278 Native manufactures. 



The inhabitants enter the village by means • 

 of ladders, and by steps cut into the solid rock 

 upon which it is based 



At the time of the conquest, many of these 

 Pueblos manufactured some singular textures 

 of cotton and other materials ; but with the 

 loss of their hberty, they seem to have lost 

 most of their arts and ingenuity ; so that the 

 finer specimens of native fabrics are now only 

 to be met with among the Moquis and Nava- 

 joes, who still retain their independence. 

 The Pueblos, however, make some of the 

 ordinary classes of blankets and tihnas* as 

 well as other woollen stuffs. They also man- 

 ufacture, according to their aboriginal art, 

 both for their own consumption, and for the 

 purposes of traffic, a species of earthenware 

 not much inferior to the coarse crocker}^ of 

 our common potters. The pots made of 

 this material stand fire remarkably well, and 

 are the universal substitutes for all the pur- 

 poses of cookery, even among the Mexicans, 

 for the iron castings of this countr}^, which 

 are utterly unknown there. Rude as tliis kind 

 of crockerj- is, it nevertheless evinces a great 

 deal of skill, considering that it is made entirely 

 without lathe or any kind of machinery. I* 

 is often fancifully pamted with colored earths 

 and the juice of a plant called gmco, which 

 brightens by burning. They also work a singu- 

 lar kind of wicker-ware, of which some bo wis 

 (if they may be so called) are so closely plat- 



• The tUma is a sort of email but durable blanket, worn by the . 

 "iQians as a mantle. 



