"Heart of the World"
This is in many respects an informal continuation of the story and themes in "Montezuma's Daughter", in that it concerns the fortunes of the heir of Gautemoc, last Aztec emperor of Mexico. The primary difference is that the story is resumed in modern times (i.e. the late nineteenth century).
‘Jones’, an English gentleman, is mine manager of the La Concepion silver mine near the Usumacinto River, the upper reaches of which divided the Mexican state of Chiapas from the Republic of Guatemala. He earns £800 a year.
Because there is nothing else to do, and none of the locals to entertain, he cultivates an interest in antiquities. After a time he becomes quite enthusiastic. He learns that there is an old Indian, Don Ignatio, living at Santa Cruz hacienda, across the mountain who is held to be an expert, so he visits him. They become friends, and after a time Ignatio shows him an Aztec emerald jewel. There is also some talk of having seen the fabled lost city of the Aztecs, though he won’t be drawn on the particulars. Eventually Ignatio dies, but before he does so he tells Jones that he has bequeathed his entire estate to him, on condition that if he is forced to sell it, or bequeath it to someone, that it will be to an Englishman. He also leaves him a written account of his history, which is the substance of the book.
Ignatio is the son of the hereditary cacique of a region between the villages of Pichaucalco and Tiapa. When he is 9 his father is shot by Mexican troops after refusing to reveal some secret, and his mother dying shortly afterwards, he is cared for by his cousin and godfather, a priest also called Ignatio, in the village of Tiapa.
At 15 to hold Ignatio that he wanted to become a priest, but was told that he couldn’t, at least not until after he had heard about his history. When he was 20, Ignatio told him that he was of royal blood, 11th in descent from Gautemoc, last Aztec emperor. He has handed an emerald amulet (the one shown to ‘Jones’), told that he is hereditary head of a secret society – of which the priest wasn’t a member as he was a priest – and that there was a secret treasure at his disposal.
Shortly afterwards, some Indians arrive to lead Ignatio to the treasure (which is worth $1m). He is then initiated into the secret society, the Order of the Heart, as its chief (the Lord of the Heart – so named because he is the hereditary guardian of the amulet). There are many thousands of members of the Order, whose principle obligation is silence, but his mission, should be choose to accept it, is to try to restore an Indian empire –ideally the Aztec empire, but if not, an Indian republic.
He marries an Indian, and for some years works on the grand conspiracy. The treasure is exhausted, but more is provided – both by donations, and by the discovery of more treasure hidden since the time of the Conquistadors, by their hereditary guardians.
The plot fails. Just a week before they are due to fall upon the whites, Ignatio’s own wife reveals the plot to the ruler of Mexico, in whose house she has been a spy. The leaders of the conspiracy are seized, but Ignatio himself is given a private audience by the ruler (the term president isn’t used). He is told that if he reveals the location of the treasure, he will be released, and no more of the conspirators will die of ‘typhus’ in the gaols. He decided to agree, since he could always get more treasure. His wife has disappeared, presumably the victim of secret vengeance by one of the victims of her betrayal.
The grand conspiracy wrecked, Ignatio wanders for 20 years. Some 22 years ago (he was writing when he was 61) he travelled to a tiny village called Cumarvo, in the state of Tamaulipas. He had heard of a picture-writing showing the location of a silver mine hidden from the Spaniards. Unfortunately the map cannot now be found, its owner having died suddenly, but Ignatio remains in the village a little while hoping it will be discovered. Meanwhile, he meets the Hon James Strickland, the son of a clergyman (heretical clergyman as the papist Ignatio called him). He had inherited £5,000 when he was 20, and bought a ranch in Texas. He lost all of his money, and did various odd jobs, including waiting in a restaurant in Panama. He then became a miner in Nicaragua – and for 10 years has mined mostly in Chortales country, on the frontier of Honduras.
Strickland is now in his 30s, and is manager of a silver mine at Cumarvo, Mexico, to which he has recently moved. Because he deals fairly with the Indians, Strickland isn’t popular with his employers, and Ignatio manages to prevent his murder. Ignatio can always call upon the Indians, who will obey him in everything. They become friends, and Strickland employs Ignatio as sub-manager, mainly to deal with the Indians.
The mine is flooding, and Strickland is fired by the owners, who blame him.
Ignatio’s foster-brother Molas now arrives, having travelled from the Yucatan peninsula. He brings word that the other half of the amulet – the Heart of the World – has been discovered. An old Indian doctor (Zibalbay) and his daughter (Maya) are living in a ruined temple in the jungle of Chiapas, where the doctor holds a surgery. He is an initiate of the Order of the Heart, and evidently of a higher degree than any living – except the Lord of the Heart (Ignatio). He discloses a second amulet to Molas – the missing half of the Heart of the World. He summons the Lord of the Heart (Ignatio) to meet him, so that they may travel to the lost city to join the two halves. Ignatio has told Strickland that he may have to leave at short notice, and now gives his notice.
The missing picture-writing is discovered, and translated by Ignatio – the last person capable of so doing. He takes Strickland to the mine, intending to discover it to him.
They find the mine, which is in ruinous condition and unsafe. A boulder falls on Ignatio, pining him to the ground. Ignatio knew that by the time Strickland can fetch help he will have expired – either by fresh falls or because the rock is slowly crushing him. So, since he trusts Strickland, he passes the amulet to him, telling him to seek out certain Indians who will initiate him into the Order of the Heart, as its new Chief. Strickland is somewhat sceptical of talk of secret treasures, ancient orders, and Indian imperial pretenders, but he takes the amulet anyway. He manages to rescue Ingatio, at some risk, and returns the amulet. But in the interval – while Ignatio lies sick – he has worn the amulet, so he is now initiated as a member of the Order.
Since Strickland doesn’t have the capital to develop the new mine, and has sunk all his money in the Cumarvo mine, he offers to accompany Ignatio to Chiapas and thence to the lost city.
We learn that the legend tells that when the two halves are joined the lost Indian empire will be restored. The jewel itself is the principal insignia of the Aztec emperors, having been bequeathed to them by their founder, Cucumatz (Quetzaal). It was divided into two halves after there was a difference of opinion – one half (Ignatio’s) going to the Aztecs (who worshipped the gods of the first king’s wife) and the other to the Tobasco region (who retained the original worship of one god), the Mayan kingdom – though the term Mayan isn’t used except for the language.
One month later Strickland, Ignatio, and Molas set out for the Yucatan. They have booked berths on an American ship, but it is delayed and they don’t want to spend any more time at Vera Cruz, because of the pestilence. So they travel on an ancient Mexican paddle-steamer, the 250-ton "Santa Maria". There are difficulties over dining arrangements – the Mexicans object to Ignatio, as an ‘Indian dog’ eating at their table. Strickland defends him, and earns the hostility of Don Jose Moreno, one of the 20 passengers. Don Jose is the son of Don Pedro, who is a notorious thief and murderer from Cumarvo. Crossing the Gulf of Mexico they meet the ‘El Norte’, and the ship’s engines fail.
Despite the efforts of the captain – who, for a Mexican, is fairly competent – the ship is overwhelmed by the seas. They take to a boat – that is Strickland, Ignatio, Molas, six Indian crew and the boatswain do, the rest having been swept overboard. At the urging of Strickland, the boat returns to pick up Don Jose, who is pleading piteously to be rescued. The Indian crew, who know who Ignatio is, are not happy about this, since Don Jose had threatened Ignatio, but as the boatswain observed, "he commands who we must obey". The ship sank off the lee of the Carmen Islands, near the Usamacinto River. The boat is almost swamped, but the Indian crew fought to keep it afloat – unusually for Indians, as Strickland observed – who would normally throw down their oars and suffer themselves to be drowned. But of course the keeper of the heart was among them.
They are washed into the mouth of the Usamacinto River. They discover that the old Indian doctor Zibalbay and his daughter Maya have been taken prisoner by Don Pedro Moreno, father of Don Jose, at their hacienda at Cumarvo. The doctor had given Molas some gold for his travelling expenses, and this had been seized by Don Pedro when levying the compulsory passage fee of anyone journeying through his domain. The gold contained a symbol of the heart, and Don Pedro was anxious to discover where it came from. Strickland also carelessly allows Don Jose to see the gold in his money belt.
Don Jose points out that his home, the Santa Cruz hacienda, Cumarvo, is only a few hours away, and invites them to stay there – they can buy any provisions they need to continue their journey. Strickland is ostensibly on an archaeological expedition, with Ignatio as guide and Molas a servant. The Indian crew, after warning against visiting Santa Cruz, depart for the nearest port to report the loss of their ship. Ignatio has travelled to see Zibalbay in any case, so they accept Don Jose’s offer.
When they arrive at the hacienda, they receive a friendly welcome. But the dozen or so people there are obviously villains of one sort or another, and Don Pedro himself is an ugly dwarfish individual.
Molas has a vision of himself as a spirit, so predicts his own death within 24 hours. Ignatio suspects that one of the Indian servants, Luisa, may be a member of the Order of the Heart – it includes some women – so makes one of the secret signs. She is surprised, but on seeing the amulet, promises to help them. She warns them not to drink any coffee (for it is drugged), and to not sleep that night (for Don Pedro and his friends will come in the night to kill them for their gold). They are all in the guest chamber – the abbot’s bedroom from the days when the hacienda was a monastery – which contains a secret passage through the portrait of an evil looking abbot, to the chapel beyond. This is the place where guests are regularly murdered for their money.
Luisa doesn’t know where Zibalbay and Maya are bring kept, but thinks it is near the chapel. She enables them to escape the murderers by hiding them in a secret room next to the guestroom, which she herself had only discovered a month before. The murderers creep into the chamber, and they hear the sounds of stabbing. When they discover that the beds are empty, the villains light candles. They cannot understand where the three have gone, but soon leave, apparently to bed.
Luisa returns and leads them through the secret passage into the chapel, since the guest room door is watched. But they find Zibalbay and Maya being questioned by Don Jose and Don Pedro in the chapel. They surprise the party, and rescue the Indians. Strickland fights a duel with Don Jose, wounding him, then flees through the window of the chapel after the others. They manage to evade the pursuers.
They arrive at the ruined temple where Zibalbay and Maya had been staying, only to find that Don Pedro has tracked them with dogs. He arrives with a party of eight – all armed of course. Strickland, Ignatio, Molas, Zibalbay and Maya have no weapons except machetes and an axe, but throw rocks from the ruined temple down on the attackers. Molas is wounded.
There is a ruined archway across the top of the pyramid upon which the temple is built. This is in a dangerous condition, and is only held in place by some tree roots. Molas chops through the roots, and the archway (60 feet long and 20 deep) falls down the pyramid into the advancing enemy. All are dashed to pieces – except Don Pedro, who is merely pinned beneath a huge stone. There is no sign of Molas, who is evidently beneath one of the larger stones. Don Pedro asks to be shriven, asking how he can die who has been a thief and a murderer from boyhood, but Strickland says he has no authority to do so. They leave him and set out for the lost city, taking the bandits guns and ammunition.
Zibalbay explains that he is cacique and high priest of the lost City of the Heart, and Maya is his daughter and heiress, the Princess of the Heart. They have left the city, with the dispensation of the Council of the Heart (while comprises all the Brethren of the Heart of the innermost circle), since to leave the city is an offence punishable by death. Zibalbay hopes to find the missing half of the Heart of the World, to restore the city to its former glory. Ignatio and Strickland accompany them.
The journey takes them across mountains, a desert, and through numerous ruined Indian cities. Strickland is bitten by a deadly snake, and Maya descends 150 feet into an ancient water reservoir (cueva) to get water for him. They fall in love, which does not pass unnoticed by Zibalbay. The party enter the domains of the city through a secret passage in the cliffs, and stop as a guesthouse.
Although Zibalbay had told the keeper to wait for him, he learns that all thought they had died on their journey - though they have only been away one year and Zibalbay told them he could be two years. They learn that Zibalbay’s nephew, Tikal, whom he left as acting cacique, has just the day before been elected cacique, and that he has married Nahua the Beautiful, daughter of the high Lord Mattai, that very day, though he was betrothed to Maya. Mattai is chief of the astronomers, keeper of the Sanctuary, and President of the Council of the Heart, and the most powerful man in the city after the cacique.
The city itself is 10 leagues away, built on a 6 by 10 mile heart-shaped island in the middle of a very large lake – the Holy Lake (whose far reaches are beyond the line of sight). The city only occupies part of the island, and is very low-lying. It is actually below the natural level of the lake during the flood season, which is kept by a 50 foot wall and a series of sluice gates. Legend told that this was to facilitate destroying the city rather than submitting to a foe, as the outer cities had all done.
There are only a few thousand people left, and the end is in sight for the city, since they no longer have any vitality. It is principally for this reason that Zibalbay sought the completion of the prophecy – he thought that they could give up some of their vast hordes of useless gold, in return for some more people from outside, to restore the flagging energy of the city.
Zibalbay surprises everyone by his return, and addresses the Court, asking why it is that Tikal has been elected to the office of cacique, when he is still alive. Zibalbay himself isn’t particularly popular, as people think he is a visionary, nor do they like the idea of him bringing foreigners into the city. He also tended to be some what tyrannical.
Tikal asks Maya to marry him after all – he will put aside Nahua, whom he only married as the price Mattai asked for making him cacique. Maya refuses. Nahua is furiously jealous.
Tikal and Zibalbay now meet in the temple on top of the great pyramid, in the presence of the Council of the Heart and of the nobles, with the common people looking on, to decide who is the true ruler. Mattai reminds Zibalbay of the law that he who brings a stranger across the mountains into the land of the City of the Heart shall die, together with the stranger. Zibalbay had overlooked seeking dispensation for this, but replied that Ignatio himself was of royal Indian blood, and both strangers were brethren of the Heart.
However, the crowd supports Tikal, as they fear foreigners and don’t want to take the risk of allowing them in. There are calls for them all to be killed on the altar. But Maya persuades Tikal to hold a trial first – and since they are all brethren of the Heart, it must be by the Council of the Heart, which meets only once a year, at the Rising of the Waters – in 8 days time. In the meantime they are shut up in the old assembly hall of the priests, in the heart of the pyramid – disused now except as a prison for high ranked offenders, since the numbers of priests is much less than it was. Among the rubbish, stores of furniture, archives etc in the rooms Maya finds an emerald encrusted belt, which she gives to Strickland – it was a clasp of this belt which Jones saw.
Tikal makes another offer to Zibalbay and Maya. He will allow Zibalbay to become cacique again, for life, if Maya marries him. Zibalbay eagerly accepts, but Maya refuses – ostensibly because Tikal had married Nahua, but as they all know, because she would rather marry Strickland. Zibalbay is furious at Maya’s disobedience, and he putting her own wishes ahead of the good of the city, and collapses. Mattai is summoned to attend Zibalbay, but there is little they can do for him.
They tell Mattai the situation. Since he would rather his daughter kept her position as Lady of the Heart (wife of the cacique), he concocts a plot to achieve all their aims – except Zibalbay’s. The prophecy held that the Nameless God would reveal its will when the two halves of the Heart of the World were placed side by side in the prepared space on the altar in the Sanctuary. He speculates that this will be by the heart opening up (they can see hinges), revealing a prophecy. So Mattai forges a prophecy to the effect that Maya must marry Strickland, in order that the race of delivers be born. They agree to use this, otherwise Ignatio and Strickland will be killed as strangers, and Maya forced to marry Tikal. None are happy about it though, as it is a blasphemy – and cheating. Ignatio in particular believes that nothing but ill will come of it.
Mattai, Maya, Strickland and Ignatio pass into the Sanctuary through a secret tunnel. They place the broken pieces of the amulet in the holes of the bloodstone heart on the altar, and presently it opens. This discloses a jewelled eye, and a tablet (like the forgery for which they exchange it), with a genuine prophecy. The prophecy states "the Eye that has slept and is awakened sees the heart and purpose of the wicked. I say that in the hour of the desolation of my city not all the waters of the Holy Lake shall wash away their sins". There is also an inscription warning that if the Heart itself is moved the waters will rise and destroy the city.
The cheering effect of the prophetic words is not helped by the fact that Zibalbay now appears, having followed them to the Sanctuary. He is still unable to speak, but silently curses them, then collapses dead.
The Council of the Heart now meets in the Sanctuary, to try the accused – minus Zibalbay. The 36 Brethren of the innermost circle of the Heart, with Tikal as High Priest, hear the charge. Ignatio is examined and found to be one of the brethren – indeed he is more instructed than even the High Priest or Mattai. Strickland cannot even answer the simplest questions. However, Ignatio now suggests that Strickland’s presence is tied up with the prophecy, and asks that the two halves of the Heart of the World be placed on the altar. This is done.
Mattai reads the inscription on the tablet which is exposed – apparently for the first time. Tikal is furious at the import of it, but cannot do anything about it. Mattai, and Ignatio are more concerned, however, to see that the jewelled eye is faded.
Strickland is offered the choice of marrying Maya and death. He chooses the former, and Maya, Strickland, and Ignatio are formally admitted to the Council of the Heart. This required them to swear to keep secret the deliberations of the Council, to not take the treasure, and to not leave the city or bring strangers into the city without the consent of the Council. The penalty for breaking the oaths is to "die horribly in this world and to be lost everlastingly in the worlds that are to be". A bottomless pit is then uncovered, and they are told transgressors are hurled down it.
Maya and Strickland are married by Dimas, Zibalbay’s foster brother and oldest member of the Council, after Tikal refuses to perform the office. An assassin attempts to stab Strickland, but escapes. As a wedding present the Council gives Maya the jewelled eye from the altar – which they think ill-omened enough. From this day Mattai is strict with a palsy and a leprous growth on his arms, and eventually died in torment, having foretold the doom of the fellow conspirators.
A year passes. Ignatio in particular is fed-up; though even Maya had said that it would have been better if none of them had returned to the city. The place is in the last stages of decay. There was no change and little work, the city being "enervated by a cloying luxury", a "poor remnant of a great civilisation rotted slowly to its fall, and no one lifted a hand to save it" – except – Zibalbay, and he failed.
Maya and Nahua both give birth to sons – on the same day. Nahua, though wife of the cacique, is furious that her son will not be heir, and that the people rejoiced at the birth of Maya’s son, the destined saviour of the city – or so the people were led to believe by the fake prophecy.
The Council now decides to anoint Maya’s baby, as cacique, since all are exasperated at Tikal’s conduct. Nahua tries to kill the baby, but is caught by Maya and Strickland, and she tells them that her father, Mattai, had revealed the plot to her on his deathbed. If she lives she will tell the Council, and they would not be able to escape their doom.
They can’t bring themselves to kill Nahua, so decide to flee. They reach the mainland, and the guesthouse, which they reluctantly enter, knowing that they may be trapped their – the alternative of sticking to the hills would have meant the death of the baby, because of the cold. Guards, led by Tikal and Dimas, seize them, and they are returned to the city – though not to the palace, but to the assembly hall of the priests in the pyramid. The sole charge is seeking to escape the city, since Nahua has been silent so far.
Tikal tells them that his wife has told him of the plot. However, he promises to say nothing of it – and to silence Nahua – if Maya will marry him. She is tempted, but declines. The trial is held in the Sanctuary, and Maya pleads in their defence that they were only escaping to avoid assassination. The verdict is deferred until Nahua is tried for attempted murder – for they have denounced her. In her defence she pleads that the child was an imposter – not heaven-sent, and that Maya, Strickland, Ignatio, and her late father were guilty of a monstrous fraud. They admit as much, saying only that it was to save their lives. Dimas, who has succeeded Mattai in all his offices, and who is presiding because Tikal himself is facing charges of tyranny, declared them guilty of "the greatest crimes that can be dreamed of in the wicked brain of man". Mattai is tried posthumously with them.
The judgment is that their names be erased from the lists of brethren of the Heart, that their memory be proclaimed accursed, and that their souls be handed over to the tormentors of the lower world to deal with according to their pleasure for ever and for aye. In the case of Mattai alone, that his dwelling place be burnt with fire and its site strewn with salt, and that his body be dug up and laid out on the pyramids for the birds. Maya, Strickland, and Ignatio are to be chained to the walls of the Sanctuary.
Since the baby was too young to sin and suffer punishment it was to be handed over to the keeping of the god, that the god may deal with him according to his pleasure. At this signal Tikal dropped the baby into the pit. Strickland escapes from his guards, and throws Tikal into the pit. Before the Council realise what she is doing, Maya tears the heart symbol from its bed on the altar, and threw it on the marble floor, where it shattered, saying "not all the waters of the Holy Lake shall wash away our sin, yet may they serve to avenge us upon you".
From the altar came a sudden twang as of harp-strings breaking, and the sound of distant waters. They flee – the Council towards the main Sanctuary door, Maya, Strickland and Ignatio to the secret door through which they had entered the Sanctuary. As they close the door behind them they see a column of water emerging from the pit. They escape to the top of the pyramid, from which they see waves sweeping cross the city, drowning almost everyone.
They remain on the pyramid – only some of the taller pyramids and a few other spots remain above water. Maya is demented, and declines for a couple of days, then dies after having briefly recovered her wits. They use the fuel set aside for the sacred flame to construct a funeral pyre. This is seen by some people left alive on the further shore, who come out to rescue them. Ignatio and Strickland leave, and after the best part of a year get back to the Santa Cruz hacienda, Cumarvo (which is largely deserted, though some Indians still live there). Strickland is minded to stay there, so they purchase it from the government with some of the emeralds from the belt Maya gave Strickland.
Strickland dies 5 years later of a fever, and Ignatio remains alone – having given up his ambitions, partly because of repeatedly failures, and partly because without the amulet (which now lies buried beneath the Holy Lake) he has lost much of his influence.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this summary, this is really a continuation of the theme in "Montezuma's Daughter", with which there are strong parallels. A white man comes to an Indian city, marries the daughter of the ruler, braving the fierce vengeance of the priests, and later the city is destroyed. In this case it is the daughter who is the destroyer, rather than outsiders. The major difference is that here the white man gets back to so-called civilisation (which of course was technically easier in the nineteenth century than in the sixteenth century. Strickland doesn't live very long, however, and the miserable figure of Ignatio survives.
The characterisation in "The Heart of the World" is weaker than in "Montezuma's Daughter", though the underlying hostility to the Mexicans (successors to the Spanish) remains. Nor are Haggard’s sympathies so clearly with the Indians – he doesn’t approve of the Spaniards and half-castes, but he sees the City of the Heart as having had its day. Perhaps he was influenced by a sort of Darwinian political economy – survival of the fittest.