MALiEHv] COLORED ROCK-PICTURES. 35 



appear upon rocks found at or near the origin of all of the above men- 

 tioned trails at the base of the mountains, with the exception of tin- 

 one under consideration. The appearance and positiou of these picto- 

 graphs appear to be connected with the several trails. 



The circles figured in b and d of Plate I, and c, r, and ic of Plate II, 

 together with other similar circular marks bearing cross-lines upon the 

 interior, were at first unintelligible, as their forms among various tribes 

 have very different signification. The character in Plate I, above and 

 projecting from d, resembles the human form, with curious lateral bands 

 of black and white, alternately. Two similar characters appear, also, 

 in Plate II, a, b. In a, the lines from the head would seem to indicate 

 a superior rank or condition of the person depicted. 



Having occasion subsequently to visit the private ethnologic collection 

 of Hon. A. F. Coronel, of Los Angeles, California, Dr. Hoffman discov- 

 ered a clue to the general import of the above record, as well as the signi- 

 fication of some of the characters above mentioned. In a collection of 

 colored illustrations of Mexican costumes some of them probably a cen- 

 tury old, he found blankets bearing borders and colors, nearly identical 

 with those shown in the circles in Plate I, d, and Plate II, c, r, w. It is 

 more than probable that the circles represent bales of blankets which 

 early became articles of trade at the Santa Barbara Mission. If this 

 supposition is correct, the cross-lines would seem to represent the cords 

 used in tying the blankets into bales, which same cross-lines appear 

 as cords in /, Plate II. Mr. Coronel also possesses small figures of 

 Mexicans, of various conditions of life, costumes, trades, and pro- 

 fessions, one of which, a painted statuette, is a representation of a 

 Mexican lying down fiat upon an outspread scrape, similar in color aud 

 form to the black and white bauds shown in the upper figure of (/, Plate 

 I, aud «, b, of Plate II, and instantly suggesting the explanation of those 

 figures. Upon the latter the continuity of the black and white bauds is 

 broken, as the human figures are probably intended to be in front, or 

 on top, of the drawings of the blankets. 



The small statuette above mentioned is that of a Mexican trader, aud 

 if the circles in the pictographs are considered to represent bales of 

 blankets, there is a figure in Plate I, d, still more interesting, from the 

 union of one of these circles with that of a character representing the 

 trader, i. e., the man possessing the bales. Bales, or what appear to be 

 bales, are represented to the top and right of the circle d, Plate I, aud 

 also upon the right hand figure in /, Plate II. To the right of the latter 

 are three short lines, evidently showing the knot or ends of the cords 

 used in tying a bale of blankets without colors, therefore of less impor- 

 tance, or of other goods. This bale is upon the back of what appears 

 to be a horse, led in an upward direction by an Indian whose head-dress, 

 and ends of the breech-cloth, are visible. Other human forms appear in 

 the attitude of making gestures, one also in /, Plate II, probably carry- 

 ing a bale of goods. Figure u represents a centipede, an insect found 



