21 



labor, and mast owe its completion to strong and enduring motives. 

 With a very few exceptions the engraving bears undoubted evidence of 

 age. Such new figures as occur are quite easily distinguished, both by 

 the freshness of the chipped surfaces and by the designs themselves. 

 Figure 11 gives a specimen of the modern work; it is evidently intended 

 to represent a horse, and is done in the manner of the Navajoes. It 

 will readily be seen that among all the figures given of the ancient 

 work there is no animal that resembles a horse, and we can hardly sup- 

 pose that artists who could so cleverly delineate birds and deer and men,, 

 would fail in an attempt to represent an animal of so marked a charac- 

 ter. The curious designs given in figure 10 have a very perceptible 

 resemblance to many of the figures used in the embellishment of pot- 

 tery. 



The most striking group observed is given in figure 1, Plate XII. It 

 consists of a great procession of men, birds, beasts, and fanciful figures. 

 The whole picture as placed upon the rock is highly spirited, and the 

 idea of a general movement toward the right, skillfully portrayed. A 

 pair of winged figures hover above the train as if to watch or direct its 

 movements ; behind these are a number of odd figures, followed by an 

 antlered animal resembling a deer, which seems to be drawing a notched 

 sledge containing two figures of men. The figures forming the main 

 body of the procession appear to be tied together in a continuous line, 

 and in form resemble one living creature about as little as another. 

 Many of the smaller figures above and below are certainly intended to 

 represent dogs, while a number of men are stationed about, here and 

 there, as if to keep the procession in order. 



As to the importance of the event recorded in this picture no conclu- 

 sions can be drawn; it may represent the migration of a tribe or family 

 or the trophies of a victory. A number of figures are wanting in the 

 drawing at the left, while some of those at the right may not belong 

 properly to the main group. The reduction is, approximately, to one- 

 twelfth. 



Figures 2 and 3 of the same plate represent only the more distinct 

 portions of two other groups. The complication of figures is so great 

 that a number of hours would have been necessary for their delineation, 

 and an attempt to analyze them here would be fruitless. 



PLATE XIII. — POTTERY. 



It is generally conceded that the ancient tribes of the San Juan 

 produced fictile fabrics superior to those of the town building tribes of 

 today. There is, however, great similarity between the ancient and 

 modern work, both in material and execution, and the differences are 

 not greater than could be expected in the manufacture? of the same tribe 

 at periods separated by two or three centuries of degeneration. 



The study of the fragmentary ware found about the ruins is very 

 interesting, and its immense quantity is a constant matter of wonder. 

 On one occasion, while encamped near the foot of the Mancos Caiion, 

 I undertook to collect all fragments of vessels of manifestly different 

 designs within a certain space, and by selecting pieces having iiecul- 

 iarly marked rims I was able to say with certainty that within ten 

 feet square there were fragments of fifty-five different vessels. In shape 

 these vessels have been so varied that few forms known to civilized art 

 could not be found. Fragments of bowls, cups, jugs, pitchers, urns, and 

 vases, in infinite variety may be obtained in nearly every heap of debris. 



The art of ornamentation seems to have been especially cultivated, as 



