Excerpt from The Use of Gold and Other Metals: Among the Ancient Inhabitants of Chiriqui, Isthmus of Darien The situation of Chiriqui is unique. Forming, politically, a part of South America, it belongs in reality to the North American continent. It occupies a part of the great southern fiexure of the Isthmus at a point where the shore lines begin finally to turn toward the north. Costa Rica lies to the west and the province of Veragua bounds it upon the east. The antiquarian literature of the province is extremely limited, being confined to brief sketches, based for the most part upon the testimony of transient visitors, gold hunters, and Government explorers, who took but little note of the unpretentious relics of past ages. As there are few striking monuments, the attention of archeeologists was not called to the primeval history of man in this region, and until recently the Isthmus was supposed to have remained practically unoccupied by that group Of cultured nations whose works in Peru and Mexico excite the wonder of the world. But, little bylittle, it has come out that at some period of the past the province was thickly populated and by races possessed of no mean culture. One of the most important additions to our knowledge of the province and its archaeologic treasures is furnished in the manuscript notes Of Mr. J. A. Mcniel, who made the greater part Of the collection now deposited in the National Museum. This ex plorer has personally supervised the examination of many thousands of graves and has forwarded the bulk of his collections to the United States. His explorations have occupied a number of years, during which time he has undergone much privation and has displayed much enthusiasm in pursuing the rather thorny pathway of scientific research. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.