86 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



eyes, are set upon short, square bodies. Some are crowned 

 with hats or head-coverings that range in pattern from 

 the Turkish fez and sugar-loaf to curious curved caps that 

 may have been intended to simulate the rainbow. Many 

 of the figures are quite naked, while others are clothed in 

 a narrow band, or loin-cloth. The teeth of many of the 

 human beings represented are prominent, and each has two 

 pair of great pointed canines like those of a beast. This 

 row of images was placed in its present location by order 

 of the priest who had charge of the parish; we may imagine 

 at what cost of labor when we realize that many of the 

 stones weigh several tons. Of course, there are no trails, 

 and the only way was to drag them out of the forest with 

 ropes. 



One of the monoliths represents a woman with a small 

 child in one arm and a club in the other hand raised in an 

 attitude of defense; on one is carved a woman meshing a 

 muchila, and on another a man is holding a fish. There is 

 the hewn figure of a large monkey crouching over a smaller 

 one, and some distance away stands an owl holding a snake 

 in its beak. A flat slab in a recumbent position bears the 

 engraved figure of a woman and possibly served as the 

 covering of a coffin or a grave. Then there is the statue of 

 a woman with a mallet in one hand and a chisel in the 

 other, thought to represent the goddess of sculpture. It 

 seems not improbable that the greater number of the images 

 represent idols which were worshipped by the ancient people. 



The most interesting examples are to be found in the 

 forest above San Agustin. Under the giant cedars and tall 

 cecropias that cover the slopes one finds works of a more 

 pretentious nature, scattered among the dense low palm 

 growths and covered with creepers and epiphytes. There a 

 huge stone tablet may be seen, supported on four richly 

 carved stone columns six feet high, which probably served 

 as an altar for the offer of sacrifice; or it may have been the 

 entrance to a temple. Near-by is an underground gallery 

 leading to two large caves in which are carvings of the sun 



