GUATEMALA AND THE HIGHEST NATIVE AMERICAN CIVILIZATION. 



219 



by no means equal to those of the Peten strip, and there appear to be few hieroglyphics; 

 nevertheless, they belong to the same civihzation, although to a later stage subject to 

 foreign (Nahua) influence. At places like Baul and Pantaleon great blocks of hard basalt 

 have been found carved with scenes of sacrifice or chiseled to represent gigantic faces 

 whose peculiar tvpes of slit nostril, high cheek, or projecting mouth can still be recognized 

 in individual Indians. (See Plates 9, c, page 189, and 12, b, page 230.) 



The seaward portion of the Pacific belt needs little further comment. Beginnmg with 

 jungle, where the modern towns and ancient ruins come to an end, its shoreward portion 

 is covered with dense, low bushes, among which short bamboos are often conspicuous. 

 Although dry and parched in the winter season, much of it becomes a vast swamp when 

 the rains swell the mountain streams and cause them to spread out over its flat expanses. 

 Fevers then prevail and are often of the '^ pernicious'' type, accompanied by hemorrhages 

 of blood producing immediate death. Practically the only inhabitants are a few cattle- 

 raisers, who are described as the lowest of the low. In the past, conditions were apparently 

 no better, for we find no trace of ruins here. 



Before we consider the possible causes of the contrast between the past and present, 

 it will perhaps add to the clarity of our ideas if our six belts are arranged in tabular form. 



Table 11. 



Locality. 



1. Atlantic coast 



2. Peten belt.. 



3. Dry valleys. 



4. Highlands. . 



5. Pacific coffee 



belt. 



6. Pacific coast 



Nature of 

 vegetation. 



Dense forest. 



Dense forest with 

 some savannas 

 and jungle. 



Bush or low jungle 



Pine forest . 



Forest and jungle 

 Bush 



Health 

 conditions. 



Very unhealthful 



Very unhealthful 



Fairly healthful . 



Healthful 



Condition of Present density 

 agriculture. of population. 



Very difficult 

 Very difficult 



Fairly easy . . 



Easy 



Very scanty . 

 Very scanty . 



Moderately 

 dense. 



V^V dense . , 



Unhealthful .... Fairly difficult Rather scanty. 



t 

 Very unhealthful Difficult Very scanty . . 



Condition of 

 population. 



Degraded 



Degraded 



Abundance and condition 

 of ruins. 



Low, but well 

 ahead of 1. 2, 

 and 6. 



By far the best in 

 Guatemala. 



Low, but ahead of 



1, 2, and G. 

 Degraded 



Very few bo far as known, but 



of fairly high type. 

 Numerous and indicating the 

 j highest native American 



culture. 

 Moderately numerous and of 



fairly high type. 



Quite numerous, but mostly 

 j of rather low type, that is, 



provincial or degenerate. 

 I Moderately numerous and of 

 fairly high type. 

 None so far as known. 



It is worth while to emphasize the strange contrast between past and present. The 

 belts along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts may be left out of account, since in the past, 

 as at present, they appear to have been too forested and too feverish for human occupation 

 to any great extent. To-day the other four divisions stand in the following order so far as 

 progress, achievement, and density of population are concerned: fii-st, the highlands; second, 

 the dry vaUeys; third, the coffee belt; fom-th, the Peten strip. In the past the ruins tell a 

 very different tale: the Peten strip stood first, then the coffee belt and the dry valleys, 

 and last of all the highlands, the reverse of the present order. To-day, in Central America, 

 the physical conditions under which mankind tends most to increase in numbers and to 

 progress in culture appear to be high altitude, good drainage, and a fairly long dry season. 

 Altitude in itself, however, does not appear to be essential, for northern Yucatan seems as 

 well off as the highlands of Guatemala. Perhaps the exposure of that part of Yucatan to 

 the ocean and to strong winds from the north produces the same effect as elevation. Op- 

 posed to these favorable conditions stand those which conspire to hold man back and keep 

 him in a low stage of civilization. Omitting low altitude, which is important merely because 

 of its effect on other factors, we are confronted by four chief conditions: first, the prevalence 

 of fevers; second, the prevalence of great heat and moisture almost without change from 

 season to season; third, the difficulty of carrying on permanent, intensive agriculture; 

 and fourth, the relative ease of getting a living in the jungle. 



Little by little the world is learning that the most dangerous diseases are not necessarily 

 those which show the highest death-rate. The plagues of the Middle Ages loom large in 



