476 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
depth of trom one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch. The serpents are outlined in 
deep unsteady lines, ranging from one-fourth of an inch to 1 inch in width, and 
in parts are as much as one-half an inch in depth. The example at the left is 
rather carefully executed, but'the other is very rude. It is proper to notice a wing- 
like feature which forms a partial arch over the larger serpent. It consists of a 
broad line of irregular pick marks, which are rather new looking and may not have 
formed a part of the original design; aside from this, there are few indications of 
the use of hard or sharp tools, and, although picking or striking must have been 
resorted to in excavating the figures, the lines and surfaces were evidently finished 
by rubbing. The friable character of the coarse, soft sandstone makes excavation 
by rubbing quite easy, and at the same time renders it impossible to produce any 
considerable degree of polish. 
The red color used upon the large face and in delineating the life line and heart 
of the animal figures is a red ocher or hematite, bits of which, exhibiting the effects 
of rubbing, were found in the floor deposits of the recess. The exact manner of its 
application is not known (perhaps the mere rubbing was sufficient), but the color is 
so fixed that it can not be removed save by the removal of the rock surface. 
Fic. 661.—Baho-li-kong-ya. Arizona. 
Regarding the origin and purpose of these sculptures, it seems, prob- 
able that they are connected with religious practices and myths. If 
the inscriptions were mnemonic records or notices it is reasonable to 
suppose that they would have been placed so as to meet the eye of 
others than those who made or were acquainted with them. But these 
works are hidden in a mountain cave, and even yet, when the forest is 
cleared and the surrounding slopes are cultivated, this secluded recess 
is invisible from almost every side. The spot was evidently the resort 
of a chosen few, such as a religious society. Such sequestered art 
gives evidence of a mystic purpose. 
In this connection it may be noted that a rock drawing in the Canyon 
Segy, Arizona (Fig. 661), shows Baho li-kong-ya, a god, the genius of 
fructification, worshipped by living Moki priests. It is a great crested 
serpent with mammie, which are the source of the blood of all the ani- 
mals and of all the waters of the land. 
F1G. 662.—Mythic serpents, Innuits. 
The serpents in the last-mentioned plate and figure may be compared 
with two Ojibway forms published by Schooleratt (1). 
The upper design of Fig. 662 undoubtedly represents a mythieal ani- 
mal, referred to in the myths of some of the Innuits. It is reproduced 
