Guatimala, or, the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8; being sketches and memorandums made during a twelve month's residence in that Republic

Introduction

1

Part I. Journey From England To The City Of New Guatimala By

THE BAY OF HONDURAS. Page Chap. I — Voyage to the Bay of Honduras — Sun-set— Night at Sea — West- India Islands — Jamaica — English Quay 7 Chap. II. — Belize: Population; Government; Commerce; Soil; Insects; Climate; Diseases — Emigration 11 Chap. III. — Black Population : Character; Amusements ; Morals — State of Religion — Inhabitants of the Mosquito Shore : Coronation of their King ; Customs, &c , 17 Chap. IV. — Voyage to Yzabal — Quays — Settlements — Coast of Yucatan — Rio Dulce — Pirates— Castle ofthe Gulf 28 Chap. V — Yzabal — Mountain of Mico — Indians — CONTENTS. VI Page Character of these Aborigines : their Superstitions — Solitary Hut 36 Chap. VI Gualan— Customs— Morals— Education- Trade — Temperature, &c. &c 4<5 Chap. VII Small Indian Towns — Simplicity ofthe Inhabitants — Sulphureous Springs — Entrance into Guatimala 52

Part II. City Of Guatimala And Its Suburbs

Chap. I. — Former Sites of the City — Its present Situation and Advantages — Public Buildings ; Streets ; Dwelling-houses, &c 61 Chap. II. — Customs and Manners — Occupations of a Domestic Man — Scenes in the Plaza — Evening Parties — Gambling — Superstitions — Marriages and Funerals, &c 75 Chap. III.— Population. — Its Characteristics — Public Morals — Police — Political Offences— Prisons — Lawsuits — Education, &c 90 C hap. IV.— Amusements : Theatre : Bull Fights — .Literature; Newspapers; Booksellers — Fine Arts, &c. 107 Chap. V. — Religious Processions — Masked Dancers — Clergy, regular and secular— Ecclesiastical Quarrels — Low State of true Piety 113 Chap. VI. — Climate — Seasons — Thunder Storms — Earthquakes — Diseases 14)4 Chap. VII. — Suburbs — Bee-hives — Cochineal Plantations — Grazing Farms — Bathing Places — La Antigua, or old Guatimala .; CONTENTS. VII

Part III. History

— RESOURCES PRODUCTIONS — TRADE, ETC. etc. Page Chap. I Aboriginal Population — Conquest of the Country by Alvarado — Languages — Establishment of the Roman- Catholic Religion 167 Chap. II. — State of Guatimala as a Spanish Colony — Causes and History of the Revolution — General Congress — Conclusion —War with San Salvador, &c 181 Chap. Ill — Commerce — Manufactures — Produce — Mines — Ports — Roads- Impediments to Commercial Prosperity 220 Chap. IV Natural History — Vegetable Productions — Physical Geography — Rivers and Lakes — Diseases... 258 Chap. V. — Present Indian Population: their Number; Employments; Customs, &c 271

Part IV. Journey From The Capital To The Shores Of The Pacific

Chap. I. — Visit to a Grazing Farm — Taking of Cattle by the Lazo— Indian Labourers — Valueof Labour, &c. 287 Chap. II. — Vale of Petapa — Lake of Amatitan — Falls of San Pedro Martyr— Escuintla— Salt Works on the Pacific 301 Chap. III. — Bar of Istapa — Vampyres and Vultures — Rock of Mirandilla — Almolonga — Volcan de Fuego — Ascent of the Volcan de Agua, &c 314 CONCLUSION GUATIMALA.

INTRODUCTION.

. 1 HE Republic of Central America, formerly the kingdom of Guatimala, is probably less known in Europe than any other part of the civilized world. Its position may perhaps have contributed to keep it in obscurity. With Columbia on one side and Mexico on the other, it has been lost between two more important powers, or, if remembered, has been only considered as an appendage to the latter. The merchant has observed the name affixed to Indigo in the Price Current, but has seldom recognised it as denoting an independent state. Scarcely a single map points out its geographical situation with even tolerable correctness ; and, with the exception of a translation of Juarros's Statistical History, no information has n

INTRODUCTION.

. been offered to the public respecting its interior condition. A condensed and very well-written sketch, prefixed to one of the volumes of the Modern Traveller, might also be excepted ; but as it does not refer to the present state of the country, the deficiency is not supplied. Yet on the shores of this very territory an English settlement has flourished for above twenty years, and sixteen thousand tons of British shipping are annually employed in carrying on its commerce. This fact alone justifies the attempt to diffuse a more enlarged acquaintance with its political circumstances and the manners of its inhabitants. Central America comprehends that portion of territory which stretches from the southern ex tremity of Mexico to the northern point of Co lumbia, and extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; comprising a great part of the Isthmus of Panama, and embracing an extent of sur face computed at twenty-two thousand square leagues, with a population of a million and a half of souls.

This tract of country was subdued by Alvarado, under the direction of Cortez the Spanish general, at the time that that commander was pursuing his conquests in Mexico. In the

INTRODUCTION.

3 execution of his commission, Alvarado exercised the greatest cruelties upon the unoffending natives, and, assisted by Romish priests, obliged them to profess obedience to the Holy See. Some tribes on the eastern coast, however, positively refused to give up their idolatrous practices, and, after suffering various persecutions, succeeded in maintaining their independence ; — a blessing for the continuance of which they are chiefly indebted to the local difficulties their soil presents to the irruptions of invaders. This province is marked upon the Map as the " Mosquito Shore." Within it lies the district of Poyais, with the pretended possession of which the notorious Gregor M'Gregor deluded so many unhappy emigrants, and left them to fall a sacrifice to disease and starvation. Guatimala remained under the controul of Spain until the year 1821, when, in conse quence of the revolutions in Columbia and Mexico, it declared its independence, and formed itself into a Federal Republic.

Belize had long supplied it clandestinely with English manufactures ; and after the Revolution, the trade with that port was thrown open, on the payment of duties. To the present state and B

INTRODUCTION.

. prospects of its commerce a chapter has been devoted, which, it is hoped, will prove interesting to those who are engaged in mercantile speculations. In preparing the volume the author has sedu lously avoided what may be termed painting, and in every instance has sacrificed effect to a simple narration of the truth. He is aware that some will complain of his work not being more exclusively religious, while others will object to the introduction of any theological sentiments whatever. To the first he can only reply, that piety was intended to sanctify, not to exclude, the business of the world ; and in his opinion, in order to do good in any country, it is necessary to know it, not merely in a moral and religious point of view, but politically and statistically. To the second, his only answer can be, that he is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, and is convinced, that, far from de grading any other topic, its tendency is to dignify and to elevate. During a residence of twelve months in the Republic, the author enjoyed every advantage for gaining information, and can pledge himself

INTRODUCTION.

. for the general accuracy ofthe volume. In order to ensure correct historical statements, he re quested the late British Consul, as well as the Consul-General for the Low Countries, to ex amine his manuscripts. The former was occupied in doing this a few days before the melancholy event happened which occasioned his death* ; and to the friendship ofthe latter gentleman, in whose company he made the tour which forms the last part of his book, the author is indebted for many valuable commu nications. The Map prefixed has been expressly en graved for the work, and will be found valuable in illustrating some parts of the narrative. To those who may wish to possess a more complete Map, a very good one, lately published by Laurie, in Fleet street, is recommended. In considering the best mode of arranging the materials which had been collected, various plans suggested themselves.

The one now adopted has been chosen because it appeared * For the particulars of this tragic event the reader is referred to Part II. chap. iii. of the present volume.

INTRODUCTION.

. most natural — namely, to take the reader by the most convenient route from England to Guatimala; and, after laying before him the customs and manners of its inhabitants, and its political relations, to pass forward with him to the shores of the Pacific.

Chapter I

Voyage to the Bay of Honduras — Sun-set — Night at Sea — West- India Islands — Jamaica — English Quay. A FAVOURABLE voyage across the Atlantic cannot, of necessity, be very rich in incident. Each succeeding day bears the features of its predecessor, and its events are only varied by perhaps a sail in the distance, or the appearance of some one of the various inhabitants of the deep. In the absence of all the artificial excite ments of society every object acquires an interest, and the wonders of nature, in one department at least, are for a time rescued from the neglect to which they are generally condemned. After losing sight of the shores of England, if the winds be favourable, the voyager soon finds himself rolling in the restless Bay of Biscay. We entered it in the month of January (1827).

Its dark blue waves heaved heavily. A few wander ing sea-gulls roamed over the face of the deep, and the sun beamed upon the waters with a warmer and a brighter ray. From hence to the Islands the traveller must content himself with the few objects of natural history which present themselves. To watch the grampus, the porpoise, or perhaps the great white shark, playing around the vessel and dart ing before its bow, as if offering to guide its course through the trackless deep, are the daily amusements of every land's-man in these seas ; and, with a few flocks of stormy petrels, a wandering albatross, or that most beautiful of all the finny tribe, the dorado, relentlessly pursuing its unhappy victim the flying-fish, they consti tute almost the only novelties. But at sea, the every-day occurrences of nature seem to exhibit themselves in new forms, and acquire a freshness, which clothes them with a new interest.

Oftentimes will the sun set with a peculiar splendour, pouring a flood of glory over the whole horizon ; and as he dips beneath the waters, the reflection of his beams clothe the western clouds in a thousand different hues ; abundantly supplying to the fancy golden lakes, and palaces adorned with all the magic tints of a fairy creation. Nor is night without its charms. A large vessel, with all her sails set, gliding gently over the bosom of the ocean, her canvass scarcely swelled by the light breeze, and her track illuminated by the faint phosphoric light of myriads of animalculæ, is a most imposing sight ; while the awful stillness which prevails over the vast expanse of sea and sky, only broken by the light splash of the white billows against the sides of their disturber, seems sufficient to calm the most agitated spirit.

At length, however, new objects present themselves, and the cry of " Land " awakens curiosity. With us it announced Colon's De seada, or the Desired Island. The appearance of this little spot is rocky and uninviting, and it is almost uninhabited. The next morning at sun-rise we were amongst the islands, and close to Montserrat, one of the most beautiful of them : its western side declines gently towards the sea, and is covered with fruitful plantations, while the cedar and palm shade and adorn its mountains. How lamentable, that nine-tenths of its inhabitants should be slaves ! From this point, Antigua, Nevis, St. Kitts, and Guada loupe are seen faintly exhibiting their outlines on the horizon, and the whole forms a striking and not uninteresting picture. A few more days, and we had passed the south side of the island of Jamaica.

Its appearance from the sea is singularly romantic : blue mountains, encircled by clouds and clothed with verdure to the very summits, form the back ground ; while richly cultivated sugar plantations, interspersed with the cedar and cocoa nut, line the hills and spread along the shore. Nature here at once presents herself in her forms of wild sublimity and luxuriant beauty. The 3d of March brought us in sight of English Quay, one of those beautiful little islands which adorn the entrance to the bay of Honduras; and by the afternoon of that day we had anchored in Belize roads.

Chapter II

Belize : Population ; Government; Commerce; Soil; Insects; Climate; Diseases — Emigration. The view of the town from the roadstead is interesting, and some parts of it highly picturesque. Its principal street stretches along the shore for a considerable distance, and consists of tolerably good houses, built of wood; the lower stories occupied as stores, and the upper as dwellings : cocoa-nut trees interspersed among the buildings, relieve the prospect, and give to the whole the character of West-Indian scenery. The bay derives its chief interest from the number of pleasure-boats, doreys, and pitpans, passing and repassing on its still waters. The latter, a species of long narrow canoe, propelled by paddles, are novel to an European eye. This settlement contains between five and six thousand souls ; consisting of about two thousand four hundred slaves, fourteen hundred free Ne groes, a thousand Coloured Creoles, and from three to four hundred Whites.

The slaves are chiefly employed up the rivers, in the cutting and trucking of mahogany, and are generally well treated. Their owners are probably afraid of harshness, from the many opportunities the Negroes have of escaping to the neighbouring Guatimalian territory and becoming free*. The free Negroes are only remarkable for their excessive indolence and pride. The moral effects of slavery are but too visible in their character. The Coloured Creoles of the country, descendants of Europeans by African women, carry on mechanical trades, or keep small stores in the back streets. Many of these possess considerable property. The White population consists of merchants and their clerks, and of individuals employed in civil or military capacities by the Governor. The internal regulations of the settlement are confided to the Superintendant appointed by * Since the Revolution in Guatimala from one to two hun dred slaves have absconded from their masters, and taken refuge in the American territory.

Their owners have repeatedly applied to the Government of the Republic in order that they may be given up ; but, after several debates in Congress, the request has been refused. Putting the rights of humanity out of the question, it seems difficult to reconcile such a demand with the common principles of reciprocity among nations. So long as England maintains the noble principle that to breathe British air is to be free, any other nation not only has a right to follow the example, but honours herself by doing so. It is needless to add, that the application was never sanctioned by the Government at home. his Britannic Majesty, and seven magistrates annually elected by the settlers. The market is generally ill supplied. The want of energy is so great, that, although every kind of fruit and vegetables would grow almost without culture, there is often a considerable scarcity.

Turtle is procured in abundance, but, like every thing else, very dear. The trade of the place is considerable ; em ploying annually about sixteen thousand tons of British shipping. The neighbouring Spanish provinces are supplied with British manufactures; and cedar, fustic, hides, indigo, logwood, cochineal, mahogany, sarsaparilla, tortoise-shell, and specie, are exported : commerce is also carried on with Omoa, Truxillo, and the Golfo Dulce. The soil is generally good : an abundance both of heat and moisture, favouring the putre faction of a mass of organic substances, while it often proves the cause of disease, produces a stiff deep loam, capable of bringing to perfec tion all kinds of European vegetables, as well as the productions of the torrid zone. The difficulty of obtaining labourers is the only obstacle to the production of every thing calculated to administer to the comforts or luxuries of life.

" The cactus, upon the leaf of which the cochineal insect subsists, grows spontaneously in the woods ; the cotton tree, the indigo plant, the palma Christi (or castor-oil plant), and the sugar cane, all thrive on the soil, and might be cultivated advantageously." But ttye free Negro will not work. With a hook and tine he can, in half an hour, provide sustenance for himself and family for the day, and with this he is content. No stimulus will arouse him. He will undertake no employment, but at an exorbitant rate of wages; and even then he is careless about finishing what he commences. Considerable quantities of land are covered with pine of a superior quality. Where these abound, the soil is sandy, and not so productive; it would, however, be well adapted to the culti vation of the coffee plant.

The neighbouring woods are rich in objects of natural history ; and it is much to be regretted that a field which promises so much should so long have remained untrodden. Belize, like many other settlements similarly situated, abounds with insects, which by their number and venomous properties become a complete pest. Swarms, or rather myriads, of ants darken every household utensil, and leave no corner of any dwelling free from their intru sions ; hundreds of cockroaches (blatta Ameri cana) appear in the evening, in almost every apartment ; the very chambers of the houses are not free from the unwelcome visits of lizards, centipedes, and scorpions ; to say nothing ofthe mosquito, or of that most fruitful of all the insect tribe, the nigus. This last diminutive worm exercises its malignant powers chiefly upon the Black population, who are always without shoes or stockings.

It enters the foot between the cuticle and the cutis, where it breeds with the greatest rapidity. The only remedy is to pick them out with a needle, and pour oil into the wound. The climate is, on the whole, more favourable than that of the West-India islands. The average heat is from from 82° to 85° Fahrenheit, in the shade. Europeans chiefly suffer from intermit tent fevers, caused probably by the numerous swamps which surround the settlement. The ravages of small-pox are not great, as vaccina tion is now universally practised. In the year 1826 great numbers of children were carried off by the measles ; but this disease has not since that time made its appearance. Hooping-cough prevails much among the younger part of the community, and dysentery and rheumatism are not unfrequent among the full-grown Negroes ; yet, on the whole, they may be esteemed healthy, and sometimes attain to a great age.

The strong sea-breeze, which blows freely nine months in the year, contributes mainly to the health of the inhabitants. Still, the heat is by far too great to make any part of this province desirable as a place for emigration ; and had the memorable cacique of Poyais, M'Gregor, had any intention of colo nizing (which there is little reason to believe), it is very problematical how far he could have succeeded. The miserable condition of the unhappy wretches who were deluded by his golden promises is but too well known ; and it is but justice to say, that they received, in the hour of their distress, every kindness from the settlers in Belize*. * The Poyais territory, where this adventurer talked of establishing his deluded followers, is not literally in the pro vince of Honduras, but consists of unappropriated territory on the banks of the Rio Tinto, or Black River, which dis charges itself into the Atlantic near Cape Camaron. Since the failure of this expedition, it has been included in the tract of country claimed by the Columbians.

Chapter III

Black Population : Character; Amusements; Morals — State of Religion — Inhabitants ofthe Mosquito Shore : Coronation of their King ; Customs, &;c. That slavery must necessarily have a lower ing and degrading influence on the character of the slave, is self-evident; but it is requisite to live among such, in order to know and feel the extent of the degradation. The moral effects of this evil, not the growth of a day or of a year, but of ages, are so deep as at first sight to seem almost indelible. In proportion as the avarice of man has tightened the chain around his fellow, has the degrading and depressing in fluence of bondage infused itself into the prin ciples and habits of his victim, withering all his energies, and impeding the growth of every thing noble and elevated in his character.

If any thing could lessen our sympathy in the unhappy fate of the Negro, it would be to view his debased character apart from the causes which have induced it. Indolent and unprin cipled, he will never work, excepting when c under the eye of a superior. Fawning in the extreme when in dread of punishment, he is yet tyrannical and overbearing if clothed for a moment in temporary power. His only wisdom is a species of low cunning : his only virtues belong to the brute creation, — an instinctive love of his offspring, and a species of attach ment to the tyrant who rules him. Nor is the freed African one degree raised in the scale of being. Under fewer restraints, his vices display themselves more disgustingly. Insolent and proud, indolent and a liar, he imitates the sins only of his superiors ; and to the catalogue of his former crimes adds drunken ness and theft.

Such is the poor child of Africa, after cen turies of subjection to the enlightened sons of Europe. The thought of what he might have been, had the same efforts been used to improve which have been exercised to degrade, makes one shudder at the awful responsibility of those who have made him what he is. The favourite amusement of the Negroes here, as in other parts of the West Indies, is dapcing. It surprises an European to observe the regularity with which these nightly enter tainments are conducted ; the graceful step of the dancers to the sound of the gumby ; the expensive refreshments provided ; and the air of display that pervades the whole performance. The same passion manifests itself at their funerals, which are conducted in as showy a style as possible. On these occasions they dress themselves in imitation of Europeans, and gratify their vanity by displaying all the finery they can raise.

Their most joyous period is Christmas, when every slave claims a kind of temporary freedom for two or three weeks; and during this time the settlement is in a state of riot. Dancing about the streets, night and day, is their chief employment, till the accustomed period has elapsed. During this season, the militia, consisting of all the White inhabitants, is kept constantly under arms. Crimes of a serious nature are of rare occur rence. The prison, which is large, and has its cells commodious and airy, is very thinly te nanted. In the month of March 1827 it con tained only six or seven prisoners, confined for petty thefts, or similar trifling offences ; and it is by no means uncommon to see its doors open. But although crimes which come under the cognizance of the law are not frequent, the moral state of the population is nevertheless at the lowest ebb.

With few exceptions, the institution of marriage is totally disregarded. The Coloured population, considered by the Whites as a degraded caste, feel themselves c shut out of European society, and consequently lose self-respect. The females generally live in a state of concubinage with the Whites, under the name of housekeepers, and are singularly faithful to their keepers. The Negroes follow the example of their superiors ; and prostitution is almost universal. The lamentable conse quences of such a state of things must be visible to every one. Society, instead of improving, degenerates, and an effectual bar is placed to the advancement of the Coloured population. — Alas ! that the majority of our countrymen who visit these shores should only come like a moral pestilence, bringing with them the contagion of their example !

A church has been erected, at an expense of 30,000/. currency ; and a liberal salary pro vided for an incumbent. The talents of the present clergyman are respectable; but his discourses are not imbued with those doctrines which are generally denominated Evangelical. The Baptist Missionary Society has had a very expensive station here for several years, but scarcely any good appears to have resulted from its establishment. Two Wesleyan Missionaries have sacrificed their lives in attempting to form congregations within the last twelve months, and no impression whatever seems to have been made by their labours. The difficulties attendant on imparting religious instruction to the natives are certainly great, and local circumstances are unfavourable to success ; but it must be allowed that more favourable results might have been anticipated, had the efforts of the two societies been more judiciously directed.

Connected with the Established Church is a free school, conducted on Dr. Bell's system, in which the Scriptures are read ; but it is in a wretched state. Not more than fifty scholars attend, and these very irregularly, although one hundred and twenty are stated as the number. There is also an Auxiliary of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge ; but the la bours of its committee are little known. No census has been taken of the number of individuals able to read or write ; nor is it possible to say what number of copies of the Scriptures are in circulation, but there is every reason to suppose they are few. Beside the Negro and the Creole, the Carib, the Indian, and the Mosquito-man are frequently met in Belize. The Caribs, formerly inhabitants of the most easterly islands, are now found principally about Truxillo and Omoa, whither they were removed by the Spaniards.

They are chiefly employed by the mahogany cutters up the rivers, and are little removed from barbarism. The Indians mostly come from the interior, with letters and messages, which commissions they execute with the greatest fidelity. The Mosquito-men arrive in considerable numbers from the Mosquito Shore, which com prises the eastern part of the provinces of Hon duras and Nicaragua. They possess great muscular strength, and a fine symmetry. Their tall and erect forms, little concealed by cover ing, their vacant countenances, and long greasy hair, give them a wild and savage appearance, and strikingly pourtray the powerful barbarian. These people now consider themselves under the protection ofthe British Government*, and some of their kings have been educated in Jamaica. On the accession of the last king to the throne, he expressed a wish to be crowned at Belize ; and orders were received by his Britannic Majesty's Superintendant to gratify his wish, and to defray all attendant expenses.

From a friend I have received some particulars of the ceremony. * This tract of country is now claimed by the Columbian Government, and, by a decree issued in July 1824, all fo reigners are forbidden to colonize, without the permission of the Republic. By a convention, made between Great Britain and Spain in 1786, his Britannic Majesty agrees to evacuate all this coast ; but as the Indians still shew the same inve terate dislike to the Spaniards as formerly, they are permitted to consider themselves under the protection of England. ' On the previous evening, cards of invitation were sent to the different merchants, requesting their attendance at the court-house early in the morning. At this place the king, dressed in a British major's uniform, made his appearance; and his chiefs, similarly clothed, but with sailors' trowsers, were ranged around the room.

A more motley group can scarcely be imagined. Here, an epaulette decorated a Herculean shoulder, tempting its dignified owner to view his less favoured neighbour with triumphant glances : there, a wandering button displayed a greasy olive skin, under the uniform of a captain of infantry. On one side, a cautious noble might be seen, carefully braced up to the chin, like a modern dandy, defying the most penetrating eye to prove him shirtless ; while the mathematical movements of a fourth, pant ing under such tight habiliments, expressed the fear and trembling with which he awaited some awful accident. The order of the procession being arranged, the cavalcade moved towards the church ; his Mosquito majesty on horseback, supported on the right and left by the two senior British officers in the settlement ; and his chiefs follow ing on foot, two by two.

On its arrival, his majesty was placed in a chair near the altar, and the English coronation service was read by the Chaplain to the colony, who on this occasion performed the part of the Archbishop of Can terbury. When he arrived at that part of the service where it is written, " And all the people said, Let the king live for ever, long live the king, God save the king," the vessels in the port, according to previous signal, fired salutes, and the chiefs, rising, cried out, " Long live King Robert." His majesty seemed chiefly occupied in ad miring his finery ; and, after the anointing, ex pressed his gratification, by repeatedly thrust ing his hands through his thick bushy hair, and applying his fingers to his nose ; in this expres sive manner indicating his delight at this part of the service.

Before, however, the chiefs could swear allegiance to their monarch, it was necessary they should profess Christianity, and, accordingly, (with shame be it recorded !) they were baptized " in the name ofthe Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ! " They displayed a total ignorance of the meaning of the ceremony ; and, when asked to give their names, took the titles of Lord Rodney, Lord Nelson, or some other celebrated officer, and seemed grievously disappointed when told they could only be baptized by simple Christian names. After this solemn mockery had been concluded, the whole assembly adjourned to a TO GUATILAMA. large school-room, to eat the coronation dinner ; where the usual healths were drunk, and these poor creatures all intoxicated with rum; — a suitable conclusion to a farce as blasphemous and wicked as ever disgraced a Christian country.