282 



TRAVELS A3I0NGST THE GREAT ANDES, chap. xiv. 



examples which appear on the following pages are no doubt the 

 work of four different artists ; and, though all are old, they are by 

 no means of equal age. The idea that any human being could have 

 his face ornamented with a pointed beard or flowing moustache 

 did not enter the brain of the Indian modeller until Spanish Dons 

 invaded his continent. The oldest vases never give hair upon the 

 lips or chin ; and, if beards or moustaches are introduced, it is a 

 certain indication that the works have been executed subsequently 



THE DON POT. 



to the Spanish Conquest. This was evidently the case in the piece 

 that I term ^ the Don pot.^ All three of the other examples shew 

 considerable power in portraying character, and very likely are por- 

 traits of eminent persons. The double-headed jar or vase is the fin- 

 est specimen I have seen of Indian pottery, and I should have been 

 happy to have obtained other examples modelled by the same hand. 

 The pottery which is represented on the previous pages was 

 obtained in various ways, not a little of it coming from old graves. 



