INHABITANTS OF HONDURAS. 261 



does not reach lower tlian an altitude of about 1,250 feet, whereas on the Atlantic 

 slopes, especially on the plains of Sula, it descends as low as 250 feet, while along 

 the watercourses of Truxillo it is dotted over the savannas like the clumps of trees 

 characteristic of English scenery. 



Inhabitants. 



xibout tbree- fourth s of the population of Honduras appear to be Ladinos, or 

 more or less civilised Hispano- American half-castes. The pure Indian element 

 scarcely numbers 70,000 altogether, and even these " wild tribes " now live at 

 peace with their Spanish-speaking rulers, and recognise their authority. To the 

 Spanish conquerors their forefathers had offered a brave and steadfast resistance, 

 and those of the interior at least escaped extermination, whereas most of those 

 dwelling on the coastlands, or along the navigable rivers, were carried away by the 

 corsairs, to perish on the plantations of the West Indies. 



In the western parts of the republic the natives are of the same speech as those 

 of Guatemala. Such are the Chorti of Copan, kinsmen of the Pokoman Mayas. 

 The most remarkable historic ruins of Honduras have been discovered in their 

 territory, and the builders of these monuments are supposed to have been the 

 ancestors of the Indians still inhabiting the district. Hence the Chorti were 

 probably fully as civilised as the Aztecs and Mayas, and even if the other natives 

 of Honduras have left no such monuments, they were all at least settled agricul- 

 turists and skilled artisans. Various Aztec geographical terms occurring in south 

 Honduras show that Aztec was regarded as the language of culture in a pre- 

 eminent sense. 



At present the Honduras Indians are collectively designated by the name of 

 Lencas. Villages exclusively inhabited by them are scattered over the plateau, and 

 are met even in the neighbourhood of the two capitals, Comayagua and Teguci- 

 galpa. To the same stot^k belong the Xicacs (Hicacos), the Payas and the Toacas 

 of the northern slopes and Atlantic coastlands. 



All resemble each other in their low stature, thickset frames, and extraordinary 

 staying power as carriers of heavy loads. The Toacas, who occupy the uj)per 

 affluents of the Patuca, and who shoot the dangerous rapids of that river in their 

 light but firm pipantes of cedar-wood, also produce excellent cotton or wild silk 

 fabrics interwoven with the down of birds. They speak a dialect different from 

 that of the other Lencas, as do also the Xicacs, who number about 5,000 and keep 

 quite aloof from the Ladinos. 



The Payas or Poj'as of the Rio Negro near Cape Cameron have preserved their 

 patriarchal customs ; like the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, they still 

 dwell in large oval houses about 80 feet long by 30 feet broad, in which each family 

 has its own apartments. The Payas, like all the other natives, call themselves 

 Catholics, but this formal profession of faith is merely an act of submission to the 

 dominant white race. 



After the extermination of the coast Indians negroes became numerous along 

 the seaboard. About the beginning of the seventeenth century a large slaver was 



