14 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



the lomiiius of two cities near Itabiual, oue of wbicb, twelve miles from 

 the towD, he visited. These raius occupy the summits of three hills, and 

 some of the edifices are tolerably well preserved. The most couspicuous 

 one was 100 feet long by 30 feet broad. Its floor was elevated four steps 

 above the ground, and the walls left staudiug were about G feet high. 

 It seems to have had four entrances, one on each side. The interior 

 space was 18 feet broad by nearly 00 feet long. All the buildings were 

 constructed of thin slabs of mica-gneiss laid in courses like bricks and 

 united by a granular kind of mortar. The walls had been plastered out- 

 side and inside. Ou the side of the bill were found arrow-heads and 

 spear-points of obsidian and other minerals. 



Arriving at Salinas there were found vestiges of the ancient popula- 

 tion in a squared-stone ])yramid, heaps of broken pottery, &c. A vo- 

 cabulary of the Egkschi language was collected. After waiting a month 

 for a boat to convey him to his intended destinatiou, he was obliged to 

 relinquish the attempt and return to Guatemala. 



The second exploration was to the borders of Mexico, and ancient ruins 

 were visited at Gaequetenango, Palyah, and Saycap. 



Cn the third excursion the sculptures of Copan, in Honduras, de- 

 scribed by Stephens and others, were visited. Those of Guirigua are 

 of great archtelogical interest. These are of various sizes and shapes, 

 the tallest being of columnar form about 25 feet high, while others do 

 not exceed 12 feet. xiU of them have four sculptured sides, the front 

 and re^ir being the widest. The narrow sides of all the columnar mon- 

 oliths aie covered with hieroglyphics resembling those found in Copan. 



The fourth excursion was undertaken to visit a newly discovered series 

 of sculptures at Santa Lucia Cosumalhuapa, the description of which 

 forms the principal part of this memoir. On the way to this place very 

 interesting sculptures were found on the plain near the Eacienda los 

 Tarros, which exhibit fine workmanship and represent human figures 

 in high relief. They are 5 feet 9 inches high, 3 feet 7 inches broad, and 

 1 foot 8 inches deep, standing on a base 10 inches high. 



Before describing the objects found at Santa Lucia the author gives 

 an account of some other expeditions. The first of these was to the Ee- 

 public of Honduras, but no archreological objects were observed. Vocab- 

 ularies and valuable information, however, were collected from various 

 native tribes. 



A visit was also made to Nicaragua, where a sculptured figure was 

 seen on the corner-stone of a house, and other remains were found in 

 and near the town. A grotesque figure was observed sculptured on a 

 rock, forming the hauk of a brook, which is the only instance of sculp- 

 ture found by the doctor on rocks in situ. 



A visit to Costa Rica did not produce any results of interest. The 

 largest field for archaeological discoveries is considered by Dr. Habel to 

 be found in San Salvador, and an account is given of several sculptures 

 and mounds he examined there. 



