570 ROCK PAINTINGS OF THE TRANSNAAL. 



The most commonly accepted explanation is that they are the 

 records of historical incidents, or depict the doings of the chase. 

 Plate 17, Fig. 2. is a picture of this kind. ■ It is curiously reminis- 

 cent of the cartotiche in which the names of Egyptian kings are 

 recorded on the monuments. Aiter reading Stow's description 

 of the manner in which the " emblem '" of each tribe was " con- 

 spicuously painted in some central part of the great cave of 

 the chief of the clan "* an enthusiastic student gifted with 

 imagination might well be forgiven if he thought he had here 

 a connecting link between the Bushmen and the ancient civiliza- 

 tion of Northern Africa. Another might interpret the figure 

 as the record of a treaty, ,in which each cave or clan is repre- 

 sented by a rude circle, vmder which is affixed the mark of 

 each chief within the common bond of union. These interpreta- 

 tions illustrate the manner in which one is temined to allow the 

 imagination to rtm riot when examining Bushman work. The 

 picture of a man rescuing the body of an antelo])e tn)ni tiu- 

 jaws of a snarling pantherf is another example of this kind. 

 Stow discusses the question at considerable length, and arrive^ 

 at the concltision that " they arc pnreh\ historical." 



That his conclusions are justified by a very large numbe. 

 of rock-paintings in many parts of Soutli Africa cannot be de- 

 nied, but this explanation docs not account for the origin of 

 the practice of painting on the rocks which appears to have been 

 common to all troglodytic peoples. Once a man or a race had 

 acc[uired the art, the representation of things seen or done fol- 

 lows as a natural corollary, but it is difficult to imagine that 

 such a primitive race, steeped in the lowest savagery, to whom 

 agriculttire was unknown, and whose ])rinci])al tools were im- 

 plements of wood and stone, should ha\e 1)een readv to dev<ite 

 time and interest to the acqtiirement and perfection of knowledge 

 and skill to the degree undoubtedly possessed l)y the Bushman 

 artists, had there not been some ulterior motive behind it all. 



Professor Frazer has taught us the enormous \alue of com- 

 parative ethnology in the study of human life, and by applving 

 its ])rinciples to the problem before us it is i)ossible that we may 

 get a clearer insight into the working of the Bushman miiid 

 than those who actually studied tbc Ihisbmon tliemselves, since 

 we have a greater body of material to work upiMi than tbey liad. 



We know, from the records of Dr. Bleek. and others whose 

 knowledji'e of the Bushmen was ol)tained at first hand, that 

 they were very superstitious and that they firmly believed in 

 magic, and magic provides a far more reasonable explanation 

 of the origin and purpose of tlie rock-paintings and incised 

 figures of these pygmies than that usuall\' given. 



P>efore we consider the arguments in fa\our of tbis tlieorv. 

 let us consider : 



1 The ohjecls aitncd at in tbe practice of mauic. 'i'hese are: 



* " -Native Races," p. 32. 

 t Plate 17, Fig. i. 



