156 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO [etii. a.vn. 25 



The pictograph tigured as ,v belongs to a type soniewbat different 

 from the preceding,' but recalls those on the river rock near Utuado (e). 

 The appendages to the side of the head resemble ears. On the top of 

 the head there is a smaller circle with which it is connected by a groove. 

 Eyes and mouth are represented by three rings. 



Specimen ( consists of a rectangular body marked oti' into scjuares, 

 having an oval head with ear appendages. There are no indications 

 of eyes, hut the cheeks are represented by crescentic grooves. 



The three pictures shown in n to /r represent faces, but they have 

 been nuich eroded and disfigured l)y time. Originall}^ they were 

 evident!}- more complicated than their present outline would seem to 

 indicate. 



Some tine pictographs are to be seen in the cave called El Consejo," 

 on the estate of Mr Denton, not far from Arecibo. The neighboring 

 hamlet, school, and hacienda bear the name Miraflores. This cave is 

 reached after an hour's ride bj- coach to Byadera, and thence bv horse 

 for another hour and by climbing up the mountain to the entrance, 

 which is (juite easily accessible. The cave is spacious, roughly dome 

 shaped, and lighted at the end opposite the entrance by a large arched 

 opening, which looks out on the steep mountain side. This opening 

 was, in all probability, the original Indian entrance, for all the carvings 

 are placed near that end, as if to decorate it or to be conspicuously in 

 view as one entered the cave. There are seven faces or heads, all close 

 together and all on one side of the archway. One of these pictographs 

 is especially conspicuous; it is well made, partly in relief, with what 

 appear to be head, nose, and pointed chin. The other six faces are 

 simpler, consisting of pits arranged in triangles, sometimes surrounded 

 by a line to indicate the face. Of these, two faces are cut on rounded 

 protuberances and four are mereh' incised in the flat rocks. One of 

 these, called by a peon ""el dios mejor de todos," has the eyes cut 

 obliquely, sloping from the nose upward. Similar oblique eyes may be 

 noted on many pottery heads, one of the best of which was collected 

 by the author near Santiago de los Caballeros in Santo Domingo.'' 



As the name " el dios " implies, there survives in the minds of the 

 Gibaros, or country people of Porto Rico, a belief that these pictographs 

 were intended to represent Indian gods. Of the same import also is 

 the lore among these people concerning caves, which in part at least 

 is a survival of the reverence with which caverns were regarded in 

 aboriginal life. Stories that caves are the abode of spirits are widely 

 current among the unlettered people of Porto Rico and Santo Domingo. 

 According to a superstition which prevails among many of the West 

 Indian islanders, some of these caves are still inhabited. It is said 



a Miss A. B. Gould has kindly given me these interesting notes of her visit to this cave. 

 '■One of the zcmis figured by Charlevoix in 1731 (Histoire de I'lsle Espagnole ou de S. Domingue, 

 I, Gl) has oblique eyes. 



