356 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



hold religious meetings in caves in the vicinity of their settlements. 

 On being asked to decipher an hieroglyphical inscription some fifteen 

 miles southeast from their villages, a copy of which was shown them, 

 they appeared unable to do so, replying, "iV^o 5«Je." The belief is w^ell 

 entertained, however, that they were acquainted with the inscription, 

 and knew its hidden meaning, since there were found in the house of 

 one of the chiefs figures carved in wood which corresponded exactly 

 to some of those employed in the inscription. If these were designed 

 as objects of worship, no profound veneration was manifested for 

 them, since they were readily parted with for a trifling quantity of 

 tobacco. 



The exact date at which this singular people settled in Northeast- 

 ern Arizona, and built their habitations on massive rocks, whose foun- 

 dations are far beneath the level of the sandy plain which surrounds 

 them, is a question still enveloped in mystery. Taking into considera- 

 tion tlie fact that the space between the several villages on one of the 

 mesas is solid rock, and that across this space a path has been worn 

 by human feet to a depth of several inches, and remembering that the 

 shoes of the people who have trod out this stony pathway have been 

 of the softest leather, it is not unreasonable to assume that at least a 

 thousand years have elapsed since this tribe first made its appearance 

 in this bleak and uninviting section of the Western World. 



While our visit to the Moquis resulted in much valuable informa- 

 tion concerning this remnant of a race fast disappearing from the face 

 of the earth, we were otherwise well repaid for the hardships we had 

 encountered in reaching this isolated epot, and shall not scon forget 

 the pleasant hours spent in the company of these half-civilized beings. 

 As evening drew near, sitting on the tops of the lofty mesas, our 

 fevered brows were gently fanned by cooling breezes, which soon 

 caused us to forget the tropical heat of the day, while our eyes were 

 feasted by a sunset seldom equaled in grandeur and sublimity. The 

 sinking sun produced a golden hue around the summits of the far- 

 distant Sierra de San Francisco, while its light, reflected along the 

 horizon, transformed the sky into an ocean of blood. It was long 

 after nightfall ere wearied nature sought repose ; but, at last, we re- 

 tired to rest, with naught but rock for our pillow, and with no roof 

 above us save the blue canopy of Kature, w^hich seemed more than 

 ever fretted with twinkling stars. 



