FFWKES] ARCHKULOOICAL OBJECTS 199 



Guadeloupe of weai'ing "* two bands of ■woven cotton, the one fastened 

 around the knee and the other around the ankle; by this means they 

 made the calf of the leg large and above-mentioned parts very small." 

 Both Doctor Duerden and Professor Mason have pointed out the pres- 

 ence of these bands in the wooden idol figured by the latter. 



When the images from Jamaica are compared with others it is 

 found that the former present several significant characteristics, one of 

 which is a wooden canopy over the head suggesting similar append- 

 ages in certain wooden idols from >Santo Domingo. This canopy mav 

 be either an extension from the head or mounted on a special sup- 

 port free therefrom. Apparentlj' the first of these images is repre- 

 sented as seated on a rudel}' carved stool, or daho. Another of these 

 Jamaica wooden images, that with a bird's head (plate Lxx.wiii. part 

 1,/"). differs completely from others; it is to be hopetl that, on account 

 of their exceptional forms, some ethnologist may publish later more 

 detailed descriptions of these objects. 



One of the best-known wooden idols from the West Indies is owni^d 

 by Seiior R. A. Imbert, of Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo, who has 

 one of the finest collections of Indian objects from the island, which 

 he has genei-ously permitted the author to study, affording every 

 opportunity to take notes and make photographs. This wooden idol 

 is represented in plate xc, e-c" . 



In Sefior Imbert's manuscrij)t catalogue of his collection is an ac- 

 coinit of this idol of which the following is a translation: 



No. 16. Wooden Imliaii idol found iu a cave in Loma Sucia, near Ysabella, Ijy 

 Juan Pedro Villaman, and obtained in 1899 by R. A. Imbert. This idol is made of 

 guacan wood; measures Stj centimeters from the cap to the helmet. The upper [lart 

 of the helmet appears to have served for sacrifices or for burning resins. On the 

 back part of the head one notes a hole that appears to indicate that the idol was a 

 speaking image, like either the Mexican or those of the ancient Egyptians. 'Half 

 the teeth are similar to a piece of shell of tlie plastron of a turtle, the other half 

 could not be found. Cavities which form the eyes are full of resin, and one can 

 likewise see in them some fragments of a marine shell that adheres to the resin. In 

 certain regions of the idol one can see a thick varnish that protected the whole of 

 the object. Everything indicates that this idol was imported from the north or was 

 made l:>y a race more advanced than tliat which Columbus found in the island of 

 Santo Domingo in 1492. At all events the object was ma<le anterior to the epoch of 

 the discovery. 



The Imbert idol represents a half-seated figure of large proportions, 

 the head well sculptured, the arms and legs free, the hands resting on 

 the knees. The head is surmounted by a mushroom-shaped wooden 

 canopy, and the ba.se of the idol is enlarged into a kind of pedestal. 

 The whole surface of the image appeaVs to have been covered origi- 

 nally with a black glaze of a resinous sulistance that still adheres to the 

 surface in several places, although the exterior, especially the l)ase, 

 is now cousiderablv worn and eaten bv ants or other insects. The 



