CHAPTER XIII.
Camping on the plains.—A night amongst the hills in Chiapas.—Lopez.—Indian Sun worship.—Ocosingo.—An ancient idol.—Proposed expedition through the unknown region occupied by the Lacandones to British Honduras.—Bachajon.—Tzendal Indians.—Chilon.—Indian Carnival.—Yajalon.—Carnival amongst the Tzendales.—Drunkenness.—Dances.—Horse races.—Ruined Churches and Convents.—Influence of the Priests over the Indian Tribes.—Las Casas.—Forced labour.—The Presbitero Fernando Macal.
It was a fine February morning when we left Comitan. An Indian named Lopez was hired to guide me as far as Ocosingo, three days’ journey distant. No trustworthy man could be found who was acquainted with the country beyond that place. With regard to the subject of safety and fidelity, it was arranged that Lopez should receive half his wages in advance and the remainder upon his return. The money was deposited with my friend who engaged him. Lopez was also to bring back a letter from me to the effect that he had performed his duty, and that I was satisfied with his conduct. These measures of precaution were considered to be advisable.
After a long day’s ride we reached a place where we decided to pass the night. It was upon an open plain where we saw some muleteers encamped. As there were no trees upon which to hang the hammock, it was necessary to sleep on the ground. There was a heavy mist and everything was very damp. We noticed that the muleteers had taken off the halters from their mules and tied them together and placed the long rope thus made in a circle, within which they were sleeping. Lopez said that I must follow the same plan, which he explained to be a method employed to prevent serpents from crawling near them, the rough fibrous nature of the halter being so disagreeable to them that they would not pass over it. Consequently I was encircled in this manner and with a saddle for a pillow, endeavoured to get rest, but the thick mist was the cause of much discomfort. Lopez passed the time on guard, watching the mule.
The next day as early as possible we continued our journey. After passing a few huts called Jotána, we entered upon a wide expanse of undulating land well studded with trees. Here we met some Mexicans travelling on their way from their hacienda or farm. They were men, women, boys and girls, all bright and gay, riding horses and mules, galloping over the smooth grass land and enjoying the sunny weather. I took the opportunity of occasionally joining the laughing cheerful group, and I was sorry when we had to part company and follow different paths.
In the afternoon we reached a steep, sharp ascent. The track was difficult to trace, and in several places was almost impassable. Large masses of stone had fallen over it. There were also numerous deep, slippery ruts, through which the mule plunged with difficulty. It was sunset when, after having made our way over several leagues of this rough ground, we came to an open space, where it was thought expedient to stop. We found two trees, between which the hammock was secured. The mule was tethered within reach, and Lopez went to an adjacent wood and got some twigs and leaves to enable us to make a fire. This was a work of difficulty requiring great patience; no one but an Indian would have succeeded. The first supply of fuel, after half an hour’s useless endeavour, could not be ignited, and Lopez made a second expedition to find drier materials. Finally, when I thought that it was useless to continue the attempt, an accidental spark suddenly set fire to a dry leaf and we were soon sitting round a blazing mass of flame, and preparing a supper of tortillas and chocolate.
The air was too chilly and damp to permit of our expecting much rest, and the night was chiefly occupied in attending to the fire, and in listening to Lopez’s account of his superstitions and religious beliefs, and those generally held by his tribe. There was something in Lopez’s character which showed that he was possessed of a kind of devotional enthusiasm, which made his stories of Indian faiths, past and present, singularly interesting, because it was evident that he spoke with earnestness and as a man convinced. Thus the night passed away, and in the morning as soon the earliest signs of dawn appeared in the sky, and long before the sun had risen over the hills, we continued our journey northwards through Chiapas.
In the forenoon we reached the hamlet of San Carlos. I observed that Lopez went to the rising ground near at hand, and stood for several moments facing the sun, with the palms of his hands joined together and raised to the level of his face. He seemed to be muttering a request. When he returned I asked him what he had been doing. He said that the Indians of his tribe always thanked the sun in the morning for coming and giving light, and thus enabling men to work. In the evening they again thanked the sun for what had been done, and asked it to return again. They also offered prayers to the moon for the same reason, because it gave light and helped men to live. The stars they did not worship.
In answer to questions that I put to him, he said that the Indians always prayed or made offerings with reference to the world in which they lived, and for objects relating to themselves and their wants, and never took into consideration anything regarding a future life. He thought it was impossible to know if a man was to live again, or whether he was to be given some other shape or kind of existence. I told Lopez about the “adoratorio” in the Sierra Madre above Jacaltenango. He declared that the Indians near Comitan also had a stone image in a cave amongst the hills. He went there once a year to light a candle, “la sua candela,” before it, but it was usual amongst the men of his tribe to go there more frequently. The image was about two feet six inches in height, and had its arms folded. It was one of the ancient idols worshipped before the conquest.
From San Carlos there was a ride of six leagues over a less difficult road, and as we approached Ocosingo we passed through some fine scenery. The path followed the line of the summit of the hills, and commanded extensive views of both valleys. At Ocosingo, I called upon Don Remigio Salorzano, to whom I carried a note of introduction. Don Remigio told me that the ancient Indian ruins were over a league from the pueblo, but that there was very little to be seen there.
The temples were almost destroyed, and the materials had been taken away for building purposes. There were, however, fragments of stones covered with hieroglyphic characters still remaining there. I went with him to look at some idols that had been brought from the ruins. One of these at once arrested my attention. It was made of hard sandstone, and was about three feet high. The head was broken off, and had been taken away to prevent the Indians from worshipping it. I at first thought that the idol must have been made subsequent to the Spanish occupation of this part of Mexico, for by the costume it seemed to be intended to represent a Spanish cavalier. In front of the waist belt there was a small head surmounting a rudely shaped cross.