# Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican/Volume 2/Book 5/Chapter 1

Table of Contents
BOOK V.
THE MEXICAN STATES AND TERRITORIES;
THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS, CITIES, TOWNS, PRODUCTIONS, MINES, GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS, ANTIQUITIES, ETC.
CHAPTER I.
In treating this branch of our subject we have followed the order adopted by Mühlenpfordt in his "Republik Mejico," and acknowledge the important assistance we have derived from the careful, minute and laborious personal researches made by that industrious German author relative to the geography of Mexico. Since the publication of his volumes, in which he had been greatly aided by the previous works of Humboldt, Ward, Burkhardt and other explorers during the present century, the Mexican government has organized a Statistical Commission, whose investigations have been published in a series of Bulletins, and to these we are indebted for recent authentic information about some of the most interesting portions of Mexico. The northern regions, meanwhile, have been illustrated by the explorations of Frémont, Abert, Emory, Wislizenius, Cooke, Simpson, and other officers of the American Government; but as most of the territory examined by them has become the property of the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe, their labors are not of importance in describing the Republic of Mexico as at present bounded. In the last Book of this work, however, which we have devoted to the consideration of California and New Mexico, we shall recur to those brave and scientific explorers of a remote region, so recently a wilderness, but which their labors, and ​the combined fortune of war and mineral wealth have subdued for the benefit of mankind.
In accordance with the plan proposed in the separate consideration of the several States and Territories of Mexico, we shall divide them into three groups:—those on the eastern or Gulf coast; those on the western or Pacific coast, and those in the interior.
| I.—Eastern or Gulf Coast. |||||
| The | State of Yucatan. | The | State of Vera Cruz. |
| " | State of Chiapas. | " | State of Tamaulipas. |
| " | State of Tabasco. | | |
| II.—Western or Pacific Coast. |||||
| The | State of Oajaca. | The | State of Jalisco. |
| " | State of Puebla. | " | Territory of Colima. |
| " | Territory of Tlascala. | " | State of Sinaloa. |
| " | State of Mexico and Federal | | State of Sonora. |
| | District. | " | State of Guerrero. |
| The | State of Michoacan. | " | Territory of L. California. |
| III.—Interior. |||||
| The | State of Queretaro. | The | State of New Leon. |
| " | State of Guanajuato. | " | State of Coahuila. |
| " | State of Zacatecas. | " | State of Durango. |
| " | State of San Luis Potosi. | " | State of Chihuahua. |
THE STATE OF YUCATAN.
The State of Yucatan, sometimes known by the name of Merida or Campeché, occupies the greater portion of the peninsula which bounds the southern edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Its eastern side is washed by the Caribbean Sea, and touched by the settlements at Balize; on the south it is bounded by Guatemala; on the west by the Gulf of Mexico and the States of Chiapas and Tabasco, from which it is separated by the river Paicutun that falls into the Lagnua de Terminos. Its northern coast extends from Cape Catoché to the Punta de Piedras, about eighty-six leagues; and the whole area of the State is computed at 3,823 square leagues.
Yucatan possesses very few streams and none of importance that are known or explored. On the west of the peninsula, debouching into the Gulf of Mexico, there are the rivers or rivulets of Escatalto, Chen, Champoton;—the San Francisco falls into the Bay of Campeché; in the north there are the Silan, the Cedros, and the Conil; while the streams of Bolina, the Rio Nuevo, the Bacalar, the ​Ascension, and the Honda or Rio Grande pour into the Caribbean Sea. In 1841 the population of the State is stated in a census, taken by order of the government, as follows:
| Departments. | Men. | Women. | Total. |
| Merida, | 48,606 | 58,663 | 107,269 |
| Izamal, | 32,915 | 37,933 | 70,848 |
| Tekax, | 58,127 | 64,697 | 122,824 |
| Valladolid, | 45,353 | 46,926 | 92,279 |
| Campeché, | 39,017 | 40,639 | 79,656 |
| Total, | 224,018 | 248,858 | 472,876 |
This census, although it professes to be accurate, may nevertheless be incomplete, inasmuch as the inhabitants of Yucatan, dreading new contributions and detesting military service, endeavor to reduce as much as possible the number of their families in the lists prepared for government. Besides this, it does not appear to comprehend all the departments according to Mühlenpfordt, who divides the State into fifteen departments. The population has been estimated by some careful writers, acquainted with the people and the country, at 525,000 souls; in our table of population on page 42 of this volume, we have on good authority stated the number to be, in 1842, 508,948, while others have increased the number to 600,000 and even to 630,000, which amount is assigned to Yucatan by a census in 1833! The last mentioned number will give about 165 individuals to each square league.
The character and quality of the productions of Yucatan may be estimated by the following statistical table, which has been translated and published by Mr. Stephens in the first volume of his Incidents of Travel in that State.
TABLE OF STATISTICS OF YUCATAN
CAMPECHE.
​The principal towns of Yucatan, are, 1st: the capital, Merida, in the northern part of the state, about ten leagues from the coast, containing a population of near 15,000 individuals. Its port is the small haven of Sisal, which is in reality nothing but a bleak roadstead, protected by a fort and a sand bank.
2nd: San Francisco de Campeché, with a population of about 9,000;—a port which is considered by navigators one of the best in the state, yet is by no means, a secure or comfortable anchorage.
3rd: Valladolid, the chief town of the district of that name, with near 4,000 inhabitants.
4th: San Felipé de Bacalar, or Salamanca; a town and military post in the district of that name, containing a garrison and about one hundred and twenty houses.
Besides these, there are the villages of Xampolan, Jequetchacan, Lerma, Champoton, between the rivers Campeché and Champoton on the west coast, and Silan, Santa Clara, Vigia del rio and Chaboána, on the north coast. In the interior there are many Indian villages.
The Island of Cozumel on the east coast of Yucatan—which was the first land discovered by the Spaniards in their voyage to Mexico,—is now almost uninhabited, and contains some ancient remains, which are probably the ruins of the splendid structures that attracted the attention of the adventurers, and satisfied them they had reached a land which was sufficiently civilized to be worthy their exploration and plunder.
It has generally been supposed that Yucatan affords no safe harbors or anchorages, which would either tempt commercial enterprise to her shores, or afford vessels of war sufficient protection so as to render the peninsula valuable in a military point of view. Yet it seems from an official copy of a recent British survey of the coast of Yucatan, which is to be found in the office of our Coast Survey in Washington, that there is a fine harbor for vessels of any size under the island of Mugeres, the easternmost point of Yucatan, where they may ride at anchor in safety, protected from winds in every direction. The harbors of Ascension and Espiritu Bay, are represented as good; the latter being capable of holding a fleet of the heaviest kind of English frigates and war steamers. There is good anchorage, moreover, off the north-east point of the island of Cozumel.
THE STATE OF CHIAPAS.
This state has been very inadequately examined. It is bounded north by Tabasco; south and south-west by the Republic of Central America, or Guatemala; west by the state of Vera Cruz and by a small part of Oajaca; and on the east partly by Yucatan and partly by Guatemala. Until the year 1833 the territory comprised in this division belonged to Guatemala, when it joined the Mexican confederacy. Comprehending the northern declivities of the Cordilleras and table lands of Central America, Chiapas is, throughout a considerable part of its territory, cut up into successions of ridges and valleys, which are rich in many of the finest tropical productions. Corn, cacao, sugar and garden vegetables are produced readily. Tobacco of good quality grows in the district of Sandoval, and in the neighborhood of Oajaca. In the district of Tonalá, a small quantity of indigo of an extraordinarily fine quality is cultivated; and here, also, pepper and the maguey plant are yielded plentifully. Ananas, sapotes, bananas, figs, apricots and various similar fruits abound in Chiapas, while in its forests, oaks, cedar, mahogany, ebony, and other valuable woods are found in considerable quantities. But the greater part of this fruitful state is still an unknown waste, which the labors of other races must fully explore and develop.
Chiapas is divided into four departments and nine districts, which, together, possess 92 parishes.
1st: The Department of the Centre, with 12 parishes, besides the capital of Ciudad-Real, or San Cristoval de los Llanos and the the town of Chamúla.
2nd: The Department of the South, with 10 parishes, in the district of Llanos, 11 in Ocozingo, and 17 in Tuxtla.
3rd: The Department of the West, with the district of Ystocomitan, containing 17 parishes; Tonalá, 3 parishes; and Palenque, 4 parishes.
4th: The Department of the North, with the districts of Tila, containing 6 parishes, and Simojoval, 12 parishes.
The chief towns are, Ciudad-Real, or San Cristoval de los Llanos; a fine town with about 6,000 inhabitants, possessing a cathedral church, four convents for monks, and one for nuns, two chapels, and a hospital. The first bishop of Chiapas, who erected the see of that name in 1538, was the renowned Bartoloméo de las Casas, whose fame is so intimately connected with the early history of the country, by his constant and merciful interference in behalf of the Indians.
​The other important towns are San Juan Chamúla, containing 4,000 inhabitants; San Bartoloméo de los Llanos, whose 7,000 people are chiefly engaged in the cultivation of cotton, sugar, tobacco and corn; San Domingo Comitlan; San Jacinto Ocozingo, with 3,000 inhabitants who devote themselves to the care of cattle, and cultivate some cacao and corn; Tuxtla, with 5,000 inhabitants who trade in tobacco and cacao; San Domingo Sinacantan, on the borders of Tabasco in the territory of the Zoques, with 2,500 inhabitants who employ themselves in the culture of silk, of which they weave shawls and other similar fabrics, which are esteemed of a good merchantable quality, and are used in the country or adjacent states; Chiapa de los Indios; Tecpatlan; Ostoacan; Teopixca; Acapala; Capanabastla; Izcuintenango; San Fernando Guadalupe; and Simojovél.
Chiapas is represented to be rich in rivers which rise chiefly in the highlands towards the state of Tabasco and debouche into the Mexican Gulf. The Tabasco river or the Rio de Grijalva; the Usumasinta, the Chicsoi or the Santa Isabella;—the Machaquita, San Pedro, Dolores, Yalchitan, Chacamas, Zeldales, Yeixhihujat, Chatlan, and some others; the Pacaitún or Paicutun; the laguna de Chiapa; some mineral waters; and a valuable salt spring in the vicinity of San Mateo, enrich various portions of this fertile state, whose climate, especially in its higher regions, is said to be delicious and uniform. The number of the population of this state is not officially known. In 1831, a census made by order of the governor Ignacio Gutierrez, which however, did not include fifteen parishes, gave 118,775 inhabitants for the rest of the state. An estimate in a Mexican calendar of 1833 represents the number to be about 96,000, while the government calculation for a basis of representation in Congress in 1842, gives it 141,206, to which about 10 per cent, should be added to give the proximate population in 1850. The Indian tribes of the Zoques, Cendales or Zeldales, Teochiapanéos and Mames are still very numerous, and, of course, form the greater part of the population.
Ancient Remains in Yucatan and Chiapas.
The physical description of these two States, presented in the preceding pages, will have satisfied the reader that they possess a prolific soil and an agreeable climate which would probably attract a large population had they been properly explored and developed by an energetic race. We are sustained in this belief by the fact, ​that in these States travellers have found the most remarkable remains of an advanced ancient civilization hitherto discovered on our continent. What has existed may exist again under the benignant influence of modern progress; nor is it improbable that as human interests direct the attention of maritime or emigrating nations towards the central portions of the western continent, Yucatan and Chiapas may again become the seat of a population even larger than that which thronged it during the palmy days anterior to the Spanish conquest.
Since the year 1840 three important works have been published in this country relative to these ancient remains of towns, temples, cities, idols and monuments. Two of these are due to the pen and pencil of Mr. John L. Stephens and Mr. Catherwood, while the other and slighter production is the result of a hasty visit paid to Yucatan by Mr. B. M. Norman. These three publications, plentifully illustrated by accurate engravings of the ruins and remains, have been so widely disseminated throughout Europe and America that readers are already familiar with them. In the "long, irregular and devious route" pursued by Stephens and Catherwood, they "discovered the crumbling remains of fifty-four ancient cities, most of them, but a short distance apart, though, from the great change that has taken place in the country, and the breaking up of the old roads, having no direct communication with each other. With but few exceptions, all were lost, buried and unknown, never before visited by a stranger, and some of them, perhaps, never looked upon by the eyes of a white man." Leaving Guatemala, the travellers encountered, in Chiapas, remarkable remains at Ocozingo and Palenque; and passing thence into Yucatan, in their second journey to those central regions, they explored and described the architectural and monumental relics at Maxcanu, Uxmal, Sacbey, Xampon, Sanacte, Chunhuhu, Labpahk, Iturbide, Mayapan, San Francisco, Ticul, Nochacab, Xoch, Kabah, Sabatsche, Labna, Kenick, Izamal, Saccacal, Tekax, Akil, Mani, Macoba, Becanchen, Peto, Chichen, in the interior; and at Tuloom, Tancar, and in the Island of Cozumel on the eastern coast.
The simple catalogue of these names, indicating the sites of ancient civilization in the midst of what is at present almost an unexplored wilderness and covering so wide a field of observation, will satisfy the reader that it is impossible to condense a satisfactory review of these architectural remains within the space that we are enabled to appropriate to antiquarian researches. The ruins of Palenque in Chiapas, and of Uxmal and Chichen in Yucatan, are, ​perhaps, the most wonderful of all that have been explored hitherto in this lonely region; and, while we regret that our duty to the living present will not permit us to dwell longer on the curious past, we shall, nevertheless pause, occasionally, as we pass through the Mexican States, to notice those remains which have either been visited by us personally, or are not described in books as accessible to all classes of enquirers and students as those of Messrs. Stephens, Catherwood and Norman. Mr. Stephens believes, after full investigation, that these towns and cities were occupied by the original builders and their descendants at the period of the Spanish conquest, and our own opinion entirely coincides with his reasoning and judgment. Those who desire a complete and conclusive illustration of this branch of the subject will find an excellent argument thereon in both of his publications.
In the first volume of this work we have given an account of the Mexican or Aztec Calendar; and the proximate identity of the Yucatese or Mayan and Aztec Calendar led Mr. Stephens to the conclusion that both nations had a common origin. This argument is also important in considering the period of the occupation of the Chiapan and Yucatese edifices, inasmuch as we know that the Aztecs of Montezuma's period used the Calendar which we have already illustrated and described.
Yucatan Calendar.
"Our knowledge of the Yucatan Calendar," says Mr. Gallatin, "is derived exclusively from the communications made by Don J. P. Perez to Mr. John L. Stephens, and inserted in the appendix to the first volume of this gentleman's Travels in Yucatan. It is substantially the same with that of the Mexicans, though differing in some important particulars.
"The inhabitants of Yucatan had, like the Mexicans, the two distinct modes of computing time, by months of twenty days, and by periods of thirteen days. They also distinguished the days of the year by a combination of those two series, precisely similar to that of the Mexicans. And their year likewise consisted of 365 days, viz., of eighteen months of twenty days each, to which they added five supplementary days; and also of a corresponding series of twenty-eight periods of thirteen days each, and one day over.
​ The following table exhibits the names of the twenty days of the Yucatan month, with their signification, as far as it has been ascertained by Don J. P. Perez; and also the days of the Chiapa month as given by Boturini; and which, from the similarity of the names of several of the days, appears to have been in its origin nearly identical with that of Yucatan.
"The Calendar of the inhabitants of the independent kingdom of Mechoacan, who spoke the Tarasca language, appears to have been similar to that of the Mexicans; and the names of the days of their month as stated by Veytia, are inserted in the table. The names of the days of an ancient Mexican, or rather Toltec tribe, found in the province of Nicaragua, have also been inserted. This, as far as we know, is the extreme southeastern limit of the Mexican Calendar on the Pacific Ocean. That limit on the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico may be traced as far as the islands opposite Cape Honduras (Herrera); beyond which the shores are still inhabited by the uncivilized Musquito Indians.
"But there was an essential difference respecting the series of the names and numerical characters of the days, as will appear by the following table, which shows the termination of the first year of the cycle, and the beginning of the next ensuing years.
"Don J. P. Perez positively states, that the fundamental rule is never to interrupt either of the series of names or of days. Thus, inasmuch as the last supplementary day of the first year of the cycle (1 Khan) is 1 Lamat; and as, in the order of the days of the month, ​the day called "Muluc" immediately follows the day Lamat; the ensuing year 2 Muluc commences with the day 2 Muluc, in the same manner as the year 1 Khan commences with the day 1 Khan. It is the same with the other years; so that the first day of every year has the same name and numerical character as the year itself.
"Don J. P. Perez acknowledges that amongst the few mutilated remains of Indian manuscripts or paintings, he has not been able to discover any trace of an intercalation, either of one day every four years, or of thirteen days at the end of the cycle, though he presumes that they had indubitably either the one or the other.
"The Yucatan cycle of fifty-two years, differed in no other respect from that of the Mexicans. The combination of the two series of twenty and thirteen days is used in the same manner in both calendars for the purpose of distinguishing the days of the year.
"The Yucatecs differed materially from the Mexicans with regard to the time of the solar year, when their year began. Don J. P. Perez informs us, that the first day of the Yucatan year corresponded with the sixteenth day of July; and that this was the day of the transit of the sun by the zenith of a place which he does not mention. But he adds that, for want of proper instruments, the Indians had made a mistake of forty-eight hours. In point of fact, it is in the latitude of about twenty-one degrees and a half that the transit of the sun by the zenith occurs on the 16th of July; and Yucatan lies between the latitudes of about eighteen degrees and a half and twenty-one degrees and a half. To commence the year on the day of the transit of the sun by the zenith, is attended with the great inconvenience, that this commencement must vary from place to place, according to their respective latitudes. As Don J. Pio Perez counts every year as having 365 days, and without regard to the omitted bissextile days, it is clear that the day in the Yucatan calendar, on which the transit of the sun by the zenith of any one place occurs, would vary twenty days, or a whole Indian month, in the course of eighty years. This would create such confusion that, if it be a well ascertained fact, that the Yucatan year began on the zenith day, this renders it highly probable that the calendar was, like that of the Mexicans, corrected by an intercalation of thirteen days at the end of the cycle.
TABLE OF YUCATESE MONTHS
"The Mexicans counted only by cycles; they designated the termination of a cycle by a hieroglyphic representing a bundle of reeds
YUCATESE IDOL.
YUCATAN EDIFICE.
YUCATAN ALTAR
THE STATE OF TABASCO.
This State, one of the smallest of the confederacy, was, previous to the revolution, a province of the Intendency of Vera Cruz. It bounds eastwardly on the State of Yucatan; south on Chiapas and Oajaca; west on Vera Cruz, and northwardly on the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly the whole of Tabasco slopes gradually towards the sea, and is so extremely flat that it is often subject to inundations, and the communication from village to village and parish to parish cut off altogether, or only practicable in canoes. The State is consequently full of streams, though they are generally short and shallow, whilst their mouths are obstructed by bars and flats. The most remarkable of these streams are—the Pacaitun, or as it is sometimes called, Rio de Banderas; the Usumasinta which also passes through Chiapas; the Tabasco; the Chiltepec; Dos Bocas; Capilco; Rio de Santa Anna; Tonalá or Toneladas; Tancochapa or San Antonio; Uspanapan and the Guachapa or Rio del Paso.
On the eastern boundary of Tabasco lies the Laguna de Terminos, which is fifteen leagues long and ten broad. In this inland sea are locked the beautiful islands of Laguna, Carmen, and Puerto Real; and, in the two passes by which the sea is reached from this lagune, twelve to thirteen feet of water are found in the larger, while but five and a half feet are obtained in the smaller, or pass of Puerto Real.
The climate of this State is excessively hot along the immediate coast of the gulf; nor is it very sensibly changed as the interior is reached, in consequence of the extreme flatness of the soil. During the prevalence of the northers the harbors are exceedingly insecure; but these violent storms somewhat temper the heat and render the towns less sickly.
Tabasco is divided into three departments with nine parishes:
1st. The Department of Villa Hermosa with the districts of Villa Hermosa, Usumasinta, and Nacayuca. 2d. The Department of the Sierra with the districts of Teapa, Tacotalpa and Jalapa. 3d. The Department of Chontalpa with the districts of Macuspana, Cunduacan and Jalpa.
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.
Cacao, coffee, pepper, sugar, tamarinds, arrow-root, palmetto and some tobacco are cultivated; while indigo and vainilla grow wild in the forests among groves of oaks, cedars, mahogany and ironwood. The extensive wildernesses of Tabasco are filled with game and wild beasts, and the streams are full of excellent fish. Bees abound in the depths of the forests and yield abundant supplies of wild honey and wax.
The capital of Tabasco is Villa Hermosa de Tabasco, or, as it is sometimes called, Villa de San Juan Bautista, which lies on the left bank of the Tabasco river twenty-four leagues from its mouth. It contains about 7,000 inhabitants, and is reached by vessels of light draft from the sea; but its chief commercial intercourse is carried on with adjoining states and with Guatemala. There are some other towns or villages worthy of mention; the principal of which are Usumasinta, Nacayuca, Tacotalpa, Teapa, Jalapa, Chontalpa, Jalpa, Cunduacan, Macuspana, Chiltepec, Santa Anna, Tonala, Acalpa, Chinameca, Tochla, Istapa or Ystapangahoya, San Fernando, Tapichulapa, and Obsolotan.
* ↑ Bacalar, Campeché, Ichmul or Izamal, Isla de Carmen, Jequetchacan, Junoma, Lerma, Mama, Merida, Oxhuscab, Seyba, Playa, Sotula, Tizizimin, and Valladolid. These are the names of the Departments given by Mühlenpfordt: the first table is taken from Stephens.
* ↑ Our table of population on page 43 of this volume, adds about 10 per cent to this number to give the population estimated in 1850.
* ↑ See Senator Cass' speech, on the proposed occupation of Yucatan, in the Senate, May 10th, 1848, p. 7.
* ↑ See Stephens's Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, vol. 2, chapter xxvi; and his Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, vol. 2, page 444.
* ↑ Transactions American Ethnological Society, vol. I, page 104, and Stephens's Yucatan, vol. 1, page 434.