NUMBER 1 is a beautiful vase, moulded from pure clay, with a slight silicious intermixture. Its thickness is uniform throughout, not exceeding one sixth of an inch. Its outer as well as interior surface is smooth, except where it is dotted by way of ornament. Its finish resembles in all respects that of the finer Peruvian pottery, and, when held in certain positions towards the light, exhibits the same peculiarities of surface, as if it had been carefully shaved and smoothed with a sharp knife. It is highly polished, and has an unctuous feel. The exterior is ornamented as represented in the drawing. The lines are carved in, and appear to have been cut by some sharp «gouge-shaped» instrument, which entirely removed the detached material, leaving no ragged or raised edges. Nothing can exceed the uniformity and precision with which they are executed; and it seems almost impossible that the artist could have preserved so much regularity, with no other guide than the eye. There are four groups or festoons of lines, each of which occupies an equal division of the surface. A line is carried around the top of the vase near the edge, in which, at equal distances from each other, are pierced four small holes, a fifth of an inch in diameter. Between this line and the edge is a row of dots, formed with the same instrument used in carving the lines, held in an oblique direction to the surface. The spaces between some of the lines are [p190] roughened in a similar manner. The color of this vase is a dark brown or umber. Its height is five and a half, its diameter six and a half inches. The fragment, Fig. 5, exhibits the thickness of the ware, the size of the engraved lines, etc.
NUMBER 2 is a vase of coarser material but more elaborate outline than the one just described. It is square, with slightly rounded angles, and has a singular offset or shoulder at the top. Its exterior is divided into four compartments, within each of which is an ornamental figure, somewhat resembling a bird with extended wings. This ornament is thrown in relief by the roughening of the remaining portions of the surface. One or two other vases have been found, possessing the same shape and having identical ornaments, but lacking the offset or shoulder above mentioned. The ornamental work, in all of these specimens, is executed in a free, bold style; and the figures differ just enough to show that they were not cut after a pattern. This vase is burned hard; its thickness is but one eighth of an inch; its dimensions are, height five inches, greatest diameter the same.