278 THE ENCHANTED MESA 



The bowlder previously alluded to rests in a corner of the ter- 

 race below a long crack that extends the entire height of the 30 

 feet of wall (PL 33), just as it had appeared to me before, and 

 I well remember viewing the chasm while seated on it. I note 

 these circumstances, since one of the first things that met my 

 gaze on reaching this point during our late climb was a collection 

 of four oak sticks, lying beside the bowlder, that I am sure Avere 

 not there during my previous climb. They were about 22 feet in 

 length, an inch thick, and had been freshly pointed at each end 

 with a sharp tool, evidently a hatchet. Their occurrence here 

 suggested a careful investigation of the fissure above, which re- 

 sulted in the finding of a regular series of pecked holes, appar. 

 ently very ancient, for their edges had been so eroded that they 

 are now visible only on close examination. So shallow, indeed, 

 had the holes been worn that I at once saw that while the pointed 

 sticks afforded an indication of the former use of the holes, it 

 would have been impossible for the latter to have been employed 

 as a means of scaling the wall in modern times. I therefore con- 

 cluded that the sticks had recently been left there by one who 

 desired to gain access to the summit, but had failed in the at- 

 tempt. This conclusion was confirmed immediately afterward 

 when I found, almost beneath the bowlder, a sherd of typical 

 modern Acoma potter}^ and an unfeathered prayer-stick, and a 

 few moments later Mr Hayt dug from the moist sand in the 

 corner other fragments of the same vessel, evidentl}^ the remains 

 of a sacrifice, which, had it been accessible, would doubtless have 

 been deposited on the summit. It should here be said that the 

 difference in ancient and modern Acoma ceramics is far greater 

 than between modern Acoma and Zuiii ware, for example, and 

 it requires no very intimate acquaintance to enable anybody to 

 readily distinguish the one variety from the other in the latter 

 types. 



After making this interesting find we proceeded to fit together 

 the entire ladder in order to scale the 30 feet of sheer wall now 

 before us. Selecting the middle of the eastern face of the cove 

 as the most convenient and least hazardous point of ascent, the 

 ladder was adjusted and carefully raised, section by section, until 

 it reached the lower part of the sloping terrace above. Two 

 holes were then pecked in the soft sandstone floor to prevent 

 the now almost vertical ladder from slipping forward down the 

 chasm. Again a member of the party went forward, drawing 

 with him a rope fastened about the waist, the remaining three 



