I20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [vol. 45 



are sometimes called idols, and it is indeed possible that some of 

 them may have served as such. The majority, however, were house- 

 hold implements, and were designed purely for secular use, the 

 figures cut on the handles being merely for decoration. So far as 

 thev have been studied, the carved pestles from Santo Domingo excel 

 in finish those of the other West Indian islands, the Porto Rican ex- 

 amples being cruder and less carefully made. The Archbishop's 

 collection contains several fine pestles with ornamented handles, 

 many of which are adorned with human figures having heads, bodies, 

 and limbs beautifully cut. One of the best of these figures (plate 

 XLii, I ) represents a human being lying on its back, with legs drawn 

 up and hands resting on the knees. In another fine specimen the 

 handle terminates in a carved human figure with legs drawn to the 

 body (plate xlii, 2). The opposite end of the handle of this speci- 

 men, where it joins the base, is surrounded by an incised broken line 

 — an ornamental motive which constantly appears in Antillean 

 pottery. The well-made pestle shown in plate xlii, 6, has the head 

 and body well cut on the handle, the arms and legs appearing on 

 the sides. 



The base of these pestles is ordinarily lenticular, but in the ex- 

 ample shown in plate xlii, 5, it is spherical ; the whole handle is 

 fashioned into a human figure, the head being well made, the legs 

 sculptured in low relief but appressed to the body. There is a simple 

 pestle in which the handle takes the form of a bird, the head and 

 wings being well represented. Other collections from Santo 

 Domingo contain pestles with bird-shaped handles, the ends of 

 which are modified into rude heads. 



IDOLS 



In order to show the position of idolatry in the primitive worship 

 of the West Indians, a few words on the general nature of Antillean 

 religion may be opportune. According to early writers the inhabit- 

 ants of Santo Domingo worshiped stone, wood, and clay idols, 

 called zemis. It is learned from the writings of Padre Roman 

 Pane, Peter Martyr, Benzoni, and others, that the sun, earth, and 

 other nature powers were also called semis; therefore it is evident 

 that the term was applied not only to idols, but to the spirits which 

 they represented ; thus the sky-god was called a zemi and its wooden 

 image bore the same name, in which case the term was made to desig- 

 nate both magic powers and their personations, a custom universally 

 followed in American religions. The Antilleans, according to the 

 above authorities, likewise called their ancients or ancestors zemis, 



