The Boy Fortune Hunters in Yucatan

by L. Frank Baum

Chaka made no answer to this.

We now began to appreciate the advantages of the gauze protectors with which Paul had supplied us, perhaps at Chaka’s suggestion. The natives had promptly built smudge fires of damp forest leaves, in order to drive back the hordes of mosquitoes and other insects that settled in the camp as soon as we did. My, how those mosquitoes did sing! The Itzaex, accustomed as they were to the pests, squirmed and swatted the blood-suckers continually, while we in our armor and head-gear were proof against attack. Chaka himself, who had seemed until now too proud to pose before his people in any foreign attire, hastily assumed his outfit and slept in it all night. Old Gatcha the chief, who proved not a bad fellow on better acquaintance, frankly expressed his admiration for our devices and asked if we had any more “cages” in the chests. Since we could not accommodate him he lay down naked beside the smudge of a fire and let the winged vampires bleed him at their leisure.

All were up bright and early next morning and so swift was our progress during the day that when we again made camp Chaka assured us we were but three hours’ journey from the capital.

During this day we passed no villages, being told that the great City of Itza was the only congregation of dwellings on this side of their territory. To the west and south were a dozen or more important towns, with cultivated fields and orchards connecting them; but ages of warfare with the fierce Mopanes had taught them the danger of establishing villages in this district. Itza really served as a barrier, it being too populous and powerful to be attacked.

Chaka estimated the total population of Itzlan at over fifty thousand people, while the Mopanes could number no more than ten thousand, all told. This border warfare, however, was regarded as a mere incident in life by the Itzaex, who had other foes at the opposite borders of their domain. Nor did they devote all their time to fighting; they were mighty hunters and fishermen, as well as skilled in agriculture and certain crude manufacturers. According to the youthful atkayma there were no other tribes in Yucatan so powerful and civilized as the Itzaex, and I am inclined to think he was right.

By the way, the similarity of the names Aztec and Itzaex has induced some scholars to think they were originally one and the same race; but the earliest conquistadors, who knew both people, declared that the Itzaex were much the handsomer and more intelligent people, although their buildings and civilization were somewhat inferior to those of the race of Montezuma. We must take into consideration, however, the fact that the Spaniards were never able to penetrate far into Itzlan, while they conquered the Aztec territory with comparative ease—by the aid of treachery and audacious trickery.

On the second morning we were up before the dawn and a brisk march brought us presently to a broad, flat plateau that was very beautiful and enticing, as its green fields and waving grain lay glimmering in the sun. We were all glad to be out of the dark forests, and before long, on mounting an incline, we saw before us the white, low buildings of a vast city, built around the shores of a placid lake and shaded by groups of magnificent trees.

The extent of this great City of Itza amazed us all, and Chaka smiled proudly as he pointed out the royal palace, the great temple, and the strong walls and gateways.

On nearer approach the whiteness of the buildings became more grimy and weather-stained and the houses were found to be generally small and greatly scattered. We afterward learned that Itza has a population of nearly twenty thousand, which is certainly an extensive settlement to be hidden in the wilds of Yucatan. The walls included not only the buildings but the lake itself, and were thick and strong if not very high.

Beyond the city we saw for the first time the sierras, the highest mountains in the peninsula. It was mainly a range of rounded knolls, most of them being covered with verdure and easily accessible. Directly in the center, however, were four small rocky peaks and one towering one that seemed to rise into the clouds. The sides of the latter mountain seemed precipitous and formed of straight walls of rock.