614 AUTHENTIC HISTORY 



is said to be tlie highest in the river near Safe Harbor, and from its flat summit the 

 prospect is extensive and beautiful. 



"Rock B measures, from east to west, on the north side, 20 feet; on tlie south side, 

 29 feet 8 inches; from north to south, on the east side, 12 feet 9 inches; on tlie west side, 

 8 feet 6 inches. The height of the west side above low- water mark is 6 feet; of the 

 east side, 12 feet 9 inches. 



"From the east side a huge mass has been broken off, perhaps during one of the ice- 

 gorges which sometimes occur in the river at this spot. It has fallen into the bed of 

 the stream with the fractured end uppennost. Its length is 12 feet 9 inches, and its 

 computed weight 27 tons. The oldest fishermen about Safe Harbor know nothing, 

 either from their own observation or from tradition, as to when the disruption took 

 place ; and yet it must have happened since the figures were cut upon the rock, for 

 those found on the outer perpendicular face of the fragment evidently belong to the 

 same series as those on the upper level surface with which it was once continuous. 



' ' The Figures : The two rocks contain in all upwards of 80 distinct figures, and a 

 number more almost obliterated. They are much scattered, and seem to have been 

 formed without regard to order, so that it is not possible for an unskilled observer to 

 say that they bear any necessary relation to each other. They are probably symbolical, 

 but it is left to those who are versed in American antiquities to decipher their meaning. 

 Some points, however, are clear. They were made by the Aborigines, and made at 

 a large cost of time and labor, with rude stone implements, because no sharp lines or 

 cuts betray the use of iron or steel. This, in connection with their number and variety, 

 proves that they were not the offspring of idle fancy, or the work of idle hours, but the 

 product of design toward some end of high importance in the eyes of the sculptors." 



