354 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
of water. Upon slight elevations of ground, or at points where a trail 
branched into two or more directions, or at the intersection of two 
trails, a heap of stones would be placed varying in height according to 
the elevation requisite to attract attention. Upon the top of this would 
be fixed an elongated piece of rock so placed that the most conspicuous 
point projected and pointed in the course to be followed. This was 
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Fic. 466.—No thoroughfare. 
continued sometimes at intervals of several miles unless indistinct 
portions of a trail or intersections demanded a repetition at shorter 
distances. A knowledge of this custom proved very beneficial to the 
early prospectors and pioneers. 
Fig. 467 is a copy, one-sixteenth actual size, of colored petroglyphs 
found by Dr. Hoffman in 1884 on the North fork of the San Gabriel 
river, also known as the Azuza canyon, Los Angeles county, California. — 
‘i 
Fic. 467.—Rock painting, Azuza canyon, California. 
The bowlder upon which the paintings occur measures 8 feet long, 
about 4 feet high, and the same in width. The figures are on the 
eastern side of the rock, so that the left arm of the human figure on the 
right points toward the north. 
