﻿POPULATION 
  OF 
  ANCIENT 
  AMERICA 
  SPINDEN 
  457 
  

  

  without 
  much 
  modification 
  of 
  their 
  original 
  wandering 
  life, 
  and 
  in 
  two 
  

   centuries 
  quadrupled 
  without 
  admixture 
  of 
  foreign 
  blood. 
  

  

  In 
  Mexico 
  also 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  rapid 
  increase 
  from 
  low 
  records 
  

   of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  regime, 
  as 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  by 
  comparing 
  the 
  figures 
  col- 
  

   lected 
  by 
  Humboldt^ 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  today. 
  For 
  1803 
  the 
  German 
  

   traveler 
  makes 
  the 
  population 
  of 
  Mexico 
  5,837,100; 
  classified 
  as 
  18 
  

   per 
  cent 
  white, 
  60 
  per 
  cent 
  Indian, 
  and 
  22 
  per 
  cent 
  mixed. 
  The 
  area 
  

   covered 
  is 
  not 
  exactly 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  today; 
  but 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  

   Chiapas, 
  then 
  counted 
  with 
  Guatemala, 
  serves 
  to 
  counterbalance 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  Southwest 
  which 
  now 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  The 
  

   increase 
  is 
  about 
  150 
  per 
  cent 
  in 
  125 
  years, 
  and 
  the 
  Indian 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   population 
  seems 
  to 
  hold 
  its 
  own 
  proportionally 
  or 
  perhaps 
  to 
  gain 
  if 
  

   we 
  eliminate 
  immigrants. 
  The 
  Maya 
  territory 
  in 
  the 
  peninsula 
  of 
  

   Yucatan 
  is 
  an 
  exception 
  to 
  the 
  general 
  advance. 
  Humboldt 
  gives 
  

   the 
  population 
  of 
  the 
  political 
  district 
  of 
  M^rida 
  (which 
  seems 
  to 
  

   have 
  included 
  Campeche) 
  as 
  465,800 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  ValladoHd 
  as 
  476,400, 
  

   making 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  942,020 
  for 
  the 
  Mexican 
  proportion 
  of 
  the 
  peninsula.^" 
  

   This 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  an 
  overestimate, 
  but 
  a 
  very 
  great 
  falling 
  off 
  

   resulted 
  from 
  the 
  terrible 
  War 
  of 
  the 
  Castes 
  precipitated 
  by 
  the 
  

   sending 
  of 
  several 
  shiploads 
  of 
  Maya 
  Indians 
  to 
  Cuba 
  as 
  slaves. 
  This 
  

   war 
  broke 
  out 
  in 
  1848 
  and 
  resulted 
  in 
  abandonment 
  by 
  white 
  land- 
  

   owners 
  of 
  much 
  of 
  eastern 
  and 
  central 
  Yucatan. 
  Parts 
  afterwards 
  

   pacified 
  were 
  never 
  able 
  to 
  retrieve 
  the 
  earlier 
  prosperity. 
  

  

  Of 
  Guatemala 
  in 
  1778 
  Juarros" 
  says: 
  

  

  The 
  larger 
  and 
  principal 
  part 
  of 
  these 
  lands 
  was 
  captured 
  by 
  Capt. 
  D. 
  Pedro 
  de 
  

   Alvarado 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1524 
  and 
  following. 
  In 
  that 
  time 
  these 
  countries 
  were 
  much 
  

   more 
  populated 
  than 
  at 
  present 
  since 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  count 
  made 
  by 
  order 
  of 
  

   His 
  Majesty 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1778 
  this 
  kingdom 
  has 
  no 
  more 
  than 
  797,214 
  inhabitants; 
  

   while 
  in 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  its 
  conquest 
  its 
  inhabitants 
  were 
  innumerable, 
  so 
  much 
  so 
  

   that 
  they 
  comprised 
  more 
  than 
  30 
  nations. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  Guatemala 
  of 
  Juarros 
  covered 
  all 
  the 
  territory 
  between 
  

   Mexico 
  and 
  Panama 
  and 
  even 
  included 
  the 
  present 
  Mexican 
  State 
  of 
  

   Chiapas. 
  Now 
  this 
  area 
  supports 
  about 
  6,000,000 
  inhabitants. 
  

   While 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  total 
  is 
  covered 
  by 
  immigration, 
  a 
  very 
  great 
  in- 
  

   crease 
  is 
  generally 
  to 
  be 
  noted 
  for 
  Indians 
  living 
  agricultural 
  lives 
  in 
  

   open 
  country. 
  I 
  have 
  elsewhere 
  given 
  the 
  present 
  Indian 
  population 
  

   of 
  Central 
  America 
  in 
  round 
  numbers 
  as 
  2,500,000. 
  A 
  missionary 
  

   living 
  on 
  the 
  populous 
  Guatemalan 
  highlands 
  estimates 
  that 
  there 
  

   are 
  at 
  present 
  750,000 
  Indians 
  speaking 
  native 
  languages 
  and 
  main- 
  

   taining 
  parts, 
  at 
  least, 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  culture. 
  These 
  are 
  ranked 
  as 
  

  

  • 
  Essai 
  politique 
  sur 
  le 
  royaume 
  de 
  la 
  Nouvelle-Espagne 
  (Voyage 
  de 
  Humboldt 
  et 
  Bonpland, 
  Part 
  

   III), 
  2 
  vols, 
  and 
  atlas, 
  Paris, 
  1811; 
  reference 
  in 
  Vol. 
  i, 
  pp. 
  152 
  et 
  seq. 
  

  

  i» 
  Ibid, 
  p. 
  155. 
  

  

  " 
  Domingo 
  Juarros: 
  Compendio 
  de 
  la 
  historia 
  de 
  la 
  ciudad 
  de 
  Guatemala 
  (2 
  vols., 
  Guatemala 
  1808-18), 
  

   Vol. 
  i, 
  p. 
  8; 
  English 
  transl.by 
  J.Baily: 
  A 
  Statistical 
  and 
  Commercial 
  History 
  of 
  the 
  Kingdom 
  of 
  Gua- 
  

   tamala 
  in 
  Spanish 
  America, 
  p. 
  10, 
  London, 
  1823. 
  

  

  