" Timehri ' or Pictured Rocks. 7 



weaving of patterns. We see our children make figures on a slate or on 

 the sand, but we hardly ask why. There is some excuse for the theory of 

 animism, but like all theories it must be taken as only a convenience 

 to the anthropologist. It c rtainly does not represent the mind of the 

 Indian ; we cannot judge likes and impulses as if they had been logically 

 considered. Because one man can give reasons for his conduct, it does 

 not follow that people in general, whether savage or civilized, can do so. 

 Even professed thinkers act on impulse in the majority of cases, for it 

 would hamper our work were we to balance pros and cons before every 

 action. It is not because the Indian thinks a labba has a personality that 

 he carries its effigy on a dance-stick, but because he has seen it done by 

 his father. 



There is an enormous field for the study of the Indian mind, 

 but the difficulties are enormous. What we gather from half- 

 civilized people, who know a little English, does not put us in 

 touch with the real wild man who has never been tainted by 

 European ideas. Possibly excuses are formulated for actions now, that 

 were never thought about by their ancestors ; our boys act on impulse and 

 so do the Indians, but in the early stages no excuses are made. The 

 reason for all our actions is to get what we like ; the Indian uses 

 beenas to help him. I might say that the engraver of the rocks would 

 use a beena, and be all the more proficient because of his confidence in 

 the charm. This can be suggested because as soon as we find out the 

 manners and customs we can see that nothing is done without the pre- 

 liminary charm. Because the man believes iu his beena he perseveres in 

 his arduous task and generally succeeds, when perhaps without it he 

 would be careless. The point to be noted is that the charm does not 

 take the place of hard work, but inspires hope and confidence, thus helping 

 on the accomplishment of the task. He does not necessarily ask what 

 is the good of such things, but has a feeling that they are good and right 

 because otherwise their fathers would not have done them. We find the 

 same thing among civilised people who often retain old customs when 

 they know them to be out-of-date. The Indian probably has a feeling 

 like some old conservatives who say their fathers belonged to a certain 

 party so they must stick to the same as long as they live. 



When Mr. Im Thurn started this Journal and gave it the name 

 " Timehri " he, as it were, endowed it with a character. It was to contain 

 scribblings which might or might not be lasting, but we can hardly 

 expect that they will endure like the pictured rocks of Waraputa, though 

 they are perhaps more stable than those engraved on a clay bank. Such 

 scribblings as this may perhaps pave the way to a better understanding 

 of the native Indian but they must not be considered as anything more 

 than suggestions of possibilities. Those who care to study the subject a 

 little more will find that until Koch-Grunberg gave the key no one 

 seemed to have any idea of dances being the motive of Timehri pictures. 

 With this key however we have been led to speculate, but it is not all 

 fancy. The pictured rocks are real and the dances can be connected 



