138 



INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



All the articles in the following grouj) have been cast, and some are remarkable specimens of 

 casting. 



Figvre A 1, a staff of solid bronze, whose length did not agree with that given in the cata- 

 logue. It was two feet and a half long^ (English measure,) exclusive of the wild-cat on the 

 end of the handle. See this end enlarged at R. The part grasjjcd by the hand was six inches 

 long and nearly an inch and a half thick. Two crosses were sunk deep in it, one opposite the 

 other^ and between them two other indentations of the figure of E'. The handle terminates 

 below'in a handsome bulge or swell, inlaid with net-work of silver or a silver alloy. The rest 

 being plain and tapered^ requires no notice. The composition, though designated as champi, 

 appeared very similar to the bronze instruments figured on Plate VIII. The cord by which 

 the staflf was slung over the arm or secured to the wrist remained attached : it passed between 

 the feet of the animal. The entire instrument was one casting — the wild-cat included. 



Iraplcmentb in Copper and Bronze 



Three kinds of official batons or sceptres have been found, viz : in gold, silver, and bronze — 

 supposed to have been borne respectively by Incas, Curacas, and Caciques — a classification that 

 awards the one described to a chieftain of the latter class. The crosses cast in the handle recall 

 those met with by the early discoverers, to account for which the legend of St. Thomas preach- 

 ing in America was introduced. As a mythic symbol, the figure is known to be more ancient 

 than Christianity, both in the East and the West. Whether employed as one by the aborigines 

 of the South, Garcilasso was uncertain. He describes a cross of jasper or marble, suspended by 

 a golden chain, in the Inca's ajjartments at Cuzco, and much esteemed. The Spaniards seized 

 it ; and when he left his native city for Europe, (in 1560,) it was hanging by a ribbon in the 

 vestry of the cathedral church. It was only a few fingers' breadth in size, and in form resem- 

 bled that figured at E — the transverse bar being equal to and running across the middle of the 

 upright one. 



