During the time that I was crossing the Cordilleras in the region which had been governed by the Quichés, I endeavoured to ascertain if there were any marked differences in the types or characters of the tribes then occupying the land. Near Patinamit I saw several groups of Kachiquels who were of the same race as the Quichés, and I noticed that in many respects they resembled the Dakotas, and in appearance were unlike the ordinary natives. I also observed in the district adjacent to Santa Cruz del Quiché that the Indians holding official positions in the villages were usually of a larger stature than the inferior men and, in their harsh and overbearing manner and features, recalled to mind the chiefs of the North American tribes. I found, however, that it was not possible to form definite conclusions based upon the facts that came within my personal observation. The Quichés are reserved in their intercourse with strangers. Whatever may be their comparative condition of wealth or poverty they all live in the same manner, and seem to be satisfied with the barest necessaries. Near Jacaltenango, when amongst the Mams, I met one of the richest and most influential of the Indians of that tribe. He was living like the meanest of the people, although he was the owner of a prosperous estate. This apparent equality in the habits of life is universal amongst the Indians.
In the sixteenth century, after the conquest, the caciques of the Quichés and Mams who had submitted to the Spaniards were accustomed to maintain a state ceremonial of considerable dignity; and at a later period the Indians who claimed to have held high rank and who were granted lands and privileges lived in a manner suitable to their condition. This comparative distinction has entirely disappeared. With respect to the migrations of the governing classes of the Quichés it is a matter of interest to observe that several of the Indian chiefs who accompanied the Spanish conquerors from Mexico, married the daughters of these Quichés, and said that they did so because they had discovered that they were of the same race as themselves.
In the consideration of subjects relating to the Indians it is necessary to discriminate between the observances of the aboriginal inhabitants and those of the races who were of foreign origin. Thus with respect to the superstitious and extremely devotional inclinations of the natives in Guatemala and Chiapas, it may be assumed that those instincts belong to the race who dwelt in those lands before they were conquered by the Toltecs and Aztecs; but the customs of sacrificing human beings to the gods together with other acts of barbarity were introduced from North America.
The Spaniards considered that the most evident proclivities of the masses of the natives were drunkenness and idolatry. The latter tendency prevailed to an excessive degree. Las Casas states that throughout New Spain the idols were so numerous that they could not be counted. During his journeys he found them in every place and of every kind, in their huts, in the villages, amongst the hills and in the sacred places. The numbers of them, he relates, were infinite. In the sixteenth century the Indians were gradually, but not without difficulty, brought under the control of the Spanish ecclesiastics. The idols were destroyed, and the superstitious practices, especially all those which were connected with the worship of demons, were suppressed.
The national instinct of idolatry still remains. There is in the nature of the aboriginal races a religious fervour which apparently forms an integral part of their character. They are also submissive and inoffensive, and it can be understood how any invading and warlike tribe would, without difficulty, conquer and control people having this mild disposition. It is not surprising that a fierce tribe of North American Indians was able to reduce them into a state of servile obedience. The Toltecs and, afterwards, the Aztecs would undoubtedly have introduced into Mexico the barbarous usages which prevailed amongst the tribes dwelling in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio, and these usages, when grafted upon the vices which existed amongst the natives, may have been the inciting cause of the revolting condition of national demoralisation which was so severely described by Bernal Diaz and other Spanish historians.
The Dominican missionaries in Guatemala observed that the Indians were passionately fond of dancing and singing. The joyousness which originally existed in their nature or temperament has become extinct. The usual tenour of their lives seems to be accompanied by a quiet, subdued melancholy. It is not improbable that, as a consequence of several centuries of Spanish domination, the aboriginal races have sunk into a dull and apathetic state. It is however possible that other influences acted upon the taciturn and wild natures of these tribes.[107] The innate disposition of the natives to worship idols in Guatemala was found to be equally existing with the Mayas in Yucatan, who also had the custom of making pilgrimages to the shrines. It is mentioned by Landa that the pilgrims stopped when passing near any of the deserted or ruined temples, and were accustomed to mutter prayers, and offer incense. This custom was in accordance with the acts of devotion which I saw practised by the Tzendal Indians in Chiapas before the ruined walls of the church at Bachajon.
There are circumstances connected with the domination of the Aztecs, and possibly also with that of their predecessors the Quiché-Toltecs, which require to be noticed. It is unquestionable that slavery would have been the fate of any tribe or race conquered by North American Indians. But the fact of slaves or captives being bought and sold for the purpose of being killed and offered to the gods is extraordinary. Great numbers of the natives were annually sacrificed, and astonishing acts of cannibalism were committed. Whatever may have been the hardships inflicted by the Spaniards upon the Mexican Indians, it is satisfactory to be assured that the discovery of America, and the conquests of Cortes put an end to the most horrible condition of things that has ever been known to have existed in any part of the world.
There are, however, other facts to be taken into consideration. It has been assumed that there was a condition of comparative civilisation amongst the ruling tribes, which seemed to be in such a progressive state as to lead to the conclusion that there were elements of knowledge which might have been so far developed in the course of time as to have brought these Indians into the ranks of civilised nations. With regard to this subject it should be observed that when the Spaniards conquered Central America, the progress that may have been partially made had already ceased. The monasteries at Palenque and in Yucatan had been abandoned. Even when they were flourishing, the knowledge that was taught did not extend to the people. It was confined to the priesthood, the caciques, and the few scholars who were trained for the purpose of interpreting the signs and characters by which information was spread abroad. It was by one of these interpreters that Cortes was made acquainted with the conspiracy that was being organized against him by Guatimozin during the march to Honduras. How or in what manner this comparative intelligence arose suddenly in the land is a problem of the greatest difficulty.
The possibility of a previous condition of civilisation having existed amongst the aboriginal tribes cannot be considered as being within the limits of reasonable conjecture, for there are no vestiges of any stone buildings, sculptures, or of hieroglyphic inscribed characters, used as a means of recording events, except in those regions which are known to have been occupied by the Toltecs or Aztecs. With especial regard to the temples on the mounds at Palenque, it is evident that these and their sculptures and hieroglyphs were the results of a certain degree of architectural knowledge obtained by the Quiché-Toltecs after they had migrated into Mexico.
But admitting that this may have been the case, it becomes extremely difficult to understand how their mechanical skill could have sprung into existence within such a limited period of time. It was found that the Indian progress in their peculiar civilisation was very local. Bishop Landa, writing exclusively about Yucatan, states that all education was under the management of the priests attached to the monasteries. Similar systems appeared to have been followed in other regions which had been under the rule of the Toltecs.[108] The results of the investigations into the subject of the extent and methods which were adopted for the purpose of maintaining knowledge amongst the Indians, confirm the opinion that the literature and civilisation found to have existed in Mexico and Yucatan was exclusively caused by the teaching of the priests.