92 ox ABORIGINAL CAVE-DRAWINGS, ETC 



a drawing on wet plaster, destined to dry with the plaster. 

 Later the word was applied to drawings on dry plaster. More 

 recently any drawing on a wall was called a fresco. It would 

 not be a great liberty to apply the word to a drawing on a natural 

 wall or escarpment of rock. 



Again, silhouettes, which were in fashion in the first half 

 of the century, were drawings in solid black on white. The 

 drawings about to be exhibited are solid masses of red or white 

 on a buff back-ground. They would be silhouettes according to 

 the strict definition, if they had been black. 



No. 1 is in the " Dripping Cave," formed in the basal bed 

 of the Desert Sandstone on one of the heads of Chinky Creek. 

 From the roof of this cave a continual shower falls about 30 feet, 

 and forms a small pool of refreshing water, even in the driest 

 season. The drawing, in red ochre, is on a ledge of rock which 

 dips at 60 degrees (from the horizon), and represents a much 

 distended mammal. I was at a loss to name it, and called in 

 the assistance of Peter, an intelligent native trooper, who, 

 without a moment's hesitation, pronounced it a "porcupine" 

 (^Echidna). It has a sharp snout and four short legs, each of 

 which terminates in four digits — at least the right legs do — 

 while the extremities of the left legs have suffered from weather- 

 ing. The sharp snout is suggestive of the echidna, but not the 

 inflated cheeks. If it is an echidna, why did the artist omit 

 even to hint at the spines, which are the most salient features 

 of the animal ? 



No. 2 undoubtedly represents the same animal, although it 

 differs from No. 1 in having four digits on the right legs and 

 three on the left. This figure, and Nos. 3 and 4, are in caves in 

 a bed of sandstone about 100 feet above the " Dripping Cave." 

 No. 2 is drawn in red ochre on the roof of a cave which slopes 

 at 20 degrees, and is about five feet above the level of the floor. 



No. 3 is a lizard or crocodile (?), 4f feet in length, drawn 

 in red ochre, outlined with white clay, adjacent to No. 2, on the 

 roof of the cave, which has the same angle. It is dabbed over 

 with round spots of white clay, the neck being marked with a 

 band of white clay, and a similar mark running along the middle 

 of the head. There are four claws on each leg. Two of the 



