ANCIENT DWELLINGS OF THE RIO VERDE VALLEY. 755 



broken down into room D of the second story. 2Iet cites and 

 grinding-stones were of frequent use in its construction ; this and 

 other appearances lead us to the conclusion that this remarkable 

 structure was not built at one time, but grew up gradually from 

 successive building. The caves in the cliff were probably first 

 inhabited and the casas subsequently erected. 



When taking the dimensions of room G on this floor a singu- 

 lar incident occurred. Mr. Daniels, my assistant, discovered a 

 stone axe lying between the two timbers which formed the lintel 

 of the window, the latter having been splintered by a bullet, which 

 also struck the axe and loosened it in its position. Thus a care- 

 less shot, aimed at the building by some passing hunter, put us 

 in possession of an interesting relic. 



The apartments of the fourth floor (Fig. 10) are rather neater 

 in construction than the rooms below, but they are otherwise so 

 nearly alike that a detailed description would involve a needless 

 and tiresome repetition of details. The door-ways are neatly exe- 

 cuted, each having four good-sized lintel-pieces. 



The fifth story can only be reached by climbing up through a 

 small hole in the ceiling of room O, similar to that in room A of 

 the first floor. This, the uppermost story (Fig. 11), consists of a 

 long porch or gallery, having a battlement in front and an ele- 

 vated backward extension on the right, with two rooms (R and S) 

 filling the corresponding space on the left. The two rooms on 

 this floor are roofed by the rocky arch of the cliff, and are loftier 

 than the lower chambers. 



It is said that only a few axes, metates, and other stone imple- 

 ments, with broken vessels of pottery, were found in this build- 

 ing when first explored by the whites. Upon my first visit, in 

 1884, it was evident that nothing more than a superficial exami- 

 nation had ever been made. In 1886 I caused the debris on the 

 floors to be shoveled over. This material consisted of a quantity 

 of dust and broken fragments of pottery and stone implements, 

 together with an enormous accumulation of guano from bats 

 that inhabited the building. This accumulation, in the largest 

 room of the top floor, was four feet in depth. As no one had 

 ever disturbed it, the floor was found in exactly the same condi- 

 tion in which it was left by the latest occupants. In front of the 

 entrance the remains of a fire was found, and a goodly bundle of 

 fagots lay against the wall at a convenient distance. An earthen 

 vessel contained food, and a small basket of mesquite-seeds stood 

 hard by. On further search, a large spoon of sycamore wood and 

 some gourd cups were found. A large metate and grinder, 

 weighing upward of a hundred pounds, proved to be a trouble- 

 some acquisition to our collection ; but the labor expended in get- 

 ting it safely down to the ground served to increase our respect 



