Bock-engravings of Animals and the Human Figure. 407 



If we turn to the South African engraved stones we notice that 

 the workmanship differs from that of the prehistoric " rupestres " 

 of Northern Africa. All those that I have examined or of which 

 I have seen photographs, are made by pointing or punching, not by 

 line drawing, except one which pertains to both these processes. 

 The technique is thus similar to that of the Touareg country.* 



The depth of this pointing is variable. 



In the figs, of Plate XII., the punching is deep and uneven, the 

 surface is a shaley quartzite, naturally well polished. 



Fig. 1 is a very good delineation, on the same kind of rock, of the 

 Koodoo (Strepciceros kudu). 



Fig. 2 is that of an undetermined, somewhat unreal antelope, 

 possibly meant to represent the Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes 

 taurinus). 



These two figures come from the Klerksdorp District in the 

 Transvaal, and are probably the work of the same artist. 



Fig. 3 is a giraffe, no longer drawn in outline only ; the body 

 is also pointed or etched ; towards the edge of the slab is seen the 

 head of another giraffe. 



Fig. 4 is an ostrich ; the reproduction is excellent ; there also the 

 body is etched, and the attitude is perfect. 



Mr. C. J. Swierstra, of the Pretoria Museum, has sent me excellent 

 photographs of work of the same technique and also found in 

 Klerksdorp. They represent either the Guinea-fowl, or, more prob- 

 ably, the large bustard or Gom Paw (Otis kori), the Cape Ant-eater 

 (Orycteropus capensis), the Gemsbok, the Eland, &c. 



These engravings with deep, broad, intaglio pointings might be 

 very ancient or not. The surface of the rock and the lines of the 

 animals do not show much trace of weathering. But the same 

 cannot be said of the engravings found along the banks of the 

 Orange Eiver or of the Vaal Eiver. There the rock chosen is the 

 smooth surface of boulder-like masses of weathered dolerite, or 

 diabase. 



Fig. 5 of Plate XIII. is incomprehensible. It is impossible to 

 say if hieroglyphs are meant, or if it is merely the expression of 

 a whimsical fancy on the part of the engraver. The lines, for 

 they are lines rather than pointings, are the deepest I have yet 

 seen. 



Fig. 6 represents a Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) checking itself while 

 at full speed before the extraordinary object set before it; at an 

 angle of the face of the rock is a similar figure which, not having 



* Line drawings have, however, been discovered quite lately of a fa** superior 

 type, and will be the subject of another note, 



