Tabasco

“ Here in this picturesque valley region in Tabasco and Chiapas we may look for the cradle of American civilization. Under the shadow of the magnificent and mysterious ruins of Palenque a people grew to power who spread into Guatemala and Honduras, northward toward Anahuac and southward into Yucatan, and for a period of probably twenty-five centuries exercised a sway which, at one time, excited the envy and fear of its neighbors. ”

“ The territory of Tabasco lies low and open. The district produces many fruits of the finest quality and timber trees of the greatest value. It is exceedingly subject to hurricanes and storms and is very unhealthy. ”

“ Spaniards drove their prows forward into the mud. The Indians crowded round in canoes to prevent their landing. A well directed volley at once cleared the way, and notified Ávila to attack. Panic-stricken at the strangeness and suddenness of it all, the natives fell back, but rallied at the call of their leaders, and poured a shower of arrows on the Spaniards as they threw themselves into the water to wade ashore, receiving them at the point of their lances as they reached the bank. Tabasco's men were powerful and brave. ”

“ The last Countrey belonging to New Spain is Tabasco, bounded on the North by the Northern Ocean, and on the East with Jucatan; and however some account it a distinct Province, yet others make no mention of it, letting it pass for that part of Jucatan which lies about the City Tabasco, from which it seems to be denominated: The Ground level and without Mountains, hath many great Woods of Cedar-Trees, Brasile, and others. Here are also many good Indian Fruits, as the Manmeyes, Zapotes, Aguacates, and Guajabos. ”

“ Thus the war of the Restoration began in Tabasco. In a few days the forces of Méndez joined those of Sánchez Magallanes, and the two leaders undertook the campaign with ardor, seconded by a population, unsurpassed in patriotic spirit; most brilliant deeds of war followed one another from then on until the final triumph of the Republic; examples of valor and abnegation were multiplied;{147} patriotism inspired the noblest actions, forever placing the name of the State of Tabasco in the foremost line. ”

“ These are subdivided into 49 parishes; (23 of which are in the Department of Villa Hermosa, 10 in la Sierra, and 16 in Chontalpa;) besides these there are 543 haciendas and ranches, or estates and farms; and, throughout the whole State there are 63 churches. The mass of inhabitants in Tabasco, as elsewhere in these southern states, is formed of Indians: and of the 70,000 people who are estimated to compose the population, it is probable that the majority is formed of the Mijes, Zoques and Cendales. ”

“ Three other captains were Pedro de Alvarado, Francisco de Montejo, and Alonso Davila; the men including pilots and sailors numbered 250. They discovered the Tabasco River, which was henceforth named Grijalba, though the name Tabasco (Tabzcoob was the Indian name) remained to the province between Yucatan and Cuazocoalco.
After Rio Tabasco, they discovered a river (Xamapan, now called Jamapa) , which they called Banderas, because Indians carrying white flags were seen along the coast. ”

“ Evidently in removing to Peten the Itzas were retracing their steps on the line of their first entrance to the peninsula. They even attempted to go further west, and guided, probably, by ancient memories, a large number set out for Tabasco and the banks of the Usumaciuta, where repose the ruins of Palenque, possibly the home of their ancestors. But they were attacked and driven back by the natives of Tabasco, with the loss of their leader, a brother-in-law of the great Canek. ”

“ Through the inscrutable workings of God's will, Cortez received at Tabasco, from a source wholly unexpected, a most important auxiliary to his force, without which indeed the conquest would have been impossible. To propitiate the Spaniards, and to obtain pardon of them for having defended their homes, the Tabascans gave them what gold and cotton cloth the province afforded; and further, seeing that the conquerors desired female servants, they presented the captains with twenty Indian women. ”

“ The Indians to whom they gave the girl did not keep her, but passed her to the people of Tabasco, and they, as we see, to Cortes.
In our conquest of New Spain this woman was a most valuable help. Through her only, under the protection of God, did we accomplish many things. Without her we never should have understood the Mexican language. She knew the language common to Mexico and the language of Tabasco. Aguilar merely understood the language of Yucatan. Donna Marina, therefore, would first make facts understood to Aguilar, who would translate what she said into Spanish. ”

“ Indeed, from the vicinity of Tabasco to the great indigo plantations of Săn Sālvădōr, (in Guatemala,) which produce annually 12,000 tercios, or 1,800,000 lbs. of indigo, valued at (3,000,000 of dollars,) there is reason to suppose that the plant might be cultivated there with great success; but for this, as for every thing else in Mexico, time is requisite. The resources of the country cannot be developed in a day; and whatever the future capabilities of Tabasco may be, it is now one of the poorest states of the Federation.
CACAO. ”

“ On returning to camp two of five captives, leading men, were sent with presents to the cacique to represent the danger of further hostility, and to propose a council of peace. Tabasco was very ready to lay down arms, and he sent a propitiatory offering of fowl, fried fish, and maize bread by messengers with blackened faces and dressed in rags. Cortés answered with a reprimand, "Tell your master, if he desires peace he must sue for it, and not send slaves." ”

“ On the following day Commodore Perry sailed for Tabasco with the steamer Mississippi and the small vessels. This town is the capital of the State of the same name, one of the richest and most fertile in Mexico, and is especially celebrated for its exportation of spice, produced in the extensive forests near the river Baraderas. It is situated on the river Goatzacoalcos, about eighty miles in the interior, and has formerly possessed considerable trade, mainly carried on by foreign merchants. ”

“ Proceeding the 8th of June, and creeping stealthily along the coast, [13] dropping anchor at night and weighing it with the dawn, they came to a river which they called San Pedro y San Pablo, and then to a larger one, the native name of which was Tabasco, [14] a,fter the cacique of the city, but which the Spaniards called Grijalva, in honor of their commander.
The face of nature here changed. The low, gray hills of the peninsula gave place to elevations of enlivening green, made lustrous by large and frequent streams. Boldly in the front stood the heights at present known as San Gabriel ”

“ Tabasco, Vera Cruz, and Tamaulipas were occupied by Xicalancas, Totonacs, and Huastecs, respecting whom little more than their names is known. Southward in Oajaca were already settled the Miztecs and Zapotecs. The Otomís, a very numerous people, whose primitive history is altogether unknown, occupied a large part of the valley of Mexico, and the surrounding mountains, particularly toward the north and north-west. ”

“ After the Indians had tendered their submission, they were shown the horses, and when struck by their neighing were told that these wonderful creatures were angry because they had fought against them. The innocent natives then craved their pardon, and offered them turkey-hens and roses to eat, as did the Indians of Peten some years later. By sailing up the river Tabasco, a point may be reached, in the season of high water, whence a journey of two days overland will bring one to those grandest of Mexican ruins, the group of Palenque; and it is but a few days' travel to Chiapas and the Pacific. ”

“ The extended account given by Oviedo recites the voyage from day to day and the character of various objects received from the Tabasco Indians, followed by the list of specimens obtained from the Mexican Indians near the Isla de Sacrificios, Vera Cruz. We will quote from these lists later. Gomara’s list is quite extended. In the first part of his Historia de las Indias he describes various articles procured by Grijalva from the Indians at the mouth of the river in Tabasco, to which his name was applied, followed in turn by the inventory of objects obtained at San Juan de Ulua, Vera Cruz. ”

“ You know that I wish well to you, and hold you in great esteem, deeming that your visit here will give prosperity, as well as honor, to Tabasco. But there are those among my people who are foolish and headstrong, and who view your coming with suspicion. The priests, too, are unfavorably disposed towards you, and have long urged that you would make a most acceptable sacrifice to the gods. ”

“ The Indians of Tabasco, who had been conquered by Cortez, now revolted, and as this province belonged to the Adelantado, Montejo, he felt constrained to go over to compel them into obedience. While he was gone the garrison at Campeche became so reduced that but five soldiers remained fit for duty.
[A. D. 1535.] It was therefore resolved to abandon the post, and in the year 1535, after some years of fruitless fighting the last Spaniard departed from the shores of Yucatan. ”

“ The two smaller vessels only could enter this river of Tabasco, which, though broad, was shallowmouthed; and this they did very cautiously, advancing a short distance up the stream, and landing at a grove of palm-trees, half a league from the chief town. Upon the six thousand [15] natives who here threatened them, they made ready to fire; but by peaceful overtures the sylvan multitude were brought to hear of Spain's great king, of his mighty pretensions, and of the Spaniards' inordinate love of gold. ”

“ On the southern shores of the great Mexican Gulf the explorers left their ships, and taking to the boats penetrated a considerable way up one of the rivers which the natives called Tabasco. Rounding a wooded headland they came suddenly on a large body of Indians glittering in warlike array. ”

“ They dwelt in a city named Mexico, standing in the midst of a lake. There were kindred peoples near them, and the country generally was called Anahuac. All were subject to the Aztecs, and their armies had gradually conquered all the surrounding peoples.
They possessed great temples, compared to which those of Tabasco were as nothing. Their gods were very powerful, and all prisoners taken in war were sacrificed to them. They had rich mantles and clothing, and the Tabascans were but savages, in comparison. ”

“ The slope of the eastern Cordillera is supposed to be best calculated for coffee estates, and it is believed that Yucatan and Tabasco will ultimately, under favorable circumstances, become the centres of a lucrative trade in this article, if the Indian population can ever be trained to agricultural labors, or made productively industrious in a land where the wants of nature are so few and so easily supplied. ”

“ The stupendous ruins, of which we have had but a glimpse, imply an immense amount of labour, and, as a corollary, a dense population. It is quite clear that the present Tabasco, with a population of 100,000 inhabitants, could not produce monumentsPg 207 so imposing as those at Comalcalco, and this is one of the chief objections brought against the recent date we ascribe to these buildings. But then the question arises, who built them ages before the Conquest, and what became of the numerous population which such monuments presuppose? ”

“ In most ancient times Votan [31] came to the coast now known as Tabasco, found savages inhabiting the country, whom by patient labor he civilized, thus founding the Empire of Xibalbay [32] and the dynasty of the Votanides. He or his immediate descendants built Nachan or Culhuacan, whose ruins at Palenque in Yucatan have astonished all travellers and students since their discovery. ”

“ The Spaniards found afterwards Jucatan to be but a Peninsula, and came before 78a River which fell with so strong a Current into the Mexican Sea, that it retain’d its sweetness for the space of two Leagues.
Strange passages on Tabasco. This River, flowing out of the Province Tabasco, was call’d Grisalva: upon whose Banks stood above six thousand Americans; and in the Water appear’d a hundred Boats with Armed Men, which Row’d aboard the Spanish Ships. ”

“ It was long thought to be confined, almost entirely, to the district of Mĭsāntla, at the foot of the mountain of Qŭilātĕ, (in Vĕrăcruz,) and to the vicinity of the village of Teŭtĭlă, in the state of Ŏăxācă; but it has recently been discovered in great abundance in Tabasco, upon the mountains near the coast, where, during the last two years, some hundreds of millares have been collected, with every probability of a farther increase. In Ŏăxācă and Vĕrăcruz, the cultivation is entirely in the hands of the Indians. ”

“ In some villages of the western districts of Tabasco (Mexico) it has been estimated that 9% of the inhabitants suffer from the pinto; M'Clellan says that in 1826 in the City of Mexico he saw a whole regiment of “ pintados.” ”

“ The richer sort of these Merchants go and send yet further to Tabasco for wares from Spaine, such as wines, Linnen cloth, Figs, Raisins, Olives, and Iron, though in these commodities they dare not venture too much, by reason the Spaniards in that Country are not very many, and those that are there, are such as are loath to open their purses to more then what may suffice nature. So that what are Spanish commodities are chiefly brought for the Friers who are the best and joviallest blades of that Countrey. ”