30 UTATLAN AND IXIM.CHE. 



I was not successful in connecting these ruins on the Rio Tinaja with the 

 name of Chacujal, until one of my canoemen whom I was questioning on the subject, 

 after repeating the name several times, exclaimed " Chaki-jal, that is what the 

 Indians of these parts (the Quekchis) call the ripe corn " ; and the origin of the name 

 was at once evident. 



UTATLAN AND IXIMCHE. 



(Plates LXXII. & LXXIII.) 



At the time of Alvarado's entry into Guatemala in February 1524, the tableland 

 round about the modern towns of Santa Cruz del Quiche and Quezaltenango was 

 occupied by the Quiche Indians, who had their capital at Utatlan, close to Santa Cruz. 

 The Cachiquels held the land to the east of the Quiches, and their capital, Patinamit 

 or Iximche, stood near the modern town of Tecpan Guatemala, and is called by 

 Alvarado the " City of Guatemala." The Tzutuhils, a less powerful tribe, appear to 

 have held the land on the east and south shores of the lake of Atitlan, and probably 

 had their headquarters on the site of the present Indian village of Atitlan. All three 

 tribes spoke languages of (what is known as) the Maya-Quiche stock, a family of 

 languages which extends over the whole peninsula of Yucatan, through the greater 

 part of Guatemala, and parts of Tabasco and Chiapas. The confederation of these 

 three tribes or nations — Quiches, Cachiquels, and Tzutuhils — is sometimes spoken of 

 as the Quiche-Cachiquel Empire; but Avhether it was ever a united empire, as we 

 understand the term, is somewhat doubtful, while it is quite certain that at the time 

 of the Spanish invasion all three tribes were at enmity one with another. 



It is sometimes assumed that these people had attained a high degree of civilization, 

 and were especially advanced in the art of building ; but this assumption I believe 

 to be mainly due to the grossly exaggerated descriptions of their towns given by the 

 early Spanish historians, and unfortunately there are no other written records to which 

 we can refer on these points. 



Of the three aboriginal MSS. still extant, not one (so far as I know) has been 

 attributed to the Quiches or Cachiquels, and no carved inscriptions have been found 

 amongst the ruins of their towns ; but a few glyphs painted on pottery which is 

 ascribed to them would lead one to suppose that they made use of the Maya script. 

 Of late years two documents have been discovered which have gained for these people 

 some literary reputation — the ' Popul-Vuh,' or sacred book of the Quiches, and the 



