1887.] «^0y [Brinton. 



One of these has been demolished, and proved to be of stone, 

 yielding as much as two hundred perches, without counting the 

 cement. Each of them contains an arch either complete or in 

 ruins. In the one mentioned, three small arches were found, 

 constructed with some symmetry, but it was not ascertained 

 whether the material was joined by lime, as at present it looks 

 more like cla3^ Portions of the wall were smoothly plastered 

 and some nearly erased paintings were visible. In the structure 

 were found earthen pots, some roughly made, others of excellent 

 workmanship, and with them incense burners, such as the Indians 

 use at the j^resent day in their Brotherhoods (cofradias). There 

 were also found pieces of brick, much like foreign brick, meal- 

 stones in the shape of large shells, arrow points of glass [i. e., 

 volcanic glass, obsidian], and human bones. No one has taken 

 special interest in investigating these remains, and I have known 

 persons who seemed quite intelligent pass by them without 

 awarding them the least attention, and as if they did not see 

 them. Finallj^, I add that I am assured that no precious metal 

 has been discovered in them, although they may have had anti- 

 mony, which the Indians used to polish their earthenware as it 

 is quite lustrous." 



Such is the interesting description furnished by the parish 

 priest, and it reveals plainly that the ancient race of Acasaguas- 

 tlan belonged among the more highly cultivated nations of the 

 continent. 



I have not found in the historians of Guatemala the records 

 of the first exploration of this portion of the valley of the Mota- 

 gua, nor in later travelers the account of any visit to these ruins. 

 It would be of especial interest to determine whether they ap- 

 proach the distinctively Mexican or the Maji'a style of architec- 

 ture. The presence of the arch points to the latter, but this 

 architectural element was not altogether foreign to the former. 



Fifty miles as the bird flies, lower down the Motagua river, 

 are located the remarkable ruins of Quirigua, with their elabo- 

 rately carven monoliths, twenty feet or more in height. Accord- 

 ing to the most recent observers,* these relics present evidences 

 of an antiquity greatly exceeding that of Copan or Palenque, 

 both which venerable sites had long been deserted at the period 



* See Copan unci Quirigua, by Heinrich Meye and Dr. Julius Schmidt, Berlin, 1883. 

 PKOC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XXIV. 126. 2U. PRINTED NOV. 29, 1887. 



