-MVSTHRIUUS TE-MPLES OF THE TUXGLE 



38o 



annihilation of the last of the priest- 

 kings and the tliglit of their emancipated 

 but terrified subjects to the higher valley 

 of the same river about Gualan and 

 Zacapa, no trace would remain of any 

 but the most substantial buildings, the 

 temples and palaces. "Indian mcnmds" 

 are frequently reported in all this region 

 and have been known for many years to 

 the adventurous spirits who have pros- 

 pected for gold, railroads, mahogany, 

 game, or "treasure" in these iminhabited 

 forests. 



These lie, according to such statements, 

 along the river and in the hills toward 

 the Rio Dulce and the lagoon, with a 

 general trend from Copan to Peten. 

 Some lie in the upper Alotagua \ alley 

 as far as the foot-hills above Zacapa. 

 The railroad crosses the Alotagua a few 

 miles above Quirigua. forced to the right 

 bank by the line of low hills it has fol- 

 lowed from the coast. 



Almost from the crossing the coun- 

 try begins to change. It becomes less 

 swampy ; the river bed grows rocky and 

 no longer flows through deep banks of 

 black earth ; it acquires the greenish tinge 

 of mountain streams ; and the foliage on 

 the banks, while not less thick, is drier 

 and shows a less feverish green. 



Above Gualan (perched picturesquely 

 on a hilltop) the valley opens into a rain- 

 less, dusty, cactus-grown plain like north- 

 ern ^Mexico or Arizona, surrounded by 

 high bare mountains and watered by two 

 fine rivers — the Motagua still and an 

 aftluent, the Zacapa. It is well popu- 

 lated ; corn and cotton grow well, and 

 cattle appear to prosper. 



Yellow fever, having once got a hold 

 upon this region, has become endemic, 

 but I know of no place whence it might 

 more easily be banished, and. cleaned 

 thoroughly, these towns should be as 

 healthy as any. 



The inhabitants are of the 'Xadino" 

 class, the Si)anish-Iti(lian hybrid, which 

 has, in the course of centuries, become 

 a fixed type. They have a good idea of 

 the possible value of their land, dry and 

 dusty as it is, and will not sell at any 

 price ; nor are they in error. Barrage 

 and pumping works installed in the Za- 

 capa River — far beyond the power of 



native capital, it is true, but of easy con- 

 struction for some American syndicate — 

 would make of this plain the richest 

 sugar region in the world. Cane needs 

 heat and unlimited water, but neither 

 wind nor rain. The burning Zacapa 

 plain is sheltered from both, and has ar 

 inexhaustible supply of water from tlu 

 rivers. 



A rREHISTOKIC MIXING CENTUR 



There is every indication that this re- 

 gion was once as thickly peopled as any 

 part of the country. Records of the mis- 

 sionaries who came after the Spanish 

 conquest tell of large towns here and 

 flourishing villages, and it may be that 

 gold or silver workings gave to the over- 

 shadowing range the name it bears, of 

 "Mountains of the Mines." Whether or 

 not this upper \ alley of the Motagua was 

 peopled from below might still be de- 

 termined from the relics which remain. 



These investigations, however, should 

 be undertaken promptly before the de- 

 velopment of all this country by invest- 

 ment of American capital and intensi\e 

 cultivation has so altered its face that all 

 record is lost. A connection between the 

 upper and the lower Motagua Valley — 

 that is. between the Zacapa V'alley and 

 the coast — seems to me to be more logical 

 and natural than a relation between this 

 region and the highlands. 



Of the plateau cities destroyed by 

 Alvarado sufficient record is still avail- 

 able to make com])aratively easy an ex- 

 haustive study of the Quiche, Kakchiquel, 

 and other tribes or nations of the moun- 

 tains and of the Pacific coast. Rulers 

 and people seem to have been of the same 

 stock, and after their overthrow by the 

 Spaniards and their Tlascalan allies, the 

 survivors did not disappear ; they ro^^e 

 again and again and fought their con- 

 querors as long as there remained a chief 

 to lead them. 



DO THE IXDIAXS I'RESKRVE THEIR 

 TRADITIONS? 



The traditions of the ancient people, 

 their religion, and their feeling of na- 

 tionality may still live in the heart of the 

 Quiche Mountains, and might be easily 

 studied by one who would devote a num- 



