Guatemala

Appendix

What an attic-room is to the thrifty housewife, an appendix is to the maker of a book. Some things that do not seem to be in place in the parlor or chamber are yet useful, and altogether too good to be thrown away, so they are put into the garret to await the expected use. In a book there are matters that the writer thinks ought to interest some reader, things that will be missed if they are not under the same roof,—I mean between the covers of the volume in hand,—and yet the skill is wanting to incorporate these odd pieces (of furniture, if you wish) in the orderly chapters of the book. And so I give you here several long notes and some longer lists.

A List of Common Cabinet Woods, Dye-Woods, and Timber

Almond (Amygdalus communis).

Fustic (Maclura tinctoria).

Funera.

Mahogany (Swietenia mahogani),—of various kinds, as red, circular, buttress.

Mangrove (Rhizophora Mangle); the wood is dark red, and very durable.

Mangrove (R. Candel); the wood is very heavy and takes a fine polish.

Granadillo,—a very solid dark-red wood, much used for tables.

Ronron.

Guachapeli,—a dark, very hard and strong wood, used in boat-building.

Madre cacao (Erythrina),—soft.

Alligator wood (Guarea Swartzii).

Trompillo.

Tepemís,—yellow.

Uña de gato (Pithecolobium unguis-cati).

Blood-wood (Laplacea hæmatoxylon).

Palo de Cortez.

Palo de mulatto (Spondias lutea),—a most beautiful and durable wood, very heavy.

Cola de pava.

Sangre de perro.

Cedar (Cedrela odorata).

Coco-wood (Inga vera).

Tatascame.

Saradillo.

Chaquiro.

Sechillo.

Sare.

Volador.

Brasiletto (Cæsalpinia crista).

Tatamite.

Goyava (Psidium); wood hard and compact, though not of great size.

Arnotto (Bixa orellana) variety, with white wood.

Zorra.

Marillo.

Medlar.

Bambu (Bambusa).

Huiliguiste,—light-colored wood.

Conacaste.

Balsam-tree (Clusia rosea).

Calabash-tree, Guaje (Crescentia cujete).

Tempisque.

Pié de paloma.

Nance,—dye-wood.

Orange (Citrus),—white and close grained.

Chichipate.

Cuaquiniquil.

Varillo.

Sunzapote.

Copinol.

Sicamite.

Chaperno.

Cedar (Bursera).

Tamiagua.

Locust, Anime (Hymenæa courbaril); from this tree gum-copal is obtained.

Locust (Byrsonima cinerea).

Cambron.

Gum-thorn (Acacia Arabica).

Irayol,—yellow and ochre-colored.

Cotorron.

Quiebra-hacha (Sloanea Jamaicensis),—black wood.

Copalchi,—quinine-tree; the bark is used, and the wood is also in demand.

Mammee (Lucuma mammosa); the wood is very hard and heavy, but splits easily.

Chipilte.

Meloncillo,—dark.

Quita calzon.

Palo grande.

Pigeon-wood (Coccoloba diversifolia).

Rose-apple (Jambosa vulgaris).

Sebesten (Cordia sebestena).

Gorrion.

Canelillo.

Chicate.

Rosewood (Dalbergia).

Guilsinse.

Guaquilite.

Sandbox-tree (Hura crepitans).

Screw-pine (Pandanus); the heart-wood is very hard and ornamental.

Salm (Jacaranda); light-colored, much used for door-frames.

Ironwood (Laplacea hæmatoxylon).

Pine, ocote (Pinus cubensis).

Pine, long-leaved (P. macrophyllum).

Poknoboy (Bactris balanoidea).

Sandpaper-tree (Curatella Americana),—the rough leaves used for sandpaper.

Hog-gum (Symphonia globulifera).

Walnut (Picrodendron juglans).

Tamarind (Tamarindus Indica).

Melon.

Espina blanca (Acacia Arabica).

Copal (Hedwigia balsamifera).

Copalche, small (Strychnos pseudoquina).

Pimiento (Pimenta vulgaris).

Zebra-wood (Eugenia fragrans).

Mignonette-tree (Lawsonia inermis).

Totascamite,—yellow.

Guazuma (G. tomentosa).

Pepeto.

Dulcete.

Oak (Ilex sideroxyloides).

Tamacillo.

Zapotillo.

Caumillo.

Spanish plum (Spondias purpurea).

Santa Maria (Calophyllum calaba).

Filo.

Macaligua.

Loro.

Madrefera.

Sincho.

Pomegranate (Punica granatum).

Sapodilla (Achras sapota).

Ziricote,—beautifully marked; heavy.

Pine, mountain (P. Ayacahuite).

Pine (P. filifolia).

Maho (Spondias?).

Sapoton (Pachira macrocarpa).

Tamarind, wild (Pithecolobium filicifolium).

White-wood (Oreodaphne leucoxylon).

Willow, yellow (Salix).

Ebony, mosaic (Brya ebenus).

Balsam (Myrospermum salvatoriensis).

Pimientillo.

Qualm (Cecropia peltata).

Leaf-Cutting Ants

The Œcodoma, Zompopos, or leaf-cutting ants, are such a pest to the fruit-growers of Central America that I have quoted from Mr. Belt the most satisfactory account of their habits that has ever been published. He says:—

“The first acquaintance a stranger generally makes with them is on encountering their paths on the outskirts of the forest crowded with the ants,—one lot carrying off the pieces of leaves, each piece about the size of a sixpence and held up vertically between the jaws of the ant, another lot hurrying along in an opposite direction empty handed, but eager to get loaded with their leafy burdens. If he follows this last division, it will lead him to some young trees or shrubs, up which the ants mount, and where each one, stationing itself on the edge of a leaf, commences to make a circular cut with its scissor-like jaws from the edge, its hinder feet being the centre on which it turns. When the piece is nearly cut off, it is still stationed upon it, and it looks as though it would fall to the ground with it; but on being finally detached, the ant is generally found to have hold of the leaf with one foot, and soon righting itself, and arranging its burden to its satisfaction, it sets off at once on its return. Following it again, it is seen to join a throng of others, each laden like itself, and without a moment’s delay it hurries along the well-worn path. As it proceeds, other paths, each thronged with busy workers, come in from the sides, until the main road often gets to be seven or eight inches broad, and more thronged than the streets of the city of London.

“After travelling for some hundreds of yards, often for more than half a mile, the formicarium is reached. It consists of low wide mounds of brown clayey-looking earth, above and immediately around which the bushes have been killed by their buds and leaves having been persistently bitten off as they attempted to grow after their first defoliation. Under high trees in the thick forest the ants do not make their nests, because, I believe, the ventilation of their underground galleries, about which they are very particular, would be interfered with, and perhaps to avoid the drip from the trees. It is on the outskirts of the forest, or around clearings or near wide roads that let in the sun, that these formicariums are generally found. Numerous round tunnels, varying from half an inch to seven or eight inches in diameter, lead down through the mounds of earth; and many more from some distance around also lead underneath them. At some of the holes on the mounds ants will be seen busily at work bringing up little pellets of earth from below and casting them down on the ever-increasing mounds, so that its surface is nearly fresh and new-looking....

“The ceaseless toiling hosts impress one with their power, and one asks, What forests can stand before such invaders? How is it that vegetation is not eaten off the face of the earth? Surely nowhere but in the tropics, where the recuperative powers of Nature are immense and ever active, could such devastation be withstood.... None of the indigenous trees appear so suitable for them as the introduced ones....

“In June, 1859, very soon after the formation of my garden, the leaf-cutting ants came down upon it, and at once commenced denuding the young bananas, orange, and mango trees of their leaves. I followed up the paths of the invading hosts to their nest, which was about one hundred yards distant, close to the edge of the forest. The nest was not a very large one, the low mound of earth covering it being about four yards in diameter. At first I tried to stop the holes up; but fresh ones were immediately opened out. I then dug down below the mound and laid bare the chambers beneath, filled with ant-food and young ants in every stage of growth. But I soon found that the underground ramifications extended so far and to so great a depth, whilst the ants were continually at work making fresh excavations, that it would be an immense task to eradicate them by such means; and notwithstanding all the digging I had done the first day, I found them as busily at work as ever at my garden, which they were rapidly defoliating. At this stage our medical officer, Dr. J. H. Simpson, came to my assistance, and suggested the pouring carbolic acid, mixed with water, down their burrows. The suggestion proved a most valuable one. We had a quantity of common brown carbolic acid, about a pint of which I mixed with four buckets of water, and, after stirring it well about, poured it down their burrows. I could hear it rumbling down to the lowest depths of the formicarium, four or five feet from the surface. The effect was all that I could have wished; the marauding parties were at once drawn off from my garden to meet the new danger at home. The whole formicarium was disorganized. Big fellows came stalking up from the cavernous regions below, only to descend again in the utmost perplexity.

“Next day I found them busily employed bringing up the ant-food from the old burrows and carrying it to a new one a few yards distant; and here I first noticed a wonderful instance of their reasoning powers. Between the old burrows and the new one was a steep slope. Instead of descending this with their burdens, they cast them down on the top of the slope, whence they rolled down to the bottom, where another relay of laborers picked them up and carried them to the new burrow. It was amusing to watch the ants hurrying out with bundles of food, dropping them over the slope and rushing back immediately for more. They also brought out great numbers of dead ants that the fumes of the carbolic acid had killed. A few days afterwards, when I visited the locality again, I found both the old burrows and the new one entirely deserted, and I thought they had died off; but subsequent events convinced me that the survivors had only moved away to a greater distance. It was fully twelve months before my garden was again invaded. I had then a number of rose-trees, and also cabbages growing, which the ants seemed to prefer to everything else. The rose-trees were soon defoliated, and great havoc was made amongst the cabbages. I followed them to their nest, and found it about two hundred yards from the one of the year before. I poured down the burrows, as before, several buckets of water with carbolic acid. The water is required to carry the acid down to the lowest chambers. The ants, as before, were at once withdrawn from my garden; and two days afterwards, on visiting the place, I found all the survivors at work on one track that led directly to the old nest of the year before, where they were busily employed making fresh excavations. Many were bringing along pieces of the ant-food from the old to the new nests; others carried the undeveloped white pupæ and larvæ. It was a wholesale and entire migration; and the next day the formicarium down which I had last poured the carbolic acid was entirely deserted.

“Don Francisco Velasquez informed me in 1870 that he had a powder which made the ants mad, so that they bit and destroyed each other. He gave me a little of it, and it proved to be corrosive sublimate. I made several trials of it, and found it most efficacious in turning a large column of the ants. A little of it sprinkled across one of their paths in dry weather has a most surprising effect. As soon as one of the ants touches the white powder it commences to run about wildly, and to attack any other ant it comes across. In a couple of hours round balls of the ants will be found all biting each other; and numerous individuals will be seen bitten completely in two, whilst others have lost some of their legs or antennæ. News of the commotion is carried to the formicarium, and huge fellows, measuring three quarters of an inch in length, that only come out of the nest during a migration or an attack on the nest or one of the working columns, are seen stalking down with a determined air, as if they would soon right matters. As soon, however, as they have touched the sublimate, all their stateliness leaves them; they rush about, their legs are seized hold of by some of the smaller ants already affected by the poison, and they themselves begin to bite, and in a short time become the centre of fresh balls of rabid ants.”67

I wish I could quote all Mr. Belt’s interesting article; for his conclusion as to the use the ants make of the bits of leaf they are so incessantly collecting, is an ingenious one, and probably true. It is certain that the little fellows are never seen taking a nibble of their burdens, which would probably be the case if this material was intended for food; and Mr. Belt thinks that the smaller ants, who seldom leave the nest and never carry leaves, have the task of cutting the leaves up into very small bits, which serve as manure for a minute fungus, which is the real ant-food. It seems that “some of the ants make mistakes, and carry in unsuitable leaves; thus grass is always rejected by them. But I have seen some ants, perhaps young ones, carrying leaves of grass; but after a while these pieces are always brought out again and thrown away. I can imagine a young ant getting a severe ear-wigging from one of the major-domos for its stupidity.”

Quiché Prayer

Here is a translation I have made from the Spanish version given by Milla of a Quiché prayer; and as the petitioner is a supposed Christian, it will serve to illustrate the theological status of the Indio converts, and no less of their descendants of the present day. Compare it with the heathen prayer (p. 249):—

“O Jesus Christ my God, thou God the Son with the Father and the Holy Spirit art but one God! To-day on this day, at this hour, on this day of Tijax, I invoke the holy spirits who attend the dawn and the last glimmerings of day! With the holy spirits I pray to thee, O chief of the Genii who dwell in this mountain of Sija-Raxquin! Come, blessed spirits of Juan Vachiac, of D. Domingo Vachiac, of Juan Ixquiaptop; blessed spirits of Francisco Ecoquij, of Diego Soom, of Juan Tay, of Alonso Tzep; holy spirits, I repeat, of Diego Tziquin and Don Pedro Noj; you, O priests, to whom all things are open, and thou Chief of the Genii; ye Gods of the mountain, Gods of the plain, Don Puruperto Martin,—come, accept this incense, accept now this candle! Come also mother mine, holy Mary, and thou my Lord of Esquipulas, the Lord of Capetagua,... Captain Santiago, Saint Christopher,... thou Lord and King Pascual, be present here! And thou frost, thou God of the plain, thou God Quiacbasulup, thou Lord of Retal-euleu [here follows a long list of names of towns and mountains]! I make myself compadre and comadre, I who pray; I am the witness and the brother of this man who makes himself your son, of this man who prays. O blessed spirits, suffer no evil to come to him, nor let him be in any way unhappy! I the one who speak, I the priest, I who burn this incense, I who pray for him, I who take him under my protection, I beseech you that he may easily find his food. Do thou then, God, send him his money; do not allow him to get sick with fever, let him not become paralytic, let him not be choked with a cough, let him not be bitten by a serpent, let him not be swollen with wind nor asthmatic, let him not become mad nor be bitten by a dog, let him not perish by a thunderbolt, suffer him not to perish by rum, nor die by sword or stave, neither let an eagle snatch him away; assist him, O clouds! assist him, O lightnings! assist him, O thunderclap! Aid him, Saint Peter, aid him, Saint Paul, aid him, thou Eternal Father! I then who have spoken for him thus far, I pray that sickness may come upon his opponents; grant that when his enemy goes forth from his house he may encounter sickness; grant likewise that wherever he may please to go, there he may meet with difficulties. Do your duty against enemies wherever they may be; do it as I pray you, blessed spirits! God be with you! God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost! So be it! Amen, Jesus!”

The Names of Guatemaltecan Towns

It is uncertain whether at the present day any of the aboriginal names of places survive, for the successive invaders from the North or from beyond the seas, if they did not utterly destroy towns, imposed new names on the conquered places. We speak of the ruins of Palenque or of Quirigua, but we do not know the former names of these places, and call them, for convenience, by the name of the nearest modern village. Much ingenuity has been expended in the derivation of Indian names still extant, even the name of the republic itself being one of the undetermined ones; for while Guatemala is undoubtedly taken from the name of the Cakchiquel capital, Tecpan Quahtemalan, it is not known whether this was named for Prince Jieutemal, or indeed whether the prince of that name ever existed. Quiché is derived from qui, “many,” and che, “trees;” or from queche, quechelau, meaning “a forest,”—an inappropriate name now. No less questionable are the derivations of Tucurúb, “town of owls;” Es(Itz)cuintla(n), “land of dogs;” Izmachi, “black hair;” and many others.

The termination pan means a “standard” or “chief place;” hence, Mayapan of the Mayas, and Totonicapan of the Totonaques. Tepec is a “mountain,” or “high place;” hence, Alotepeque, Coatepeque, Olintepeque, Jilotepeque, and Quezaltepeque,—all of them in mountainous regions, the second being a volcano of considerable height. Tlan means a “city” or “home;” hence, Atitlan, “the home of the old woman (Atit),” Zapotitlan, etc. The most common termination is tenango, a Mexican word with much the same meaning as tlan,—Huehuetenango being equivalent to “the ancient abode;” Chimaltenango to “the House of the Shield.”

A troublesome matter is the varying and uncertain orthography of most of the names now in use. Goattemala, Gautemala, Guatimala, are all used by writers. The termination pan is often in official publications spelled pam. Quezaltenango is properly, though seldom, written Quetzaltenango; and Cumarcah or Gumarcah, Izabal or Yzabal, Jutiapa or Xutiapa, are common variations. The omission of the letter n in such words as Montezuma and Montagua, and at the end of Escuintlan, is the rule in Guatemala; but foreign writers do not always regard it. The interchange of b and v is common,—as bejuco or vejuco; benta or venta. So far as sound goes, the name of the large macaw may be Juacamalla or Guacamaya. Tzololà was one form of Sololà; Taltic, of Tactic; and Mictlan, of Mita.

It is quite possible that Soconusco is derived from xoconochtli, a word meaning “wild figs,” and Honduras from fonduras, meaning “depths,” although the application may not be clear at the present day. More satisfactory are Michatoyatl, “a river abounding in fish;” Paxa, “water which separates,”—the Rio Pax, or Paz, having always been the boundary between Guatemala and San Salvador. Tonalá, the “City of the Sun,” and Gumarca(a)h, “ruined houses,” are generally admitted to be correct derivations.

The Spanish invaders exhibited slight inventive powers, and some half a dozen saints were made godfathers and godmothers to all the Indian towns that were important enough to be rechristened; and Santos Juan, José, Tomas, and Marcos, and Santas Maria, Lucia, Ana, and Catarina are the favorites, although Pedro, Esteban, Jago, Miguel, Antonio, Cristoval, Pablo, Izabal, and Clara are by no means neglected. The proper name of the capital city of Guatemala is Santiago (St. James); and if the ambitious projects dear to the late President Barrios should be accomplished, as seems not improbable, England will have to be satisfied with St. George, and leave “The Court of St. James” to the Central American kingdom.

To the Anglo-Saxon such names as True Cross, Holy Cross, Thanks to God, City of Angels, Nativity, and Holy Saviour seem wholly inappropriate as names of places; but to the devout Spaniard they were evidently favorite appellations. Nor are they very different from Praise-God Barebones, Faith, Prudence, and the like, which we know were not uncommon appellatives among the Puritans.

No Ruins of Dwellings

In all the remains of ancient cities or holy places hitherto discovered in Central America, there are temples or oratories, and so-called palaces, but not a sign of human habitations; even the palaces are apparently too small for comfortable habitation, and the temples would not admit more than four or five persons at the same time. Herrera says there “were so many and such stately Stone Buildings that it was amazing; and the greatest Wonder is, that, having no Use of any Metal, they were able to raise such Structures, which seem to have been Temples, for their Houses were always of Timber and thatched.” Always of less durable material than stone, the houses have disappeared, and we must not infer that there were no dwellers about the places where we find to-day only monuments of the dead or religious edifices. At the present time there is many a village in Guatemala where the church is the only building of masonry, all the houses being of the most perishable materials, as palm stems and leaves, bark and mud. If the town of Livingston were destroyed to-day and not rebuilt, there would be nothing on the site after two years to show that men had ever lived there.

It would certainly be interesting to learn why many of the temples have doors, passages, and even rooms that a man of average stature cannot stand erect in.

Mixture of Races in Central America

To show how difficult the study of race peculiarities must be in a country where there is so much amalgamation, I give a list of the names of some of the crosses:—

Crosses.	Male.	Female.
Mestizo (Ladino)	Spaniard.	Indian woman.
Castiso	Spaniard.	Mestiza.
Españolo	Castiso.	Spanish woman.
Mulato	Negro.	Spanish woman.
Morisco	Spaniard.	Mulata.
Albino	Morisco.	Spanish woman.
Tornatras	Albino.	Spanish woman.
Tente en el aire	Tornatras.	Spanish woman.
Lobo (wolf)	Negro.	Indian woman.
Caribujo	Lobo.	Indian woman.
Barsino	Coyote (Indigene).	Mulata.
Grifo	Lobo.	Negress.
Albarazado	Coyote.	Indian woman.
Chaniso	Indio.	Mestiza.
Mechino	Coyote.	Loba.

Guatemaltecan Cookery

I do not speak of the tables of the upper classes, where variety is found in Guatemala as well as elsewhere; but of the common cookery that a stranger finds in travelling, it may truly be said that it has not a national character, nor does justice to the abundant material at hand. What there is of it is, however, good; a fresh tortilla is better than the cakes of the Northern backwoods, and the wheaten bread made by the panadero of the village is exceedingly palatable. Frijoles, or beans, the most popular general dish, are always stewed over an open fire, and are much better than the baked beans of New England. Eggs are always present, either fried, poached, or baked in the shell (huevos tibios); when fried, always seasoned with tomato, chillis, and vinegar. Salchichas, or sausages, fried in lard, with plenty of garlic; gigote, or hashed meat; higate, a potage made of figs, pork, fowl, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and allspice, bread, soup, and innumerable ollas,—are present as solid dishes, the meats generally being of poor quality. Besides the vegetables of Northern gardens, there are chiotes, palm-cabbage, and, best of all, plantain. For verduras, or greens, there are many plants,—none, however, better than spinach or dandelions; and the ensaladas are not remarkable. In the shore region one can have most delicious turtle-steak, white and tender as veal, iguanas fricasseed,—perhaps the best native dish,—javia-steaks, armadillo (which I am sorry to say I have not eaten), and fish of many kinds and flavors.

I have spoken of the bad coffees served as “esencia,” but have not said enough about the chocolate, which I never found carelessly prepared. Perhaps the best is prepared entirely at home; that is, the beans of cacao are carefully roasted, as coffee might be, and the shells removed by rubbing in the hands. The metatle then serves to crush the oily mass, as corn is prepared in tortilla-making; sugar is added, and enough cinnamon or vanilla to flavor the crushed cacao, which becomes pasty by grinding, and may be run into moulds, or simply dropped on some cool surface to harden. These chocolate-drops are dissolved in boiling milk as wanted, and the whole churned to a froth. Prepared in this way, chocolate is much better than the cake chocolate of the manufacturers. An ancient recipe was much more complicated than this, and although I have never tried it myself, I venture to give it to my readers. It is this: “One hundred cacaos,—treating them as has been described,—two pods of chilli, a handful of anis and orjevala, two of mesachasil or vanilla (this may be replaced by six roses of Alexandria, powdered), two drams of cinnamon, a dozen each of almonds and filberts, half a pound of white sugar, and arnotto to color it.” This mixture must of course be whipped to a froth.

Perhaps the people of Guatemala are as cleanly as others; but according to our observation the common practice was to allow the dogs to lick the dishes, which received no additional washing. It was the custom also at the table d’hôte in the hotels to finish a meal by filling the mouth with water and spurting it on the tiled floor. Once, when we stopped at a way-side house to get some coffee, the señora made a little fire out of doors, put the coffee in a very black pot to boil, and, after fanning the reluctant fire with her straw hat, threw herself on the ground near by to rest and smoke her puro. When the pot was near to boiling, she reached out her bare leg and tested the temperature of the contents with her toe, as a Northern cook might have used his finger. Frank was scandalized; but, after all, it was merely a matter of taste.

Photographs Used in Illustration

In stating that the scenes illustrated in this book are all from photographs, it may be added that the clearness of the atmosphere enables a distant view to be taken with great distinctness (unfortunately lost in the mechanical reproductions) even in minute details. The lens used for views not requiring extreme rapidity was the Dallmeyer single landscape,—a lens unsurpassed for its purpose; while for architectural subjects, or those in motion, a Ross rapid rectilinear was generally used. The plates were those prepared by Allen & Rowell, of Boston,—as usual, of the finest quality. For apparatus, the camera was a 5 × 8 size of the American Optical Company’s make, fitted with a changing box containing eighteen plates, and also with an attachment, arranged by the author, for making two or three smaller pictures on the 5 × 8 plate. I carried no tent, but changed my plates at night under a blanket, depending on touch rather than sight. For the stereoscopic pictures, I used a pair of Euryscope No. 0 lenses. The plates were developed months afterwards, with a very small percentage of failures. In later journeys in Guatemala I have used plates of the 8 × 10 size; but for all purposes of illustration the 4 × 5 size is to be preferred. For packing the plates I have used a strong barrel and cork-dust with complete success. It is a matter of deep regret that the method of mechanical reproduction utterly destroys all the beauty of the original photographs. In cases where phototypes are presented from ink-drawings, these have generally been drawn directly from a transparency which I have made from the original negative and projected in the lantern. The drawings are of large size, and reduced to one quarter, or even less, in the phototype. This method insures at least accuracy of outline.

Money in Guatemala

Persons interested in silver coinage might have a good field for collection here; and one of the Government collectors, who had a fancy for numismatics, showed me a curious lot he had received in payment of taxes. Maximilian coins from Mexico were the rarest; but every country of Central and South America was well represented. Among current coins the dollar of Peru and Chili (sols) are most common; and the smaller change is mainly in Guatemalan and Hondureñan currency. The dollar (peso, piece of eight) contains eight reals, and the real two medios, or four cuartillos. This last is the smallest coin used, although the cent (centavo) has been coined. A real is twelve and a half cents, a medio six and a quarter, and a cuartillo three and an eighth; but in the text I have spoken of these coins as valued in gold, or, approximately, ten, five, and three cents.

Certain Heights Determined by the French Expedition

Tactic	4,725
Coban	4,356
San Cristobal	4,643
San Miguel Uspantán	6,040
Cunen	5,942
Sacapulas	3,826
Santa Cruz del Quiché	6,621
Quezaltenango	7,697
Totonicapan	8,150
Sololà	7,041
Guatemala City	5,013
Antigua	5,072
Ciudad Vieja	5,151
Escuintla	1,450
Amatitlan	3,901
Palin	3,753
Cuajinicuilapa	2,848
Cerro Redondo	3,542
Los Esclavos	2,394
Agua Blanca	2,658
Suchitan	4,108
Santa Catarina (Rio)	2,251
Santa Catarina (Pueblo)	2,324
Esquipulas	2,986
Paso del Rodeo	2,744
Los Horcones	3,637
Piedra de Amolar	2,340
Copan	1,830
Vado Hondo	1,237
Chiquimula	1,244
Zacapa	449
Pacaya	8,366
Volcan de Agua (summit)	12,313
″ ″ (S. Maria)	6,828
″ ″ (crater bot.)	12,087
Volcan de Fuego	13,127
″ ″ (La Meseta)	12,001
Acatenango	13,616
Volcan de Atitlan	11,723
Cerro Quemado	10,201
Santa Maria	11,483
Lago de Atitlan	5,112
Lago de Amatitlan	3,895
Lago de San Cristobal	4,643

I find it impossible to reconcile some of these measurements of the French Expedition with my own or those of other observers; but usually the difference is not greater than might be expected from observations with the aneroid barometer.

Weights and Measures

Land is usually bought and sold by caballerias (33.33 acres), hectareas (2.47 acres), manzanas (a square of one hundred yards), or varas (2.78 feet). The most common weights are the quintal (a hundredweight) and the arroba (25 pounds of 16 ounces each). Among the Indios other weights and measures are used, but I could find no trustworthy information about them. They also retain the old cacao currency to some extent, and I have been offered cacao-beans for small change, as the cuartillo is not common away from the large cities.

400	cacao beans	=	contle.
8,000	″ ″	=	jiquipil	=	20	contles.
24,000	″ ″	=	carga	=	3	jiquipiles.

A List of Plants Observed in Guatemala

I am indebted to my friend Professor Sereno Watson, of Harvard, for the identification of species, which to the number of sixty he has already determined from some five hundred that he collected in the Departments of Livingston and Izabal. I did not myself make any collection, but noted the genera that were familiar to me as I travelled through the country. So little has been published about the Guatemaltecan Flora that I have ventured to add these notes to Professor Watson’s list.

Clematis americana, Will. Near Izabal.

dioica, L. Panajachel.

caripensis, HBK. Sacapulas, Jutiapa.

polycephala, Bert. V. de Agua.

sericea, HBK. San José.

Davilla rugosa, Poir. Banks of Rio Dulce, Rio Chocon.

lucida, Presl? Chocon.

Doliocarpus pubens, Mart. Livingston.

Curatella americana, L. Dry hills near Quirigua.

Tetracera n. sp. Rio Chocon.

Guatteria Jurgensenii, Hemsl. Shores of Lago de Izabal, Chocon.

n. sp.

Anona squamosa, L. Livingston, muricata, L. Cunen, Uspantán.

Anona Cherimolia, Mill. Common.

palustris, L. Sea-shore near Livingston.

Xylopia frutescens, Aubl., var. glabra. Shores of Lago de Izabal.

Cissampelus Pareira, L. Izabal, Rio Dulce.

tropæolifolia, DC.? Izabal.

Nymphaea ampla, DC. Rio Polochic, mouth of Rio Chocon.

Argemone mexicana, L.

Draba vulcanica, Benth. V. de Agua.

Cleome polygama, L. San Felipe.

Moringa pterygosperma, Gaertu. Zacapa, Chiquimula.

Bixa Orellana, L.

Xylosma nitida, A. G.

Alsodeia guatemalensis, Watson. Rio Chocon.

Oncoba laurina, Oliver. Izabal, Rio Chocon.

Casearia Brighami, Watson. Chocon.

Polygala asperuloides, HBK. Izabal.

Jatropha Curcas, L.

Janipha Manihot, HBK.

Croton. (Several sp. on coast, not determined.)

Euphorbia Poinsettii. Uplands.

Hura crepitans, L. Sacapulas, Zacapa.

Two euphorbiaceous trees in eastern highlands.

Drymaria cordata, Willd. Lago de Izabal.

Quercus (2 sp.). Cunen to Quiché.

Portulaca oleracea, L. Livingston, Chocon.

Phytolacca icosandra, L. Antigua, Santa Cruz del Quiché.

Amaranthus paniculatus, L. Cunen, Jutiapa.

Sida rhombifolia, L. Chocon.

Abutilon. (Trees at La Tinta. Several allied sp. banks of Rio Chocon.)

Hibiscus Abelmoschus, L. Izabal.

Gossypium barbadense, L. Livingston.

Hampea (?) stipitata, Watson. Large tree, Chocon.

Paritium tiliaceum, A. Juss. Shore near Santo Tomas.

Pavonia racemosa, Swartz. Rio Dulce.

Eriodendron ceiba. Sacapulas, Chocon, Quirigua.

Bernoullia flammea, Oliv. Istapa.

Cheirostemon platanoides, Hum. & Bon. V. de Fuego, Encuentros.

Helicteres guazumæfolia, HBK. Cerro del Mico.

Pachira macrocarpa. Rio Chocon, Motagua.

insignis, Sav. Red petals at Omoa.

sp. Chocon.

Theobroma cacao, L. Chocon, Quirigua, Pansos.

Guazuma tomentosa, HBK. Chocon.

Gouania tomentosa, Jacq.

Gomphia (Ouratea) guatemalensis, Engler. Chocon.

Vitis sicyoides, var. ovata, Baker. Lago de Izabal.

lanceolata, Watson. Rio Dulce, Rio Chocon.

vulpina, L. var. Izabalana, Watson. Izabal.

Clusia guatemalensis, Hemsl. V. de Fuego.

Large tree, Chocon.

Low, wide-spreading tree, Izabal.

Matapalo tree.

Symphonia globulifera, L. “Hog-gum.” Large tree, Chocon.

Calophyllum Calaba, Jacq. Livingston.

Maregraavia rectiflora, Triana & Planch.

var. Goudoutiana. Chocon.

Ruyschia Souroubea, W. Livingston.

Sauraujia oreophila, Hemsl. V. de Fuego.

pauciserrata, Hemsl. V. de Fuego.

Sauvagesia erecta, L. Cerro del Mico.

tenella, Lam. Barbasco.

Salix (2 sp.). Lago de Izabal, Rio Polochic, Amatitlan.

Erythroxylum sp. Livingston.

Linum guatemalense, Benth. V. de Agua.

Byrsonima crassifolia, HBK. Cult. Izabal.

Bunchosia Lanieri, Watson. Tree, Izabal.

Lindeniana, Juss. Cuilapa.

Stigmaphyllon Lupulus, Watson. Chocon.

Hiræa reclinata, Jacq. Rio Dulce.

sp.? Chocon?

Cardiospermum grandiflorum, Swartz, var. hirsutum, Radl. Izabal.

Halicacabum, L. Rio Chocon.

Serjania mexicana, Willd. Rio Chocon.

Paullinia sorbilis, Mart. Chocon.

velutina, DC. Chocon.

guatemalensis, Turcz.

Melia Azederach, L. Escuintla, Izabal, naturalized.

Guarea bijuga, C. DC.? Chocon.

Swietenia Mahogani, L. Chocon, Quirigua.

Cedrela odorata, L. Chocon.

Citrus medica, var. Limonum. Naturalized.

Oxalis dendroides, HBK. Cerro del Mico, 1500 ft.

Tribulus cistoides, L. Shores.

Guaiacum officinale, L.

guatemalense, Herb. Kew, Zacapa.

Quassia amara, L. Shores of Lago de Izabal.

Picræna excelsa, Lindl.? Chocon.

Alvaradoa amorphoides, Liebm. (?) Chocon.

Hippocratea ovata, Lam. Rio Dulce.

Wimmeria discolor, Schlecht. Rio Dulce.

Zizyphus guatemalensis, Hemsl.

Ficus (3 + sp.). Chocon.

Cecropia palmata, W. Rio Chocon.

Dorstenia contrayerva, L. Chixoy Valley.

Castilloa elastica, Cervant.

Maclura aurantiaca, Nutt.

Peperomia (2 sp.). On trees, Chocon.

Bursera gummifera, L.? Chocon.

Spondias lutea, L. Chocon.

purpurea, L. “Jocote.”

sp.? “Maho.” Chocon.

Rourea glabra, HBK. Lago de Izabal.

Connarus Pottsii, Watson. Shores at Izabal.

Mangifera indica, L. Naturalized.

Anacardium occidentale, L. Cayo Paloma, Pacific coast.

Quercus (2 sp.). Uplands above Cunen.

Indigofera anil, L.

Tephrosia toxicaria, Pers.

Sesbania exasperata, HBK.

Desmodium. 2 sp. at Chocon, another at El Mico.

Mucuna puriens, DC. Vado Hondo.

Erythrina velutina, W. Livingston.

Myroxylon Pereirac, Klotzs. Escuintla.

toluiferum, HBK. S. Coast.

Poinciana pulcherrima, L. Antigua.

Hæmatoxylon campechianum, L. Usumacinta Valley.

Guilandina bonduc, L. Shores.

Cæsalpinia (2 sp.). Chocon and Pacific.

Dalbergia calycina, Benth. Chocon.

Cassia fistula, L.

2 sp. common at Livingston, another at Antigua.

Tamarindus indica, L.

Hymenæa courbaril, L. Rio Chocon, Rio Polochic.

Bauhinia (2 sp.). Chocon, Quirigua.

Entada scandens, Benth. Chocon.

Prosopis juliflora, DC. Dry uplands.

Mimosa pudica, L.

casta, L. Livingston.

guatemalensis, Benth.

Acacia Farnesiana, W. Jutiapa, Cuilapa.

spadicigera, Schlecht.

arabica, W. Jutiapa. (4 + others.)

Calliandra saman, Gr. Santo Tomas.

Pithecolobium sp. Vado Hondo.

Inga vera, W. Rio Chocon, Rio Polochic.

Schizolobium sp. “Wild tamarind.” Rio Dulce, Rio Chocon.

Chrysobalanus Icaco, L. Shores.

Hirtella americana, Aublet. Chocon.

Rubus sp. Alta Verapaz.

Jambosa vulgaris, DC. Rio Dulce.

Psidium guava, Radd. Pansos, San Felipe.

sp. Quirigua, Rio Polochic.

Jussiæa repens, L. Rio Polochic.

Rhizophora Mangle, L. Rio Dulce, Santo Tomas.

Cacoucia coccinea, Aublet. Rio Chocon, common.

Terminalia Catappa, L. Naturalized, San Pedro Sula.

Persea gratissima, G. Naturalized.

Orcodaphne sp. Cunen.

Sechium edule, Sw. West coast, Cerro Redondo.

Cucumis Anguria, L. Punta Gorda.

Luffa acutangula, Roxb. West coast.

Lagenaria vulgaris, Sw.

Cyclanthera explodens, Naud. V. de Fuego.

Microsechium guatemalense, Hemsl. Trujillo, Palin.

Fevillea, sp.

Carica Papaya, L.

sp. with small, unedible fruit. Valleys of Volcan de Fuego.

Passiflora Brighami, Watson. Livingston, Rio Chocon.

edulis, Sims.

guatemalensis Watson. Chocon.

choconiana, Watson,

lunata, Willd.

coriacea, Juss.

quadrangularis, L. Antigua.

3 sp. Rio Chocon, 1 El Mico, small plant with veined leaves, Chocon.

Turnera sp. San Pedro.

Aristolochia, sp. with immense blossoms. Roatan.

Cereus (2 sp.). Jutiapa, Zacapa, Chixoy.

Opuntia coccinellifera, Mill. Antigua, Amatitlan.

Begonia scandens, Sw. Chocon.

2 sp. Chocon, 1 at Uspantán.

Ximenia americana, L. Livingston.

Loranthaceae. 3 sp. observed. Chocon, Zacapa.

Sambucus sp. Encuentros, Sololà.

Rondeletia cordata, Benth. Guatemala City.

gracilis, Hemsl. Coban.

Psychotria sp. Rio Chocon.

Bouvardia sp. Cunen.

leiantha, Benth. Chimaltenango.

Exostemma sp. Livingston.

Ageratum conyzoides, L. Common.

Stevia sp. Quiché, Cunen.

Mikania guaca. Chocon.

Wedelia phyllocephala, Kemel. Chixoy Valley.

Verbesina gigantea, Jacq. Zacapa.

Dahlia sp. Quiché, Quezaltenango.

Tagetes micrantha, Cav. V. de Fuego.

sp. 2. San Cristobal, Patzùn.

Lobelia fulgens, Willd. Uplands.

calcarata, Bertol. V. Santa Maria.

cordifolia, H&A. Coban.

Lobeliaceæ (3 sp.).

Chrysophyllum Cainito, L.

Sapota Achras, Mill.

Lucuma mammosa, G.

multiflora, A. DC. (?) Chocon.

Jasminum officinale, L. Naturalized.

Allamanda cathartica, L. Rio Chocon, Rio Polochic.

Vinca rosea, L.

Plumeria rubra L. (?) Several members of this family on Rio Chocon.

Asclepias curassavica, L. Livingston, Uspantán, Antigua.

Limnanthemum Humboldtianum, Gr. Lagoons, Rio Chocon.

Datura (Brugmansia) suaveolens, Humb., Bonpl. Izabal.

Physalis peruviana, L.

Capsicum frutescens, L.

annuum, L.

Crescentia Cujete, L. Jutiapa and dry uplands generally.

Jacaranda sp. Fine tree, Chocon.

Bignoniaceae. 3 sp. Chocon forests, 1 sp. Antigua.

Achimenes coccinea, Pers. Chixoy Valley.

Martynia sp. Chixoy Valley.

Jacobinia aurea, Hemsl. Chocon, Quirigua.

Ipomœa bona-nox, L.

Batatas, Lam.

Quamoclit, L.

Calonyction sp. Eight other convolvulaceæ noticed.

Cuscuta sp. Zacapa.

Cordia Sebestina, Jacq. Escuintla.

Heliotropium curassavicum, L. San José.

Salvia coccinea, L. Santa Cruz del Quiché. 3 other sp.

Lantana sp. Esquipulas.

Avicennia nitida, Jacq. Golfete.

Pinus cubensis, Griseb.

macrophylla, Parlat.

Ayacahuite, Erenb.

filifolia, Lindl.

Abies sp.

Monstera (2 sp.). Livingston, Chocon.

Aroids of many sp. and several genera.

Wolfia punctata, Gr. Rio Chocon.

Typha sp.

Euterpe oleracea, Mart.

edulis.

Oreodoxa oleracea.

Manicaria Plukenetii, Gr. and Wendl.

Livingston.

Desmoncus sp.

Acrocomia vinifera, Oersted. Izabal, Chixoy Valley.

Acrocomia sclerocarpa.

Cocos nucifera, L.

Attalea cohune, Mart.

Bactris balanoidea, Wendl. Izabal.

cohune, Watson. Chocon.

Twenty-five sp. palms were collected at Chocon, but have not been determined yet.

Commelyna cayennensis, Rich. San Felipe, 2 sp. Cunen.

Pontederia sp. pink flowers. Livingston.

Bambusa (2 sp.). Motagua, Chocon.

Zea Mays, L.

Agave americana, L.

ixtli, Karw.

Fourcroya gigantea, Vent.

Pancratium caribæum, L. (?) Cayo Grande, Rio Polochic.

Crinum sp. Rio Dulce.

Smilax officinalis. Chocon.

Ananassa sativa, Lindl. Izabal, Chixoy Valley.

Bromelia Pinguin, L. Jutiapa.

Karatas, Lemair. Jutiapa.

Pita.

Tillandsia (2 sp.).

Bromeliaceæ (several sp.). Rio Dulce.

Heliconia Bihai, L. Pansos, Quirigua.

sp. Quirigua, Rio Dulce.

Renealmia sp.

Zinziber sp.

Maranta (2 sp.).

Vanilla planifolia, Andr. Chocon.

Epidendrum bicornutum, Hook.

Schomburgkia tubicina, Lindl.

Oncidium citrinum, Lindl. Los Amates.

iridifolium. HBK.

Notylia guatemalensis, Watson.

Ornithocephalus Pottsiæ, Watson.

Bletia Pottsii, Watson.

Salvinia auriculata, Aubl.

The number of Orchidaceæ in Guatemala is very large.

A List of Works Relating to Central America

A full bibliography of works that contain information about the region through which we have been travelling together would fill a volume much larger than the present; but the following brief list of some of the more important titles may aid those who are interested in the past history or the future prospects of the tropical part of this continent. I have not thought it worth while to mention those unprinted works not at present accessible to the public, nor the ephemeral publications of simple tourists:—

Acosta, Fr. José de. Historia natural y moral de las Indias. Sevilla, 1590.
Adam, Lucien. Études sur six Langues Américaines, Paris, 1878.
— Du parler des Hommes et du parler des Femmes. Paris, 1879.

Alcedo, Antonio de. Diccionario geografico-histórico de las Indias occidentales ó América; es á saber; de los reynos del Peru, Nueva España, Tierra Firme, Chile y Nuevo Reyno de Granada. Madrid, 1786-89. 5 vols. An English Translation, with Additions, by G. A. Thompson, was published in London, 1812-15. 5 vols.

Ancona, Eligio. Historia de Yucatan. Merida, 1878.

Andagoya, Pascual de, Narrative of. Translated by C. R. Markham. Hakluyt Soc. London, 1865.

Astaburuaga, Francisco S. Repúblicas de Centre-América o Idea de su Historia i de su Estado actual. Santiago, Chili, 1837.

Baily, John. Central America; describing each of the States of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. London, 1850.

Baldwin, John D. Ancient America, in notes on American Archæology. New York, 1872.

Bancroft, Hubert H. Native Races of the Pacific States of North America. San Francisco, 1875 et seq.

Barcia, Andres Gonzales. Historiadores primitivos de las Indias occidentales, que juntó, traduxo en parte y sacó á luz, ilustrados con eruditas notas y copiosos índices el Señor Don Andres Gonzales Barcia, del Consejo y Camera de Su Majestad. Madrid, año 1749.

Bastian, A. Die Culturlander des Alten Amerika. Berlin, 1878. 2 vols.
— Steinsculpturen aus Guatemala. Berlin, 1882.
Bateman, James. Orchidaceæ of Mexico and Guatemala. London, 1843. fol.
Bates, H. W. Central and South America. London, 1878.

Belaez, Garcia. Memorias para la historia del antiguo reino de Guatemala. Guatemala, 1851. 2 vols.

Belly, Felix. À travers l’Amérique Centrale; le Nicaragua et le Canal Interocéanique. Paris, 1867.

Belt, Thomas. The Naturalist in Nicaragua: a Narrative of a residence at the Gold Mines of Chontales; Journeys in the Savannahs and Forests. London, 1874.

Beltran de Santa Rosa, Fr. Pedro. Arte del Idioma Maya reducido a succintas reglas, y semilexicon Yucateco. Mexico, 1746; also Merida, 1859.

Benzoni, Girolamo. History of the new World. Travels 1541-1556. Venice, 1572. (First ed. 1565.) English Translation, Hakluyt Society, London, 1857.

Berendt, Dr. C. H. Analytical Alphabet for the Mexican and Central American Languages. New York, 1869. American Ethnological Society.

— Remarks on the Centres of Ancient Civilization in Central America, and their Geographical Distribution. New York, 1876. Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.

Biologia-Centrali-Americana; or, Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America. London, 1879.

Bodham-Wetham, J. W. Across Central America. London, 1877.

Bonnycastle, R. H. Spanish America; or, a Descriptive, Historical, and Geographical Account of the Dominions of Spain in the Western Hemisphere, Continental and Insular. London, 1818. 2 vols.

Boturini, Benaducci. Idea de una Nueva Historia General de la América Septentrional. Madrid, 1746.
Boyle, Frederick. Wanderings in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. London, 1868.
Bradford, Alexander W. American Antiquities and the Red Race. New York, 1841.

Brasseur de Bourbourg. Histoire des Nations civilisées du Mexique et de l’Amérique Centrale durant les siècles antérieurs a Christophe Colomb, écrite sur les documents originaux et entièrement inédits, puisés aux anciennes archives des Indigènes. Paris, 1859. 4 vols.

— Popul Vuh. Le Livre sacré et les Mythes de l’Antiquité Américaine, avec les Livres héroïques et historiques des Quichés. Ouvrage original des Indigènes de Guatemala, texte Quiché et traduction française en regard. Paris, 1861.

— Bibliotheque Mexico-Guatemalienne, précédé d’un coup d’œil sur les études Américaines. Paris, 1871.

— Grammaire de la langue Quichée; espagnole-française mise en parallel avec ses deux dialectes Cachiquel et Tzutuhil, etc. Paris, 1862.

— Recherches sur les ruines de Palenque et sur les origines de la civilisation du Mexique. Paris, 1866.

— Voyage sur l’Isthme de Tehuantepec dans l’état de Chiapas et la république de Guatemala (1859-1860). Paris, 1861.

Breton, Raymond. Dictionnaire caraibe-français. Auxerre, 1665.

Brinton, Dr. Daniel G. American Hero Myths.

— The Names of the Gods in the Kiche Myths of Central America. Philadelphia, 1881. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. xix.

— The Maya Chronicles. Philadelphia, 1882.

Bülow, A. von. Dcr Freistaat Nicaragua in Mittel-Amerika, und seine Wichtigkeit für den Welthandel, etc. Berlin, 1849.

— Der Freistaat Costa Rica in Mittel-Amerika, etc. Berlin, 1850.

Byam, George. Wild Life in the Interior of Central America. London, 1849.

Cabrera, P. F. Description of an Ancient City discovered near Palenque in Guatemala. Translated from the Report of Antonio del Rio. Followed by a History of the Americans. 1822.

Carillo, Canon Crescentio. Manual de Historia y Geografía de la Peninsula de Yucatan. Merida.

Casas, Bartolomeo de las. Narratio regionum indicarum per Hispanos quosdam devastatarum. Francofort, 1598. De Bry.

— An | Account | Of the First | Voyages and discoveries | Made by the Spaniards in America | Containing | The most Exact Relation hitherto pub | lished of their unparallel’d Cruelties | on the Indians, in the destruction of a | bove Forty Millions of People. | With the Propositions offer’d to the King of Spain, | to prevent the further Ruin of the West Indies. | By Don Bartholomew de las Casas, Bishop of Chiapa, | who was an Eye | -witness of their Cruelties. London, 1699.

Casas, Bartolomeo de las. Historia apologetica de las Indias 5 vols. folio in manuscript, at Madrid. (A copy is in the Force. Library at Washington.)

— Historia de las Indias, ahora por primera vez dada á luz por el Marqués de la Fuensanta del Valle y D. J. S. Rayon. Madrid, 1875-76. 5 vols.

Catherwood, Frederick. Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. London, 1844. Folio. See also Stephens.

Charency, Henri de. Le Mithe de Votan. Paris, 1871.

Charnay, Désiré. Cités et Ruines Américaines, Mitla, Palenqué, Izamal, Chichen-Itza, Uxmal, recueillies et photographiées. Texte par Viollet le Due. Paris, 1863. 49 folio plates.

— Les Anciennes Villes du Nouveau Monde. Voyages d’Explorations au Mexique et dans l’Amérique centrale, 1857-1882. Paris, 1885.

Clavigero, Francisco Yavier. Storia antica del Messico, Cesena, 1780. 4 vols.

— History of Mexico from Spanish and Mexican Historians, MSS., Paintings, etc. Translated, with Dissertations, by Cullen. London, 1807. 2 vols.

— Historia Antigua de Megico traducida por Don J. G. Mara. London, 1826. 2 vols. Maps and curious plates.

Cockburn, John. A Journey over Land from the Gulf of Honduras to the Great South Sea. Performed by J. C. and Five Other Englishmen. London, 1735.

Cogolludo, Diego Lopez. Los tres Siglos de la dominacion Española en Yucatan, ó sea Historia de esta provincia desde la conquista hasta la independencia. 2 vols. 8vo. hf. bd. Campeche, 1842; Merida, 1845.

Cortez, Hernan, Cartas y relaciones de, al Emperador Carlos V. Colegidas é ilustradas por Don Pascual de Gayangos. Paris, 1866.

Davis, W. W. H. The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico. Doyleston, Pa., 1869.

De la Borde. Relation de l’origine des Caraibes. Paris, 1674.

Diaz del Castillo, Bernal. Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España. Madrid, 1632. Another edition, 1795-6, Madrid, in 4 vols. English editions: True History of the Conquest of Mexico. Translated by Keatinge. London, 1800. Memoirs containing an account of the Conquest of Mexico. Translated by J. G. Lockhart. London, 1844. 2 vols.

Donde, Juan, y Joaquin. Apuntes sobre las plantas de Yucatan. Merida, 1874.

Dunlop, R. G. Travels in Central America. London, 1847.

Dunn, Henry. Guatimala, or the Republic of Central America in 1827-8; being Sketches and Memorandums made during a Twelve-month’s Residence. London, 1829. 8vo. pp. 328.

Dupaix, Capt. Antiquités Mexicaines; contenant les diverses expéditions du capitaine Dupaix entreprises au Mexique, aux ruines de Palenque. Paris, 1834. See Kingsborough.

Duran, Fr. Diego. Historia de las Indias de la Nueva España y Islas de Tierra Firme. Mexico, 1867.

Fabregat. Esposizione del Codice Borgia.

Fancourt, C. St. J. History of Yucatan to the close of the Seventeenth Century. London, 1854.

Fernandez, Manuel. Bosquejo Físico, Político é Histórico de la República del Salvador. San Salvador, 1869. pp. 166.

Flores, Fr. Ildefonso José. Arte de la Lengua Metropolitana del Regno Cakchiquel ó Guatemalteco. Guatemala, 1753.

Foledo. Geografía de Centro-América. Guatemala, 1874.
Frantzius, Dr. A. von. Die Costa Rica Eisenbahn. In “Das Ausland,” 1868, No. 6.
— Der südöstliche Theil der Republik Costa Rica. 1869. In “Petermann’s Mittheilungen.”
— Klimatischen Verhältnisse Central Americas. Berlin, 1869. In “Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde.”

Dr. Frantzius has also translated from Palacio the “San Salvador and Honduras in 1576” (1873).

Fuentes y Guzman. Historia de Guatemala ó recopilacion florida. 1609. New edition. Madrid, 1882.

Gabb, William M. Notes on the Geology of Costa Rica. In American Journal of Science and Art, November, 1874, and March, 1875.

Gallatin, Albert. Notes on the Semi-Civilized Nations of Mexico. Trans. of the Amer. Ethnological Soc., vol. i. New York.

Garcia, Gregorio. Origen de los Indios del nuevo mundo. Valencia, 1607; also Madrid. 1729.

Garcia y Garcia, Apolinar. Historia de la Guerra de Castas en Yucatan. Merida, 1865. Not completed.

Gomara, Francisco Lopez de. Historia general de las Indias. Anvers, 1554.

— Pleasant Historie of the Conquest of the West Indies, now called New Spayne, atcheived by the worthy Prince Hernando Cortez, Marquis of the Valley of Huaxacac, most delectable to read. Translated by T. Nicholas anno 1578. Black letter.

Gonzales, Darío. Compendio de Geografía de Centro-América. Guatemala, 1881.
Granados y Galvez, José Joaquin. Tardes Americanos. Mexico, 1778.
Grimm, W. Die Staaten Central-Americas. Berlin, 1871.
Grisebach, A. H. R. Flora of the British West Indian Islands. London, 1864.
Guzman. Apuntamientos sobre la geografía física de la república del Salvador. 1883.
Habel, Dr. The Sculptures of Santa Lucia Cozumalhuapa. Washington, 1879. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.
Haefken, I. Reize naar Guatemala. Gravenhage, 1828.
Hakluyt Society’s Publications. Discovery of America; Cortez’s Expedition to Honduras, etc. London, 1868.
Hassaurek, F. Four Years among Spanish-Americans. London, 1868.

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Footnotes

1 Petermann’s Mittheilungen, 1869.

2 This business is declining, owing to the inferior cattle produced in Florida and shipped at a cheaper rate.

3 Guatemala has been accepted (1886) by both Nicaragua and Costa Rica as referee in the boundary dispute.

4 Another year we climbed the rock and found several interesting plants, but no human remains.

5 These were vampire bats (Phyllostoma sp.); and several times afterwards we saw cattle that had been so severely bitten that the blood was still dripping from their shoulders the next morning. These little fellows are about the size of an English sparrow; and yet they do as much harm as their much larger relatives of South America. They have ventured into our sleeping-room at Livingston; but would generally awaken us by brushing our faces with their wings,—perhaps because our feet (the part they usually attack) were covered.

6 “These serpentes are lyke unto crocodiles, saving in bigness; they call them guanas. Unto that day none of owre men durste aduenture to taste of them, by reason of theyre horrible deformitie and lothsomnes. Yet the Adelantado being entysed by the pleasantnes of the king’s sister, Anacaona, determined to taste the serpentes. But when he felte the flesh thereof to be so delycate to his tongue, he fel to amayne without al feare. The which thyng his companions perceiuing, were not behynde hym in greedyness; insomuch that they had now none other talke than of the sweetnesse of these serpentes, which they affirm to be of more pleasant taste than eyther our phesantes or partriches.”—Peter Martyr, decad. i. book v. (Eden’s English translation).

7 The Naturalist in Nicaragua, by Thomas Belt, p. 222.

8 Should the new product, saccharine, meet with favor, the planting of cane will follow the fate of indigo; and coal-tar will supply the sweet things of life as well as the flavors and colors. Coal is “sweetness and light”!

9 Its armament was approved by the Royal Seal, Nov. 7, 1658, and an order of Feb. 26, 1687, provided for its complete repair. The plan is from a sketch by F. E. Blaisdell.

10 I may add that soon after our arrival in Coban the Jefe politico deposed this unworthy comandante, punishing him with various indignities.

11 Owing to the heavy duty, iron stoves are seldom seen in Guatemala; but a structure of stone, where that material is at hand, elsewhere of sticks covered with clay, is reared to the height of about two feet. Its size depends, of course, on the wants of the household; but large or small, the form is always the same. Three suitable stones, forming what would correspond to a pot-hole in an ordinary stove, are embedded in the clay-top of this house-altar, and the long slim sticks that furnish fuel serve also as poker, shovel, and tongs. There is no chimney, but the smoke and steam escape by the many cracks in the walls or by the windows. On one stone tripod a comal for tortillas, on another an earthen pitcher of coffee, and on another a stew-pan (cazuela) of frijoles, is the usual kitchen arrangement. Answering its purpose as well as a costly stove, it may be built for a few reals; and if an oven is needed for bread, a stone and earthen dome built over such a table-like hearth makes a capital one, not unlike those so common among the Canadians and in other half-civilized countries.

12 In 1882, $1,266,042.43, or about one fifth of the total revenue.

13 The uses of pottery in Central America are almost universal; it supplies not only water-cisterns, flour-barrels, ovens, stoves, wash-tubs, baths, coffee-pots, stew-pans, but dishes, lamps, floors, roofs, and aqueducts. Some made of white clay is exceedingly light, and the patterns are often very tasteful. The tinajas (water-jars) and cántaras are also light, but very strong, while the cazuelas, or flat pans, and the coffee-pots are quite fire proof. I have seen a house-wall built of pots not unlike a Yankee bean-pot in shape, the mouths opening into the house being “pigeon-holes” for the human inhabitants; while those opening out of doors were the nesting-places of pigeons and hens. The roof-tiles are not in great variety, usually semicylindrical or conical, and seldom ornamented; floor-tiles are large, square, and not very thick. The porous water-jars suspended in a current of air keep their contents refreshingly cool.

14 Calabashes are of great importance and of universal use as household utensils. Some varieties are long and slim, and these, split lengthwise, make ladles; the very spherical ones make boxes, flat ones form bowls and platters, while those of the shape illustrated become chocolate-cups. The black color is permanent, although scarcely penetrating the hard surface; it is made by a bean that I have not been able to identify. Calabash-cups, although very light, are strong and durable. I have one, given me by Don Ramón Viada of Trujillo, which is as delicate as porcelain.

15 It is well to explain that the framework used for carrying small articles on the back is called kataure by the Caribs, and carcaste by the Indios of the interior. Ramón carried in his not only all my photographic apparatus,—the camera and box of plates being carefully wrapped in water-proof material,—but also our cooking utensils and his own luggage. After he left us we found so much trouble in hiring suitable carcastes that we purchased one for a few reals and fitted it up with pita cords, which served our purpose very conveniently. When a desirable view presented, a whistle brought the mozo to our side, and from ten to fifteen minutes only were required to unpack, set up, expose one or two plates, repack, and remount our animals. It may be interesting to state that in all this long journey, where plates were carried in this way, not one was broken, nor was a piece of the apparatus damaged.

16 There were many similar organs in the old churches,—some, indeed, removed to the lumber-rooms; but they were so securely fastened together that I could not get at the internal mechanism without too much disturbance, and I concluded that the instruments were imported entire. No modern organs of any size were seen outside of the metropolitan cathedrals; and yet even a large organ is very easy to transport. One little instrument that I tried was not in tune, but the pipe-tones were good. In the old church at Trujillo Frank found a modern French cabinet-organ of remarkably sweet tones.

17 In stumbling over this crooked name, it occurs to me that it would be fair to my readers, who are perhaps less familiar with Indian names, to state briefly how they are pronounced. G is always guttural; ch is like tche; h is strongly aspirate; j is pronounced like h; x is sh; u is the French ou; v is equivalent to w; and the vowels have the Italian values. Of the Indian names the signification is not always known, but there are certain terminations common enough and well understood; as tepec, a mountain or high thing, in Alotepec, Quezaltepec, Coatepeque, Olintepeque, Jilotepeque. Those who are curious in these matters will find another note in the Appendix.

18 It is the duty of every person to whose house strangers come to pass the night to report to headquarters the name, where from and whither bound, so that we could be tracked all over the republic from the central telegraph office in Guatemala City,—often very useful.

19 There is no little confusion in the nomenclature of the sapotes, or sapodillas. What is usually called sapote in Guatemala does not belong to the genus Sapota, but to an allied genus Lucuma, and is known in the West Indies as the mammee-apple. The true sapote has several seeds; the mammee only one. An allied genus contains the star-apple (Chrysophyllum cainito). The sapoton, or big sapote, does not even belong to the Sapota family, but is a Pachira.

20 Sweet peas and geraniums in abundance, carnations, marigolds, campanula, yarrow, pinks, sweet-williams, chrysanthemums, iris, scabious, abutilon, poppy, princess’-feathers, fuchsia, linaria, Lilium candidum, peach, evening-primrose, gilliflowers, amaryllis, gladioli, alyssum, larkspur, brugmansia, mignonette, sunflower, adenanthera, willow, balsams, dahlia, spider-lily, canna, hollyhock, eucalyptus, ragged-lady, roses (4), yellow sweet-clover, asparagus, Hydrangea hortensis, blue African lily, lupine, Boston-pink, wool-pink, cypress, sedum, agave, chelidonium, euphorbia (long-leaved), and broom.

21 It was here that the Vice-President, Flores, was torn to pieces by women in the last days of the Confederacy, when the Church was in power.

22 The cases of these rockets were of bambu, and usually three were attached to one stick. As they were fired in daylight, and valued for their effect upon the ear rather than the eye, the proportion of explosive powder was increased,—each discharge giving three sharp cracks.

23 These little apples—about the size of crab-apples—are tasteless uncooked, but make an excellent dulce; the señoras know how to use them for a sweet pickle.

24 Palin is the market-garden and orchard of the metropolis, and the fruit is good, but not cultivated with any care; nor is there here or elsewhere in Guatemala any attempt to procure new and choice varieties of either fruits or vegetables.

25 It was in this garden that the attempt was made to kill President Barrios, on the evening of Sunday, April 13, 1884. He was walking with General Barrundia, the Minister of War, when a bomb exploded, severely wounding both; but to allay public excitement the President bravely walked twice around the garden, and then home. The would-be assassin was captured, and proved to be a former conspirator whom Barrios had generously pardoned. The bomb was loaded with poisoned bullets.

26 One of these stirrups (seen in the figure), given to me by Don Enrique Toriello, then Jefe at Livingston, now Chargé d’Affaires and Consul-General of Guatemala at New York, weighs five and a half pounds, and is seventeen inches long.

27 See note on Zompopos in the Appendix.

28 These acacias not only yield gum-arabic, but the pods contain so much tannin that they are used to make ink.

29 Another time when Frank was crossing he had to swim for his life, and nearly lost his animals.

30 Although on the stone, and in the photograph as well, this head has the appearance noted in the text, a more careful examination of the photographic image magnified shows that the upper portion of the seemingly human face is in truth that of a tigre, while the flowing beard is the remaining part of a mutilated human face.

31 Le mithe de Votan. H. de Charencey, Alençon, 1871.

32 Pronounced Shibalbay.

33 Discovered by Spaniards in 1750, but no illustrations were published until 1834.

34 Meaning dumb, because they could not pronounce certain letters of the Cakchiquel alphabet.

35 Topiltzin Acxitl, the Tultec king of Copantl.

36 This recalls the Kahili, or feather standard, the symbol of authority in the Hawaiian Islands.

37 The signification of these names, as given by a distinguished scholar, is as follows: Hunahpu, the one master of supernatural power; Vuch, opossum; Gucumatz, decorated with feathers; Xmucane, female vigor; Xpiyacoc, membrum virile (xiphil, and ococ, to enter); Huracan, one very great (hun, one, and racan, great); Cabracan, second great one; Chirakan, ostium vaginæ; Tepeu, high.

38 It is probable that at this time they circumcised their sons, although we have no direct statement to that effect. The Mayas practised this sanatory measure, which seems to have had no religious significance. Stone knives were used, and only once.

39 I have often had the pleasure of conversing with cannibals, and they always assured me that the hands were the choicest morsel. It will be noted that, the Central American Indios always boiled their cannibal food, while the Pacific Islanders as generally roasted it. In one of the manuscripts preserved in the Vatican Library is a clear picture of this process, and the kettle seems large enough to receive the body whole.

40 It is the way of Christian communities to speak with holy horror of the human sacrifices these heathen were accustomed to offer at each new year to their gods; the bloodthirsty Christian Spaniards spoke much in the same way of these sacrifices three centuries ago. While the Indios did what they honestly believed was right, and did it in a most merciful manner, without torture, the cruel invaders, in the name of the gentle Jesus of Nazareth and of the Mother of God, burned these poor Indios alive by hundreds (Las Casas says by thousands), or gave them to be torn in pieces by the dogs. Let the Christian nations hold their peace over the human sacrifices of Central America, when they remember the Holy Inquisition, St. Bartholomew, and the tortures of Jews, Turks, witches, Quakers, and other heretics, sanctioned by the Christian Church,—murders so cruel, so unprovoked, that they make the sacrifices of the Indios seem no worse than justifiable homicide. Were the sacrifices to Tohil so much more sinful than the sacrifices so common in this enlightened nation of children born, or unborn, to the Molochs of Comfort or Reputation?

41 The Spaniards found, according to Herrera (Decade III. lib. iv.), paintings done at Utatlan eight hundred years before the Conquest, in which were represented the three kinds of royal insignia,—indicating an antiquity greater than that of the Aztecs.

42 Monarquia Indiana, lib. ii. ch. xii.

43 Among the curious illustrations in the Kingsborough Collection are coats of armor belonging to the nobles, consisting of a shirt of simple body-form, embroidered or painted with various devices. With these are helmets, sometimes of conical shape, but frequently in form of animal heads.

44 Carrera was a servant in the family of the Marquis de Aycinena; afterwards a drummer-boy in the regiment under his master’s command. A pamphlet was published to prove that this young half-breed was a natural son of Aycinena. From the countenance as represented on the coins there is indication of Negro and Indian, rather than Spanish, blood in his parentage.

45 “Art. 24. El ejercicio de todas las religiones, sin preeminencia alguna, queda garantizado en el interior de los templos; pero ese libre ejercicio no podrá extenderse hasta ejecutar actos subversivos ó practicas incompatibles con la paz y el órden público, ni da derecho para oponerse al cumplimiento de las obligaciones civiles y políticas.”

46 “Lectura, nociones practicas de la lengua patria, conocimientos de objectos, escritura y dibujo lineal, geografía e historia, moral y urbanidad.”

47 A new series of stamps was issued in 1886; and it is reported that they were furnished to the Government free of cost by a private individual, who asked as his only compensation the entire lot of stamps of the old issue then on hand. Evidently the rage for old postage-stamps has a money basis, and this contractor expects to get a corner on old Guatemaltecan stamps; and no doubt he will make profit on his venture.

48 These are not the edible figs, but many varieties of the fig family that form an important food for monkeys and birds. In the latter part of this book I have given a list of the more important trees of this forest region.

49 Professor Sereno Watson, of the Harvard College Herbarium, collected, during two winter months in the Department of Izabal, five hundred species of plants, many of them new to science (Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. xxi. pp. 456 et seq.). Notes of some of these will be found in the Appendix. He collected no less than twenty-five species of palms.

50 In the Appendix will be found a list of the woods under their local names; but as these vary in the different provinces, it will be of little use in determining the trees from which they are obtained. Rosewood is said to be furnished by at least three trees not connected botanically, and the application of the name “cedar” is as puzzling.

51 Mr. Coffin, the hospitable magistrate at Punta Gorda, gave me some of the best oil; and in the limited experiments I have tried with it, its properties much resemble those of coconut-oil.

52 Lahaina, Salangore, Elephant, Ribbon.

53 Even at nine cents per pound it pays as well as the best Jamaica at fourteen cents.

54 Cacao: How to grow and how to cure it. London: Prepared by the Jamaica Government.

55 Compendio de la Historia de la Ciudad de Guatemala, t. 2, p. 95, ed. 1818.

56 The Colony of British Honduras. D. Morris, London, 1883, p. 76.

57 British Honduras, p. 100.

58 The Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 56.

59 Compendio, t. ii. p. 94, Concerning the Tepulcuat.

60 See Appendix for account of the habits of the zompopos.

61 Dollfus et Montserrat, Voyage géologique dans les républiques de Guatemala et Salvador. Paris, 1868.

62 Not for the pseudo-geologists who see glacial action on every bed of recent lava or in every railroad embankment.

63 Vandegehuchte.

64 Rockstroh.

65 Brasseur de Bourbourg, ii. 44.

66 La Sociedad Económica, No. 6, March 14, 1880.

67 Thomas Belt, The Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 71.