100 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 394. 



In certain sections of the island a Carib 

 chief appears to have raised himself to the 

 position of governor of this region. In 

 every settlement the cacique and his im- 

 mediate relations occupied a house larger 

 than the others and centrally placed, con- 

 taining the penates of the clan. The poAver 

 of the head clan man was supreme, his 

 wives, of wliich there were many, were 

 practically slaves and descent was ap- 

 parently in the male line. The cacique 

 had several insignia of his rank, among 

 which may. be mentioned bodily decora- 

 tion, a gold plate, called a giiarim, worn 

 on his breast, and a stone amulet (beauti- 

 ful specimens of which are now preserved 

 in several collections) tied to his forehead. 



The names of many of these caciques 

 are still preserved on the island, and it 

 Avould appear tliiat localities, mountains 

 and rivers, were so called after powerful 

 rulers. Thus we have Arecibo, the modern 

 name of a beautiful city on the north coast, 

 in the district of the chief, Areziba, 

 Mayagoex gave his name to Mayaguez, and 

 many other examples which might be men- 

 tioned. It is probable, as shown by Dr. 

 Stahl, that the names of minor caciques, 

 possibly clan chiefs, are perpetuated in 

 names of the modern towns Utuado, Tubu- 

 coa, Gurabo, Cayey, Canu;y and many 

 others. Aguenaba is commonly stated to 

 have been the sovereign ruler of all the 

 island, but his power was certainly not 

 always recognized, and it would be excep- 

 tional in Carib society to find one mam an 

 absolute ruler of the island of the size of 

 Porto Rico. 



Among supposed insignia of caciques 

 should be mentioned characteristic stone 

 ring form, which from their form have 

 been called 'collars.' These are often 

 made of the hardest stone, beautifully 

 polished and decorated, showing evidence 

 of having been ornamented with inlaid 



gold or precious stones. The interpre- 

 tation of these objects is one of the 

 archeologieal enigmas, for the early his- 

 torians are silent regarding their use or 

 what they represent. The consensus of 

 modern opinion is that they were bando- 

 liers worn by the caciques as insignia of 

 rank, and the form of many favors this con- 

 elusion. Others are too small and many too 

 heavy to be carried either about the neck 

 or on the shoulders as a kind of bandolier, 

 which facts throw some doubt on the theory 

 that these objects were ever worn on the 

 person. The older writers are also silent 

 regarding the meaning of the elaborate 

 designs which are cut upon them. A study 

 of these designs on many specimens shows 

 that, in some instances, they correspond 

 to the head and parts of the body of cer- 

 tain stone idols, and there is every prob- 

 ability that these designs represent forms 

 of clan gods. Acosta, in a valuable note 

 to the last edition of Fray liiigo's history 

 of Porto Rico, refers to liis examination of 

 many specimens of these collars and sug- 

 gests that these rings represent the bodies 

 of serpents upon which stone heads were 

 fitted, the whole representing a coiled ser- 

 pent. 



This is not the place to present all the 

 evidence I have gathered to support this 

 suggestion, but it may be said that in one 

 of the so-called collars which was examined 

 on my recent visit to the island the resem- 

 blance to a coiled serpent was so close that 

 its identity was perfect, even the head 

 being well represented. 



It may be urged, since snakes are so 

 rare and small in Porto Rico, that the 

 natives would not elevate a cultus of 

 them to the height these stones imply. But 

 it may be said that stone collars of this 

 Jnnd are not confined to this island, occur- 

 ring also where serpents are large and 

 deadly. Moreover, the old accounts say 



