A statistical and commercial history of the kingdom of Guatemala

Front matter

Class_ Book_^

Ejl4U_

1 ' ^

Preface

As Spanish America will probably, in a short time, open a most extensive field for the employment of British capital and British industry, and ultimately prove an inexhaustible source of advantage to the various branches of our manufactures and commerce, every work, how humble soever its pretensions may be, that, upon good authority, can furnish something in addition to the very slender stock of information we already possess, of any portion of that interesting Country, will, perhaps, be acceptable to the Public.

With the] hope of contributing towards a more general knowledge of the Kingdom of Guatemala, the following Work has been translated: should that^hope be reahzed,the production will be duly appreciated : on the contrary, if nothing worthy of notice be presented, it will share the fate of many other books, and either be wholly neglected or soon forgotten. The Author, Don Domingo JuARRos, being a dignified Secular

VI

Ecclesiastic, and Synodal Examiner of the Archbishopric of Guatemala : his rank gave him access to Records in the departments of Government, as well as to those of the different Convents : the exercise of his official duties occasioned him to visit various parts of the Country, which afforded him every facility of making observations upon them ; of the more remote districts, to which personal inspection did not extend, his connexion with the Clergy enabled him to obtain accurate information from the heads of the different Curacies, so that it may be fairly said, his materials have been drawn from sources that stamp upon them the character of authenticity : for these, or for the manner in which they have been used, the Translator does not presume to solicit particular favour ; they are submitted to the tribunal of Public Opinion, before which, their merits, and his own humble efforts to make them known to the English reader, will receive such an award as is impartially due to them.

In a country where Catholicism governs with autocratic despotism, and where the

Vll general mass of population possesses no more of the lights of science, than the ruling power, for reasons well adapted to preserve an unlimited sway, thinks proper to permit, it follows, almost as a matter of course, that w^hen an Author, who is a dignitary of the Church, writes a History of that Country, how liberal soever in sentiment, and little tinctured with bigotrj^ he may be, the minutiae of religion will, from various and very cogent causes, form a prominent feature in his work ; and the original of the present account abounds in passages of this description : but as introducing this portion of it into the Translation would have nearly doubled the size, and consequently much increased the price of the book, without contributing to make it more generally interesting; many chapters have therefore been entirely omitted : yet, that the reader m^j not remain wholly uninformed of theirimport he is presented with the heads of some of them, viz. Of the Metropolitan Church of Guatemala, with a History of the Image of Nuestra Seiiora del Socorro worshipped in it. — Of the Convents in the City of Guatemala. — Of the Nunneries and Religious Houses for Females. — Of inferior Religious Orders or Fraternities. — Of the Parishes and Chapels of the City, with their Religious Festivals. — Of the Coronation of the Image of St. Joseph. — Of Festivals celebrated in the Cathedral. — A Chronological Account of the Governors and Captains-General of the Kingdom. — Idem of the Archbishops and Bishops of the different Dioceses. — Idem of illustrious Ecclesiastics, and other individuals who have flourished in the Capital, — and several others of similar character.

Should the Volume be the means of exciting diligent and scientific inquirers to make farther researches, in a Country that presents so many objects worthy of careful investigation, the intent of its publication will be amply fulfilled.

J. B.

STATISTICAL DESCRIPTION

OF

GUATEMALA.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

The innumerable advantages, and the great utility resulting from the study of history, are universally acknowledged. It not only delights the mind, by recounting the extraordinary events of distant countries, by relating the prowess of those who have preceded us in the calendar of time, and by recording the exploits of our ancestors ; but it will teach us the manner in which we ought to conduct ourselves on occasions of difficulty, by holding up to view what prudent and sensible men have done in similar circumstances ; it will animate us to the performance of noble actions, by setting before us the glorious examples of our predecessors ; and it will eternize the memory of heroes, long since withdrawn from the great theatre of life, who by their achievements have dignified the human race. From these advantages the city of Guatemala has been hitherto excluded ; its annals have found no recorder ; and its history has had no existence, except in the earnest desire of its true patriots.^'

Geography and chronology being indispensable to our purpose, we will treat of them before entering upon our historical part^ in order that our readers may set out upon a road provided with every convenience for pursuing an unobstructed journey. With this intention the following Preliminary Treatises have been composed. In the first, the history of Guatemala will be commenced, by giving a geographical description of the whole kingdom ; in the second, this will be followed by a chronicle, or chronological index of the rise, progress, and incidents most worthy of notice, and an account of the principal political bodies of the chief city. These, it is hoped, will smooth the v^ay for persons who possess the requisite talents, and sufficient store of information, to undertake a work so much desired as the History of Guatemala, on a more extensive plan.

In order that the information conveyed by the ensuing pages may be distinguished by critical exactness, recourse has not been had to books of geography and general histories of the Indies; works which, from their great extension, cannot be free from mistakes and inaccuracies, how careful soever their authors may have been to avoid them ; but we have drawn our materials from the chronicles of the provinces, from the records of the Dominican and Franciscan convents in the city of Guatemala, from authentic manuscripts,

* The monarchs of Spain have been so fully convinced of the great importance of this subject, that they have, at various periods, commanded the history of the kingdom of Guatemala to be written, as appears from the Ordonnances of Dec. 19, 1533, Aug, 16, 1572, Sept. 23, 1580, and Feb. 13, 1581.

and from the communications of persons whose veracity can be depended upon. But with all these advantages we do not pretend to a total exemption from errors, and some trifling incorrectness ; for there are many causes which may occasion mistakes in the relation of facts, when the narrator has not been a witness to them ; and in the description of countries, if he has not travelled over them. Such causes arise from the carelessness of informants, the insufficient explanation of writers, the ambiguity of terms by which they communicate their ideas, and the fallibility of the human memory. The reader is entreated to bear these in mind, if by chance he should meet in the following treatises with any observations that may be found inaccurate.

B 2

TREATISE THE FIRST.

Succinct Notices of the natural and political History of the principal Places,

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, it pleased divine Providence that the light of Christianity should dawn in the horizon of the vast regions of the west ; that the inhabitants of the ancient continent should become acquainted with the reality of millions of their own species, who, in the judgment of many learned men, existed only in the imagination of a few philosophic individuals ; and that a country should then be discovered, which, for its immense extent, and the rarity of its productions, received the name of the New World. A discovery of so much importance required that those who had made it, should immediately communicate their good fortune to all the world with the most scrupulous exactness ; but although three centuries have elapsed, we see, wdth the greatest astonishment, that provinces, and even whole kingdoms, on this spacious continent, are at this time as little known to the world in general, as if they had but just been discovered. This is the fact, not only in the Arctic and Antarctic lands, where the Spaniards have never set foot ; but it is the case also in those countries which they have been in possession of ever since their first arrival. With a blush for our ignorance, we must reckon in the latter number the kingdom of Guatemala, one of the richest in America, not so much from its mines of gold and silver, as from the incredible numbers of useful and rare productions in the animal, vegetable, and mineral worlds that are found in it. To be convinced of the truth of this assertion, it is only necessary to open a book of geography, and we shall perceive that provinces the most flourishing, and places the most important, are not noticed ; where towns are mentioned, it is scarcely more than to record their names : the few that are described in any thing like detail, are represented under so many circumstances of error and falsehood, as to remain as much unknown (so far as their actual state is concerned) as they ever were.

How can this kingdom be known so fully as it deserves to be, so long as there does not exist a correct delineation of its provinces ? How can such a description be furnished by the inhabitants of the old world, when we, who have been born and brought up in Guatemala, encounter difficulties in acquiring correct information relative to very many places within its boundaries ? These reflections have induced me to undertake this task, notwithstanding serious apprehensions that my talents are too humble for the skilful performance of such a work, as well as the conviction of its remaining in some respects incomplete, from the circumstance of my being the first to attempt the subject; but the want of a work of this nature leads me to hope it may be favourably received by the public. It has been my study to avoid too great a prolixity, and with this view a detailed description of villages has been omitted ; for it would occasion numerous repetitions, and produce a narrative at once insipid and monotonous, as in fact they differ but very little from each other ; therefore such only as offer something peculiar and worthy of being known will meet with particular notice.

CHAP. I. Of the Kingdom of Guatemala in general

This kingdom received its name of Guatemala from the word Quanhteraali (which in the Mexican language means a decayed log of wood), because the Mexican Indians, who accompanied Alvarado, found near the court of the kings of Kachiquel, an old worm-eaten tree, and gave this name to the capital. The Spaniards continued it to the city which they built ; and from the city they gave the same appellation to the whole kingdom. Some writers have derived it from U-hatez-mal-ha, words that, in the Tzendal language, signify a mountain that throws out water; doubtless alluding to the mountain on the skirts of which the city of Guatemala was built. The kingdom of Guatemala extends from the S2nd to the 95th degree of longitude west of Greenwich : and from the 8th to the 17th degree of north latitude ; so that in length it is 13 degrees,, making 227 leagues (Spanish) of I7f to a degree,^ or 260 English geographical leagues ; but the travelling distance may be calculated at more than 700 Spanish leagues, from the Chilillo, which bounds the territory of the audiencia of Mexico to Chiriqui, where the jurisdiction of the province of Santa F6 de Bogota terminates. It embraces 9 degrees in breadth from the most southerly lands of Costa Rica, to the most northerly part of the province of Chiapa. The range of the land from one sea to the other, that is, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, where it is the greatest^ is 180 leagues ; and, where least, not less than 60. On the west, the kingdom of Guatemala is bounded by the Intendencia of Oaxaca in New Spain, on the north-west by the Intendencia of Yucatan, on the south-east by the province of Vera-guas in the kingdom of Terra Firma, a district of the audiencia of Santa F6; on the south and south-west by the Pacific Ocean, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. The jurisdiction of the royal chancery of Guatemala, therefore, extends on the shores of the Atlantic from the coast of Walis in the Bay of Honduras, to the Escudo de Veraguas ;* and from the bar of the river Parredon in the province of Soconusco, to the mouth of the river Boruca^ in the province of Costa Rica on the Pacific; and by land from the river Chilillo in the province of Oaxaca, to the district of Chiriqui in the province of Veraguas.

The air of this region is generally salubrious, except on the sea coast to the northward. The whole of the country is an alternation of mountains and plains, which causes a diversity of temperature highly favourable to the productions of every climate. The soil is so fertile as to yield fruits, even on the mountains, without cultivation; and so great is the variety, that there are reckoned more than 40 genera ; and in many of these there are distinct species. There are, for example, 3 species of plantain, 4 of apples, 5 of pine-apples, 5

* A small desert island near the coast of the province of Veraguas in 9 deg. 21 min. north latitude, and 82 deg, 4(j min. west longitude : it was discovered by Columbus.

of peaches, 3 of sapotes, more than 10 of jocotes, and also of many others : from these advantages there is always a great abnndance of fruits in every season of the year. The species of flovi^ers that beautify the gardens are not less numerous ; and the plenty of culinary vegetables is equally copious. There is a great variety of grain, as the maize, which is so fruitful as to yield 100 for one, and in some parts even 500 fold, besides producing two, and sometimes three harvests a year; wheat, barley, rice, and sessamum, a sort of Indian corn. Of pulse, there are various species of kidney beans, garbanzos, or Spanish peas, lentils, beans and several others: to speak generally, this soil is not deficient in any thing, either for the necessaries or for the luxuries of life.

Besides those just mentioned there are many other productions that would supply the means of carrying on an extensive commerce ; for instance, a great number of very valuable woods, such as cedar, caoba or red wood, granadillo, ronron, brasil, purple wood, mahogany, guayacan, mangrove, and many others ; many medicinal plants, fruits, and woods, as jiote, palo de la vida, copalchi, sarsaparilla, hellebore, contrayerba, musk, canchalagua, calaguala, tea, coffee, ginger, mechoacan, julep, cassia, tamarinds, &c. A profusion of gums and balsams, estimable for their fragrance, curative virtues, or other uses; as turpentine, Carana, Leche de Maria (a gum) dragons' blood, amber, white and black balsam, and oil of balsam ; a number almost infinite, of productions that minister both to the necessities and the luxuries of life : among them are cochineal, achiote, pepper, lacre, bastard saffron, chiapa pepper.

9 vanilla, hides, sulphur, saltpetre, sal ammoniac, purple (from the murex), mother of pearl, tortoishelly cordage, sail cloth, cotton of various kinds, tobacco, and, above all, sugar, cocoa, and indigo. These are the principal articles of the commerce of the kingdom, and the tv^^o last are the best that are known of their species.

The different kinds of animals bred in this country are almost innumerable; for besides nearly all those common to Europe, and peculiar to America, as the danta, the armadillo, the tepisquinte, the alligator, the guana, lories, and parrots of various kinds and exquisite feather; there are some that are peculiar to this region, as the zorrilla a small fox, and the quezal, a beautiful bird, the plumage of which is highly esteemed.

The earth abounds with mines of gold, silver, iron, lead, talc, and other minerals. There are several volcanoes, from which, at various periods, there have been many and great eruptions : the most celebrated are those of Tajumulco in the province of Quezal tenango; Atitan in the province of Solola; Guatemala in the province of Chimaltenango ; Pacaya in the province of Sacatepeques ; Izalco in the province of Zonzonate ; those of St. Salvador, and St. Michael, in the intendancy of St. Salvador; and those of Momotombo and Mazaya in that of Nicaragua.

The kingdom is watered by rivers and small streams innumerable. Of these some disembogue into the sea to the northward, and others to the southward ; of the first, the most navigable are the Fresh Gulf, the Motagua, the Camalecon, the Ulua, the Lean or Leones, the Aguan, the Limones, the Rio tinto, the Plantain river, the

Pantasma, the Mosquito, and the St. Juan. Among the second, the principal are the Guista, the Saiual^, the Xicalapa, the Michatoyat, the (Slave river, the Paza, the Zonzonate, the Lempa, the Viejo, the Nicaragua, and the Nicoya. There are also several lakes of which the most celebrated is the lake of Granada, the largest; the Atitan, the Peten, and Araatitan.

This region was formerly possessed by people of many different nations, each governed by its chief, and who were continually at war with each other ; hence it is that the present inhabitants speak so many different languages ; some using the Mexican, others the Quiche, Kachiqu^l, Subtujil. Mam, Pocomam, Poconchi, Chorti, Sinca, and many more. Although these tribes are of different origin, various in their manners, opposite in their inclinations, profess distinct faiths, adopt dissimilar customs, and speak each its peculiar language, yet at the present day they all concur in the exercise of the Catholic religion, which is the only one professed throughout the provinces, with the exception of some few idolaters, whom all the efforts and zeal of the ministers of the gospel have not been able to bring within the pale of Christianity.

The principal part of the country was subdued in 1524, and following years, by Pedro de Alvarado. At that period it was more populous than it now is ; for by the census taken in 1778 by order of the king, the population amounted to no more than 797,214; whereas, at the time of the conquest it was so numerous, that we are assured it was composed of more than 30 different nations.

The government of this widely-extended region is administered by the royal audiencia of Guatemala, the president of which is governor and captain-general of the kingdom, having a great number of inferior officers for the better regulation of the provinces. The spiritual affairs are directed by the archbishop of Guatemala and three suffragans, except in the small district of Peten, which is under the charge of the bishop of Yucatan. The ecclesiastical division of the kingdom consists of four bishopricks, viz. Guatemala, that in quality of metropolitan extends over the whole kingdom ; but the peculiar territory of the archbishoprick of Guatemala stretches 214 leagues from the plains of Motocinta, the most westerly village of the diocess, to the boundaries of the curacy of Conchagua, the most easterly; and 116 leagues from the Fresh Gulf on the northward to the shores of the Pacific southward. In this district there are 108 curacies, 23 collated curacies of regulars^ 16 under charge of the Dominicans, 4 pf the Franciscans, and 3 of our Lady of Mercy ; 424 parochial churches, and 539,765 inhabitants. This bishoprick was erected by Pope Paul the Third, by a bull bearing date December 18, 1534 ; from that period to the present time the chair has been occupied by 7 archbishops and 16 bishops. The second bishoprick is Leon, having jurisdiction over the intendancy of Nicaragua, and the government of Costa Rica : in it there are 39 curacies^ 3 establishments for the conversion of infidels, 88 parochial churches, and 131,932 inhabitants. From its erection to the present time this diocess has had 37 bishops. The third is Ciudad Real, its jurisdiction comprehends the three divisions of the intendancy of Chiapa; it contains 38 curacies, lt)2 parish churches, and 69,253 inhabitants. The fourth is Comayagua, the jurisdiction of which is confined to the intendancy of Honduras ; within its territory there are 35 curacies, 1 establishment for the conversion of infidels, 145 parish churches, and 88,143 inhabitants.*

The civil government of the kingdom is at present divided into 15 provinces, of these 8 are superior alcaldias, viz, Totonicapan, Solola, Chimaltenango, Sacatepeques, Zonzonate, Verapaz, Escuintla, and Suchiltepeques; two are corregidorships, Quezaltenango, and Chiquimula ; one a government, Costa Rica ; and four are intendancies, Leon, Ciudad Real, Comayagua, and St. Salvador. Five of these provinces are situated on the shores of the Pacific; five on the Atlantic, and five interior.

* In computing the number of inhabitants of the kingdom, parishioners of the diocess, and inhabitants of the provinces, recourse has been had to the census taken by order of the King of Spain in 1788, as being the most recent and complete that could readily be consulted, because it gives the numbers in the separate provinces and districts. It may, hovv^ever, be considered too low; for, by comparing it with the enumerations made by order of the bishops, there will be found a material discrepancy; if we add together the numbers of the different districts of the bishoprick of Comayagua in the royal census of 1778, the amount will be no more than 81,143; whereas that taken by order of the bishop in 1791, makes the number 93,501. In Chiapa, in 1778, the number given was 62,253, but by a census in 1796 it was 99,001 : similar increase has been perceived in the other two diocesses.

Chap. II

Of the Provinces on the Sea Coast to the Southward.

Chiapa is the first province in this direction, proceeding from New Spain. It is bounded on the west by Oaxaca, on the east by Totonicapan and Suchiltepeques, on the north by Tabasco, on the north-east by Yucatan, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. It enjoys every kind of climate ; its soil yields all the productions of the kingdom, animal as well as vegetable ; and it also produces the shrub which bears the Chiapa pepper. Father Remesal asserts, that the nations who inhabited this district came from the province of Nicaragua, and intrenched themselves so strongly here, that the kings of Mexico could never succeed in subduing them. When the Mexican empire fell, they spontaneously offered themselves as vassals to the king of Castile, and in his name rendered homage to Ferdinand Cortes ; but very soon after revolted. Cortes sent Diego de Mazariegos with a small force in 1524 to pacify them : in this object he easily succeeded, though he was scarcely returned to Mexico before they again rebelled. In 1527, Mazariegos came a second time to chastise them, but they were not subdued without fighting several obstinate battles. From that period, there reigned an uninterrupted peace between the Spaniards and Indians of this part until 1712, when the people of the province of Tzendales, joining with those of Chiapa, amounting in all to 32 towns, formed an alliance against the invaders, became apostates to the faith they had long professed, profaned the sacred edifices, put many ministers of the gospel to cruel deaths, paid impious adoration to an Indian female, and committed many other atrocities. By the zealous exertions of Toribio Cosio, president of the royal audiencia^ who set out immediately from Guatemala, with a well-appointed force, the whole of the revolted towns were recovered to the Catholic faith, and the former peace and tranquillity restored. This important service was rewarded by his majesty's conferring the title of Marquis of Torre Campo upon the president. Oa the 21st of November, the day on which the victory was obtained, there is annually celebrated a solemn thanksgiving in the cathedrals of Guatemala and Ciudad Real, at which all the constituted authorities attend.

What now forms the intendancy of Chiapa, was, in the period of its Paganism, divided into five provinces, peopled by -as many different nations, who have, to the present day, preserved their distinct idioms, viz. Chiapa, Llanos, Tzendales, Zoques, and Soconusco. Of the last, the Spaniards formed the government of Soconusco ; and of the other four the alcaldia mayor of Ciudad Keal : by a royal order in the year 1764, the latter was again subdivided to form the alcaldia mayor of Tuxtla, which is composed of the districts of Chiapa and Zoques ; whilst those of Llanos and Tzendales remain to that of Ciudad Real. In 1790, the intendancy of Chiapa was created, and these three districts were united under the jurisdiction of the intendant, who resides in Ciudad Real, and has a deputy in each of the places, Tuxtla, Soconiisco, and Comitan.

The first division, or that of Ciudad Real, contains 1 city, which is the capital, and the only one of the province, 1 tovi^n, and 56 villages ; these are divided into 20 curacies, and all together contain a population of 40,277 souls.

Ciudad Real is the capital of this division of the intendancy, and of the bishoprick of Chiapa. It W3.S founded by Diego de Mazariegos with the view of keeping in subjection the province, which with so much difficulty he had recovered. On the 4th of March, 1528, this commander as= sembled the chiefs of his army, and appointed 2 alcaldes, 6 regidors, a chief alguacil, a major-domo, and a procurator. On the 31st of the same month the new town was begun on the spot where the city now stands. It was at first called Villa Real, then Villa Viciosa, and afterward Villa de St. Christoval de los Llanos, by which name it is mentioned in some public documents in the year 1531 : finally, by an order, dated 7th July, 1536, the Emperor Charles the Fifth commanded it should be called Ciudad Real, and granted to it the honours of a city ; the preceding year he had assigned to it armorial bearings, viz. a shield, with a river between two mountains, upon one of them a castle, Or, and a lion rampant ; on the summit of the other a palm-tree. Vert, and another lion ; the whole upon a field, Gules. The church of Villa Real was dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin, but when the name of the town was changed to St. Christoval, the same appellation was given to the church ; Pope Paul the Third elevated it to the episcopal dignity, and nominated the licentiate, Juan Arteaga, a friar of the order of Saint Jago, as the first bishop. For the service of the church there is a chapter, composed of a dean, an archdeacon, a precentor, an instructor of the clergy (maestre escuela), and a canon ; there are also a curate-rector, a chief sacristan, 6 chaplains, and 4 acolytes; there is a college, which is a magnificent building, and a very handsome chapel.

The city contains but one parish, that of the cathedral ; it has four convents, viz, our Lady of Mercy, founded in the year 1537 ; St. Domingo, in 1545 ; St. Francisco, established in 1575 ; and St. Juan de Dios, the hospital of v^^hich was built by Juan Bautista Alvares de Toledo, bishop of Chiapa; and the convent of La Concepcion, for females; there was also a college of Jesuits. Besides these there is a church dedicated to our Lady of Charity ; without the city there are two oratories, one of St. Nicholas^ the other of St. Christopher; and 5 barrios, or wards of the Indians, with their respective chapels. The population is small, being only 3333 individuals, and about 500 Indians in the barrios. In this city were born Francisco Salcedo, of the order of St. Francisco, who was highly esteemed for his sanctity, and of whom, by a certain class of people, many miracles are related ; and Diego del Saz, of the same order, a man of most exemplary virtue, whose body is said, on the same authority as the preceding miracles, to have remained 50 years uncorrupted after its interment. In the vicinity of the city there are several caverns, where very beautiful specimens of stalactites are found. Ciudad Real is situated in 16 deg. 35 min. of north lat. and 94 deg. 16 min. long, west from Greenwich ; distant 130 leagues north-west of Guatemala.

St. Fernando de Guadalupe, a town situated on the bank of the river Tulija, nine leagues distant from Tunibala ; its population is rather more than 200 Indians, with a few Spanish and Mulatto families. The soil is fertile, and well suited to the cultivation of cocoa, sugar, pepper, and many other articles ; the river supplies an abundant variety of fish ; the climate is hot, but by no means in the extreme. The town was founded by the iutendant Don Agustine de las Cuentas Zayas, in the year 1794, with the view of facilitating the navigation of the Tulija, and, by its means, of opening a couimunication with Campeche, the lake of Terminos, the garrison of Carmen, and other contiguous points : the successful progress of this design during the first six years has clearly shewn the advantages of the undertaking.