RUINS OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 275 



of two different descriptions the one having a mild, inoffen- 

 sive expression of countenance ; while the others, presenting a 

 combination of both human and animal, have invariably a 

 wild, savage look, apparently for the purpose of terrifying the 

 beholders. The first, it is supposed, are the idols which the 

 ancient Nicaraguans worshipped before the Aztec conquest of 

 their country ; while the latter were introduced when the 

 people had been taught to engage in the bloody rites prac- 

 tised by the Mexicans. 



These stone monuments, though similar, as has been re- 

 marked, to those of Easter Island, and to others found far 

 away across the Pacific, are strong corroborative proofs that 

 America was first peopled by tribes who made their way by 

 various stages from the continent of Asia, though, at the same 

 time, that long ages have passed away since they first left 

 that far-distant region the cradle of the human race. The 

 Indian priests, like the Druids of old, appear to have chosen 

 the hill-tops and mountain-sides, shady groves and dark 

 ravines, for the sites of their temples or places of worship. 



From the midst of Lake Managua, in Nicaragua, rises the 

 volcanic island of Momotombita, towering in a perfect cone 

 towards the blue sky. In the midst of a natural amphitheatre 

 on the slope of the mountain were discovered a large number 

 of statues (fifty or more), arranged in the form of a square, 

 their faces looking inwards. Many were cast down, but 

 others stood erect, though all apparently had been more or 

 less purposely mutilated. Some of the figures represent 

 males, but others are undoubtedly those of females. They 

 are cut in black basalt of intense hardness. The features of 

 the face of one, which has been conveyed to the Museum at 

 Washington, are singularly bold and severe in outline. The 



