The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft Part 75

[893] The opatas have 'grande respeto y veneracion que hasta hoy tienen a los hombrecitos pequenos y contrahechos, a quienes temen y franquean su casa y comida.' _Sonora_, _Descrip. Geog._, in _Doc. Hist. Mex._, serie iii., tom. iv., p. 628. 'Angulis atque adytis angues complures reperti, peregrinum in modum conglobati, capitibus supra et infra exsertis, terribili rictu, si quis propuis accessisset, caeterum innocui; quos barbari vel maxime venerabantur, quod diabolus ipsis hac forma apparere consuesset: eosdem tamen et manibus contrectabant et nonnunquam iis vescebantur.' _De Laet_, _Novus...o...b..s_, p. 284. Further reference in _Ribas_, _Hist. de los Triumphos_, p. 472; _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom.

iii., pp. 574-5; _Lachapelle_, _Raousset-Boulbon_, p. 79; _Cabeza de Vaca_, _Relation_, p. 169; _Arlegui_, _Chron. de Zacatecas_, pp. 166-7; _Sevin_, in _Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour._, vol. x.x.x., p. 26.

[894] 'Quando entre los Indios ay algun contagio, que es el de viruelas el mas continuo, de que mueren innumerables, mudan cada dia lugares, y se van a los mas retirados montes, buscando los sitios mas espinosos y enmaranados, para que de miedo de las espinas, no entren (segun juzgan, y como cierto lo afirman) las viruelas.' _Arlegui_, _Chron. de Zacatecas_, pp. 152-3, 182. See also, _Muhlenpfordt_, _Mejico_, tom.

ii., pt. ii., p. 431; _Berlandier y Thovel_, _Diario_, pp. 70-1; _Alegre_, _Hist. Comp. de Jesus_, tom. i., p. 399, tom. ii., pp. 213-4, 219-20; _Ribas_, _Hist. de los Triumphos_, pp. 17, 322-3; _Lowenstern_, _Mexique_, p. 411; _Hardy's Trav._, p. 282; _Sonora_, _Descrip. Geog._, in _Doc. Hist. Mex._, serie iii., tom. iv., pp. 547-8.

[895] See _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. iii., p. 516; _Villa_, in _Prieto_, _Viajes_, p. 443.

[896] 'Las mas de las naciones referidas son totalmente barbaras, y de groseros entendimientos; gente baxa.' _Arlegui_, _Chron. de Zacatecas_, p. 149. The Yaquis: 'by far the most industrious and useful of all the other tribes in Sonora ... celebrated for the exuberance of their wit.'

_Hardy's Trav._, pp. 439, 442. 'Los opatas son tan honrados como valientes ... la nacion opata es pacifica, docil, y hasta cierto punto diferente de todas los demas indigenas del continente ... son amantes del trabajo.' _Zuniga_, in _Escudero_, _Noticias de Sonora y Sinaloa_, pp. 139-41. 'La tribu opata fue la que manifesto un caracter franco, docil, y con simpatias a los blancos ... siempre fue inclinada al orden y la paz.' _Velasco_, _Noticias de Sonora_, pp. 151, 117. The opatas 'son de genio malicioso, disimulados y en sumo grado vengativos; y en esto sobresalen las mujeres.' _Sonora_, _Descrip. Geog._, in _Doc. Hist.

Mex._, serie iii., tom. iv., pp. 629-30. See also: _Ribas_, _Hist. de los Triumphos_, pp. 237, 285, 358, 369, 385; _Bartlett's Pers. Nar._, vol. i., pp. 442-3; _Ward's Mexico_, vol. i., p. 583, vol. ii., p. 606; _Combier_, _Voy._, pp. 198-201; _Malte-Brun_, _Sonora_, pp. 13-14; _Browne's Apache Country_, p. 248; _Lachapelle_, _Raousset-Boulbon_, p.

79; _Cabeza de Vaca_, _Relation_, pp. 169, 176; _Arricivita_, _Cronica Serafica_, pp. 405, 442; _Alegre+, _Hist. Comp. de Jesus_, tom. i., pp.

284, 402-3, 405, 452, and tom. ii., p. 184; _Padilla_, _Conq. N.

Galicia, MS._, pp. 80, 84; _Berlandier y Thovel_, _Diario_, pp. 69-70; _Garcia Conde_, in _Alb.u.m Mex._, tom. i., p. 93.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NATIVE RACES of the PACIFIC STATES MEXICAN GROUP]

CHAPTER VI.

WILD TRIBES OF MEXICO.

TERRITORIAL ASPECTS--TWO MAIN DIVISIONS; WILD TRIBES OF CENTRAL MEXICO, AND WILD TRIBES OF SOUTHERN MEXICO--THE CORAS AND OTHERS IN JALISCO--DESCENDANTS OF THE AZTECS--THE OTOMiS AND MAZAHUAS ADJACENT TO THE VALLEY OF MEXICO--THE PAMES--THE TARASCOS AND MATLALTZINCAS OF MICHOACAN--THE HUAZTECS AND TOTONACS OF VERA CRUZ AND TAMAULIPAS--THE CHONTALES, CHINANTECS, MAZATECS, CUICATECS, CHATINOS, MIZTECS, ZAPOTECS, MIJES, HUAVES, CHIAPANECS, ZOQUES, LACANDONES, CHOLES, MAMES, TZOTZILES, TZENDALES, CHOCHONES, AND OTHERS OF SOUTHERN MEXICO.

The term WILD TRIBES OF MEXICO, which I employ to distinguish this from the other groupal divisions of the Native Races of the Pacific States needs some explanation. The territory embraced under this t.i.tle extends from lat.i.tude 23 north, to the eighteenth parallel on the Atlantic, and the fifteenth on the Pacific; that is to the Central American line, including Yucatan and excluding Guatemala. At the time of the conquest, a large portion of this region as well as part of Central America was occupied by those nations that we call civilized, which are fully described in the second volume of this work. These several precincts of civilization may be likened to suns, s.h.i.+ning brightly at their respective centres, and radiating into the surrounding darkness with greater or less intensity according to distance and circ.u.mstances. The b.l.o.o.d.y conquest achieved, these suns were dimmed, their light went out; part of this civilization merged into that of the conquerors, and part fell back into the more distant darkness. Later many of the advanced aboriginals became more and more identified with the Spaniards; the other natives soon came to be regarded as savages, who, once pacified, spread over the seat of their nation's former grandeur, obliterating many of the traces of their peoples' former high advancement;--so that very shortly after the Spaniards became masters of the land, any description of its aborigines could but be a description of its savage nations, or of retrograded, or partially obliterated peoples of higher culture. And thus I find it, and thus must treat the subject, going over the whole territory almost as if there had been no civilization at all.

For variety and striking contrasts the climate and scenery of central and southern Mexico is surpa.s.sed by no region of equal extent in the world. It is here that the tierra caliente, or hot border-land of either ocean, the tierra templada, or temperate belt adjacent, and the tierra fria, or cool elevated table-land a.s.sume their most definite forms. The interior table-lands have an average elevation above the sea of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet. The geological formation is on a t.i.tanic scale; huge rocks of basalt, granite, and lava rise in fantastic shapes, intersected by deep barrancas or ravines presenting unparalleled scenes of grandeur. Prominent among the surrounding mountains tower the snow-clad crests of Orizaba and Popocatepetl,--volcanic piles whose slumbering fires appear to be taking but a temporary rest. The plateau is variegated with many lakes; the soil, almost everywhere fertile, is overspread with a mult.i.tudinous variety of nopal, maguey, and forests of evergreen, among which the graceful fir and umbrageous oak stand conspicuous. Seasons come and go and leave no mark behind; or it may be said that spring, satisfied with its abode, there takes up its perpetual rest; the temperature is ever mellow, with resplendent suns.h.i.+ne by day, while at night the stars s.h.i.+ne with a brilliancy nowhere excelled. The limits of the tierra templada it is impossible to define, as the term is used in a somewhat arbitrary manner by the inhabitants of different alt.i.tudes. On the lowlands along the coast known as the tierra caliente, the features of nature are changed; vegetation a.s.sumes a more luxuriant aspect; palms, parasitical plants and trees of a tropical character, take the place of the evergreens of a colder clime; the climate is not salubrious, and the heat is oppressive. On the Atlantic side furious storms, called 'northers,' spring up with a suddenness and violence unexampled in other places, often causing much destruction to both life and property.

[Sidenote: TRIBES OF CENTRAL MEXICO.]

For the purpose of description, I separate the Wild Tribes of Mexico in two parts,--the _Wild Tribes of Central Mexico_, and the _Wild Tribes of Southern Mexico_. The first of these divisions extends from 23 north lat.i.tude to the northern boundary of the state of Oajaca, or rather to an imaginary line, taking as its base said boundary and running from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, that is to say from Vera Cruz to Acapulco.

To enumerate and locate all the nations and tribes within this territory, to separate the uncivilized from the civilized, the mythical from the real, is not possible. I have therefore deferred to the end of this chapter such authorities as I have on the subject, where they will be found ranged in proper order under the head of Tribal Boundaries. Of the tribes that are known to have possessed no civilization, such as was found among the Aztecs and other cultivated nations, I will only mention the people denominated _Chichimecs_, under which general name were designated a mult.i.tude of tribes inhabiting the mountains north of the valley of Mexico, all of which were prominently dependent on the result of the chase for their subsistence; the ancient _Otomis_ who mostly occupied the mountains which inclose the valley of Mexico; and the _Pames_ in Queretaro. South of Mexico were numerous other nations who were more or less intermixed with those more civilized. Finally, I shall describe those people who, since they came in contact with the whites, have retrograded in such a degree, that their manners and customs can only be given in connection with those of the Wild Tribes, and which comprise a large proportion of all the present aborigines of Mexico.[897]

[Sidenote: PHYSICAL FEATURES IN NORTHERN MEXICO.]

The natives of the valley of Mexico are represented by some authorities as tall, by others as of short stature; but from what I gather we may conclude that on the whole they are over rather than under the middle height, well made and robust. In Vera Cruz they are somewhat shorter, say from four feet six inches to five feet at most, and clumsily made, having their knees further apart than Europeans and walking with their toes turned in; the women are shorter than the men and become fully developed at a very early age. In Jalis...o...b..th s.e.xes are tall; they are also well built, and among the women are found many forms of such perfection that they might well serve as models for sculpture.

Throughout the table-lands, the men are muscular and well proportioned.

Their skin is very thick and conceals the action of the muscles; they are out-kneed, turn their toes well in, and their carriage is anything but graceful.[898] Various opinions have been advanced by competent persons in regard to the features of the natives of Mexico. Baron Von Humboldt describes them as resembling the aborigines of Canada, Peru, Florida, and Brazil; having elongated eyes, the corners turned towards the temples, prominent cheek-bones, large lips, and a sweet expression about the mouth, forming a strong contrast with their otherwise gloomy and severe aspect. Rossi says that their eyes are oval, and that their physiognomy resembles that of the Asiatics. According to Prescott, they bear a strong resemblance to the Egyptians, and Viollet le Duc a.s.serts that the Malay type predominates. They have generally a very narrow forehead, an oval face, long black eyes set wide apart, large mouth with thick lips, teeth white and regular, the nose small and rather flat. The general expression of the countenance is melancholy, and exhibits a strange combination of moroseness and gentleness. Although some very handsome women are to be found among them, the majority of the race, both men and women, are ugly, and in old age, which with the women begins early, their faces are much wrinkled and their features quite harsh. They have acute senses, especially that of sight, which remains unimpaired to a very advanced age. Long, straight, black, thick, and glossy hair is common to all; their beard is thin, and most of them, especially in the capital and its vicinity, have a small moustache; but very few, if any, have hair on their legs, thighs, or arms. It is very seldom that a gray-haired native is found. All the people referred to, are remarkable for their strength and endurance, which may be judged of by the heavy burdens they carry on their backs. The inhabitants of the table-lands are of various hues; some are olive, some brown, others of a red copper color. In the Sierras some have a bluish tint as if dyed with indigo. The natives of the tierras calientes are of a darker complexion, inclining to black. There are some called _Indios Pintos_, whose cuticle is of a less deep color, inclining more to yellowish and marked with dark copper-colored spots.[899]

[Sidenote: MEXICAN COSTUMES.]

[Sidenote: DRESS IN MICHOACAN.]

In the valley of Mexico the natives wear the _ichapilli_, or a sort of s.h.i.+rt without sleeves, made of white and blue striped cotton, which reaches to the knees and is gathered round the waist with a belt. This is frequently the only garment worn by the aborigines of the Mexican valley. In lieu of the ancient feather ornaments for the head, they now use large felt or straw hats, the rim of which is about nine inches in width; or they bind round the head a colored handkerchief. Most of the men and women go barefooted, and those who have coverings for their feet, use the _cacles_, or _huaraches_, (sandals) made of tanned leather and tied with thongs to the ankles. The dress of the women has undergone even less change than that of the men, since the time of the Spanish conquest. Many of them wear over the ichapilli a cotton or woolen cloth, bound by a belt just above the hips; this answers the purpose of a petticoat; it is woven in stripes of dark colors or embellished with figures. The ichapilli is white, with figures worked on the breast, and is longer than that worn by the men. In Puebla the women wear very narrow petticoats and elegant _quichemels_ covering the breast and back and embroidered all over with silk and worsted. In the state of Vera Cruz and other parts of the tierra caliente the men's apparel consists of a short white cotton jacket or a dark-colored woolen tunic, with broad open sleeves fastened round the waist with a sash, and short blue or white breeches open at the sides near the knee; these are a Spanish innovation, but they continue to wear the square short cloak, _tilma_ or _tilmatli_, with the end tied on one of the shoulders or across the breast. Sometimes a pair of shorter breeches made of goat or deer skin are worn over the cotton ones, and also a jacket of the same material.

The women wear a coa.r.s.e cotton s.h.i.+ft with large open sleeves, often worked about the neck in bright colored worsted, to suit the wearer's fancy; a blue woolen petticoat is gathered round the waist, very full below, and a blue or brown rebozo is used as a wrapper for the shoulders. Sometimes a m.u.f.fler is used for the head and face.[900] They bestow great care on their luxuriant hair, which they arrange in two long braids that fall from the back of the head, neatly painted and interwoven with worsted of lively colors, and the ends tied at the waist-band or joined behind; others bind the braids tightly round the head, and occasionally add some wild flowers.[901] In the tierra fria, a thick dark woolen blanket with a hole in the centre through which pa.s.ses the head protects the wearer during the day from the cold and rain, and serves at night for a covering and often for the bed itself. This garment has in some places taken the place of the tilmatli. Children are kept in a nude state until they are eight or ten years old, and infants are enveloped in a coa.r.s.e cotton cloth, leaving the head and limbs exposed. The Huicholas of Jalisco have a peculiar dress; the men wear a short tunic made of coa.r.s.e brown or blue woolen fabric, tightened at the waist with a girdle hanging down in front and behind, and very short breeches of poorly dressed goat or deer skin without hair, at the lower edges of which are strung a number of leathern thongs. Married men and women wear straw hats with high pointed crowns and broad turned-up rims; near the top is a narrow and handsomely woven band of many colors, with long ta.s.sels. Their long bushy hair is secured tightly round the crown of the head with a bright woolen ribbon. Many of the men do up the hair in queues with worsted ribbons, with heavy ta.s.sels that hang below the waist.[902] De Laet, describing the natives of Jalisco early in the seventeenth century, speaks of square cloths made of cotton and maguey tied on the right or left shoulder, and small pebbles or sh.e.l.ls strung together as necklaces. Mota Padilla, in his history of New Galicia, says that the Chichimecs at Xalost.i.tlan, in 1530, went naked. The inhabitants of Alzatlan about that time adorned themselves with feathers. In Zacualco, the common dress of the women about the same period, particularly widows, was the _huipil_, made of fine cotton cloth, generally black. The natives of the province of Panuco, for many years after the Spanish Conquest, continued to go naked; they pulled out the beard, perforated the nose and ears, and, filing their teeth to a sharp point, bored holes in them and dyed them black. The slayer of a human being used to hang a piece of the skin and hair of the slain at the waist, considering such things as very valuable ornaments. Their hair they dyed in various colors, and wore it in different forms. Their women adorned themselves profusely, and braided their hair with feathers.

Sahagun, speaking of the Matlaltzincas, says that their apparel was of cloth made from the maguey; referring to the Tlahuicas, he mentions among their faults that they used to go overdressed; and of the Macoaques, he writes: that the oldest women as well as the young ones paint themselves with a varnish called _tecocavitl_, or with some colored stuff, and wear feathers about their arms and legs. The Tlascaltecs in 1568 wore cotton-cloth mantles painted in various fine colors. The inhabitants of Cholula, according to Cortes, dressed better than the Tlascaltecs; the better cla.s.s wearing over their other clothes a garment resembling the Moorish cloak, yet somewhat different, as that of Cholula had pockets, but in the cloth, the cut, and the fringe, there was much resemblance to the cloak worn in Africa. Old Spanish writers tell us that the natives of Michoacan made much use of feathers for wearing-apparel and for adorning their bodies and heads. At their later religious festivals, both s.e.xes appear in white, the men with s.h.i.+rt and trowsers, having a band placed slantingly across the breast and back, tied to a belt round the waist, and on the head a small red cloth arranged like a turban, from which are pendent scarlet feathers, similar to those used by the ancient Aztec warriors. The man is also adorned with a quant.i.ty of showy beads, and three small mirrors, one of which is placed on his breast, another on his back, and the third invariably on his forehead. At his back he carries a quiver, and in his hand a bow, adorned with bright colored artificial flowers, or it may be the Aztec axe, so painted and varnished as to resemble flint. At the present time, a native woman, however poor, still wears a necklace of coral or rows of red beads. The unmarried women of Chilpanzinco used to daub their faces with a pounded yellow flower. In Durango, the natives were accustomed to rub their swarthy bodies with clay of various colors, and paint reptiles and other animals thereon.[903]

The dwellings of the Wild Tribes of Central Mexico vary with climate and locality. In the lowlands, sheds consisting of a few poles stuck in the ground, the s.p.a.ces between filled with rushes, and the roof covered with palm-leaves, afforded sufficient shelter. In the colder highlands they built somewhat more substantial houses of trunks of trees, tied together with creeping plants, the walls plastered with mud or clay, the roof of split boards kept in place with stones. In treeless parts, houses were constructed of adobe or sun-dried bricks and stones, and the interior walls covered with mats; the best houses were only one story high, and the humbler habitations too low to allow a man to stand erect. The entire house const.i.tuted but one room, where all the family lived, sleeping on the bare ground. A few stones placed in the middle of the floor, served as a fireplace where food was cooked. In Vera Cruz there is a separate small hut for cooking purposes. The wild nomadic Chichimecs lived in caverns or fissures of rocks situated in secluded valleys, and the Pames contented themselves with the shade afforded by the forest-trees.[904]

[Sidenote: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE.]

Corn, beans, tomatoes, chile, and a variety of fruits and vegetables const.i.tute the chief subsistence of the people, and in those districts where the banana flourishes, it ranks as an important article of food.

The natives of Vera Cruz and Tamaulipas gather large quant.i.ties of the pitahaya, by means of an osier basket attached to a long pole; round the brim are arranged several forks, for the purpose of detaching the fruit, which then drops into the basket. From the blossoms and buds they make a ragout, and also grind the seeds for bread. From the sea and rivers they obtain a plentiful supply of fish, and they have acquired from childhood a peculiar habit of eating earth, which is said to be injurious to their physical development. It has been stated that in former days they used human flesh as food.

The Otomis and tribes of Jalisco cultivated but little grain, and consumed that little before it ripened, trusting for a further supply of food to the natural productions of the soil and to game, such as rabbits, deer, moles, and birds, and also foxes, rats, snakes and other reptiles. Corn-cobs they ground, mixed cacao with the powder, and baked the mixture on the fire. From the lakes in the valley of Mexico they gathered flies' eggs, deposited there in large quant.i.ties by a species of flies called by the Mexicans _axayacatl_, that is to say, 'water-face,' and by MM. Meneville and Virlet d'Aoust _corixa femorata_ and _notonecta unifasciata_. The eggs being pounded, were moulded into lumps and sold in the market-place; they were esteemed a special delicacy, and were eaten fried. These people are also accused by some authors of having eaten human flesh.[905]

Other tribes, inhabiting the valley of Mexico, Puebla, Michoacan, and Queretaro, show a greater inclination to cultivate the soil, and live almost wholly on the products of their own industry. They plant corn by making a hole in the ground with a sharp-pointed stick, into which the seed is dropped and covered up. Honey is plentiful, and when a tree is found where bees are at work, they stop the entrance with clay, cut off the branch and hang it outside their huts; after a short time they remove the clay, and the bees continue their operations in their new locality, as if they had not been disturbed.[906]

Gemelli Careri thus describes a novel method of catching ducks: "Others contrive to deceive ducks, as shy as they are; for when they have us'd 'em to be frequently among calabashes left floating on the lake for that purpose, they make holes in those calabashes, so that putting their heads in them, they can see out of them, and then going up to the neck in the water, they go among the ducks and draw 'em down by the feet."

For making tortillas, the corn is prepared by placing it in water, to which a little lime is added, and allowing it to soak all night, or it is put to simmer over a slow fire; the husk is then easily separated and the corn mashed or ground on the metate. From this paste the tortilla is formed by patting it between the hands into a very thin cake, which is cooked on an earthern pan placed over the fire; the tortilla is eaten with boiled beans, and a mixture of chile and lard. The ground corn is also mixed with water and strained through a sieve; of this liquor they make a gruel, to which is added a little cacao or sugar. The sediment which remains in the sieve is used to make tamales, which are a combination of chopped meat, chile, and onions, which ingredients are covered with the corn paste, and the whole enveloped in corn or plantain leaves and boiled or baked. The Mexicans are very moderate eaters, but have an insatiable pa.s.sion for strong liquors.[907]

Laziness and filth follow us as we proceed southward in our observations; among the Mexicans, the poorer cla.s.ses especially are filthy in their persons, and have a disgusting appearance, which increases with the infirmities of age. Many of them indulge freely in the use of a steam-bath called _temazcalli_, similar to the Russian vapor-bath, but it does not appear to have the effect of cleansing their persons.[908]

[Sidenote: WEAPONS AND s.h.i.+ELDS.]

All these tribes use bows and arrows; the latter carried in a quiver slung at the back, a few spare ones being stuck in the belt for immediate use. A heavy club is secured to the arm by a thong, and wielded with terrible effect at close quarters. In battle, the princ.i.p.al warriors are armed with spears and s.h.i.+elds. Another weapon much in use is the sling, from which they cast stones to a great distance and with considerable accuracy. The natives of the valley of Mexico kill birds with small pellets blown through a hollow tube.[909]

The clubs, which are from three to four feet in length, are made of a species of heavy wood, some having a round k.n.o.b at the end similar to a mace, others broad and flat, and armed with sharp pieces of obsidian, fastened on either side. Acosta states that with these weapons they could cut off the head of a horse at one stroke. Spears and arrows are pointed with flint or obsidian, the latter having a reed shaft with a piece of hard wood inserted into it to hold the point. Their quivers are made of deer-skin, and sometimes of seal or shark-skin. s.h.i.+elds are ingeniously constructed of small canes so woven together with thread that they can be folded up and carried tied under the arm. When wanted for use they are loosed, and when opened out they cover the greater part of the body.[910]

[Sidenote: WAR AND TREATMENT OF CAPTIVES.]

Aboriginally, as with most northern nations, warfare was the normal state of these people. The so-called Chichimecs attacked all who entered their domain, whether for hunting, collecting fruit, or fighting. War once declared between two tribes, each side endeavors to secure by alliance as many of their neighbors as possible; to which end amba.s.sadors are despatched to the chiefs of adjacent provinces, each bearing in his hand an arrow of the make peculiar to the tribe of the stranger chief. Arriving at the village, the messenger seeks out the chief and lays the arrow at his feet; if the proposal of his master be accepted by the stranger chief, the rendezvous is named and the messenger departs. The amba.s.sadors having returned with their report, preparations are at once made for the reception of the allies, a feast is prepared, large quant.i.ties of game and intoxicating drink are made ready, and as soon as the guests arrive the viands are placed before them. Then follow eating and drinking, concluding with drunken orgies; this finished, a council is held, and the a.s.sault planned, care being taken to secure places suitable for an ambuscade and stones for the slingers. A regular organization of forces is observed and every effort made to outflank or surround the enemy. Archers and slingers march to an attack in single file, always occupying the van, while warriors armed with clubs and lances are drawn up in the rear; the a.s.sault is commenced by the former, accompanied with furious shouts and yells. During the period of their wars against the Spaniards, they often expended much time and labor in the fortification of heights by means of tree-trunks, and large rocks, which were so arranged, one on top of another, that at a given signal they might be loosened, and let fall on their a.s.sailants.

The chiefs of the Tepecanos and contiguous tribes carried no weapons during the action, but had rods with which they chastised those who exhibited symptoms of cowardice, or became disorderly in the ranks.[911]

The slain were scalped or their heads cut off, and prisoners were treated with the utmost barbarity, ending invariably in the death of the unfortunates; often were they scalped while yet alive, and the b.l.o.o.d.y trophy placed upon the heads of their tormentors. The heads of the slain were placed on poles and paraded through their villages in token of victory, the inhabitants meanwhile dancing round them. Young children were sometimes spared, and reared to fight in the ranks of their conquerors; and in order to brutalize their youthful minds and eradicate all feelings of affection toward their own kindred, the youthful captives were given to drink the brains and blood of their murdered parents. The Chichimecs carried with them a bone, on which, when they killed an enemy, they marked a notch, as a record of the number each had slain. Mota Padilla states that when Nuno de Guzman arrived in the valley of Coynan, in Jalisco, the chiefs came out to meet him, and, as a sign of peace and obedience, dropped on one knee; upon being raised up by the Spaniards, they placed round their necks strings of rabbits and quails, in token of respect.[912]

As the wants of the people are few and simple, so is the inventory of their implements and household furniture. Every family is supplied with the indispensable metate, an oblong stone, about twelve by eighteen inches, smooth on the surface and resting upon three legs in a slanting position; with this is used a long stone roller, called the _metlapilli_, for rubbing down the maize, and a large earthen pan, called the _comalli_, on which to bake the tortillas. Their bottles, bowls, and cups are made from gourds, often prettily painted, and kept hanging round the walls; some unglazed earthenware vessels, ornamented with black figures on a dull red ground, are used for cooking, a block of wood serves for a stool and table, and lastly a few petates (Aztec, _petlatl_, 'palm-leaf mat'), are laid upon the ground for beds. These comprise the whole effects of a native's house. For agricultural purposes, they have wooden spades, hoes, and sharp stakes for planting corn. Their products are carried home or to market in large wicker-work frames, often five feet high by two and a half feet broad, made from split palm-leaves.[913]

In the State of Jalisco, the natives are celebrated for the manufacture of blankets and woolen mantas; in other parts of the country they continue to weave cotton stuffs in the same manner as before the conquest, all on very primitive hand-looms. The common designs are in blue or red and white stripes, but they are sometimes neatly worked with figures, the juice from the murex or purple sh.e.l.l supplying the vermilion color for the patterns. The inhabitants of Tonala exhibit much taste and excellence in the production of pottery, making a great variety of toys, masks, figures, and ornaments, besides the vessels for household use. In the vicinity of Santa Cruz, the fibres of the aloe, crushed upon the metate, are employed for the manufacture of ropes, nets, bags, and flat round pelotas, used in rubbing down the body after a bath. Palm-leaf mats and dressed skins also figure largely among the articles of native industry.[914]

In Vera Cruz, they have canoes dug out of the trunk of a mahogany or cedar tree, which are capable of holding several persons, and are worked with single paddles.[915]

[Sidenote: TRADE AND ARTS.]

A considerable trade is carried on in pottery, mats, dressed skins, and manufactures of the aloe-fibre; also fruit, feathers, vegetables, and fish. All such wares are packed in light osier baskets, which, thrown upon their backs, are carried long distances to the several markets. In the province of Vera Cruz, vanilla, jalap, and other herbs are important articles of native commerce, and all the interior tribes place a high value on salt, for which they readily exchange their products.[916]

The natives display much patience and skill in ornamental work, especially carvings in stone, and in painting; although the figures, their G.o.ds bearing witness, are all of grotesque shapes and appearance.

With nothing more than a rude knife, they make very ingenious figures, of wax, of the pith of trees, of wood, charcoal, clay, and bone. They are fond of music, and readily imitate any strain they hear. From time immemorial they have retained a pa.s.sion for flowers, in all seasons of the year tastefully decorating therewith their dwellings and shops. The art of working in gold and silver is well known to the natives of Jalisco, who execute well-shaped specimens of cups and vases, beautifully engraved and ornamented.[917]

The wild tribes surrounding, and in places intermixed with, the Civilized Nations of Central Mexico, as far as I can learn, do not appear to have had any systematic tribal government; at least, none of the old historians have given any account of such. Some of the tribes attach themselves to chiefs of their own choice, to whom they pay a certain tribute from the produce of their labor or hunting expeditions, while others live without any government or laws whatsoever, and only elect a chief on going to war.[918]

[Sidenote: MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.]

Marriage takes place at an early age, and girls are seldom found single after they attain fourteen or fifteen years. Gomara, however, says that women in the district of Tamaulipas are not married till they reach the age of forty. The Otomis marry young, and if, when arrived at the age of p.u.b.erty, a young girl has not found a mate, her parents or guardians select one for her, so that none shall remain single. Among the Guachichiles, when a young man has selected a girl, he takes her on trial for an indefinite period; if, afterwards, both parties are satisfied with each other, the ceremony of marriage is performed; should it happen, however, that the man be not pleased, he returns the girl to her parents, which proceeding does not place any obstacle in the way of her obtaining another suitor. The Chichimecs cannot marry without the consent of parents; if a young man violates this law and takes a girl without first obtaining the parental sanction, even with the intention of marrying her, the penalty is death; usually, in ancient times, the offender was shot with arrows. When one of this people marries, if the girl proves not to be a virgin, the marriage is null, and the girl is returned to her parents. When a young man desires to marry, his parents make a visit to those of the intended bride, and leave with them a bouquet of flowers bound with red wool; the bride's parents then send round to the houses of their friends a bunch of mariguana, a narcotic herb, which signifies that all are to meet together at the bride's father's on the next night. The meeting is inaugurated by smoking; then they chew mariguana, during which time all preliminaries of the marriage are settled. The following day the resolutions of the conclave are made known to the young man and woman, and if the decision is favorable, the latter sends her husband a few presents, and from that time the parties consider themselves married, and the friends give themselves up to feasting and dancing.[919]