COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 47 



precious metal. The tribe was soon scattered, its survivors fled to the 

 forest, and in a very short time even its name was forgotten by the 

 rapacious invaders. 



Through the assiduous labors of Mr. Eestrepo we are now in a posi 

 tion to appreciate the high artistic sentiment which inspired this 

 departed people, and to restore to them the credit on the page of his 

 tory which is their due. The specimens of their work exhibited at 

 Madrid, make up a total of 1,012 objects, enough,, as Mr. Eestrepo 

 remarks, to enable those interested to decide whether this tribe of bar 

 barians did not do honor to the human species by their love of the 

 arts, their excellent taste, and their really prodigious skill. 



These specimens are in gold of more or less alloy, in copper, in clay, 

 and, in a few instances, in stone, wood, bone, and shell. They represent 

 figures of the human body, and of various animals, diadems, crowns, 

 scepters, collars, earrings, ornaments of various character, rings, bells, 

 flutes and whistles, vases, and sepulchral urns, chisels, needles, 

 spindles, etc. 



The graceful forms and varied sizes of the gold vases from this region 

 impressed every observer. They indicate a true sense of symmetry and 

 proportion in their makers, and they vindicate for them a high position 

 as genuine artists. The vases of clay are decorated in colors, with fig 

 ures accurately traced, and are of varied and original forms. They do 

 not resemble, either in the material of which they are constructed or in 

 the methods of decoration employed, the pottery of the Chibcha or that 

 of Central America. They would seem to present the product of an 

 evolution of art belonging strictly to the nation who manufactured 

 them. 



In the third region, that which has been referred to as about Antio- 

 quia, there have been numerous extensive collections made at different 

 times, which have abundantly proved that the tribes there resident 

 were rich in gold, and manufactured it into various articles, with a 

 skill greater than that of the Chibcha, but less than that of the Quim- 

 baya. In the Madrid collection, the industries of this region, repre 

 sented either in the relics themselves or by accurate photographs, made 

 a total of 438 pieces, quite sufficient to give a correct idea of their prog 

 ress in the arts. Here, again, we are at a loss correctly to state, from 

 the evidence of language, what relationship these tribes bore to each 

 other or to other stocks on the continent. 



A fourth region, not generally included in the continent of South 

 America, though at present under the government of the Republic of 

 Colombia, is that included in the Isthmus of Panama and the territory 

 westward of it to the line of Costa Eica. This embraces the rich anti 

 quarian region of the bay of Chiriqui. It is well known that the 

 ancient graves in that district have been ransacked for many years on 

 account of the wealth of gold images which some of them contained. 

 Although the greater portion of the relics thus obtained found their 



