ig2 The Naturalist in Nicaragua 
around for traces of graves. Between the plain and the river 
was a thicket of low trees and undergrowth. Peering into 
this, we saw some heaps of stones; and, pushing in amongst 
the bushes, found it was full of old Indian graves, marked by 
heaps of stones, in the centres of some of which still stood the 
pedestals on which the statues had been placed. Most of the 
heaps were about twenty feet in diameter, and composed of 
stones of the average size of a man’s head; but one, from the 
centre of which grew an immense cotton-wood tree, was made 
of about a dozen very large stones, some about five feet long, 
three broad, and one thick. Here we got a clue to the 
behaviour of our guide. When he told us that he knew not 
where there were any more cairns, he was standing within 
thirty feet of one hidden by the thicket, which bore evident 
marks of having been recently disturbed. It was the cairn of 
big stones. One of these had been overturned, and some fresh- 
cut poles, that had been used as levers, were lying alongside, 
with the green bark broken and bruised. A hole had been 
dug underneath it, and filled up with stones again. Our 
lounging friend had been doing a little exploring on his own 
account. Many of the natives believe that treasure is buried 
under these heaps of stones; and the interest that foreigners 
take in them they ascribe to their wish to obtain these 
treasures. Our guide, wishing to get these himself, had 
taken us to the single grave on the top of the hill, which he 
had already ransacked, and professed ignorance of the others. 
I only hope that he did not compound with his conscience for 
the lies he had told us by coming back after we left, and trying 
to break off the nose of another idol, as the natives call the 
images. They think they show their zeal for Christianity by 
defacing them. This is why scarcely any of the noses of 
the images are left. They form the most salient points for 
attack. And that the images have not been utterly destroyed 
by the ill-usage they have had for three hundred years is due 
to the hard, tough rock of which they are made. It is prob- 
able that the statues at El Salto were brought out from the 
cairns into the plain, and publicly thrown down, defaced, 
and broken, when the Spaniards first took possession of the 
Juigalpa district, and forced Christianity upon the Indians; 
for the conquerors everywhere overthrew and mutilated the 
“idols? of the Indians, set up the cross and their owm 
