Aboriginal American Authors
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Daniel G. Brinton >> Aboriginal American Authors
Such dramatic recitations were found among most of the tribes of North
and South America, and have been frequently described by travelers.
Often they were of a religious nature, having something to do with
devotional exercises; but not seldom they were simply for amusement.
Occasionally they were mere pantomimes, where the actors appeared in
costume and masks, and went through some ludicrous scene. Thus, to quote
one example out of many, Lieutenant Timberlake saw some among the
Cherokees, about the middle of the last century, which he speaks of as
"very diverting," where some of the actors dressed in the skins of wild
animals, and the simulated contest between these pretended beasts and
the men who hunted them, were the motives of the entertainment.[84]
From the solemn religious representations on the one hand and these
diverting masquerades on the other, arose the two forms of tragedy and
comedy, both of which were widely popular among the American
aborigines.[85] The effete notion that they were either unimaginative or
insusceptible to humor is, to be sure, still retained by a few writers,
who are either ignorant or prejudiced; but it has been refuted so often
that I need not stop to attack it. In fact, so many tribes were of a gay
and frolicsome disposition, so much given to joking, to playing on
words, and to noticing the humorous aspect of occurrences, that they
have not unfrequently been charged by the whites best acquainted with
them, the missionaries, with levity and a frivolous temperament.
Among the many losses which American ethnology has suffered, that of the
text of the native dramas is one of the most regretable. Is is, however,
not total. Two have been published which claim to be, and I think are,
faithful renditions of the ancient texts as they were transmitted
verbally, from one to another, in pre-Columbian times.
The most celebrated of these is the drama of _Ollanta_,[86] in the
Qquichua language of Peru. No less than eight editions of this have been
published, the last and best of which is that by the meritorious
scholar, Senor Gavino Pacheco Zegarra. The internal evidence of the
antiquity of this drama has been pronounced conclusive by all competent
Qquichua students.[87]
The plot is varied and ingenious, and the characters agreeably
contrasted. Ollanta is a warrior of low degree, who falls in love with
Cusi Coyllur, daughter of the Inca, who returns his affection. The
lovers have secret meetings, and Ollanta asks the sovereign to sanction
their union. The proud ruler rejects the proposal with scorn, and the
audacious warrior gathers his adherents and attacks the State, at first
with success. But Cusi Coyllur is thrown into prison and her child, the
fruit of her illicit love, is separated from her. The Inca dies, and
under his successor Ollanta is defeated and brought, a prisoner, to the
capital. Mindful, however, of his merits, the magnanimous victor pardons
him, restores him to his honors, and returns to his arms Cusi Coyllur
and her child. Minor characters are a facetious youth, who is constantly
punning and joking; and the dignified figure of the High Priest of the
Sun, who endeavors to dissuade the hero from his seemingly hopeless
love.
The second drama to which I refer is that of _Rabinal Achi_, in the
Kiche tongue of Guatemala. The text was obtained by the Abbe Brasseur de
Bourbourg, and edited with a French translation. The plot is less
complete than that of the _Ollanta_, and the constant repetitions,
while they constitute strong evidence of its antiquity and native
origin, are tedious to a European reader.[88]
Rabinal-Achi is a warrior who takes captive a distinguished foe, Canek,
and brings him before the ruler of Rabinal, King Hobtoh. The fate of the
prisoner is immediate death and he knows it, but his audacity and
bravery do not fail him. He boasts of his warlike exploits, and taunts
his captors, like an Iroquois in his death song, and his enemies listen
with respect. He even threatens the king, and has to be restrained from
attacking him. As his end draws near, he asks to drink from the royal
cup and eat from the royal dish; it is granted. Again, he asks to be
clothed in the royal robe; it is brought and put about him. Once more he
makes a request, and it is to kiss the virgin mouth of the daughter of
the king, and dance a measure with her, "as the last sign of his death
and his end." Even this is conceded, and one might think that it was his
uttermost petition. But no; he asks one year's grace, wherein to bid
adieu to his native mountains. The king hears this in silence, and Canek
disappears; but returning in a moment, he scornfully inquires whether
they supposed he had run away. He then, in a few strong words, bids a
last farewell to his bow, his shield, his war-club and battle-axe, and
is slain by the warriors of the king.
The love of dramatic performances was not crushed out in the natives by
the Conquest. In fact, in the Spanish countries, it was turned to
account and cultivated by the missionaries as a means of instructing
their converts in religion, by "miracle plays" or _autos
sacramentales_, as they are called. It was even permitted to the more
intelligent natives to compose the text of plays. One such, manifestly,
I think, the work of a native author, in the mixed Nahuatl-Spanish
dialect of Nicaragua, I have prepared for publication. The original was
found by Dr. Berendt in Masaya, and his copy, without note or
translation, came into my hands.
The play is a light comedy, and is called "The Ballet of the Gueegueence
or the Macho-Raton." The characters are a wily old rascal, Gueegueence,
and his two sons, the one a chip of the old block, the other a bitter
commentator on the family failings. They are brought before the Governor
for entering his province without a permit; but by bragging and promises
the foxy old man succeeds both in escaping punishment and in effecting a
marriage between his scapegrace son and the Governor's daughter. The
interest is not in the plot, which is trivial, but in the constant play
on words, and in the humor, often highly Rabelaisian, of the anything
but venerable parent.
The "Zacicoxol," or Drama of Cortes and Montezuma, written in Kiche, of
which I have a copy, may possibly be the work of an Indian, but is
probably largely that of one of the Spanish curas, and appears to have
little in it of interest.
Another and peculiar form of dramatic recitation is what are called the
Loas or _Logas_, of Central America. In these, a single individual
appears in some quaint costume, in a little theatre erected for the
purpose, and recites a burlesque poem, acting the different portions of
it to the best of his ability. At present, most of these _Logas_
are of a semi-religious character. The one I have is entitled "The Loga
of the Child-God," _Loga del nino Dios_, and is written in Spanish
intermingled with words from the Mangue or Chorotegan language. This
tongue, spoken by a few persons in Nicaragua, is closely akin to the
Chapanec of Chiapas, and was a sonorous and rich idiom. Those who spoke
it were much given to scenic representations, as we learn from the
historian Oviedo, who lived among them for nearly a year, about 1527.
None of these remain, though as late as about 1820, one of great
antiquity, believed to be an original native production, continued to be
acted. Its title was _La Ollita_ or _El Canahuate_, the former
word meaning the peculiar musical instrument of that locality, the
"whistling jar." The subject was a tale of love, and one of these
primitive flutes was used as an accompaniment to the songs.
Section 8. _Conclusion_.
Thus do I answer the questions which I proposed at the outset of my
thesis. If I have failed to justify the expectations which I may have
raised, at least I have thrown into strong relief the cause of my
failure, to wit, the utter and incredible neglect which, up to this
hour, has prevailed with regard to the preservation of what relics of
native literature which we know have existed,--which do still exist.
Time and money are spent in collecting remains in wood and stone, in
pottery and tissue and bone, in laboriously collating isolated words,
and in measuring ancient constructions. This is well, for all these
things teach us what manner of men made up the indigenous race, what
were their powers, their aspirations, their mental grasp. But closer to
very self, to thought and being, are the connected expressions of men in
their own tongues. The monuments of a nation's literature are more
correct mirrors of its mind than any merely material objects. I have at
least shown that there are some such, which have been the work of native
American authors. My object is to engage in their preservation and
publication the interest of scholarly men, of learned societies, of
enlightened governments, of liberal institutions and individuals, not
only in my own country, but throughout the world. Science is
cosmopolitan, and the study of man is confined by no geographical
boundaries. The languages of America and the literary productions in
those languages have every whit as high a claim on the attention of
European scholars as have the venerable documents of Chinese lore, the
mysterious cylinders of Assyria, or the painted and figured papyri of
the Nilotic tombs.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: What Dr. Washington Matthews says of one of the Sioux
tribes is, in substance, true of all on the Continent:--
"Long winter evenings are often passed in reciting and listening to
stories of various kinds. Some of these are simply the accounts given by
the men, of their own deeds of valor, their hunts and journeys; some are
narrations of the wonderful adventures of departed heroes; while many
are fictions, full of impossible incidents, of witchcraft and magic. The
latter class of stories are very numerous. Some of them have been handed
down through many generations; some are of recent origin; while a few
are borrowed from other tribes. Some old men acquire great reputation as
story tellers, and are invited to houses, and feasted, by those who are
desirous of listening to them. Good story tellers often originate tales,
and do not disclaim the authorship. When people of different tribes meet
they often exchange tales with one another. An old Indian will occupy
several hours in telling a tale, with much elegant and minute
description."--_Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians_,
pp. 62-3. (Washington, 1877.)]
[Footnote 2: That these assertions are not merely my own, but those of
the most profound students of these tongues, will be seen from the
following extracts, which could easily be added to:--
"This language [the Cree] will be found to be adequate, not only to the
mere expression of their wants, but to that of every circumstance or
sentiment that can, in any way, interest or affect uncultivated
minds."--Joseph Howse, _A Grammar of the Cree Language_, p. 12.
(London, 1865.)
"J'ai affirme que nos deux grandes langues du Nouveau Monde [the
Iroquois and the Algonkin] etaient tres claires, tres precises,
exprimant avec facilite non seulement les relations exterieures des
idees, mais encore leur relations metaphysiques. C'est ce qu' out
commence de demontrer mes premiers chapitres de grammaire, et ce
qu'achevera de faire voir ce que je vais dire sur les verbes."--Rev. M.
Cuoq, _Jugement Errone de M. Ernest Renan sur les Langues
Sauvages._ p. 32 (2d Ed. Montreal, 1869.)
"Affermo che non e facile di trovare una lingua piu atta della Messicana
a trattar le materie metafisiche; poiche e difficile di trovarne
un' altra, che tanto abbondi, quanto quella, di nomi astratte."--Clavigero,
_Storia Antica del Messico_, Tomo IV, p. 244. (Cesena, 1781.)
"Todos los bellisimos sentimientos que se albergan en los nobles
corazones en ninguna otra de aquellas lenguas (Europeas) pueden
encontrar una expresion tan viva tan patetica y energica como la que
tienen en Mexicano. ?En cual otra se habla con tanto acatamiento, con
veneracion tan profunda, de los altisimos mysterios de ineffable amor
que nos muestra el Cristianismo?"--Fr. Agustin de la Rosa, in the _Eco
de la Fe_. (Merida, 1870.)
Alcide d'Orbigny argues forcibly to the same effect, of the South
American languages:--"Les Quichuas et les Aymaras civilises ont une
langue etendue, pleine de figures elegantes, de comparaisons naives, de
poesie, surtout lorsqu'il s'agit d'amour; et il ne faut pas croire
qu'isoles au sein des forets sauvages ou jetes au milieu des plaines
sans bornes, les peuples chasseurs, agriculteurs et guerriers, soient
prives de formes elegantes, de figures riches et variees."--_L'Homme
Americain_, Tome I, p. 154.
For other evidence see Brinton, _American Hero Myths_, p. 25.
(Philadelphia, 1882.). Horatio Hale, _The Iroquois Book of Rites_,
p. 107. (Philadelphia, 1883.)]
[Footnote 3: _Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians_,
p. 18.]
[Footnote 4: _The Tribes of California_, p. 73. (Washington,
1877.)]
[Footnote 5: "Il n'est pas rare de trouver des individus parlant jusqu'a
trois ou quatre langues, aussi distinctes entr'elles que le francais et
l'allemand."--Alcide D'Orbigny, _L'Homme Americain_, Tome I, p.
170. The generality of this fact in South America was noted by Humboldt,
_Voyage aux Regions Tropicales_, T. III, p. 308.]
[Footnote 6: "Hay muchos de ellos buenos gramaticos, y componen
oraciones largas y bien autorizadas, y versos exametros y
pentametros."--Toribio de Motilinia, _Historia de los Indios de la
Nueva Espana_, Tratado III, cap. XII.]
[Footnote 7: _Menologio Franciscano de los Varones mas Senalados de la
Provincia de Mexico_, Tomo IV, pp. 447-9. (Mexico, 1871.)
In the Prologue to the _Sermonario Mexicano_ of F. Juan de Bautista
(Mexico, 1606), is a well-written letter, in Latin, by Don Antonio
Valeriano, a native of Atzcaputzalco, who was professor of grammar and
rhetoric in the College of Tlatilulco. Bautista says of him that he
spoke extempore in Latin with the eloquence of a Cicero or a Quintilian;
and his contemporary, the academician Francisco Cervantes Salazar,
writes: "Magistrum habent [Indi] ejusdem nationis, Antonium Valerianum,
nostris grammaticis nequaquam inferiorem, in legis christianae
observatione satis doctum et ad eloquentiam avidissimum."--_Tres
Dialogos Latinos de Francisco Cervantes Salazar_, p. 150 (Ed.
Icazbalceta, Mexico, 1875).]
[Footnote 8: Francisco de Paula Garcia Pelaez, _Memorias para la
Historia del Antiguo Reyno de Guatemala_, Tomo III, pp. 201 and 221
(Guatemala, 1852).]
[Footnote 9: _Ritos Antiguos, Sacrificios e Idolatrias de los Indios
de la Nueva Espana_, in the _Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos para
la Historia de Espana_, Tom. 53, p. 300.]
[Footnote 10: _A Study of the Manuscript Troano_. By Cyrus Thomas,
Ph.D., with an Introduction by D.G. Brinton, M.D., p. xxvii.
(Washington, 1883.)]
[Footnote 11: "Tenian libros de pergaminos que hacian de los cueros de
venados, tan anchos como una mano o mas, e tan luengos como diez o doce
passos, e mas e menos, que se encogian e doblaban e resumian en el
tamano e grandeza de una mano por sus dobleces uno contra otro (a
manera de reclamo); y en aquestos tenian pintados sus caracteres o
figuras de tinta roxa o negra, de tal manera que aunque no eran letura
ni escritura, significaban y se entendian por ellas todo lo que querian
muy claramente."--Oviedo, _Historia General y Natural de Indias_,
Lib. XLII, cap. I.]
[Footnote 12: "Une ecriture consistant en raies tracees sur de petites
planchettes."--Alcide D'Orbigny, _L'Homme Americain_, Tomo L, p.
170, on the authority of Viedma, _Informe general de la Provincia de
Santa Cruz, MS_.]
[Footnote 13: _Legends and Tales of the Eskimo_. (Edinburgh and
London, 1875.)]
[Footnote 14: _Pok, Kalalek avalangnek, etc._, Nongme, 1857; or,
_Pok, en Groenlaender, som har reist og ved sin Hjemkomst, etc. Efter
gamle Handskrifter fundne hos Groenlaendere ved Godthaab._ Godthaab,
1857.]
[Footnote 15: _Kaladlit Assilialit, etc._ See Thomas W. Field,
_Indian Bibliography_, p. 199. (New York, 1873.)]
[Footnote 16: First printed in _The American Whig Review_, New York,
Feb. 1849; reprinted in _The Indian Miscellany_, edited by W.W.
Beach, Albany, 1877. I have not been able to find the original.]
[Footnote 17: Horatio Hale, _The Iroquois Book of Rites_.
(Philadelphia, 1883.) It is No. II of my "Library of Aboriginal American
Literature."
The introductory essay, in ten chapters, treats at considerable length
of the ethnology and history of the Huron-Iroquois nations, the Iroquois
League and its founders (Hiawatha, Dekanawidah, and their associates),
the origin of the Book of Rites, the composition of the Federal Council,
the clan system, the laws of the League, and the historical traditions
relating to it, the Iroquois character and public policy, and the
Iroquois language. A map prefixed to the work shows the location of the
United Nations and of the surrounding tribes.]
[Footnote 18: _Recit de Francois Kaondinoketc, Chef des Nipissingues
(tribu de race Algonquine) ecrit par lui-meme en 1848.--Traduit en
Francais et accompagne de notes par_ M.N.O., 8vo. pp. 8. (Paris,
1877.)]
[Footnote 19: _The National Legend of the Chata-Muskokee Tribes_. By
Daniel G. Brinton, M.D. Morrisania, N.Y., 1870. 4to. pp. 13. Reprinted
from _The Historical Magazine_, February, 1870.]
[Footnote 20: "Les chefs des vieillards m'avoient souvent parle de leurs
ancetres, des courses qu'ils avoient faites, et des combats qu'ils
avoient eu a soutenir, avant que la nation put se fixer ou elle est
aujourd'hui. L'histoire de ces premiers Creeks, qui portoient alors le
nom de Moskoquis, etoit conservee par des banderoles ou chapelets,"
etc.--_Memoire ou Coup-d'Oeil Rapide sur mes different Voyages et mon
Sejour dans la Nation Creck,_ Par le Gen. Milfort, pp. 48, 229.
(Paris, An. XI, 1802).]
[Footnote 21: "We burned all we could find of them," writes Bishop Landa,
"which pained the natives to an extraordinary degree."--_Relacion de
las Cosas de Yucatan_, p. 316. For a discussion of what was destroyed
at Mani see Cogolludo, _Historia de Yucatan_, 3d Ed., Vol. I, p.
604, note by the Editor. The efforts which have of late been made by
Senor Icazbalceta and the Reverend Canon Carrillo to modify the general
opinion of these acts of vandalism cannot possibly be successful. The
ruthless hostility of the Church to the ancient civilization, an
hostility founded on religious intolerance, could be proved by hundreds
of extracts from the early writers.]
[Footnote 22: Boturini's work is entitled _Idea de una Nueva Historia
General de la America Septentrional fundada sobre material copioso
defiguras, Symbolos, Caracteres, y Geroglificos, Cantares y Manuscritos
de Autores Indios_. Madrid, 1746. The fate of his collection is
sketched by Brasseur de Bourbourg, in the introduction to his
_Histoire des Nations civilisees de Mexique et de l'Amerique
Centrale_, Vol I.]
[Footnote 23: The following extract from Ixtlilxochitl sums up the native
authorities on which he relied for the particulars of the life of the
last prince of Tezcuco, and merits quotation as a bit of literary
history:--
"Autores son de todo lo referido, y de los demas de su vida y hechos los
infantes de Mexico Ytzcoatzin y Xiuhcozcatzin, y otros Poetas y
Historicos en los anales de las tres cabezas de esta Nueva Espana, y en
particular en los anales que hizo el infante Quauhtlazaciulotzin, primer
Senor del pueblo de Chiauhtla; y asimismo se halla en las relaciones que
escribieron los infantes de la ciudad de Tezcuco, Don Pablo, Don
Toribio, Don Hernando Pimentel y Juan de Pomar hijos y nietos del Rey
Nezalhualpiltzintli de Tezcuco, y asimismo el infante Don Alonso
Axiaicatzin Senor de Itztapalapan, hijo del rey de Cuitlahuac, y sobrino
del rey Motecutzomatzin."--Ixtlilxochitl, _Historia Chichimeca_,
cap. XLIX.]
[Footnote 24: In the celebrated library of J.F. Ramirez, were two folio
volumes, containing 1022 pages, entitled _Anales Antiguos de Mexico y
sus Contornos_. They included, besides various Spanish accounts, 27
fragments in the Nahuatl language, some translated and some not. The
titles of all are given by Don Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, in his
valuable and rare _Apuntes para un Catalogo de Escritores en Lenguas
Indigenas de America_, pp. 140-142. (Mexico, 1866.)]
[Footnote 25: _Memorial del Pueblo de Teptlaustuque, en la Nueva
Espana; en que se refiere su Origen i Poblacion, i de los Tributos i
Servicios, antes i despues de la Conquista; todo pintado, i M.S._ En
la Libreria del Rei. Antonio de Leon i Pinelo, _Bibliotheca
Occidental_. The district of Tepetlaoztoc belonged to Tezcuco.]
[Footnote 26: "Don Gabriel Castaneda, Indio principal, natural de
Michuacan Colomocho en la Provincia de Mejico. Escribio en Lengua
Megicana, _Relacion_ de la Jornada que hizo Sandoval Acaxitli,
Cacique y Senor de Tlalmanalco, con el Sr. Visorey Don Antonio de
Mendoza en la Conquista de los Chichimecas de Xuchipila,
1541."--Beristain y Souza, _Biblioteca Hispano-Americana
Septentrional_, s.v.]
[Footnote 27: For testimony to this interesting fact see _The Maya
Chronicles_, Introduction, p. 28, note.]
[Footnote 28: _The Books of Chilan Balam, The Prophetic and Historic
Records of the Mayas of Yucatan_. By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D.,
Philadelphia, 1882. Reprint from the _Penn Monthly_, March, 1882.]
[Footnote 29: _Library of Aboriginal American Literature_, Vol. I,
p. 189. (Philadelphia, 1882.)]
[Footnote 30: An intelligent appreciation of the linguistic labors of Pio
Perez was written by Dr. Berendt, in 1871, and printed in
Mexico.--_Los Trabajos Linguisticos de Don Juan Pio Perez_. 8vo.
pp. 6.]
[Footnote 31: _Disertacion sobre la Historia de la Lengua Maya o
Yucateca_. Por Crescencio Carrillo. Published in the _Revista de
Merida_, 1870.]
[Footnote 32: A fine manuscript of Vico's work, as well as a number of
other productions in Cakchiquel, by the missionaries, are in the library
of the American Philosophical Society, at Philadelphia.]
[Footnote 33: Tecpan Atitlan is a village on the shore of Lake Atitlan,
in the province of Solola, Guatemala.]
[Footnote 34: Don Domingo Juarros, _Compendio de la Historia de la
Ciudad de Guatemala_, Tomo, II pp. 6, 7, 12, 16, et al. (Ed.
Guatemala, 1857). A copy of Tzumpan's writings is said to be in a
private library in the United States.
The native Cakchiquel writers were also the authorities on which Father
Vazquez depended, in part, in composing his history of Guatemala. He
gives a partial translation of one, beginning the passage: "Los Indios
de Zolola dizen en sus escritos," etc.--Fray Francisco Vazquez,
_Cronica de la Provincia de Guatemala_, Lib. III, Cap. XXXVI.
(Guatemala, 1714, 1716.)]
[Footnote 35: Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Bibliotheque
Mexico-Guatemalienne_, p. 142. (Paris, 1871.)]
[Footnote 36: _Titulos de la Casa de Ixcuin-Nehaib, Senora del
Territorio de Otzoya_. Guatemala, 1876. 8vo. pp. 15. Reprint from the
_Boletin de la Sociedad Economica de Guatemala_.]
[Footnote 37: _Las Historias del Origen de los Indios de esta Provincia
de Guatemala, traducidas de la lengua Quiche al Castellano_. Por el
R.P.F. Francisco Ximenez. 8vo. Vienna, 1857.]
[Footnote 38: _Popol Vuh. Le Livre Sacre et les Mythes de l'Antiquite
Americaine, avec les livres heroiques et historiques des Quiches_.
Par l'Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg. (Paris, 1861.)]
[Footnote 39: _The Names of the Gods in the Kiche Myths of Central
America_. By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D. 8vo. pp. 37. (Philadelphia,
1881.) Reprint from the _Proceedings_ of the American Philosophical
Society, 1881.]
[Footnote 40: Boturini, _Idea de una Nueva Historia de la America
Septentrional_, p. 115.]
[Footnote 41: Cabrera, _Teatro Critico Americano_, p 33.]
[Footnote 42: _American Hero-Myths_, pp. 213-217. (Philadelphia,
1882.)]
[Footnote 43: On this Qquichua MS. see Marcos Jimenez de la Espada,
_Tres Relaciones de Antiguedades Peruanas_. Introd. p. 34.]
[Footnote 44: _Relacion de las Costumbres Antiguas de los Naturales del
Piru_, printed in the work last quoted, p. 142, note.]
[Footnote 45: "En cabildo de 29 de Julio de 1692, el capitan Don Antonio
de Fuentes y Guzman trajo a esta sala siete peticiones escritas en
cortezas de arboles."--Francisco de Paula Garcia Pelaez, _Memorias
para la Historia del Antiguo Reyno de Guatemala_, Tom. II, p. 267.
(Guatemala, 1852.)]
[Footnote 46: _O Selvagem. Trabalho Preparatorio para aproveitamento de
Selvagem e de solo por elle occupado no Brazil_. Rio de Janeiro,
1876.]
[Footnote 47: _Notes on the Lingoa Geral, or Modern Tupi of the
Amazonas_, in the _Transactions_ of the American Philological
Association, for 1872.]
[Footnote 48: Boturini, _Idea de una Nueva Historia_, etc., App. pp.
57 et seq.; Didacus Valades, _Rhetorica Christiana_, Pars Secunda
(Perusia, 1579); Gemelli Carreri, _Giro del Mundo_.]
[Footnote 49: Stephens, _Travels in Yucatan_, Vol. I, p. 449
(London, 1843).]