28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull.32 



falls, SO that the line of caves appears to be at different elevations 

 and not continuous. There are spaces where the rock has not been 

 burrowed into; in some places two, in others three tiers of caves 

 are visible. The whole length of this village of troglodytes is about 

 2 miles, rather more than less. 



''The cave dwellings of the Rito are so much like those of the 

 Pu-ye and Shu-finne that they scarcely need description; the differ- 

 ences are purely local and accidental. As in the Tehua country, 

 they have artificial floors, and are whitewashed inside or daubed 

 over with yellow clay. There are the same types of doorways, 

 air-holes, and possibly loopholes; the same kind of niches and 

 recesses; but the cave dwellings at the Rito are the most perfect 

 seen by me anywhere. , . . 



''I measured nearly every cave through the whole length of the 

 canon as far as traces of former habitations extended, but must 

 confine myself to some details only. Against such of the cliffs as 

 rise vertically and the surface of which is almost smooth, terraced 

 houses were built, using the rock for a rear wall. Not only are the 

 holes visible in which the ends of the beams rested that supported 

 roofs, and ceilings, but in one or two places portions of the beams 

 still protrude. They were round, and of the usual size. Along the 

 base of these cliffs extends an apron, which was once approximately 

 leveled, and on this apron the foundations of walls appear in places. 

 It would seem that a row of houses, one, two, and even three stories 

 high, leaned against the cliff; and sometimes the upper story con- 

 sisted of a cave, the lower of a building. 



''Chambers nearly circular, larger in size than the majority of 

 caves, are also found in the cliffs, some of which have a low projec- 

 tion around the room like a bench of stone. These were doubtless 

 estufas, as I was told by one of the Indians who accompanied me to 

 the spot. There is a distinct estufa not far from the bank of the 

 brook opposite those caves situated in the upper portion of the 

 valley, and a smaller one still higher up. Including the four estufas 

 connected with the pueblo ruins, of which I will speak further on, I 

 have noticed at least ten such constructions at the Rito. 



"In describing the Pu-ye, I spoke of the pueblo ruins which lie 

 on the top of the cliff of that name. At the Rito de los Frijoles 

 there are at least three similar ruins, but they lie in the river bottom. 

 Two of them are in front of the caves at a short distance from the 

 talus sloping up to them. One was a one-house pueblo of the polyg- 

 onal type, which probably sheltered several hundred people; the 

 interior court still shows three circular depressions or estufas. The 

 other, which lies about 60 meters (196 feet) east of it, shows 39 cells 

 on the ground floor; and 16 meters (23 feet) north of it is an estufa 

 12 meters in diameter. . . . 



