1897.] MATHEWS — ROCK CARVINGS AXD PAIXTIXGS. .1:67 



nondescript devices are the result of idle caprice. The production 

 of some of the larger groups — both of carvings and paintings — has 

 been a work of immense labor, and it is unlikely that the natives 

 would have taken so much trouble for mere amusement. 



Aboriginal drawings are almost everywhere of the same character, 

 with but little variation either in the subjects treated or in the style 

 of workmanship. They consist chiefly of stenciled and impressed 

 hands, outline drawings of human forms, animals and a few non- 

 descript devices. In many of the caves we find groups of lines 

 varying in length from about four inches to two feet. Sometimes 

 the series consists of two or three lines; in other cases there are as 

 many as about a dozen. They are generally drawn vertically or 

 only slightly inclined, but are occasionally met with in a nearly 

 horizontal position. The native artists had no idea of perspective, 

 and their figures are not copied from nature, but are apparently 

 drawn according to some conventional pattern which has probably 

 been handed down from a remote period. The stenciled drawings 

 cannot be called copying from nature, and may, therefore, be 

 included in the conventional type. 



Owing to our limited acquaintance with the subject, it would 

 obviously be premature at present to advance any far-reaching 

 theoiy as to the signification of these drawings. What we should 

 endeavor to accomplish is the collection of all the facts now obtain- 

 able respecting these works of native art, by careful observation 

 and inquiry in all parts of Australia. This would, I feel convinced, 

 yield results of more than ordinary interest. The information thus 

 gathered should be systematically compared and classified, from 

 which it may be possible for us to arrive at some definite conclusion 

 in reference to the purpose of these drawings, and perhaps furnish 

 an important link in regard to the prehistoric colonization of this 

 continent. This work should be undertaken without delay, because 

 the farther we get away in point of time from the period of produc- 

 tion of these pictures, the more difficult will it obviously become 

 for us to obtain satisfactory explanations as to their meaning and 

 origin. There are many difficult points which require much closer 

 attention than they have yet received. 



Writing under the date of February, 1788, Capt. Watkin Tench 

 mentions some carvings seen by him upon rocks in the vicinity of 

 Sydney;^ and in January, 1803, Capt. M. Flinders discovered some 



^ A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay (1789), p. 79. 



