10 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



on this coast are of an entirely different type from tliosc of Guirigua and Copan, 

 and it is perfectly evident that they were constructed by entirely different people, 

 who resembled each other, neither in regard to physiognomy, dress or ornaments, 

 nor in regard to the glyphs used for expressing their ideas, etc. The monu- 

 ments of the Pacific Coast are of several kinds, viz. : 



1. Larger or smaller hills or mounds made of soil, or soil and rough or 

 rounded stones. Generally three or four of these mounds are grouped together 

 forming between them a kind of inclosed courtyard. Some hills are several thou- 

 sand feet in length and some twenty feet high; others only fifty to sixty feet longi 

 the height being the same as the former. 



2. Smaller mounds, in which are seen a low foundation of rough stone, not 

 fixed with mortar. 



3. Bridges and aqueducts made of cut stones, beautifully laid without mor- 

 tar, and wonderfully withstanding the destruction of time. Such are found 

 around Santa Lucia and Los Tarros. 



4. Sculptured stones, representing heads of men or animals, in all grades of 

 skillful manufacture, some most beautifully made and designed, such as the large 

 head from Los Tarros; others again very primitive, like those of Aguna. 



5. Hollow stones or fonts, richly ornamented, used either for baptism or 

 for sacrifices. 



G. Sculptures in low relief, representing mythological or historical events, 

 or records of some kind. 



7. Pottery of different kinds, such as dishes, vases, and musical instru- 

 ments with heads of beasts and man; also smaller idols of burnt clay. This pottery 

 is evidently from different epochs. The finest made wares are found near or on the 

 surface, while the poorest kinds are found deeper in the ground, as far down as 

 nine feet. I have this assertion from several gentlemen owning farms on the coast, 

 especially from Don Joaquin Durand, who has repeatedly found ancient pottery at 

 different depths on his farm — " Sapote," at the base of Yolcan de Fuego. In our 

 present time no such wares are worked by the Indians anywhere on this coast, nor 

 can the present crockery of the Guatemala Indians, in skillful workmanship or 

 even in the fineness of the clay used, compare with the ancient pottery found in 

 the ground. Only in the wiM uiul entirely unconquercd country of the Lacandres, 

 between Guatemala and Yucatan, have the natives to this day preserved the art of 

 finer pottery making. Kdward Ilockstroh, who made an expedition to this country 



