322 



PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



dead. It should be stated, however, that in most cases the gold composing them 

 was not pure, but more or less alloyed with copper. In speaking of them, I have 

 used the past tense, as I have reason to believe that most of these valuable relics 

 were shipped to England, to be converted into bullion. 



My attention Avas first directed to the Chiriqui discoveries by an article pub- 

 lished in " Harper's Weekly," of August 6th, 1859, by Dr. F. M. Otis, then 

 surgeon of the steamship " Moses Taylor." He had just returned from Panama, 

 where he had gathered his information. 



Fio. 379. 



FIGS. 379 and 380. Fish-representations of gold. Chiriqui. 



I present in Figs. 379 and 380 copies of two of the illustrations accompany- 

 ing his article, which represent, as it appears, respectively, a shark holding a 

 snake or snakes (?) in his jaws, and a species of cat-fish. These illustrations 

 give a good idea of the character of the Chiriqui gold figures.* 



State of Cauca, United States of Colombia. In a small pamphlet published 

 in 1870, and noticed in " Materiaux," Dr. L. Marchant states that M. Laurent 



* A very good account of the Chiriqui gmves, based on personal observation, is given by the late Dr. j. 

 King Merritt in one of the bulletins of the American Ethnological Society, issued in 1800. 



