Dr. S. Habel, who visited Nicaragua in 1865, in spite of the greatest efforts, was unable to find a single person speaking Nahuatl; they told him it was all forgotten.—Archæological and Ethnological Investigations in Central and South America, p. 24 (Washington, 1878).
[21] The superior position of the Nahuatl among the Nicaraguan languages was noted by Benzoni, in his visit to that country, as early as about 1550. He observes: "Parlano in Nicaragua quatro lenguaggi, pero la meglio è la Messicana, laquale si stende piu di mille e cinquecento miglia di paese and è la piu facile da imparare."—Istoria del Nuovo Mondo, p. 103 (Venetia, 1565).
[22] "Una mezcla de Castellano y Mexicano, que ni en uno ni en otro idioma se entiende."—Compendio del Arte de la Lengua Mexicana, pp. 93, 202.
[23] Speaking of the natives of Nicaragua and Honduras, Father Francisco Vasquez says: "Muchos de aquellos Indios por la comunicacion que tienen con gente ladina de las estancias vecinas alcanzan mucho de la lengua Castellana."—Historia de la Provincia de Guatemala. Parte II, Lib. V, Trat. I, Cap. 1 (Guatemala, 1716).
[24] This verse is from a song by Dr. Gollena, a highly appreciated poet of Guatemala, who has written, but I believe never published, some poems in the Nicaraguan dialect.
[25] Oviedo, Historia General de las Indias, Lib. XLII, cap. XI. Precisely this baile, or one altogether like it, is described by Diego Duran as common in Mexico in his day (about 1580). He writes: "Tambien usaban bailar al rededor de un volador alto vistiendose como pájaros y otras veces como monas volaban de lo alto de el dejandose venir por unas cuerdas que en la punta de este palo estan arolladas, desliándose poco à poco por un bastidor que tiene arriba," etc.—Historia de las Indias de Nueva España. Tomo II, p. 232 (Mexico, 1880).
[26] Historia del Nuovo Mondo, fol. 103 (Venetia, 1565). Benzoni gives a wood cut exhibiting the dances, but it is not instructive. Another traveler, François Coreal, claimed to have visited Nicaragua about 1680, and also describes the native dances, but in words so similar to Benzoni that it is an evident plagiarism.—Relation des Voyages de François Coreal aux Indes Occidentales, Tome I, p. 88 (Amsterdam, 1722).
[27] Thomas Gage, A New Survey of the West Indies, p. 234 (4th Ed. London, 1699).
[28] Letter to the London Athæneum, 1856, p. 1537. Oviedo also states that the songs sung at certain bailes were of an historical character, intended to recall the important incidents in personal and tribal history, "que les quedan en lugar de historia é memoria de las cosas pasadas."—Historia General de las Indias, Lib. XLII, cap. XI.
[29] "Hay santos à quienes se hace el voto, en caso de enfermedad ú de desgracia de ir á bailar ante su imagen, en tal pueblo, el dia de su fiesta, cuando le sacan procesionalmente."—Pablo Levy, Notas Geograficas y Económicas sobre la Republica de Nicaragua, p. 281 (Paris, 1873).