326 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



hardly doea justice to the size of the recess. The material used 

 in the drawings is charcoal with a probable admixture of grease, 

 as the pigment appears to have penetrated the stone, and will 

 not rub off on the hand. 



The shelters and drawings have been known for forty years. 

 Aborigines have not been resident in the district during that 

 period, tliough parties of them have been known to pass through. 



The following is a description of the pictographs that were 

 observed in them : — In the first, which I call No. 1 Shelter (PI. 

 xcv.), there is a figure representing what T suppose to be a 

 conventional animal or perhaps the tail of a lyre-bird (Menura, 

 sp. ) ; another which I think is undoubtedly a representation of 

 an eel (Anguilla, sp.) ; as stated elsewhere, the river at this place 

 is noted for these fish ; the next is probably a Goana 

 ( Varanus, sp. ) or water lizard (Pliysignatus, sp.), but the rear 

 portions of the figure have weathered away, rendering identifica- 

 tion difficult ; another is a nondescript object, which may possibly 

 have been intended for a human being; and there is the figure 

 of a turtle. 1 



In the second, which I call No. 2 Shelter (PI. xcvi.), I observed 

 figures representing an aboriginal corrobboree, with portions of 

 six performers, a very old drawing and much weathered ; pro- 

 bably a frog with its mouth agape ; a figure somewhat lacertilian 

 in outline, but not well drawn ; a rather puzzling representation, 

 for which I cannot suggest what the artist intended ; another 

 which looks like a fish, possibly a mullet (Mugii, sp.) ; one that 

 is probably a tribal mark, the chevron motive is the same as 

 frequently occurs on aboriginal carved trees ; then there is what 

 looks like a shell, a shield, or a leaf; a human being ; and finally 

 a figure which I think is undoubtedly meant for a shield. 



The drawings are not the work of the same artist, nor were 

 they contemporaneously drawn. Generally speaking, the picto- 

 graphs in Shelter No. 1 are the oldest. 



In trying to search out records of similitude in objects depicted 

 I find that Dr. W. E. Roth- refers to "saurian type of figures 

 (lizards, Are.) painted in red ochre upon blocks of granite." 

 While the foregoing are not figured the same author gives a 

 representation of a human being 3 which closely resembles Fig. 8 

 of Shelter 2. 



1 A turtle drawing is figured by Worsnop — l'rehist. Arts, &c, Ab. of 

 Austr. , 1897, pi- wiii., tig. 1 ; and Uassett-ttmith — Journ. Anthrop. Inst., 

 .\xiii., 1893, pi- xviii. (in part). 



2 Roth— Ethuo!. Studies, 1897, sett. 187. 



