"The people are of the Maya race, and here, in the name, we have a near approach to 'Malay.' By some they are supposed to be an ancient people who lived here before the advent of the Toltecs, which happened about the twelfth century; others believe them to be a combination of two races, the Toltecs from the west and another race from the islands of the Caribbean Sea. Landa, Stephens, Squier, and other writers say the Mayas were the most civilized people of America; they had an alphabet and a literature, cultivated the soil, had rude machinery for manufacturing textile and other fabrics, possessed sailing-vessels, and had a circulating medium which corresponded to the money of the Old World.
"The great temples of Palenque and other cities of this part of the world were built by this people, or by tribes and races closely allied to them; we have shown by our accounts of Palenque and Lorillard City that these temples were of no mean architecture, and we shall have more to say when we come to the ruined cities of Yucatan.
"According to the Spanish historians, the people were ruled despotically by a king, and were divided into nobles, priests, common people, and slaves. The king, nobles, and priests held the greater part of the lands; the land of the common people was held on the communistic principle, and each man had enough to cultivate for the support of his family. The commoners were obliged to supply the noble with fish, game, salt, and other things he wanted; to cultivate his land, and follow him to war whenever he chose to go on a campaign. In fact the condition of the peasants in Yucatan was much like that of the subjects of a rajah of India before the English took possession of the country, or of a daimio of Japan. They had nothing they could call their own, not even their lives, and their condition was not at all improved by the conquest of the country by the Spaniards, except that they were not liable to be taken for sacrificial purposes, according to the ancient custom.
NATIVE VILLAGE IN THE INTERIOR.
"Slavery has been abolished, and imprisonment for debt is no longer allowed by law; but every man between the ages of twenty-one and fifty can be drafted for military service. When so employed he receives six cents a day and supplies his own food!
"Merida has a population of about 50,000, by far the greater number of them being of Indian blood either pure or mixed. There is a large proportion of mestizos, or half-castes, and they are the handsomest part of the population. We have seen some mestizo women who could compete successfully in a beauty show including Mrs. Langtry and all the other 'professionals' of the day. The mestizos inhabit a part of the town by themselves, where their thatched huts stand in quarter-acre lots planted with grass and trees. These huts are said to be very much like those occupied by the Indians before the Conquest.
"You know we always go to the market-place in every strange city that we visit, and may be sure we did not omit that of Merida. It is not unlike the market-places of Mexican cities in general, but has some features peculiarly its own.
"Half the population of the city seemed to have gathered there—Indians, mestizos, Spaniards, foreigners, and dogs; and there was a hum of voices which never ceased for an instant. The manners of the natives are more pleasing than those of the people in the markets of Mexico. They chat good-naturedly and with many a smile, as though they enjoyed coming to the market without regard to whether they sell anything or not. A great deal of bargaining is necessary in making purchases, for the Indian has no notion of the value of time; and for the matter of that, the tropical resident, whatever his nationality, is rarely in a hurry. We passed many picturesque groups, fruit-sellers with their wares in broad baskets, their heads wrapped in rebozos either white or colored, and their eyes shining like little globes of polished anthracite set in their brown skins.