REMARKS ON ABORIGINAL ART. 1 05 



Remarks on Aboriginal Art in California and Queen 

 Charlotte's Island. 



13v W. J. Hoffman, M. D. 



Having occasion to again visit the Pacific coast, during the 

 the summer and autumn of the year 1884, ior the purpose of con- 

 tinuing research in primitive art, linguistics, etc., it was my good 

 fortune to find a number of localities of great interest, on account 

 of both painted and etched records, made by Indians belonging to 

 tribes which are at this time unknown to us. These records occur 

 in groups; and for the purpose of future reference to them, I shall 

 merely state at this point that the most important series is in the 

 vicinity of Santa Barbara ; another, of less extent, near San 

 Gabriel ; and the third, consisting of etched characters only, 

 though in great numbers, is in Owen's Valley, west and south of 

 Benton ; all of these are m the State of California. I shall first 

 describe the more important series at Santa Barbara. 



Immediately north of this delightful place is the Santa Ynez 

 range of mountains, running almost due east and west, north of 

 which are the San Rafael Mountains, running parallel with the 

 former, and beyond these, again, is the Coast Range, which at the 

 same time forms the southern and southwestern boundary of the 

 Tulare Valley. All of these mountain ranges are extremely diffi- 

 cult to cross, excepting at a few points where the Indians formerly 

 had trails for going to and from the coast both for trading and 

 horse-stealing. 



The best preserved painted record is located near the summit of 

 the Santa Ynez range, about thirteen miles west of Santa Barbara. 

 Thifi is known as La Piedra Pintada. The paintings are in a cavity 

 which measures about twenty feet wide and eight feet high, being 

 narrower at the mouth than in the interior. This cavity is under 

 an immense rock projecting from a ridge into a narrower mountain 

 canon, near which is a spring of fine water. The rock consists of 

 gray sandstone, but the ceiling and back portion of the cave has a 

 yellowish appearance, is disintegrating, and part of the record is. 



[Pkoc. D. a. N. S., Vol. IV.] 14 [Dec. 24, 18S4.] 



