Commercial transactions are limited to the supply of retail dealers in the city and country. The principal articles of trade are dry goods, imported from England and France, by the way of the Balize and Havana. The exportation of the products of the country is conducted through the same channel; but owing to the poverty of the soil, and the supineness of the people, it is likewise very circumscribed. On the whole, so far as my personal observation has yet extended, the land presents a barrenness of appearance which offers few of those inducements that have been held out for emigration, either to the husbandman or the mechanic.
The agricultural products of Yucatan are numerous. Corn, resembling that of New England, which constitutes one of the principal articles of food, and from which tortillas are prepared, is raised here in great abundance. Also black beans, so well known to travellers by the name of frejoles, constitute an agricultural staple of the country. Heniken is cultivated, and prepared for exportation, to a considerable extent. It is known in the United States as “Sisal hemp,” and takes its name from the port whence it is shipped. It is indigenous, and grows upon a rocky and apparently barren soil, to the height of about twelve feet, from a short rough trunk. It is cut at a certain period, and the fibres drawn out and dried, after which it is prepared and put up for the market. Sugar and cotton are raised in some of the eastern districts; but very little attention is paid to their cultivation beyond the small demand for the home consumption. Hats, from the leaf of the palm, are manufactured in the interior in large quantities for exportation, and are shipped at Campeachy. They are known in our market as the “Campeachy hat.”
There has been much speculation, to little purpose, respecting the original inhabitants of Yucatan. It is a subject so involved in doubt, that any satisfactory conclusions can scarcely be expected. Waldeck[[1]] is of opinion that it was settled by different nations, broken off from Tabasco and other states, who particularly used the Maya idiom. He gives further evidence of this fact, from the facial formation observable in sundry of the Indians at Merida, particularly in the women, who resemble, in their physiognomy, the sculptured faces upon the stones at Palenque. The delicately tapered straight leg, small knee joints, and large shoulders, are mentioned as characteristics strongly marking a similarity of descent. The more distant Indians, and especially those of the mountains, have preserved their idioms as well as their ancient customs in a much greater degree—their language being more pure, and their manners more uniform.
That these people are the descendants of the ancient Mayas, there is hardly room to doubt. That tongue now pervades the whole peninsula, and is understood and spoken even by the whites. They were well known to be far advanced in civilization when first discovered, the strongest evidences of which are scattered throughout the province. Their calendars have been deciphered; and their astronomical symbols and hieroglyphical signs have been identified with those of the Mexicans. They had also their picture writings, called analthes, which were executed upon bark, and folded up in the same shape as books.[[2]]
Waldeck says, and a residence of several years gives weight to his impressions, that the Maya now spoken partakes very little of the ancient language of the country; more especially in the neighborhood of large towns and cities. The continued intercourse that has existed between the Indians and Spaniards, since the conquest, has Castilianized their idiom to such an extent, that the original is nearly lost to those who are now held in vassalage. The affinity observable between the Maya and Tchole dialects proves them to be a complete medley; and that this mixture occurred at an early period, he was convinced from the proofs he held in his own possession of the ancient idioms. For instance, in referring to his vocabulary, he finds that those words ending in un, in the Tchole tulum, (a circle,) are tulun. The x has the sound of ch in church. The Mayas are indebted to Francis Gabriel Bonaventure, author of a work published in 1560, called Arte del Idioma Maya; and to R. P. F. Pedro Beltran, who wrote in 1746,[[3]] two Franciscan monks, for this style of pronunciation. Waldeck affirms, that the language now spoken in Yucatan is not that for which those authors laid down the principles.
It appears that these people had no written language other than their hieroglyphics. The idioms now used were put into their present shape by their conquerors, from sounds representing things, gathered from the lips of the Indians. Definitions of their figurative writing, so far as it can be ascertained, might lead to more satisfactory results. They might serve as guides to some knowledge of a race, which evidently practised the useful and the ornamental arts; but which probably had emigrated to this hemisphere previous to the invention of letters.
The Maya dialect is very barren of expression; and, to a stranger, difficult of pronunciation. The same word often conveys different meanings, from the peculiar manner of sounding it. In fact, to speak it well, requires careful study, and an untiring practice. Under these obstructions, it would take a long time to become so familiarized to the tongue, as to be able to communicate with that people in a way to discover any of those traditions that may yet lurk among them. But, after all, they are like an exhausted mine; the metal which the curious seek has been extracted; and it need only be sought for in those regions where the soil has never been disturbed.
The dress of the Indian is of the simplest kind. His food principally consists of corn; which is prepared by parboiling, and crushing on a stone by means of a roller. When ready, it is made into balls; and, after being mixed with water, it is ready to be eaten. Corn is broken in the same way, and made into cakes called tortillas, which are the favorite food of all classes of society in this province. The wages for Indian service are from one to four dollars per month; the largest portion of which, in very many cases, is expended for candles and other offerings to their chosen saint. In general these Indians are extremely mild and inoffensive. Drinking is their most decided vice; but even this, as we have already remarked, cannot be called a prevailing one. They are a listless rather than indolent race, and never “think for the morrow.” They have quite an amiable expression in their countenances, and their mode of conversation is pleasing. Their features remind one of those of the Asiatic more than of any other. Their stature is short and thick-set, having but little resemblance to that of the North American Indian. We looked in vain for their pastimes—they have none, except those connected with the church. They seldom dance or sing. They are wholly under the surveillance of the priests, and are the most zealous devotees to their rites and ceremonies. Their hours of leisure are passed in their hammocks, or else in silently squatting about the corners of the streets. Though they wear the outside show of freedom, they have not even as much liberty as the most abject vassal of the middle ages. They are literally degraded to the position of serfs. They are always in debt, and are consequently at the mercy of their creditors, who, by the law of the country, have a lien upon their services until their debts are cancelled. This, together with the absence of nearly all the ordinary encouragements to exertion, common in a colder climate, and among a more progressive people, conspires to keep the Indian Yucatecos in a state of listless bondage, which they endure without a murmur, and we may add, from our own observation, without much positive suffering. Legalized slavery, as it is well known, does not exist in any part of Mexico.
A YUCATECO INDIAN’S HOUSE.