Miscellaneous Intelligence. 579 



by Breuil near Cogul (Catalonia), Spain. The objects repre- 

 sented are for the most part animals and men, generally in sil- 

 houette only. Geometric figures are abundant. The petroglyphs 

 are disconnected units only, and usually larger than the paint- 

 ings ; the latter frequentty depict a scene, as, for example, a hunt 

 or a fight. 



The petroglyphs are mostly peckings ranging from crude out- 

 lines to veritable bas-reliefs. The most primitive series of petro- 

 glyphs are those discovered by Leslie in the neighborhood of 

 Vereeniging. The principal animals illustrated are the eland, 

 giraffe, rhinoceros, and elephant. Although the pecking is very 

 irregular, the general effect produced is good. All the groups 

 appear to be of the same age and are weathered to the same color 

 as the rest of the rock surface. At Biesjesfontein, some thirty 

 kilometers southwest of the village of Koffyfontein, some of the 

 figures are scraped instead of pecked on the rock. Here also are 

 found two engravings ; one of a hippotragus, the other of a 

 quagga. In a vast majority of rock paintings the outline is filled 

 in with a uniform tint, either red or black, red predominating. 

 In eastern Orangia and in the region south of the Orange river, 

 polychrome paintings occur. The eland, a great favorite with 

 the Solutreans, is depicted in two or more colors, white ventrally 

 and golden yellow, red, or dark brown dorsally. Some of the 

 better polychrome examples " show distinct, though incipient, 

 shading." The figures of animals often show real merit ; those 

 of men are always grotesque. 



The final chapter deals with the prehistoric Bantu, abundant 

 proofs of whose activities are to be found throughout the now 

 sparsely inhabited bush country of northeastern South Africa. 

 The Steynsdorp valley, for instance, is everywhere dotted " with 

 remains of old kraals," in and about which are mortars, pestles, 

 rubbing stones, and other artifacts. Evidences of soil tilling are 

 many ; also of mining and smelting operations in iron, copper, 

 tin, and gold. The finest ruins occur between the Limpopo and the 

 Zambesi. Of the smaller, more primitive ruins, the Inyanga fort 

 is a good example. It is the prototype of the more imposing- 

 Zimbabwe type. The ruins are on commanding sites, taking 

 their shape from the summit contours ; the walls were built of 

 roughly rectangular blocks of granite laid in even courses. The 

 best walls are solid throughout; many are merely faced with 

 stone, the space between the faces being filled Avith rubble. No 

 cement was placed between the blocks. The builders knew how 

 to produce chessboard, cord, herring-bone, and chevron patterns. 

 Courses of rock of a different color were also frequently inserted. 

 Monoliths were placed upright on the walls of some of the build- 

 ings. At Zimbabwe, which was the " fortified kraal of the head 

 chief," additional pillars of soapstone occur, " carved at the top 

 to represent perched birds of prey." All these ruins are the work 

 of a Bantu race that reached a more advanced culture stage than 

 their descendants. The objects found in the ruins are character- 

 istically Bantu. 



