THE POTTER'S ART AMONG NATIVE AMERICANS. 653 



Africa. This may indicate that the individual depicted on the 

 burner was a Maya. The Mayas never deformed their skulls,* 

 and some of them filed their teeth in just this way, as can be seen 

 in the statue called Chaacmol, unearthed by Dr. Le Plongeon. A 

 duplicate of the statue is in the museum at Washington. 



About forty miles south of Mugeres Island, and ten from the 

 east coast of Yucatan, is the abiding place of Spring, the lovely 

 island of Cozumel, almost uninhabited now. When the Spaniards 

 arrived there, three hundred and sixty-five years ago, it had a 

 hundred thousand inhabitants, besides an annual concourse of 

 fifty thousand pilgrims that worshiped at its temples. This " place 

 of swallows" (cuzamil, hence Cozumel) is an interesting spot for 

 the antiquary. In the dense forests there are curious old build- 

 ings, and round about them, beneath the surface of the ground, 

 may be found many a specimen of the ceramic art. Illustration 

 No. 7 shows a fine incense-burner from there, with scarcely a 

 blemish, and similar to the one so unfortunately broken at Mu- 

 geres Island. Its ornamentation represents the goddess of the 

 bees. Like the other, this forehead shows no artificial deform- 

 ity. The clay was of fine quality and in color a rich red brown, 

 while the broken burner was of a light yellowish clay found only 

 on the mainland. After examining hundreds of specimens we 

 are inclined to believe that among those 

 people individuals were given names 

 suggested by some trait in their char- 

 acter or peculiarity of appearance, and 

 that the artists ingeniously indicated 

 such appellations in a headdress or 

 other ornament. In some instances 

 such headgear as this was used in 

 battle. 



Pottery from Palenque exhibits en- 

 tirely different features. The two vases 

 here given (Fig. 8) are in the Govern- 

 ment House of Balize, British Hon- 

 duras. Here we see the Palenque type, 

 with artificially deformed forehead. 

 The way in which the hair is curled 

 and banged suggests a very rakish 

 Bacchus, appropriate ornamentation FlG - 7 - 



for an antique punch bowl. The Hon- 

 duranians seem to have been as ingenious as the Peruvians in 

 their terra-cotta works. We have before us two jars which ap- 

 pear to be glazed in imitation of bronze. One is intended to 

 represent an armadillo, the other a familiar domesticated hen 

 that cackles melodiously when the water gushes from her open 



