II
STATUES
IN
PUNTA DE LAS FIGURAS.
SQUIER visited this locality in December 1849; it is a little plateau, formed by an extension of the margin of the crater surrounding the Bahia de Chiquero. To the west it slopes pretty abruptly towards the Bahia; to the north it shelves gradually towards the low promontory, Punta de las Figuras, which is separated from the south-eastern point of the islet of Ceiba, Punta de Pantheon, by a sound, 50 m. broad; to the east the plateau descends rapidly towards the lake of Nicaragua, and to the south it falls steeply towards the little crater-lake Laguna de Apoyo. It is densely covered by gigantic trees, and between these by under-brush and lians, confusedly entangled. Here I found five large stone-mounds, that may possibly be the remains of temples or other large buildings. The relative situation of these mounds is approximately shown by the plan Pl. 41. Besides these larger mounds, which were more or less oval, with the longer diameter varying from 20 to 40 meters, several smaller, and more irregular ones, were met with. These, however, are not indicated in the plan. The mound I was that nearest to Bahia de Chiquero, the mound V the nearest to Laguna de Apoyo. In this locality no statues were found that could with any degree of certainty be regarded as remaining in their original places, nor were any lying or standing in such a position that it could be decided, whether they had been placed in the peripheries of the mounds, within the buildings, or in the open spaces between the mounds. In this respect the former locality was by far more interesting. The statues were
