An immense granite bowlder, about 20 feet in thickness and 30 in length, is so broken that a lower quarter is removed, leaving a large square passageway through its entire diameter almost northwest and southeast. Upon the western wall of this passageway is a collection of the colored sketches of which Figure 155 is a reduced copy. The entire face of the rock upon which the pictograph occurs measures about 12 or 15 feet in width and 8 in height. The ceiling also contains many characters of birds, quadrupeds, etc. No. 1 in the figure measures 6 feet in height, from the end of the toes to the top of the head, the others being in proportion as represented.
The attempt at reproducing gestures is admirably portrayed, and the following explanations are based upon such natural gestures as are almost universally in use:
No. 1 represents a person weeping. The eyes have lines running down to the breast, below the ends of which are three short lines on either side. The arms and hands are in the exact position for making the gesture for rain. It was evidently the intention of the artist to show that the hands in this gesture should be passed downward over the face, as probably suggested by the short lines upon the lower end of the tears. This is a noticeable illustration of the general term used by Indians when making the gesture for weeping; _i. e._, “eye-rain.” It is evident that sorrow is portrayed in this illustration, grief based upon the sufferings of others who are shown in connection therewith.
Nos. 2, 3, 4. Six individuals apparently making the gesture for “hunger,” by passing the hands towards and backward from the sides of the body, denoting a “gnawing sensation,” as expressed by Indians. No. 4 occupying a horizontal position, may possibly denote a “dead man,” dead of starvation, this position being adopted by the Ojibwa, Blackfeet, and others as a common way of representing a dead person. The varying lengths of head ornaments denote different degrees of position as warriors or chiefs.
Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 are individuals in various shapes making gestures for negation, or more specifically _nothing_, _nothing here_, a natural and universal gesture made by throwing one or both hands outward toward either side of the body. The hands are extended also, and, to make the action apparently more emphatic, the extended toes are also shown on Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 9. The several lines upon the leg of No. 9 refer evidently to trimmings upon the leggings.
