M UB 
Li 
50 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
of life, and that it is entirely different from the conventional representation 
of the human figure in the paintings and carvings of the Maoris. 
I am strengthened in my conviction that it is meant for a man, by 
observing a similar figure running away from the monster No. 27. No. 16, 
which has been placed below that group, might be compared to a pair of 
spectacles, but is probably a letter, or an imitation of such a sign. A 
little more to the right a figure six feet long is very prominent. It 
is probably the representation of a right whale in the act of spouting. 
Above it, in No. 22, the figure of a Mantis is easily recognisable; whilst 
Nos. 21 and 21a, below the supposed right whale, are again cyphers or 
letters resembling those of the ancient Tamil inscription. Nos. 23 and 25, 
although in many respects different, belong, doubtless, to the same group, 
and represent large lizards or crocodiles. Between them the now empty 
space of a width of 5 feet 6 inches was ev dently also painted over, of which 
the faint marks on the partially scaled off face of the rock can be dis- 
tinguished. The left-hand figure is four feet long; it is, unfortunately, 
deficient in its lower portion, but it is still sufficiently preserved to show 
that besides four legs it possesses two other lower appendages, of which one 
is forked and the other has the appearance of a trident. I wish also to 
draw attention to the unusual form of the head. No. 25 is a similar animal 
three feet long, but it has eight legs, and head and tail are well defined. The 
head is well rounded off, and both animals represent, without doubt, some 
fabulous animal, such as the taniwha, which is generally described as a huge 
crocodile, of which the ancient legends give so many accounts. 
No. 27, a huge snake-like animal fifteen feet long, is probably a repre- 
sentation of the Tuna tuoro—a mythical monster, and of which Mr. Stack 
gives such an interesting account in his notes, kindly furnished to me, and 
which I have added as Appendix No.3. It is evident that the Tuna tuoro is 
in the act of swallowing a man, No. 29, who tries to save himself by running 
away from it. Now, if we admit that the characters below the figures 
denote an Indian origin, the deduction would not be too hazardous that the 
accounts of huge snakes and crocodiles were brought by the writers of these 
signs to New Zealand, or if only pictures or books were obtained from a 
wreck, the ancient inhabitants of these islands founded their legends of 
such monsters upon them. Thus 23 and 25 might be crocodiles, No. 27 a 
boa-constrictor. The figure 26 above the large monster may represent, 
like 8, a quadruped, probably a dog; and finally, No. 28 is a good picture 
of a sealor dogfish. The paintings in black are altogether of another style, 
and have been done in a far more recent period when the aborigines were 
less skilled. But although these designs are all very juvenile, if we except, 
perhaps, the animals, which can easily be recognised, they have been 
AES TÉ 
