altars, and vessels of sacrifice which could be found in the private dwellings, all of which were burnt or broken in pieces. "To give some idea," says the chronicler Villagutierre, "of the number of idols and statues which were reduced to ashes, it will be sufficient to say that the island was taken at half past eight in the morning, and that the work of destruction lasted until half past five in the afternoon, when the troops were recalled so as to get their dinner, of which they stood in great need after such hard work." After the reduction of the capital of the Itzæs, the subjugation of their other towns followed rapidly. Some of these were wholly destroyed, and but few entirely escaped the fury and zeal of the invaders, and of the priests which followed in their train. The latter directed their iconoclastic fury especially against the temples, idols, and altars of the Indians, and with so much effect that not a trace remains of the religious edifices which crowned the island of Tayasal. It is not surprising, therefore, that so few remnants of aboriginal art are to be found around Lake Itza; indeed, it is rather remarkable that any were left, even in remote localities, to attest, in modern times, the accuracy of those ancient chronicles which speak so often of the "vast structures of hewn stones" in which the infidels adored their false gods and paid their bloody sacrifices.

There is no doubt of the truth of the tradition recorded by the chroniclers, that the Itzæs were colonists from the seats of the Mayas in Yucatan; and there are many reasons for believing that they had not been long established around the lake to which they gave their name at the period of the Conquest. They speak, and still retain, the Maya language, but they appear to have been less polished and more warlike than their

ancestors. Even their principal city, according to Villagutierre, was composed of houses placed without order, built of stones to the height of three feet, continued with wood, and covered with thatch. In their interiors these houses were filthy and unswept, and their occupants lived promiscuously, and in a very brutal way. In character, continues the chronicler, they were sagacious, but deceitful, ferocious, and cruel; and although the people of Yucatan did not eat human flesh, yet the Itzæs, after their migration, soon fell into the barbarous practice; for there was not a prisoner that they took in war which they did not sacrifice and devour. They had good countenances, a ruddy-brown complexion, were well made, agile, and courageous. They wore their hair very long, dressed in robes of cotton cloth of bright colors, and decorated themselves with the feathers of the guacamalla and quetzal. They were industrious, applying themselves to their labors from sunrise to sunset, cultivating, besides the maize and other necessary fruits and vegetables, cotton, indigo, cochineal, achiote, etc.

Ursua found not less than twenty-one cues or temples on the island Tayasal. The largest, in which the high priest officiated, was twenty yards square and very high, with a handsome parapet, approached by nine steps of beautiful stones. On the upper step, or platform by the entrance, was an idol in human form, in a crouching posture; and in the temple itself was another idol of unwrought emerald, a span long, which Ursua appropriated to himself.* There was still another

*This was, without doubt, one of the chalchihuites, or sacred green stones, madre de esmeralda, or mother of the emerald, each one of which was declared by Montezuma, when presenting some of them to Cortez, to be worth ten loads of gold. I have several, one of them nearly "a span long," elaborately carved in relief with the figure of Cuculcan, or Quetzalcoatl, the Buddha of the Tzendal and Nahuatl nations.

of

gypsum, with a face set with mother-of-pearl, forming an image of the sun. The Canek or chief had also a special temple in which to pay his adorations, in which was a great stone for sacrifices, and a number of idols in stone. Here were preserved the analtches, or painted records of the nation.

Colonel Galindo, when in Flores in 1832, obtained, through the Prefect Bazo, a vocabulary of the dialect spoken by the natives, which, with the corresponding Maya and Kachiquel words, drawn from orignal MSS. in my possession, is reproduced below. It will be observed that the language of Peten is the true Maya.

CHAPTER XXV.

-MANCHES

.THEIR

THE UNCONQUERED INDIANS-LACANDONES-
CHOLES, ETC. - ATTEMPTS TO SUBDUE THEM

CHARACTER AND HABITS.

AMONG the existing nations of the great primitive

Tzendal stock, the Lacandones deserve a special consideration. Their relative geographical position has already been defined. But little is known of their country, except that it is mountainous, traversed by large rivers, and consequently difficult of access. These circumstances, joined with their own naturally indomitable spirit, have enabled them to maintain their independence to this hour. They have successfully resist ed every attempt at reduction, and, although now nominally within the political jurisdiction of Guatemala, they still retain their primitive systems of government and religion.

*

The first mention which is made of the Lacandones in the early chronicles is in the accounts of the famous expedition made by Cortez from Mexico to Honduras in the year 1524. He passed through the districts of

* Their relations with their Spanish neighbors may be inferred from the terms of a treaty made with the "Manches" (according to Marure, "the principal tribe of the Lacandones") by the government of Guatemala in 1837. The treaty stipulated that they should be regarded as beneath the protection of the government of Central America, but with the distinct understanding that they were not to be subject to the laws of the republic until the expiration of seven years, and with the further strict stipulation that there should be no change in their religion, nor interference with their practice of polygamy! A previous attempt was made, in 1831, to incorporate the Lacandones in the republic, but without success; nor does it appear that the treaty of 1837 was ever carried into effect. -Marure, Efemerides de Hechos Notables en Centro America, etc., p. 39.