1887.] ^^* [Briiiton. 



San Aiigiistin Acasaguastlan, named Dolores Corral, then sup- 

 posed to be one hundred 3'cars old or over, and the last of her 

 tribe who could recall the native tongue. Bromowicz appears 

 to have visited the village on the instigation of Don Juan Ga- 

 varrete, the well-known Guatemalan antiquary, or of Dr. C. 

 H. Berendt, or of both, 



JII. Several infornies of Don Eligio Pais, municipal judge of 

 Chiquimula, and of the cura or parish priest of San Cristobal 

 Acasaguastlan, Don Jose Inocente Cordon, dated in 18T8. 



With these means I am enabled to throw sufhcient light on 

 the affinities of the Alaguilac language, and add something to 

 our knowledge of the archaeology of the locality. 



First, a few words on its geographical location. 



The parish of San Cristobal Acasaguastlan is situate on the 

 Motagua river in Guatemala, department of Chiquimula, fort}'- 

 five miles northwest of the citj- of Guatemala. Its dependen- 

 cies are the hamlets of Chimalapan, Usumatlan and Tecolutan. 

 About eight miles to the east of it, is the parish of San Augus- 

 tin Acasaguastlan, wdiose inhabitants formerl}' spoke the same 

 tongue. 



In the letter descriptive of this region sent to the Kiiig of 

 Spain, in 15lG,bythe Licentiate Diego Garcio de Palacio, he 

 says briefly, " in the valle}' of Acacevastlan is spoken the Tlaca- 

 cebastleca."* In the list of languages current in Guatemala as 

 given by the historian Juarros, at the beginning of this century, 

 no such tongue is mentioned, but in place of it, apparently, he 

 names the Alaguilac.f The ordinary native tongue of that part 

 of the vallej^ is the Chorti, a dialect of the Ma^^a of clear affinities, 

 and all the surrounding tribes belong to the Maya stock. 



At present, as we have seen, travelers agree in the statement 

 that all the Indians of Acasaguastlan speak Spani^:.h only, and 

 the Alaguilac is reckoned therefore among the extinct tongues 

 of America. 



The place-names mentioned in these accounts are clearly of 

 Nahuatl origin. Acasaguastlan| is a slight modification of acaga- 



* Carta de Garcia Diego de Palacio, p. 20. Ed. Squier. 



t Ilidoria de Guatemala, Tom. ii, p. 35. 



I The term given by Palacio— Tlacacebastleea— is a derivative under the ordinarj' 

 rules of Nahuatl grammar from Acaoacatlan, the termination era being the plural of the 

 suffix genlilis, ecatl, and the preJix tla, meaning here the thing possessed by or i)eculiar to 

 these people. 



