126 THE CLIFF RUINS OF CANYON DE CHELLY [ETH. ANN.16 
wall is joined to the exterior circular wall of the kiva, at the point 
shown on the plan, by a short flying wall whose purpose is not clear. 
It extends to what may have been the roof of the kiva, but underneath 
itis open. The triangular cavity formed by it is too small to permit 
the passage of a person, and was available only from the second story. 
The site of these ruins commands an extensive prospect, including 
several small areas of good bottom land, one of which lies directly in 
front of it; but the number of other ruins in the cove suggests that 
there was once a much larger area of bottom land here, and this sug- 
gestion is supported by the presence of several large cottonwood trees, 
now standing out' in the midst of the sand, in the bed of the stream, 
where these trees never grow. Some of these trees are not yet entirely 
dead, indicating that the change in the bed of the stream was a recent 
one. Against the foot of the talus, just above the ruin, there is a nar- 
row strip of bottom land, about 3 feet above the stream bed, and on it 
a single tree, still alive, but inclined at an angle. In the stream bed, 
above and below the ruin, there are large trees, of which only one or a 
few branches are still alive. The position of the cove with reference to 
the stream bed made the bottom lands here especially subject to erosion 
when the stream assumed its present channel and they were gradually 
worn away. 
The western end of the ledge was occupied by a structure whose use 
at first sight is not apparent. The wall, as shown on the plan, is curved, 
very thick and heavy, and built partly over the sloping rock forming the 
back of the cave. The front wall is 3 feet thick, and its top, now level, is 
about 5 feet above a narrow bench in front of it. There is no doorway 
or other opening into it, and access into its interior was had over the 
steep sloping rock to the north by means of hand-holes in the rock. 
These are shown in plate L. The interior appears to have been 
plastered. 
This structure measures 15 by 5 feet inside, there being no wall on 
the north, as the east wall merges into the sloping rock. The foot-holes 
in the rock, before referred to, are at this end, nearest the village, and 
appear to be in several series. The structure is so situated that the 
sun shines on it only a few hours each day, and it seems more than 
probable that it was a reservoir. The bed.of the stream, the channel 
followed in low water, sweeps against the base of the cliff below this 
point, and by earrying water 20 feet it would be directly beneath and 
about 50 feet below it. Finally, the cliff wall above this point is deco- 
rated with pietographs of tadpoles and other water symbols in common 
use among the pueblos, and these do not occur elsewhere on this site. 
In the southwestern corner of the structure, near the bottom, there 
was an opening about 18 inches high, which was carefully filled up from 
the inside and plastered. This may have been an outlet by which the 
water was discharged when the reservoir was cleaned out. The wall 
has caved in slightly above it. The mud mortar used in building this 
structure and the other walls was necessarily brought from below. 
