The Native Races (Complete 5 Part Edition). Hubert Howe Bancroft

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СКАЧАТЬ and draw 'em down by the feet." For making tortillas, the corn is prepared by placing it in water, to which a little lime is added, and allowing it to soak all night, or it is put to simmer over a slow fire; the husk is then easily separated and the corn mashed or ground on the metate. From this paste the tortilla is formed by patting it between the hands into a very thin cake, which is cooked on an earthern pan placed over the fire; the tortilla is eaten with boiled beans, and a mixture of chile and lard. The ground corn is also mixed with water and strained through a sieve; of this liquor they make a gruel, to which is added a little cacao or sugar. The sediment which remains in the sieve is used to make tamales, which are a combination of chopped meat, chile, and onions, which ingredients are covered with the corn paste, and the whole enveloped in corn or plantain leaves and boiled or baked. The Mexicans are very moderate eaters, but have an insatiable passion for strong liquors.907

      Laziness and filth follow us as we proceed southward in our observations; among the Mexicans, the poorer classes especially are filthy in their persons, and have a disgusting appearance, which increases with the infirmities of age. Many of them indulge freely in the use of a steam-bath called temazcalli, similar to the Russian vapor-bath, but it does not appear to have the effect of cleansing their persons.908

      WEAPONS AND SHIELDS.

      All these tribes use bows and arrows; the latter carried in a quiver slung at the back, a few spare ones being stuck in the belt for immediate use. A heavy club is secured to the arm by a thong, and wielded with terrible effect at close quarters. In battle, the principal warriors are armed with spears and shields. Another weapon much in use is the sling, from which they cast stones to a great distance and with considerable accuracy. The natives of the valley of Mexico kill birds with small pellets blown through a hollow tube.909

      The clubs, which are from three to four feet in length, are made of a species of heavy wood, some having a round knob at the end similar to a mace, others broad and flat, and armed with sharp pieces of obsidian, fastened on either side. Acosta states that with these weapons they could cut off the head of a horse at one stroke. Spears and arrows are pointed with flint or obsidian, the latter having a reed shaft with a piece of hard wood inserted into it to hold the point. Their quivers are made of deer-skin, and sometimes of seal or shark-skin. Shields are ingeniously constructed of small canes so woven together with thread that they can be folded up and carried tied under the arm. When wanted for use they are loosed, and when opened out they cover the greater part of the body.910

      WAR AND TREATMENT OF CAPTIVES.

      Aboriginally, as with most northern nations, warfare was the normal state of these people. The so-called Chichimecs attacked all who entered their domain, whether for hunting, collecting fruit, or fighting. War once declared between two tribes, each side endeavors to secure by alliance as many of their neighbors as possible; to which end ambassadors are despatched to the chiefs of adjacent provinces, each bearing in his hand an arrow of the make peculiar to the tribe of the stranger chief. Arriving at the village, the messenger seeks out the chief and lays the arrow at his feet; if the proposal of his master be accepted by the stranger chief, the rendezvous is named and the messenger departs. The ambassadors having returned with their report, preparations are at once made for the reception of the allies, a feast is prepared, large quantities of game and intoxicating drink are made ready, and as soon as the guests arrive the viands are placed before them. Then follow eating and drinking, concluding with drunken orgies; this finished, a council is held, and the assault planned, care being taken to secure places suitable for an ambuscade and stones for the slingers. A regular organization of forces is observed and every effort made to outflank or surround the enemy. Archers and slingers march to an attack in single file, always occupying the van, while warriors armed with clubs and lances are drawn up in the rear; the assault is commenced by the former, accompanied with furious shouts and yells. During the period of their wars against the Spaniards, they often expended much time and labor in the fortification of heights by means of tree-trunks, and large rocks, which were so arranged, one on top of another, that at a given signal they might be loosened, and let fall on their assailants. The chiefs of the Tepecanos and contiguous tribes carried no weapons during the action, but had rods with which they chastised those who exhibited symptoms of cowardice, or became disorderly in the ranks.911 The slain were scalped or their heads cut off, and prisoners were treated with the utmost barbarity, ending invariably in the death of the unfortunates; often were they scalped while yet alive, and the bloody trophy placed upon the heads of their tormentors. The heads of the slain were placed on poles and paraded through their villages in token of victory, the inhabitants meanwhile dancing round them. Young children were sometimes spared, and reared to fight in the ranks of their conquerors; and in order to brutalize their youthful minds and eradicate all feelings of affection toward their own kindred, the youthful captives were given to drink the brains and blood of their murdered parents. The Chichimecs carried with them a bone, on which, when they killed an enemy, they marked a notch, as a record of the number each had slain. Mota Padilla states that when Nuño de Guzman arrived in the valley of Coynan, in Jalisco, the chiefs came out to meet him, and, as a sign of peace and obedience, dropped on one knee; upon being raised up by the Spaniards, they placed round their necks strings of rabbits and quails, in token of respect.912

      As the wants of the people are few and simple, so is the inventory of their implements and household furniture. Every family is supplied with the indispensable metate, an oblong stone, about twelve by eighteen inches, smooth on the surface and resting upon three legs in a slanting position; with this is used a long stone roller, called the metlapilli, for rubbing down the maize, and a large earthen pan, called the comalli, on which to bake the tortillas. Their bottles, bowls, and cups are made from gourds, often prettily painted, and kept hanging round the walls; some unglazed earthenware vessels, ornamented with black figures on a dull red ground, are used for cooking, a block of wood serves for a stool and table, and lastly a few petates (Aztec, petlatl, 'palm-leaf mat'), are laid upon the ground for beds. These comprise the whole effects of a native's house. For agricultural purposes, they have wooden spades, hoes, and sharp stakes for planting corn. Their products are carried home or to market in large wicker-work frames, often five feet high by two and a half feet broad, made from split palm-leaves.913

      In the State of Jalisco, the natives are celebrated for the manufacture of blankets and woolen mantas; in other parts of the country they continue to weave cotton stuffs in the same manner as before the conquest, all on very primitive hand-looms. The common designs are in blue or red and white stripes, but they are sometimes neatly worked with figures, the juice from the murex or purple shell supplying the vermilion color for the patterns. The inhabitants of Tonala exhibit much taste and excellence in the production of pottery, making a great variety of toys, masks, figures, and ornaments, besides the vessels for household use. In the vicinity of Santa Cruz, the fibres of the aloe, crushed upon the metate, are employed for the manufacture of ropes, nets, bags, and flat round pelotas, used in rubbing down the body after a bath. Palm-leaf mats and dressed skins also figure largely among the articles of native industry.914

      In Vera Cruz, they have canoes dug out of the trunk of a mahogany or cedar tree, which are capable of holding several persons, and are worked with single paddles.915

      TRADE AND ARTS.

      A considerable trade is carried on in pottery, mats, dressed skins, and manufactures of the aloe-fibre; also fruit, feathers, vegetables, and fish. All such wares are packed in light osier baskets, which, thrown upon their backs, are carried long distances to the several markets. In the province of Vera Cruz, vanilla, jalap, and other herbs are important articles of native commerce, and all the interior tribes place a high value on salt, for which they readily exchange their products.916

      The natives display much patience and skill in ornamental work, especially carvings in stone, and in painting; although the figures, their gods bearing witness, are all of grotesque shapes and appearance. With nothing more than a rude knife, they make very ingenious figures, of wax, of the pith of trees, of wood, charcoal, clay, and bone. They are fond of music, and readily imitate any strain СКАЧАТЬ