Imperfect description of the myths and rites of the Yucatecan Mayas are preserved in the old Spanish authors; while of the Quiches we have in the original their sacred book, the Popol Vuh with a fair translation by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg.[209] This may well be considered one of the most valuable monuments of ancient American literature, and its substantial authenticity cannot be doubted. Its first part presents a body of ancient mythology and its second the early history of the tribe. The latter is supplemented by a similar document relating to the history of their neighbors the Cakchiquels, written at the time of the conquest, which I have published from the unique MS. in my possession.[210] Many facts relating to their ancient mythology, history and superstitions were written down by educated natives of Yucatan in a series of documents entitled “the Books of Chilan Balam,” copies of a number of which have been preserved.[211] They are replete with curious material.
MAYA LINGUISTIC STOCK.
- Achis, in eastern Guatemala, now extinct.
- Aguatecas, in Aguacatan, Guatemala.
- Cakchiquels, in central Guatemala.
- Chaneabals, in eastern Chiapas.
- Chinantecos or Cinantecos, same as Tzotzils.
- Choles, in Depart. Palenque, in Chiapas.
- Chortis, in valley of Rio Montagua, near Copan.
- Huastecas, on Rio Panuco, north of Vera Cruz.
- Ixils, on head-waters of Rio-Salinas, in Guatemala.
- Lacandons, on the Rio Lacandon.
- Mams, in western Guatemala.
- Mayas, in peninsula of Yucatan.
- Mopans, north of the Chols, in Guatemala.
- Quekchis, on Rio Cahabon, in Guatemala.
- Quiches (Utlateca), head-waters of Rio Grande, Guatemala.
- Pokomams, south of Rio Grande, in Guatemala.
- Pokonchis, in central Guatemala.
- Tzendals, in Tabasco and Chiapas.
- Tzotzils, in Chiapas.
- Tzutuhils, south of lake Atitlan, Guatemala.
- Uspantecas, on Rio Negro, Guatemala.
11. THE HUAVES, SUBTIABAS, LENCAS, XINCAS, XICAQUES, “CARIBS,” MUSQUITOS, ULVAS, RAMAS, PAYAS, GUATUSOS.
The small tribe of the Huaves occupies four hamlets on the isthmus of Tehuantepec on the Pacific Ocean.[212] The men are tall and strong but the women are unusually ugly. Their occupation is chiefly fishing and they have the reputation of being dull. The language they speak is said to be of an independent stock, and according to various writers the tribe claims to have come from some part of the coast a considerable distance to the south. The vocabularies of their tongue are too imperfect to permit its identification.
The Subtiabas are inhabitants of the valley of that name near the modern city of Leon in Nicaragua. They were called Nagrandans by Mr. E. G. Squier,[213] because the site of ancient Leon was on the plain of Nagrando and the province also bore this name at the time of the conquest. They are probably the descendants of the ancient Maribois, whom both Oviedo and Palacios place a few leagues from Leon and to whom they ascribe an independent language; but it is an error of some later writers to confound them with the Chorotegans or Mangues, to whom they had no relationship whatever. Their language stands by itself among the inter-isthmian stocks.
The Lenca is spoken by several semi-civilized tribes in central Honduras. Its principal dialects are the Intibucat, Guajiquero, Opatoro and Similaton. It is an independent stock, with no affinities as yet discovered. The Guajiqueros dwell in remote villages in the San Juan Mountains southwest of Comayagua, the capital of Honduras. We owe to the late Mr. E. G. Squier vocabularies of all four dialects and an interesting description of the present condition of the stock.[214]
A little known tribe in a low stage of culture dwelt on the Rio de los Esclavos, the Xincas. They extended about fifty miles along the Pacific coast and thence back to the Sierra which is there about the same distance. The one vocabulary we have on their tongue shows some loan words from their Nahuatl neighbors the Pipiles, but in other respects it appears to be a stock by itself. Its radicals are generally monosyllabic, and the formation of words is by suffixes.[215] The tribe was conquered by Alvarado, in 1524, who states that their principal village was at Guazacapam. It was built of wood and populous. There are some reasons for believing that previous to the arrival of the Quiches and Cakchiquels on the plains of Guatemala that region was occupied by this nation, and that they gave way before the superior fighting powers of the more cultured stock.
The Xicaques live in the state of Honduras to the number of about six thousand. Their seats are on the waters of the Rio Sulaque and Rio Chaloma. They acknowledge one ruler, who is elective and holds the office for life. Their language contains a few Nahuatl words, but in the body of its vocabulary reveals no relationship to any other stock.
The word Carib is frequently applied by the Spanish population to any wild tribe, merely in the sense of savage or wild. Thus on the upper Usumacinta the Lacandons, a people of pure Maya stock, are so called by the whites; on the Musquito coast the uncivilized Ulvas of the mountains are referred to as Caribs. There are a large number of pure and mixed Caribs, probably five or six thousand, in British Honduras near Trujillo, but they do not belong to the original population. They were brought there from the island of St. Vincent in 1796 by the British authorities. Many of them have the marked traits of the negro through a mingling of the races, and are sometimes called “Black Caribs.” The Rev. Alexander Henderson, who has composed a grammar and dictionary of their dialect, gives them the name Karifs, a corruption of Carib, and is the term by which they call themselves.