INVESTIGATIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA 75 



The left hand tenches the seat, as jf to rest on it. The legs appear to be clothed 

 down below the knee, where the right thigh is encircled by a band, to which a row 

 of pyriform pendants are suspended. The feet, excepting the toes, are covered by 

 a kind of shoe. The heel rests on a footstool ornamented with square openings, 

 from which arise two supports representing tlie feet of the throne, on which rests 

 the horizontal seat. From the scat rises a somewhat concealed suppojt to the arm 

 of the throne, the projecting end of which is ornamented by the grotesque head 

 of an animal Avitli open jaws provided with teeth and fangs, out of which the 

 tongue protrudes. From the back of the arm descends another support seeming 

 to rest on clouds. Behind this support is an ornament in the shape of a circle 

 with an opening on its upper side. From this ornament the arm turns around, 

 forming the back of the throne. This monolith is some rods distant from the 

 heap, and nearly buried in the ground in an oblique position, consequently only a 

 part of it was visible. From the remaining portion the earth had to be removed 

 by loosening it with a stick and throwing it out with the hands. 



Sculpture Number X, Plate V. 



At a distance of some rods from the heap formed by most of the monoliths lies 

 this stone, presenting only the sculptured surface, on which account its tliickness 

 cannot be ascertained. It seems to have been nine and a half feet in length and 

 four feet nine inches wide, though it is more likely that its width was greater, as 

 large pieces of it arc broken off, and the design would require a greater space for 

 its completion than the missing fragments could supply. It might not be wrong 

 to suppose that this stone is but one of a series of which this sculpture is but a 

 part, as neither the persons represented nor their ornaments and hieroglyphics are 

 fully executed. 



From atmospheric influences and its position in the ground the surface of the 

 stone has been greatly defaced in some places, by which the sculpture has suft'ered. 

 It had to be cleaned, and the moss and dirt removed, before a drawing could be 

 made. The principal subject of the sculpture is a scene in which two persons are 

 conversing with each other, one standing erect and the other in an inclined position. 

 The serpents indicated have apparently formed the headdress of the erect indi- 

 vidual, from which might be conjectured his priestly office. The corrosions of the 

 stone partially obliterate the lower part of the face, and also the ornaments of the 

 ear and head, and only the gorgeous appendages of the hair are distinctly visible. 

 These are formed as in most instances of bands, twisted in braids embellished with 

 circular disks and ornaments of various shapes. The transverse bar or hilt with 

 rounded ends is again noticeable; but the pendant descending from it, which in 

 other sculptures is bent and imitates a sheathed scimitar, is in this case straight. 

 This gorgeous ornament terminates in the lower extremity in a fish, the fins of 

 which spread out in the shape of a fan. The left hand is inclosed in a gauntlet 

 formed of a human skull, and is directed towards the other person, which would 

 signify the authority of its owner. The waist is again surrounded by a stiff girdle 

 ornamented in the back by a deer's head somewhat eft'accd. From its lower por- 

 tion float many bands, forming a kind of skirt. There is no language represented 



