138 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
semicircular in shape and about 20 yards in depth, and is partially filled with debris 
of rocks, earth, and sand. 
Like all rocks of which the Bahamas are formed, those in Hartford cave are a mix- 
ture of coral, detritus, and shell, very rough and full of cracks and indentations, and 
in this cave, from the constant damp of filtration and spray, the walls were coated 
with a deposit of lime and salt, so that it would be impossible to say if the carvings 
had been colored. If ever they had been, any traces of coloring must long have 
Fig. 100.—Petroglyphs in the Bahamas. 
disappeared. Besides the markings copied there were others scattered over the walls 
of the cave, most of which were circles apparently resembling human faces. Un- 
fortunately, we neglected to measure the carvings, but I should judge the circles or 
faces to be 10 inches or more across, while others of the figures must have heen a foot 
Fig. 101.—Petroglyphs in the Bahamas. 
and a half in length, and the markings must have been nearly half an inch in depth, 
cut into the face of the rock, and seemed to us such as might have been made with a 
sharp stone implement. Although we visited numerous caves in the various islands 
of the Bahamas, in no other did we find any appearance of markings or carvings on 
the walls, nor could we hear of any reported to have such markings. 
