Isthmus of Tehuantepec

“ Veytia, Ixtlilxochitl, Torquemada, and Clavigero tell us that of these who fled some founded settlements on the coasts of both oceans, from which came parties at subsequent periods to re-establish themselves in Anáhuac. Others crossed the isthmus of Tehuantepec and passed into the southern lands. The other authors also agree that of those who escaped destruction part remained, and the rest were scattered in various directions. None imply a general migration en masse towards the south. ”

“ The fertile soil will produce immense crops of the things adapted for cultivation. With this fact in view it seems strange to see one abandoned plantation after another as you journey over the two hundred miles separating Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz, the two termini of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec trans-continental and inter-oceanic railroad route. In the matter of climate the Mexicans claim a great superiority for Tehuantepec over Panama, because of the strong winds that blow constantly from ocean to ocean. ”

“ Oajaca and Guerrero were the homes of these peoples, where they developed their own civilization and styles of art in channels distinct from those of their neighbors. The isthmus of Tehuantepec presents some interesting remains, chief among 360which we may cite two stone pyramids situated three leagues west of the city of Tehuantepec. One of these measures fifty-five by one hundred and twenty feet at the base and thirty by sixty-six feet on the summit. A grand stairway composed of forty steps and thirty feet in width leads up the western slope. ”

“ Bufo canaliferus Cope
Oaxaca: Chivela; Salina Cruz; Santa Efigenia; Tapanatepec (6) ; Tehuantepec (10) ; Zanatepec (4) .
This small toad apparently is restricted to the Pacific lowlands from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec eastward to Guatemala. At Zanatepec on July 13, 1956, males were calling from a flooded field bordered by scrub forest. The call is a rather loud nasal racket. Living individuals vary greatly in coloration. Some have yellowish tan flanks and dorsum and an orange middorsal stripe; others have a pale red dorsum, yellow flanks, and a cream middorsal stripe (Pl. 6, fig. 2) . ”

“ The character of the inhabitants of the Tehuantepec isthmus and Yucatan is at the present day one of docility and mildness. With a few exceptions they are kind-hearted, confiding, and generous, and some few of them evince a high degree of intelligence, although the majority are ignorant, superstitious, of loose morality as we esteem it, yet apparently unconscious of wrong. Cayetano Moro says they are far superior to the average American Indian. ”

“ The Tehuanas of Tehuantepec are noted for the beauty and graceful carriage of their women, who are reputed to be the finest-looking among the native races of Mexico. The women are the traders in Tehuantepec and do little menial work—a result, apparently, of the influence of beauty. ”

“ These Tehuana women might not be so beautiful as writers had pictured them, but they undoubtedly were the reigning queens of the Tropics.
VIII
Romance was not altogether lacking in Tehuantepec, even for the casual traveler. As I was about to depart, the little hotel proprietor stopped me.
“You really should stay longer, señor. In time, I believe you could win Guadalupe, my little servant. Young men are scarce here, and she has taken quite a fancy to you. These girls do not throw themselves away upon one who flits from flower to flower, as does the tourist. ”

“ None of the merchants have bothered to advertise on their shops the nature of their business, for travelers seldom come there, and the natives all know one another and one another’s occupation, which is usually that of selling cocoanuts to one another.
There is a plaza, but it is a very inferior plaza, fronted by a ramshackle church. In towns where there is an element of Spanish blood, this would be the center of all activity. But Tehuantepec is of almost pure Indian population, and its interests are in the native market. ”

“ Though most of the inhabitants of Tehuantepec live on earth floors in reed and grass houses, there is scarcely a sign of suffering poverty. Little Spanish is heard among them, although even the children seem quite able to speak it. Their native Indian tongue differs from the Castilian even in cadence, so that it was easy to tell which idiom was being spoken even before the words were heard. It is the chief medium of the swarming market in and about the black shadows of a roof on legs. Here the frank and self-possessed women, in their brief and simple dress, were legion. ”

“ The average time by the Tehuantepec route was 19 days, and the shortest 15. From New Orleans, by way of Tehuantepec, the average time would be 14 days and the shortest 12 days. 295
It is believed that spirited action on the part of our government will secure from Mexico the recognition of a right of way across Tehuantepec, which, according to Senator Mason's able representation, is but a matter of justice. Mexico is at present almost ready to fall to pieces, most of its states, or provinces, being in successful rebellion. ”

“ Tehuantepec and Soconusco yielded some years after to the conquering Axayacatl, and Zapotecapan still later to his successor Ahuitzotl; but in the closing years of the fifteenth century the Zapotecs recovered their country with Tehuantepec, leaving Socunusco, however, permanently in Aztec possession. The history of the two nations takes us no farther back than the fourteenth century, when they first came into contact with the peoples of Anáhuac; it gives a record of their rulers and their deeds of valor in wars waged against each other, against the neighboring tribes, and against the Mexicans. ”

“ It is not the work of the dainty fingers of educated women but of very humble and ignorant peon women in floorless cabins of adobe and of hands accustomed to drudgery.
The women of Tehuantepec are remarkable for their beauty of face and form. They are easily the finest looking Indian women in [180] America and in beauty of figure will compare with any race in the world. ”

“ If the silly lord of Tehuantepec wished to throw away himself and all his belongings, it were better they should fall into a neighbor's hands than to strangers; so he of Tututepec attacked him and pressed him hard, until the ruler of Tehuantepec called to Cortés for help.
In answer to this request Pedro de Alvarado was sent to his aid. Leaving Mexico early in 1522, with a strong force, he swept southward like a whirlwind, and within a few weeks entered the doomed capital of Tututepec, captured the chieftain and his heir, and held them subject to heavy ransom. ”

“ Great improvements were also made, particularly in the market buildings of Tlatelulco, which had now become the commercial headquarters of the whole country north of Tehuantepec. The commercial interests of the empire had been most jealously promoted by the reigning monarchs, and the Aztec merchants had contributed no less than the Aztec armies to the glory and prosperity of their nation. ”

“ But the chief element of the population of the Isthmus, after the Guaymi-Changuinas, is the Cuna, who live on both sides of the territory; a strong, brave nation, fairly well advanced in civilization, living in constant warfare with the Choco Indians, who are in turn under the influence of the highland tribes. They appear to be ethnologically related to the people of eastern Costa Rica. The use of the blow-tube is a peculiar characteristic of the tribes on the Caribbean Sea side of the Isthmus. ”

“ A second stage of the myth depicts the journey of the Aztec from Tollan, through many stops, back to Colhuacan, until at last they came to the site of Tenochtitlan. It is said that as the tribes halted by the waters of Tezcuco they beheld a great eagle perched on a cactus growing from a wave-washed rock; and while they gazed the bird ascended to the rising sun with a serpent in his talons. This was regarded as a divine augury, and here Tenochtitlan was founded. Such is the tradition which gives modern Mexico its national emblem. ”

“ Here however they did not reside for long, but moved north first to Iztacalco and finally to Tenochtitlan. Even yet they were not strong enough to stand entirely by themselves, probably partly because they [18] were not yet under a single chief who could lay claim to kinship with the ruling houses of other cities, and they were now under the protection of Azcapotzalco, to the ruler of which they paid tribute. Not long after their settlement, dissensions broke out among themselves, and certain clans removed to the small island of Tlaltelolco adjoining Tenochtitlan on the north. ”

“ Their rage at the sight that met their eyes may be imagined. The bloody followers of Huitzilopochtli were driven from their homes, and the allies their bravery had gained were lost to them. [VI-34] Ixtlilxochitl, without mentioning their return to Culhua favor by the Xochimilco war, says that the Aztecs escaped from their bondage at Culhuacan on hearing that king Calquiyauhtzin intended to massacre them, and resided, for a time, at Iztacalco, whence they made inroads upon Culhua territory, but finally retreated to the island where Tenochtitlan was founded. ”

“ The black line shows the traditional route of the Aztec. It is difficult to estimate the amount of authenticity which may be attributed to this legend; the description of the ancient home seems to reproduce the geographical position of Tenochtitlan, situated on an island opposite a mainland town called Colhuacan, in a rather suspicious manner. Still it seems to have been a habit of the Nahua tribes to select such situations for their cities, in proof of which one need only mention such towns as Zumpango, Xaltocan, Cuitlauac, Xochimilco and Acocolco, a previous residence of the Aztec. ”

“ The Aztecs wandered for some time about the country, and then, at the command of their god, founded the town of Tenochtitlan, or Mexico, on a site where they had found a nopal (Opuntie) growing upon a rock. 308
At the second sacrifice a Colhua was the victim. An Aztec was hunting, on the shore of the lake, for an animal to offer his patron deity, when he met a Colhua called Xomimitl; he attacks him furiously, bears him down, and the defeated man is made to bleed upon the sacrifice stone. ”

“ Immediately after the trial Cacami and Itlza accompanied Teochma to Zelmonco villa, where the twain remained for a time in the enjoyment of each other's society, made unspeakably felicitous by a love which had been purified and intensified, in the crucible of affliction. The reward of their fidelity was a rich one—the consciousness of having been true to each other through an ordeal little less terrible than death itself. ”

“ The latter is the man who wins battles, and, if needs be, dies a hero, while the former far too often proves himself a blustering braggart, who, when death stalks forth, forgets all else save his own safety, and ignominiously becomes a turn-tail.
We have seen Itzalmo, with dauntless courage, face the tyrant Maxtla, the most cruel and heartless man in all the Anahuac; still, he was not a dare-devil, but a conscientious, unswerving friend, who could die in the performance of a duty, as only such men can. ”

“ The religion of the Tehuelches is distinguished from that of the Araucanians and Pampas by the absence of any trace of sun worship.... There is no doubt that they do believe in a good Spirit, though they think he lives 'careless of mankind' ”

“ In 1417 Itzcoatl succeeded to power in Tenochtitlan; the Aztec had by this time increased considerably in numbers and prosperity, and the new ruler proved himself a man of action and an excellent general. He definitely espoused the cause of the exile, with the result that the latter, aided by the people of Tlaxcala and Uexotzinco, succeeded in recapturing Tezcoco and killing every Tepanec in the city. At the same time Coatlichan was stormed by the Chalca, who had also offered assistance to Nezahualcoyotl. ”

“ With this intent he marched at the head of a large army to the Cakchiquel frontiers, but was forced to retire to his fortified stronghold on Lake Atitlan, where the contest raged for many days until a truce was brought about by the aged Acxopal. Xiuhtemal took advantage of the peace to fortify his capital at Tecpan Guatemala, but during the extreme old age of his father he was called to direct affairs at the Quiché capital, and succeeded to the imperial throne at his father's death, putting his own eldest son on the Cakchiquel throne. ”

“ The timid dove of Chapoltepec shall be transformed to the royal eagle of Tenochtitlan.”
“That cannot be. I rather fear that the deep cloud of my doom will overshadow and darken your life. Better far that I should suffer and perish alone.”
“It must be, Tecuichpo, it shall be. Have not the gods given you to me? Have they not made me the defender of the Aztec throne? How then can you doubt that they call you to share and adorn it?”
“Oh! my lord! those terrible omens—they are but half fulfilled, and the promised light is yet far in the distance. ”

“ Thus the Tehuelches, as the Indians who at present inhabit the southern plains are called, have in all probability gradually been driven to this extreme corner of their continent by the more warlike but intellectually inferior races of the north, such as the Araucanians, the Pampas, and others, who in their turn, as civilisation advances, may perhaps be forced to quit their present rich pasture-grounds and moderate climate, and fly to the bare plains of Santa Cruz and St. Julian, eventually to encounter the same fate of extermination as that which now hangs over the doomed Tehuelche race. ”