NOTES ON SOME BUSHMAN PAINTINGS. 4I9 



Steep climb down, astride a Basuto pony, and the enthusiast 

 reaches one of those dehghtful streams that add so much to the 

 charm of the Lesuto. 



On the far side is a large rock-sheller, consisting of a great 

 wall parallel to the stream, a lofty, arched roof, and low stone 

 walls, dry at one, the most sheltered end, at the other end wet 

 from the constant drip from the roof. 



Here, judging from appearances, large numbers of cattle con- 

 stantly find shelter, where at one time the Bushman must have 

 dwelt in great contentment. 



At the sheltered end, from a few feet above the level of the 

 floor up to some seven or eight feet above it, there are the still 

 splendid remains of a most bewildering collection of paintings of 

 various periods — of battle-scenes, of raids, of processions of men 

 and of beasts, and of single animals, here scattered about over 

 the surface of the rock, there so crowded together, sometimes even 

 one over the other, that the walls, naturally a deep cream, are 

 even to-day aglow with colour ; and before the advent of the Bantu 

 and the European must have presented a fresco of quite extra- 

 ordinary beauty and interest. 



Towards the exposed end the paintings thin out, and finally 

 are altogether wanting. Possibly this may be due to the damp, 

 probably there never were any here. 



The most striking composition, very approprrately placed " on 

 the line," is a procession of mighty elands, from 28 to 36 inches 

 from tip to tail, sometimes marching two abreast, and painted 

 more often than not over a host of smaller animals. 



The elands are not well drawn, are indeed badly proportioned, 

 and little attention has been shewn to detail ; but their number 

 and size attract, as does also the extraordinary richness of their 

 colouring. 



As a rule, the head, neck, belly and legs are of a dirty cream, 

 evidently once white, while for the body a very deep rich red has 

 been used, probably the better to conceal the handiwork of the 

 earlier artists. 



Of this dark paint the qualitv is extraordinary, for it has the 

 brilliancy and gloss of oil-paint, which medium indeed is the only 

 one that can adequately reproduce it ; while through it. and at the 

 rdg-es, there shines a rich vermilion tint. 



The excellence of the pigment may be due partly to the fact 

 that having been applied to an alreadv painted surface, it did not 

 sink in ; but it also seems to have been mixed with unusual care. 



The presence of the vermilion is not easy to account for. It 

 may have been used as a first colour, or the dark paint may have 

 been made by mixing two shades of red ; but most probably this 

 again is the result of decomposition of the pigment. 



Yet in spite of this it has even now a fine quality not found 

 in either the earlier or the later paintings m this neighbourhood. 



Of the paintings that formerly adorned the walls here, very 

 little now remains besides innumerable limbs of animals. These 

 appear to have been well drawn and coloured in a variety of rich, 

 though not dark, shades of light-red and burnt-sienna, varied with 

 cream, and to have been in quite good condition when the large 



