The character of the Guatemalans exhibits a number of excellent traits. They have always been a gentle race, and easily led by kindness, but centuries of oppression have thrown over them a timid, brooding spirit. Far from warlike, they have nevertheless proved themselves efficient soldiers during the late civil wars. Their honesty and faithfulness to a trust or engagement is universally admitted, and every traveler bears witness to their hospitality and obliging disposition. Although taciturn before strangers, whom they naturally distrust, they are quite voluble and merry among themselves, especially the women; their mirth, however, wants the ring of true happiness. Looking at the darker side, it is found that drunkenness stands preëminent, and if the native is not oftener drunk, it is because the means for carousing are wanting. Surrounded by a bountiful nature, he is naturally lazy and improvident, whole days being passed in dreamy inaction, without a symptom of ennui. He is obstinate, and clings to ancient customs, yet he will not dispute with you, but tacitly forms his own opinion. Taught to be humble, he does not possess much manliness, has a certain cunning, will weep at trifles, and is apt to be vindictive, especially if his jealousy is aroused. The highlanders form an exception to these general characteristics in many respects. The purer air of the mountain has infused in them a certain independent energy, and industry. Nor are the women to be classed as lazy, for their position is rather that of slaves than of wives, yet they are vivacious and not devoid of coquetry, but of undisputed modesty. Many of the remoter tribes are brave, and the Manches, for instance, behaved lately in so spirited a manner as to compel the government to treat with them. The Itzas are said to have been warlike and cruel, but their neighbors the Lacandones are not so ferocious as supposed. The Quichés bear a high character for industry, and intelligence, while those of Rabinal excel in truthfulness, honesty, and morality. The Vera Paz tribes are less active and industrious than those of the plateau; this applies especially to the eastern nations who are also more stupid than the western. The Salvador people are noted for their phlegmatic temperament, and the provoked stranger who seeks to hurry them, is merely laughed at; otherwise they, as well as the Nicaraguans, are more docile and industrious than the Guatemalans, but also more superstitious. Scherzer thinks that they have all the inclination for becoming robbers, but want the energy. The Aztec remnants in Nicaragua are particularly patient and thrifty, but extremely shy and brooding. The Chontales, on the other hand, are said to have been a savage and debased race, while the Cholutecs were brave and cruel but subject to petticoat rule. Opinions concerning the intelligence of the natives and their prospect of advancement are varied, some affirming that they are dull and spiritless, incapable of making any progress, while others assign them a high character and intelligence, which, properly directed, would give them a prominent position.[979]
THE MOSQUITOS.
The Mosquitos, the second division of the Central American group, are at the present day composed in part of an incongruous mixture of Carib colonists and negro importations, and in part of a pure native element. Owing to the independent spirit of the tribes along the central chain of mountains, which successfully resisted the attempts of Spaniards to penetrate the territory, and to the unhealthy climate of the coast, this country, with the exception of the northern part of Honduras, has as yet escaped subjection to the white race. The country, aside from the sea-shore, possesses many attractive features. The transverse ranges, radiating from the principal chain, form a series of terraces which gradually lessen in elevation, until they disappear in a low coast region. Between them innumerable rivers, fed by the moisture-laden sea-winds, now rushing boisterously from heavily wooded heights, now sluggishly wending their way through luxuriant prairie-land, flow through a region of most pleasing variety, and at last empty into vast lagoons bordering the ocean. The aborigines still form the greater part of the population, and are composed of a large number of tribes which, while practicing agriculture to a limited extent, subsist chiefly on natural fruits and on the products of the chase. Excepting the small tribes of the eastern Mosquito country, Mr Squier, who has given much patient research to their languages, includes the natives of this sub-division among MOSQUITO NATIONS. the Lenca family, at the head of which stand the Guajiqueros in western Honduras, essentially an agricultural people. East of these are the Xicaques, and Poyas, names given to a collection of closely related tribes, some of which have been brought under the subjugating influences of the missionary Fathers, while others still keep their ancient customs intact. The Secos on Black River are included by some writers with the Poyas. South and west of these are the Moscos, and in the western part of the Mosquito coast, the Woolwas, who still cherish a tradition of their emigration from the north-west. East of the latter live the Towkas and Cookras, who extend to Blewfields, and speak dialects varying little from the Woolwa tongue, but stand lower in the scale of humanity. Bell states that the Towkas are merely a branch of the Smoos, who have many points in common with the Poyas, though differing from them in language. Among other aborigines may be mentioned the Albatuinas, Tahuas, Panamekas, Jaras, Taos, Gaulas, Itziles, Motucas, and the Ramas on the Blewfields lagoon; of several others the names are either lost or unknown. Following the coast southward we meet the Caribs, a strong, hardy, but crude race at present, of varied negro admixture, chiefly descended from the turbulent natives of San Vicente island, whom the English transported in 1796 to the island of Roatan, whence they were brought over to Honduras. The Caribs, who have within a few decades spread from a small colony over the whole northern coast, driving other nations into the interior and southward, appear to be superseding the aborigines, now fast disappearing under the annihilating effect of drink and disease. South of the Caribs round cape Gracias á Dios are the Sambos, or Mosquitos proper, said to have sprung from the union of native women with negro slaves wrecked on the coast during the seventeenth century. Owing to their geographical position they were brought in contact with the buccaneers, and placed in a position to gain ascendancy over other tribes from the Poyas southward, but were at the same time inoculated with the degrading vices and disorders which are now so rapidly bringing about their extinction. Elated by their position as masters of the coast, they assumed the proud title of Waiknas, or men, in which conceit they have been imitated by the subjected tribes, which are gradually adopting the Sambo tongue. Adjacent to them are the Toonglas, a not very numerous offshoot of Smoos and Sambos.[980]
Race-mixtures in certain localities have almost obliterated aboriginal types, which are portrayed as of medium stature, regular form, and varying in color from light brown to dark coppery. The people about cape Gracias á Dios are represented by the first voyagers to have been nearly as dark as negroes. The face is rather flat and oval, the head smaller than among Europeans; forehead high and cheek-bones not very prominent; hair long, straight, coarse, and black; beard scanty; nose very small, thin, and usually aquiline among the coast people, but larger and broader toward the interior. The iris of the eye is generally black, but often verges toward brown; mouth broad, with thin lips and regular teeth. The women present a full bust and abdomen; they are called pretty, but early marriages soon make them old. It is suspected that infant murder has something to do with the rarity of deformed people. The Towkas and Ramas present the finest pure-blooded type, the former being very fair, while the latter are large, athletic, and stern-looking. The Poyas are copper-colored, short, but muscular, broad-faced, with large forehead, bent nose, and small, mild eyes. The Toonglas are duskier; the Smoos approach the fair Towkas in hue, though they have a flatter head, accompanied by a stolid look. The darkest of all are the Woolwas, whose color seems a mixture of yellow ochre and India ink. Proceeding to Honduras, we meet the Caribs, whose varied admixture of negro blood separates them into yellow and black Caribs. The former are distinguished by a somewhat ruddy hue, with a hooked nose; while his duskier brother is taller, hardier, and longer-lived; with a nose inclining to aquiline. Children are prettier as they approach the negro type. The hair varies in curl and gloss according to purity of blood. The Mosquitos proper are more uniform in appearance, and buccaneers have no doubt assisted in bringing out many of the characteristics that have obtained for the Sambo race the leading position on the coast. They are all well-built, raw-boned, nimble, and of a dull, dark, copper color. The face is oval, with a coarse, lustful expression, the hair rough, wavy, and black, eyes bright and remarkably strong; women pretty, with large eyes, and small feet and ankles.[981]
MOSQUITO PHYSIQUE AND DRESS.
A piece of cloth fastened at the waist in a twist or by a cord, and reaching to the knee, constitutes the native male costume in these parts, that of the women being somewhat shorter. This cloth is either of cotton, sometimes woven with down, or of fibres from the inner bark of the caoutchouc tree, beaten on stones till they become soft, and is often large enough to serve for a covering at night. Some are quite fanciful in color and design, and formerly they were painted. Those of the Woolwas are usually six feet long by three broad, striped blue and yellow; they are passed between the legs and fastened at the waist by a thong. The Xicaques, on the contrary, wear the cloth serape-fashion, by passing the head through a slit in the centre, and tying the folds round the waist. Even this scanty covering is often reduced to the smallest apron, and is dispensed with altogether in some parts, for modern travelers speak of natives in a naked state. Women occasionally wear a small square cloth, having an opening for the head, one part of which covers the breast, the other the back. In some parts chiefs are distinguished by a cotton cap, and a long sleeveless robe, open in front and often nicely ornamented; in other places men of rank wear turbans decorated with plumes and feathers, and dress in skins of eagles, tigers, and other animals; these are also used by the common people on festive occasions. The Smoos' head-dress is especially pretty, with its embroidery and feather-work. Ordinarily the long loose hair is deemed sufficient to protect the head, and is kept sleek and shining by palm-oil, which they say furthers its growth. The women have longer hair than the men, and often dress it in ringlets, seldom in a knot or wreath. The people of northern Honduras wear a lock hanging over the forehead; some highland chieftains, on the contrary, shave the front of the head, but allow the back hair to grow long, while the Poyas part theirs in the middle, keeping it in position with a band. That of the religious men reaches to the waist, and generally falls in braids behind. In mourning, both sides of the head are shaved, a bushy comb being left along the middle. Formerly all hair except that on the head, even eyebrows and lashes, was pulled out, because it was thought fit for animals only to have hair on the body. All go barefooted, and it is only where the native has to travel over a rough road that he puts on alparagats, or sandals of bark, wood, or skin, which are fastened by thongs round the foot. Whatever is wanting in actual dress, however, is made up by paint and ornaments, of which both sexes are equally fond. The face and upper part of the body are either uniformly daubed over or tattooed with rays, fanciful lines, and designs representing animals and the like, chiefly in red and black. Taste is not wanting in this adornment, for the tint is often delicate, and the black circles round the eyes indicate that they understand effect, increasing as they do the lustre of the orbs. Esquemelin states that when visitors were expected, the men combed the hair, and smeared the face with an ointment of oil and black powder, the women using a red admixture. Tattooing figures on the body by cauterization, as seen by Columbus on the Mosquito Coast, is still practiced in certain parts of the interior. Aboriginal Mosquitos also perforated ears, lips, and cheeks, to hold pendants of fish-bones and green stones; the holes in the ears being as large as eggs. The natives of Corn island not only carried large pieces of wood in the ears, but gradually enlarged the hole in the lower lip; at fifteen years of age the wood was removed and a tortoise-shell inserted. Women wore a tight bandage round the ankle to increase the size of their calves. Strings of tastefully arranged beads, bones, shells, and stones, and gaily colored bandages, were worn round the neck and wrist; the women adorning the legs and ankles in a similar manner, and also using feathers and flowers. Certain interior tribes, as the Smoos, esteem a round MOSQUITO HEAD-FLATTENING. forehead as a reproach, and hence the head is flattened, the effect of which would be more noticeable, were it not for the thick bushy hair. This head-flattening fashion here appears for the first time since we left the Columbian group; we shall see it once again further south, and that is all. The process here is essentially similar to that of the Columbians. When the infant is a month old, it is tied to a board, and a flat piece of wood, kept firm by bands, is placed upon the forehead. The child remains in this painful position for several months, the pressure increasing as the head grows.[982]
Towns there are none, except in certain parts; seldom do more than four or five houses stand in a group; the locality being changed at intervals for sanitary or superstitious purposes. A few upright posts planted in parallel lines, or in a circle, and occasionally interwoven with cane or leaves, support what may be called the hut proper, which is a sharply sloping, well-thatched palm-leaf roof with projecting eaves, reaching to within three or four feet of the ground. There is usually but one apartment, the floor of which is often coated with clay, and raised a little to avoid dampness. In the center is the fireplace, surrounded by household ware and cackling hens, and all round may be seen hammocks and nets suspended from the bamboo rafters. Some sleep on a frame-work of bamboo placed upon posts. The better class of houses contain partitions for the several families occupying it, and stand in fields enclosed by stalk fences. A village with many of the interior tribes consists of one large building, often one hundred feet long by thirty feet wide. The front and end of these structures are open, but the back is partitioned off into small closets with the bark of the cabbage-palms, each serving as a bedroom for a married couple, or for unmarried women. A platform immediately under the roof is used as a sleeping-place for the boys, and an apartment at the end of the hut is set apart for women about to be confined. Some of the Guajiquero villages contain over a hundred substantial huts of mud, or of cane plastered over and whitewashed. The Toonglas and Cookras, erect temporary sheds near the streams, during the summer, but seek more secure huts in the winter. Carib dwellings are the neatest of all; some are of cane, others of frame-work filled with mud. Cockburn relates that, during his journey through Honduras, he came across a bridge made of a net-work of cane, which was suspended between trees so that the centre hung forty feet above the surface of the stream. He found it very old and shaky, and concluded that it belonged to the remote past.[983]
FOOD IN HONDURAS.
Redundant nature here leaves man so little to do, as scarcely to afford an opportunity for development. The people of northern Honduras, according to Herrera, cleared the ground with stone axes, and turned the sod by main strength with a forked pole or with sharp wooden spades, and by this means secured two or three yields every year; but the present occupants scarcely take so much trouble. On marrying, the men prepare a small field for a few beds of yams, beans, cassava, and squash, some pepper, and pine-apples, besides twenty to thirty plantain and cocoa-nut trees, leaving their wives to give it such further care as may be required. Where maize is cultivated it is either sown two or three grains in holes two feet apart, or broadcast over freshly cleared woodland a little before the rainy season. The Poyas are the only people who cultivate respectable farms. Fishing is the favorite occupation of the coast tribes, and their dexterity with the spear and harpoon is quite remarkable. The proper time for catching the larger species of fish, such as the tarpom and palpa, is at night, when a fleet of pitpans, each with a pitch-pine torch in the bow, may be seen on the lagoon intermingling in picturesque confusion. One or two paddlers propel the boat, another holds the torch, while the harpooneer stands at the bow with a waisko-dusa, or staff, having a loosely fitting, barbed harpoon at one end, and a piece of light wood at the other. A short line attached to the harpoon, passes along the staff, and is rolled round this float for convenience. The glare of the torch attracts the fish and enables the bowman to spy his prey, which is immediately transfixed by the harpoon. Away it darts, but the float retards its progress, and points out its whereabouts to the boatmen, who again seize the line, and drag it to the shore. Occasionally the tarpom is taken in strong nets, the meshes of which require to be six inches square in order to entangle it. Manatees or sea-cows are caught in the early morning, and to get within striking distance of the wary animal, it is necessary to deck the canoe with bushes and leaves, giving it the appearance of a floating tree. The line attached to the harpoon is in this case payed out from the canoe, which is often trailed by the manatee in a lively manner. It generally takes several harpoons as well as lances to kill it. Smaller harpoons, without barb, with merely quadrangular points an inch and a half long and nearly as wide, are used for catching turtles so that the shell may not be damaged. As the canoe approaches, the turtle slides under the water; the bowman signalizes the oarsman how to steer, and when the turtle rises to breathe, it is speared, dragged into the canoes, and placed on its back. Some fishermen will jump into the water after the animal, and bring it up in their hands, but this feat is attended with danger, from bites and sharp coral. The hawk-bill turtle is set free after the shell has been stripped of its scales, but the green species is eaten, and its eggs, which are esteemed a dainty, are sought for in the sand by poking suspected places with a stick. Smaller fish are speared with the sinnock, a long pole with a fixed point. The river people take less pleasure in fishing, and resort thereto only as driven by necessity. Weirs of branches and clay are constructed, with a small outlet in the middle, where men are stationed to catch the passing fish with nets and spears. The Poyas employ a still surer method. The water is beaten with sticks for some distance above the weir, so as to drive the fish together; a quantity of juice extracted from a wild vine called pequine, which has a stupefying effect, is thrown into the water, and the men have merely to select the best looking, the smaller ones being allowed to float away and recover in the unadulterated waters below. The preserving of fish is the work of women, who cut them in slices,—sometimes rubbing them with salt,—and place the pieces on a framework of cane over the fire to be smoke-dried; after which they are exposed to the sun for a day or two. Part of the fish is cooked, or baked in oil, and eaten at MOSQUITO COOKERY. once. If we except the Smoos and Xicaques, who follow game with true precision and patience, the usual mode of hunting is as primitive as weir-fishing. A number of men assemble and set fire to the grass, which drives the terrified animals into a corner, where they are shot or struck down, or the game is entrapped in holes partly filled with water. The wild hog, the tapir, and deer supply most of the meat, which is cured in the same way as fish: some cutting the meat in strips, and curing it on the buccan, or grate of sticks, while others prefer the barbecue method which is to smoke-dry the whole animal. Certain old writers state that human flesh was eaten, but this is discredited by others, who think that the error arose from seeing the natives feast on monkeys, which, skinned, have much the appearance of humans. The statement of their eating raw fish may also be wrong, for the natives of the present day are very careful about thoroughly cooking their food, and even avoid fruit not fully ripened. A well-known article of food is the Carib bread, a sort of white hard biscuit made from cassava or mandioc roots, which are skinned, washed, and grated on a board set with sharp stones. The pulp is rinsed in water to extract the poisonous juice, and when it is sufficiently whitened by this means, the water is carefully pressed out, and the substance set to dry in the sun. The sifted flour is made into large round thin cakes, which, after being exposed to the sun for a while, are slowly baked over the fire. The Poyas make large rolls, which are wrapped in leaves and baked in the ashes. These soon become sour, and are then eaten with a relish. Others grind cassava or maize on the metate, and bake tortillas. A gruel is also made of the flour, and eaten with salt and chile, or syrup. One of their dainties is bisbire, the name given to plantains kept in leaves till putrid, and eaten boiled. Scalding hot cacao mixed with chile is the favorite stimulant, of which large quantities are imbibed, until the perspiration starts from every pore. Cacao-fruit is also eaten roasted. Notwithstanding the richness of the soil and the variety of its productions, the natives are accused of resorting to insects for food, and of eating their own vermin. The coast people have the greater selection, but trust mostly to fishing, while the interior tribes after natural products depend upon the chase. The Cookras subsist chiefly on the cabbage-palm. Sambo girls have a peculiar fancy for eating charcoal and sand, believing that their charms are improved thereby. No regularity is observed in eating, but food is taken at any hour, and with voracity; nor will they take the trouble to procure more, until the whole stock is consumed, and hunger drives them from their hammocks. The Poyas and Guajiqueros seem to be the only tribes who have any idea of providing for the future; the latter laying up a common reserve.[984]
Frequent bathing is the rule, yet the Sambos, who have a better opportunity for this, perhaps, than other tribes, are described as dirty in their surroundings, and, when warmed by motion, emit a disagreeable odor, arising from the use of ointments and powders. The Poyas, Xicaques, Secos, and especially the Caribs are, on the contrary, very cleanly in their habits.[985]