64 ARCH^OLOGICAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL 



duced. This attempt failed likewise, and the introduced animals Avere roaming on 

 the island in a wild state. The greatest obstacle to a colonization of these islands 

 is the want of fresh water, which is only found on two of them, and there in 

 sparing quantity. 



THE SCULPTURED STONES AT SANTA LUCIA COSUMALWHUAPA. 



I now return to the description of the sculptures at Santa Lucia Cosumalwhuapa, 

 which, as I have said, forms the most important part of this memoir. Santa Lucia 

 is a village in the Republic of Guatemala, in the Department of Esquintla, near 

 the base of the Volcano del Fuego, at the commencement of the inclined plane 

 which extends from the mountain range to the coast of the Pacific Ocean. This 

 village is of comparatively modern origin, its population having much increased 

 of late years by immigrants from the highlands of the State, on account of the 

 improvement in agriculture, which consists principally in cultivating cotton. 



The village actually lies in the midst of an orange grove, which yields so abund- 

 antly that the fruit is given away, the only expense to the receiver being the cost 

 for picking, which is but half a real or 6| cents for a hundred. The caiise of 

 this abundance is the custom of planting an orange tree by each pater-familias 

 at the birth of a child. 



It may be of interest to mention that the snakes, which are abundant here, are 

 eaten by the people, while they will not eat the meat of alligators ; the reverse of 

 the habit of the people of other parts of the country, who eat the meat of alligators 

 but not that of serpents. I was once very much amused at meeting an Indian in 

 a rancho, a public shed erected for the accommodation of travellers, who invited 

 me to share his breakfast, which consisted of the roasted meat of a howling mon- 

 key (^Mijceies seniculus), but who would not accept from me the boiled meat of a 

 serpent which I offered to him in exchange. 



A short time before my arrival in that country the monoliths at Santa Lucia 

 had been accidentally discovered by a man who was preparing the ground to plant 

 cotton. In commencing to dig he came upon a pile of stones which aroused his 

 curiosity, and by removing the earth he found a sculpture on its surface. This 

 increased still more his curiosity. By the removal of a portion of the soil a num- 

 ber of those near the surface were brought to view. 



When I resolved to make drawings of these sculptures I imdertook no easy 

 task ; for, in order to make the drawings, I had first to remove from the slabs tlie 

 dirt and moss attached to them. For effecting this I had no other implements 

 than some husks of maize, and the water in a small pond near by. Parts of some 

 of the slabs were still covered with earth, for the removal of which I had to use a 

 stick as a hoe to loosen the earth, and my hands in place of a shovel. All these 

 operations, together with the drawing, I had to perform while exposed to the rays 

 of the sun, the heat being so intense as to produce a blister on my neck while working. 



lo make my drawings true copies on a reduced scale, I stretched over each slab 

 threads six inches apart, by which the sculpture was divided into squares of six 

 mches. My field-book for topographical surveys was ruled in squares of half an 



