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were attributed three heads, because, like the 

 Trimurti of the Hindoos, he contained three 

 persons, who formed only one divinity ; others 

 bore the emblems of Chia, the wife of Bochica, 

 Isis, or the Moon ; others were covered with 

 masks resembling frogs, in allusion to the first 

 sign of the year, ata ; finally others represented 

 the monster Fomagata, the symbol of evil, 

 figured with one eye, four ears, and a long tail. 

 This Fomagata, whose name in the Chibcha 

 language signifies fire, or melted matter in a state 

 of ebullition, was considered as an evil spirit. 

 He travelled through the air, between Tunja 

 and Sogamozo, and transformed men into ser- 

 pents, lizards, and tigers. According to other 

 traditions Fomagata was originally a cruel 

 prince, whom, to secure the succession to his 

 brother Tusatua, Bochica caused to be treated 

 on the night of his nuptials, as Uranus had been 

 by Saturn. We are ignorant what constellation 

 bears the name of this phantom ; but Mr. Du- 

 quesne thinks, that the Indians attach to it the 

 confused remembrance of the appearance of a 

 comet. When the procession, which reminds us 

 of the astrological processions of the Chinese*, and 

 that of the feast of Isis, had reached the ex- 

 tremity of the suna, the victim was tied to the 

 column we have already mentioned, a cloud of 



* Soucict, torn, iii, p. 33. 



