Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-03-25
.NICARAGUAN RELICS.
REVELATIONS or eLoooV sAcRl-
FlcEs ON A LONELY ISLAND.
Huge Idols sarmounted with the Heads
OF Animais-Evidenee. That Hordss of
People Once wershiped Thers-An
Alligator's sauitarIum.


of Animal.-Evi,lenees That Hord.s OF
People Once wer.hiped Thsrs-An
Atligator's sanitarIum.
In the beautiful lake Of Nicaragua there !
are situated number Of islands one OF
them called Zapatera. which has been for
thousands OF years seat Of ancient Indian
worship. The island Is not inhabited and
b. only partly known 10 natives and for
tigners. Having heard Of some important
discoveries recently made by a German
Archaeological. who was formerly connected
with DIR. Sehliemann's excavations in
Majeenal. decided 10 pay a visit TO the
| place.
| Arrived at n small bay. the shores Of
which were adorned with hundreds OF lazy
alligators, reached a landing place, where
/ the remains of "A small artificial harbor are
still 10 be recognized. Hence was guided
/ by an Indian TO n staircase hewn in huge
rocks. In ascending the hill counted T0T
steps
Arrived at the top, saw vast plain, In
the center Of which rise seven elevations
that form "A Latin cross These hills are
surrounded by number Of small ceme
teries, that evidently contain the remains
| OF victims sacrificed to the (Seveu times
sevenb forty-ninc idols. besides statues Of
priests and kings cut out Of hard. black.
polished granite The elevation that forms
the center Of the cross Is about twice the
size OF the remaining six, and Is some hun
dred feet in diameter. On the top OF IL arn
Reven large sacrtiicial stones, surrounded
by vessels into which the blood OF the vic
Tins ran when the rites were performed.
IL is evident that on the center hill the
high priests performed their bloody Office.
as on the smaller elevations the sacriilclal
stones airs smaller and OF inferior work
mauship.
The center hill Is adorned with seven
huge idols, some OF them perfectS pre-
served. The principal one represents a flg.
ure about fourteen feet high, showing a
striking likeness to Azsyran idols. and
wearing long beard, on which remains Of
red coloring airs still visible. The head Is
covered with huge elephants head. On
one slsie of this ather hideous idol stands
! female figure OF very fair appearance
whose features are strikingly Egyptian
Tho head Is covered with the head of a
lioness, the mouth wide open. On the
other side j. the statue OF high priest
: whose headpiece consists OF big snake
: curled up, fitting the grim looking face
like the turban Of an Eastern priest In
the right hand the figure holds a short
knife, while the left holds something that
. looks like n human heart. The other idol.
represent both male and female figures,
! the former Of hidenus aspect while the lat
/ ter present pleasant faces
D The ears of the female figures are pierced
with holes, which served To hold earrings,
as one 81 these was found buried In the
{ soil. The value Of the gold and pearls In
: u amounted TO some 500. not including
its artistic and archaeological value; the
!, Workmanship was very fine. The heads
OF all these statues are covered with mon
strous hcIds 81 lions, nlligaturs, tigers.
1 horses. sheep and other animals, the sp,.-
4 cies OF which IL is impossible 20 deter.
mine Most Of the statues are In "A very
D lair state Of preservation. while some
have been disiigured 10y shocks Of earth
quHkez. Judging from the effects of
I the weather upon these idols, they must
Z be thousands of years old, considering tho
hard quality Of the stone and the damage
9 done. Thanks to the hidden position Of
/ the place, IL has escaped destruction by
D the hands Of the fanatical Spanish priest.
On some of the idols there are hieroglyph
n Inscriptions that have absolutely nothing
I In common with the rude inscriptions gen.
orally found ON ancient Indian remains in
. Central America.
' Descending again the artificial staircase
| remarked that IL must have been long In
{ steps IL evidently led to one Of the prin-
8 eipal places of worship, where masses OF
D people eongregated during certain periods
OF the year tn witness the bloody rites of
their priestcraft. That the place was in
hAhited. except perhaps by r few guardian
Is not probable, for the surroundings con.
siSL Of barren rocks. and traces Of habita-
} tons are not found.
! From this gloomy place went to a
smaller island which certainly in times
| past formed part OF Zapatera On this
/ barren spot, which is partly covered by
1 volcanic ashes, stands "A monolith about
200 feet in diameter. The top il covered
with variety Of cabalistic signs-tigers,
lions, snakes, hippopotami and other
strange animals-all hewn la rock and
, partly distgnred 10y the weather Very
, remarkable are great many Latin. Nal.
tese and Greek cruSses. beautifully worked
aud we'll conserved In the center OF the
surface there Is a large, stately figure Of
grim appearance holding a smaller figure
tight IN each hand. perhaps the repre-.
sentftilon Of powerful chief holding his
yanqnishcd faes, The place Is covered with
Inscriptions that bear a great resemblance
% the ancient inscriptions ON the island Of
Cyprus. Professor Max Muller. OF Ok
forri, Ia whom some fragments have been
forwarded, deems IL possible to decipher
them.
Having returned to the main island. the
Indians guided me To a small laguna, few
miles inland The water OF the iaguna
contains quantities Of sulphur and iron
and IL is believed To be used a. 4 ind Of WA
tering place by the sick alligators that live
In the sweet waters OF the large lake. Ny
guides declared that these animals were
in the habit OF climbing up the rather
steep shores of the lake. walking few
miles through the woods, till they reach
the mouth Of the crater. at the bottom OF
which j. the laguna. and then walking
/ down about 800 feet Ia begin their cure
+ In the yellow waters Of the pond The al.
ligators IN this laguna are extremely ra-
pacious and very dangerous. ~ | expert
enCed, while the same animals are shy and
harmless in the lake There being no fish
or other nourishmeut In the lake. the In
valids ART condemned To severe diet, and
therefore snap even at man when they
get chance, after the cure has worked
Its effect they arc said to return by the
same way 10 the lake 70 enjoy their usual
sport, was incredalous about these wan
behring's 80 the Indians showed me the trail
where feet and tails Of alligatorS were dis
tiuctly imprinted. - rannda Letter in New
York Post
Perfumes In California Roses-
A French pegfumer has been making
tests Of California roses and discovered +