The small statuette above mentioned is that of a Mexican trader, and if the circles in the pictographs are considered to represent bales of blankets, there is a figure in Plate I, d, still more interesting, from the union of one of these circles with that of a character representing the trader, i. e., the man possessing the bales. Bales, or what appear to be bales, are represented to the top and right of the circle d, Plate I, and also upon the right hand figure in l, Plate II. To the right of the latter are three short lines, evidently showing the knot or ends of the cords used in tying a bale of blankets without colors, therefore of less importance, or of other goods. This bale is upon the back of what appears to be a horse, led in an upward direction by an Indian whose head-dress, and ends of the breech-cloth, are visible. Other human forms appear in the attitude of making gestures, one also in j, Plate II, probably carrying a bale of goods. Figure u represents a centipede, an insect found occasionally south of the mountains, but reported as extremely rare in the immediate northern regions. (For x, see page 232.)
Mr. Coronel stated that when he first settled in Los Angeles, in 1843, the Indians living north of the San Fernando mountains manufactured blankets of the fur and hair of animals, showing transverse bands of black and white similar to those depicted, which were sold to the inhabitants of the valley of Los Angeles and to Indians who transported them to other tribes.
It is probable that the pictograph is intended to represent the salient features of a trading expedition from the north. The ceiling of the cavity found between the drawings represented in Plate I and Plate II has disappeared, owing to disintegration, thus leaving a blank about 4 feet long, and 6 feet from the top to the bottom of the original record between the parts represented in the two plates.
Dr. W. J. Hoffman also reports the following additional localities in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties. Fifteen miles west of Santa Barbara, on the northern summit of the Santa Ynez range, and near the San Marcos Pass, is a group of paintings in red and black. One figure resembles a portion of a checker-board in the arrangement of squares. Serpentine and zigzag lines occur, as also curved lines with serrations on the concave sides; figures of the sun, groups of short vertical lines, and tree forms, resembling representations of the dragon-fly, and the human form, as drawn by the Moki Indians, and very similar to Fig. e, Pl. II. These paintings are in a cavity near the base of an immense bowlder, over twenty feet in height. A short distance from this is a flat granitic bowlder, containing twenty-one mortar holes, which had evidently been used by visiting Indians during the acorn season. Trees of this genus are very abundant, and their fruit formed one of the sources of subsistence.
Three miles west-northwest of this locality, in the valley near the base of the mountain, are indistinct figures in faded red, painted upon a large rock. The characters appear similar, in general, to those above mentioned.
Forty-three miles west of Santa Barbara, in the Najowe Valley, is a promontory, at the base of which is a large shallow cavern, the opening being smaller than the interior, upon the roof and back of which are numerous figures of similar forms as those observed at San Marcos Pass. Several characters appear to have been drawn at a later date than others, such as horned cattle, etc. The black color used was a manganese compound, while the red pigments consist of ferruginous clays, abundant at numerous localities in the mountain cañons. Some of the human figures are drawn with the hands and arms in the attitude of making the gestures for surprise or astonishment, and negation.
One of the most extensive records, and probably also the most elaborately drawn, is situated in the Carisa Plain, near Señor Oreña’s ranch, sixty or seventy miles due north of Santa Barbara. The most conspicuous figure is that of the sun, resembling a face, with ornamental appendages at the cardinal points, and bearing striking resemblance to some Moki marks and pictographic work. Serpentine lines and numerous anomalous forms also abound.
Four miles northeast of Santa Barbara, near the residence of Mr. Stevens, is an isolated sandstone bowlder measuring about twenty feet high and thirty feet in diameter, upon the western side of which is a slight cavity bearing figures corresponding in general form to others in this county. The gesture for negation again appears in the attitude of the human figures.
Half a mile farther east, on Dr. Coe’s farm, is another smaller bowlder, in a cavity of which some portions of human figures are shown. Parts of the drawings have disappeared through disintegration of the rock, which is called “Pulpit Rock,” on account of the shape of the cavity, its position at the side of the narrow valley, and the echo observed upon speaking a little above the ordinary tone of voice.
Painted rocks also occur in the Azuza Cañon, about thirty miles northeast of Los Angeles, of which illustrations are given in Plate LXXX, described on p. 156.
Dr. Hoffman also found other paintings in the valley of the South Fork of the Tule River, in addition to those discovered in 1882, and given in Figure 155, p. 235. The forms are those of large insects, and of the bear, beaver, centipede, bald eagle, etc.
Upon the eastern slope of an isolated peak between Porterville and Visalia, several miles east of the stage road, are pictographs in red and black. These are chiefly drawings of the deer, bear, and other animals and forms not yet determined.
Just previous to his departure from the Santa Barbara region, Dr. Hoffman was informed of the existence of eight or nine painted records in that neighborhood, which up to that time had been observed only by a few sheep-herders and hunters.
Other important localities showing colored etchings, and other painted figures, are at San Diego, California; at Oneida, Idaho; in Temple Creek Cañon, southeastern Utah, and in the Cañon de Chelly, northwestern New Mexico.
Foreign Petroglyphs
The distribution and the description of the petroglyphs of Mexico, as well as of other forms of pictographs found there, are omitted in the present paper. The subject is so vast, and such a large amount of information has already been given to the public concerning it, that it is not considered in this work, which is mainly devoted to the similar productions of the tribes popularly known as North American Indians, although the pre-Columbian inhabitants of Mexico should, in strictness, be included in that category. It is, however, always to be recognized that one of the most important points in the study of pictographs, is the comparison of those of Mexico with those found farther north.
Copies of many petroglyphs found in the eastern hemisphere have been collected, but the limitations of the present paper do not allow of their reproduction or discussion.
Petroglyphs in South America
While the scope of this work does not contemplate either showing the distribution of the rock carvings in South America, or entering upon any detailed discussion of them, some account is here subjoined for the purpose of indicating the great extent of the ethnic material of this character that is yet to be obtained from that continent. Alexander von Humboldt, in Aspects of Nature in different lands and different climates, etc., Vol. I, pp. 196-201, London, 1850, gives the following general remarks concerning pictographs from South America:
In the interior of South America, between the 2d and 4th degrees of North latitude, a forest-covered plain is enclosed by four rivers, the Orinoco, the Atabapo, the Rio Negro,