INVESTIGATIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. 79 



Tlie right hand is inclosed in a human skull, the left in a deer's hoof. Both 

 feet are covered by a kind of shoe ; the toes resemble the hoofs of a deer. From 

 the mouth emanates something like a bent leaf of maize, the symbol of speech. 

 Between these figures are five circles with three bars of unequal length, which are 

 supposed to be the signs of numerals. The recumbent position and the growth of 

 beard as before mentioned indicate the ill health of the individual, wliile the other 

 figure represents allegorically the mask of a medicine man who came to prescribe 

 for the invalid. 



Sculpture Number XV, Plate VIII. 



This sculptured stone is of the same porpliyritic material as the others. It is 

 four feet ten inches long, and two feet two inclics broad. It was first found in the 

 large heap of sculptures, but has been carried away to the dwelling of the indi- 

 vidual who discovered them and is now used for a doorstep. 



AV'e have here represented a person stf^pping on the first round of a ladder with 

 one foot, and holding by both hands to other rounds as though in the act of climb- 

 ing. Above the frill over the forehead the head is covered by a hat similar to tlie 

 paper cocked hats made by boys. On the top is a cockade. From beneath the 

 hat the hair floats down to the shoulder. A pyriform ornament is suspended from 

 the ear, and a circular disk ornaments the breast. The hands and feet are bare. 

 The waist is surrounded by three bands, a kind of girdle with a skull on the back. 

 Below the girdle is a sash with a bunch of tassels behind. Two bands descend 

 from the sash surrounding the thighs, and another hangs down in front. The left 

 foot is resting on the first round of the ladder, and the right is treading on a circle 

 with wide radii. From this circle a plant grows upward, on the stem of which are 

 buds of difi'erent degrees of maturity, while on the top of the stem is an open flower. 

 In the centre of the flower is a portion of a human skeleton, tlie skull of which is 

 covered with hair like a wig and has the jaws open. The ear is adorned with a 

 circular disk, having two long pendants from its centre. On the bony arm is a 

 fleshy hand. This figure rests on the upper ends of the ladder, which is constructed 

 of two posts to which cross-pieces forming the steps are tied by withes. This is 

 the more remarkable since the present inhabitants of Guatemala do not possess 

 ladders, but in lieu thereof use notched posts. At the bottom of the sculpture are 

 two circles from which ascends a row of seven others exactly similai", which pro- 

 bably are numeral signs. The sculpture is bounded at the base by a rim six 

 inches wide. 



Sculpture Number XVI, Plate VII. 



At a distance of a few rods from the heap of sculptures, and in the vicinity of 

 other buried stones, one of somewhat irregular shape was found. Its length is 

 eight feet six inches, its breadth at the base six feet, but at the top it is only five 

 feet six inches, because parts of the stone have been broken off". On the upper 

 surface is a huge bird with outstretched wings and distended bill; the head has a 

 fleshy crest (partly effaced) and a similar lobe on either side of the eye. From the 

 ear hangs a circular ring. A band surrounds the neck tied on the back in a bow- 



