Bachajon was a strictly Indian village, for the natives objected to any white people or Ladinos settling amongst them. In the Plaza we found numbers of Indians congregated together. They differed greatly from those that I had hitherto seen both in appearance and dialect. The men wore a white cloth folded round the head, and white frocks and trousers. The women wore a white frock cut open and square over the shoulders, and below this a blue skirt reaching nearly to the feet. Their thick black hair was tied back with a strip of bright red cotton. Many of the younger women were handsome, but their figures were spoilt and bent by the custom of carrying large water jars on the hip. The men were of a larger stature than the natives on the Pacific side of the Cordilleras, and their skin was of a dark copper colour. Their faces were broad, but the cheek bones were not so high as is usual with the North American Indians. Their hair was long, black and very thick, and their eyes were dark, large, round and restless. With all of them the nostrils were very wide.
The church was in ruins, the roof had entirely disappeared, and only the porch and outer walls remained standing. I remained for several hours in the Plaza, and my attention was directed to a remarkable observance. The Indians, when returning from their fields upon the completion of their day’s work, invariably, before going to their huts, went to the front of the ruined porch. There they knelt down and prayed for some minutes. I was deeply interested in observing the practice of this custom. There was something that appealed strongly to the imagination in witnessing the simple and earnest devotion of these wild, ignorant and uncivilised people. It was impossible to conjecture what was present in their minds, as one by one they, in their solitary manner, knelt devoutly before these ruined walls. Possibly they worshipped in their memory the images that, many years before, had been enshrined within.
In the evening, as we approached Chilon, we met hundreds of Indians, men and women, all of whom came forward by the side of my mule, and inclined their heads saying “Tá” (Padre.) Bito told me that they supposed that I was a priest, and that they expected me to follow the custom of the priests and put my hand upon their foreheads. As I did not wish to sail under false colours, I made an objection to this proceeding, but Bito said that if I did not do it the Indians would feel distressed, and would not understand why they were treated in an unkind manner. He also begged me to do what they wished, or otherwise some trouble might arise, as many of the men appeared to be in a half-drunken condition.
At Chilon I was welcomed by the Justicia, to whom I had a letter from Don Manuel Cansino. The town was in a state of much excitement. It was the commencement of the Carnival, an event which caused a considerable degree of anxiety and apprehension in the minds of the officials. Processions of Indians, dressed in appropriate costumes, were marching through the town, and groups of wild-looking men were dancing to the sounds of rudely shaped fifes and hollow wooden drums. In the morning these Indians, in accordance with their annual custom, performed a dance before the door of each house. These dancers were supposed to be dressed like the conquerors. They wore red, slashed doublets, and loose white trousers. They carried spears or lances with coloured pennons. The scene was bright, gay and picturesque.
During the day I discharged Bito, and obtained a guide to accompany me to Yajalon. We arrived there about sunset and the Presbitero Fernando Macal received me with much kindness and attention. At Yajalon the Indians had assembled in great numbers and the Carnival was at its height. Here as at Chilon, the performances chiefly consisted of processions and dances. There were also horse races in front of the cabildo, and one of the most curious scenes was the representation of the Spaniards entering a captured city on horseback. The Indians were Tzendales of the same race as those at Bachajon and were very wild looking men. An important part of the festival consisted in eating as great a quantity of food as possible, and drinking copious draughts of strong spirits. In the evening there was much drunkenness.
The Carnival lasted for three days, and during that time I had to remain in Yajalon, as no Indian could be found who would willingly leave this scene of revelry and excitement. On the second day the President called upon me at the convent, and informed me that, in his opinion, it would be highly dangerous for a white man who was a stranger, to venture out into the open country before the Indians had recovered from the effects of the carnival, as, in consequence of their known hatred to all white people, it was impossible to say what might happen when they were in an excited condition. In anticipation of local troubles he had organised a small police force which was employed in patrolling the pueblo day and night, for the purpose of preventing any quarrels of castes. He had also a company of seventy soldiers prepared to act in the event of any serious outbreak. As far as I could judge, the Indians, when in a drunken state, were quiet and inoffensive, but the President was evidently very anxious about their conduct.
As I had no share in the responsibility for maintaining good order, the strange life and the sounds of drums and fifes and marimbas afforded me inexhaustible pleasure and amusement. The pretty dresses of the women also added much to the charm of the scene. Many of these Tzendal women were very handsome. Their heads were well set upon finely shaped throats and shoulders. Their costume consisted of a long white frock cut open round their neck, and embroidered with red and yellow squares, which had a pleasing effect of colour. But not only was the festival attractive from the quaint and novel character of the scene, but it was also most enjoyable weather. The skies were blue, the sun was bright, and the surrounding hills and valleys formed an agreeable contrast. There was perhaps a slight, underlying sense of danger and a doubt as to what would occur after sunset, and what might be the effect of the subsequent orgies upon the savage natures of these Indians. Possibly what began at daylight as a drama might end at night as a tragedy. The conduct of the timorous half-caste population or Ladinos was remarkable. They were conscious that they were hated by the Indians, and consequently they remained within their houses, and kept themselves out of sight.
The dances and processions are said to have been taught by the Spanish monks. It is evident that they usually have some connection with the events of the wars between the Spaniards and the Moors, for the Indians always speak of these representations under the general name of “los Moros.” But they are also mixed up with other subjects which, not improbably, have some relation to events that happened before Cortes conquered Mexico.
There was a peculiarity in the Indian character which was noticeable in all their proceedings. This was the absence of all conversation amongst the numerous spectators. The games, races and processions, the beating of the wooden drums and the continuous sounds of the marimbas went on incessantly, but there was no other noise and no murmur of human voices. The gift of speech with these tribes seems almost unnecessary for the purposes of their lives, and the language of signs would possibly be sufficient for their requirements.
The Spaniards in the sixteenth century were astonished by the extraordinary debauchery of the Indians during their festivals. The events which occurred upon these occasions, especially in Yucatan, surprised the soldiers belonging to a nation remarkable for its sobriety. The Indians in Cuba, Hayti, and the islands of the Caribbean sea, and those inhabiting Florida, the valley of the Mississippi, and other parts of North America, had no knowledge of an intoxicating spirit. The origin of the excessive insobriety amongst the Mexican Indians is clearly traceable to the indigenous growth of the Maguey (_Agave Americana_). This aloe grows abundantly in the sterile regions of Central America, and supplies a fluid which, after undergoing certain preparations, is highly alcoholic.