In addition to the peoples thus far mentioned, there were undoubtedly in Nicaragua, and probably in Salvador, nations of nearly pure Aztec blood and language. The former are known among different authors as Nicaraguans, Niquirans, or Cholutecs, and they occupied the coast between lake Nicaragua and the ocean, with the lake islands. Their institutions, political and religious, were nearly the same as those of the Aztecs of Anáhuac, and they have left abundant relics in the form of idols and sepulchral deposits, but no architectural remains. These relics are moreover hardly less abundant in the territory of the adjoining tribes, nor do they differ essentially in their nature; hence we must conclude that some other Nicaraguan peoples, either by Aztec or other influence, were considerably advanced in civilization. The Nahua tribes of Salvador, the ancient Cuscatlan, were known as Pipiles, and their culture appears not to have been of a high order. Both of these nations probably owe their existence to a colony sent southward from Anáhuac; but whether in Aztec or pre-Aztec times, the native traditions, like their interpretation by writers on the subject, are inextricably confused and at variance. For further details on the location of Central American nations I refer to the statement of tribal boundaries at the end of Chapter VII., Volume I., of this work.
I here close this general view of the subject, and if it is in some respects unsatisfactory, I cannot believe that a different method of treatment would have rendered it less so. To have gone more into detail would have tended to confuse rather than elucidate the matter in the reader's mind, unless with the support of extensive quotations from ever-conflicting authorities, which would have swollen this general view from a chapter to a volume. As far as antiquity is concerned, the most intricate element of the subject, I shall attempt to present—if I cannot reconcile—all the important variations of opinion in another division of this work.
In the treatment of my subject, truth and accuracy are the principal aim, and these are never sacrificed to graphic style or glowing diction. As much of interest is thrown into the recital as the authorities justify, and no more. Often may be seen the more striking characteristics of these nations dashed off with a skill and brilliance equaled only by their distance from the facts; disputed points and unpleasing traits glossed over or thrown aside whenever they interfere with style and effect. It is my sincere desire, above all others, to present these people as they were, not to make them as I would have them, nor to romance at the expense of truth; nevertheless, it is to be hoped that in the truth enough of interest will remain to command the attention of the reader. My treatment of the subject is essentially as follows: The civilized peoples of North America naturally group themselves in two great divisions, which for convenience may be called the Nahuas and the Mayas respectively; the first representing the Aztec civilization of Mexico, and the second the Maya-Quiché civilization of Central America. In describing their manners and customs, five large divisions may be made of each group. The first may be said to include the systems of government, the order of succession, the ceremonies of election, coronation, and anointment, the magnificence, power, and manner of life of their kings; court forms and observances; the royal palaces and gardens. The second comprises the social system; the classes of nobles, gentry, plebeians and slaves; taxation, tenure, and distribution of lands; vassalage and feudal service; the inner life of the people; their family and private relations, such as marriage, divorce, and education of youth; other matters, such as their dress, food, games, feasts and dances, knowledge of medicine, and manner of burial. The third division includes their system of war, their relations with foreign powers, their warriors and orders of knighthood, their treatment of prisoners of war and their weapons. The fourth division embraces their system of trade and commerce, the community of merchants, their sciences, arts, and manufactures. The fifth and last considers their judiciary, law-courts, and legal officials. I append as more appropriately placed here than elsewhere, a note on the etymological meaning and derivation, so far as known, of the names of the Civilized Nations.
ETYMOLOGY OF NAMES.
[Acolhuas];—Possibly from coloa, 'to bend,' meaning with the prefix atl, 'water-colhuas,' or 'people at the bend of the water.' Not from acolli, 'shoulder,' nor from colli, 'grandfather.' Buschmann, Ortsnamen, pp. 85, 89. 'Coloa, encoruar, o entortar algo, o rodear yendo camino.' 'Acolli, ombro.' 'Culhuia, lleuar a otro por rodeos a alguna parte.' Molina, Vocabulario. Colli, 'grand-father,' plural colhuan. Colhuacan, or Culiacan, may then mean 'the land of our ancestors.' Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 204-5. 'El nombre de aculhuas, ó segun la ortografía mexicana, aculhuaque, en plural, y no aculhuacanes, ni aculhues.' Dicc. Univ., tom. i., p. 39. 'Col, chose courbe, faisant coloa, colua, ou culhua, nom appliqué plus tard dans le sens d'ancêtre, parce que du Colhuacan primitif, des îles de la Courbe, vinrent les émigrés qui civilisèrent les habitants de la vallée d'Anahuac.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Quatre Lettres, p. 407. 'Colhua, ou culhua, culua, de coltic, chose courbée. De là le nom de la cité de Colhuacan, qu'on traduit indifféremment, ville de la courbe, de choses recourbées (des serpents), et aussi des aïeux, de coltzin, aïeul.' Id., Popol Vuh, p. xxix.
Aztecs;—From Aztlan, the name of their ancient home, from a root Aztli, which is lost. It has no connection with azcatl, 'ant,' but may have some reference to iztac, 'white.' Buschmann, Ortsnamen, pp. 5-6. 'De Aztlan se deriva el nacional Aztecatl.' Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., p. 158. 'Az, primitif d'azcatl, fourmi, est le mot qui désigne, à la fois, d'une manière générale, la vapeur, le gaz, ou toute chose légère, comme le vent ou la pluie; c'est l'aile, aztli qui désigne aussi la vapeur, c'est le héron dans aztatl. Il se retrouve, avec une légère variante, dans le mot nahuatl composé, tem-az-calli, bain de vapeur, dans ez-tli, le sang ou la lave; dans les vocables quichés atz, bouffée du fumée, épouvantail, feu-follet.... Ainsi les fourmis de la tradition haïtienne, comme de la tradition mexicaine, sont à la fois des images des feux intérieurs de la terre et de leurs exhalaisons, comme du travail des mines et de l'agriculture. Du même primitif az vient Aztlan "le Pays sur ou dans le gaz, az-tan, az-dan, la terre sèche, soulevée par les gaz ou remplie de vapeurs."' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Quatre Lettres, p. 311.
Chalcas;—'Il nome Chalcho vale, Nella gemma. Il P. Acosta dice, che Chalco vuol dire, Nelle bocche.' Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 253. Buschmann believes Acosta's definition 'in the mouths' to be more correct. Ortsnamen, p. 83. 'Chalca, Ce qui est le calcaire; c'est l'examen de tous les vocables mexicains, commençant en chal, qui m'a fait découvrir le sens exact de ce mot; il se trouve surtout dan chal-chi-huitl, le jade, littéralement ce qui est sorti du fond du calcaire.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Quatre Lettres, pp. 403, 406.
Cheles;—'Le Chel dans la langue maya est une espèce d'oiseaux particuliers à cette contrée.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 19.
Chiapanecs;—Chiapan, 'locality of the chia' (oil-seed). Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 187. 'Chiapanèque, du nahuatl chiapanecatl, c'est-à-dire homme de la rivière Chiapan (eau douce), n'est pas le nom véritable de ce peuple; c'est celui que lui donnèrent les Mexicains.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 87.
Chichimecs;—'Chichi, perro, o perra.' Molina, Vocabulario. Chichi, 'dog'; perhaps as inhabitants of Chichimecan, 'place of dogs.' Mecatl may mean 'line,' 'row,' 'race,' and Chichimecatl, therefore 'one of the race of dogs.' Buschmann, Ortsnamen, pp. 79, 81. 'Chichimèque veut dire, à proprement parler, homme sauvage.... Ce mot désigne des hommes qui mangent de la viande crue et sucent le sang des animaux; car chichiliztli veut dire, en mexicain, sucer; chichinaliztli, la chose que l'on suce, et Chichihualli, mamelle.... Toutes les autres nations les redoutaient et leur donnaient le nom de Suceurs, en mexicain, Chichimecatechinani. ... Les Mexicains nomment aussi les chiens chichime, parce qu'ils lèchent le sang des animaux et le sucent.' Camargo, Hist. Tlaxcallan, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 140. 'Teuchichimecas, que quiere decir del todo barbados, que por otro nombre se decian Cacachimecas, ó sea hombres silvestres.' Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 116. 'Chichimec ou chichimetl, suceur de maguey, et de là les Chichimèques.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., pp. 171, 56. Other derivations are from Chichen, a city of Yucatan, and from chichiltic 'red,' referring to the color of all Indians. Id., Popol Vuh, p. lxiii. 'Chi ... selon Vetancourt, c'est une préposition, exprimant ce qui est tout en bas, au plus profond, comme aco signifie ce qui est au plus haut.... Chichi est un petit chien (chi-en), de ceux qu'on appelle de Chihuahua, qui se creusent des tanières souterraines.... Chichi énonce tout ce qui est amer, aigre ou âcre, tout ce qui fait tache: il a le sens de sucer, d'absorber; c'est la salive, c'est le poumon et la mamelle. Si maintenant ... j'ajoute me, primitif de metl, aloès, chose courbée, vous aurez Chichime, choses courbes, tortueuses, suçantes, absorbantes, amères, âcres ou acides, se cachant, comme les petits chiens terriers, sous le sol où elles se concentrent, commes des poumons ou des mamelles.... Or, puisqu'il est acquis, d'après ces peintures et ces explications, que tout cela doit s'appliquer à une puissance tellurique, errante, d'ordinaire, comme les populations nomades, auxquelles on attacha le nom de Chichimeca.' Id., Quatre Lettres, pp. 111-12.