470 STUDIES, SCIENTII^iC AND SOCIAL chAP. 



head and features. The only other paintings which appear 

 to have a similar character are those discovered by Captain 

 Flinders in Chasm Island on the North East Coast, and 

 which have been preserved in a sketch by W. Westall, 

 A.R A., who accompanied Flinders as artist. These form a 

 long procession of human figures of a pale red colour, 

 rudely executed, but all apparently clothed in long robes. 

 Near the head of the procession is a much taller male 

 figure, with arms outstretched and holding a stick, and 

 towards the middle is an equally tall female figure. There 

 are also a turtle and a sword-fish, pretty well drawn. 



Whoever were the people who executed these singular 

 paintings, they were, probably, also the makers of the two 

 large square mounds found by Sir George Grey in the same 

 district. These were formed of loose stones, but were 

 perfect parallelograms in outline, and were placed due 

 east and west. From the drawing given of them they 

 must have been heaped up with great care, since they are 

 finished to a sharp ridge, with triangular ends just like 

 the roof of a building. Both were exactly the same length, 

 twenty-two and a quarter feet, but they differed somewhat 

 in width and height. One was opened, but nothing was 

 found inside but a quantity of fine mould. 



In the same district Sir George Grey noticed among the 

 dark-coloured natives a few individuals who were very 

 much lighter in colour — he says " almost white ; " and he 

 thinks that these lighter people exercised authority ; and 

 he also describes the native houses or shelters as being 

 better constructed here than in other parts of Australia.^ 



A good deal further south, on the Upper Gascoyne River, 

 Mr. Giles met with some natives who were exceptionally 

 good-looking. He says : " Some of these girls and boys had 

 faces, in olive hue, like the ideal representation of angels ; 

 how such beauty could exist among so poor a grade of the 

 human race it is difficult to understand, but there it 

 was." 



These various indications compel us to believe that one 

 or more colonies have formerly existed on the north-west 



^ See Journals in North- West and West Australia, by Lieutenant 

 George Grey (afterwards Sir George Grey) 1S4L 



