282 



MEXICO, CEXTE.U. AMERICA, ^yEST INDIES. 



statues, and erected temples scarcely inferior to those of Mexico and Yucatan. 

 The local topographic nomenclature shows that the Aztec rule extended over 

 nearlj- the whole of Nicaragua, although their language has ceased to be current even 

 in the isthmus of Rivas, where they at one time existed in multitudes. Spanish, 

 enriched by numerous Mexican expressions, has become the common speech of all. 

 In their stage-pieces, representing myths, historic events, or religious dramas, the 

 language employed is a jargon culled by Brinton the " Nahuatl-Spanish dialect of 



Fig. 122. — Population of Hondubas and Nicaeagua. 

 Scale 1 : 7,000,000. 



Nicaragua." Most of these plays are accompanied by hailes, or dances, and nearly 

 all the old musical instruments are still in use. 



As in Mexico, the conquistadores endeavoured to destroy all memorials of the 

 old culture. In 1524 the missionary Bobadilla raised a huge pyre at Managua, on 

 which a bonfire was made of the religious and historical paintings, calendars, 

 maps, and all other Nahua and Chorotegan documents that he could lay his hands 

 on. The temi^les were razed to the ground, the idols overthrown, the cemeteries 

 desecrated ; nevertheless, down to the present century there still survived nume- 

 rous sculptured stones, especially in the islands of Lake Nicaragua, which the 

 Spaniards had ceased to visit after exterminating their inhabitants. In the 

 island of Moraotombito alone Squier saw over fifty colossal basalt monoliths 



