308 CASA GRANDE RUIN. (eth.axn.13 



north and sontb, and 240 feet ea.st and west. It is not rectangular, 

 although the eastern and western sides, now marked by long ridges, 

 are roughly parallel. The northeastern corner does not conform to a 

 rectangular plan, and the southern side is not more than half closed 

 by the low ridge which extends partly acros.s it. This area is doubt- 

 less the one measured in 1776, by Padre Font, whose description was 

 copied by later writers, and whose measurements were api)lied by Hum- 

 boldt and others to the ruin itself. Font gave his measurements as 

 those of a circumscribing wall, aud his inference has been adopted by 

 many, in fact most, later writers. A circumscribing wall is an anom- 

 alous feature, in the experience of the writer, and a close inspection of 

 the general map will show that Font's inference is hardly justified by 

 the condition of the remains today. It seems more likely that the area 

 in question was covered by groups of buildings and rows of rooms, 

 connected by open courts, aud forming an outline sometimes regular 

 for a considerable distance, but more often irregular, after the manner 

 of pueblo structures today. The long north and south ridge which 

 forms the southeastern corner of the area, with other ridges extending 

 westward, is quite wide on top, wide enough to accommodate a single 

 row of rooms of the same width as those of the ruin, and it is hardly 

 reasonable to suppose that a wall would be built 10 or 12 feet wide 

 when one of 4 feet would serve every purpose to which it could pos- 

 sibly be put. Furthermore, the supposition of an inclosing wall does 

 not leave any reasonable explanation of the transverse ridges above 

 mentioned, nor of the long ridge which runs southwai-d from the south- 

 eastern corner of the ruin. 



The exterior walls rise to a height of from 20 to 25 feet above the 

 ground. This height accommodated two stories, but the top of the 

 wall is now 1 to 2 feet higher than the roof level of the second story. 

 The middle room or space was built up three stories high aud the walls 

 are now 28 to 30 feet above the ground level. The tops of the walls, 

 while rough and much eroded, are approximately level. The exterior 

 surface of the walls is rough, as shown in the illustrations, but the 

 interior walls of the rooms are finished with a remarkable degree of 

 smoothness, so much so as to attract the attention of everyone who 

 has visited the ruin. Mange, who saw the ruin with Padre Font in 

 1697, says the walls shine like Puebla pottery, and they still retain 

 this finish wherever the surface has not cracked off. This fine finish 

 is shown in a number of illustrations herewith. The walls are not of 

 even thickness. At the ground level the exterior wall is from 3i to 4i 

 feet thick, and in one place at the southern end of the eastern wall, is 

 a trifle over 5 feet thick. The interior walls are from 3 to 4 feet thick 

 at base. At the top the walls are reduced to about 2 feet thick, partly 

 by setbacks or steps at the floor levels, partly by exterior batter, the 

 interior wall surface being approximately vertical. Some writers, not- 

 ing the inclination of the outer wall surface, and not seeing the interior, 



