20 



probably due tbe reason we bad not seen otbers during tbe day in tbis 

 same line; for I doubt not tbat ruins exist tbrougbont tbe entire lengtb 

 of the canon, far above and out of tbe way of ordinary observation. 

 Cedars and pines also grow tbickly along tbe ledges upon wbicb tbey 

 are built, biding completely anything behind tbein. All tbat we did 

 find were built of tbe same materials as the cliffs themselves, with but 

 few, and then only the smallest, apertures toward the caiion 5 the surface 

 being dressed very smooth, and sbowing no lines of masonry, it was 

 only upon the very closest inspection that the bouse could be separated 

 from the cliff. 



The discovery of this one, so far above anything beretofore seen, 

 inspired us immediately with the ambition to scale the height and 

 explore it, although night was drawing on fast, and darkness would 

 probably overtake us among the precipices, with a chance of being de- 

 tained there all night. All bands started up, but only two persevered 

 to the end. Tbe first 500 feet of ascent were over a long, steep slope of 

 debris, overgrown with cedar; then came alternate perpendiculars and 

 slopes ; in one place a clear exposure of about 25 feet of very fine- 

 looking bituminous coal. Immediately below tbe house was a nearly 

 perpendicular ascent of 100 feet. That puzzled nsfor awhile, and then 

 we were only able to surmount it by findingcracks and crevices into which 

 fingers and toes could be inserted. From the little ledges occasionally 

 found, and by stepping upon each other's shoulders, and grasping- 

 tufts of yucca, one would draw himself up to another shelf, and then, by 

 letting down a stick of cedar, a hand, or foot, would assist the other. 

 Soon we reached a slope, smooth and steep, in which there bad been 

 cut a series of steps, now weathered away into a series of undulating 

 hummocks, by wbicb it was easy to ascend, and without them, almost 

 an impossibility. Another short, steep slope, and we were under the 

 ledge upon wbicb was our house, (Fig. 13, Plate III.) It was getting 

 quite dark, so we delayed no longer than to assure ourselves that it was 

 all we hoped for, and to prospect a way up when we should return the 

 next morning with the photographic outfit and note-books. 



Bright and earl}", as soon as breakfast was dispatcbed, we commenced 

 the ascent. Mexico, our little pack-mule, with the apparatus upon her 

 back, by sliarp tacks and lively scrambling over tbe rocks, was able 

 to reach the foot of tbe precipice of wbicb I have spoken above. Up 

 this we bauled tbe boxes containing the camera and chemicals by tbe 

 long ropes taken from the pack-saddle. One man was shoved up ahead, 

 over tbe worst place, with the rope, and, tying it to a tree, the others easily 

 ascended. 



The house stood upon a narrow ledge, which formed the floor, and 

 was overbung by the rocks of the cliff". The depth of this ledge was 

 about 10 feet by about 20 in length, and the vertical space between ledge 

 and overbanging rock some fifteen feet. Tbe house occupied the left- 

 band half as we face it ; the rest being reserved as a sort of esplanade, 

 a small portion of the wall remaining, wbicb cut it oft' from the narrow 

 ledge running beyond. The edges of tbe ledge upon which the bouse 

 stood were rounded off, so that its outside walls had to be built upon an 

 incline of about forty-five degrees'; the esplanade, too, had been extended 

 by three abutments, built out flush with the walls of the house, upon 

 the steeply-inclined slope, and giving support probably to a floor and 

 balustrade. 



The house itself, perched up in its little crevice like a swallow's nest, 

 consisted of two stories, with a total height of about 12 feet, leaving a 

 space of two or three feet between the top of the walls and the over- 



