As for ourselves individually, we may be excused for cherishing a lurking kindness for the quaint, picturesque manners and customs of Mexico, as yet un-Americanized; and for rejoicing that it was our fortune to travel there before the coming change, when its most curious peculiarities and its very language must yield before foreign influences.
[Illustration: THE REBOZO AND THE SERAPE.]
APPENDIX.
* * * * *
I. THE MANUFACTURE OF OBSIDIAN KNIVES, ETC. (_Note to p. 97._)
Some of the old Spanish writers on Mexico give a tolerably full account of the manner in which the obsidian knives, &c., were made by the Aztecs. It will be seen that it only modifies in one particular the theory we had formed by mere inspection as to the way in which these objects were made, which is given at p.97; that is, they were cracked off by pressure, and not, as we conjectured, by a blow of some hard substance.
Torquemada (_Monarquia Indiana, Seville_, 1615) says; (free translation) “They had, and still have, workmen who make knives of a certain black stone or flint, which it is a most wonderful and admirable thing to see them make out of the stone; and the ingenuity which invented this art is much to be praised. They are made and got out of the stone (if one can explain it) in this manner. One of these Indian workmen sits down upon the ground, and takes a piece of this black stone, which is like jet, and hard as flint, and is a stone which might be called precious, more beautiful and brilliant than alabaster or jasper, so much so that of it are made tablets[24] and mirrors. The piece they take is about 8 inches long or rather more, and as thick as one’s leg or rather less, and cylindrical; they have a stick as large as the shaft of a lance, and 3 cubits or rather more in length; and at the end of it they fasten firmly another piece of wood, 8 inches long, to give more weight to this part; then, pressing their naked feet together, they hold the stone as with a pair of pincers or the vice of a carpenter’s bench. They take the stick (which is cut off smooth at the end) with both hands, and set it well home against the edge of the front of the stone (_y ponenlo avesar con el canto de la frente de la piedra_) which also is cut smooth in that part; and then they press it against their breast, and with the force of the pressure there flies off a knife, with its point, and edge on each tide, as neatly as if one were to make them of a turnip with a sharp knife, or of iron in the fire. Then they sharpen it on a stone, using a hone to give it a very fine edge; and in a very short time these workmen will make more than twenty knives in the aforesaid manner. They come out of the same shape as our barbers’ lancets, except that they have a rib up the middle, and have a slight graceful curve towards the point. They will cut and shave the hair the first time they are used, at the first cut nearly as well as a steel razor, but they lose their edge at the second cut; and so, to finish shaving one’s beard or hair, one after another has to be used; though indeed they are cheap, and spoiling them is of no consequence. Many Spaniards, both regular and secular clergy, have been shaved with them, especially at the beginning of the colonization of these realms, when there was no such abundance as now of the necessary instruments, and people who gain their livelihood by practising this occupation. But I conclude by saying that it is an admirable thing to see them made, and no small argument for the capacity of the men who found out such an invention.”
Vetancurt (_Teatro Mejicano_) gives an account, taken from the above. Hernandez (_Rerum Med. Nov. Hisp. Thes.: Rome_, 1631) gives a similar account of the process. He compares the wooden instrument used to a cross-bow. It was evidently a T-shaped implement, and the workman held the cross-piece with his two hands against his breast, while the end of the straight stick rested on the stone. He furthermore gives a description of the making of the well-known _maquahuitl_, or Aztec war-club, which was armed on both sides with a row of obsidian knives, or teeth, stuck into holes with a kind of gum. With this instrument, he says, a man could be cut in half at a blow–an absurd statement, which has been repeated by more modern writers.
II. ON THE SOLAR ECLIPSES RECORDED IN THE LE TELLIER MS.
The curious Aztec Picture-writing, known as the _Codex Telleriano-Remenensis_, preserved in the Royal Library of Paris, contains a list or calendar of a long series of years, indicated by the ordinary signs of the Aztec system of notation of cycles of years. Below the signs of the years are a number of hieroglyphic pictures, conveying the record of remarkable events which happened in them, such as the succession and death of kings, the dates of wars, pestilences, &c. The great work of Lord Kingsborough, which contains a fac-simile of this curious document, reproduces also an ancient interpretation of the matters contained in it, evidently the work of a person who not only understood the interpretation of the Aztec picture-writings, but had access to some independent source of information,–probably the more ample oral traditions, for the recalling of which the picture-writing appears only to have served as a sort of artificial memory. It is not necessary to enter here into a fuller description of the MS., which has also been described by Humboldt and Gallatin.
Among the events recorded in the Codex are four eclipses of the sun, depicted as having happened in the years 1476, 1496, 1507. 1510. Humboldt, in quoting these dates, makes a remark to the effect that the record tends to prove the veracity of the Aztec history, for solar eclipses really happened in those years, according to the list in the well-known chronological work, _L’Art de Verifier les Dates_, as follows: 28 Feb., 1476; 8 Aug., 1496; 13 Jan., 1507; 8 May, 1510. The work quoted, however, has only reference to eclipses visible in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and not to those in America. The question therefore arises, whether all these four eclipses recorded in _L’Art de Verifier les Dates_, were visible in Mexico. As to the last three, I have no means of answering the question; but it appears that Gama, a Mexican astronomer of some standing, made a series of calculations for a totally distinct purpose about the end of the last century, and found that in 1476 _there was no eclipse of the sun visible in Mexico_, but that there was a great one on the 13th Feb., 1477, and another on the 28th May, 1481.
Supposing that Gama made no mistake in his calculations, the idea at once suggests itself, that the person who compiled or copied the Le Tellier Codex, some few years after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, inserted under the date of 1476 (long before the time of the Spaniards) an eclipse which could not have been recorded there had the document been a genuine Aztec Calendar; _as, though visible in Europe, it was not visible in Mexico_. The supposition of the compiler having merely inserted this date from a European table of eclipses is strengthened by the fact that _the great eclipse of 1477, which was visible in Mexico, but not in Europe, is not to be found there_. These two facts tend to prove that the Codex, though undoubtedly in great part a copy or compilation from genuine native materials, has been deliberately sophisticated with a view of giving it a greater appearance of historical accuracy, by some person who was not quite clever enough to do his work properly. It may, however, be urged as a proof that the mistake is merely the result of carelessness, that we find in the MS. no notice of the eclipse of 25th May, 1481, which was visible both in Mexico and in Europe, and so ought to have been in the record. This supposition would be consistent with the Codex being really a document in which the part relating to the events before the Spanish Conquest in 1521 is of genuine ancient and native origin, though the whole is compiled in a very grossly careless manner. It would be very desirable to verify the years of all the four eclipses with reference to their being visible in Mexico, as this might probably clear up the difficulty.
III. TABLE OK AZTEC ROOTS COMPARED WITH SANSCRIT, ETC.
Several lists of Aztec words compared with those of various Indo-European languages have been given by philologists. The present is larger than any I have met with; several words in it are taken from Buschmann’s work on the Mexican languages. It is desirable in a philological point of view that comparative lists of words of this kind should be made, even when, as in the present instance, they are not of sufficient extent to found any theory upon.
As the Aztec alphabet does not contain nearly all the Sanscrit consonants, many of them must be compared with the nearest Aztec sounds, as:
SANSCRIT, t, th, d, dh, &c. … AZTEC, t. SANSCRIT, k, kh, g, gh, &c. … AZTEC c.q. SANSCRIT, l, r. … AZTEC, l.
SANSCRIT, b, bh, v. … AZTEC, v. or u.
The Aztec c is soft (as s) before e and i, hard (as k) before a, o, u. The Aztec ch as in _cheese_. I have followed Molina’s orthography in writing such words as _uel_ or _vel_ (English, _well_) instead of the more modern, but I think less correct way, _huel_.
1. a-, _negative prefix_ (_as_ qualli, _good_; aqualli, _bad_). SANS., a-; GREEK, a-, &c.
2. o-, _preterite augment_ (_as_ nitemachtia, _I teach_; onitemachti, _I taught_); SANS., a-; compare GREEK e-.
3. pal, _prep. by_: compare SANS. _prep._, para, _back_; pari, _circum_; pra, _before_; GREEK, para; LAT., per.
4. ce-, cen-, cem-, _prefix collective_ (_as_ tlalla, _to place_, centlalla, _to collect_); SANS., sa-, san-, sam-; GREEK, syn; LAT., syn.
5. ce, cen-, cem-, _one_. SANS., sa (_in_ sa-krit, _once_: comp. Bopp, Gloss., p. 362.) LAT., se-_mel_, si-_mul_, sim-_plex_.
6. metz (metz-tli), _moon_. SANS., mas.
7. tlal (tlal-li), _earth_. SANS., tala, dhara. LAT., terra, tellus.
8. citlal (citlal-in), _star_. SANS., stri, stara. LAT., stella. Eng., star.
9. atoya (atoya-tl), _river_. SANS., udya.
10. teuh (teuh-tli), _dust_. Sans., dhu-li (_from_ dhu, to drive about.)
11. teo (teo-tl),_god_. Sans., deva. Greek, _Theos_. Lat., deus.
12. qual (qual-li),_good_. Sans., kalya, kalyana. Greek, kalor.
13. uel, _well_. Sans., vara, _excellent_; vli, _to choose_. Lat., velle. Icel., vel. Eng., well.
14. uel, _power, brave, &c_., (uel-e, tla-uel-e.) Sans., bala, _strength_. Lat., valeo, valor.
15. auil, _vicious, wasteful_. Sans., avila, _sinful, guilty;_ abala, _weak_. Eng., evil.
16. miec, _much_. Sans., mahat, _great_; manh _or_ mah, _to grow_. Icel., miok, _much_. Eng., much.
17. vey, _great_. Sans., bahu, _much_.
18. -pol, _augmentative affix_ (as tepe-tl. _mountain_; tepepol, _great mountain_.) Sans., puru, _much_; pula, _great, ample_. Greek, pothus.
19. naua (naua-c), _near, by the side of_. Sans., nah, _to join or connect_. German, nah, _near_.
20. ten (ten-qui), _fuil_. Sans., tun, _to fill_.
21. izta (izta-c), _white_. Sans., sita.
22. cuz (cuz-tic), _red_. Sans, kashaya, kasaya.
23. ta (ta-tli), _father_. Sans., tata.
24. cone (cone-tl), _child. Compare_ Sans., jan, _to beget_. Lat., gen-itus. German, kin-d. Eng., kin.
25. pil (pil-li), _child. Compare_ Sans., bala, _boy, child_; bhri, _to bear children_, &c. Greek, polos, _foal_. Lat., pullus, filius. Eng.,_foal_, &c., &c.
26. cax (cax-itl), _cup_. Sans., chasbaka.
27. paz(?)(a-paz-tli), _vase, basin_. Sans., bajana. _Compare_ Lat., vas. Eng., vase.
28. com (com-itl), _earthen pot_. Sans., kumbha.
29. xuma (xuma-tli), _spoon_. Sans., chamasa; _from_ Sans., cham, _to eat_.
30. mich (mich-in), _fish_. Sans., machcha.
31. zaca (zaca-tl), _grass_. Sans., saka.
32. col (te-col-li, col-ceuia, &c.), _charcoal_. Sans., jval, _to burn, flame_; Icel., kol; Eng., coal; Irish, gual.
33. cen (cen-tli), _grain, maize_. Sans., kana, _grain_.
34. ehe (ehe-catl), _wind_. Sans., vayu.
35. mix (mix-tli), _cloud_. Sans., megha; Icel., and Eng., mist.
36. cal (cal-ii),_house_. Sans., sala. Greek, kalia; Lat., cella.
37. qua (qua-itl), _head_. Sans., ka.
38. ix (ix-tli), _eye, face_. Sans., aksha, _eye_; asya, _face_.
39. can (can-tli), _cheek_, Sans., ganda; Lat., gena.
40. chichi (chichi-tl), _teat_. Sans., chuchuka.
41. nene (nene-tl), _pupil of eye_. Sans., nayana.
42. choloa, _to run or leap_. Sans., char.
43. caqui (caqui-ztli), _sound_. Sans., kach, _to sound_.
44. xin (xi-xin-ia), _to cut, ruin, destroy_. Sans., ksin, _to hurt, kill._
45. tlacc (tlacc-ani), _to run_. Sans., triks, _to go_; Greek, trecho.
46. patlani, _to fly_. Sans., pat.
47. mati, _to know_. Sans., medh, _to understand_; mati, _thought, mind_; Greek root math.
48. it (it-ta), _to see_. Sans., vid; Greek root id, eidomai, &c.; Lat., video.
49. meya, _to flow, trickle_. Sans., mih.
50. mic (mic-tia), _to kill_. Sans., mi, mith.
51. cuica, _to sing_. Sans., kuj. _to sing, as birds_, &c.
52. chichi _to suck_. SANS., chush.
53. ahnachia, _to sprinkle_: _compare_ SANS. uks.
54. coton (coton-a),_to cut_. SANS. kutt.
55. nex (nex-tia), _to shine_. SANS, nad; LAT., niteo.
55. notz (notz-a), _to call_. SANS., nad.
57. choc (choc-a),_to lament, cry_. SANS, kuch, _to cry aloud, scream;_ such, _to wail_.
58. me(?)(in me-catl, _binding-thing, chain?) to bind_ SANS., mu, mava.
59. qua, _to eat, bite_: compare SANS. charv, _to chew, bite, gnaw_; chah, _to bruize_; khad, _to eat_.; GERMAN, kauen; ENG., to chew.
60. te, _thou_. SANS. tvam; LAT., tu.
61. quen, _how?_ SANS. kena.
_Other curious resemblances between the Aztec and European languages are_:
62. pepeyol, _poplar_. LAT., populus; ICEL., popel.
63. papal (papal-otl), _butterfly_; LAT., papilio.
64. ul (ul-li), _juice of the India-rubber tree, used as oil for anointing, &c._ LAT., oleum; ENG., oil, &c.
* * * * *
IV. GLOSSARY.
ANAHUAC. _Aztec_. “By the water-side.” The name at first applied to the Valley of Mexico, from the situation of the towns on the banks of the lakes; afterwards used to denote a great part of the present Republic of Mexico.
ACOCOTE (_Aztec_, acocotl, water-throat), aloe-sucker’s gourd; _see p._ 91.
ADOBE, a mud-brick, baked in the sun. (Perhaps a _Moorish-Spanish_ word.
_Ancient Egyptian_, tobe, a mud-brick; _Arabic_, toob, pronounced with the article _at-toob_, whence adobe?)
AGUAMIEL (honey-water), unfermented aloe-juice.
AGUARDIENTE (burning-water), ardent spirits.
AHUEHUETE (_Aztec_, ahuehuetl), the deciduous cypress.
ALAMEDA (poplar-avenue), public promenade; _see p._ 57.
ALCALDE, a magistrate (_Moorish-Spanish_, al cadi, “the cadi”).
ANQUERA (hauncher), covering for horses’ haunches; _see p._ 164 (_and cut, p._ 260).
ARRIERO, a muleteer.
ARROYO, a rivulet, mountain-torrent.
ATAMBOB, a drum.
ATOLE (_Aztec_, atolli), porridge.
AVERSADA, a freshet.
BARATILLO, a Rag-fair, market of odds and ends; _see p._ 169.
BARBACOA, whence English “barbecue;” _see p._ 95; a native Haitian word.
BARRANCCA, a ravine.
CALZONCILLOS, drawers.
CAPA, a cloak.
CAYO, a coral-reef.
CHAPARREROS, over-trousers of goatskin with the hair on, used in riding.
CHINAMPA (_Aztec_, “a place fenced in),” a Mexican “floating garden;” _see p._ 62.
CHINGUERITO, Indian-corn brandy.
CHIPI-CHIPI (_Aztec_, chipini, drizzling rain); _see p._ 26.
CHUPA-MIRTO (myrtle-sucker), a humming-bird.
COLEAR, to throw a bull over by the tail (cola); _see p._ 71.
COMPADRE. COMADRE; _French_, compere, commere; _see p._ 250.
CORRAL, an enclosure for cattle.
COSTAL, a bag, or sack.
COYOTE (_Aztec_, coyotl), a jackal.
CUARTA, a leather horse-whip; _see_ p. 264.
CUARTEL, a barrack.
CUCARACHA, a cockroach.
CUCHILLO, a knife.
CURA, a parish-priest.
DESAGUE, a draining-cut.
DESAYUNO, breakfast.
EMANCIPADO (emancipated negro); see p. 6.
ESCOPETA, a musket.
ESCRIBANO, a scribe or secretary.
FANDANGO, a dance.
FIESTA, a church-festival.
FRIJOLES, beans.
FUERO, a legal privilege; _see pp._ 19, 249.
GACHUPIN, a native of Spain. Supposed to be an Aztec epithet, _cac-chopina_, that is, “prickly shoes,” applied to the Spanish conquerors from their wearing spurs, which to the Indians were strange and incomprehensible appendages.
GARROTE, an instrument for strangling criminals.
GENTE DE RAZON (reasonable people), white men and half-breed Mexicans, but not Indians;_ see p._ 61.
GUAJALOTE (Aztec, huexolotl), a turkey: _see p._ 228.
GULCHE, a ravine.
HACENDADO, a planter, landed proprietor, from HACIENDA (literally “doing,” from _hacer_, or _facer_, to do). An estate, establishment, &c.
HACIENDA DE BENEFICIO, an establishment for “benefiting” silver, i.e., for extracting it from the ore.
HONDA, a sling.
HORNITOS (little ovens), the small cones near the volcano of Jorullo, which formerly emitted steam; see p. 92.
HULE (_Aztec,_ ulli. India-rubber?) a waterproof coat.
ICHTL (_Aztec,_ thread), thread or string of aloe-fibre.
ITZTLI (Aztec), obsidian; _see_ p. 100.
LAZADOR, one who throws the lazo.
LAZO. a running noose.
LEPERO, lazzarone, or proletaire; _see p._ 251.
LLANOS, plains.
MACHETE, a kind of bill-hook.
MALACATE (_Aztec,_ malacatl), a spindle, spindle-head, windlass, &c.
MANTA, cotton-cloth.
MATRACA, a rattle; _see p._ 49.
MESON, a Mexican caravansery; _see p._ 209.
MESTIZO (mixtus) a Mexican of mixed Spanish and Aztec blood.
METATE (_Aztec_, metlatl) the stone used for rubbing down Indian corn into paste; see p. 88.
METALPILE (_Aztec_, metlapilli, i.e. little metlatl), the stone rolling-pin used in the same process.
MOLE (_Aztec,_ mulli), Mexican stew.
MOLINO DE VIENTO (literally a windmill), a whirlwind; _see p._ 31.
MONTE (literally a mountain), the favourite Mexican game; _see p. _256.
MOZO, a lad, servant, groom.
NINO, a child.
NOPAL (_Aztec_, nopalli), the prickly pear.
NOETE, the north wind; see p. 21.
OCOTE (_Aztec_, ocotl), a pine-tree, pine-torch. OLLA, a boiling-pot.
PASADIZO, a passage; _see p._ 231.
PASEO, a public promenade.
PASO, a kind of amble; _see p._ 163.
PATIO, a court-yard, especially the inner court of a house.
PATIO-PROCESS, method of extracting the silver from the ore, so called from its being carried on in paved yards; _see p. _92.
PATRON, a master, landlord.
PEDRIGAL, a lava-field.
PEOS, a debt-slave; _see_ p. 291.
PETATE (_Aztec_, petlatl), a palm-leaf mat.
PITO, 1, a whistle, pipe; 2, aloe-fibre thread.
POTRERO, a water-meadow.
PULQUE, a drink made from the juice of the aloe; _see_ p. 38. (It is a corruption of a native South American word, introduced into Mexico by the Spaniards).
RANCHERO, a cottager, yeoman.
RANCHO, a hut.
RAYA (literally a line), the paying of workmen at a hacienda, &c.
RAYAR, to pull a horse up short at a line; _see_ p. 163.
REATA, a horse-rope; _see_ p. 264.
REBOZO, a woman’s shawl; _see_ p. 56.
RECUA, a train of mules.
SALA, a hall, dining-room.
SERAPE, a Mexican blanket; _see_ p. 169.
SOMBRERO, a hat.
TACUMENILES, pine-shingles for roofing.
TEMAZCALLI, Indian vapour-bath; _see_ p. 301.
TEOCALLI (_Aztec_, god’s house), an Aztec pyramid-temple.
TEFONAZTLI, Indian wooden drum.
TEQUESQUITE (_Aztec_, tequesquiti), an alkaline efflorescence abundant on the soil in Mexico, used for soap-making, &c.
TETZONTLI, porous amygdaloid lava, a stone much used for building in Mexico.
TIENDA, a shop; _see_ p. 82.
TIERRA CALIENTE, the hot region.
TIERRA FRIA, the cold region.
TIERRA TEMPLADA. the temperate region.
TLACHIQUEBO (_Aztec_, tlacbiqui, an overseer, from tlachia, to see), a labourer in an aloe-field, who draws the juice for pulque; _see_ p. 36.
TORO, a bull.
TORTA (literally, a cake); _see_ p. 92.
TORTILLAS, thin cakes made of Indian corn, resembling oat-cakes; _see_ p. 33.
TRAPICHE, a sugar-mill.
ULEI, _see_ Hule.
VAQUERO, cow-herd.
ZOPILOTE (_Aztec_, zopilotl), a turkey-buzzard.
* * * * *
V. DESCRIPTION OF THREE VERY RARE SPECIMENS OF ANCIENT MEXICAN MOSAIC-WORK (IN THE COLLECTION OF HENRY CHRISTY, ESQ.).
These Specimens, two Masks and a Knife, (_see page_ 101.) are interesting as presenting examples of higher art than has been supposed to have been attained to by the ancient Mexicans, or any other of the native American peoples. Their distinctive feature is an incrustation of Mosaic of Turquoise, cut and polished, and fitted with extreme nicety,–a work of great labour, time, and cost in any country, and especially so amongst a people to whom the use of iron was unknown,–and carried out with a perfection which suggests the idea that the art must have been long practised under the fostering of wealth and power, although so few examples of it have come down to us.
Although considerably varied, they are all three of one family of work, so to speak; the predominant feature being the use of turquoise; and the question which presents itself at the outset is–what are the evidences that this unique work is of Aztec origin?
The proofs are so interwoven with the style and structure of the specimens that their appearance and nationality are best treated of together.
The Mask of wood is covered with minute pieces of turquoise–cut and polished, accurately fitted, many thousands in number, and set on a dark gum or cement. The eyes, however, are acute-oval patches of mother-of-pearl; and there are two small square patches of the same on the temples, through which a string passed to suspend the mask; and the teeth are of hard white shell. The eyes are perforated, and so are the nostrils, and the upper and lower teeth are separated by a transverse chink; thus a wearer of the mask (which sits easily on one’s face) can see, breathe, and speak with ease. The features bear that remarkably placid and contemplative expression which distinguishes so many of the Aztec works, in common with those of the Egyptians, whether in their massive stone sculptures, or in the smallest and commonest heads of baked earth. The face, which is well-proportioned, pleasing, and of great symmetry, is studded also with numerous projecting pieces of turquoise, rounded and polished.
In addition to the character of the work and the style of face, the evidence of the Aztec origin of this mask is confirmed by the wood being of the fragrant cedar or cypress of Mexico. It may be remarked also that the inside is painted red, as are the wooden masks of the Indians of the North-west coast of America at the present day.
The Knife presents, both in form and substance, more direct evidence of its Aztec origin; for, in addition to its incrustation with the unique mosaic of turquoise, blended (in this case) with malachite and white and red shell, its handle is sculptured in the form of a crouching human figure, covered with the skin of an eagle, and presenting the well-known and distinctive Aztec type of the human head issuing from the mouth of an animal. (_See cut_, p. 101.) Beyond this there is in the stone blade the curious fact of a people which had attained to so complex a design and such an elaborate ornamentation remaining in the Stone-age; and, somewhat curiously, the locality of that stone blade is fixed, by its being of that semi-transparent opalescent calcedony which Humboldt describes as occurring in the volcanic districts of Mexico–the concretionary silex of the trachytic lavas.
The second Mask is yet more distinctive. The incrustation of turquoise-mosaic is placed on the forehead, face, and jaws of a human skull, the back part of which has been cut away to allow of its being hung, by the leather thongs which still remain, over the face of an idol, as was the custom in Mexico thus to mask their gods on state-occasions. The mosaic of turquoise is interrupted by three broad transverse bands, on the forehead, face, and chin, of a mosaic of obsidian, similarly cut (but in larger pieces) and highly polished,–a very unusual treatment of this difficult and intractable material, the use of which in any artistic way appears to have been confined to the Aztecs (with the exception, perhaps, of the Egyptians).
The eye-balls are nodules of iron-pyrites, cut hemispherically and highly polished, and are surrounded by circles of hard white shell, similar to that forming the teeth of the wooden mask.
The Aztecs made their mirrors of iron-pyrites polished, and are the only people who are known to have put this material to ornamental use.
The mixture of art, civilization, and barbarism which the hideous aspect of this green and black skull-mask presents accords with the condition of Mexico at the time of the Conquest, under which human sacrifices on a gigantic scale were coincident with much refinement in arts and manners.
The European history of these three specimens is somewhat curious. With the exception of two in the Museum at Copenhagen, obtained many years ago by Professor Thomsen from a convent in Rome, and, though greatly dilapidated, presenting some traces of the game kind of ornamentation, they are believed to be unique.
The Wooden Mask and the Knife were long known in a collection at Florence. Thirty years ago the mask was brought into England from that city, as Egyptian: and, somewhat later, the knife was obtained from Venice.
Subsequently the Skull-mask, with a wig of hair said to be a scalp, was found at Bruges; a locality which leads to the presumption that the mask was brought from Mexico soon after the Conquest in 1521, and prior to the expulsion of the Spaniards from Flanders consequent on the revolt of the Low Countries in 1579.
_Note_.–It happens singularly enough, that a curious old work, _Aldrorandus, Musaeum Metallicum, Bologna_, 1613, contains drawings of a knife and wooden mask ornamented with mosaic-work of stone, made just in the came way as those described above, and only differing from them in the design. What became of them I cannot tell.
* * * * *
VI. DASENT’S ESSAY ON THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL VALUE OF POPULAR TALES AND LEGENDS.
Whilst treating of legendary lore in connection with Ethnographry, we must not forget to refer the reader to the highly useful and philosophical remarks on this subject in Dasent’s Introduction to his _Popular Tales from the Norse_.[25] Here we see that not only are the popular tales of any nation indicative of its early condition and its later progress, but also that the legends, fables, and tales of the Indo-European nations, at least, bear internal evidence of their having grown out of a few simple notes–of having sprung from primaeval germs originating with the old Aryan family, from whom successive migrations carried away the original myth to be elaborated or degraded according to the genius and habits of the people.
Thus other means of resolving the relations of the early races of Man are added to those previously afforded by ethnographical and philological research.
INDEX.
Account-keeping, 87.
Acodada, 57.
Africans and Chinese, 13.
Agriculture, 26, 61, 63, 89, 157-161, 172, 216.
Ahuehuetes, 57, 155, 215, 265.
Alameda, 57.
Alluvial Deposits, 150.
Aloes, 35, 136;
huts built of, 36.
Aloe-fibre, manufacture of, 88.
Aloe-juice, collected for Pulque, 36, 91.
Amatlan, 299.
Amecameca, 265.
American War, 118-120.
Amozoque, 295.
Anahuac, 57, 270.
Antiquities, collections of, 222-236, 262.
Antonio, our man, 321.
Ants, 8.
Aqueduct of Chapultepec, 55.
Arch, Aztec, 153, 276.
Armadillo, 312, 319, 325.
Arms of Mexico, 42.
Army, Mexican, 114-119.
Arrow-heads, 137.
Art, Aztec, 186, 230, 316.
Astronomy, Aztec, 237-241, 244.
Atotonilco, 82, 85.
Aztec Antiquities, 35, 137, 141-148, 150-156, 183-195, 222-244, 262-264, 274-280.
Aztec Civilization, 103.
Aztec Language, 143, 227, 235, 243, 279, 333.
Bananas, 178.
Baratillo, 169-171.
Barometer, height of, 68.
Barrancas, 89, 179, 310, 313.
Barricades, 55.
Batabano, 3.
Baths of Santa Fe, 7.
Bells, ancient, 235.
Bits, 167.
Books, 124.
Bronze-age, 139.
Bronze,
stone-cutting with, 138-140;
hatchets, 225;
bells and needles, 235.
Bull-fights, 70.
Bull-dogs in Mexico, 149.
Bull, lazoing the, 253, 323.
Cacahuamilpan, 200-205.
Cacao-beans, 227.
Cactuses, 73, 90, 140, 144.
Calendar-stone of Mexico, 237-240.
Canals, 58, 130.
Canoes, 60, 129, 132, 134.
Capitalists, 295.
Cascade of Regla, 93.
Castor-oil plant, 9.
Casa Grande, 77, 135.
Cattle, 16, 31, 323.
Cave of Cacahuamilpan, 203-205.
Central American Antiquities, 189-193.
Cerro de Navajas, 95-100.
Chalco,
Canal of, 58;
Lake, 173;
Chalma, 208-214.
Chapultepec, 55, 57.
Chinampas, 62.
Chinese in Cuba, 12.
Chipi-chipi, 26.
Cholula, 274-278.
Church, the, 113, 213, 285-290.
Church-dances, 211.
Churches in Mexico, 36, 46.
Civil-war, 112, 283, 328.
Cigar-making, 3.
Clergy of Mexico, 7, 79, 287.
Clay figures, 229, 275.
Coach, old-fashioned, 59.
Cochineal-insect, 24.
Cockfighting, 254, 256.
Cockroaches, 325.
Cocoyotla, 196.
Colearing, 71.
Columbus, 4.
Comonfort, President, 19, 112.
Compadrazgo, 250.
Commerce of Mexico, 105.
Convents in Mexico, 46, 287.
Convicts, 22.
Cordova, 25.
Corrida de Toros, 70.
Costumes, 51, 62, 168.
Courier, 167, 310.
Criminals, 245-249.
Cuba, 2.
Cuernavaca, 179.
Cura of New Gerona, 9.
Cypress-trees, 57, 155, 215, 265.
Dancing, 207, 211.
Dasent on Popular Legends, &c., 339.
Debt-slavery, 291.
Diligence, travelling by, 37, 173.
Dishonesty of Mexicans, 80-82.
Dram-drinking, 83.
Dress of the Indians, 61.
Drums, 231.
Earthquakes, 66.
Eclipses observed in Mexico, 333.
Education, 125-128.
Emancipados, 6, 14.
English in Mexico, 73, 318.
Estacion de Mejico, 121.
Ethnology, 17, 102-104, 187-195, 241-244, 276-280.
Evaporation, rapid, 75.
Feather-work, 70.
Flies’ eggs, 156.
Floating gardens, 62.
Flooded streets, 65.
Florida, free blacks from, 5, 10-12.
Forests, destruction of by Spaniards, 45.
Fueros, 19.
Future of Mexico, 329.
Gambling, 15, 207, 256-258, 320.
Glass-works, 135.
Glossary, 335.
Goddess of War, 222.
Gold and Silver work, 234.
Gourd-bottles, 171.
Grove of Cypresses, 57.
Guadalupe (Our Lady of), 66, 120-224.
Hams, Toluca, 219.
Havana, 1, 326.
Hedges of Cactus, 73.
Highlands of Mexico, 35.
Hill of Drums, 215.
Holy Week, 47-54.
Horse-bath, 290.
Horses, 163-165, 317.
Hotel d’Yturbide, 39.
Houses, 25, 36, 91, 135, 172;
built on piles, 41.
Huamantla, 31.
Huehuetoca, draining-cut of, 45.
Humming-birds, 69.
Indian Baptism, 207.
Indian Ointment, 324.
Indians of Mexico, 47,60-64, 80-88, 173, 182, 197-199, 200-208, 299-309, 314-316.
Indian Soldiers, 23, 120, 122.
Indulgences, 52, 124.
Inquisition, the, 128.
Insects, 319.
Intemperance, 47, 83, 307.
Inundations, 44, 65, 123.
Iron, 102, 140.
Irrigation, 86, 157-161, 179.
Isle of Pines, 4.
Iztaccihnatl, 268.
Jacal, Mount, 95.
Jalapa, 317-321.
Jorullo, 92.
Judas, 50.
Judas’s Bones, 49.
Junta, La, 314.
Justice, Administration of, 246-248, 300.
Lakes in Valley of Mexico, 44-46, 65, 130-134, 173.
Lava-fields, 28, 35, 118.
Law-courts of Mexico, 249.
Lazoing, 71, 252-254, 323.
Legends, 236, 276-279, 340.
Leper Hospital, 251.
Leperos, 251.
Lerma, 219.
Le Tellier MS., on Eclipses, 332.
Loadstone mountain, 102.
Locusts, 298.
Lonja, 66.
Machinery in Mexico, 109.
Magnetic Iron-ore, 102.
Manufacture of Obsidian Knives, 97, 331.
Marble Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6.
Market, Indian, 85, 89.
Martin, our servant, 273, 321.
Masks, 110, 226, 235, 337.
Matracas, 49.
Mestizos, 48, 61, 300.
Metate, 88.
Mexican Dishes, 51;
Ladies, 51;
Words, 227, 263.
Mexican Police, 149;
War with United States, 118.
Mexico, City of, 41-44, 111;
Old, 147;
Formation of the country of, 27;
Future of, 329;
People of, 55;
Valley of, 40-46, 270.
Military Statistics, 115.
Miners, 79, 258.
Miraflores, 264.
Mineria, or School of Mines, 47.
Mirage, 30.
Mongolian Calendar, 241.
Monks, 205, 209, 213.
Morals of Servitude, 81, 293.
Mosaic work, 101, 110, 235.
Mosquitos, 5, 325.
Mules, Mexican, 175.
Museum of Mexico, 222-237.
Negress, white, 323.
Negros in Mexico, 13, 323.
Nevado de Toluca, 219.
Nopals, Plantations of, 24.
Nopalucan, 296.
Nortes, 21, 23.
Nuestra Senora de Remedies, 121.
Nueva Gerona, 4, 8.
Numerals, Mexican, &c., 107-110.
Obsidian,
mines of, 95, 99;
knives, &c., 95-102, 137, 229, 331.
Oculan, 215.
Old Mexico, 147;
Baths near Tezcuco, 153;
Bridge near Tezcuco, 153.
Organ-cactus, 73.
Orizaba,
town of, 26;
volcano of, 18, 29, 226.
Ornament, common styles of, 185.
Pachuca, 69, 74.
Palma Christi, 9.
Paseo, or Alameda, 57.
Passport-system (Cuba), 3.
Penon de los Banos, 131.
Peons, 291-294.
People of Mexico, 55.
Picture-writings, 104, 130, 232-234.
Pintos, 309.
Pirates of the Spanish Main, 5.
Ploughing, 172.
Police, Mexican, 149.
Political Economy, 105, 217, 264, 294, 302-309, 328.
Politics of Mexico, 19, 111-118, 282-284, 290, 328.
Popocatepetl, ascent of, 265-273.
Population, 217, 302-309.
Potrero, 307.
Pottery, 85, 88, 151, 226, 275.
Priests, 9, 79, 285-290.
Prisons, 244-248.
Promenade of Las Vigas, 64.
Protective duties, 104, 264.
Puebla, 113, 281-291.
Pulque, 35, 37, 91.
Pulque-shops, 63.
Pyramids, 43, 141-148, 190, 274-278.
Quarries in the Isle of Pines, 6;
of obsidian, 99;
of Teotihuacan, 137.
Rag-fair in Mexico, 169.
Railway, 2, 24, 121.
Rain, 136, 266.
Rainy Region, 26.
Ranches, 25, 266, 299.
Rattles, 49.
Real del Monte, 77.
Rebozo, 56.
Reform in Mexico, 117.
Regla, 78;
cascade of, 93.
Revolutions, 20, 114, 282-284.
Roads in Mexico, 29, 37, 76.
Robbers, 32, 117, 170, 297;
Priest-captain of, 34.
Sacred trees, 215, 265.
Sacrifice of Spaniards, 145.
Sacrificial
Clamps, 225;
Stone, 223.
Saddles, &c., 162-167.
St. Thomas’s, W. Indies, 327.
Salinas of Campeche, 84.
Saline condition of the soil, 133.
Salt, 83, 154.
Salt-pans, 155.
Salto del Agua, 55.
Sand-pillars, 30.
San Andres Chalchicomula, 312.
San Antonio de Abajo, 296.
San Jose and Earthquakes, 67.
San Nicolas, 272.
Santa Anita, 63.
Santa Maria de Guadalupe, 121.
Santa Rosita de Cocoyotla, 196.
Sardines, 87.
School of Mines, 47.
Scorpions, 319, 322.
Sculptures at Xochicalco, 185.
Serape, 169.
Sheep, 324.
Shrines of Xochicalco, 193.
Silver-mines, &c., 74, 92, 105, 107.
Siege & Capitulation of Puebla, 113, 282.
Sisal, 16.
Skull decorated with mosaic work, 337.
Slave-trade, 13, 16.
Smuggling, 273, 296.
Solar Eclipses observed in Mexico, 331.
Soldiers, 23, 114, 171.
Soquital, 82.
Spanish-moss, 57.
Spurs, 295.
Stalactitic Cave, 200.
Statistics of Mexico, 115, 249, 286.
Stone-hammers, 137.
Stone knives and weapons, 90, 103.
Streets of Mexico, 41, 55.
Sugar-canes, 179.
Sugar-hacienda,
of Santa Rosita, 196;
of Temisco, 180.
Sugar-plantations of Havana, 2.
Tacubaya, 57, 69.
Tallow, 324.
Tasco, Silver-mines at, 74.
Temisco, 179.
Temple-pyramids–_see_ Pyramids.
Tenancingo, 218.
Tenochtitlan, 41.
Ten Tribes, the, 17.
Teocallis, _see_ Pyramids.
Teotihuacan,
Pyramids of, 141-148;
Quarries of, 137, 141.
Tequesquite, 133.
Tezcotzinco, 152.
Tezcuco, 129, 150, 260-264;
Aztec Bridge at, 153.
Tezcuco, Lake of, 65, 129, 138.
Thieves, 52, 170, 245.
Tisapan, 118-120.
Toluca, 219.
Tortillas, 38.
Tropical Vegetation, 2, 24, 179.
Turkey-buzzards, 22.
Valley of Mexico, 45.
Yapour-bath, native, 301.
Vegetation, zones of, 21-27, 178, 216.
Vera Cruz, 18-21, 325.
Virjen de Remedios, 123.
Virgins, the rival, 123.
Volantes, 2.
War-idol, 222.
Water-bottles, 171.
Water-pipes, 157.
Xochimilco, Lake of, 173.
Xochicalco, Ruins of, 183-195.
Yucatan, 16.
Zopilites, 22.
[Illustration: DESIGN.]
NOTES
[1: The mahagua tree furnishes that curious fibrous network which is known as _bast_, and used to wrap bundles of cigars in. The mahogany tree is called _caoba_ in Spanish, apparently the original Indian name, as the Spaniards probably first became acquainted with it in Cuba. Is our word “mahogany” the result of a confusion of words, and corrupted from “mahagua?”]
[2: We heard talk elsewhere, however, of a war going on in the interior of the country between the white inhabitants and the Indian race; the apparent object of the whites being to take Indian prisoners, and ship them off for slaves to Cuba.]
[3: They must be judged by courts whose members belong to their own body, and in these special tribunals one can imagine what sort of justice is meted out to complainants and creditors. Comonfort’s hope was to conciliate the mass of the people by attempting to relieve them of this enormous abuse. I believe he was honest in his intentions, but unfortunately the people had already had to do with too many politicians who were to redress their wrongs and inaugurate a reign of liberty. They had found very little to come of such movements, but extra-taxation and civil war, which left them worse off than they were before, and the patriots generally turned out rather more greedy and unprincipled than the others; so it was not to be wondered at that no one came forward to give any very energetic support to the new President.]
[4: No one ill uses them but the dogs, who drive them away when anything better than usual is met with, and they have to stand round in a circle, waiting for their turn.]
[5: Ahuehuete, pronounced _a-hwe-hwete_. Thus, Anahuac is pronounced Ana-hwac; and Chihuahua, Chi-hwa-hwa.]
[6: In the Swiss Alps, between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, there is a similar plant to be seen fringing the branches of the pine-trees; but it only grows to the length of a few inches, and will hardly bear comparison to the long trailing festoons of the Spanish moss, often fifteen or twenty feet in length.]
[7: Chalco was and is a freshwater lake, and here they had not even this to do.]
[8: The “Lonja” is a feature in the commercial towns of Spanish America. It is not only the Merchants’ Exchange, but their club, billiard-room, and smoking-room; in fact, their “lounge,” and I fancy the two words are connected with one another.]
[9: Atotonilco, “Hot-water-place,” so called from the hot springs in the neighbourhood.]
[10: Soquital, “Clay-place,” from the potter’s clay which abounds in the district. Earthenware is the staple manufacture here.]
[11: The book-name for obsidian is _itztli_, a word which seems to mean originally “sharp thing, knife,” and thence to have been applied to the material knives are made of. Obsidian was also called _itztetl_, knife-stone. But no Indian to whom I spoke on the subject would ever acknowledge the existence of such a word as _itztli_ for obsidian, but insisted that it was called _bizcli_, which is apparently the corrupt modern pronunciation of another old name for the same mineral, _petztli_, shiny-stone.]
[12: There is an Aztec word “puztequi” (_to break sticks, &c_.) which may belong to the same root as “tepuztli.” The first syllable “te” may be “te-tl” (_stone_).]
[13: The researches instituted by Mr. I. Horner in the alluvium near Heliopolis and Memphis _(Philos. Transact.,_ 1855 & 1856), although very elaborate, still leave much to be desired before we can arrive at definite conclusions.]
[14: _Corixa femorala_, and _Notonecta uniforciata_, according to MM. Meneville and Virlet d’Aoust, in a Paper on the subject of the granular or oolitic travertine of Tezcuco in the Bulletin (1859) of the Geological Society of France.]
[15: Huauhtli is an indigenous grain abounding in Michoacan, for which “wheat” is the best equivalent I can give. European wheat was, of course, unknown in the country until after the Conquest.]
[16: The _meson_ of Mexico is a lineal descendant of the Eastern Caravanserai, and has preserved its peculiarities unchanged for centuries. It consists of two court-yards, one surrounded by stabling and the other by miserable rooms for the travellers, who must cook their food themselves, or go elsewhere for it.]
[17: The Aztecs were accustomed, before the Conquest, to perform dances as part of the celebration of their religious festivals, and the missionaries allowed them to continue the practice after their conversion. The dance in a church, described by Mr. Bullock in 1822, was a much more genuine Indian ceremony than the one which we saw.
Church-dancing may be seen in Europe even at the present day. The solemn Advent dances in Seville cathedral were described to me, by an eyewitness, as consisting of minuets, or some such stately old-fashioned dances, performed in front of the high altar by boys in white surplices, with the greatest gravity and decorum.]
[18: This assertion must be qualified by a remark of the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, who tells us that in some places the Indians still use lancets of obsidian to bleed themselves with. I believe there is nothing of the kind to be found in the part of Mexico which we visited.]
[19: The Aztecs had but one word to denote both gold and silver, as they afterwards made one serve for both iron and copper. This curious word _teocuitlatl_ we may translate as “Precious Metal,” but it means literally “Dung of the Gods.” Gold was “Yellow Precious Metal,” and silver “White Precious Metal.” Lead they called _temetztli_, “Moon-stone;” and when the Spaniards showed them quicksilver, they gave it the name of _yoli amuchitl_, “Live Tin.”]
[20: It is curious that these latter resemblances (as far as I have been able to investigate the subject) disappear in the signs of the Yucatan calendar, though its arrangement is precisely that of the Mexican. Any one interested in the theory of the Toltecs being the builders of Palenque and Copan will see the importance of this point. If the Toltecs ever took the original calendar, with the traces of its Asiatic origin fresh upon it, down into Yucatan with them, it is at any rate not to be found there now.]
[21: The Aztec name for an eclipse of the sun is worthy of remark. They called it _tonatiuh qualo_, literally “_the sun’s being eaten_.” The expression seems to belong to a time when they knew less about the phenomenon, and had some idea like that of the Asiatic nations who thought the sun was occasionally swallowed up by the great dragon.]
[22: I was surprised to find Iztaccihuatl classed among the active volcanos in Johnston’s Physical Atlas, and supposed at first that a crater had really been found. But it is likely to be only a mistake, caused by the name of “Volcan” being given to both mountains by the Mexicans, who used the word in a very loose way.]
[23: See the illustration at page 281.]
[24: In the original, _aras_. In the Latin of Hernandez, _arae_ I suppose to be the little polished stone slabs which are set on the altars in Roman Catholic churches, and in which their sacred quality is, so to speak, contained.]
[25: _Popular Tales from the Norse_. (Translated from Asbjoernsen and Moe’s Collection.) By George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L. With an Introductory Essay on the Origin and Diffusion of Popular Tales.–_Second Edition, Edinburgh_: 1859.]
ERRATA:
Page 5, line 2, _for_ verandalis _read_ verandahs.
Page 8, line 12, _for_ il _read_ el.
Page 17, line 17, _for_ part _read_ port.
Page 20, line 8, _for_ pronunciamento _read_ pronunciamiento.
Page 22, line 10, _for_ I could _read_ one can.
Page 27, line 2, _for_ Mexicans _read_ Americana.
Page 31, Heading, _for_ THE HLANS. HUEMANTLA. _read_ THE RAINS. HUAMANTLA.
Page 31, line 4, _for_ molina de viente _read_ molino de viento.
Page 101, in description of woodcut. Delete _bone_.
Page 216, line 9, _for_ hands _read_ hand.