,
. The right-hand signs of No. 63 and No. 132, No. 146 and several other of the graffiti shown in the plates may perhaps be examples of this practice, which also is very possibly illustrated by the sign
that occurs in No. 219. The cartouche treatment appears in No. 245.
Some of the more complicated signs may only be idle scratchings; drawings, for instance, such as No. 34 are often to be seen upon blotting pads, being made by some writer during the intervals of his composition. But such signs as Nos. 16, 142, 148, 149 and 153 recall the curious ligatured monograms sometimes used by the modern Tawarek in their writings, or the cryptograms, mentioned by Duveyrier and H. Barth, that the Tawarek women sometimes amuse themselves by inventing, that can only be deciphered by those to whom they have imparted the key.[29]
The circles in Nos. 203, 211 and 212 represent small cups about two inches in diameter and were used perhaps for some game such as harubga, or possibly for divination in the manner described by Mohammed et Tounsi.[30] Somewhat similar groups of cups have been found in the Twat Oasis group at ’Ain Guettara, and also in the Geryville district, at El Jaj Mohammed and Shellala Dahrania.
Nos. 224—the left-hand portion—242 and 243 probably represent human beings. In 224 the five fingers of two hands and the long hair in the star like a mark above them occur in several other undoubted drawings of figures that were seen, but are not shown in the plates. It is, however, doubtful whether it is the feet or the hands that are represented in Nos. 242 and 243. Among the figures that are not given in the plates, several appeared in which the hair was represented by dots instead of the lines in No. 224.
Rough drawings of camels were often seen. They are shown in Nos. 193 and 196, and possibly also Nos. 194, 195 and 131 are intended to show them. Nos. 193 and 195 may perhaps represent camels carrying a travelling tent, such as are used by wealthy women, and sometimes also by men on a journey. No. 193 may possibly represent a beast with two humps, though these, of course, are never seen in North Africa. No. 196 apparently carries a rider, mounted on a riding saddle. Among other creatures appearing in the plates, No. 210 is presumably a man being swallowed by a crocodile.