MAYA GROUP. Huasteca, Vera Cruz and Tamaulipas ; Totmiac(?),[1] north part of Vera Cruz ; Maya proper, throughout Yucatan ; Choi (Cholti, Colchi), between the Salinas and Mondaguas rivers, Gua temala ; Mopan, north of the Chols ; Chontal, Tabasco, distinct from the Nicaraguan Chontales ; Tzental (Cendal), Ocosingo dis trict, Chiapas ; Tzotzil (Zotzil, Zotzlem), San Cristobal, Chiapas ; Chanabal, Comitan district, Chiapas. QUICKC GROUP. Cakchiquel (Kacchikil), Tecpan to Sta Lucia and the Pacific ; Tzutujil (Sotojil, Zutuhil), Aitlan district, Guate mala ; Quiche proper (Kiche, Utatlica), Cunen and Rabinal districts, and thence south-west to the Pacific, Guatemala ; Uspanteca, San Miguel Uspantan, Guatemala. POCONCHI GROUP. Poconchi proper (Pokomchi, Pacomchi), Tac tic district, Guatemala ; Quckchi (Caechi, Aquacateca), Coban dis trict, Guatemala ; Chorti (Lenguaapay), Zacapa and Chichimula, and thence eastwards to Honduras ; Pokomam, Jalapa, and thence to San Salvador. MAME GROUP. Maine proper (Mem, Zakloh-pakap), throughout south-western Guatemala ; Ixil, Cotzal district, Guatemala ; Agua- catecas (Sinca, Xinca), throughout south-eastern Guatemala ; Ala- giulac (?), San Cristobal, Chiapas. Modern Yucatan is still almost entirely inhabited by the same Maya inhabit- race that was found in possession of the land at the time of the ants. discovery. About five-sixths of the population are of nearly pure Maya stock and speech, the Spanish and mestizo elements being mostly confined to the large towns. The mestizos are said to be the handsomest on the continent, while the full-blood natives are perhaps the least characteristic of all the aboriginal populations. They have the coarse black and straight hair, the arched nose, and the reddish-brown complexion common to most of the primitive in habitants of America. But they can be readily distinguished from all of them by their regular features, low cheek-bones, small mouth and ears, straight jaws, frank expression, and a certain air of refine ment betraying descent from a highly cultured people. " It would be difficult," says Charnay, "to find among the rural classes of Europe men of a better build, or with more intelligent and open countenances." Although generally peaceful, patient under oppres sion, and even somewhat indolent, their history since the conquest (1547) has not been wholly uneventful. After more than two centuries of passive resistance, there was a general revolt in 1761, brought about by the intolerable misrule of the Spanish adminis tration. The declaration of independence (1821) was followed in 1824 by the union with the Mexican confederacy, which continued without interruption till 1840. In that year an independent re public was set up in Yucatan, which, however, was suppressed in 1843. Then came the general uprising of the natives in 1846, when Mexico was engaged in a disastrous war with the United States. To quell the revolt, the ruling classes were obliged to call in the aid of the Mexicans (1847-53), whereby the peninsula again lost its autonomy, and was divided (1861) into the two federal states of Yucatan and Campeche. But the rebellion was not entirely suppressed, and many of the natives, withdrawing eastwards to the coast-lands beyond the Sierra Alta, have hitherto defied all the efforts of the authorities to reduce them. Bibliography. D. L. Cogolludo, Historia de Yiicathan, Madrid, 1C88 ; Diego de Landa, Relation de las Cosas de Yucatan, ed. by Br. de Bourbourg, Paris, 1864 ; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, des, Nations Civilisees du Mexiqve et de I Amerique Centrale, Paris, 1857-59, and Etudes sur le Systeme Graphique et la Lnngue des Mayas, Paris, 1869-70 ; Lord Kingsborough, Antiquities of Mexico, London, 1831-48 (vols. ii. and iii.) ; H. H. Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific States, New York, 1875, and Hist, of the Pacific States (vols. iv. and v.), San Francisco and London, 1882-87 ; J. L. Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, new edition, New York, 1858 ; E. G. Squier, Travels in Central America, New York, 1853, and Notes on Central America, New York, 1855; J. D. Baldwin, Ancient America, New York, 1872 ; Marquis de Nadaillac, Prehistoric America, London, 1885; Desire Charnay, The Ancient Cities of the New World, London, 1887 ; F. A. Ober, Travels in Mexico (bk. i., Yucatan), Boston, 18S4 ; A. P. ftlaudslay, " Exploration, &c., of Copan," in Proc. Rov. Geoqr. Soc., September, 1886 ; E. S. Holden, "Studies in Central-American Picture-Writing," in Annual Report of Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, 1879-80. (A. H. K.)
YUCCA,[2] a genus of the order Liliacese, the species of which are remarkable for their stately appearance and generally magnificent inflorescence. They occur in greatest frequency in Mexico and the south-western States of the American Union, extending also into Central America, and occurring in such numbers in some places as to form "straggling forests." They have a woody or fibrous stem, sometimes short, and in other cases, even in the same species, attaining a height of 15 to 20 feet, and branching at the top into a series of forks. The leaves are crowded in tufts at the ends of the stem or branches and are generally stiff and sword-shaped, with a sharp point, sometimes flaccid and in other cases fibrous at the edges. The numerous flowers are usually white, bell-shaped, and pendulous, and are borne in much-branched terminal panicles. Each flower consists of a perianth of six regular pieces, as many hypogynous stamens, with dilated filaments, bearing rela tively small anthers. The three-celled ovary is surmounted by a short thick style, dividing above into three stigmas, and ripens into a succulent berry in some of the species, and into a dry three-valved capsule in others. The flowers are fertilized by the agency of moths. A coarse fibre is obtained by the Mexicans from the stem and foliage, which they utilize for cordage. The succulent fruits, which resemble small bananas, are cooked as an article of diet ; and the roots contain a saponaceous matter used in place of soap. Most of the species are hardy in Great Britain, and their striking appearance renders them attractive in gardens even when not in flower. Their rigid foliage, invested by thick epidermis, also enables them to resist the noxious air of towns better than most plants. A popular name for the plant is " Adam s needle." The species which split up at the margins of their leaves into filaments are called "Eve s thread."
YUN-NAN FU, the capital of the Chinese province of Yun-nan, is situated in 25° 6′ N. lat. and 102° 52′ E. long. Originally the district surrounding Yun-nan Fu was known as the “land of the southern barbarians.” The city, which under different dynasties has borne different names, is situated on a plain, and is surrounded by well-fortified walls, 6 miles in circuit. Marco Polo describes it, under the name of Yachi, as “a very great and noble city, in which are numerous merchants and craftsmen. The people are of sundry kinds, for there are not only Saracens and idolaters but also a few Nestorian Christians. They have wheat and rice in plenty. . . . Their money is. . . certain white porcelain shells that are found in the sea.” For many years Mahommedans have been very numerous in the city and neighbourhood; and in 1855 a Mahommedan rising took place within the city. Yun-nan Fu has a prosperous and busy aspect: the shops are large and well supplied with native silken goods, saddlery, &c., while English cotton, Russian cloths, and raw cotton from Burmah constitute the main foreign merchandise. Employment for large numbers of workpeople is found in the copper factories. A local mint at Yun-nan Fu issued annually 101,000,000 cash before the outbreak of the rebellion in 1855. The population of the city is estimated at about 200,000.
YVETOT, a town of France, chef-lieu of an arrondisse- ment in the department of Seine-Inferieure, stands on the plateau of Caux, 24 miles north-west of llouen on the railway to Havre, and is chiefly known from Beranger s famous song. Calicoes, tickings, Siamese, rouennerie cotton, reps, and handkerchiefs are made here, as in most places in the department, and a trade is carried on in wool. The church is ugly, but contains a marble altar from the Car thusian monastery at lloaen, some fine woodwork from the abbey of St Wandrille, and an elegant pulpit. The remains of a Bernardino monastery are occupied in part by the court and jail. The hospital and seminary are both modern. The population was 7625 (commune 8397) in 1881 and 7333 (commune 7972) in 1886.
From the 15th till the middle of the 16th century the lords of Yvetot bore the title of king, and their lands were exempt from all service to the French crown. The town was occupied during the Hundred Years AVar by Henry V. of England, and afterwards retaken by Charles VII. of France. On 8th May 1592 Henry IV. defeated here the troops of the League under the duke of Parma. A Bernardine monastery was founded at Yvetot in 1650, and sup pressed in 1781. In 1658 part of the town was destroyed by fire.
