appearance of the sketches the originals of which they
are copies were probably made by one of the middle Algonquin tribes of
Indians.[159]

"The 'Piasa' rock, as it is generally designated, was referred to by the
missionary explorer Marquette in 1675. Its situation was immediately
above the city of Alton, Illinois."

Marquette's remarks are translated by Dr. Francis Parkman as follows:--

"On the flat face of a high rock were painted, in red, black, and green,
a pair of monsters, each 'as large as a calf, with horns like a deer,
red eyes, a beard like a tiger, and a frightful expression of
countenance. The face is something like that of a man, the body covered
with scales; and the tail so long that it passes entirely round the
body, over the head, and between the legs, ending like that of a fish.'"

Another version, by Davidson and Struve, of the discovery of the
petroglyph is as follows:--

"Again they (Joliet and Marquette) were floating on the broad bosom of
the unknown stream. Passing the mouth of the Illinois, they soon fell
into the shadow of a tall promontory, and with great astonishment beheld
the representation of two monsters painted on its lofty limestone front.
According to Marquette, each of these frightful figures had the face of
a man, the horns of a deer, the beard of a tiger, and the tail of a fish
so long that it passed around the body, over the head, and between the
legs. It was an object of Indian worship and greatly impressed the mind
of the pious missionary with the necessity of substituting for this
monstrous idolatry the worship of the true God."

A footnote connected with the foregoing quotation gives the following
description of the same rock:--

"Near the mouth of the Piasa creek, on the bluff, there is a smooth rock
in a cavernous cleft, under an overhanging cliff, on whose face 50 feet
from the base, are painted some ancient pictures or hieroglyphics, of
great interest to the curious. They are placed in a horizontal line from
east to west, representing men, plants and animals. The paintings,
though protected from dampness and storms, are in great part destroyed,
marred by portions of the rock becoming detached and falling down."

Mr. McAdams, of Alton, Illinois, says, "The name Piasa is Indian and
signifies, in the Illini, the bird which devours men". He furnishes a
spirited pen-and-ink sketch, 12 by 15 inches in size and purporting to
represent the ancient painting described by Ma