Part 6
Painted rocks in British Guiana are mentioned by Mr. C. Barrington Brown, well known as a traveler in the colony. He says, for instance, that in coming down past Amailah fall (in the same district and range as the Kaieteur), on the Cooriebrong River, he passed ‘a large white sandstone rock ornamented with figures in red paint.’ When in the Pacaraima mountains, on the Brazilian frontier, I heard of the existence of similar paintings in that neighborhood, but was unable to find them. Mr. Wallace, in his account of his ‘Travels on the Amazons,’ mentions the occurrence of similar drawings in more than one place near the Amazons; and from these and other accounts it seems probable that they occur in various parts of South America. If, as seems likely, these figures are painted with either of the red pigments which the Indians use so largely to paint their own bodies as well as their weapons and other implements, or, as is also possible, with some sort of red earth, they must be modern, the work of Indians of the present day; for these red pigments would not long withstand the effects of the weather, especially where, as in the case quoted from Mr. Brown, the drawings are on such an unenduring substance as sandstone. Some further account of these paintings is, however, much to be desired; for, though they are probably modern, it would be very interesting to know whether the designs resemble those depicted on the engraved rocks, or are of the kind with which the Indian at the present time ornaments both his own skin and his household utensils and paddles. It may be mentioned that in the Christy collection there is a stone celt from British Guiana on which are painted lines very closely resembling in character those which the Indian commonly paints on his own body.
The engraved rocks, on the contrary, must be of some antiquity; that is to say, they must certainly date from a time before the influence of Europeans was much felt in Guiana. As has already been said, the engravings are of two kinds and are probably the work of two different people; nor is there even any reason to suppose that the two kinds were produced at one and the same time.
These two kinds of engraving may, for the sake of convenience, be distinguished as ‘deep,’ [a typical example of which is in Figure 2] and ‘shallow’ [typical example Figure 3,] respectively, according as the figures are deeply cut into the rock or are merely scratched on the surface. The former * * vary from one-eighth to one-half of an inch, or even more, in depth; the latter are of quite inconsiderable depth. This difference probably corresponds with a difference in the means by which they were produced. The deep engravings seem cut into the rock with an edged tool, probably of stone; the shallow figures were apparently formed by long continued friction with stones and moist sand. The two kinds seem never to occur in the same place or even near to each other; in fact, a distinct line may almost be drawn between the districts in which the deep and shallow kinds occur, respectively; the deep * * form occurs at several spots on the Mazeruni, Essequibo, Ireng, Cotinga, Potaro, and Berbice Rivers. The shallow form has as yet only been reported from the Corentyn River and its tributaries, where, however, examples occur in considerable abundance. But the two kinds differ not only in the depth of incision, in the apparent mode of their production, and in the place of their occurrence, but also--and this is the chief difference between the two--in the figures represented.
* * * * *
They (the shallow engravings) seem always to occur on comparatively large and more or less smooth surfaces of rock, and rarely, if ever, as the deep figures, on detached blocks of rock, piled one on the other. The shallow figures, too, are generally much larger, always combinations of straight or curved lines in figures much more elaborate than those which occur in the deep engravings; and these shallow pictures always represent not animals, but greater or less variations of the figure which has been described. Lastly, though I am not certain that much significance can be attributed to this, all the examples that I have seen, face more or less accurately eastward.
The deep engravings, on the other hand, consist not of a single figure but of a greater or less number of rude drawings. * * These depict the human form, monkeys, snakes, and other animals, and also very simple combinations of two or three straight or curved lines in a pattern, and occasionally more elaborate combinations. The individual figures are small, averaging from twelve to eighteen inches in height, but a considerable number are generally represented in a group.
Some of the best examples of this latter kind are at Warrapoota cataracts, about six days’ journey up the Essequibo.
* * * The commonest figures at Warrapoota are figures of men or perhaps sometimes monkeys. These are very simple, and generally consist of one straight line, representing the trunk, crossed by two straight lines at right angles to the body line: one, about two-thirds of the distance from the top, represents the two arms as far as the elbows, where upward lines represent the lower part of the arms; the other, which is at the lower end, represents the two legs as far as the knees, from which point, downward lines represent the lower part of the legs. A round dot, or a small circle, at the top of the trunk-line, forms the head; and there are a few radiating lines where the fingers, a few more where the toes, should be. Occasionally the trunk-line is produced downwards as if to represent a long tail. Perhaps the tailless figures represent men, the tailed monkeys. In a few cases the trunk, instead of being indicated by one straight line, is formed by two curved lines, representing the rounded outlines of the body; and the body, thus formed, is bisected, by a row of dots, almost invariably nine in number, which seem to represent vertebræ.
Most of the other figures at Warrapoota are very simple combinations of two, three, or four straight lines similar to the so-called ‘Greek meander pattern,’ which is of such widespread occurrence. Combinations of curved lines and simple spiral lines also frequently occur. Many of these combinations closely resemble the figures which the Indians of the present day paint on their faces and naked bodies. The resemblance is, however, not so great but that it may be merely due to the fact that the figures are just such simple combinations of lines which would occur independently to the rock-engravers and to the body-painters as to all other untaught designers.
The same author (pp. 368, 369) gives the following account of the superstitious reverence entertained for the petroglyphs by the living Indians of Guiana:
Every time a sculptured rock or striking mountain or stone is seen, Indians avert the ill-will of the spirits of such places by rubbing red peppers (_Capsicum_) each in his or her own eyes. For instance, on reaching the Timehri rock on the Corentyn River, I at once began to sketch the figures sculptured thereon. Looking up the next moment I saw the Indians--men, women and children--who accompanied me all grouped round the rock-picture, busily engaged in this painful operation of pepper-rubbing. The extreme pain of this operation when performed thoroughly by the Indians I can faintly realize from my own feelings when I have occasionally rubbed my eyes with fingers which had recently handled red-peppers; and from the fact that, though the older practitioners inflict this self-torture with the utmost stoicism, I have again and again seen that otherwise rare sight of Indians, children, and even young men, sobbing under the infliction. Yet the ceremony was never omitted. Sometimes when by a rare chance no member of the party had had the forethought to provide peppers, lime-juice was used as a substitute; and once, when neither peppers nor limes were at hand, a piece of blue indigo-dyed cloth was carefully soaked, and the dye was then rubbed into the eyes. These, I believe, are the only ceremonies observed by the Indians. One idea underlies them all, and that is the attempt to avoid attracting the attention of malignant spirits.
The following extract from a paper on the Indian picture writing in British Guiana, by Mr. Charles B. Brown, in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1873, Vol. II, 254-257, gives views and details somewhat different from the foregoing:
These writings or markings are visible at a greater or less distance in proportion to the depth of the furrows. In some instances they are distinctly visible upon the rocks on the banks of the river at a distance of one hundred yards; in others they are so faint that they can only be seen in certain lights by reflected rays from their polished surfaces. They occur upon greenstone, granite, quartz-porphyry, gneiss, and jasperous sandstone, both in a vertical and horizontal position, at various elevations above the water. Sometimes they can only be seen during the dry season, when the rivers are low, as in several instances on the Berbice and Cassikytyn rivers. In one instance, on the Corentyne river, the markings on the rock are so much above the level of the river when at its greatest height, that they could only have been made by erecting a staging against the face of the rock, unless the river was at the time much above its usual level. The widths of the furrows vary from half an inch to one inch, while the depth never exceeds one-fourth of an inch. Sometimes the markings are almost level with the surrounding surfaces, owing to the waste or degradation by atmospheric influences, which have acted with greater force upon the rough rock than on the polished face of the grooved markings. The furrows present the same weather-stained aspect as the rocks upon which they are cut, and both the rocks and the furrows are in some instances coated with a thin layer of the oxides of iron and manganese.
The Indians of Guiana know nothing about the picture writing by tradition. They scout the idea of their having been made by the hand of man, and ascribe them to the handiwork of the Makunaima, their great spirit. Nevertheless, they do not regard them with any superstitious feelings, looking upon them merely as curiosities, which is the more extraordinary as there are numbers of large rocks without any markings on some rivers, which they will not even look at in passing, lest some calamity should overtake them. Their Peaimen or sorcerers always squeeze tobacco juice in their eyes on approaching these, but pay no regard to the sculptured rocks. In the Pacaraima mountains, between the villages of Mora and Itabay, the path passes through a circle of square stones placed on one end, one of which has a carving upon it; some of these blocks have been thrown down and broken by the Indians, clearly proving their utter disregard for them. If then there were any traditions regarding these writings handed down from father to son, I conclude that the Indians of the present day--the most superstitious of beings--would undoubtedly treat them with awe and respect. Again, if their forefathers were as indolent as they now are, they never would have gone to the trouble of making these pictures merely for the purpose of passing away their time, which they could have more easily accomplished by lying in their hammocks from morning to night in a semi-dreamy sort of state, as their descendants do at present. As these figures were evidently cut with great care and at much labor by a former race of men, I conclude that they were made for some great purpose, probably a religious one, as some of the figures give indications of Phallic worship.
PETROGLYPHS IN BRAZIL.
The following is an abstract from a paper by J. Whitfield on Rock Inscriptions in Brazil, in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1874, Vol. III, p. 114:
The rock inscriptions were visited in August, 1865, during an exploring expedition for gold mines in the province of Ceará. Several similar inscriptions are said to exist in the interior of the province of Ceará, as well as in the provinces of Pernambuco and Piauhy, especially in the _Sertaõs_, that is, in the thinly-wooded parts of the interior, but no mention is ever made of their having been seen near the coast.
In the margin and bed only of the river are the rocks inscribed. On the margin they extend in some instances to fifteen or twenty yards. Except in the rainy season the stream is dry. The rock is a silicious schist of excessively hard and flinty texture. The marks have the appearance of having been made with a blunt heavy tool, such as might be made with an almost worn-out mason’s hammer.
The situation is about midway between Serra Grande or Ibiapaba and Serra Merioca, about seventy miles from the coast and forty west of the town Sobral. There are not any indications of works of art or other antiquarian remains, nor anything peculiar to the locality. The country is gently undulating, and of the usual character that obtains for hundreds of miles extending along the base of the Serra Ibiapaba.
The native population attribute all the ‘Letreiros’ (inscriptions), as they do everything else of which they have no information, to the Dutch as records of hidden wealth. The Dutch, however, only occupied the country for a few years in the early part of the seventeenth century. Along the coast numerous forts, the works of the Dutch, still remain; but there are no authentic records of their ever having established themselves in the interior of the country, and less probability still of their amusing themselves with inscribing puzzling hieroglyphics, which must have been a work of time, on the rocks of the far interior, for the admiration of wandering Indians.
PICTOGRAPHS IN PERU.
Dr. J. J. Von Tschudi mentions in his Travels in Peru during the years 1838-1842, [Wiley and Putnam’s Library, Vols. XCIII-XCIV, New York, 1847,] Pt. II, p. 345-346, that the ancient Peruvians also used a certain kind of “hieroglyphics” which they engraved in stone, and preserved in their temples. Notices of these “hieroglyphics” are given by some of the early writers. There appears to be a great similarity between these Peruvian pictographs and those found in Mexico and Brazil.
The temptation to quote from Charles Wiener’s magnificent work Pérou et Bolivie, Paris, 1880, and also from La Antigüedad del Hombre en el Plata, by Florentine Ameghino, Paris (and Buenos Aires), 1880, must be resisted.
OBJECTS REPRESENTED IN PICTOGRAPHS.
The objects depicted in pictographs of all kinds are too numerous and varied for any immediate attempt at classification. Those upon the petroglyphs may, however, be usefully grouped. Instructive particulars regarding them, may be discovered, for instance the delineation of the fauna in reference to its present or former habitat in the region where the representation of it is found, is of special interest.
As an example of the number and kind of animals pictured, as well as of their mode of representation, the following Figures, 4 to 21, are presented, taken from the Moki inscriptions at Oakley Springs, Arizona, by Mr. G. K. Gilbert. These were selected by him from, a large number of etchings, for the purpose of obtaining the explanation, and they were explained to him by Tubi, an Oraibi chief living at Oraibi, one of the Moki villages.
Jones, in his Southern Indians, p. 377-379, gives a résumé of objects depicted as follows:
Upon the Enchanted Mountain in Union County, cut in plutonic rock, are the tracks of men, women, children, deer, bears, bisons, turkeys and terrapins, and the outlines of a snake, of two deer, and of a human hand. These sculptures--so far as they have been ascertained and counted--number one hundred and thirty-six. The most extravagant among them is that known as the footprint of the “Great Warrior.” It measures eighteen inches in length, and has six toes. The other human tracks and those of the animals are delineated with commendable fidelity. * * *
Most of them present the appearance of the natural tread of the animal in plastic clay. * * * These _intaglios_ closely resemble those described by Mr. Ward [Jour. Anthrop. Inst. of N. Y., No. 1, 57 _et seq._], as existing upon the upheaved strata of coarse carboniferous grit in Belmont County, Ohio, near the town of Barnesville.
The appearance of objects showing the influence of European civilization and christianization should always be carefully noted. An instance where an object of that character is found among a multitude of others not liable to such suspicion is in the heart surmounted by a cross, in the upper line of Figure 1, page 30 _ante._ This suggests missionary teaching.
The following is the explanation of the figures:
Fig. 4. A beaver. 5. A bear. 6. A mountain sheep (_Ovis montana_). 7. Three wolf heads. 8. Three Jackass rabbits. 9. Cottontail rabbit. 10. Bear tracks. 11. An eagle. 12. Eagle tails. 13. A turkey tail. 14. Horned toads (_Phryosoma_ sp.?). 15. Lizards. 16. A butterfly. 17. Snakes. 18. A rattlesnake. 19. Deer track. 20. Three Bird tracks. 21. Bitterns (wading birds).
INSTRUMENTS USED IN PICTOGRAPHY.
These are often of anthropologic interest. A few examples are given as follows, though other descriptions appear elsewhere in this paper.
INSTRUMENTS FOR CARVING.
This includes etching, pecking, and scratching.
The Hidatsa, when carving upon stone or rocks, as well as upon pieces of wood, use a sharply pointed piece of hard stone, usually a fragment of quartz.
The bow-drill was an instrument largely used by the Innuit of Alaska in carving bone and ivory. The present method of cutting figures and other characters, to record events and personal exploits, consists in the use of a small blade, thick, though sharply pointed, resembling a graver.
INSTRUMENTS FOR DRAWING.
When in haste, or when the necessary materials are not at hand, the Hidatsa sometimes prepare notices by drawing upon a piece of wood or the shoulder blade of a buffalo with a piece of charcoal obtained from the fire, or with a piece of red chalk, with which nearly every warrior is at all times supplied.
INSTRUMENTS FOR PAINTING.
Painting upon robes or skins is accomplished by means of thin strips of wood, or sometimes of bone. Tufts of antelope hair are also used, by tying them to sticks to make a brush. This is evidently a modern innovation. Pieces of wood, one end of each chewed so as to produce a loose fibrous brush, are also used at times, as has been observed among the Titon Dakota.
The Hidatsa, Arikara, and other Northwest Indians usually employ a piece of buffalo rib, or a piece of hard wood, having somewhat of an elliptical or lozenge-shaped form. This is dipped in thin glue and a tracing is made, which is subsequently treated in a similar manner with a solution, of glue, water, and color.
INSTRUMENTS FOR TATTOOING.
The Hidatsa say that formerly, when tattooing was practiced, sharp pieces of bone were used for pricking the skin.
The tribes of Oregon, Washington, and northern California used sharp pieces of bone, thorns, and the dorsal spines of fish, though at present needles are employed, as they are more effective and less painful, and are readily procured by purchase.
Needles are used by the Klamath Indians, according to Mr. Gatschet.
Rev. M. Eells reports (Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey II, p. 75) that for tattooing the Twana Indians use a needle and thread, blackening the thread with charcoal and drawing it under the skin as deeply as they can bear it.
Stephen Powers says (Contrib. to N. A. Ethnol. III., p. 130) that tattooing among the Yuki is done with pitch-pine soot, and a sharp-pointed bone. After the designs have been traced on the skin the soot is rubbed in dry.
Paul Marcoy mentions in his Travels in South America, N. Y., 1875, Vol. II, 353, that the Passés, Yuris, Barrés and Chumanas, of Brazil, use a needle for tattooing.
The following quotation is from Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants, by Rev. Richard Taylor, London, 1870, pp. 320, 321:
The substance generally used as coloring matter is the resin of the _kauri_ or _rimu_, which, when burnt, is pounded and converted into a fine powder.
The _uhi_ or instrument used was a small chisel, made of the bone of an albatross, very narrow and sharp, which was driven by means of a little mallet, _he mahoe_, quite through the skin, and sometimes completely through the cheek as well, in which case when the person undergoing the operation took his pipe, the smoke found its way out through the cuttings; the pain was excruciating, especially in the more tender parts, and caused dreadful swellings, only a small piece could be done at a time; the operator held in his hand a piece of _muka_, flax, dipped in the pigment, which he drew over the incision immediately it was made; the blood which flowed freely from the wound was constantly wiped away with a bit of flax; the pattern was first drawn either with charcoal or scratched in with a sharp-pointed instrument. To tattoo a person fully was therefore a work of time, and to attempt to do too much at once endangered life. I remember a poor _porangi_, or insane person, who, during the war, was tattooed most unmercifully by some young scoundrels; the poor man’s wounds were so dreadfully inflamed, as to occasion his death; whilst any one was being operated upon, all persons in the pa were tapu, until the termination of the work, lest any evil should befall him; to have fine tattooed faces, was the great ambition of young men, both to render themselves attractive to the ladies, and conspicuous in war: for even if killed by the enemy, whilst the heads of the untattooed were treated with indignity and kicked on one side, those which were conspicuous by their beautiful moko, were carefully cut off, stuck on the _turuturu_, a pole with a cross on it, and then preserved; all which was highly gratifying to the survivors, and the spirits of their late possessors.
The person operated upon was stretched all his length on the ground, and to encourage him manfully to endure the pain, songs were continually sung to him.
COLORS AND METHODS OF APPLICATION.
IN THE UNITED STATES.