W. J. HOFFMAN. ANTIQUITIES OF NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA. Ill 



lent preservation. The oblong form of the Well, allowed the buildings 

 to nearly face the center, thus affording an admirable prospect for the 

 aboriginal gossip. 



There is but a single path leading down to the bottom of the well, 

 just broad enough to permit the descent of one individual at a time, 

 passing between two small dwellings, each large enough to hold three 

 or four persons comfortably, for the defense of this point. That the 

 buildings were used for this purpose is apparent from the fact that 

 each contains but one small window, facing the path, but about six or 

 eight feet distant, the door being in the next wall, facing the oppo- 

 site side of the Well, and only accessible by crawling along a narrow 

 ledge. 



One of the most interesting features existing in coimection with 

 many of the ruins is the excellent i)rpservation of the wooden rafters 

 and lintels. These consist mainly of cedar, and frequently bear the 

 marks of the builder's stone axe ; but when we consider the sheltered 

 positions of the preserved specimens,* as well as the meager rainfall 

 and extraordinarily dry atmosphere, tins may V)e accounted for. We 

 find the same to exist in exactly a like condition in the buried city of 

 the Desert of Gobi, western China, which, on account of the encroach- 

 ment of the sand was deserted already as early as the ninth century. 



With our present state of information, no conclusions can be formed 

 regarding the time of the occupation of these cliff-remains. The sub- 

 ject is just beginning to receive that attention and investigation nec- 

 essary for the accumulation of all attainable facts, which, when once 

 collected and classified, will present the history without further spec- 

 ulation. Although there appears to be an absence of traditions relat- 

 ing directly to the predecessors of the present inhabitants, there is 

 but little doubt that some dimmed historic facts will yet be brought 

 to light when the mythology is studied, a field than which no richer 

 one is to be found among any aboriginal tribes. 



It is evident that the cliff-dwellings were deserted upon the re- 

 moval of that danger which compelled their previous construction, 

 though many of them are not as old as is generally supposed. Ac- 

 cording to Vargas, the Pueblo of Hungo-Pavi was inhabited in the 

 latter part of the 17th century. That pueblo is now in ruins, and 

 forms one of the grand series in the Cafion of the Chaco, N. M., of 



* In one of the cliff-dwellings, where the overhanging ledge projected suf- 

 ficiently to prevent the entrance of rain, the accumulation of mortar, or plas- 

 ter, and owl's dung amounted to over two feet in depth. 



