§ 1. The Nahuas and Mangues of Nicaragua.

Among the outlying colonies of that important people whose chief seat was in the Valley of Mexico, and who are variously known as Aztecs, Mexicans or Nahuas, were several in Central America. "One of these," writes Mr. Squier, "occupied the principal islands in the Lake of Nicaragua, the narrow isthmus which intervenes between that lake and the Pacific, and probably a portion of the country to the southward, as far as the gulf of Nicoya. Their country was less than a hundred miles long, by twenty-five broad; yet here they preserved the same language and institutions, and practiced the same religious rites, with the people of the same stock who dwelt more than two thousand miles distant, on the plateau of Anahuac, from whom they were separated by numerous powerful nations, speaking different languages, and having distinct organizations."[1]

This Nahuatl tribe gave the name to the Province, Nicaragua, this being, according to some early authorities, the personal appellation of their chief at the epoch of their discovery, in 1522, and, according to others, their national name.[2] For no sufficient reasons, Mr. Squier applied to them the term Niquirans, and Dr. Berendt Nicaraos, but it seems better to retain, as distinctive for them, the name Nicaraguans, or, more specifically, "the Nahuas of Nicaragua." "Nicaragua" is undoubtedly a Nahuatl word, but, as the letter r is not found in that language, the precise original form is uncertain. Father Francisco Vasquez explained it as a compound of the Nahuatl nican, "here," and anahuacos, "here dwell those from Anahuac;"[3] or it may be from nican and nahua (plural form of nahuatl), "here dwell those speaking the Nahuatl tongue;" or, as a personal name of a chief, it may be ni calaquiya, "I entered into, or took possession."

How it happened that this fragment of the Aztec nation had become detached from the main body and resident so far from its central seat, has not been clearly explained. Mr. Squier and some others have maintained the hypothesis that the migration of all the Aztec tribes was from south to north, and that their scattered members in Central America were bands which had stopped on the road.[4] This opinion, however, is refuted by the evidence of language, and also by the unanimous traditions of the Aztecs themselves, both in Nicaragua and in Mexico.

The Nicaraguans had a very positive recollection that their ancestors came from Mexico, driven forth by scarcity of food, and that they wandered along the Pacific shore to the locality in which the Spaniards found them.[5] They remembered the names of their ancient home, or, rather, of their ancient kindred, and gave them as Ticomega and Maguateca, locating them toward the west ("hacia donde se pone el sol"). It is easy to recognize in these words the Aztec terminations signifying gens or tribe, mecatl and tecatl, which in the plural drop the tl. Nor can we be far wrong in identifying magua with the Aztec maque, upper, above, and tico with tiachcauh, elder brother, and in translating these names, the one as "the upper people," i. e., the dwellers on the lofty interior plateau, and "our elder brothers," i. e., the senior and ranking clans of their tribe, who remained in Anahuac.[6]

Besides these traditions, the Nicaraguans showed their close relationship to the Aztecs by a substantial identity of language, mythology, religious rites, calendars, manners and customs. We have, fortunately, an unusual mass of information about them, from an examination of their leading men by the chaplain Francisco de Bobadilla, in 1528, who took down their replies with as much accuracy as we could expect, and whose narrative has been preserved by the historian Oviedo. They also had retained a knowledge of the Mexican hieroglyphics, and wrote, in books of paper and parchment, their laws and ritual, their calendars and the boundaries of their lands.[7]

While this Aztec band thus acknowledged themselves to be intruders, such appears not to have been the case with their immediate neighbors to the northeast and southwest. These were of one blood and language, and called themselves mÁnkeme, rulers, masters, which the Spaniards corrupted into Mangues.[8] The invading Aztecs appear to have split this ancient tribe into two fractions, the one driven toward the south, about the Gulf of Nicoya, the other northward, on and near Lake Managua, and beyond it on Fonseca Bay.[9] Probably in memory of this victory, the Nicaraguans applied to them the opprobrious name Chololteca, "those driven out," from the Nahuatl verb choloa, and the suffix tecatl, which was corrupted by the Spanish to Chorotecas.[10]

The name does not by any means intimate that the Mangues came from Cholula in Mexico, as some ancient, and some modern, writers have hastily supposed;[11] nor is it a proof that they spoke an Aztec dialect, as Ternaux Compans has asserted.[12] So far is this from being the case, the Mangue has no sort of affinity with the Nahuatl, and must stand wholly asunder from it in the classification of American tongues. It has, indeed, a relative to the north, and a close one, the Chapanec or Chiapenec,[13] spoken by the inhabitants of three small villages in Chiapas, the largest of which has given its name to the province. These Chapanecs, by their traditions, still clearly remembered at the time of the Conquest, and preserved by the historian Remesal, migrated from Nicaragua to their more northern home. As they had no connection with the Aztecs, so, also, they were wholly without affinities with the great Maya stock, which extended far and wide over Central America, although the contrary has been recently stated.[14] In fact, among the five different languages which were spoken in the present province of Nicaragua at the time of the discovery, not one belonged to any branch of the Maya group.[15]

My present theme does not extend to a discussion of these various tongues, nor take me further into the ethnology of their locality. It has to do solely with these two nations, the Nicaraguans and the Mangues. The culture-level of the former was nearly as high as that found in the Valley of Mexico. They had a settled government, constructed edifices of stone, sculptured idols, utensils and ornaments out of the same material, were skilled in ceramics, deft in weaving cotton cloth and reed or grass mats, able in war, and thoughtful enough to puzzle their first European visitors with questions as to the stars and the earth, the beginning and the end of things.[16] Careful archaeologists in our own day have searched the territory they inhabited, and many museums contain specimens of what they accomplished in the direction of the arts, and testify to a respectable degree of intellectual advancement.[17]

We know less about the Mangues. They are mentioned as differing in religious rites from the Nicaraguans, and the impression is conveyed that they were in a more primitive condition, but yet with fair claims to be ranked among the cultivated nations of the new world. Among them, in fact, Dr. Berendt located one of the "centres of ancient American civilization," and considered the definite solution of their affiliations as one of the problems of the first order in the ethnology of America.[18] The Spanish historians relate that they had hieroglyphic books, like the Mexicans; that they were rather light in color, careful in dress, setting much store by their long hair, which they sedulously combed, and had an autocratic military government. Their country was thickly peopled, especially that portion of it between the lakes. The district of Managua was almost like a continuous town, so closely were the native houses placed together for nearly ten miles. In fact, it was called one city by the earliest explorers, and Oviedo, who takes pains to criticise these for their tendency to exaggeration, estimated the population of this limited district, at the time of the Conquest, at forty thousand souls.[19]

At present, scarcely any pure-blood remnants of either of these nations can be found, and both languages are practically extinct. When Mr. Squier visited Nicaragua, in 1850, he obtained, with great difficulty, a short vocabulary of the Nahuatl dialect, spoken on the island of Ometepec, in Lake Nicaragua; and, in 1874, Dr. Berendt, only at the cost of repeated efforts, succeeded in securing from a few survivors of advanced ages a moderately full collection of Mangue words and sentences.[20]

To illustrate the practical identity of the Nahuatl of Nicaragua with that of Anahuac, and the Mangue of Nicaragua with that of Chiapas, I will insert two short lists of common words with their equivalents in those four dialects. The first is from Mr. Squier's works above referred to, the second from the manuscripts of Dr. Berendt now in my possession.

Comparison of the Nahuatl of Nicaragua and of Mexico.

Comparison of the Mangue with the Chapanec.

It needs but a cursory glance at these lists to see that, while there is scarcely a dialectic difference between the two Nahuatl columns, and again between the two Mangue columns, there is absolutely no point of contact between Mangue and Nahuatl.

The chief differences between Nicaraguan and pure Nahuatl were, that the former changed the double consonant tl into t, or dropped it altogether; that the c, ch and q were confounded; that, in the conjugation, they dropped the prefix tla, which in pure Nahuatl is employed to indicate that the inanimate object of the verb is not expressed; that certain terminal consonants, as x, were dropped; and apparently that the sounds of s and r, not known to the tongue in its purity, were introduced.

The linguistic relations of the Mangue or Chapanec tongue have never been ascertained. I have compared it with the principal stocks in the northern continent, as well as with the great Tupi-Guarani stem, which has extensive affiliations in Central America, but without discovering any analogies of value. It does appear, however, to have a certain, though far from close, relationship to the Aymara tongue, spoken in the Peruvian Andes, and especially in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca, the celebrated site of a remarkable ancient civilization. The following list of common words seems to indicate this. The Aymara is taken from the dictionary of that tongue, by Father Ludovico Bertonio, while the dialects of the Mangue are discriminated by N, for Nicaraguan, and C, for Chapanec.

Comparison of the Mangue, or Chapanec, of Central America, with the Aymara, of Peru.

There are also various grammatical similarities between the two tongues. Both are highly synthetic; in both the division of nouns is "vitalistic," that is, into animate and inanimate; the numeral system is in both the decimal; in both the possessive pronoun follows the noun; both possess the inclusive and exclusive plural; and others could be mentioned.

It is known that the Aymara partakes largely of the elements of the Qquichua, and by some is classified merely as a dialect of that tongue. Such similarities as appear to exist between Mangue and Aymara are, however, less with the words and forms common to these two Peruvian idioms, but rather more with those wherein the Aymara differs from the Qquichua.

With the trenchant differences above indicated, between the Nahuatl and the Mangue, it is the more singular to observe how the Nahuatl obtained the preponderance. We may attribute this to the superior fighting power of the Aztec invaders; to the fact that many of the native allies of the Spanish could speak that tongue and not the Mangue; that the early missionaries came from Mexico; or, that the Nahuatl was promptly reduced to writing, while the Mangue was not; or to all these causes combined.[21] Certain it is, that at an early date a mixed dialect came into vogue, both in the Mangue districts of Nicaragua and elsewhere in Central America, composed of a broken-down Nahuatl and a corrupt Spanish, which, at first, served as a means of communication between the conquerors and their subjects, and later became, to some degree, the usual tongue of the latter. The Aztecs of pure blood spoke contemptuously of this jargon as in macehuallatolli, the language of slaves, and Father Carochi, writing little more than a century after the conquest, condemned it as a hodge-podge of Spanish and Aztec, unintelligible in either tongue.[22]

This jargon was carried into the various nations who came into contact with the Spaniards and half-breeds, and hence we may find scattered words traceable to it in many of their tongues, and sometimes formulas of a religious, social or business character.[23] This is strikingly exemplified among the Mangues, and the fact is one of considerable interest in connection with the literary production which is the main topic of this volume. Even to a recent day, in remote haciendas of the Province of Masaya, among the descendants of the Mangues, the traveler might hear the grace before meals, and other short formulas of the Church, spoken in this mixed patois.

The following is a specimen:—

Jesu Criste no tecuase + tunanse Santa Maria + el Apostol Santa Clara nos bendiga esta comida que tienen parte y poder. Amen.

Here, no tecuase is the Nahuatl no tecuyotzin, Our Lord, and tunanse is for tonantzin, Our Lady, or Mother.

Another specimen is:—

Marias te cuasti + Marias ticuisti guanse Dios + y Espiritu Santo.

The correct reading of which should probably be—

Maria tocihuatzin, Maria toquitznitli, yhuan in Dios, yhuan in Espiritu Santo.

This Nahuatl-Spanish jargon became the lingua franca of large districts of Central America and Mexico. It was the current tongue of the half-breeds, and to this day is the patois of the muleteers who carry on the sparse commerce of the interior mountainous regions. Many of its Spanish elements are ungrammatical, and others are long since obsolete in the classical tongue. It is interlarded with words and whole phrases borrowed from the Aztec, but with such mutilations that they are scarcely, or not at all, recognizable. Words from other native languages have crept in, which adds to the difficulty of its lexicography. As for the construction, it became looser and looser, until, in some phrases, all inflectional elements disappear, and there is a naked juxtaposition of nominal and verbal roots, the relation of which must be guessed simply from their sequence.

Probably in none of the Spanish provinces has the Castilian suffered more from such admixture than in Nicaragua. The foreign words are there so numerous that the country patois becomes nearly unintelligible to one acquainted only with the Spanish of the Academy. Here is the verse of a song, for example, in that dialect, which will illustrate how far the amalgamation with the native tongues has gone. The words in italic are either Nahuatl or Mangue:—

"Casahuyano, mi amor,
Por vos estÉ payaneado.
No seas tilinte, mi bien."
"Se selegue, dueÑo amado."

"My love, between girlhood and womanhood,
My heart is breaking for you.
Do not be severe, my loved one."
"I am yet unripe, my beloved master."[24]

Another song, in which the lover expresses the strength of his devotion with more force than elegance, has the following verse:—

"O fuera yo carÁngano,
En tus cojines me meterÍa
Para servirte todo el dia.
Te ama este zÁngano."

Which may be freely rendered—

"Were I a little louse, I'd go
In your puffed and plaited hair;
With you all your toil I'd share;
This lazy fellow loves you so."

The carÁngano is the name of a species of louse, and the cojines are the little pads or cushions which women wear in their hair.

In this dialect several satirical and political songs have been composed, and, indeed, the licentiate Geronimo Perez, of Masaya, is stated to have printed in it a political pamphlet, which I regret not to have been able to obtain.

Such is the jargon in which the GÜegÜence is written, and although this medley of tongues can claim no position of dignity in the hierarchy of languages, it has its own peculiar points of interest, as illustrating the laws of the degradation—which is but another term for the evolution and progress—of human speech. To understand its origin and position as a literary effort, we must review the development of scenic representations in that part of the New World.

§ 2. The Bailes, or Dramatic Dances of Nicaragua.

The historian, Fernandez de Oviedo, who was in Nicaragua in 1529, gives a long account of the dramatic representations, or rites, accompanied by songs, dances and masked actors, which he witnessed among the natives of both Nahuatl and Mangue lineage in that province. They took place at stated seasons, and at certain epochs in the year. The name which he gives as that by which they were locally known is mitote, which is the Aztec mitotl, a dance. He himself calls them areytos, a Haytian word from the Arawack aririn, to sing, and bailes, which is Spanish, from a classical root, and means dances.

One which he saw at Tecoatega, at that time a Nahuatl village, was celebrated at the close of the cacao harvest and in honor of the god of that plant. It offered a curious symbolism, which makes us keenly regret the absence of a full explanation by some learned native. In the centre of the village square a straight pole was set up about forty feet in height. On its summit was placed the image of the god, brilliantly colored, in a sitting position. Around the top of the pole a stout grass rope was tightly wound, its two free ends passing over a wooden platform.

When the ceremony began, about seventy men appeared, some dressed as women, some with masks and head-dresses of feathers, and all painted skillfully on the naked flesh to imitate handsome costumes. They danced in pairs, and sang in chorus certain songs, to the sound of the sacred drums. After about half an hour, two boys, who had been attached to the free ends of the rope, threw themselves from the platform into the air, in such a manner that they turned round and round the pole, unwinding the rope, and thus gradually descended toward the ground. One boy held in one hand a bow, in the other, some arrows; his companion held in one hand a fan or plume of feathers, in the other a mirror, such as the natives made of polished obsidian. As they descended, which, says the narrator, required about as long a time as one might repeat the Creed five or six times, the dancers ceased their song, and only the players on the instruments, some ten or a dozen in number, continued their noise. But, just as the boys, by the increasing length of the unwound cord, touched the soil, all present set up a great shout, and the festival ceased.[25] The cut which I have inserted is taken from Oviedo's history, and represents the performance.

To one familiar with Nahuatl symbolism, the meaning of this ceremony is, in a general way, obvious. The seated divinity on the summit of the pole represents the god of fertility throned in the heavens. The two boys are the messengers he sends to earth; the arrows refer to the lightnings which he hurls below; the feather fan typifies the breezes and the birds; the mirror, the waters and rains. After the mortals have prayed in chants, for a certain season, the god sends his messengers; men wait in suspense their arrival, whether it shall be for good or for ill hap; and as they reach the earth, a shout of joy is raised, for the food has ripened and been gathered in, and the harvest-home is ended.

In the same century the traveler Giralamo Benzoni, who visited Nicaragua about 1540, was much impressed with the native dances. At certain ones, as many as three or four thousand Indians assembled, some dancing, others playing on drums, while others, who formed the chorus, carried on the singing. The dancers displayed great agility, and practiced a large variety of figures. They were ornamented with feathers and plumes, and strings of shells were attached to their arms and legs.[26]

The Mangues of Chiapas, or the Chapanecs, near relatives, as we have seen, of the Mangues of Nicaragua, were famous in the days of Thomas Gage, the English priest, who traveled through Mexico and Nicaragua about 1630,[27] for their dexterity in games and the elaborate scenery of their dramatic representations. "As for acting of Plays," he says, "this is a common part of their solemn Pastimes."

This passion for scenic performances was by no means peculiar to these tribes. It extended throughout almost the whole of the Red Race, and there are many relics of it which have survived. The older authors refer to it frequently, and the early missionaries, finding that they could not extinguish it, sought to turn it to good account by substituting for the native plays, which were idolatrous or licentious, moral and instructive pieces. They encouraged the more intelligent natives and half-breeds to prepare such, and they were acted in connection with church festivals.

But it would be an error to suppose that these attempts succeeded completely in abolishing the older forms, or quenched entirely the tribal historical character of these ceremonies. Even within our own generation the contrary of this has been recognized by close observers. Thus the cura of Jutiapa, a town in Guatemala, Don Jose Antonio Urrutia, wrote, in 1856: "In most of the Indian towns the custom is still general of preserving a knowledge of great events in their history by means of representations, called bailes (dances), which are, in fact, dances in the public squares, on the days or evenings of great solemnities. It is most interesting for one who understands something of the language to participate in these bailes, as he can thereby obtain some knowledge of the most remote traditions and events in the history of the Indians."[28]

Confining our attention to the limits of Nicaragua, we find that the different bailes represented there within the memory of persons still living may be arranged in five different classes:—

1. Simple dances.
2. Dances with songs.
3. Dances with prose recitation.
4. Scenic recitations with music, by a single actor. These are called Logas.
5. Complete dramas, with music, ballets, dialogue, and costumes.

Most of these have a religious purpose. Thus, it is still a common custom, in case of sickness or impending danger, to make a vow that, in case of escape, the person will dance before the image of some saint on a certain day, at a certain place, usually at a festival.[29] Such dances are sometimes accompanied with songs or chants of praise, or are performed in silence. The performer is usually masked or in costume.

It would be erroneous to suppose that there is much gaiety in their dances. At least, it is not apparent to foreign eyes. The music is monotonous and almost lugubrious, the singing is all in the minor key, and the motions are dull, mechanical and ungraceful. A European traveler has, indeed, characterized these spectacles rather as an exhibition of profound melancholy, than outbursts of merriment, and has instanced them as a proof of the psychical inferiority of the race![30]

Some of them, even to this day, as continued by the lower half-caste population, are accused of an indecency which may be a reminiscence of ancient Indian religious rites;[31] for we know that the native Nicaraguans celebrated a festival strictly similar to that in ancient Babylon, so condemned by the prophet, during which every woman, of whatever class, had the right to yield her person to whom she would, without incurring blame or exciting jealousy.

The Logas seem to be peculiar to the Mangues. A small theatre is extemporized, music is provided, and the actor comes forward, arrayed in some odd garb, and recites a sort of poem, with gestures and dancing movements. The text of one of these was obtained at NamotivÁ by Dr. Berendt, and is in my possession. It is entitled, Loga del NiÑo Dios, and contains about two hundred lines. The language is a corrupt Spanish, with a number of Mangue words interspersed. The exordium reads—

"Atienda, SeÑores,
Pongan atencion
Del Mangue tiyo Pegro
La conversacion."

The theme is an address to the patron saints and the infant Jesus, but the tone is that of a burlesque, rather than a serious composition. The costume of the orator, and his surroundings, the little theatre, the holy infant, etc., are represented in the frontispiece to this work, from a sketch taken from life.[32]

Frequently a number of persons join in the dance. Such is one, still occasionally seen, called Las Inditas, the Little Indian Girls. The period of its celebration is on the day of St. Jerome. The women are masked, and wear a loose mantle, a skirt with lace edging, a sash of rose color, and a hat with feathers. They carry bouquets and have a silk handkerchief fastened around the waist, the ends meeting over the hips. The men are in grotesque costumes, with ugly masks. They dance in couples, but without touching each other. The music is the marimba and the guitar. The songs usually turn on some matter of local interest.

Another favorite dance is the Baile de Chinegritos, celebrated by the Mangues. This name is applied to the masqueraders who take part in it. They wear a cap of black straw, and the body is naked to the waist, and painted. Each carries a stick or the dried yard of a bull, and in turn lifts a companion from the ground and strikes him with the whip. One, who keeps himself apart from the rest, is called the rucia, or yeguita, the mare. He is in a framework of cane adorned with women's skirts and colored handkerchiefs, supposed to represent some animal. There is no fixed day for the dance, but it is usually carried out in fulfillment of a vow. A variety of this baile, called Chinegritos À caballo, is performed by mounted actors, in brilliant costumes, with gaily caparisoned horses. They are accompanied by music, and draw up in front of a house, where they sing a song with a monotonous chorus, le-le-le-le-le-le-le-li-u.

The Baile de Negritos is celebrated on the festivals of St. James and St. Anna. The participants are on horseback, themselves and their steeds adorned with bright-colored sashes and garlands of flowers. They all wear the mosote, or black straw hat, from which this and the preceding dance derive their names.[33] The songs which they sing are called Ensaladas, salads or medleys, and usually contain personal allusions.

The Baile de Toro-Guaca, the Dance of the Graveyard Bull,[34] as it may be rendered, is presented on the festival of the Virgin, of St. Jerome, and other days, in accordance with a vow. It requires fourteen dancers and seventeen masqueraders. The "bull" is represented by a framework of reeds, surmounted by a pair of horns and gaily decorated.

Other such exhibitions are called the Baile de diablitos, Baile de la Yeguita, Baile de San Roman, Baile de San Martin, Baile del Toro y Venado, Baile del Mantudo (in which a desperado, with numerous chichiltes, small bells, appears), besides some representations of Bible scenes, as the combat between David and Goliath, etc.

Although most of these are accompanied by songs, and some by dialogues, they do not seem to reach to the height of a plot, or to the depicting of character or emotion. Beside them, however, and no doubt to take the place of original compositions of a similar kind, were complete dramatic creations.

Many of these were religious or historical plays, arranged by the clergy, and offer little of interest. But some were of a secular character, and appear to refer to historical events.

One was The Ollita or CaÑahuate. It was acted in the Mangue tongue at Masaya as late as 1822, but the text is, unfortunately, lost. The Ollita is the name of the whistling jar, on which, and on the drum, a lugubrious musical accompaniment was played. The name CaÑahuate is said to have been that of a dialect of the Mangue. The plot turned on a proposed marriage between an old man, richly dressed in Spanish garb, and a native princess. The chorus and assistants carried bows, arrows and quivers, which would seem to point to an early date as that of the supposed transaction.

§ 3. Nicaraguan Musical Instruments and Music.

The musical instruments of the natives of Nicaragua, mentioned by Oviedo, are drums, flutes of reeds, and excoletes, or trumpets. This, however, by no means exhausted the list, and several others of similar powers have been retained to the present day, and have been referred to by travelers as local curiosities. Thus, Mr. Squier writes as follows, in describing a festival in Leon de Nicaragua: "It is impossible to describe the strange instruments. One consisted of a large calabash, over which was stretched the skin of some animal; this, when pressed in, recoiled with a dull, sullen noise, like the suppressed bellow of a wild beast, and the wail of some of the long reeds was like that of a man in the agonies of a violent death."[35]

The memoranda that I have obtained from various sources enable me to supply this omission of the distinguished traveler, and to make out the following list, which probably is not exhaustive.

The most elaborate is the Marimba. Some writers say that both the name and instrument are of African derivation, having been introduced by the negroes. Others assert that the Indians have known the marimba time out of mind, and undoubtedly invented it. Certain it is, that they develop singular skill in its management.

A good description and illustration of it are given by von Tempsky, from whose work I extract them.[36]

"They [the Indians of Central America] are still very fond of dancing, and are very good musicians, performing on a peculiar instrument, a native invention of antique date, the Marimba. A long, horizontal stick supports a number of jicaras (or long, cylindrical calabashes), arranged near one another, according to size, from two feet in depth to four or three inches. Over the mouth of each of them is drawn a thin piece of bladder, and over it, at the distance of a quarter of an inch, are flat pieces of a very hard wood, arranged like the claviature of a piano. These oblong pieces of wood are supported on a frame of light wood, joined to the long stick that supports the row of jicaras underneath. Two light legs sustain the little piano, partly on the ground, and a hoop connects it with the player, who sits within the hoop, pressing it on a bench.

"Two long drumsticks, with balls of India rubber at their heads, are in the hands of the player, who strikes double notes at every touch of the wooden claviature, with the resounding jicaras underneath. The sound of this instrument is charming, clear, limpid in its tones, like the intonation of a harp string of wire. The Indians produce the justest and sweetest double notes, and blend a rattling tune together in very harmonious chords. Their talent for playing this instrument by ear is astonishing; in a day, they will pick up the most difficult air, and play it with a good deal of expression, accompanied with a chant of their own composition."

Instead of calabashes, earthen jars of various sizes are occasionally used to suspend beneath the key pieces; or, what in some districts is equally common, they are vertical tubes of cedar wood (Cedrela odorata). As described by the traveler Morelet, these tubes are twenty-two in number, all of equal diameter, varying in length from ten to forty centimeters, and forming three complete octaves without semitones.[37] In many of the bailes this is the favorite means of music, and it is often associated with the guitar.

That it was not unknown to the ancient Aztecs seems shown from the following drawing from an original Mexican painting in Duran's Historia, where the player does not appear to be striking a drum, but the keys of the marimba, or an instrument of that nature.

The Drum was, and remains, a favorite instrument in Central America. It is usually formed of a hollow piece of wood, which is struck with sticks. In Nicaragua, however, some of the natives use a short piece of bamboo, over the ends of which a skin is stretched. This is held in the left hand and struck with the tips of the fingers ot the knuckles of the right hand, keeping time to the chant or sone of the performer, while he throws himself into striking and extraordinary attitudes.

The illustration on the preceding page, from a sketch by Dr. Berendt, shows their manner of performing on this instrument.

These two varieties of drums were also known to the ancient Mexicans. They called the one which was struck with the hand the huehuetle, "ancient object," and that played by sticks, teponaztli.

The Ollita, or Little Jar, is an instrument still remembered in Nicaragua, and the drama, in the Mangue dialect, to which I have referred, bearing this name, proves that it was familiarly known at Managua early in this century. Its sound is described as grave and suitable to serious emotions. The identical ollita which was used in this drama was preserved long after the last performance of the play (about 1822), in the chest of the cofradia of San Jose, in Managua; but like so many other valuable relics, it disappeared in the disturbances of the republic.

From the name, and from what was told of its powers, it was evidently not merely a whistle, but a sort of earthenware flute. Such were known in Peru, and precisely in Nicaragua, on the island of Ometepec, inhabited at the Conquest by the Nahuas, such a musical jar was discovered of late years, and was examined and its musical capacity described by Dr. Berendt in the following words:—

"Held with the two hands, the lower side turned upward, and the four holes managed with two fingers on each side, blowing in the mouth piece yields six different notes. Any two holes covered give the tonica, one only covered the secunda, all open the tertia, and by hard blowing a forced quarta; while all closed produces the dominant (quint) in the underlying octave. Three holes closed yield notes not in concordance with the others, varying between an imperfect sext and a diminished septima of the lower octave. But those mentioned as in accordance permit the playing of many varied tunes."

The shape of this jar is shown in the following cut, which was prepared for an interesting article on Indian Music by Mr. Edwin A. Barber, in the American Naturalist.

It was capable of rendering various simple tunes. (See page v.)

The Pito, or Whistle, was a simpler instrument than the Ollita. It, also, was frequently made of baked clay, and in odd shapes. The one shown in the following cut was found on the Island del Zapatero, in Lake Nicaragua, which was also a possession of the Nahuas.

Two apertures lead into the cavity of the instrument. When they are closed with the fingers, a higher note is produced than when they are open.

In the investigations prosecuted in Nicaragua by Dr. J. F. Bransford, he discovered many of these whistles in ancient burial mounds. Indeed, in the district of Nicoya, inhabited at the period of the Conquest by the Mangues, he states that "every body appeared to have been interred with a small earthen vessel and a whistle."[38] The latter are usually of odd shapes, representing some animal.

The following cuts are taken from his report:—

The long Flute, either of cane, or of earthenware, was found in common use by the early explorers in Central America, Mexico and Florida. The Nahuas of Nicaragua do not seem to have made so much use of it as their relatives in Mexico.

The Juco is employed in the noisier dances, such as the Baile de Diablitos. It is a drinking gourd (nambira), or jar, over the aperture of which is stretched a skin. This is crossed by a cord, to which is attached a small piece of wood, which serves as a clapper when the instrument is shaken. The Quijongo is a stringed instrument, made by fastening a wooden bow with a stretched cord over the mouth of a jar. A hollow reed, about five feet long and an inch and a half thick, is bent by a wire attached to the ends. This wire is then tied to the reed at one-third the distance from one end, and at the same point, on the convex surface of the reed, a gourd, or thin earthen jar, is fastened, with its mouth downward. The notes are produced by striking the two sections of wire with a light stick, and at the same time the opening of the jar is more or less closed by the palm of the left hand, thus producing a limited number of notes, which are varied by changing the intervals.

Among the Nahuatl tribes of the Balsam coast, this is called the Carimba. It appears to have been an aboriginal invention, although some writers have asserted that the Aztecs had no knowledge of any stringed instrument. Something like a harp, however, is represented in the following cut, from the Aztec funerary ritual, where a priest or hired mourner is shown, chanting the praise of the departed, and accompanying his words with music, on what appears to be a rude stringed instrument. (See page xxxvii.)

The Chilchil is a small bell, a number of which are strung together and shaken. This is an ancient Aztec instrument, the term for it in Nahuatl being Ayacachtli. The Cacho is a sort of trumpet, constructed of a horn. A blast upon it can be heard a long distance, and it has thus become a measure of length, a legua de cacho being the distance at which one can hear the horn when lustily blown. It is said to be rather longer than a Spanish league.

As to the value of the music which was obtained from these instruments, it is difficult to arrive at an opinion from capable judges. Nearly all who have been in a position to study the subject have lacked acquaintance with the scientific principles and developmental history of music as an art.

Hence it has usually been stated, and accepted without inquiry, that the aborigines of America were exceedingly deficient in musical ability, and that their best efforts rarely went beyond creating discordant noise. Late investigations by competent critics have disproved this opinion, and show that the melodies of the natives are in accordance with a recognized scale, though not that to which we are accustomed. For a parallel we must go back to the ancient Phrygian and Lydian measures, where we shall find a development of the art in a similar direction to that among the natives of this continent.[39] As is remarked by Mr. A. S. Gatschet, "Although the Indian uses all the seven notes of our musical scales, he avoids many of our melodial sequences; the majority of his tunes follow the dur or sharp scales, and the two-eighths or two-fourths measure."[40]

In Central America, the native race has a keen musical sense. Von Tempsky found that they learned by ear, with great ease, the compositions of Bellini; and in Vera Paz and among the Lacandons, Morelet heard upon the Chirimoya, an aboriginal wind instrument, an air which he characterizes as "very remarkable" and "extremely touching." What brings this air into relation to my present theme is the singular fact that it was known as la Malinche, but Morelet could not learn from what connection.[41] Quite possibly it was from the character of that name in the play of GÜegÜence.

In the public bailes in ancient times, as we are informed by both Oviedo and Benzoni, the musicians were separated from the singers and other performers, forming an actual orchestra, and this is also intimated in the GÜegÜence. Having thus the position of a class by themselves, it may fairly be presumed that they cultivated with assiduity their peculiar art.

In later days, the cofradias, the brotherhoods and sisterhoods organized in connection with the churches, made it part of their business to learn singing and music, so as to take part in the celebration of church festivals. It was through these cofradias that the art of playing on the ancient instruments was preserved. By the loss of influence of the church at the separation of the colonies from the mother country, the cofradias were mostly dissolved.[42]

The music which accompanies the ballets in the GÜegÜence has been written down, and is familiar to many in Nicaragua. I have obtained a portion of it, through the obliging efforts of Dr. Earl Flint, of Rivas, an earnest cultivator in the field of archaeological research. The score appears, however, on examination by competent persons, to be probably of Spanish origin, and it would not be worth while to give more than a specimen of it. (See p. xl.)

§ 4. History of the "Baile del GÜegÜence."

Among the scenic representations which have been preserved by the descendants of the Mangues, in the ancient province of Masaya, the only one of length which has been committed to writing is the Baile del GÜegÜence, Ô Macho-Raton. Several copies of this exist in manuscript, and from a comparison of two of them the late Dr. C. H. Berendt obtained, in 1874, the text which is printed in this volume. But he did not obtain, nor did he attempt himself, any translation of any portion of it. He states, positively, that the Nahuatl parts are not understood by the natives themselves at the present day. Its antiquity and authorship are alike unknown. It is certain that it was acted before the beginning of the present century, but with this single fact its external history ceases.

Within the memory of those now living, this Baile has occasionally been acted in fulfillment of a religious vow pronounced in some emergency of life or affairs. The period selected for its performance is, usually, at the festival of St. Jerome, September 30th. The preparations for it are elaborate and expensive. In former times the rehearsals took place daily, sometimes for as much as six or eight months before the public performance. The actors provided their own costumes, which required a considerable outlay. There were, however, always plenty of applicants, as it was not only considered an honor to take part, but also, the patron or patroness of the festival, who had pledged himself to give the drama, was expected to furnish refreshments, in the way of food and drink, at each rehearsal. As the appetites were usually keen, and the libations liberal, it was almost ruinous for one of moderate means to undertake it. For that reason, as Dr. Earl Flint writes me, it has now been dropped, and will probably not again be brought out, at least, in full.

How far beyond the close of the last century we should place the composition of the GÜegÜence is a difficult question. Dr. Berendt, basing his opinion on what he could learn by local tradition, on the archaisms of the Spanish construction, and on other internal evidence, referred it in general terms to the first periods (los primeros siglos) of the Spanish occupation. It is probable that we may assign the early portion of the eighteenth century as the latest date for its composition, and there is some evidence, which I shall refer to in the notes to the text, that a more remote period is not improbable. Of course, it does not contradict this that a few modern expressions have crept into the text. Nothing else could be expected.

No hint as to the author is anywhere found. There are, however, reasons which I consider weighty ones, to believe that it is the production either of a native Indian or a half-caste. Several of them are of a negative character, and I will give these first.

All the dramas, so far as I know, which were introduced by the Spanish priests as substitutes for the native bailes, are either religious or instructive in aim. As the Germans say, they are strongly tendenciÖs. Such are the Baile de St. Martin, which gives scenes from the life of the saint, and in which a wheel, called the horquilla, covered with feathers and flowers, is drawn along; the Baile de los Cinco Pares de Francia, which sets forth the conquest of the infidel Moors by the Christians, both of which plays have been popular in Nicaragua; among the Kekchis, of Coban, the Baile de Moros y Cristianos, similar to the last mentioned; the Zaki-Koxol, Ô Baile de Cortes, in Kiche, a copy of which I have, and the like. But in the GÜegÜence there is absolutely no moral purpose nor religious tone; so much, indeed, of the reverse, that we cannot conceive of its introduction by a priest.

On the other hand, had it been composed by a secular Spanish writer, we should hardly fail to find it, in a general way, modeled after the stock Spanish comedy. It differs, however, in several striking and fundamental features, from the Spanish models, and these differences are precisely those which would flow from the native habits of thought. I would note, first, that while females are introduced, they are strictly mutÆ personÆ, even the heroine not speaking a word; that there are no monologues nor soliloquies; that there is no separation into scenes, the action being continuous throughout; that there is neither prologue, epilogue nor chorus; and especially that the wearisome repetition of the same phrases, and by one speaker of what a previous one has said—a marked characteristic of the native scenic orations[43]—are all traits which we can scarcely believe any Spaniard sufficiently cultivated to write at all, would exhibit.

Furthermore, the "business" of the play is strictly within the range of the native thought and emotion. The admiration of the coarse cunning and impudent knavery of GÜegÜence is precisely what we see in the modern camp-fire tales of Michabo among the Algonkins, of Tezcatlipoca among the Aztecs, and of a score of other heroes. It is of a piece with the delight which our own ancestors derived from the trickeries of Reynard the Fox.

The devices for exciting laughter are scarcely more than three in number; one the assumed deafness of the GÜegÜence, the second, a consequence of this, that he misunderstands, or pretends to, the words of the other actors, thus giving rise to amusing quid-pro-quos, and third, the introduction of obscene references. Of course, I am aware that these are the stock resources of many European low comedians; but I also consider it a fact of very considerable importance in deciding the probable authorship of the play, that all of these, especially the first two, are prominently mentioned by old authors, as leading devices of the native Nahuatl comedies. Thus, Benzoni and Coreal tell us that in the bailes in Nicaragua, which they witnessed, some of the actors pretended to be deaf, and others to be blind, so as to excite laughter by their mistakes.[44] And Father Diego Duran tells us of a native Mexican comedy, upon which this of GÜegÜence may, perhaps, have been founded, full of songs and coarse jests,[45] in which the clown pretends to understand at cross purposes what his master orders, transforming his words into others like them. As to the general leaning to indecent gestures and jokes, it is frequently commented on by the missionaries, and given as a reason for discountenancing these exhibitions.

The absence of all reference to the emotions of love, and the naive coarseness indicated in the passages about women, point rather to a native than a European hand. They are in remarkable contrast to the Spanish school of comedy.[46] The neglect of common rules of Spanish construction seems to arise from the ignorance of one imperfectly acquainted with the language, rather than of deliberate purpose. It must also be remembered that this piece was one acted altogether by the native Indians, and not by the Spanish population. Nor are we without examples of persons of native lineage preparing comedies for their fellows. About 1625, Bartholome de Alva, a descendant of the native kings of Tezcuco, wrote three comedies, in Nahuatl, drawing his plots from Lope de Vega. It is quite as likely that another Alva rose from the Nahuas of Nicaragua, and prepared for their amusement the production I now present.

For these various reasons I class it among aboriginal productions.

§ 5. The Dramatis PersonÆ of The GÜegÜence.

The central figure of the drama, and the personage from whom it derives its name, is The GÜegÜence. This is a Nahuatl word, from the root hue, old; huehue is "old man;" to this is added what grammarians call the "reverencial" termination tzin, denoting reverence or affection, and we have, intercalating the euphonic n, huehuentzin, which, in the vocative, becomes huehuentzÉ. It means, therefore, "the honored elder," or "the dear old man," and may be used, as it is in the play, either as a proper name or as a common noun. In his description of the Nahuas of Nicaragua, Oviedo gives the word huehue, and tells us that it was applied to certain old men of influential position, who were elected by the natives as rulers of the villages, and that they in turn selected the war-chief, whose duty it was to look to the defence of the community. The name was, therefore, one familiar to the Nicaraguans, though the character would seem to be drawn as a burlesque or satire.

He is, in fact, anything but a respectable person. His indifference to truth, his cynical impudence, his licentious jokes about and before his sons, and the unscrupulous tricks of which he boasts, are calculated to detract from the element of the comic in his portraiture, for those who have been accustomed to the higher productions of humor. But it would be an error to allow this sentiment to affect much our estimate of the influence of the play. As Lessing very well observes, the true value of comedy is to train us to see the ridiculous and the absurd, wherever it is, in flagitious as well as in merely inconsiderate actions, as thus the observer is prompted to morality as well as forethought.[47]

As I have said, his character is a marked type of the peculiar form of humor which the native mind preferred, and of the class of actions in which it especially found amusement, to wit, in that jocularity which is assumed to deceive and get the better of one's neighbor. This is strikingly shown by the number of words in the Nicaraguan patois which express such actions. Thus, chamarrear is to take advantage of some one by a joke; trisca is a conversation in which some one is made ridiculous; fÉfere is an idle tale with which a hearer is cajoled; dar un caritazo is to deceive a person by a trick, etc. This is the humor in the GÜegÜence. The old man nearly always has a selfish aim to gain by his jokes and his stories; they are intended to further his own interests, and, at the close of the play, he, on the whole, comes out victorious by these questionable measures.

As the drama was formerly represented, the GÜegÜence wore the most magnificent apparel of any of the actors. Chains of gold, strings of silver coins, and ornaments of steel draped his person. Indeed, all the participants vied with each other in extravagant costumes. Their garments were fantastically adorned with feathers and flowers, and set off with sashes and handkerchiefs of brilliant colors.

The two sons of GÜegÜence, Don Forcico and Don Ambrosio, are drawn in as strong contrast as possible. The former follows the paternal example faithfully, and sustains his parent in all his tricks and lies; the latter as invariably opposes and exposes the old man's dishonesty. The bitter words which pass between them, however, must not be taken in dead earnest; they, too, are only half serious, and do not lead to any separation of interests.

The Governor Tastuanes appears on the scene in Spanish costume, with a staff and sabre. His name, however, seems to be from the Nahuatl, probably a corruption of tlatoani, chief, lord.[48] He is little more than a lay figure, designed to draw forth the ruses of GÜegÜence.

The Alguacil, the Secretary and Registrar appear in what is supposed to be full official dress, with their staffs of office.

The mutÆ personÆ of the drama are the women and the machos, or mules. Of the former, only one is named, the lady Suchi-Malinche, daughter of the Governor. She enters clothed in a sort of tunic, fastened to her person with gay silken sashes; chains of gold and costly jewels adorn her garments, and a wreath of flowers crowns her hair. The latter may be a reference to her name. Suchi is a corruption of the Nahuatl xochitl, flower; Malinche, it may be remembered, was the name of the famous Indian girl who served Cortes as interpreter in his first campaign in Mexico, and became his mistress. Some have supposed that it was a corruption of the Spanish Christian name Marina, but, as SeÑor Icazbalceta has conclusively shown, it is the name of one of the days of the Aztec month, malinalli, with the termination tzin, signifying affection. It was the custom in Mexico and Central America, and still is in many parts, for the natives to name their children after the day on which they were born, led thereto by certain ancient astrological notions.[49] In Nicaragua, malinche is also the name of a tree, a species of Poinciana, which bears a handsome red flower.

The Machos, or mules, are twelve or more in number. They give the second title to the piece, El Macho raton, an appropriate translation of which I am at a loss to give. Literally it means "The Male Mouse." As used at present, it signifies a masker, or masquerading dress. An acquaintance, who has lived in Nicaragua, tells me that he has heard the children call out: "See, there goes the Macho-raton," which would prove to be an Indian in a fantastic costume. In the play, they wear heads of skins, imitating those of mules, surmounted with horns of goats, and a petaca, or wicker basket frame draped with sashes, etc. In their hands they carry bells.

Among the ancient Nahuas, and probably to this day, there were various curious superstitions relating to mice. If they gnawed a hole in the dress of a wife, her husband took it as a sign that she had been unfaithful to him; and she entertained the same suspicion were his garments attacked. When food was attacked by mice, it indicated that the people of the house would be falsely accused of something.[50]

§ 6. Epitome of the Story of The GÜegÜence.

The Governor and the Alguacil meet and enter into conversation. The Governor directs that the songs and dances which are for the diversion of the Royal Council should cease, and bewails its poverty. He also directs that no one shall be allowed to enter his province (or presence?) without a permit from the patrol. The Alguacil complains that their poverty is so great that they have no fit clothing, and lays the blame on GÜegÜence. The Governor refers to GÜegÜence in severe terms, and orders that he be brought before him, by any means.

GÜegÜence, who with his two sons is within earshot, hears the Governor's orders, and pretends to think that it refers to a calf or a colt.

The Alguacil announces himself as a servant of the Governor. GÜegÜence professes to understand that it is a female servant who desires to see him. The Alguacil corrects him in this, and informs him that he is to fly to the Governor. GÜegÜence takes the word in its literal sense, and chaffs about an old man flying. The Alguacil suggests to him that he had better learn how to salute the Governor properly on entering his presence, and offers to teach him the customary salutation for a consideration. This proposal GÜegÜence accepts, but chooses to misunderstand the considerations suggested by the Alguacil, and replies in a series of quid-pro-quos and gibes. At last, he produces some money, which, however, he will not pay over until the Alguacil gives the promised instruction. The Alguacil recites the formal salutations, which GÜegÜence pretends to misunderstand, and repeats, instead, some phrases of similar sound, which are discourteous to the Governor. For this the Alguacil threatens to whip him, and on GÜegÜence continuing in his taunts, gives him two blows, and recommences his lesson.

At this juncture the Governor appears, answers GÜegÜence's salute, and asks him why he has entered the province without a permit. At first GÜegÜence answers by relating how he had traveled without a permit in other provinces. Finding this does not meet the case, he seeks to turn the inquiry by a dubious story how a girl once gave him a permit for something besides traveling. The Governor, not choosing to be put off with this, GÜegÜence proposes they shall be friends, and that the Governor shall have some of the immense riches and beautiful clothing which GÜegÜence possesses. The Governor expresses some doubt as to this wealth, and proposes to examine, apart, GÜegÜence's oldest son, Don Forcico.

He does so; and Don Forcico corroborates, in the most emphatic terms, the statements of his father: "the day and the night are too short to name all his possessions."

The Governor remains, however, uncertain about the truth, and requests a similar private talk with GÜegÜence's younger son, Don Ambrosio. The latter tells a very different story, asserting that all his father's boasts were lies, and that he is, in fact, a poor, old, thieving ragamuffin. GÜegÜence, who overhears him, rails at him as a disgrace to the family; and Don Forcico assures the Governor, in very clear terms, that Don Ambrosio has none of GÜegÜence's blood in his veins.

To settle the question, GÜegÜence proposes to show the Governor the contents of his tent-shop, and has the two boys bring it forward and raise the sides. He then offers the Governor several impossible things, as a star, which is seen through the tent, and an old syringe, which he suggests might be profitably applied to the Royal Council. As the Governor replies roughly, GeÜgÜence at once changes the subject to a laudation of the remarkable skill of Don Forcico in many vocations. The Governor is interested and proposes to inquire of Don Forcico himself as to the truth of this. The latter repeats the boasts, and on the Governor inquiring as to whether he knows some diverting dances, with his father and his brother, he dances a ballet.

The Governor wishes to see another ballet, which the three perform, also; and this is followed by two others, in which the Governor and Alguacil also take part.

Following these the Governor asks for the masquerade of the macho-raton, or the mules. They are led in by Don Forcico, and march around the stage. GÜegÜence avails himself of this auspicious moment to ask for the hand of the Lady Suche-Malinche, the Governor's daughter. The Governor sends the Alguacil for the Chief Secretary, who returns with Suche-Malinche and other young women. The Secretary describes what an elegant costume is expected of the son-in-law of the Governor, and the latter suggests that GÜegÜence has cast his eyes too high. The old man explains that it was not for himself, but for Don Forcico, that the request was made, and pretends to feel quite badly about the marriage. He, nevertheless, brings up the young women, one by one, who are rejected by Don Forcico, with very uncomplimentary remarks, until Suche-Malinche comes forward, who pleases him, and with whom he is married. The Governor then suggests that GÜegÜence treat the Council with some Spanish wine. This the old man does not find it convenient to understand, and when he can no longer escape, and is at a loss where to obtain the liquor, is relieved by Don Forcico, who has secured it in a questionable manner.

The mules, that is, the masqueraders who represent them, are then brought up, and as GÜegÜence examines first one and then another, they give him opportunity for a series of extremely broad jokes and vulgar allusions.

Finally, the loads are placed on the mules, the boys mount them and move off, while GÜegÜence, having offered his wine to the Governor, the Secretary, the Registrar and the Alguacil, who each in turn tell him to be off, leaves the stage shouting to his sons that they will all have a rouse that will cost them nothing.