THE PENINSULA OF YUCATAN. 187 



Let US turn back now to the other factor in the equation of a nation's greatness, the 

 opportunities which serve as the divisor of the achievements. Of the outward helps which 

 we modern nations deem necessary to great accomplishment the Mayas had practically 

 none. They possessed, to be sure, a country capable of raising abundant crops and sup- 

 porting a large population. Of other natural advantages, at least of those commonly 

 recognized as such, they had practically none. We have akeady emphasized the fact that 

 Yucatan is so isolated that without modern means of communication she would even now 

 have no neighbors from whom she could gather suggestions or who would stimulate her 

 by example or immigration. If we consider the entire Maya country, the same is true. 

 The only neighboring region which could possibly have stimulated her is Mexico, but the 

 Zapotecan, Nahua, and other civihzations of that country by no means rivaled that of 

 Maya land, and most of them appear to have been her imitators rather than her examples. 



Two other matters are even more important than the lack of any people from contact 

 with whom the Mayas might have profited. These are the complete absence of beasts of 

 burden and of iron tools in pre-Columbian days. In previous pages we have seen the 

 almost inmieasurable disadvantage of the nation which lacks these two fundamental aids 

 to progress. The Mayas must have toiled incessantly in carrying on their backs the 

 stones, mortar, and beams of their buildings. Yet this did not check their work. They had 

 no hesitation in transporting stones 8 or 10 feet long, although this must have required 

 laborers by the score. Moreover, all the food of the people, not merely that of the farmers 

 but that of the city people and of the thousands of workmen engaged in building the ruins, 

 had to be brought from the fields on the backs of human animals, a task which only a 

 nation full of energy and resolution would or could accomplish. The absence of beasts of 

 burden, however, was a small matter compared with the absence of iron. We are told 

 sometimes that the ancient Americans had tools of hardened copper, but this is pure 

 theory. We have never found an ounce of such copper and we do not know how it could 

 be made. The sole reason for assuming its existence is that we do not see how the ancient 

 people could have done such clever work without some such material. We fail, however, 

 to appreciate the fact that tools of obsidian or flint can be made of great delicacy by a 

 people who have sufficient skill, energy, and patience. In these last words we come once 

 more to the crux of the whole matter. The Mayas possessed such a degree of mental 

 and physical energy that, in spite of obvious disadvantages, they took the crude tools at 

 their command and were able to arrive at a stage of civilization which was possibly higher 

 than that attained by any other race with no larger opportunities. Their achievements, 

 when measured absolutely, fall far behind those of Greece, and still more, perhaps, behind 

 those of the modern nations of Europe and .\jnerica, but when measured according to their 

 opportunities, their achievements seem to be worthy of comparison with those of almost 

 any race. 



Leaving aside the many mooted questions concerning the ancient Mayas, let us sum 

 up one or two points which stand out with especial clearness. In the fu'st place, the natives 

 of Yucatan, which is at present the most favored part of Maya land, are to-day slow and 

 inert, not given to exertion of any kind, and not in the least inclined to develop new ideas 

 and bring them to fruition by arduous labor. In the second place, European immigrants 

 quickly acquire the inefficient habits of the natives, and in two or three generations appear 

 to cease to be energetic enough to carry out new ideas although they may perhaps have 

 them. In the third place, the conquest of the tropical forests is a task beyond the power 

 of any of the modern tropical races, even though they have good steel tools to help them. 

 Moreover, it is doubtful whether any European race could as yet conquer the forest and 

 raise crops in it in the face of the enervating climate and the debilitating fevers. In the 

 past, however, the exact contrary was true in respect to all three of these points. The 

 natives of Yucatan were not slow and inert, but were highly inventive and energetic. 



