THE PREHISTORIC RUIN OF TSANKAWI 



807 



return to Kalabaka, we were alone with 

 the monks, who spoke only their own lan- 

 guage, and, like all Greeks, were not very 

 quick to understand the universal lan- 

 guage of signs. 



Fortunately we had playing cards with 

 us and we started "Canfield." Then we 

 stopped, thinking it might be forbidden to 

 the holy order and a breach of hospitality 

 for us to indulge in the recreation. But 

 the monk who acted as special host saw 

 us and motioned us to continue. Then 

 he drew up a chair and watched. Soon 

 he sent for another monk who came hur- 

 rying in, smiling, and watched too. 

 Then we offered to let the monks play, 

 and they did with alacrity. They played 

 for an hour, and then they taught us a 

 game of their own — a very good one too, 

 with excellent opportunities for gam- 

 bling. Although they played with the as- 

 surance that bespeaks frequent indul- 

 gence, still no money passes through their 

 hands save that which is used for the 



poor. There is little occupation in these 

 monasteries for those in retreat, and they 

 voluntarily go among the poor in the near 

 country and do much to relieve them. 



Saint Stephen's is said to have a good 

 revenue from property it owns in Volos, 

 and as the brotherhood is free to any 

 who wish to enter, it must have a certain 

 income to support even its few inmates. 



Our supper was served by the lay 

 servant, while a monk hovered near to 

 see that we had all we wanted. A hot 

 rice soup, cold chicken, hot fricasseed 

 chicken, rye bread, and red wine should 

 satisfy the most fastidious, and for a 

 sweet dish we had a cake made of chest- 

 nuts. 



The following morning we were bade 

 adieu and given Turkish coffee before we 

 left. On our way down the mountain 

 we wondered who could have been the 

 first man to climb the first peak to lay the 

 first stone on a point where birds 

 hitherto only had rested. 



THE PREHISTORIC RUIN OF TSANKAWI 



By George L. Beam 



With Photogi aphs by the Author 



AM' 



A 



MONG the several groups of cliff 

 and cave dwellings in northern 

 New Mexico which have been 

 but recently brought to general notice, 

 the most picturesquely situated is un- 

 doubtedly the village named by the 

 Pueblo Indians "Tsankawi" — the equiva- 

 lent in the Tewa language for "The 

 Place of the Round Cactus." 



This remarkable ruin is located about 

 thirty miles northwest of Santa Fe, on 

 the Pajarito Plateau, being reached from 

 Buckman, a station on the Denver and 

 Rio Grande Railroad between the former 

 point and Espanola. At Buckman there 

 is a substantial wagon bridge across the 

 waters of the Rio Grande, and back over 

 the mesa seven -miles (the first two of 

 which are consumed in ascending the 

 steep side of the table-land from the 



river to the rim) is located the saw-mill of 

 the Ramon Land and Lumber Company, 

 which owns the great Ramon-Vigil Land 

 Grant, containing many thousand acres 

 of fine timber. From the saw-mill it is 

 possible to make most interesting excur- 

 sions in many directions among the ruins 

 of the ancient habitations, many of which 

 are in the immediate vicinity of the 

 camp — in fact, the workmen have in 

 some cases taken possession of the Cliff 

 Dwellers' abodes for their present neces- 

 sities. 



Heading for Tsankawi, an hour's 

 drive" in a northeasterly direction brings 

 one to the base of a long, irregular- 

 shaped mesa, the sides of which are 

 strewn with great sharp-edged rocks — 

 the volcanic tufa which prevails through- 

 out the region. On approaching this 



