GUATIMALA

GUATIMALA, or GUATEMALA, one of the republics of Central America, occupies most of the table-land of Guatemala, with the mountainous district between it and the Gulf of Honduras, besides a portion of the table-land of Yucatan. Its extreme latitudes are 13. 29. and 18. 12. N., and longitudes 88. 10. and 93. 22. W. It is bounded on the N. by the Mexican state of Yucatan, on the W. by Chiapa, on the S. by the Pacific Ocean, S.E. by the Republic of Salvador, E. by Honduras, and N.E. by the Gulf of Honduras, and the British Honduras, or Belize. The total area of Guatemala is about 49,000 square miles. It is divided into seventeen departments, and contained, according to the returns of 1852, a population of 972,000, distributed as follows:—

The surface of Guatemala is wholly mountainous, the main chain of the continuation of the Andes traversing it from S.E. to N.W. at an inconsiderable distance from the Pacific shore, and branching off in various ramifications towards the Atlantic; forming many valleys, but inclosing few plains. Along the main chain occur numerous volcanoes, all near the Pacific. The culminating point of the surface is in N. Lat. 15. 30., between the towns of Totonicapán and Gueguetenango. The eastern border of the plateau descending to the Gulf of Honduras is cut by deep valleys, which extend to a great distance, and in some places advance to the very shores. The country lying to the W. and the N.W. of the Golfo Dulce is a low plain, while all between the plateau and the Bay of Honduras is a succession

of ridges and valleys. In many places the shore is rocky, Guatemala with rocky barriers lying off it.

Numerous streams drain this state. The most important are—the Lacantun, forming part of the Mexican boundary; the Motagua and the Polochic, which fall through the Dulce into the Bay of Honduras. The most important lakes are—the Dulce, advantageous for foreign trading vessels; the Amatitlán, 18 miles S.E. of Guatemala, is 9 miles by 3, of great depth, and is much resorted to as a bathing-place by the inhabitants of Guatemala, from February till April; near it there are several mineral and hot springs; the Atitlán, 80 miles N.W. of the city of Guatemala, is about 20 miles long by 9 broad, surrounded by lofty heights, including the volcano of Atitlán, and is remarkable for its very great depth, and being without outlet, though several small rivers enter it; the Paten, near the frontiers with Yucatan, and about 30 miles long, 9 broad.

The climate of the table-land is that of perennial spring, the thermometer scarcely varying throughout the year, and it resembles very much the climate of Valencia in Spain in almost every particular. In the northern part of the state, in what is called Los Altos, the highlands, the average is lower than any other part of the country. Snow sometimes falls in the vicinity of Quetzaltenango, the capital of this department, but soon disappears, the thermometer seldom remaining at the freezing point for any considerable time. In the vicinity of the city of Guatemala, the range of the thermometer is from 55° to 80°, averaging about 72° of Fahr. Vera Paz, the north-eastern department of Guatemala, and embracing the coast below Yucatan to the Gulf of Dulce, is nearly ten degrees warmer. This coast from Belize downwards to Isabel and San Tome is hot and unhealthy. From May till October is the rainy season. Thunder prevails in June, and terrific storms from the S.W. sweep along the Pacific coast in August and September. Earthquakes are very frequent.

The soil is generally very fertile, producing excellent rice, and all the cereals in great variety and abundance. Agriculture, however, is in a very backward state from the want of enterprise and the ignorance of the people, as well as from the want of roads. As articles of commerce, the most important products are cochineal and indigo. Cotton, cacao, sugar, vanilla, tobacco, and coffee, are grown in considerable quantities. The table-land is almost destitute of trees and even bushes, except on the declivities of the hilly ranges which so extensively traverse it. Trees of very large size form extensive forests on the lower lands along the Pacific. These are a source of great natural wealth. Among the trees the most valuable are the cedar, mahogany, Brazil, Santa Maria, pimento, guaiacum, &c.; and abundance of medicinal plants are also found and turned to some account. The vegetation is luxuriant and vigorous along the low tract by the Bay of Honduras. Sheep are reared in considerable numbers, especially over the northern districts, and their wool is used for native manufactures. The horse is small, hardy, and handsome; and mules are numerous, being the chief beasts of burden. Pigs and poultry are very abundant, and of excellent quality.

Salt is manufactured along the coast of the Pacific. Jasper, marble, and brimstone, are obtained in considerable quantity in the vicinity of some of the volcanoes. Lead is worked by the Indians in Totonicapán. The manufactures are mostly limited to those for domestic use. The cotton manufacture, once extensive, is now confined to the departments of Guatemala and Sacatepec. Coarse woollen cloth is now more manufactured, especially gerga, which is made into a peculiar black called poncho, in which much taste is displayed.

Besides cochineal already noticed, the most important exports are woods employed in cabinet work; sarsaparilla, vanilla, and other medicinal roots and plants; hides, sugar,

Guatimala, coffee, and cotton, in small quantities. The imports consist chiefly of wines, fancy goods, earthenware, porcelain, cutlery, hardware, silk and linens, dry goods, and British cotton.

The inhabitants of Guatimala are a mixture of native Indians, Europeans, and Negroes. The natives of negro blood are principally along the N.E. coast, and in Amatitlan. With the exception of certain portions of the indigenous Indians, or northern portions of Guatimala, the people of this state are characterized by all the vices that degrade the inhabitants of Central America.

Guatimala received its name from the Mexican word quauhtemali, "a decayed wooden log," because the Mexican Indians who accompanied Alvarado found near the palace of the kings of Kachiquel an old worm-eaten tree, and gave this name to the capital. In the mouth of a Spaniard the pronunciation became guatimala. Others have derived the name from the Tzendale word whatetzmalha, "a water volcano," in allusion to the mountain on the skirts of which the city of Guatimala was built. Another still less probable etymology is that from coctezmalan, "milk-wood," a peculiar tree found only in the immediate vicinity of the original capital, where now stands the village of Tzacualpa. Still another is from the name of Guitemal, the first king of Guatimala, as Quiché was named from Namaquicho, and Nicaragua from the cacique of the same name.

The principal part of Guatimala was conquered in 1524 by Alvarado, who found above thirty different tribes in possession of the country, each governed by its own chief, and using distinct languages and customs. The Pipil Indians still speak the Aztec or Mexican language, and dwell on the Pacific shores. Besides this there are above twenty different dialects used in the republic; but many of these are so similar that one tribe with little difficulty understands another. According to a tradition related by the historian Juarrós, the Toltec Indians, the most civilized and powerful of the tribes of Guatimala, came originally from Tula in Mexico. This emigration is said to have been undertaken by the direction of an oracle in consequence of the great increase of the population in the reign of Namaquiché (i. e., "Quiché the Great"), the fifth king of the Toltecas. Namaquiché V. died during their wanderings, and was succeeded by his son Acjopil, from whom Kicab-Tanub, the contemporary of Montezuma II., was the fourteenth in succession who reigned in Utatlan, the capital of Quiché, which stood near the Lake Atitlan, and was so named in honour of Quiché the Great, who had died during their perilous and tedious wanderings southwards. None of the Spanish settlements were conquered with so little bloodshed as that of Guatimala; and this was mainly owing to the celebrated Dominican Las Casas, who accompanied the conquerors in their expedition into this territory. In 1524 Alvarado founded the city of Guatimala; and in 1542 a chancery and royal audiencia were established in this city, with authority over all the settlements and provinces from the southern boundary of Costa Rica to the northern limit of Chiapas. Hence this city became the residence of the governor and captain-general. Till his death in 1541 Alvarado had exercised authority over the Spanish settlements from their subjugation in 1524, during four years under Cortez, and subsequently by direct delegation from the Crown. In 1742 the bishopric of Guatimala, which was established in 1534, became metropolitan, and was invested with authority over the suffragan bishoprics of Nicaragua, Chiapas (and Comayagua in Honduras). At this time the kingdom of Guatimala consisted of the aggregate of the settlements and districts; and under the Spaniards it formed a captain-generalship independent of the other governments and viceroyalties of Spanish America. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Guatimala was severely harassed by the Dutch and English privateers, and by the invasions of the Poyaise and Mosquito Indians, who freely permitted the English to settle along their coast, while they maintained an unrelenting struggle with the Spaniards. On the 21st September 1821 the country became an independent state, and united itself with the Republic of Mexico; but again, on 1st July 1823, it became a separate government, and eventually the confederation of the five states of Guatimala—Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, with the territory of

Mosquitia—was formed. In 1846, however, this confederation Guatimala, was dissolved; and Guatimala, as well as each of the rest, became independent. Of late, attempts have again been made to renew the confederation, but, owing to political jealousies, without any definite result. The country has long been kept in a state of constant agitation, industry has been neglected, civil wars have been rife, and every effort to improve the condition of the inhabitants has been frustrated. Under a united system of government this country would rise into one of incalculable importance and influence. It possesses all the elements of prosperity in the resources and advantages with which nature has so richly and profusely invested it.

According to the constitution of October 19, 1851, the executive is in the hands of a president, elected by a general assembly, composed of the legislative chamber, the Archbishop of Guatimala, the members of the supreme court of justice, and the members of the council of state. The legislative assembly consists of fifty-nine members; and the president is elected for four years, but is eligible to be re-elected. The council of state is composed of the ministry, eight councillors chosen by the legislative assembly, and of others appointed by the president. The revenue and expenditure are about L. 50,000, and the debt now amounts to L. 240,000.

The principal cities in this republic are New Guatimala, the capital; Old Guatimala, Totonicapan, Quesseltenango, Chiquimula, Salamá, Flores, &c.; and the chief ports are Isabel, or Golfo Dulce; San Tomé, on the Bay of Honduras; and Istapá, on the Pacific.

The antiquities of Central America have recently been partially investigated by travellers, and are beginning to yield some fruits. The most prolific of the states, as yet, is Guatimala, which is now (1856) being examined by a judicious and experienced antiquarian, the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, who resides as cura at Rabinal in Vera Paz, one of the least known of the departments of Guatimala. He is there in direct relationship with the native Indians of that district, which has longest resisted the advances of European civilization, and in which the aborigines have probably retained most of their primitive traditions, customs, and religious ideas. Between Vera Paz, Yucatan, and Chiapas, there lies a wide tract of country, drained by the great river Usumasinta, and inhabited by the unconquered tribes of the Lacandones, Manches, Choles, &c., all belonging to the great Tzendal or Maya family, who built the now ruined temples of Yucatan, and reared Paleque and Copan. This region is full of extensive ruins and imposing monuments; and the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg is here earnestly prosecuting his researches under most favourable circumstances. His object is to reach the lake of Peten, or Itza, so well known from the early chronicles as the stronghold of the warlike Itzas. The islands of this lake are covered with ruins, of which imperfect accounts have been given to the public by Colonel Galindo. But so little is yet known of this country that it has not been ascertained by Europeans whether this large lake discharges itself north into the Gulf of Mexico, or east into the Bay of Honduras, or, indeed, if it have an outlet at all. The documents brought to light by the Abbé de Bourbourg must prove of great value in elucidating the aboriginal history of America. These consist of a copy of the Kachiquel grammar del Padre Flores, containing a comparison of the Kachiquel with the Quiché and Zutugil, "the three metropolitan languages," which are all dialects of a single stock; the original MS. of Ximenes, of which only a part is copied in that of Ordóñez; The Ancient History of Quiché in Spanish and Quiché; a MS. History of Guatimala of Vera Paz, in Spanish, with numerous details on the astronomy and religion of the natives. And beside these, a separate history of Vera Paz; another of San Salvador; and another of the rebellion of the Tzendales, with a magnificent copy of the Tonalasatti, or Calendar of the Indians of Quiché, as still secretly used by the Indians of Santa Catalina Ixtahuacan, have been obtained by this indefatigable Abbé. But the most precious of his acquisitions is a MS. in the Kachiquel language, written about 1550 A.D., by one of the princes of Solola, near the Lake of Atitlan; this he is rendering into French and Spanish; and it is full of details of the immigration of the Indians into these countries, their early sufferings, the valorous conduct of their chiefs, of the four Tulas that existed, &c. The abbé has visited two ancient cities full of large ruins; they are called Zamaneb or Cakyug, and Trak-Pokoma. These he discovered by means of a loyé or dramatic dance, recited to him by a native Indian, a descendant of the ancient chiefs of Vera Paz. The facts of this loyé agrees with Ximenes, and also with the Kachiquel MS. already mentioned.

The best writers on Guatimala are,—Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de México, 1632; Herrera, Historia General de los Hechos de los Castellanos en las Islas y Tierra

Guatimala Perme del Mar Océano, Madrid, 1601; Alcedo's Geographical Dictionary of Spanish America, by — Thompson, London, 1810, but
Guayaquil, at Madrid, 1786-89; Haefkin, Central America; Juarros, Guatimala, which garbles the facts preserved in the MS. of Ximenes; Humboldt's, Thompson's, Byram's, and Dunn's Travels; Bally's Central America, which is accompanied with a good map, and is the most recent and reliable source of information up to this time (1856).