FEWKES] AKCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 129 



torians to have been fond of aromatic substances. Against this it may be urged 

 that they are too costly for mortars; that some are hollowed underneath, some are 

 flat, and some are convex; and that though very rough on the underside the 

 roughness seems to be that of an original pecking, excepting at the chin and knees 

 of the Typhoean figure, where the stone is worn smooth. The furrows at the base 

 of the mamm;e seem to indicate the custom of lashing them to a staff as ensigns, or 

 to dash out the brains of a victim or an enemy. There is no mention, however, so 

 far as I am acquainted, of the natives performing human sacrifices. This lashing 

 theory is strengthened by the fact that on some of the masks which closely resemble 

 the mammiform stones there are cleat-like projections, evidently to be lashed to a 

 handle. There are no grooves worn in the furrows by a lashing that I could dis- 

 cover. The bulging to one side of the mamiii;e, some to the right, others to the left, 

 hints at their use in jjairs. 



The theory that the thl■^^e-pointed stones are idols has many advo- 

 cates, although some of the interpretations of the gods they represent 

 are entirely speculative. Doctor Stahl," in his chapter on religion, by 

 limiting the term to a belief in a supreme beneficent being, or god, 

 and a malignant being opposed to this deity, finds that the Borinc^ueiios 

 were absohitel}' destitute of religious ideas ("carecian en absoluto de 

 ideas religiosas"). He may be right in his criticism of Oviedo and 

 other historians, that they read their -own ethical ideas into their 

 accounts of the West Indian religion, but he is certainly in error in 

 concluding that there are no proofs, archeological or otherwise, to 

 justify belief in the existence of any religious cult among the Borinquen 

 Indians. 



"The Antilles." writes Professor ^Slason, "are all of volcanic origin, 

 as the material of our stone implements plainly shows. I am indebted 

 to Prof. S. F. Baird for the suggestion that, from the sea, the island of 

 Porto Rico rises in an abrupt and symmetrical manner, highl}- sugges- 

 tive of the mound in the mammiform stones, so that with the aid of a 

 little imagination we may see in these objec^ts the genius of Porto Rico 

 in the figure of a man, a parrot, an alligator, an albatross, or some 

 other animal precious to these regions where larger animals are not 

 abundant, supporting the island on its back." 



Earlier in this article the author has referred to a few paragraphs by 

 Professor ]\Iason regarding the legend of Typhoeus, killed by Jupiter 

 and buried under Mount Etna. As the latter points oitt, "A similar 

 myth may have been devised in various places to account for volcanic 

 or mountainous phenomena." 



According to Agustin Navarette, Dr C'alixto Romero C'antero in 

 his refutation of Doctor Stahl recognized in this three-pointed figure 

 the genius of evil weighed down b}' Borinquen, represented by the 

 mountain Lucuo, or Luquillo, and symbolized by the conoid promi- 



nLos Indios Borinquenos, p. 157-172. In Uiis chiipter Doctor Stahl makes no reference to Ramon 

 Pane and other writers who have given the most anthoritative accounts of the religious concepts of 

 the Haitians. There is little doubt that the Borinquenos resembled the Indians of Hispaniola in 

 their religious a^ well as in their secular customs. 



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