A Botanical and Economic Study. 101 



painted pottery. Caspar Castano de la Sosa, 1 when he made 

 his trip, in 1590, into New Mexico, mentioned that they used 

 painted pottery, red-figured and black. The indented ware is 

 almost identical with that found in the Rio Mancos and from 

 southwestern Utah, and it seems to be the oldest and most 

 primitive form. The cliff -dwellings of the Mancos are, there- 

 fore, comparatively very old. The cob found at Pecos, in the 

 ashes, or rather cut out of the bluff, is charred and small- 

 That these remains were not left by the later Indians is 

 proved by the fact that the Navajos and Apaches are terribly 

 superstitious concerning the cliff-dwellings, and can never be 

 persuaded to go near one, nor, indeed, have they ever been 

 known to enter one.'- The dwellings have been deserted a 

 long time, how long it is hard to establish, probably 500 years 

 or more, as the Navajo Indians relate. They are the farthest 

 north, and, therefore, the oldest, for as we go southward we 

 find indications of more and more recent habitation," until we 

 reach the " Land of the Living Cliff-Dwellers," 4 lying be- 

 tween the Mexican States of Chihuahua and Sonora, in the 

 Sierra Madre, along the course of the Bacochic. "The timid 

 Tarahumari, a savage race, live mostly on the cliffs, or in 

 caves, and are worshippers of the sun, and while they plant a 

 little corn without cultivation on the steep hillsides, are not 

 otherwise tillers of the soil, but sustain themselves by the 

 chase." 



The Nahuas had reached a comparatively high plane, as 

 compared with the more savage tribes about them. They 

 were a warrior race, built houses of quite skillful construc- 

 tion, and were agriculturists. They worshipped various 

 deities, Ouetzalcoatl occupied the chief place, but minor gods 

 and goddesses were also objects of adoration. The goddess 

 Centeotl, corresponding with the Ceres of the Romans pre- 

 sided over horticulture, the fields and harvests. Her favor 

 was invoked both at the sowing and at the gathering of the 

 grain, and elaborate ceremonies were devised at these seasons 



1 Memoria del Descubrimiento, 23S ; Holmes, Geographical Survey, 111, 404. PI- 44 

 = Monatschrift f. Gartenbaues Kgl. Preus., 1^74. 163. 

 3 Barber, E. A., American Naturalist, II, 591. 

 ■•Schwatka, Century Magazine, xliv, 271. 



