156 PICTOGRAPHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 



followed. This was continued sometimes at intervals of several miles 

 unless indistinct portions of a trail or intersections demanded a repeti- 

 tion at shorter distances. 



A knowledge of the prevalence of this custom proved very beneficial 

 to the early prospectors and pioneers. 



Stone circles and stone heaps of irregular form were also met with, 

 which to a casual observer might be misleading. These resulted from 

 previous deposits of edible pine nuts, which had been heaped upon the 

 ground and covered over with stones, grass, and earth to prevent their 

 destruction by birds and rodents. These deposits were placed along 

 the trails in the timbered regions to afford sustenance to Indians who 

 had failed in the hunt, or who might not reach camp in time to prevent 

 suffering from hunger. 



Plate LXXX (A, B, C) represents colored pietographs found by Dr. 

 Hoffman in 1S8I on the North Fork of the San Gabriel Eiver, also 

 knowu as the Azuza Canon, Los Angeles County, California. Its de- 

 scription is as follows : 



A and "B are copies, one-sixteenth natural size, of rock painting 

 found in the Azuza Canon, 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Cali- 

 fornia. 



The bowlder upon which the paintings occur measures 8 feet loug, 

 about 4 feet high, aud the same in width. The figures occur on the 

 eastern side of the rock, so that the left arm of the human figure on 

 the right points toward the north. 



The map (C) at the bottom of the plate presents the topography of 

 the immediate vicinity and the relative positions of the rocks bearing 

 the two illustrations. The map is drawn ou a scale of 1,000 yards to 

 tbe inch. 



The stream is the North Fork of the San Gabriel Eiver, and is 

 hemmed in by precipitous mountains, with the exception of two points 

 marked c, c, over which the old Indian trail passed iu going from 

 the Mojave Desert on the north to the San Gabriel Valley below, this 

 course being the nearest for reaching the mission settlements at San 

 Gabriel and Los Augeles. In attempting to follow the water-course 

 the distance would be greatly increased and a rougher trail encoun- 

 tered. The pictograph A, painted ou the rock marked b ou the map C, 

 shows characters in pale yellow, upon a bowlder of almost white gran- 

 ite, which are partly obliterated by weatheriug and annual floods, 

 though still enough remains to indicate that the right hand figure is 

 directing the observer to the northeast, although upon taking that 

 course it would be necessary to round the point a short distance to the 

 west. It may have been placed as a notification of direction to those 

 Indians who might have come up the canon iustead of on the regular 

 trail. Farther west, at the spot marked a on the map, is a granite 

 bowlder bearing a large number of paintings part of which have be- 

 come almost obliterated. These were drawn with red ocher (ferric 



