BY ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF CHIRIQUI 19 



Grotesque figure. — Another piece collected by Mr. McNiel is outlined 

 in Fig. 11. The metal is quite base and the surface has been coated 



Fig. 11. Quadruped with grotesque face, in base metal 



with gold, which is now nearly all rubbed off. The shape is that of a 

 quadruped. The head is completely reversed, and the face has a rather 

 grotesque, not to say satauic, expression. The details are not unlike 

 those of other examples previously given. 



The fish.— The fish was a fa\*orite subject with the ancient nations of 

 South America, and is modeled in clay, woven into fabrics, and worked 

 in metals with remarkable freedom. It was in great favor in Chiriqui 

 and must have been of importance in the mythology of the country. It 

 occurs most frequently in pottery, where it is executed in color and 



Fig. 12. Figure of a fish, published by F. M, Otis, in Harper's Weekly. 



modeled in the round. The very grotesque specimen in gold shown in 

 Fig. 12 is copied from Harper's Weekly of August G, 1859, where it 

 forms one of a number of illustrations of these curious ornaments. The 

 paper is by Dr. F. M. Otis, who had just returned from Fanama. 



The frog.— The frog appears in the plastic art of Chiriqui more fre- 

 quently perhaps thau any other reptile. Its form is reproduced with 



