936 Mythic Dry-Paintings of the Navazos. [October, 
south, blue; two in the west, yellow, and two in the north, black. 
They cross one another in pairs, forming four figures like the let- 
ter X. In each X the snake which appears to be beneath is 
made first, complete in every respect, and then the other snake is 
drawn over it in conformity with their realistic laws of art before 
referred to. The neck in all cases is blue, crossed with four bands 
of red, which, in the snake-like forms run diagonally, but in the 
man-like forms to be seen in other pictures, run transversely. 
The V-shaped marks on the backs of the snakes represent mot- 
tlings; the four marks at the end of each tail are for rattles. Ex- 
ternal to these eight snakes are four more of much greater length 
but colored to correspond with those already described. They 
seem to follow one another around the picture in the direction of 
the sun’s apparent course, and form a frame or boundary. In the 
north-east is seen one of the Yeis, who accompanied the Navajo 
prophet to the home of the snakes. In the extreme west is a 
black circular figure representing the mountain of Dsilya-ithin, 
whence they descended to visit the snakes. In the original picture 
the mountain was in relief—which I have not attempted to con- 
vey in my copy—a little mound of sand about ten or twelve 
inches high. From the summit of the mountain to the middle of 
the central waters is drawn a wide line in corn meal with four 
footprints depicted at intervals; this represents the track of the 
bear. Immediately south of the track is the figure of an animal 
drawn in the gray pigment, this is the grizzly himself, symboliz- 
ing the prophet. 
_ During the journeys of the Navajo prophet before referred to, 
he came one night in the Carrizo mountains to the home of the 
_ four bear-gods (so runs the legend). They took from one corner 
of their cave a great sheet of cloud, unrolled it and exhibited to 
his view a picture. They told him that this picture must be 
drawn by the Navajos in their ceremonies; but as men had not 
the power of handling the clouds they should draw it on sand. 
This picture, a very elaborate one, not illustrated in this article, 
represents the Yeis of the cultivated plants. It shows the central 
| waters and the sunbeam rafts as in the first picture. It has four 
: opomorphic figures extending from the center to different 
points of the compass, and highly conventionalized representa- — 
ons of the four principal domestic plants of the Indians—corm, 
ar Ta and tobacco. The whole is surrounded on three 
