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THE ROCK-ENGRAVINGS .OF'" GRIQUALAND - . WEST: AND BECHUANALAND
• ---"By M. Willman - - - - • - • The petrogly-phs of.Stputh_Africa are less well known than , the Bushman paintings,lbut _with- the appearance of a hand- , some volume The Rock-Bngravings o.f Griqualand West and
Bechuanaland (Carabridge Dogbton, '25s,.), made
• possible bY the generosity, of the Carnegie Corporation of New ,York and the diligence of Miss -Wilman, whose - field-work hits been in progress for twenty-four years, the subject receives a- proper treatment.. The illustrations. are many and good, and the text is clear -and' useful. It is not known for certain who cut these designs on the rocks, or when they were done, and other matters concerning their technique and significance , also admit of speculation; but it teems more than likely that • they have been made by Bushmen within the last few cen. tunes, and there -can- be no doubt of their importance as a manifestation of primitive art. "The engravers," says Miu Wilman, "were extremely, close' observers of-nature' and wonderful craftsmen, their manipulation of the stone. being marvellous; and they . displayed much-more .variety. in their technique than did the painters." She speaks of veritable masterpieces," and illustrates some that would no doubt please Herr Klee, but, by the time the appreciation of primitive art becomes more general than it is at present, inany examples now extant will be lost. The reviewer has seen cattle rubbing themselves against Bushman- paintings of great merit, and meanwhile, say.e44iss Wilman, "the- work of destruction
proceeds apace is done partly by the weather, but "much. more so b/ ,TWentietli-Centtiry Man..", The more valuable, therefore, a Voldineof this kind. '
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