by Spence,Lewis
Mexico
ACOSTA, JOSÉ DE: Historia Natural y Moral de las Yndias. Seville, 1580.
ALZATE Y RAMIREZ: Descripcion de las Antiguedades de Xochicalco. 1791.
BANCROFT, H. H.: Native Races of the Pacific States of America. 1875. A compilation of historical matter relating to aboriginal America, given almost without comment. Useful to beginners.
BOTURINI BENADUCI, L.: Idea de una Nueva Historia General de la America Septentrional. Madrid, 1746. Contains a number of valuable original manuscripts.
BOURBOURG, ABBÉ BRASSEUR DE: Histoire des Nations Civilisées du Mexique et de l’Amérique Centrale. Paris, 1857–59. The Abbé possessed much knowledge of the peoples of Central America and their ancient history, but had a leaning toward the marvellous which renders his works of doubtful value.
CHARNAY, DÉSIRÉ: Ancient Cities of the New World. London, 1887. This translation from the French is readable and interesting, and is of assistance to beginners. It is, however, of little avail as a serious work of reference, and has been superseded.
CHEVALIER, M.: Le Mexique Ancien et Moderne. Paris, 1886.
CLAVIGERO, ABBÉ: Storia Antica del Messico. Cesena, 1780. English translation, London, 1787. Described in text.
DIAZ, BERNAL: Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de Nueva España. 1837. An eye-witness’s account of the conquest of Mexico.
ENOCK, C. REGINALD: Mexico, its Ancient and Modern Civilisation, &c. London, 1909.
GOMARA, F. L. DE: Historia General de las Yndias. Madrid, 1749.
HERRERA, ANTONIO DE: Historia General de los Hechos de los Castellanos en las Islas y Tierra Firme del Mar Oceano. 4 vols. Madrid, 1601.
HUMBOLDT, ALEX. VON: Vues des Cordillères. Paris, 1816. English translation by Mrs. Williams.
IXTLILXOCHITL, F. DE ALVA: Historia Chichimeca; Relaciones. Edited by A. Chavero. Mexico, 1891–92.
KINGSBOROUGH, LORD: Antiquities of Mexico. London, 1830.
LUMHOLTZ, C.: Unknown Mexico. 1903.
MACNUTT, F. C.: Letters of Cortés to Charles V. London, 1908.
NADAILLAC, MARQUIS DE: Prehistoric America. Translation. London, 1885.
NOLL, A. H.: A Short History of Mexico. Chicago, 1903.
NUTTALL, ZELIA: The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilisations. 1901.
PAYNE, E. J.: History of the New World called America. London, 1892–99. By far the best and most exhaustive work in English upon the subject. It is, however, unfinished.
PEÑAFIEL, F.: Monumentos del Arte Mexicano Antiguo. Berlin, 1890.
PRESCOTT, W. H.: History of the Conquest of Mexico. Of romantic interest only. Prescott did not study Mexican history for more than two years, and his work is now quite superseded from a historical point of view. Its narrative charm, however, is unassailable.
SAHAGUN, BERNARDINO DE: Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España. Mexico, 1829.
SELER, E.: Mexico and Guatemala. Berlin, 1896.
SERRA, JUSTO (Editor): Mexico, its Social Evolution, &c. 2 vols. Mexico, 1904.
SPENCE, LEWIS: The Civilization of Ancient Mexico. A digest of the strictly verifiable matter of Mexican history and antiquities. All tradition is eliminated, the author’s aim being to present the beginner and the serious student with a series of unembellished facts.
STARR, F.: The Indians of Southern Mexico. 1899.
THOMAS, CYRUS, AND MAGEE, W. J.: The History of North America. 1908.
TORQUEMADA, JUAN DE: Monarquia Indiana. Madrid, 1723.
Bulletin 28 of the Bureau of American Ethnology contains translations of valuable essays by the German scholars Seler, Schellhas, Förstemann, &c.
Many of the above works deal with Central America as well as with Mexico proper.
Central America
COGOLLUDO, D. LOPEZ: Historia de Yucathan. 1688. Very scarce.
DIEGO DE LANDA: Relacion de Cosas de Yucatan. Paris, 1836. Translation by Brasseur.
DUPAIX, COLONEL: Antiquités Mexicaines. Paris, 1834–36.
MAUDSLAY, A. P.: Biologia Centrali-Americana. Publication proceeding. Contains many excellent sketches of ruins, &c.
SPENCE, LEWIS: The Popol Vuh. London, 1908.
Peru
ENOCK, C. R.: Peru: its Former and Present Civilisation, &c. London, 1908.
MARKHAM, SIR CLEMENTS R.: History of Peru. Chicago, 1892.
PRESCOTT, W. H.: History of the Conquest of Peru. 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1868.
SQUIER, E. G.: Peru: Incidents of Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas. London, 1877.
TSCHUDI, J. J. VON: Reisen durch Südamerika. 5 vols. Leipsic, 1866–68. Travels in Peru. London, 1847.
VEGA, GARCILASSO EL INCA DE LA: Royal Commentaries of the Incas, 1609. Hakluyt Society’s Publications.
In seeking the original sources of Peruvian history we must refer to the early Spanish historians who visited the country, either at the period of the conquest or immediately subsequent to it. From those Spaniards who wrote at a time not far distant from that event we have gained much valuable knowledge concerning the contemporary condition of Peru, and a description of the principal works of these pioneers will materially assist the reader who is bent on pursuing the study of Peruvian antiquities.
Pedro de Cieza de Leon composed a geographical account of Peru in 1554, devoting the latter part of his chronicle to the subject of the Inca civilisation. This work has been translated into English by Sir Clements R. Markham, and published by the Hakluyt Society.
Juan José de Betanzos, who was well acquainted with the Quichua language, and who married an Inca princess, wrote an account of the Incas in 1551, which was edited and printed by Señor Jimenes de la Espada in 1880.
Polo de Ondegardo, a lawyer and politician, wrote his two Relaciones in 1561 and 1571, making valuable reports on the laws and system of administration of the Incas. One of these works has been translated by Sir Clements R. Markham, and printed by the Hakluyt Society.
Augustin de Zarate, accountant, who arrived in Peru with Blasco Nuñez Vela, the first Viceroy, is the author of the Provincia del Peru, which was published at Antwerp in 1555.
Fernando de Santillan, judge of the Linia Audience, contributed an interesting Relacion in 1550, edited and printed in 1879 by Señor Jimenes de la Espada.
Juan de Matienzo, a lawyer contemporary with Ondegardo, was the author of the valuable work Gobierno de el Peru, not yet translated.
Christoval de Molina, priest of Cuzco, wrote an interesting story of Inca ceremonial and religion between 1570 and 1584, which has been published by the Hakluyt Society. The translator is Sir C. R. Markham.
Miguel Cavello Balboa, of Quito, gives us the only particulars we possess of Indian coast history, and the most valuable information on the war between Huascar and Atauhuallpa, in his splendid Miscellanea Austral, 1576, translated into French in 1840 by Ternaux-Compans.
A Jesuit priest, José de Acosta, compiled a Natural History of the Indies, which was published for the first time in 1588. An English translation of the work is provided by the Hakluyt Society.
Fernando Montesinos in his Memorias Antiguas Historiales del Peru and Anales Memorias Nuevas del Peru quotes a long line of sovereigns who preceded the Incas. These works were translated into French in 1840.
Relacion de los Costombras Antiguas de los Naturales del Peru, written by an anonymous Jesuit, records an account of Inca civilisation. The work was published in Spain in 1879. Another Jesuit, Francisco de Avila, wrote on the superstitions of the Indians of Huarochiri and their gods. His work was translated into English and published by the Hakluyt Society.
Pablo José de Arriaga, a priest who policed the country, destroying the false gods, compiled in 1621 Extirpacion de la Idolatria del Peru, describing the downfall of the ancient Inca religion.
Antonio de la Calancha compiled an interesting history of the Incas in his work on the Order of St. Augustine in Peru (1638–1653).
In his Historia de Copacabana y de su Milagrosa Imagen (1620) Alonzo Ramos G
avilan disclosed much information concerning the colonists during the time of the Inca rule.
A valuable history of the Incas is provided by Garcilasso el Inca de la Vega in his Commentarios Reales. The works of previous authors are reviewed, and extracts are given from the compilations of the Jesuit Blas Valera, whose writings are lost. The English translation is published by the Hakluyt Society.
Relacion de Antiguedades deste Reyno del Peru, by Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua, an Indian of the Collao, was translated into English by Sir C. R. Markham, and published by the Hakluyt Society.
The Historia del Reino del Quinto, compiled by Juan de Velasco, was translated into French by Ternaux-Compans in 1840.
Antonio de Herrera gives a brief account of the history and civilisation of the Inca people in his General History of the Indies.
In his History of America Robertson was the first to compile a thorough account of the Incas. Prescott, however, in 1848 eclipsed his work by his own fascinating account. Sir Arthur Helps has also given a résumé of Inca progress in his Spanish Conquest (1855).
The Peruvian Sebastian Lorente published in 1860 a history of ancient Peru, which presents the subject more broadly than the narratives of the American and English authors, and as the result of many years of further research he contributed a series of essays to the Revista Peruana.
One of the best works dealing with the antiquities of the Inca period is Antiguedades Peruanas, by Don Mariano Rivero (English translation by Dr. Hawkes, 1853). The compilation on Peru by E. G. Squier (1877), and a similar narrative by C. Weiner (Paris, 1880), both of which stand in accuracy above the others, are also worthy of mention.
The work of Reiss and Stubel, narrating their excavations at Ancon, is richly presented in three volumes, with 119 plates.
The works of Sir Clements Markham are the best guide to English scholars on the subject.
NOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE MEXICAN, MAYAN, AND PERUVIAN LANGUAGES
MEXICAN
As the Spanish alphabet was that first employed to represent Mexican or Nahuatl phonology, so Mexican words and names must be pronounced, for the most part, according to the Castilian system. An exception is the letter x, which in Spanish is sometimes written as j and pronounced as h aspirate; and in Nahuatl sometimes as in English, at other times as sh or s. Thus the word “Mexico” is pronounced by the aboriginal Mexican with the hard x, but by the Spaniard as “May-hee-co.” The name of the native author Ixtlilxochitl is pronounced “Ishtlilshotshitl,” the ch being articulated as tsh, for euphony. Xochicalco is “So-chi-cal-co.” The vowel sounds are pronounced as in French or Italian. The tl sound is pronounced with almost a click of the tongue.
MAYAN
The Maya alphabet consists of twenty-two letters, of which c, ch, k, pp, th, tz are peculiar to the language, and cannot be properly pronounced by Europeans. It is deficient in the letters d, f, g, j, q, r, s. The remaining letters are sounded as in Spanish. The letter x occurring at the beginning of a word is pronounced ex. For example, Xbalanque is pronounced “Exbalanke.” The frequent occurrence of elisions in spoken Maya renders its pronunciation a matter of great difficulty, and the few grammars on the language agree as to the hopelessness of conveying any true idea of the exact articulation of the language by means of written directions. Norman in his work entitled Rambles in Yucatan remarks: “This perhaps accounts for the disappearance of all grammars and vocabularies of the Maya tongue from the peninsula of Yucatan, the priests finding it much easier to learn the language directly from the Indian than to acquire it from books.”
PERUVIAN
The two languages spoken in Peru in ancient times were the Quichua, or Inca, and the Aymara. These still survive. The former was the language of the Inca rulers of the country, but both sprang from one common linguistic stock. As these languages were first reduced to writing by means of a European alphabet, their pronunciation presents but little difficulty, the words practically begin pronounced as they are written, having regard to the “Continental” pronunciation of the vowels. In Quichua the same sound is give to the intermediate c before a consonant and to the final c, as in “chacra” and “Pachacamac.” The general accent is most frequently on the penultimate syllable.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
A
AAC, PRINCE. In the story of Queen Móo, 240, 244–245, 246
ACALAN. District in Guatemala;
race-movements and, 150
ACLLACUNA (Selected Ones). Body of maidens from whom victims for sacrifice were taken in Peru, 313
ACLLA-HUASI. Houses in which the Acllacuna lived, 313
ACOLHUACAN. District in Mexico, 26
ACOLHUANS (or ACOLHUAQUE) (People of the Broad Shoulder). Mexican race, 26;
said to have founded Mexico, 26;
a pure Nahua race, perhaps the Toltecs, 26;
their supremacy, 48
ACOLHUAQUE. See Acolhuans
ACOSTA, JOSÉ DE. Work on Mexican lore, 58
ACSUMAMA. Guardian spirit of the potato plant in Peru, 295
ACXITL. Toltec king, son of Huemac II, 17, 19
ACXOPIL. Ruler of the Kiche, 158–159
AGOREROS (or MOHANES). Members of Peruvian tribes who claimed power as oracles, 297–298, 314
AHUIZOTL. Mexican king, 30
AH-ZOTZILS. A Maya tribe, 172
AKAB-SIB (Writing in the Dark). A bas-relief at El Castillo, Chichen-Itza, 190
AKÉ. Maya ruins at, 186–187
AMERICA. Superficial resemblance between peoples, customs, and art-forms of Asia and, 1;
civilisation, native origin of, 1–2, 3, 328;
animal and plant life peculiar to, 2;
man, origin of, in, 2;
geographical connection between Asia and, 3;
traditions of intercourse between Asia and, 3;
Chinese Fu-Sang and, 3;
possible Chinese and Japanese visits to, 3–4;
Coronado’s expedition to, 4;
legends of intercourse between Europe and, 4;
“Great Ireland” probably the same as, 4;
St. Brandan’s voyage and, 4;
reached by early Norsemen, 5;
the legend of Madoc and, 5–6;
early belief in, respecting incursions from the east, 6;
prophecy of Chilan Balam re coming of white men to, 8
AMERICA, CENTRAL. Indigenous origin of civilisation of, 1;
legend of Toltec migration to, 20
ANAHUAC (By the Water). Native name of the Mexican plateau, 18.
See Mexico
ANCESTOR-WORSHIP in Peru, 296
ANDEANS. The prehistoric civilisation of, 249–250;
architectural remains of, 250
ANTAHUAYLLAS. Peruvian tribe, 284
ANTILIA. Legends of, have no connection with American myth, 6
ANTI-SUYU. One of the four racial divisions of ancient Peru, 255
APINGUELA. Island on Lake Titicaca; Huaina Ccapac and the lake-goddess and, 299
Apocatequil. Peruvian thunder-god, the “Prince of Evil”;
in a creation-myth, 301–302
APU-CCAPAC (Sovereign Chief). Title of the Inca rulers, 248
“APU-OLLANTA.” A drama-legend of the Incas, 251–253
APURIMAC (Great Speaker). River in Peru;
regarded as an oracle, 296
AQUA. A bird-maiden; in the myth of origin of the Canaris, 319
ARARA (Fire-bird). Same as Kinich-ahau, which see
ARCHITECTURE. I. Of the Nahua, 31–34.
II. Of the Maya, 149–150, 178–198;
the most individual expression of the people, 178;
Yucatan exhibits the most perfect specimens, and the decadent phase, 178;
methods of building, 178–179;
ignorance of some first principles, 179;
mural decoration, 179;
pyramidal buildings, 180;
definiteness of design, 180;
architectural districts, 181;
&n
bsp; not of great antiquity, 182;
Father Burgoa on the palace at Mitla, 199–201.
III. Of the Incas, 268–269;
the art in which the race showed greatest advance, 268;
Sir Clements Markham on, 269
ARRIAGA, P. J. DE. On stone-worship in Peru, 293
ART. Early American, superficial resemblance to that of Asia, 1;
native origin and unique character of American, 1–2;
Toltec, 23;
Peruvians weak in, 248
ASIA. Origin of early American culture erroneously attributed to, 1;
man originally came to America from, 2;
former land-connection between America and, 3;
traditions of intercourse between America and, 3
ATAGUJU. Supreme divinity of the Peruvians; in a creation-myth, 301
ATAMALQUALIZTLI (Fast of Porridge-balls and Water). Nahua festival, 77
ATATARHO. Mythical wizard-king of the Iroquois, 72
ATAUHUALLPA. Son of the Inca Huaina Ccapac; strives for the crown with Huascar, 289–290
ATL (Water). Mexican deity; often confounded with the moon-goddess, 106
ATLANTIS. Legends of, have no connection with American myth, 6
AUQUI (Warrior). Peruvian order of knighthood; instituted by Pachacutic, 287
AVENDAÑO, HERNANDEZ DE. And Peruvian fetishes, 295
AVILIX. The god assigned to Balam-Agab in the Kiche story of the creation, 230;
turned into stone, 231
AXAIACATZIN, KING. Father of Chachiuhnenetzin, the vicious wife of Nezahualpilli, 129
AXAYACATL. Mexican king, 92
AYMARA. Peruvian race, 254–255;
fusion with Quichua, 285–286
AZANGARO. The Sondor-huasi at, 269
AZCAPOZALCO. Mexican town, 26;
rivalry with Tezcuco, 49;
Aztecs and, 52
AZTECS (or AZTEC) (Crane People). A nomad Mexican tribe, 27, 50–51;
racial affinities, 27;
character, 27–28;
