[II-49] Mr Boyle found the cliff-paintings to have suffered much since Mr Squier's visit, thirteen years before; so much so that none could be made out except the winged snake and red hand. He also states that yellow as well as red pictures are here to be seen. Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., pp. 160-1; Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 391-6. In a letter, a fragment of which is published in the Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1850, p. 364, Mr Squier declares the paintings precisely in the style of the Mexican and Guatemalan MSS., closely resembling, some of the figures indeed identical with, those of the Dresden MS. Pim and Seemann, Dottings, p. 401, also noted the 'coiled-up lizard' and other pictures, calling the locality Asososca Lake. Scherzer, Wanderungen, p. 72, and Trav., vol. i., p. 77, mentions also sculptured figures on this crater-wall.
[II-50] Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., pp. 142-3.
[II-51] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 510-17. There were formerly many idols resembling those of Zapatero, but they have been buried or broken up. A group is reported still to be found near the foot of Mt Madeira, but not seen. Woeniger, in Id., p. 509. Froebel, Aus Amer., tom. i., p. 261.
[II-52] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 180, 470-90, 496; Id., (ed. 1856,) vol. ii., p. 336; Id., in Annual Scien. Discov., 1851, p. 388. 'L'île de Zapatero a fourni des idoles qui sont comme des imitations grossières du fameux colosse de Memnon, type connu de cette impassibilité réfléchie que les Égyptiens donnaient à leurs dieux.' Holinski, La Californie, p. 252. 'There still exist on its surface some large stone idols.' Scherzer's Trav., vol. i., p. 31. 'Statues d'hommes et d'animaux d'un effet grandiose, mais d'un travail qui annonce une civilisation moins avancée que celle de l'Yucatan ou du Guatémala.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. cxlvii., p. 135; Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., p. 122.
[II-53] Boyle's Ride, vol. ii., pp. 42-7; Friederichsthal, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 100; Id., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., p. 297.
[II-54] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 448-57. The head of [fig. 1] is the Mexican sign tochtli. The animal in [fig. 2] may be intended for an alligator. Id., in Annual Scien. Discov., 1851, p. 387.
[II-55] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 285-7, 295-301, 402; Id., in Annual Scien. Discov., 1850, p. 363; Wappäus, Geog. u. Stat., p. 341.
[II-56] Belcher's Voyage, vol. i., p. 172; Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 179, 402.
[II-57] Squier's Nicaragua, pp. 264-5, 301-7: 'Some of the statues have the same elaborate head-dresses with others of Copan; one bears a shield upon his arm; another has a girdle, to which is suspended a head.' Id., in Annual Scien. Discov., 1850, p. 363.
[II-58] If idols, to Mr Boyle they indicate a worship of ancestors, of which, however, there seems to be no historical evidence. Mr Pim suggests that the idols of mild expression may be those worshiped before, and those of more ferocious aspect after, the coming of the Aztecs.