'^'^No!^^72f^^' ARCHEOLOGY, ALMIRANTE BAY, PANAMA — STIRLING 261 



population indicated by the Columbus accounts. It is probable 

 that the natives living up the rivers heard of the coming of the ships 

 of Columbus, the first to visit this coast, and descended to the bay for 

 the occasion, thus accounting for an abnormal concentration of people. 



Ferdinand Columbus tells us that as soon as the ships anchored in 

 Almirante Bay, which the natives called Carambaru, the boats went 

 to one of the islands where there were 20 canoes on the beach. The 

 natives were described as being "as naked as the day they were born." 

 One of these was wearing, hanging around his neck, a gold disk; 

 another, a gold eagle. 



On the mainland the Spaniards were met by 10 canoes and saw con- 

 siderably more gold worn in the form of ornaments. The men 

 were described as wearing narrow loincloths as their only garments, 

 with their faces and bodies painted all over with designs in red, black, 

 and white. 



It is interesting to note that the Guaymi today still use these same 

 colors for their face and body paintings, although now they have 

 adopted clothing. 



Pedro de Ledesma says that at one place 80 canoes gathered around 

 the ships, and that the natives wore gold ornaments consisting of 

 "crowns," disks, eagles, frogs, tigers, etc. These, of course, were of 

 the same type as the gold ornaments that have been found in such 

 abundance in graves in Chiriqui and Veraguas. Unfortunately, the 

 Spaniards were not much interested in describing other aspects of 

 material culture, although a number of stray items are mentioned. 



From Almirante Bay the ships of Columbus entered the Chiriqui 

 Lagoon, called Aburena by the Indians. Here they were met in a 

 more hostile manner by even greater numbers of Indians, who blew 

 horns, beat drums, and created a tremendous din. This reminds us 

 of the present-day noisemaking activities of the Guaymi during their 

 "Balseria" ceremonies. 



At Guaiga, a river 12 leagues east of the Chiriqui Lagoon, the 

 Spaniards again landed among a large concentration of Indians. Just 

 beyond here, at a place called Catiba, Ferdinand Columbus says: 



This was the first place in the Indies where they saw any sign of a structure, 

 which was a great mass of wall or imagry, that to them seemed to be of lime and 

 stone; the admiral ordered a piece of it to be brought away as a memorial of 

 that antiquity. 



Since Columbus speaks of the structure as "an antiquity," it 

 evidently was not constructed by the contemporary natives. When 

 we were on our reconnaissance of the Panama north coast, we made 

 diligent inquiries of many natives who professed to know the region 

 well but all denied seeing or hearing of such a structure. We are 

 inclined to believe that the men with Columbus saw some natural 



