In Indian Mexico (1908)

by Frederick Starr

For a day we rested at Cuicatlan to make arrangements for a trip to the land of the Chochos. We complained bitterly to the jefe politico regarding the miserable animals which had been supplied us for our last journey, and demanded something better.

Frank had had enough of practical anthropology, and left us, so there were but four to be provided. At eight o'clock the following morning, four decent horses and two pack animals were waiting at our door. A mounted arriero was in charge, to accompany us. Although he had been inefficient on the preceding journey, the same jail-bird was sent with us, as mozo, whom we had had before. At 8:30 our party of six persons started; passing the river, which we forded, an excellent road took us, for a league, over the sandy plain, which was fairly grown with trees, supplying a little shade. The great pitahayas were in bloom, and their white flowers looked well against the ugly, stiff green branches. The roadside was bordered with acacias which, in full bloom, presented masses of golden balls and perfumed the air with their delicate odor. Passing a considerable sugar hacienda, the trail struck into the mountains, and for three hours we made a steady ascent. The road itself was excellent but the sun beat down with fearful force, and the heat was reflected from the bare road and the rock cliffs along which we travelled. At one place the vegetation consisted of a curious mixture of gigantic cactuses, rising as single stalks as high as telegraph poles but larger in diameter, and palms. Arriving at the crest, we saw a long plain stretching before us, presenting a mingled growth of palms and pines. At the very border of the ridge stood a hut of poles, where we stopped to drink tepache and to eat broiled chicken which we had brought with us. We found the old woman, an indian—neither Cuicatec, Chinantec, Mixtec, nor Zapotec, as we might expect—but a full Aztec from Cordoba. She was bright and shrewd, and, as we chatted with her, we noticed a little chicken a few days old awkwardly running about with curiously deformed feet. Upon my noticing it, the old lady remarked that the moon made it so. I inquired what she meant. She said, "Yes, we know it is the moon which shapes the bodies of all young animals." We followed the road a long distance over the hot plain, passing San Pedro Jocotepec to our left, and shortly after, struck up the mountain side and had another long and steady climb, until, at last, we reached the crest of all the district. Here and there, we encountered bits of limestone, which always, in this southern country, makes the worst roads for travel. The rain erodes it into the oddest of forms, leaving projecting ridges almost as sharp as knife-edges, with irregular hollows pitting the surface, so that it forms a most insecure and unpleasant foot-hold for the animals. Not only so, but the surface, rough as it is, is frequently as polished as glass, and, whether wet or dry, is slippery to the tread. Walking over these jagged surfaces of limestone is destructive to any shoes. A single afternoon of this will do more wear than a month of ordinary use. Troublesome as these limestones are, as roads, they are ever interesting, because the masses by the roadside present the most astonishing and beautiful forms of waterwear; upon a mass eight or ten feet across, there will be worn a system of ridges and intervening channels, which, in miniature, seems to reproduce the orographic features of the whole country.

WOMEN WITH BABIES; SAN JUAN ZAUTLA

CAIRN, ON ROAD TO COIXTLAHUACA

While we were passing over one of these limestone stretches, a little before reaching the summit, we found a spot of unusual difficulty. The two pack animals were together, one tied to the tail of the other; the second had several times acted badly, but in passing over this bit of road, he jumped and plunged, so that his pack loosened and slid to one side. Plunging, kicking, and falling, he dragged down the unfortunate beast to whose tail he was tied; the old rope tugged and creaked, and, for a moment, we expected to see the very tail of the forward animal pulled out, and both packs destroyed by the struggling beasts. Fortunately, at this moment, the rope itself broke. The forward animal was loosened and quickly quieted; but the other one kicked and struggled, with our load of plates and developing trays under him. Quickly cutting the ropes that held the burden, we tried to release the animal, but it lay exhausted, and, for a moment, we thought it dead. Really, however, it was not hurt at all, and the loads themselves appeared undamaged. The burdens having been repacked, we again started on the journey. At several places on this road, we had noticed cairns, or heaps of pebbles. On inquiring from Don Manuel—the funny little man, who had the animals in charge—we learned that every Chocho indian passing the place adds a pebble to the heap, to secure good luck and insure his safe return home. At the summit, we found one of these piles of stone surmounted by a cross, and learned that when the Chochos reach this spot, they always stop, repeat a prayer, and dance for good health and fortune before the cross. It was now almost dark. Soon we saw the downward slope, at the foot of which Huautla lay. We hastened down the slope, passing through a grove of oak trees, heavily loaded with bromelias; at the foot of the slope, we crossed a stream of clearest water, bordered with handsome cypress trees, and passing several houses, came to the one where we planned to stop for the night. It was now dark. There was no opportunity for sleeping in the hut, and so we prepared to lie down outside. The people in the house prepared tortillas and beans, and, after eating, we rolled up in our blankets and lay down on some dried corn-husks on the ground. It was a night of suffering; the cold was so great that our blankets furnished no protection, and the place swarmed with fleas innumerable. At last, at four o'clock, two hours before sunrise, we started on our journey in the hope of getting warm. The air was damp and heavy, and, until the sun rose, we had a desolate journey. We were again upon a limestone district, with interesting features of scenery, and with few difficulties in the road. We passed many oblong hills of limestone, the horizontal layers of which upon the slopes present tiers of steps, one behind the other. These hills were astonishingly overgrown with trees, and formed masses of the darkest green. There was a great deal of subterranean water, and sink-holes produced by caving over such streams were frequent. The soil generally was a residual red or brownish clay. Flocks of gray pigeons were startled from their roosts by our passing; and little doves were plentiful; great hawks and small eagles were seen in pairs, hovering high in the air. We passed several little ranches, to one of which the name of El Zapato is given from a foot-print which is said to be painted on the rocks at that point. Finally, we saw before us the hill behind which, Don Manuel assured us, lay Coxitlahuaca. To mount and drop down behind it seemed a simple thing, but we had to traverse the whole length of the rather irregular ridge, which seemed interminable. The road which led up to it was called the Rio Blanca—white river—an appropriate name, as it was broad and deeply worn into the soft rock of which the ridge consisted. When we reached the crest, we found the ridge extending as a flat plain of light, buff-colored tufa, with many trails worn deeply into it, and giving out, under the bright sunshine, a frightful reflection of light and heat. Long before we reached the end of this dreary stretch, we saw Coixtlahuaca and its adjoining indian villages, Nativitas and San Cristobal. As we drew nearer, the view was striking. The town is broad, but of little depth; its streets are laid out with regularity; its great church, with masses of ruin on either side, is conspicuous; the plaza is large for the size of the town. To one side of it are the portales and the town-house and jefatura. To the right of the town and behind it is a large, walled cemetery with many gravestones. Back of all, rise hills of tufa, such as we had just traversed. The houses, similar to those at Huautla, and in the country between there and here, appear to be constructed with a view to cold. At least, two houses usually occur in one inclosure; the one, more important, corresponds to the god-house of the Aztecs and the other to the cook-house. The former is better built, and has low, carefully constructed walls, and a high abruptly four-pitched, heavily thatched roof. Going to the jefatura, the young clerk there was much impressed by the documents we presented, and asked us if we would accompany him to the jefe's house, as thus no time would be lost. Upon arriving at the house of the jefe, we found that a wedding was about to be celebrated in the church. The jefe received us with magnificent promises; we should room at the palace, arrangements should be made for boarding at a private house, beds and other proper furniture should be brought immediately, and the following day we should journey on horseback through all the indian towns of the vicinity. This was all very fine, but we told him that meantime we were hungry—we had eaten nothing since the night before and then had fared badly—and that we must unload our animals, which we had left with the rest of our company, standing in front of the palace. The unloading was done at once and we were given the schoolhouse for our quarters, at the rear of the patio of the palace. At this moment, however, everything else was neglected for the wedding. This we all attended, and it was, indeed, an occasion. The bride in white, with veil and orange-blossoms, was accompanied by her mother, god-mother, and other female friends. She was really a pretty and wholesome indian girl, and the groom was a decent young mestizo, with gray wool sombrero, and linen jacket, cloth trousers, etc. He and his god-father were bustling about attending to all sorts of preliminaries. In the solemn procession which took place to the church, the company of ladies preceded; the jefe and myself led the line of male friends, and, when we filed into the church, the building was fairly filled. The special friends, including our party, moved in procession to the high altar, where the ceremony was performed. The bridal company knelt with candles in their hands. Other candles, some of enormous size, were burning in various parts of the church. The priest, with much ceremony, gave the sacrament of the communion to the couple, and then fastened two golden chains, crossing, about both their necks. A scarf of satin was placed upon them so as to cover both, passing over the head of the woman, and the shoulders of the man. From the church, our procession, dwindled to the particular friends and guests of honor, walked through the village to the justice-court, where the civil ceremony was performed. The matter having been accomplished with full respect to the requirements of the law, we thought again of dinner. The jefe told us that to-morrow we should go to our boarding-place, but that to-day we were to dine together in state. Time passed, hour after hour lagged by, until the mozo and arriero struck for money, with which to buy themselves something to eat. Meantime, we waited. Finally, at three o'clock in the afternoon, we were summoned, and the jefe, myself, and our companions, started down the hot, dusty, main street. On and on we walked, until, at last, the jefe himself impatiently demanded of our guide how far we had to go. At last, we heard the strains of music, and, shortly, found ourselves in a yard crowded with people, among whom two bands of music were present, one with stringed instruments and the other with brass. It was the house of the bride, and after a moment's waiting in the yard, we were ushered, by the jefe's clerk, into the building. It had been cleared of all its contents and a long table, set in the middle, ran lengthwise of the place. Benches were placed beside it. A line of vases, filled with bouquets, occupied the middle of the table and between these were bottles of wine, catalán, mescal, pulque, tepache, beer, etc. The ladies were already seated; we took the remaining seats. The company consisted of the bride and groom, their parents, god-parents, families, and particular friends. And then, we had a dinner which amply compensated for the thirty-six hours through which we had been fasting—good bread, soup, stews, broiled meat, mole, mole prieto, chicken, beans, sweetmeats, coffee, with the beverages before mentioned. Dishes, when they came in, were politely passed across the table to the ladies opposite; no one ate till all were served, and when we were through, the place was cleared, and another room full of friends sat down to the bountiful repast. And then a third, and then a fourth, till everyone had feasted, even to the commonest, and the musicians, to whom abundance was carried after those invited in had eaten. Through all this lengthy feasting the bands of music alternated with each other. When all had eaten, the women quickly cleared the house, the tables were moved, and all the chairs of the neighborhood were set stiffly around the walls, after which dancing began, continuing through the night.

COIXTLAHUACA

After having eaten, we stepped outside to visit with the crowd. Among them, several drunken men showed special friendliness. One of these insisted upon showing us an idol, which, from his description, should have been a rather beautiful piece. It turned out to be a very crudely-made head, wrought in coarse, cellular lava. Considering the material, the work was really fine; nor was it a fragment broken from the body, as there had never been more than what we saw. From here, a yet more drunken dulcero insisted on our going to his dulceria and bake-shop, where he told us that he had a much finer piece. We found he really had an enormous head, made of coarse, but rather bright, red stone; it was another example of the same type of separate head, a type which must be characteristic of the district.