MINDELEFF.] FIRE HOUSE RUIN. 57 
occasional fragments of walls define former rooms, but the amount and 
character of the débris indicate that the inner area was almost completely 
inclosed with buildings. The remains of masonry extend on the south 
a little beyond the base of the central group of rocks, but here the ves- 
tiges of stonework are rather faint and scattered. 
In the nearly level tops of some of the rocks forming the central pile 
are many smoothly worn depressions or cavities, which have evidently 
been used for the grinding and shaping of stone implements. 
A remarkable feature occurring within this village is a cave or under- 
ground fissure in the rocks, which evidently had been used by the in- 
habitants. The mouth or entrance to this cavern, partly obstructed and 
concealed at the time of our visit, occurs at the point A on the plan. 
On clearing away the rubbish at the mouth and entering it was found 
so obstructed with broken rock and fine dust that but little progress 
could be made in its exploration; but the main crevice in the rock could 
be seen by artificial light to extend some 10 feet back from the mouth, 
where it became very shallow. It could be seen that the original cavern 
had been improved by the pueblo-builders, as some of the timbers that 
had been placed inside were still in position, and a low wall of masonry 
on the south side remained intact. Some Navajos stated that they had 
discovered this small cave a couple of years before and had taken from 
it a large unbroken water jar of ancient pottery and some other speci- 
mens. The place was probably used by the ancient occupants simply 
for storage. 
Fragments of pottery of excellent quality were very abundant about 
this ruin and at the foot of the central rocks the ground was thickly 
strewn with fragments, often of large size. 
The defensive character of this site parallels that of the ruin 7 
miles farther south in quite a remarkable manner, and the villages were 
apparently built and occupied at the same time. 
TEBUGKIHU, OR FIRE HOUSE, 
About 15 miles northeast of Keam’s Canyon, and about 25 miles from 
Walpi, is a small ruin called by the Tusayan “Tebugkihu,” built by peo- 
ple of the Fire gens (now extinct). As the plan (Fig. 7) clearly shows, 
this pueblo is very different from the typical Tusayan villages that 
have been previously described. The apparent unity of the plan, and the 
skillful workmanship somewhat resembling the pueblos of the Chaco 
are in marked contrast to the irregularity and careless construction of 
most of the Tusayan ruins. Its distance from the center of the province, 
too, suggests outside relationship; but still the Tusayan traditions un- 
doubtedly connect the place with some of the ancestral gentes, as seen 
in Chapter 1. 
The small and compact cluster of rooms is in a remarkable state of 
preservation, especially the outside wall. This wall was carefully and 
massively constructed, and stands to the height of several feet around 
