The utensil lies there at the entrance
where he left it; the plants grow in profusion close by among the rocks;
but of the artist there is no record, save the crude and grotesque
figures in fading red on the grey granite.
Most of the central figure is clearly discernible; but parts of the
outline have become blurred and irregular. Tradition says that all the
figures once had black heads--the only attempts at the introduction of a
second colour--but no traces of the black heads are now visible. They must
have succumbed to the tender but irresistible assaults of Time long ago.
In one case, fact seems to belie tradition, for there exist faint
suggestions of a red head--and a red-headed black is as rare as a black
with a tail; but the traces are so extremely vague and indeterminate as
to render any attempt at restoration hopeless. But does not this
obscurity and partial dismemberment lend an air of antiquity, much
prized elsewhere, to these savage frescoes?
Of quite a different order are the works in the Upper Studio at the sign
of the White Stripe. This lies close to the backbone of the island, in
the heart of a bewildering jumble of immense rocks overgrown with
jungle.
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