262 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 191 



formation, possibly a limestone dike, which they mistook for a wall. 

 There is a great deal of limestone in this region, such as the cliff and 

 ridge where our cave site Boc-2, at the east end of Almirante Bay, 

 is located. 



In 1951 when we were on the Rio Indio we heard from several 

 natives of a "casa de laja" on one of the tributaries farther up the 

 river. It was described as a stone masonry ruin, definitely not of 

 Spanish construction. With the stone waU of Columbus in mind, we 

 went to considerable trouble to visit the ruin, eventually succeeding. 

 The "casa de laja" turned out to be a curious natural tunnel about 50 

 yards long through a horizontally stratified sandstone formation. The 

 only evidence of occupation, past or present, was a huge cluster of 

 bats hanging from the ceiling. 



At some time before 1540 an Aztec colony was established in the 

 Sixaola Valley, on the mainland back of Almirante Bay. Before the 

 middle of the 17th century this group, known as the Sigua, had moved 

 to Bastimentos Island in Almirante Bay, where they eventually 

 settled in four towns. Here they maintained themselves with varying 

 degrees of fortune until about the year 1760. The interesting history 

 of this band, the southernmost outpost of the Aztecs, has been out- 

 lined by Lothrop. 



Rev. Ephraim Alphonse, who has lived among the Valiente Guayml 

 for more than 25 years and speaks the language fluently, has found 

 some interesting traditions that evidently refer to this group. The 

 Valiente Guaymi still retain the term "Montezuma," meaning ruler. 



A tradition which is frequently recounted at the present time re- 

 lates to the "Dekos," a group of conquerors who came from the 

 north in large canoes having paddles studded with pearls. Their 

 leader was called Siri lOave. The Dekos are always pictured as being 

 more civilized and smarter than the Guaymi. Some of the tales 

 refer to contests in wits between Guaymi and Dekos leaders. In 

 these contests the Guaymi were always defeated, as they were in 

 military combat (Alphonse, 1956). 



We spent considerable time on Bastimentos in a futile search for 

 remains that might indicate a settlement of the Aztec Colony, which 

 all the evidence seems to indicate was located here. Not only did 

 our personal search result negatively, excepting for a few nondescript 

 sherds near the mouth of a small stream by the present village of 

 Bastimentos, but the old inhabitants who had spent their lives farming 

 on the island insisted that they had seen no sherds nor other evidence 

 of occupation, except a metate and a mano (pi. 41). We visited the 

 spots where these were found, but saw no evidence of a site. 



After the voyage of Columbus, the Almirante region acquired a 

 reputation for being rich in gold. It was frequently visited thereafter 



