Oct. 12, iS38.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



33i 



The Guanches were good builders of structures made of 

 stones without the aid of mortar. They built a stone wall 

 1 ight across the island of Fuerteventura, separating the two 

 ancient kingdoms of that island. Though much given to 

 living in caves, they also dwelt in stone and wood houses. 

 These were neat and regular in appearance. The roof 

 was composed of rough beams placed close to one another 

 and covered with branches of trees and earth. I saw, 

 and photographed, a good specimen in Gran Canaria 

 from which fig. 1 (page 357) is drawn, and I also 

 measured the interior. The entrance is set back a little, 

 a seat being on either side. The house is rudely 

 circular. It is fifteen and a half feet from the door to 



been larger. Another cave to the right of this is also 

 painted. 



The painting is done in sections, generally running 

 round the cave in widths of ten inches. The designs 

 upon the walls and ceiling, of which figs. 2 and 3 are 

 reduced copies, are in squares like a chess board, white 

 lines being drawn across the squares ; then come red 

 circles of two rings, the outer being ten inches in 

 diameter; next are triangles, that fit into each other, 

 the base of one being inside the apex of the other ; 

 these are painted alternately black and red. The row 

 beneath is a double-lined zigzag, the points or elbows 

 being at top and bottom. Between the lines, the cave is 



kig. 3.--WAL PAINTED 



iiii?lliliiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiilii^!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir< 

 CAVE GALDAR (One-tenth actual size). 



the opposite wall. The wall on the left is three feet 

 thick at the bottom, and seven and a half feet high to 

 the beams. 



Some of the caves in which the nobles of the people 

 dwelt were elaborately decorated. That of the beautiful 

 Andamana at Gaidar, in Gran Canaria, is one of these. 

 When we were there we had this cave partially cleared 

 out of the rubbish which filled it. The entrance way is 

 four feet six inches wide by three feet high The princi- 

 pal cave is nearly circular, and where it could be 

 measured was eighteen feet in diameter. It is pos- 

 sible that the walls sloped upwards, and that at the 

 bottom, if it had been clear of rubbish, it would have 



painted red, but the spaces at the bottom are white 

 Below these are plain squares divided by white lines ; 

 the squares are alternately red and black. Two more 

 designs we noticed, one in squares bisected at the angles, 

 the upper half being black and the lower red ; and on a 

 stone we saw red lines like inverted V's, one above the other. 

 There are, no doubt, other designs down to the floor, but 

 owing to the rubbish, we could not ascertain the fact. I 

 am glad to say that, in response to vigorous expostula- 

 tions, this cave has been purchased by the authorities of 

 Gaidar, cleared and enclosed, so that future visitors will 

 not experience any difficulty in seeing it. 

 {To be continued.) 



