Xaragua

“ After the massacre of Xaragua, the destruction of its inhabitants still continued. The favorite nephew of Anacaona, the cacique Guaora, who had fled to the mountains, was hunted like a wild beast, until he was taken, and likewise hanged. For six months the Spaniards continued ravaging the country with horse and foot, under pretext of quelling insurrections; for, wherever the affrighted natives took refuge in their despair, herding in dismal caverns and in the fastnesses of the mountains, they were represented as assembling in arms to make a head of rebellion. ”

“ The western province was Xaragua, governed by one Behechio, whose sister, Anacaona, was the wife of Caonabo. The middle of the island was divided into two provinces-that which extended from the northern coast to the Cibao mountains and included the Vega Real being governed by Guarionex, and that which extended from the Cibao mountains to the south being governed by Caonabo. All these rulers were more or less embittered by the outrages and cruelties of the Spaniards, and all agreed to join with Caonabo except Guacanagari. ”

“ The Adelantado was of an active and indefatigable spirit. No sooner was the fortress completed, than he left in it a garrison of twenty men, and with the rest of his forces set out to visit the dominions of Behechio, one of the principal chieftains of the island. This cacique, as has already been mentioned, reigned over Xaragua, a province comprising almost the whole coast at the west end of the island, including Cape Tiburon, and extending along the south side as far as Point Aguida, or the small island of Beata. It was one of the most populous and fertile districts, with a delightful climate ”

“ They had lost their way among the islands and had been searching about for Espanola, finally making a landfall there on the coast of Xaragua, the south-western province of the island, where Roldan and his followers were established. Roldan had received them and, concealing the fact of his treachery, procured a large store of provisions from them, his followers being meanwhile busy among the crews of the ships inciting them to mutiny and telling them of the oppression of the Admiral's rule and the joys of a lawless life. ”

“ These were in a certain farm or village near Xaragua. For all were scattered among the Indian villages, to be fed and maintained by the natives, which could not be done if they all remained together. As these men refused their approval when they were incited, either by letters or by word of mouth, or because they had among them some one who was obnoxious to Hojeda in times past, he arranged one night, in concert with those who had joined him, to attack the loyal men and wreak his vengeance on them, or do them some other injury ”

“ The island becomes divided into 5 principal kingdoms, with many provinces each having a Cazic. They were 1. Caizimu in the east with 11 provinces, Higuey was the first of them, 2. Bainoa in the centre, the largest of all, belonging to the Baquel dynasty, with 24 provinces, Maguana being the first of them, 3. Guacarima, the west end, with 12 provinces, Xaragua being the main, 4. Hubaba, a small kingdom with 3 provinces in the south mountains, 5. Cotoy or Cayabo in the mountains of the north, held by the Mayoriex people, with 7 provinces, and the mountains Zibao. ”

“ He even himself took a caravel and sailed towards Xaragua, where he was met by Roldan, who boarded his ship and made his new proposals. Their impudence is astounding; and when we consider that the Admiral had in theory absolute powers in the island, the fact that such proposals could be made, not to say accepted, shows how far out of relation were his actual with his nominal powers. Roldan proposed that he should be allowed to give a number of his friends a free passage to Spain; that to all who should remain free grants of land should be given ”

“ She alone was led out of Ovando's quarters, which were then set fire to, and all the chiefs burnt alive. Anacaona was afterwards hanged and the province was desolated.
Humanity does not gain much, after all, by this man's not taking the title of "Lordship" which he had a right to.
Finally, the governor collected the former followers of Roldan in Xaragua, and formed a town of their settlement, which he named "the city of the true peace" (La villa de la vera Paz) , but which a modern chronicler well says might more properly havc been named "Aceldama, the field of blood." ”

“ I had reached the famous Vale of Zaraguro, the Land of Corn,—zara is Quichua for maize—to climb at last into the scattered grass-grown village itself.
Ensconced in the great hoyo of Jubones, dividing the Azuay from the province of Loja, Zaraguro is a little world of its own. The great majority of its population is Indian, but a new type of Indian, of darker skin and more independent manner than those to the north, still humble to the gente decente when facing them singly, but verging on insolence when gathered in groups with chicha at hand. ”

“ They believed that the Guaranís would join with other tribes of the same nation, who lived near to a people called Xarayes, against whom, and other tribes, they were at war. According to their information, the Xarayes possess gold and silver given to them by the Indians of the interior; in that direction all the country is inhabited, and he might go to those settlements. The Xarayes, they added, are agriculturists: they sow maize and other seeds in large quantities, rear geese and poultry like those of Spain. ”

“ On one point of the rocks, looking back as far upon the horizon as the eye can reach, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico sparkle in the brilliant light. And as Xalapa itself comes within sight, the parched bananas entirely give way to bright, fresh palm-trees; the rank, dry vegetation is superseded by rich and dewy herbage; and the inhabitants of the district appear handsomer, better-dressed, and more intelligent.
The town of Xalapa fully realizes the most extravagant expectations. The houses are open and healthy, and built on picturesque hills amid luxuriant trees. ”

“ All were elegantly attired with parrots’ feathers, and aprons of white beads to cover their nakedness. They placed the Spaniards in their midst, and led them into the village, at the entrance to which large numbers of women and children were waiting for them. The women all had their privities covered, and many of them wore wide cotton dresses, this material being in use among them under the name of tipoes.
When the Spaniards had entered the village they came to where the chief of the Xarayes was. He was surrounded by three hundred Indians of very good appearance, mostly elderly men. ”

“ That very day the two- 206 - Spaniards started, and their names were Hector de Acuña and Antonio Correa, interpreters of the Guaraní language, with ten Indian Sacosies, and two Guaranís. The governor ordered them to tell the chief of the Xarayes that they were envoys sent to speak with him, and contract friendship with him and his people; that he begged him to come and see him, as he wished for a personal interview. The Spaniards were moreover desired to obtain information of the tribes and settlements in the interior, and of the route leading thither. ”

“ The port of Xagua is one of the finest but least frequented of the island. "There cannot be another such in the world," is the remark of the Coronista major (Antonio de Herrera) . The surveys and plans of defence made by M. Le Maur, at the time of the commission of Count Jaruco, prove that the anchorage of Xagua merits the celebrity it acquired even in the first years of the conquest. The town consists merely of a small group of houses and a fort (castillito.) On the east of Xagua, the mountains (Cerros de San Juan) near the coast, assume an aspect more and more majestic ”

“ According to the natives, the Yaiva and the Yacareati unite in the country of the Indians called Perobazanes, and there they separate again, and seventy leagues lower down they reunite.
“After navigating that river for seventeen days, I passed through the land of the Perobazanes, and arrived at another country, where the inhabitants are called Xarayes. These people are agriculturists, have a quantity of provisions, and rear geese, fowls, and other birds. They fish and hunt, and are a reasonable people, obeying their chief. ”

“ The men have also a large blue crystal in their lips of the shape and size of a draughtsman. And they are painted blue on their bodies from the head to the knees so as to give them the appearance of wearing breeches.
[167] Xarayos. These and the Itatis were the Indians living near the island of Paraiso, on the left bank of the river Paraguai. According to the best authorities the right name for this tribe is Guarayos.
But the women are painted otherwise, blue from the breast to the privities, and so artistically, that one could not soon find a painter to do it so well. ”

“ It is not improbable that an intercourse existed between the inhabitants of these districts, prior to the Spanish Conquest. We believe that these architectural remains and nearly all of those in Yucatan, Chiapas and Guatemala, were the abodes and temples of the Indians who dwelt in Mexico and the adjacent countries when Grijalva and Cortez first landed on our continent. The distance from Oajaca, through Chiapas and Tabasco, to Yucatan is not too great to have prevented even a rapid communication from Mitla to Uxmal, or Palenque. ”

“ And his death has caused changes in the internal affairs of the Tovas tribe, attended with much excitement. For the form of government among these Chaco savages is more republican than monarchical; each new cacique having to receive his authority not from hereditary right, but by election. His son, Aguara, however, popular with the younger warriors of the tribe, carried the day, and has become Naraguana’s successor. ”

“ After some leagues of travel over roads made nearly impassable by the summer rains, the troops began the gradual ascent—more gradual on the eastern than the western declivities of the Cordilleras—which leads up to the table-land of Mexico. At the close of the second day they reached Xalapa, a place still retaining the same Aztec name that it has communicated to the drug raised in its environs, the medicinal virtues of which are now known throughout the world. ”

“ Beyond this the country became broken, arid, and barren, and very soon we commenced ascending a steep mountain. In two hours we reached the top, three or four thousand feet high, and, looking back, had a fine view of the plain and town of Zacapa. Crossing the ridge, we reached a bold precipitous spur, and very soon saw before us another extensive plain, and, afar off, the town of Chiquimula, with its giant church. ”

“ At the epoch of the Spanish invasion, these regions, and the interior provinces which bordered on them, were inhabited by a great number of Indian tribes. There was a time when the major part of the population of that region spoke a common language, and this language was either the Tzendale, spoken to-day by a great number of the Indians in the State of Chiapas, or more likely the Maya, the only language of the peninsula of Yucatan. When the Spaniards first appeared, the native population already occupied the peninsula, and a great part of the interior region of that portion of the continent. ”

“ At Corrientes we saw several Chaco Indians, who are the aboriginals of this region. The country on the west bank is known as El Gran Chaco; and though part of it has been settled, there is a very large region still in the hands of the Indians. Unlike their brethren lower down, they remain independent or nearly so; they do not disturb the whites unless first interfered with, and then they are ready for battle. Many a soldier of Paraguay and the Argentine Republic has fallen before their lances and arrows in the last fifty years. ”

“ By late afternoon we had caught up with the coach, and galloped with it down through the dry arroyo and up through the other side, past the great ribota court that flanks the Hacienda of La Zarca. Unlike La Mimbrera, the Casa Grande here stands on a level place, with the peons' houses in long rows at its flanks, and a flat desert barren of chaparral for twenty miles in front. Che Che Campa also paid a visit to La Zarca. The big house is a black and gaping ruin. ”

“ After having descended to the foot of the oak-covered mountain, we came to a great enclosure of lofty rocks, prodigious natural bulwarks, through a great cavern in which the river comes thundering and boiling into the valley, forming the great cascade of the Sararaqui, which in the Tarrascan language means sieve. It is a very fatiguing descent, but it is worth while to make the whole journey from Mexico, to see anything so wildly grand. ”

“ E. G. Squier thus speaks of this region, "lying between Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatan, and the republic of Guatemala, and comprising a considerable portion of each of these States, which, if not entirely blank, is only conjecturally filled up with mountains, lakes, and rivers. It is almost as unknown as the interior of Africa itself. We only know that it is traversed by nameless ranges of mountains, among which the great river Usumacinta gathers its waters from a thousand tributaries, before pouring them, in a mighty flood, into the Laguna de Terminos and the Gulf of Mexico. ”

“ Altotonga, the name of a settlement of Xalapa, in New Spain. The word signifies in the Mexican language, hot and saltish water, and this comes from the intermingled qualities of two streams which originate in a mountain near to each other, and form by their junction a river which runs into the lake of Alchichica.
Alzoui, a settlement of 190 Indian families, of Tlapa, in New Spain, or Mexico. They are industrious, cultivating maize, cotton, French beans and rice. ”