Parts about Monterey.—The vocabularies of the Mithridates, taken from the Voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana of—
a.The Eslen or Ecclemachs.
b.The Rumsen—East of the Eslen. To which add a notice of—
c.The Achastlier probably a section of the Rumsen, orvice versâ.
Parts about N.L. 35°.—Vocabularies of the American Exploring Expedition for—
a.La Soledad.
b.San Miguel, about fifty miles south-east of La Soledad.
c.The San Antonio of Dr. Coulter. Published in the paper of Dr. Scouler's, already quoted.
d.The San Luis Obispo.—Ditto.
e.The Santa Clara of the Mithridates.
For the parts between N.L. 35° and N.L. 32½°.—Here, as hitherto, our knowledge is limited to the tribes on the coast.
a.The Santa Barbara, of Dr. Coulter.—Journal of Geographical Society.
b.c.The San Juan Capistrano, the same as the Netela of the United States' Exploring Expedition.
d.The San Gabriel of Dr. Coulter, the same as the Kij of the United States' Exploring Expedition.
e.The San Diego of Dr. Coulter.
The SS. Gabriel and Juan Capistrano, are more closely allied than any other two of Dr. Coulter's. Besides which there seems to be between them, a regular letter-changeof thelandr. In San Juan Capistrano, whilst but one word ends inr,maharr=five, several end inl; asshul=star,ul=arrow,nol=chief,amaigomal=boy,shungal=woman; whereas, the San Gabriel has no terminations inl, but many inr, astouarr=arrow,tomearr=chief,tokor=woman, &c.
South of San Diego, the land narrows itself into the peninsula of Old California. Here we have—
1.The Cochimi.—If the area of the Cochimi dialects (of which there are four, said to differ from each other as much as the Spanish and the French) extend as far north as N.L. 33°, the San Diego vocabulary most probably represents one of them.
2.The Waikuru.—called also theMonk[145]orMoqui(?), and of which the following dialects are enumerated—
a.TheCora(?)[145]. Extinct, or nearly so.
b.The Uchitee, or Utshi. Extinct.
c.The Aripe. Probably extinct.
d.The Layamon of Loretto, known to us by a vocabulary.
3. The Pericu.—Probably extinct. Spoken at the southern extremity of the island from N.L. 24°, to Cape St. Lucas.
4(?).The Ikas.—By the unknown author of the"Nachrichten von der Amerikanischen Halbinsel Kalifornien" (Mannheim, 1773), who was a Jesuit missionary in the Peninsula, theIkas, a fourth family, is enumerated amongst the Old Californians.
5(?). ThePicos, too, orFicos, of Bägert, may possibly represent a separate family. More probably, however, they areIkas, or sections of some better known division of the Old Californian population.
If we now take a review of what has been investigated, it is only a coast and a peninsula. What, however, is the state of the interior of that great tract which, politically, lies between Mexico, the United States, and the Pacific, and of which we have the ethnological limits in the areas of the Tototune, the Shasti, the Palaiks, the Paducas, and lastly the Indians of Sonora—for thus far south must we go before we get clear of theterra incognitaof California?
I am better prepared with suggestions as to the method of investigating these parts than with facts concerning them.
1. In the way of physical geography it is convenient to draw a distinction. The great interior basin (or table-land) of California is one division; the great triangular watershed between the rivers Gila and Colorado another.
2. In the way of new facts we must expect the phænomena ofstonearchitecture, as manifested in the ruins of ancient buildings.
3. In the way of inference we must guard against over-valuing the import of them. They are not upon light grounds to be considered as the measures of a civilization so different from that of the tribes hitherto enumerated, as to suggest the machinery of either unnecessary migrations, or unascertained degradations or annihilations of race.
The difference between the great interior basin of California, and the valleys of the rivers Gila and Colorado, with their feeders, is that of a desert and the oases that lie within it. The tribes that inhabit the former areunder some of the most unfavourable conditions for sustenance in the world. Some of them, such as those to the east and north, are known to be the more miserable members of the Paduca class. Those of the west are probably extensions of the imperfectly known tribes of the coast, and their analogues in the way of physical influences are to be sought for in Australia rather than in America.
It is not surprising that the water-system of two considerable rivers should furnish strong elements of contrast to those which exist in what is either a table-land or a basin, according as the attention of the investigators is struck by its elevation above the sea, or by its depressions forming salt-lakes—Dead Seas in the way of ethnology. Nor yet is it surprising that such contrasts should have full justice done them in description. Ruins in stone, too, in districts where the most we expect is the embankment or tumulus, strike even the cautious observer with surprise; and fragments of art, however imperfect, create wonder when they represent an industry different from what is found amongst the existing populations of their locality. Whatever may be the exaggeration as to particular descriptions, however, the ethnological deduction is well summed up in the following extract. In describing the tribes of the Gila, the Colorado, and of New Mexico, Gallatin writes, "At the time of the conquest of Mexico, by Cortes, there wasnorthwardly, at the distance of 800 or 1,000 miles, a collection of Indian tribes, in a state of civilization, intermediary between that of the Mexicans and the social state of any of the other aborigines."[146]
What was the civilization? what the tribes? It isbest to express both these facts in as general a way as possible. TheCasas Grandesrepresent the first. ThePimosIndians the second.
The Casa Grande, orGreat House.—On the south bank of the Gila, in the midst of a large and beautiful plain, are the ruins of what was called by its discoverers, Fathers Garcias and Font,[147]theCasa Grande, a building 445 feet in length, and 270 feet in breadth, with three stories and a terrace; the walls being built of clay, and a wall interrupted with towers investing the principal edifice.
Fig. 13.
Fig. 13.
Fig. 13.
Later descriptions of Casas Grandes, by eye-witnesses, are those of Lieutenant Emory and Captain Johnston. That of the latter, of one on the River Gila, is as follows:—
"Still passing plains which had once been occupied,[148]we saw to our left the 'Casa de Montezuma.' I rode to it,and found the remains of the walls of four buildings, and the piles of earth showing where many others had been. One of the buildings was still quite complete, as a ruin; the others had all crumbled, but a few pieces of broken wall remaining. The large casa was fifty feet by forty, and had been four stories high; but the floors and roof had long since been burnt out. The charred ends of the cedar joists were still in the wall. I examined them and found they had not been cut with a steel instrument. The joists were round sticks about two feet in diameter. There were four entrances—north, south, east, and west,—the doors about four feet by two; the rooms as below, and had the same arrangement in each story. There was no sign of a fire-place in the building. The lower story was filled with rubbish, and above it was the open sky. The walls were four feet thick at the bottom, and had a curved inclination inwards to the top. The house was built of a sort of white earth and pebbles, probably containing lime, which abounded on the ground adjacent. The walls had been smoothed outside, and plastered inside; and the surface still remained firm, although it was evident it had been exposed to great heat from the fire. Some of the rooms did not open to all the rest, but had a hole a foot in diameter to look through; in other places were smaller holes. About two hundred yards from this building was a mound, in a circle one hundred yards around the mound. The centre was a hollow, twenty-five yards in diameter, with two ramps or slopes going down to its bottom. It was probably a well, now partly filled up. A similar one was seen near Mount Dallas.
"A few yards further, in the same direction, northward, was a terrace one hundred yards by seventy, aboutfive feet high. Upon this was a pyramid about eight feet high, twenty-five yards square at the top. From this, sitting on my horse, I could overlook the vast plain lying north-east and west, on the left bank of the Gila. The ground in view was about fifteen miles—all of which, it would seem, had been irrigated by the waters of the Gila. I picked up a broken crystal of quartz in one of these piles. Leaving the casa I turned towards the Pimos, and travelling at random over the plain (now covered with mezquite), the piles of earth and pottery showed for miles in every direction. I also found the remains of a zequia (a canal for irrigation) which followed the range of houses for miles. It had been very large."
The Pimos.—Without at present fixing their locality, it is sufficient for the sake of showing the character of their civilization, to make the following extracts, directly from Mr. Squier's paper on New Mexico and California, but indirectly, or in the way of first-hand evidence, from Lieutenant Emory:—
"At the settlement of the Pimos, we were at once impressed with the beauty and order of the arrangements for irrigating and draining the land. Corn, wheat, and cotton are the crops of this peaceful and intelligent race of people. At the time of our visit, all the crops had been gathered in, and the stubble showed that they had been luxuriant. The cotton had been picked and stacked for drying in the sheds. The fields are sub-divided by ridges of earth into rectangles of about 200 feet by 100, for the convenience of irrigation. The fences are of sticks wattled with willow and mezquite, and in this particular give an example of economy in agriculture worthy to be followed by the Mexicans, who never use fences at all.
"The dress of the Pimos consists of a cottonserape, of native manufacture, and a breech cloth. Their hair is worn long and clubbed up behind. They have but few cattle, and these are used in tillage. They possess a few horses and mules, which are prized very highly. They were found very ready to barter, which they did with entire good faith. Capt. Johnson relates that when his party first came to the village they asked for bread, offering to pay for the same. The bread was furnished by the Pimos, but they would receive no return, saying, 'Bread is to eat, not to sell; take what you want.'
"'Their houses,' says Lieut. Emory, 'were dome-shaped structures of wicker-work, about six feet high, and from twenty to sixty feet in diameter, thatched with straw or corn-stalks. In front is usually a large arbour, on top of which is piled the cotton in the pod for drying. In the houses were stored water-melons, pumpkins, beans, corn, and wheat, the three articles last named usually in large baskets; sometimes these baskets were covered with earth and placed on the tops of the domes. A few chickens and dogs were seen, but no other domestic animals except horses, mules, and oxen. Their implements of husbandry were the axe (of steel, and obtained through the Mexicans), wooden hoes, shovels, and harrows. The soil is so easily pulverized as to make the plough unnecessary.'
"Among their manufactures is a substance which they callpinole. It is the heart of Indian corn, baked, ground up, and mixed with sugar. When dissolved in water it is very nutritious, and affords a delicious beverage. Their molasses, put up in large jars, hermetically sealed, is expressed from the fruit of the pitahaya.
"In manufacturing cotton they display much skill, although their looms are of the simplest kind. 'A womanwas seated on the ground under one of the cotton sheds. Her left leg was turned under, and the sole of her foot upwards. Between her large toe and the next was a spindle, about eighteen inches long, with a single fly of four or six inches. Ever and anon, she gave it a twist in a dexterous manner, and at its end was drawn a coarse cotton thread. This was their spinning machine. Led on by this primitive display, I asked for their loom, pointing first to the thread, and then to the blanket girded about the woman's loins. A fellow stretched in the dust, sunning himself, rose up leisurely, and untied a bundle which I had supposed to be a bow and arrows. This little package, with four stakes in the ground, was the loom. He stretched his cloth and commenced the process of weaving.
"They had salt among them, which they obtained from the plains. Wherever there are 'bottoms' which have no drainage, the salt effloresces, and is skimmed from the surface of the earth. It was brought to us both in the crystallized form, and in the form when first collected, mixed with earth.
"The plain upon which the Pimos village stands, extends fifteen or twenty miles in every direction, and is very rich and fertile. The bed of the Gila, opposite the village, is said to be dry, the whole water being drawn off by thezequiasof the Pimos for irrigating their lands; but their ditches are larger than necessary for the purpose, and the water which is not used returns to the river, with little apparent diminution in its volume.
"It is scarcely to be doubted, that the Pimos are the Indians described by Father Garcias and Pedro Font, as living on the south bank of the Gila, in the vicinity of the Casas Grandes. They lived in two villages, called Utuicut and Sutaquisau, and are described by these explorers to have been peaceable and industrious cultivators of the soil. When Father Font tried to persuade them of the advantages which would result from the establishment of Christian missions, where an Indian alcalde would govern with strict justice, a chief answered that this was not necessary for them. 'For,' said he, 'we do not steal, we rarely quarrel; why should we want an alcalde?'"[149]
This is enough for a characteristic; to which it should be added that the area of the Casas Grandes, and that of the agricultural (or semi-agricultural) industry of the Pimos and other tribes coincide.
So little, however, are these parts known, that our evidence comes almost exclusively from two quarters—the early Spanish explorers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the very recent American surveyors, the circumnavigators (to use an expression of Gallatin's) of the Californian Desert of the last decennium.
Some of the most western of the tribes that have any (though not all) of the elements which make the Pimos the representatives of a provisional ethnological division, are:—
1.The Yumas.—These are placed near the junction of the rivers Gila and Colorado, and although at enmity with, are stated to speak the same language as, the—
2.Coco-maricopas.—Except that the Coco-maricopas are the taller, that their noses are more aquiline, that their intelligence is, perhaps, superior, andthat their language is different, they agree in all respects with—
3.The Pimos.—Both the Pimos[150]and the Coco-maricopas are on the south bank of the River Gila, boundedon the south by Apaches. The former are considered as aboriginal to their present locality. Not so, however, the Coco-maricopas, whose immigrations are said to be recent, and whose language is akin to the Californian of San Diego.
4.The Moqui.—The peculiarities of the Moqui have had full prominence given to them; being, though not the best authenticated, some of the first described. No living writer seems to have seen them; whilst the evidence of Mr. Gregg, and Lieutenant Emory, which in both cases is especially stated to be founded on the communications of others, simply places them in the same category with the tribes which have preceded them. By more sanguine writers, however, they have had attributed to them white skins, long beards, towns containing from 2000 to 3000inhabitants, public squares, parallel streets, and stone houses.
5.Zuni.—East of the Moqui, in numbers from 1,000 to 1,500 souls, and about 150 miles west of the Rio del Norte. Evidence modern. "They profess the Catholic faith, cultivate the soil, have manufactures, and possess considerable quantities of stock."—Gregg. "The Soones build houses in the solid rock. Many of them are Albinos, the probable origin of the report of a race of white Indians in this quarter. They resemble the Pimos in habits."—Lieut. Emory, from the communication of a Coco-maricopas Indian.
The Zuni, or Soones, bring us out of California, and into New Mexico. The character of the civilisation is, however, the same. So are the difficulties of the ethnography.
Conterminous with the Zuni, and amongst the most western, though not the most northern of the New Mexican aborigines, are—
6.The Indians of the Rio San José.—-This is a feeder of the River Puerco, itself a westernly feeder of the upper part of the Rio del Norte. Their villages areseven in number—1.Cibólleta,[152]2.Moquino,[152]3. Poquaté, 4. Covero, 5. Laguna, 6. Rito (now deserted), and 7. Acomo.
7.The Indians of the parts about Abo and Quarra.—South-east of the Indians of the San José, and on the opposite bank of the Rio del Norte, lie thesevenvillages of 1. Chititi, 2. Tageque, 3. Torreon, 4. Mansana, 5. Quarra (deserted, and with ruins), 6. Abo (the same), 7.Quivira.[152]The ruins, both of Quarra and Abo, are of stone, with foundations above 100 feet in length, and in the shape ofcrosses. One of the easiest passages acrossthe ridge that divides the prairie country belonging to the water-system of the Mississippi is along the stream on which Abo is situated.
North of these, and nearer the head-waters of the Rio del Norte (or Rio Grande) come—
8.Indians speaking the Piro language.—These are the Taos, Picuri, and others.
9.Indians who speak (or spoke) the Hemez[153](orYemez)languages.—The Pecos, Cienega, and others in the highlands east of the Rio del Norte, and between that river and the River Pecos. These were anciently known as Tagnos, whilst their language is said to be that of theHemez.[153]
Now the namesTaos,Tagnos,Tigue, andTegua, create a difficulty. Gallatin remarks that the last two are forms of the same words. I think so, too. But then I also think thatallfour words are the same, or, if not, thatTaosandTagnosare, at least, so. If this be true, the Taos are made to speak the Piro language and the Hemez as well. Nay more, a third language distinguished from both (the Piro and Hemez) is mentioned, viz., the Tegua, spoken by a large portion of the others, all of whom had, originally, this general name, though some seem to have been distinguished asQueres, probably the Quivix or Quirix of Castañeda.
Be this, however, as it may, the northernmost Indians of New Mexico bring us in contact with a section of the Indians of the Mississippi system already mentioned, the Arrapahos, whilst the southern are in contact with the ill-ascertained tribes of Texas. In Texas, however, we have traces of the Casas Grandes; in the high-land betweenNew Mexico and Texas we have the famousLlano Estocado. This means a trail or line of road marked out by stakes placed in nearly a straight line, and at intervals to indicate its course. Under the name of theCross-Timbers, this has attracted the notice of several travellers, and has been especially described in a paper laid before the Geographical Society, by Mr. Catlin.
The reason why certain names have been printed in italics, a fact to which the reader's attention was directed by notes,[153]will now be explained. They all agree in introducing complications in the ethnology from the fact of their occurring elsewhere. Thus—
a.The termMoqui, as a synonym toWaikuru, appears as the name of theMonkiof the Gila.
b.The nameMoquinodoes the same.
c.TheCora, of California, is the name of a language in New Galicia.
d.TheYemezof New Mexico reappears in California. And—
e.Lastly, the wordCibólleta, the name of a village on the Rio del Norte, is inconveniently, like the term Cibola, expressly applied by the early Spanish writers to a country on the Rio Colorado.
This last remark suggests a new train of facts, viz., the comparison between the early Spanish and the recent American accounts. Upon the whole theyagree. At any rate, the former bear evidence that the civilization—such as it is—which is under notice, is of home growth, rather than European in its origin, a view thatcross-shapedground-plans, as well as other circumstances, might suggest.
Finally, we find by comparing one account with another either real additions to our divisions of the populations, or else new names. Such are, probably, amongst others—
1.The Nijoras.—Mentioned by Sedelmayer, in 1748, as occupying the River Azule(?) a feeder of the River Gila.
2.The Tompiras.—Mentioned by Benavides, Superior to the Franciscan mission in New Mexico, in a work printed in 1630, and stated to amount to 10,000 souls, in fifteen villages. Conterminous with the Taos and—
3.The Pecos.—On the head-waters of the river so-named, inhabitants to the amount of 2000, of a single village. This also is on the authority of Benavides.
4. 5. 6.The Xumana, Lana, and Zura.—Mentioned by Prichard, whose list is taken from Hervas rather than from the Mithridates, as being New-Mexican languages.
We are now free to return to the south of the Gila, or rather south of the Pimos and Coco-maricopas of its southern bank.
Due south of these come an irregularly distributed branch of the Paducas—the Apaches.
South of these, and engendering a complication which arises from the name, come
The Pima.—Of these we find, in the Mithridates,[154]notice of three dialects or languages—a.The Pima Proper,b.the Opata,c.the Eudeve. Said to be allied to—
Locality.—New Biscay, Eastern part of Sinaloa, north part of Durango, Chihuahua as far as 30° N.L.,i.e.the upper portion of the Sierra Madre, or the watershed to the western feeders of the Rio Grande and River Yaqui, and others falling into the Gulf of California.
Locality.—New Biscay, Eastern part of Sinaloa, north part of Durango, Chihuahua as far as 30° N.L.,i.e.the upper portion of the Sierra Madre, or the watershed to the western feeders of the Rio Grande and River Yaqui, and others falling into the Gulf of California.
Casas Grandes occur in the Tarahumara area. The following descriptions, probably applying to the same building, certainly apply to a very remarkable one.
"This edifice is constructed on the plan of those of New Mexico, that is, consisting of three floors, with a terrace above them, and without any entrance to the lower floor. The doorway is in the second story, so that a scaling ladder is necessary; and the inhabitants of New Mexico build in this manner, in order to be less exposed to the attacks of their enemies. No doubt the Azteks had the same motives for raising their edifices on this plan, as every mark of a fortress is to be observed about it, being defended on one side by a lofty mountain, and the rest of it being defended by a wall about seven feet thick, the foundations of which are still existing. In this fortress there are stones as large as a mill stone to be seen: the beams of the roof are of pine, and well-finished. In the centre of this vast fabric is a little mount, made on purpose, by what appears, to keep guard on, and observe the enemy. There have been some ditches found in this place, and a variety of domestic utensils, earth pans, pots, jars, and little looking-glasses ofitztli(obsidian)."
"Casas Grandes is one of the few ruins existing in Mexico, the original owners of which are said to have come from the north, and I, therefore, determined to examine it. Only a portion of the external walls is standing; the building is square, and of very considerable extent; the sides stand accurately north and south, which gives reason to suppose that the builders were not unversed in astronomy, having determined so precisely the cardinal points. The roof has long lain in the area of the building, and there are several excavations said to have been made by the Apache Indians to discover earthenwarejars, and shells. A specimen of the jars I was fortunate enough to procure, and it is in excellent preservation. There were also good specimens of earthen images in the Ægyptian style, which are to me at least so perfectly uninteresting, that I was at no pains to procure any of them. The country here, for an extent of several leagues, is covered with the ruins of buildings capable of containing a population of at least 20,000 or 30,000 souls. Casas Grandes is, indeed, particularly favourable for maintaining so many inhabitants. Situated by the side of a large river which periodically inundates a great part of the low surrounding lands, the verdure is perpetual. There are ruins also of aqueducts, and, in short, every indication that its former inhabitants were men who knew how to avail themselves of the advantages of nature, and improve them by art; but who they were and what became of them, it is impossible to tell. On the south bank of the Rio Gila there is another specimen of these singular ruins; and it may be observed, that wherever these traces are found, the surrounding country invariably possesses great fertility of soil, and abundance of wood and water."[155]
The Papagos, orPapabi-cotam.—These speak the same language as the Pimas, by whom they are, nevertheless, despised.
The Tahu, Pacasca, and Acasca.—Mentioned by Castelnada, writing aboutA.D.1560, as being spoken near the Culiacan.
Locality.—The coast of Sinaloa, north of the Cora area.Dialects(?)—Tepeguana, Topia (Tubar),Acaxee(?) Xixime, Sicuraba, Hina, and Hiumi.
Locality.—The coast of Sinaloa, north of the Cora area.
Dialects(?)—Tepeguana, Topia (Tubar),Acaxee(?) Xixime, Sicuraba, Hina, and Hiumi.
The Tubar occupied the head-waters of the River Sinaloa; as such they were conterminous with the western Tarahumaras.
The Acaxee is, probably, the Acasca of Castelnada.
Locality.—Coast between the River Sinaloa and River Yaqui.Language.—Spoken by the natives of the River Yaqui, Zuaque(?), and Maya.
Locality.—Coast between the River Sinaloa and River Yaqui.
Language.—Spoken by the natives of the River Yaqui, Zuaque(?), and Maya.
Guazave.—The Guazave language is mentioned as being that of the coast of Sinaloa. Whether it was different from the Maya dialects is doubtful.
TheAhomewas a dialect of the Guazave.
Probably the same as the Huite, stated by Hervas to speak a different language from the—
Probably the same as the Huite, stated by Hervas to speak a different language from the—
Locality.—Southern part of Sinaloa;i.e.the valley of the Culiacan.Dialects.—Three.
Locality.—Southern part of Sinaloa;i.e.the valley of the Culiacan.
Dialects.—Three.
The Cora and Tarahumara have each been recognized as presenting signs of philological affinity with the Astek of Mexico.
Localities.—Mechoacan.
Localities.—Mechoacan.
Locality.—Parts about the present city of Vera Cruz.
Locality.—Parts about the present city of Vera Cruz.
Although lying nearly within the same latitude as Mexico, the Totonaca area is that of the low coast, rather than of the lofty table-land, consequently it is part of theSierra Calida, with a tropical climate, rather than of theSierra TempladaorFria, where the elevation of the Anahuac mountain-range effects a change in the physical conditions within the same latitude, which has doubtless been a considerable ethnological influence.
The Huasteca, spoken between the Totonaca area and the Texian frontier, in the parts about the present town of Tampico, has yet to be noticed. It is, however, a language whereof the geographical and ethnological positions are at variance; its affinities of the latter kind being with a language spoken far south of it, and separated from it by the Totonaca area.
Is the preceding list exhaustive,i.e.for the parts between Mexico Proper and California, for Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Cohuahuila, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, and Durango? I am not able to say. The following may be,a.the names of mere dialects;b.of separate substantive languages;c.or, finally, synonyms for some tongue already noticed.
The Guaima.—Mentioned by Prichard—whose list of the Mexican languages is taken from Hervas, rather than the Mithridates—as being spoken in Sinaloa.
Pame.—Mentioned by Prichard, &c., as being spoken in Huastecapan, or the country of the Huasteca language. If other than the latter, it has a place in the present part of the work. If not, it comes, more properly, amongst the Maya tongues.
Matlazinga.—Mentioned by Prichard as being spoken in the valley of Toluca in Mexico.
Cuitlateca.—Mentioned by Prichard as being spoken in the diocese of Mexico.
The Mokorosi.—This term is noticed because I find, in Jülg, a "Vocabolario de la Lengua Mocorosi. Mexico, 1599."
The Capita.—This term is noticed becausean Arte de la Lengua Capita(Mexico, 1737), is mentioned in Jülg, accompanied with the notice that it represents a language (or dialect) of the north of Mexico.
Localities.—N.E. parts of Mechoacan, Head-waters of the River Santiago.Dialects.—1. Otomi Proper. 2. Mazahui.
Localities.—N.E. parts of Mechoacan, Head-waters of the River Santiago.
Dialects.—1. Otomi Proper. 2. Mazahui.
Casas Grandes occur in all the parts lately enumerated.
A great complication in the philological ethnography, is introduced by the Otomi dialects.
In a dissertation of Don Emmanuel Naxera's,[157]the author gives reasons for considering the Otomi to be a remarkable exception to the general character of the American languages. It is so far from beingpolysyntheticthat it ismonosyllabic. A fact like this was not likely to be underrated. The vicinity of the Otomi area to the Aztek, the semi-Asiatic character of the Mexican civilization, the analogies between it and the Japanese, were all circumstances likely to bring the populations of the Chinese type into the field of comparison. Hence the Otomi, after being in the first place disconnected with the American family of languages, ran the chance of beingspecially, and to the exclusion of the other tongues of the New World, connected with the Asiatic; and, herein, with those of the Seriform tribes and nations.
With his accustomed caution, Gallatin satisfies himself with saying what others have thought upon the matter, more especially the author of the dissertation in question; evidently, in his own mind, admitting no more than ananalogy, not anaffinity, with the Chinese.
The present writer doubts much whether even thefactsof the case are yet ascertained, much less the true appreciation of their import.
1. He thinks that it has yet to be determined whether the comparative absence (if real) of inflections has arisen from the loss of forms previously existing, or from the nondevelopment of themin toto. In the latter case only the language would be in the predicament of the Seriform tongues, oraptotic; whereas in the former its parallel would be the English, ananaptoticlanguage.
2. He thinks that the whole aspect of the question might be materially altered by changing the manner of putting it;i.e.by asking not whether the Otomi differs from the other American languages in being monosyllabic rather than polysynthetic, but by inquiring whether the other American tongues may not agree with the Otomi in being more monosyllabic than is generally supposed.
This latter point is one of great importance;—the fact of two such extreme forms of language as themonosyllabicandpolysyntheticmeeting has been shown by Schoolcraft in his remarks upon the structure of the Algonkin languages; theà priorilikelihood of such a phænomenon being very great. The details of the transition itself, however, we see but imperfectly. That they are to be found, however, in the comparative philology of the Seriform tongues is undoubted. Here, even the difference, so important in the American tongues, between the animate and inanimate plural is foreshadowed; whilst the other so-called peculiarity of the polysynthetic tongues—the incorporation of the pronoun expressing the object with the verb, is only a fuller development of the principle which gives us, in the common languages of Europe, the reflective and middle forms. In the Icelandickallast(=kalla sig=calls himself, originallykalla-sc), the incorporation of the name of the object is as truly a part of the grammar as it is in any American tongue whatsoever.
Again, more than one philologist has suggested that many American agglutinations are (like such forms asje l'aime, if writtenjelaime), instances of what may becalled a mere printer's polysyntheticism,i.e.points of spelling rather than of real language.
Such are fragments of the criticism which breaks down two classes of differences at once; those between the Otomi and the other languages of America, and those between the American and non-American tongues in general.
On the other hand, it should be added that if, irrespective of such criticism, the Otomi language be, in its vocables, whollyun-American, the evidence in favour of its philological isolation is just as good as if, over and above the fact of its being monosyllabic, the transition from monosyllabicism to polysyntheticism were a philological impossibility; still more so, if its affinities are with any other language,e.g.the Chinese.
Now, upon this point I have made three series of comparisons.
1. The Otomi with the Seriform languages,en masse.
2. The same words from another American language (the Maya) with the same Seriform languages.
3. The Otomi and a variety of other American languages.
Of these the first two are as follows:—
(1)
(2)
The third, so far from isolating the Otomi from the other languages of America, exhibits more than an average number of miscellaneous affinities, especially with the languages of California.
As to the Chinese and the other Seriform tongues, the question is nothow like they are to the Otomi, buthow muchmore like they are to the Otomi than to the Maya. And here the difference in favour of the Otomi is even less than we expect; since (merely from the doctrine of chances) two (or more) languages with short words will have a greater number of similarities (real or accidental) than two (or more) dissyllabic or polysyllabic languages.
So far, then, from isolating the Otomi as much as Naxera has done, I am disinclined to adopt, to their full extent, the far more moderate views of Molina and Gallatin; admitting at the same time that, of all the tongues of the New World, its structure, from being either anaptotic or imperfectly agglutinate, is the most remarkable.
The rude and imperfect civilization of the Otomis has often been contrasted with the better developed character of the—
Strictly speaking, this is a geographical rather than an ethnological term; perhaps it is more political than geographical. It means, as nearly as can be, the kingdom of Montezuma, as it was found by the Spanish conquerors of the fifteenth century. This seems, historically speaking, to have consisted of several states, more or less incorporated with that of the sovereign city; incorporated either in the way of confederation, as was the case with Tescuco, or as subject nations like the more distant dependencies. In the consolidation of the Mexican empire, I see nothing that differsin kind, from the confederacies of the Indians of the Algonkin, Sioux, and Cherokee families, althoughin degree, it had attained a higher development than has yet appeared; and I think that whoever will take the trouble to compare Strachey's[158]account of Virginia, where the empire of Powhattan had, at the time of the colonization, attained itsheight, with Prescott's Mexico, will find reason for breaking down that over-broad line of demarcation which is so frequently drawn between the Mexicans and the other Americans.
I think, too, that the social peculiarities of the Mexicans of Montezuma are not more remarkable than the external conditions of climate, soil, and land-and-sea relations; for it must be remembered that, as determining influences, towards the state in which they were found by Cortez, we have—
1. The contiguity of two oceans.
2. The range of temperature arising from the differences of altitude produced by the existence of great elevation, combined with an intertropical latitude, and the consequent variety of products.
3. The absence of the conditions of a hunter-state; the range of the buffalo not extending so far as the Anahuac.
4. The abundance of minerals.
Surely these are sufficient predisposing causes for a very considerable amount of difference in the social and civilizational development.
South of Mexico we have several languages of a small and one of a large area. The former are as follows:—
Mixteca—Spoken in Oaxaca.
Zapoteca—Ditto.
Popoluca—Ditto.
Chiapa—Spoken in Chiapa.
Zoques—Spoken on the sea-coast, about Tobasco.
Tzendales—Spoken from Comitan to Palenque.
Lacandona—Chiapa.
Chonchona—Ditto.
Mazateca—Ditto.
The Mam—Guatemala, in the province of Vera Paz.
ThePochonchi—Chorti—Quiche—Spoken in Guatemala. Allied languages, or dialects.—Gallatin.
Kachiquel—Ibid.
Sinca—Guatemala, on the Pacific, from Escuintla to the Rio des Esclavos.
Utlateca—Guatemala.
Subtugil—Ditto.
Chorotega—Nicaragua.
Chontal—Ditto.
Orotina—Ditto.
Respecting the locality of the last three languages there is,at least, a tradition that, over and above the original population, there was also, at the time of the conquest, a colony ofMexicansin Nicaragua. I say,at least a tradition, because it is stated that the so-called Pipil Indians, on the coast of the Pacific, speak a Mexican dialect, and also that the remains of Mexican art in Nicaragua are both numerous and definite; in which case the evidence is improved: still it is by no means conclusive.
Such are the minor groups, all of uncertain value, for central America,i.e.for the parts between Mexico and the Isthmus, with two exceptions.