38 



THE TROGLODYTES. 



Fig. 23. 



But I am tempted to believe that this preteutled cetacean is onlj^ a badly 

 drawn fish. The relative size of the man proves nothing, for the artist 

 throughout the entire sketch has manifested entire contempt for pro])or- 

 tion. This too diminutive man has a gigantic arm, and the harpoon he 

 throws is proportioned to the size of the fish. We are reminded of cer- 

 tain jocose drawings of the present day, in which puny bodies are supplied 

 with enormous heads. The great interest of this particular work of art 

 consists in the unanswerable proof it gives that the troglodytes used the 

 harj)oon in fishing. I have already shown by indirect evidence that 

 the daits, barbed only on one side, could only be used as harpoons, and 

 this drawing fidly confirms that conclusion. 



The troglodytes, sometimes so skillful in the representation of animals, 

 drew the human form very badly. They very seldom attempted it, and 

 only a single study of a head has been found. It is in profile, very 

 small, and very grotesque. Two other drawings, very similar to each 

 other, represent a fore-arm, terminated by a hand with four fingers, the 

 thumb hidden from view. Add to these the fisherman with the harjioon, 

 and two hunting scenes, in which a man entirely naked, and armed 

 with a dart, or baton, is very rudely drawn, among figures of animals 

 very skillfully executed, and you have a complete list of all the repre- 

 sentations of man to be found in the gallery of the troglodytes. 



I have already said that the specimens of sculpture 

 are much more rare than the drawings. We only 

 know of about half a dozen, and they all came from 

 Lower Laugerie. One of them, belonging to the Mar- 

 quis of Yibraye, represents a woman ; the others the 

 following animals : a reindeer, (see Fig. 23,) the head of 

 a reindeer, the head of a mammoth already mentioned, 

 and the head of an animal not yet identified; lastly, a 

 specimen discovered by M. Elie Massenat, called the 

 twin oxen, representing two animals which may be 

 either oxen or uri. 



These sculptures are sometimes unfinished, and al- 

 ways badly executed. It is true they ornament the 

 handles of poignards, or commanders' batons, and in 

 order to accommodate the animal forms employed to this 

 purpose, the artist was obliged to choose unnatural and 

 ungraceful positions; but, iu sjiite of these extenuating 

 circumstances, it must be confessed that the troglodytes 

 w^ere very j)oor sculptors. 



On the contrary, in the art of drawing they mani- 

 fested surprising skill. From I know not what rea- 

 son they paid little attention to the human form, and 

 failed in its representation, but the characteristics of animals were 

 reproduced with such faithfulness, elegance, and spirit, as to denote true 

 artistic feeling. 



Carved head of a poign' 

 ard, represeutiug an 

 elongated reindeer. 



