164 RUINS OF GRAN QUIVIRA. " ' 



aborigines possess a tenth part of the know- 

 ledge of these ancient fountains of wealth, 

 that is generally attributed to them ; but that 

 many valuable mines were once wrought in 

 this province, not only tradition but authenti- 

 cated records and existing rehcs sufficiently 

 prove. In every quarter of the territory there 

 are still to be seen vestiges of ancient excava- 

 tions, and in some places, ruins of considera- 

 ble towns evidently reared for mining purposes. 

 Among these ancient ruins the most re- 

 markable are those of La Gran Quivira, about 

 100 miles southward from Santa Fe. This 

 appears to have been a considerable city, 

 larger and richer by far than the present cap- 

 ital of New Mexico has ever been. Many 

 walls, particularly those of churches, still stand 

 erect amid the desolation that surrounds them, 

 as if their sacredness had been a shield against 

 which Time dealt his blows in vain. The 

 style of architecture is altogether superior to 

 anything at present to be found north of Chi- 

 huahua — ^being of hewn stone, a building 

 material wholly unused in New Mexico. 

 What is more extraordinary still, is, that there 

 is no water within less than some ten miles 

 of the ruins ; yet we find several stone cis- 

 terns, and remains of aqueducts eight or ten 

 miles in length, leading from the neighbormg 

 mountains, from whence water was no doubt 

 conveyed. And, as there seem to be no in- 

 dications whatever of the inhabitants ever 

 having been engaged in agricultural pursuits, 

 what could have induced the rearing of a city 



