224 
INHABITANTS. 
of the old. The remaining natives then consisted" only of the 
most indigent race — poor cultivators, artisans, among whom were 
a great number of weavers, porters, who were used like beasts 
of burden, and especially of those dregs of the people, who bore 
witness to the imperfection of the social institutions. How shall 
we judge, then, from these miserable remains of a powerful peo- 
j)le, of the degree of cultivation to which it had arisen from the 
twelfth to the sixteenth century, and of the intellectual develop- 
ment of which it is susceptible?" 
The Indians on the northern part of the Isthmus evince the 
greatest veneration for the memory of Dona Marina, the beauti- 
ful and well-favored mistress of Cortez. In her native village of 
Painalla, now called Jaltipan, a large circular mound of earth, 
known as the " Hill of Malinche," serves to recall the history of 
her imperishable deeds. Among the Indians, there is still pre- 
served a tradition that her remains are buried beneath it, and 
that she promised to return from the captivity of death, to sweep 
from their thresholds the blight which she had involuntarily 
aided to bring. Who, then, can say that the traditionary dream 
of the Indian, as he veils the pangs of his heart under the de- 
ceitful guises of indifference and stupidity, is not already on the 
eve of realization, and that the ancient province of Coatzacoalcos, 
which through an humble captive slave exerted so powerful an 
influence over the commercial destinies of the world, may not 
again break forth from its sleep to effect changes far more last- 
ing and glorious ? 
The Mvjes, once a powerful tribe, inhabit the mountains to the 
west, in the central division of the Isthmus, and are now con- 
fined to the town of San Juan Guichicovi.* Physically speak- 
ing, they are similar to the Aztecs and Agualulcos, but more 
* Hernan Cortez, in his Dispatches, says of these people : " They occupy a country 
so rough in its character, that it is impossible to penetrate it even on foot ; never- 
theless, I have made two attempts to conquer them, but without success. They 
are defended by strong fortresses, a mountainous region, and substantial weapons. 
In defending themselves, they killed a number of Spaniards ; and they are con- 
stantly doing mischief to their neighbors, who are vassals of your majesty, attack- 
ing and burning their villages by night, and murdering the inhabitants. — Let. iv., 
p. 404. 
