REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 43 
EXPLORATIONS. 
The principal exploration of the year under the Department of 
Anthropology was conducted by Doctor Hough, assistant curator of 
ethnology, in conjunction with Mr. P. G. Gates, of Pasadena, Califor- 
nia, through whose generosity the field expenses were paid, and was 
a continuation of the work begun in 1901 under the same conditions. 
The expedition started from Clifton, Arizona, on June 7, 1905, and 
terminated at Gallup, New Mexico, about four months later, having 
covered a large extent of country, touching upon the boundaries of 
earlier surveys by Doctor Hough. The area examined lies south of 
the great divide which sharply separates Arizona into two provinces, 
and is especially interesting on account of the presence of numerous 
cliff dwellings resembling those in the northern part of the Pueblo 
sphere. It contains, like other sections, numerous pueblo sites, but 
especially attractive are the ancient caves used for habitations and 
ceremonial purposes. The object of the expedition was to ascertain 
the nature of the peoples, their diffusion under varying conditions of 
environment due to food supply, elevation, intrusion from other areas, 
migrations, etc. With this view a study of the animal, vegetal, and 
climatic environment was made and collections were secured from the 
various sites for the purpose of comparative studies. Since the nat- 
ural diffusion of population is along water courses, the work was mainly 
confined to streams. Of these, the San Francisco with its branches, 
the Blue, the Tulerosa, and the Apache were thoroughly investigated. 
As the region had previously been untouched by scientific exploration, 
the results of the expedition are very important. About 3,000 speci- 
mens were obtained and shipped to Washington. 
In February, 1906, under the auspices of the Bureau of American 
Ethnology, Doctor Hrdlitka, assistant curator of physical anthro- 
pology, in company with Dr. T. W. Vaughan, of the U.S. Geological 
Survey, spent about two weeks at Osprey, Florida, for the purpose of 
examining the localities where human fossil bones had been discovered, 
and of ascertaining the local conditions favoring fossilization. Oste- 
ological remains of Indians of more recent date were also obtained for 
comparison with the fossil specimens. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, of the 
Bureau of Ethnology, made explorations in the Vera Cruz district of 
Mexico, of which a report is in press. The valuable collection he 
obtained is referred to in another place. 
Of private expeditions from which collections have been received, 
reference may be made to the work of Doctor Abbott in the islands of 
Engano and Nias and along the northern branch of the Great Kapuas 
River, in western Borneo; of Dr. E. A. Mearns, U. 5. Army, in con- 
nection with military operations in the Philippines: and of Mr. A. H. 
