On Bacubirito. — Ward. 207 
to rise against the hill-side. The valley and field were of black 
vegetable soil, several feet in thickness. In this soil the great 
meteorite lay imbedded ; its snrface but little below the gen- 
eral surface of the field around it, but with one end slightly 
projecting above the level. The other end was so deeply im- 
bedded in the soil, and so apparently undisturbed or even un- 
covered, that it was easy to see why the size and measures of 
the mass had been uncertain. It was a long, monstrous bowl- 
der of black iron Avhich seemed to be still burrowing to hide 
itself from the upper world. Its surface form was some- 
thing like that of a great ham. We could wa'k for many feet 
along and across its surface, surveying these dimensions as far 
as they were exposed, but knowing nothing of how far the 
mass penetrated the soil beneath. Our first work was exca- 
vation. For this there was no lack of help. We soon got no 
less than 28 stout, able-bodied, willing Peons, who were de- 
lighted to work for us at fair wages. AVe undertook an ex- 
cavation of about 30 feet on a side, with the great meteorite 
lying within. In a single day we passed down through near- 
ly 4 feet of the soft vegetable soil. At the end of that time 
the meteorite had assumed the appearance shown in photo- 
graph plate No. 4, its upper surface and one side being re- 
vealed. On this surface the characteristic "pittings" were 
well marked, covering the entire surface. They were very 
regular in size, about 2 to 3 inches across, with Avell defined 
walls, yet quite shallow. The general form of the mass seen 
from the side was that of one side or ramus of a huge jaw. 
The surface was very even, with nO' holes due to the destruc- 
tion of troilite nodules. Nor were there any points which 
showed the devastation of deep rust. The dryness of the soil 
-and the large portion of nickel in the meteorite's compo- 
sition had doubtless impeded this. As often happens in such 
cases, the part which had been most above ground was best 
preserved with a light oxydized crust, brown and somewhat 
bronze-like in appearance. On one side there \vas a deep 
crack running horizontally through nearly half the length of 
the mass. At one end this crack was too narrow to insert a 
knife-blade. Going toward the other end it increased to a fis- 
sure wide enough to admit our hammer handle and finally our 
arm. This fissure at a distance of some three feet from the 
