Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/306

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

292 GUATEMOZIN GUAVA of races and castes, there is little variety of costume. The wealthy adopt the European fashions. The garb of the people consists of a short woollen jacket of native manufacture, cotton pantaloons, a palm-leaf hat covered with oilcloth, and a many-colored serape or shawl. The dress of the women more closely imitates that of their superiors, except that of the Indian women, which is simple in the extreme, being a piece of blue cotton cloth drawn round the body above the hips, and oc- casionally a white chemise, which is often embroidered, while their hair, interbraided with a red cord, is wound around the temples. The climate is mild, but changeable ; the aver- age temperature is 65 F., the maximum 80, and the minimum 45. The chief occupations are agriculture and the manufacture of a few coarse woollen and cotton stuffs, earthenware, and other objects for domestic use. The city was founded in 1776, three years after the de- struction of the old capital. III. Guatemala la Antigua (Old Guatemala), a city, once among the finest in America, and capital of Guate- mala, picturesquely situated 30 m. "W. of New Guatemala ; pop. about 20,000. It was found- ed in 1524 by Pedro de Alvarado, who named it Santiago de los Caballeros, made a bishopric in 1533, and destroyed in 1541 by a flood of water from the Volcan de Agua, at the foot of which the ruins still stand, designated by the name Ciudad Vieja (old city). The city was rebuilt between the Volcan de Agua and the Volcan de Fuego. In 1773, the population be- ing 60,000, it was almost totally razed by an earthquake; and the rebuilding, commenced in 1799, has since continued steadily, the sur- rounding country being peculiarly suited to the production of cochineal. It had before the earthquake good streets, many fine edifices, 20 monasteries, and 100 churches; the cathedral, now roofless, was 300 ft. long, 120 wide, and 70 high, and lighted by 50 windows. GUATEMOZIN, the last Aztec emperor of Mex- ico, nephew and son-in-law of Montezuma, born about 1495, executed Feb. 15, 1525. On the death of Montezuma's brother and succes- sor Cuitlahua, in 1520, he was elected to the vacant throne. The Spaniards, repulsed du- ring the reign of his predecessor, were pre- paring for a new attack upon the Mexican capital. Guatemozin at once made energetic preparations for defence, which were barely completed when the Spanish army appeared before the city (April 28, 1521) and speedily invested it. The siege was productive of the most terrible suffering to the Mexicans; but they did not yield till exhausted by famine and greatly reduced in numbers by pestilence. Guatemozin, at the entreaties of his family, endeavored to escape by the lake of Tezcuco, but he was pursued and captured. He was first treated with respect by Cortes ; but when j the smallness of the booty found in the city caused the Spanish soldiers to charge their leader with bring in collusion with the fallen emperor to deprive them of their plunder, Cortes permitted him to be put to the torture, as though to force from him either a confes- sion or denial concerning the treasure. Gua- temozin bore the torture (the burning of his feet at a slow fire) with great firmness, and is said to have answered the complaints of the cacique of Tacuba, who suffered with him, with the stoical query, "Do you think, then, that I am taking my pleasure in my bath ? " All that was extorted from him was the in- formation that "much treasure had been thrown into the water;" but this statement was probably intended to mislead his captors, as the lake and canals were dragged without result. As nothing was to be gained from the prisoner, he was allowed to live at Mexico in an honorable captivity. When Cortes began in 1524 his expedition for the conquest of Hon- duras, he took Guatemozin with him ; and he was thus a witness of the misfortunes that at- tended this march of his conquerors. Late in the campaign two Spanish nobles accused him and his Mexican companions of having formed a plot to assassinate the Spanish chiefs, Cortes among the rest. The latter ordered them to be at once brought before him, and after a brief inquiry into the accusation, which was not sustained by proof, he commanded their execution. According to Prescott they were hanged on a large ceiba tree standing by the roadside ; according to other authorities, they were executed with considerable ceremony in the public square of Teotilac. The widow of Guatemozin was thrice married after his death, in each case to a Spaniard. GUATUSOS, a tribe of Indians, living on the banks and head waters of the Rio Frio, which flows into Lake Nicaragua at its S. extremity. The country of these Indians, who are popu- larly supposed to have comparatively fair com- plexions and red hair, has never been pene- trated. The attempts made by the Catholic missionaries and the governors of Nicaragua to reach them, though often renewed, have always been repulsed. A body of men under the com- mander of the fort of San Carlos endeavored to enter their country in 1849, but they were driven back. There are some reasons for be- lieving that they are of the same Aztec family which occupied the western shores of Lake Nicaragua, and, that they still preserve their original language and habits. GUAVA (Span, guayaba), a name for trees of the genus psidium, belonging to the myrtle family. There are about 100 species of the genus, which grow in tropical and sub-tropi( America, though the number that bear edibl fruit is small. The one best known as guava is P. guaiava, of which there are sever cultivated forms, differing in the size, shape, and quality of their fruit. It is a small tree, from 9 to 15 ft., seldom over 20 ft. high, with angular branches, and an abundance of ellipti- cal pointed leaves, which are covered below with a velvety down. The flowers are solitary