INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 135 



It is of gray basalt. The cavity is two inches deep, and three-fourths of one inch in diameter 

 at the top, hut rather wider below. The whole is well polished and the surface mottled. 



Figure B is three inches long, one and a half deep, and as wide across the body ; the cavity one 

 inch by three quarters. The stone is veined, and of a yellow tint, inclining to green. It is jasper. 



Figure A. Polished schistus; the upper half black, and the under a palish yellow. The 

 body two inches long, and not quite so deep. (It is drawn too large.) 



Figures D and K. Both of schist ; the former, black — the latter, darkish brown. 



Figure E, of alabaster ; the cavity in it is less than an inch in depth, and not quite half an 

 inch in diameter. 



Figure F is schist, or soapstone; surface black, and covered with rings scratched on it with 

 dots in their centres. 



Figures G, H, L, 0, P, Q, of various stones, two of steatite ; and the rest as easily cut, 

 except one of granite. Their dimensions vary but slightly from those already given. 



Figure I, a calcareous stone, wrought in imitation of a bear or hippopotamus. The resem- 

 blance to the latter is the greatest ; but the difficulty is, how ancient Peruvians could obtain a 

 knowledge of that animal. 



Figure N is of hard wood, four and a half inches long, and two inches deep. The eyes are 

 plugs of gold, of the form and position represented. 



Figure M is one of a couple whose lineaments have become almost entirely destroyed by time. 



The Peruvians used tobacco in the form of snuif. They also prepared the leaves of the coco 

 and other plants for medical purposes by grinding ; hence the demand for small mortars. 



An extract from Von Tschudi will add to the interest of these relics : 



"Under the dynasty of the Incas, when any useful plant and animal was an object of venera- 

 tion, the Pevuvians rendered almost divine worship to the llama and his relatives, which 

 exclusively furnished them with wool for clothing, and with flesh for food. The temples were 

 adorned with large figures of these animals, made of gold and silver; and their forms were 

 represented in domestic utensils of stone and clay. In the valuable collection of B. C. Von 

 Hagel, of Vienna, there are four of these vessels, composed of porphyry, basalt, and granite, 

 representing the four species, viz : the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuna. These antiquities are 

 exceedingly scarce, and when I was in Peru I was unable to obtain any of them. How the 

 ancient Peruvians, without the aid of iron tools, were able to carve stone so beautifully, is 

 inconceivable." 



In the report of the recent exploration of the Valley of the Amazon, under the direction of 

 the Secretary of the Navy, by Lieutenants Herndon and Gibbon, Part II, are engravings of three 

 of those stone utensils, from private collections in Cuzco. Lieutenant Gibbon observes, that 

 the proprietors of antiquities in that city prized them very highly, and can seldom be induced 

 to part with one, but, on the contrary, are anxious to receive anything in addition. 



In the following group, (see engraving on next page,) the first figure. A, represents a small 

 and neatly cut stone vessel, supposed to have been designed for triturating purposes ; but its 

 flat bottom and the absence of hardness in the material, point rather to culinary operations. 

 I think it was used over the fire, or on the flat covers of the cooking furnaces already alluded to. 

 It is only four inches in diameter, one and a half inches in depth without, and one inch within. 



Figure B is a pestle, of hard and finely-grained granite, and black with age. A wild cat, 

 or panther, is sculptured on the upper part, and forms a not inconvenient handle. It indicates 

 taste in conception and skill in execution. The height of the instrument is five inches ; 

 diameter of the lower part one and three quarters. 



Figtire G, a round, black and exceedingly hard stone, regulaiiy formed as in a lathe, is nearly 

 seven inches in diameter, and three and a half inches deep. It is a mortar ; the cavity, indi- 

 cated by the dotted lines, is four and a half inches across, and two and a quarter deep. It was 

 not found with the pestle B, which appears to have been designed for one much larger. 



Figures D, D', a view and section of a silversmith's crucible. E is another. They might be 



