tribe performed some noted exploit, or met with some sad disaster. The former supposition is undoubtedly the more correct. It is well known that the Indians were usually careful to conceal the traces of their misfortunes, and eager to publish the evidence of their successes.

The rocks are situated about eight rods south of the bridge for common travel, across the Falls. That on which the group is pictured is, during much of the time, under water. The other, which is further from the river, is not so much affected by the wash of the stream. Whenever a freshet occurs, both An

are covered.
idea of the locali-
ty of these sculp-
turings may be
obtained from the
accompany ing
engraving. The
view presented is
from a point be-
tween the two not-
ed rocks, which
are respectively
designated by the
letters A and B.
A train on the
Sullivan Railroad
is seen passing up
on the other side
of the river. In

the back-ground rise the mountains of New Hampshire.* On the south bank of the Wantastiquet or West river, in the

* In his "Travels through the Northern Parts of the United States, in the Years 1807 and 1808," Edward Augustus Kendall, Esq., referred to the sculptures at Bellows Falls, and endeavored by them to prove that the characters on the rock at Dighton, Massachusetts (or "the Writing Rock on Taunton River," as he designated it), were inscribed by the Indians. A few extracts from his work will show the pompous style in which he treated the subject. After describing Bellows Falls, then often called the Great Falls, he proceeded to his argument, in these words:

"The entire basin of the cataract is of coarse granite, fractured into large masses, On the smooth and inclined face of one of these masses, situate on the south side of the bridge, and on the west side of the river, are the sculptures. These have a comparative insignificance when placed beside the Writing Rock on Taunton

1723-1800.]

(6 INDIAN ROCK."

589

town of Brattleborough, is situated the "Indian Rock." Its location is about one hundred rods west of the point of junction of the Wantastiquet and Connecticut rivers. It lies low, and

River. They consist in outlines of a variety of heads, some of which are human, and some belonging to animals. Unlike the sculptures of the Writing Rock, they are parts of no connected work, but are scattered over the face of the rock, in the most even and eligible places.

"It is to these sculptures, then, that I appeal, as to conclusive evidence of the Indian origin of the Writing Rock. They are too rude, too insignificant, and too evidently without depth of meaning to be attributed to Phoenicians or Carthaginians. No person will carry European vanity so far as to contend that there is anything here above the level of the Indian genius. But, if Indians were the authors of these sculptures, then Indians were the authors of the Writing Rock also. The style of the drawing is the same; the style of sculpture is the same; and it is for this reason that I add nothing now, to what I have already advanced, in regard to these particulars. All that requires any special notice is this, that the rock at the Great Falls, which is of an exceedingly coarse granite, must have been wrought with still more difficulty than the rock on Taunton River . . . . . . . These sculptures, so obviously the work of idle hours, and for the accomplishment of which the rudest artist, once provided with a tool, must be allowed to be competent, supply us with the fact, that the Indians were able to sculpture rocks, and that when they did sculpture them, the sculpture resembled the sculpture of the Writing Rock.

"In more than one of the heads sculptured at the Great Falls, we see an exact similitude to the heads sculptured on the Writing Rock, and particularly in the circumstances, that a single dot or hollow is made to serve both for nose and mouth; that no ears are given to the human heads; and that the crowns of the heads are bare....... Thus, we ascertain that in the sculptures observed upon the Writing Rock, there is the strictest similitude, in workmanship and drawing, to those observed upon the rocks at the Great Falls. . . . . . . Thus, all questions are answered, except those that regard the nature of the tool by the edge of which the rocks have been wrought upon, and the occasions upon which the figures have been wrought.

"With respect to the nature of the tool, every difficulty would be dismissed by supposing that the sculptures were not wrought till after the introduction of iron by the Europeans: but, there appears to be good reason for thinking them more ancient, and we shall, therefore, in all probability, be compelled to believe, that the tool was of no better material than stone.

"One only question remains, upon which I shall venture to hazard any remark, and this respects the occasions upon which rocks have been sculptured by the Indians.

......

In the first place, it is matter of notoriety that the Indians have always pursued the practice of representing, by delineation, carving, and, as we are now entitled to add, by sculpture, those objects and those events concerning which they either wished to make some instant communication, or to preserve some durable monument . . . . . . . In the second place, there can be little reason to doubt, that they sometimes exercised their skill, in all the arts now mentioned, for the mere purposes of pastime; and, in this view, it appears unnecessary to admit the doctrine, advanced by some persons in the neighborhood of the Great Falls, in regard to the sculptures there displayed, namely, that the heads wrought upon the rocks are the heads of men, women, children, and animals that have

during a part of the year is covered with water, or with saud and dirt, the deposit of the river. On first examining this

rock, the fig

width, and eight feet in height, was exposed. At the point where the workmen ceased digging, the rock was covered with three feet of earth. The whole surface of the rock, was, upon closer scrutiny, found to be covered with inscriptions. Among these the date 1755 was to be distinguished. The two figures in the upper corner of the engraving, and on a line with one another, are each about eight inches in height, and six inches across, measuring from the extremities of the lateral appendages. Of the ten figures here presented, six are supposed to designate birds, two bear a resemblance to snakes, one is not unlike a dog or a wolf, and one conveys no idea either of bird, beast, or reptile. The chiselling of these sculptures is deeper and more easily traced than that of the sculptures at Bellows

been drowned in the cataract-the Indians being used to commemorate by sculptures particular catastrophes of this kind. We may object to this, first, that there is no reason to believe in the occurrence of so many fatal accidents at this spot, as the number of heads must in such case attest; secondly, that the sculptures on these rocks are disposed with no solemnity or order, but are scattered in the most careless manner; and, thirdly, that it is highly probable that they were the work of idle hours spent among these rocks, at a place so favourable for fishing as the foot of a cataract, and therefore so much a place of resort.

"In this view, the sculptured rocks at the Great Falls will be a monument only of this, the ancient existence of a neighbouring population, and the ancient fish eries pursued here; while the Writing Rock, also found in a situation favourable for fishing, will be regarded, from the variety which it contains, and the apparent combinations and relations of parts which it betrays, as an elaborate monument of some transaction of which no other trace remains to elucidate this imperfect iconography."-iii. 205, 206, 207, 209-213.

1723-1800.] PROBABLE ORIGIN OF THE SCULPTURES.

591

Falls. Iconographic skill may detect the meaning of these configurations. The impression, which one unused to the study of hieroglyphics receives from an examination of them, is that they are the work of the Indians, and that they were carved by them merely for amusement, while watching at this spot for game, or while resting after the toils of the chase.*

Such are the most important memorials of the Indians which

* "On West River, a little above its mouth, are a few Indian sculptures, the last that I shall have to introduce to the reader's notice. 'A number of figures or inscriptions are yet to be seen upon the rocks at the mouth of this river, seeming to allude to the affairs of war among the Indians; but their rudeness and awkwardness denote that the formers of them were at a great remove from the knowledge of any alphabet.' By this account, written by a native topographer, and derived from a History of Vermont, my curiosity was long raised; but, upon visiting the rock intended to be referred to, I found only the most insignificant of all the Indian sculptures that I had met with. The historian, Dr. Williams, with whom I had afterwards the pleasure of conversing, and whose book discovers a spirit of inquiry, and contains many original views, informed me, that as to the sculptures on West River, he had rashly relied on the observations of other eyes than his own.

"These sculptures comprise only five figures of a diminutive size, and scratched, rather than sculptured, on the surface of a small mass of schistic rock, situate on the side of a cove in a meadow, above the mouth of the river. Of the five figures, four represent birds, and one is either that of a dog or of a wolf. I was informed that on a lower part of the rock adjacent, there was a sculptured snake, so exquisitely wrought as to have terrified, by its resemblance to nature, an honest countryman of the neighbourhood. The water, however, was at this time low, and neither myself, nor the gentleman who did me the favour to accompany me, was able to discover any snake; and, on closer inquiry, no sort of foundation could be found even for the story itself.

"The West River rock affords us, therefore, nothing, or next to nothing, in any view save one; and this is, the example of a disposition in the Indians to sculpture rocks, and to sculpture them even for amusement. The cove, which, it may be believed, was anciently overrun with wild rice (zizania aquatica), has always been a celebrated resort of wild ducks. It is at this day a favourite place for shooting them; and we may believe that the Indians were accustomed to spend many hours here watching either for water-fowl or for fish. Hence, the sculptures, both at the Great Falls and on West River, are to be attributed to the whim of vacant moments."-Kendall's Travels, iii. 219, 220, 221.

In the work from which the above extracts are taken, Mr. Kendall gives a very particular description of certain figures, said to be cut by the Indians on the trunk of a pine tree in Weathersfield. These carvings, according to Mr. Kendall, were designed to commemorate the birth of a child, whose mother was taken prisoner at the burning of Deerfield in the year 1704. The foundation of this incorrect statement is, doubtless, the stones still standing on the north bank of Knapp's brook, in the town of Reading, which were erected to commemorate the birth of Captive Johnson, which event took place on the 31st of August, 1754. All inquiries concerning this monumental tree have proved fruitless. The oldest inhabitants of Weathersfield have never known of its existence. It is probable, therefore, that Mr. Kendall's accurate description of the appearance and form of

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are to be found in Eastern Vermont. Regarded as specimens of the rude and uncultivated attempts of a now decaying race to express their ideas, however unimportant those ideas may have been, they cannot but be viewed with mingled emotions of curiosity and respect.

the carvings with which he has adorned it, was due either to an imposition practised upon him, or to his fondness for mythical conceptions.-Kendall's Travels, iii. 207-210, 212. Also ante, pp. 65, 66.