200 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO [eth. ANN. 25 



eyeballs have been removed, but it is evident from fragments in the 

 resin which still adheres to their sockets that they were made of shell 

 and have been torn from their former attachments. The chin, face, 

 and breast show the least wear, the varnish in these regions being 

 l)lack and glossy. One-half of the mouth is occupied by a piece of 

 shell, upon which are carved the teeth; the other half shows only a 

 comparatively deep cavity and is destitute of inserted shell. There is 

 a cavity within the head with an opening at the back with which a tube 

 once apparently communicated. This image may well be considered 

 one of those idols that the Indians consulted for oracular purposes and 

 from which they are said to have received responses. 



Probably the priest who gave these replies was concealed somewhere 

 near and spoke through a tube that communicated with the cavity 

 of the head. In some of the early writings it was said that on one 

 occasion the Spaniard.s, having destroyed an image and its parapher- 

 nalia, detected and exposed a deception of this kind. 



Few specimens of these idols with hollow heads exist in collections, 

 although it is probable that .some of the known stone masks, especially 

 tho.se with perforated mouths, may have been heads of similar images. 



One of the most complicated wooden idols from the West Indies 

 is shown in a and«', plate xci; this was first described and figured by 

 Professor Mason, who writes: 



This carving represents two individuals seated on a canopied chair. The whole 

 thing is interesting to the highest degree. The chair has a high back ornamented 

 with scrolls and concentric rings. Both individuals have embroidered skullcaps, 

 the nearest approach to which are the basket-work, close-fitting embroidered hats of 

 the Indians of the Great Interior Basin of the United States. The ears, much dis- 

 tended, are to be looked for. The most noteworthy feature, however, is the bands 

 of embroidered cotton just above the calves. In his second voyage, cruising among 

 the Caribbee Islands, Columbus came on the 10th of November, 149.3, to Santa Cruz 

 Island. Here he had a fight with some natives in a dugout and wounded some of 

 them. The hair of these savages was long and coarse, their eyes w-ere encircled 

 with paint so as to give them a hideous expression, and bands of cotton were bound 

 firmly above and below the muscular part of the arms and legs so as to cause them to 

 swell to a disproportioned size. (Irving's Columbus, i, 333.) Height, 31 inches. 



Profes,sor Mason accompanied his description of this idol with two 

 good figures that have been repeated!}' copied by later writers. The 

 two new figures of the idol under consideration are reproduced from 

 the original, one (</') a view from the side and the other one ('/) from 

 the front, showing certain features not clearly ])rought out in previous 

 illustrations. 



In its general form and ornamentation the stool on which these fig- 

 ures are seated resembles the Antillean seats called Jii/ios, specimens 

 of which from Turk.? island and Santo Domingo are mentioned later 

 in this report. This seat was once elaborately decorated, especially' on 

 the back, where parts of the former ornaments are still clearly seen. 



