al] which is perfectly well understood by them at a single glance. They will describe a chase in the same style. All the tribes adopt this practice to some extent; and the principle upon which it is founded, is so natural and so plain, that the Delawares will read the draw- ings of the Chippewas, Shawanees, Wyandots, or Six Nations, with nearly as much ease as they decipher those of their own tribe. Mr. Tanner, who lived some time among the Indi- ans, and was adopted by one of the tribes, furnishes the following anecdote. He was traversing the \\ oods in the early spring, on his way towards Red River, when one morning he noticed on the borders of a stream, a little stick standing in the bank, and a piece of birch bark attached to the top of it. On examina- tion, he found the mark of a rattlesnake with a knife, the handle touching the snake, and the point sticking into a bear with a drooping head. Near the snake also was the mark of a beaver, with one of its legs touch- ing the snake. This had been left for Mr. Tanner's information by his foster brother, Wa-no-gou-a-biew ; INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 221 and he gathered from it, that the latter, whose badge was a rattlesnake, and whose mother's badge was a beaver, had killed a man whose badge was the bear. That he was dead and not wounded merely, was indi- cated by the position of the head. The event proved his suppositions to be entirely correct. Indian song. Mr. Catlin furnishes us with a copy of an Indian song, which was drawn on birch bark, and sung by the Chippewas, previous to a hunt. The song is com- posed, and the drawing made by a medicine-man, or priest, and it is sung by him while the hunters dance around, and join in the chorus. The purpose of this incantation, is to conciliate the spirits that pre- side over the animals, and thus ensure to the hunting party a successful expedition. The figures drawn on the bark, and which constitute the song, are symboli- cal representations of ideas, but are generally under- stood only by the jugglers who compose them. 19* 222 INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. AGRICULTURE. The cultivation of the Indians was scanty and inartificial. They planted corn, squashes, beans and pumpkins, which were generally permitted to grow to maturity with little or no care, though it is said that the New England Indians were better hus- bandmen. The chief tools for breaking the soil, were shells and bones. In more modern times, the agricul- tural arts and implements of the whites have been adopted to some extent. Indians, disguised as rrolves. attacking buffaloes. HUNTING. However the Indian may be disposed to indolence, in the chase he is roused to the utmost activity. He attacks the bear, the deer and various other wild animals. In ancient times these were killed with the bow and arrow, and also caught in traps. Raccoons, partridges, beavers, wild turkies and other INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 223 yvins were taken in great numbers. In the rivers, .salmon and other fish were struck with spears; they ilso used small nets, and hooks made of fish bones. T