Ch. IX.J DEFACEMENT OF ANCIENT STATUES. 167 



were any more cairns, lie was standing within thirty feet of 

 one hidden by the thicket, which bore evident marks of hav- 

 ing been recently disturbed. It was the cairn of big stones. 

 One of these had been overturned, and some fresh-cut poles, 

 that had been used as levers, were lying alongside, with the 

 green bark broken and bruised. A hole had been dug 

 underneath it, and filled up with stones again. Our loung- 

 ing friend had been doing a little exploring on his own 

 account. Many of the natives believe that treasure is 

 buried under these heaps of stones ; and the interest that 

 foreigners take in them they ascribe to their wish to 

 obtain these treasures. Our guide, wishing to get these 

 himself, had taken us to the single grave on the top of 

 the hill, which he had already ransacked, and professed 

 ignorance of the others. I only hope that he did not 

 compound with his conscience for the lies he had told us 

 by coming back after we left, and trying to break off 

 another nose of an idol, as the natives call the images. 

 They think they show their zeal for Christianity by 

 defacing them. This is why scarcely any of the noses 

 of the images are left. They were the most salient points 

 for attack. And that the images have not been utterly 

 destroyed by the ill-usage they have had for three hun- 

 dred years is due to the hard, tough rock of which they 

 are made. It is probable that the statues at El Salto 

 were brought out from the cairns into the plain, and 

 publicly thrown down, defaced, and broken, when the 

 Spaniards first took possession of the Juigalpa district, 

 and forced Christianity upon the Indians ; for the con- 

 querors everywhere overthrew and mutilated the " idols ' : 

 of the Indians, set up the cross and their own images, 

 and forced the poor people to be baptised. The change 



