8. It is composed of
trunks of trees of two to two-and-a-half inches in diameter,
secured with vines. In this way I was able to make an excavation
two meters, fifty centimeters square, to a depth of seven meters. I
then found a rough sort of urn of calcareous stone; it contained a
little dust, and upon it the cover of a coarse earthen pot, painted
with yellow ochre. (This cover has since been broken). It was
placed near the head of the statue, and the upper part, with the
three feathers that adorn it, appeared among loose stones, placed
around it with great care. Colonel D. Daniel Traconis, who had that
day come to visit, and bring me a few very welcome provisions, was
present when it was discovered. I continued the work with
precaution, and had the satisfaction, after excavating
one-and-a-half meters more, to see the entire statue appear.

Contemplating this admirable specimen of ancient art, seeing the
beauty of the carving of its expressive face, I was filled with
admiration! Henceforth the American artists could enter into
competition with those of Assyria and Egypt! But, on considering
its enormous weight, its colossal form (it is half as large again
as the natural size), I felt myself overwhelmed with dismay. How to
raise it from the profound bed where it had been deposited, five
thousand years ago, by its friends and the artificers, who with
excessive care raised the pedestal around it! I had no machines,
not even ropes. Only ten Indians accompanied me. The enterprise
was difficult; but when man wishes, he conquers difficulties, and
smooths all obstacles.

After some sleepless nights (the idea of being unable to present my
discoveries to the world did not let me rest), I resolved to open
the pedestal on the east side, form an inclined plane, construct a
capstan, make ropes with the bark of the _habin_ (a tree that grows
in these woods), and extract, by these means, my gem from the place
where it lay.

Plate 6 represents the opening made, and the inclined plane, the
lower part of which only reaches to the shoulder of the statue,
which is seen in the bottom of the excavation. Its depth is known
by comparing the height of the Indian standing near the statue, and
the one who is placed at a third part of the inclined plane.

Plate