DID THE ROMANS COLONIZE AMERICA ? 375 



ments and plans, supplemented by sketches and photographs of every detail 

 which were secured during the field season of 1883. The models are all being 

 made to a uniform scale sufficiently large to show distinctly all the minor features 

 of the architecture and construction that have been followed from time imme- 

 morial by those interesting and secluded groups of men. They represent very 

 faithfully the character of the masonry in color and texture. Many experiments 

 were tried before a substance could be found that would properly represent the 

 originals in this respect, and at last a species of papier mache, the basis of which 

 is macerated greenbacks from the Treasury Department, was hit upon. The 

 seven towns which it is the purpose of Mr. Mendeleff to portray are built upon 

 the mesas or table-lands of the mountains of Arizona, all upon the same plan. 

 Walls of stone cemented with mud support beams upon which boughs and dried 

 grass are placed and covered with a cement formed of mud. The houses are 

 generally rectangular in shape, and are built to a height of four or five stories, 

 in the form of terraces, one upon the other. Originally there were no means of 

 ingress or egress upon the ground floor, admission being gained through doors 

 in the second story, reached by a ladder, which was drawn up in time of danger. 

 Recently, hov/ever, since the advent of the white man among them, some doors 

 have been cut in the lower stories. The seven models described are nearly com- 

 pleted and will be sent to the New Orleans Exposition. 



A series of models of the ruins of the cliff dwellings and the remnants of 

 other prehistoric architecture is being prepared from the data secured during last 

 season's field operations. The cliff ruins referred to occur principally in Canon 

 di Chelly, in northeastern Arizona. These canons have been formed in a soft 

 stratified limestone, in the present instance to a depth of nearly 1,000 feet. In 

 the bottom of the chasm a small strearn known as the Rio de Chelly is found. 

 Overlooking this stream, and perched upon the hardened ledges that have been 

 left by the erosion of the sandstone, are seen numerous cliff ruins, varying from 

 a single room to clusters that would easily accommodate several families. These 

 are usually found grouped around a central ruin or small pueblo, which is built 

 upon the flat of the canon bottom. One of the models in course of preparation 

 illustrates one of the ruins of this latter class, with its cliff-dwelling overlooking it. 

 Wherever the action of the weather has formed a recess or alcove in the vertical 

 rock face these ancient builders have selected a site for their curious inaccessible 

 structures. The architecture of the prehistoric rates, as well as the pottery found 

 among the relics, surpasses in design and construction the work of the modern 

 Pueblo Indians. 



All of the models will be sent to New Orleans, and when the Exposition 

 closes there they will be returned to the National Museum. They will undoubt- 

 edly attracted a great deal of attention, as they are the only ones of the kind ever 

 exhibited. One model was made last year and is one of the chief objects of inter- 

 est in the museum to-day. 



The seven towns mentioned above are inhabited by the Moquis Indians. 

 They number about 2,000 souls and are dependent upon agriculture and sheep- 



