INHABITANTS OF GUATEMALA. 221 



between the Usumaeinta and the Golfo Dulce, belong to the same widespread Maya 

 family. The}^ were met on his expedition to Honduras by Fernan Cortes, who 

 was able to converse with them through Doiia Marina, she being acquainted with 

 the Chontal dialect. The Chols appear to have been one of the most civilised 

 nations in the region now known as Guatemala, for in their territory are situated 

 the fine ruins of Quirigua. But they are greatly reduced in numbers, and both 

 people and language seem to be dying out. 



Owing to the former slave-raiding expeditions of ihe Spaniards, the whole 

 Atlantic seaboard, from Yucatan to Nicaragua, is almost entirely destitute of a 

 native Indian population. After the extermination of the Espafiola and Cuban 

 natives, and before their places could be supplied by negroes imported from Africa, 

 the planters of those islands sought to recruit their gangs by introducing " Caribs," 

 that is, Indians of all races, whether in the islands or on the mainland. These 

 so-called Caribs were accused of cannibalism and of every other crime under the 

 sun, and could consequently be enslaved with a free conscience. Man-hunting 

 expeditions were undertaken, especially along the coast between Capes Catoche and 

 Gracias- à-Dios ; these lands were completely depopulated in a very few decades, 

 and when no more victims remained, the raiders had to ascend the rivers and lay 

 waste their valleys in sea^rch of fresh captives. It is evident from Bernai Diaz' 

 descriptions that at the time of Cortes' expedition to Honduras the shores of the 

 Golfo Dulce were, in many jîlaces, lined with settlements and plantations. 



South of the Choi camping-grounds, which are still met in the upper A^alley of 

 the Rio de la Pasion, the district about the headwaters of the Polochic is occupied 

 by the Quekchi and Pokonchi, who form a special branch of the Maj'a family. 

 Their territory was formerly known by the name of Tezulutlan, that is, " Land of 

 "War," because the Spaniirds made frequent expeditions against the natives; 

 without, however, succeeding in reducing them. Their submission was, in fact, 

 brought about by the celebrated Bishop of Chiapas, Bartholomew de las Casas, 

 and the Dominican missionaries who soon acquired unlimited power over the 

 people. Then the territory changed its name from " Land of War " to Vera Paz, 

 "True Peace." But although they thus became the voluntary serfs of the Domi- 

 nican friars, the Quekchi and Pokonchi were, after all, but outward converts, and 

 their usages still recall those of pagan times. 



One of the chief indigenous nations is that of the Pokomans, in whose territory 

 the present capital of the state has been founded. They are also one of the best- 

 known Guatemalan trribes, for the Indians of the large settlement cf Mixco, who 

 supply the capital with fuel and provisions, are all Pokomans. They are of Maj'a 

 stock, and display the same remarkable power of passive resistance and tenacit}^ 

 as other branches of that race. They have graduall}^ encroached on the Pipil 

 domain, dividing that nation into two separate sections by conquering the region 

 of the main Guatemalan waterparting. 



The Quiches were, with the Aztecs and the Mayas, the most cultured inhabi- 

 tants of Central America at the time of the conquest. At that epoch they were 

 also a very numerous nation, the chronicles speaking of "several millions." They 



