HEWETT] ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEMEZ PLATEAU 43 



meters diameter. A transverse summit-xedge forms its southern wall, 

 but the remaining portion is remarkably massive, measuring 3 feet in 

 thickness. Its western wall is 12 feet high, and contains many huge 

 stones, which four or five men could not lift unaided by machinery. 

 Several scrub-oaks of 3 inches in diameter grow in this chamber, and 

 stumps of the cedar posts that supported the roof remain. Here fol- 

 lows a row of ten similar ruined houses, measuring from 3.35 to 6.24 

 meters in length. Of these No. 13 is remarkable for containing a 

 scrub-oak of 13 inches in diameter, the largest that I have seen in the 

 country, and the species is an abundant one. In No. 14 the remaining 

 western wall is 15 feet in height. There was a good deal of ])ottery 

 lying on the western slope of the rock, but of flint implements and 

 chips I found but few. All of these ruins contain full-grown sage 

 bushes. No. 18 is the largest ruin; the length of its inclosure is 8.62 

 meters, and the width 6.71 meters; its west wall is 6 feet high; the floor 

 is overgrown with sage of the largest size. This buildino; stood 51 

 meters from No. 17; 12.80 meters northward the ridge descends 

 slightly to the level of the causeway already mentioned. Here are five 

 more ruined buildings of the same average size as the others, inter- 

 rupted b}" but one short interval. 



' ' From this depression, that part of the hog-back which is north of 

 the causeway rises abruptly in a perpendicular face. It is composed 

 principally of two layers of the sandstone, dipping at 45° W., which 

 are separated by a deep cavity from a point 15 feet from the base 

 upward. This niche has been appropriated for a habitation, for it is 

 walled to a height of 8 feet from its base. The foot of the wall is 

 quite inaccessible, but by climbing round the eastern face of the prec- 

 ipice a ledge is found at the base of the projecting stratum, which 

 forms the east wall of the inclosure. This was scaled by means of a 

 staircase of stones, a number of which were in position at the time of 

 my visit. The remaining portion of the hog-back is elevated and 

 smooth, and the foundation stones only of several houses remain. 

 One of these contain two stout posts, of which 4 feet remain above 

 ground. The last house is near the end of the ridge, and is bounded by 

 a wall 10 feet in height, which forms its western side. 



"The walls of these houses are built of a mortar of mud, mixed, in 

 many cases at least, with ashes, judging from the abundant specks of 

 charcoal which it contains. It is not of good quality, and has weath- 

 ered much from between the stones. . . . 



"This town I called Cristone. The same hog-back recommences a 

 little more than a mile to the north, rising to a greater elevation, say 

 600 or 700 feet above the valle}^ The east side is perpendicular, 

 while the dip of the west side is 60°, and sometimes even a higher angle. 

 On this almost inaccessible crest I could see from the valley the walls 

 of ruined stone buildings, such as I have just described. ... In 



