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INDIAN IDOLS.
87
a figure of the Perro Mudo—or dumb dog. This carving was also found in the Calle de St. Teresa, and was doubtless an Indian idol. Silent dogs, were said to have been plentiful at the period of the Spanish conquest; and, although they have been destroyed for food, in the southern and middle parts of Mexico, they are still found, it is alleged, among the Apaché Indians. The figure is of basalt, like the god of Silence, and is one foot and ten inches high.
By the side of the "Perro Mudo," on the bench against the wall, is an Indian Mortar;
the edge of the bowl is surrounded, as you perceive, by the figure of a coiled serpent, exquisitely carved in basalt. Next to this is a head, also beautifully cut in the same material.
