REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 31 



Massachusetts, sometimes supposed to be of Runic ori^'^ln, but ^vliich, 

 like the drawings on the same rock, are generally considered as having 

 been made by the ])rimitive Indian occupants of tlmt rej^ion. 



It will have been observed that nearly all the additions to the ethno- 

 logical collections referred to, have been from the United States and 

 British possessions. Very imi)ortant donations have, however, been 

 received from other parts of America. Captain J. M. Dow, of i^ew 

 York, has presented the Institution with a collection of ancient pottery, 

 ol stone images and implements from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Cliiri- 

 qui, some of them of remarkable character. Other specimens of Chiriqui 

 pottery were included in the collection of Colonel Jewett, already referred 

 to. Mr. George A. Latimer, of Porto Rico, has presented remarka- 

 ble stone implements of the ancient inhabitants of the West Indies, 

 among which is a specimen in the shape of an ellipsoid;d stone ring, not 

 unlike a horse collar in form, though rather less in size, being about 15 

 inches in its largest diameter. It was possiblj^ worn about the neck as 

 a badge of oftice in public processions. From Captain Dow we have 

 received another wrought stone in the form of a large inverted U. It is 

 conjectured that it might have been placed across the neck of the 

 victim when stretched on the altar of sacrifice. 



The occasion here presents itself of stating that in a communication, 

 through the Department of State, from Mr. de Cesnola, United States 

 consul at Cyi)rus, we were informed that a remarkable discovery of 

 Pha'uician and Greek antiquities had lately been made in that island, 

 and that two boxes of the specimens were in readiness to be transmitted 

 to Washington as presents for the National Museum. On the receipt of 

 this information a letter was addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, 

 asking that, if not incompatible vfith the rules of the service, some 

 United States vessel, being in the vicinity, might be authorized to stop 

 at the island and procure the articles above designated. To this letter 

 a prompt answer was received from the Navy Department, containing 

 the information tliat orders in accordance with the recpiest had been 

 issued to the commander of the Mediterranean squadron. The follow- 

 ing are some of th(! facts in regard to tlie discovery in question. In the 

 month of December, 1807, a Greek laborer, digging for building-stone 

 within the precincts of a little village called Galli, found a very old oven- 

 shaped tond), containing pieces of skulls and other bones, and also some 

 carious colored vases. On examining the ground a few yards in circnit 

 other tombs were found, indicating thQ existence of an ancient burial- 

 site. The dis(;overy was ke]»t secret from the authorities of the 

 place, but was disclosed to the foreign consuls on the island, by whom 

 the search was prosecuted. The American consul, Mr. Cesnola, obtained 

 from the Turkish government at Constantinople a firman allowing him 

 to search for anticiuities wherever he juight desire. With this he suc- 

 ceeded in discovering the existence of a series of IMuenician tombs 

 beneath the ancient .Greek burial ground. These tombs, which were 



