Show COZ LF ISLAND pil 1 A 40 f af n v A 49 5 1 9 Z 70 50 jn k gy 4 N the caribbean sea about twelve miles from yucatan across the channel ot of that name lies medicos cos most easterly outpost the island of cozumel Co zumel the name comes from the ancient mayan and means the isle of swallows it Is included in the northern di vision division of the territory of 0 quintana roo the capital ot of which Is santa cruz de bravo named for the rugged old warrior who during the diaz regime administered all that part of mexico mainland and island which lies to the east of yucatan the foreign port nearest to cozumel is belize british honduras Hos duras distant about miles southwest on off to the northeast some miles away lies cuba from extreme points north to south the island which Is rhomboidal in form measures a little under 50 miles and from east to west about 14 miles cozumel occupies a very prominent place in mexican ican history it was tho the first land sighted by her nando cortez when in 1519 he sailed westward tron from cuba on that famous voyage which had tor for its object the quest of gold and for its result the conquest of an empire cortez however was not the t is first spaniard to set toot foot on shores the year before he landed it was visited by grijalva Url jalva the discoverer of tabasco and bancroft the historian mentions others who touched there during the earlier cruises of the castillano Castil lans among the antilles it Is a matter of record that from the deck of his flagship a little vessel of less than tons burthen cortez counted 14 towers on the north and northwest coasts of the island these he found when he landed surmounted as many temples erected for idolatrous worship when he be dis embarked with halt half of his followers all told the expedition numbered cumb ered only men leaving the others on board his small fleet ceet to repel possible attack cortez first act was to dismantle these temples fired with religious zeal he pushed his way through the crowd of indians who had come down to the beach to receive him and mounting the steps of the principal place of worship where the high priest and his attendants were grouped he harangued the natives on the sinfulness of their idolatry using an indian who had been captured oft off the coast of yucatan bucata n by grijalva and who had acquired a working knew knowledge bedge of spanish in cuba as an interpreter after thus giving vent to his bis religious fervor and cortez worst enemies could never truthfully assert that he was not sincere in his faith he ordered his soldiers to tear down the altars dedicated to the false gods and in their place set up a cross no arguing no reasoning prompt aggressive action without regard to odds and such action was cortez main characteristic at all times when dealing with the natives wherever he went doubtless much of his remarkable success with them was due to it Alth cuga the indians were obviously docile the invaders were taking big chances in thus desecrating dese crating the sacred groves but nothing happened the audacity of the proceeding was sublime and so great that it simply dazed the natives and left them incapable of protest when cortez was at cozumel the island hart had apparently several thousand inhabitants but when stevens a prominent american gist and traveler went there in the early forties of the last century he found fo und not a single soul the crowds seen by the spaniards were probably transients tor for as a matter of fact act cozumel never had bad a large resident population it was a sacred place to the mayas of yucatan and cen trel america their mecca and a vast number of pilgrims went periodically to worship at its shrines during the intervals between pilgrimages gr the priests with their servants and retainers ta were doubtless the only residents when the spaniards ards became firmly established in yucatan they forbade the pilgrimage to mel their reasons for this course being that chev needed the services of the indians as laborers the church also took a hand in prohibiting festivals on the island they carried the mind away from the doctrine which the m mission IS fathers were propagating and although althou gt the tha indian had without very great difficulty been induced to accept the cross in place of the graven image he be would when visiting the familiar scenes be sureta sure to associate with them the tenets of his old belief still arong within him notwithstanding that tle religious peregrina ina eions ceased cozumel was not entirely deserted until long after the invasion of course it Is more than likely that thola whose homes homer were on the ibe island continued to reside there thare after tho the main body stopped coming for the greater part they were spirit spiritual ial councilors councillors counci lors rind and med medicine medicis icim men and it Is very iro tro babie babe ent they were forbidden to leave leav e it would be decidedly to the interests ot of the cinq conquerors derors both lay and clerical to keep them away fron ron the of tho the people th thit it tawa tap ra was a se tl ement and that sp lived AMA aw 5 U M 9 afi az T A 7 qa araw ay in n it Is proved oy DY the ruined church ar an a burial ground one sees a couple of miles to the north of 0 san migel mig el the principal town close by the church ruins Is the site ol of an ancient village now traceable only by its stone foundations whatever the cause may have been it came about in the course oi of time that the island ot of cozumel was abandoned as a place of real residence dence it must have remained unoccupied for or several generations for when stevens touched there with the object of exploring its ruined temples ot of which many are known to exist the entire surface burlace with the exception ot of two clearings was covered with a dense growth of 0 dwart dwarf but thick timber stevens satisfied himself that this forest covered the whole area one ot of the open spaces referred to above was a clearing made by a mart man named molas a notorious character halt half political refugee half pirate who had been exiled from yucatan molas lived tor for many years in cozumel Co zumel and doubtless would have died in his bed the end most desired by all freebooters we are told had ho he never returned to the mainland for his enemies were afraid to attack him in his stronghold one fatal day however he sailed his schooner defoss across the channel and landed near to where the valla doald trail comes down to the beach molas two sons who had voluntarily shared their fathers exile accompanied him on this trip having la in vain tried to dissuade him from making it molas insisted that his sons should remain aboard the sc scho hoorer ocer until he gave the signal that all was clear the signal never came waiting so long tor for it that they felt sure all was not well the lads went ashore at last to investigate the ever vigilant foe bad seen molas boat making tor for the mainland A short distance from the beach yet hidden by the jungle they found their fathers mutilated body the boys returned to the island only to re remove move their personal belongings and what they could carry away of 0 the family effects and then went to live in a remote part of yucatan as tar far removed from cozumel and its sad associations as they could get thus it came about that the isle ot of swallows was again without haman inhabitants the other clearing mentioned was the deserted ranch ot of a certain don albino as stevens calls him without revealing his surname stevennet stevens Steven met don albino in valladolid and heard from the ranch rauch mans own lips why he left cozumel Co zumel in valladolid a cotton mill famous in the annals of 0 the town as the first to be erected in mexica had started operations and the owner an enterprising spaniard was paying high prices tor for the raw material and offering enticing premiums to encourage more extensive cultivation ot of the plant now don albino possessed no land nor had he the meant means wherewith to buy some nevertheless he bo yearned to profit by the mill owners bounty so he conceived the idea of 0 going over to met mel which by that time was regarded as a sort sort of 0 no mans land to raise cotton lie he ca could uld easily convey the lint across the channel in canoes and although gai from the coast to the mill was a journey of several days for or pack mules there would be sufficient margin in the price to justify the expense ot of transportation full of 0 enthusiasm don albino gathered around him as many of the more destitute natives as he be could induce by the lavish use of glowing promises to accompany him and set sal sail for cozumel Co zumel but the motley band soon tired of the monotonous life on the lonely island they were restless spirits who had lived by what was really little short of brigandage tilling the land only to the extent of being sure of their staple food maize and fri frijoles jolea beans sullen under the arav ings tor for the comparative excitement obtainable in their native pueblos they before long picked a quarrel with their patron and seizing the only canoe returned to yucatan entirely alone don albino could make no headway with his project of getting rich quickly arid and taking advantage of a passing vessel went back to valladolid the cotton he had succeeded in planting before his mozos deserted him was allowed to grow wild and the island once more was completely abandoned abandon ed by man it was not until 1848 that cozumel was again inhabited the revolution which caused yucatan and campeche campiche Cam peche to separate had deprived many citizens of the means of livelihood and for or material as well as political reasons it became necessary for them to seek pastures new the federal government offered to help them provided they would leave the penin peninsula suin but to where could they be transplanted being as os quick to resent the paternalism 0 of the government and always suspicious ot of the party in offices bona fides they were ot of a spirit difficult to keep under restraint and more than likely to soon become unruly again therefore to allow them to migrate to the central states or even to the regions bordering on the gult gulf ot of mexico was wal out odthe of the question it was imperative that they be kept apart from the more docile peoples of 0 the h republic lest they inoculate the latter with tb political restlessness that had been their owna own doing finally it was agreed that they should dAb taken to cozumel this arrangement was tu I 1 consummated and everything necessary to enak enal the exiles to make a good start was furnished d gratuitously by the government after very many vicissitudes the colony thus launched gradually settled itself into place becoming at the expiration of a decade or so firmly established and cozumel is today the tierra or homeland of as hardy and independent a set of islanders halt half farmers halt half fishermen as can be found anywhere in the antilles the present population of cozumel numbers some fourteen hundred souls the capital san miguel maguel is credited with and the village of el cedral has about the remainder are scattered among the nuni numerous erous ranches san miguel Is quite a thriving well formed town it has several wide clean streets a plaza a very presentable little church one large gen genty ty tr eral cral store and several small ones an inn and municipal offices and customhouse it also boasts a sort of esplanade running along the entire sea front at one end of which Is the lighthouse and at the other a landing jetty although most of nf the buildings are palm thatched cottages there are several strongly built stone houses bouses and the main street has a two story brick house and a modern bungalow the only y regular communication with the outside world la Is by government transport these steamers call twice each month to leave and collect mall mail when en route with troops and supplies to and from vera cruz and the military stations of quintana roo health conditions in cozumel are dextre iely icly good when the tropical climate of the island Is taken into account the normal rate of mortality averages 14 per der 1000 epidemics are very rare indeed practically unknown the great majority of the cozumel islanders are poor so far as possessing a surplus of athla worlds goods Is concerned being satisfied sati sUed with a hand to mouth existence among tho the very few articles exported from the island are arc sponges but the quantity Is limited and the quality not very fine more than one attempt has been made by foreigners to fully exploit the sponge business here but all efforts to make it profitable on a large scale have tailed failed there are very many ruins on the island some of which I 1 saw and to the extent of limited time and ability my examined the tha architectural arch itee beauty and general plan of which provide irrefutable evidence that the early inhabitants alere ere intelligent and cultured CUltUre di to a derr deeo nora more than surprising |