124 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 92 



Suddenly and without warning the swamp ended, and we stood at the base 

 of a limestone cliff which rose sheer from the flat morass — an impassible barrier. 



From breaks and fissures in the rock at its extreme base, the waters of a 

 spring gurgled forth, limpid clear. We dashed ourselves flat gratefully burying 

 our faces in the water. But in a flash we recoiled, spitting disgustedly — literally 

 sickened. The water was highly mineralized, the taste of sulphur predominating. 



But the moment of our mortification marked the beginning of a discovery 

 which conceivably may change the scientific conception of the history and age 

 not only of Central America, but of the entire continents of North and South 

 America. For there, lying close to the rock wall and at the bottom of a pocket 

 formed by the stream we saw a significant fragment of pottery.^ 



Digging in the mud at the base of the rocks where the spring issued, 

 they found an immense amount of broken pottery and many complete 

 pieces. These inchided figurines, incised and modeled pots, jadeite 

 beads and plaques, bolas (mace heads?), painted pottery, a stone 

 vase (soft " like tooth paste " when excavated) and a granite (sic) 

 figurine (fig. 37, h). At the bottom of the mud they struck solid 

 rock forming a marble basin. Mitchell-Hedges regarded this as a 

 sacred well or ccnote, the waters of which probably had highly curative 

 properties, hence the belief in its sacred character. On the face of 

 the cliff above he discerned a flat rock or " pulpit " from which he 

 suggests that, as at Chichen Itza, " the most beautiful virgins were 

 sacrificed " before the eyes of the populace spread out over the plain 

 (sic) below. According to the account, over iioo specimens were 

 obtained here within a space of three square yards."' The collections 

 made by Mr. Mitchell-Hedges assigned to Bonacca, now in the Museum 

 of the American Indian, will be discussed as a unit later, since they 

 are not segregated according to sites. 



When we visited the site, mud completely covered the basin de- 

 scribed by Mr. Mitchell-Hedges (pi. 32, fig. i). There was a con- 

 siderable flow of water issuing from the rocks, forming a stream 

 2 or 3 inches deep and about 3 feet wide. The water was slightly 

 brackish but quite drinkable and refreshing. Mr. Payne took a bottle 

 back to the hospital at Puerto Castilla, where it was analyzed by the 

 authorities but no unusual chemical properties could be discovered. 

 The muck area, some 20 to 30 feet in diameter, was littered with 

 broken pottery (pi. 32, fig. i). We dug to a depth of 3 feet and 

 fragments of pottery apparently occurred below this. Aside from 

 one almost complete tripod vessel (pi. 31, e), nothing was found 



^ Signed article by Mitchell-Hedges, The Washington Herald, Sunday, Aug. 

 10, 1930. 



'^Signed articles by Mitchell- Hedges, The Washington Herald, Sunday, Aug. 

 10, and Sunday, Aug. 17, 1930. 



