On the old crater-walls, five hundred feet in height at the lowest point, which inclose Lake Nijapa, a few miles south-west of Managua, are numerous figures painted in red. Portions of the walls have been thrown down by an earthquake, the débris at the water's edge being covered with intricate and curious red lines; and most of those still in place have been so defaced by the action of wind and water that their original appearance or connection cannot be distinguished. [Illustration: Feathered Serpent at Lake Nijapa.] Among the clearest of the paintings is the coiled feathered serpent shown in the cut. It is three feet in diameter, across the coil, and is painted forty feet up the perpendicular side of the precipice. This would seem to be identical with the Aztec Quetzalcoatl, or the Quiché Gucumatz, both of which names signify 'plumed serpent.' Of the remaining figures, shown in the cut on the following page, the red hand is of frequent occurrence here, and we shall meet it again farther north, especially in Yucatan. The central upper figure is thought by Mr Squier to resemble a character in the Aztec paintings; and among those thrown down the sun and moon are said to have been prominent.[II-49] [Illustration: Rock-paintings of Nijapa.] In the Chontal province none of these pictorial remains are reported, yet Mr Boyle believes that many of the ornamental figures on pottery and stone vessels are hieroglyphic in their nature; founding this opinion on the frequent repetition of complicated groups, as for instance that in the cut, which is repeated four times on the circumference of a bowl.[II-50] [Illustration: Chontal Hieroglyphic.] [Sidenote: STONE STATUES OR IDOLS.] Statues in stone, representing human beings generally, but in some cases animals and monsters also, have been found and described to the number of about sixty, constituting our third and the most interesting class of Nicaraguan relics. Ometepec, rich in pottery and other relics, and reported also to contain idols, has yielded to actual observation only the small animal couchant represented in the cut. It was secretly worshiped by the natives for many years, even in modern times, until this unorthodox practice was discovered and checked by zealous priests. This animal idol was about fourteen inches long and eight inches in height.[II-51] [Illustration: Ometepec Idol.] [Illustration: Idols of Zapatero.--Fig. 1, 2.] [Sidenote: IDOLS ON ZAPATERO ISLAND.]