15 



insertion of beams, although there is no evidence that a second floor 

 has at any time existed. In that part of the ruin about the covered 

 passage-way, the walls are complicated, and the plan can hardly be 

 made out, while the curved wall inclosing the apartment e is totally 

 overthrown. 



In digging among the debris with our hammers, we came upon a large 

 earthen vessel at /i, and shortly afterward discovered another near i. 

 They were so situated in a small recess under the sheltering walls that 

 the falling rubbish had not reached them. Roughly-hewn stone lids 

 were fitted carefully over the tops, but both were empty. One had been 

 slightly broken about the rim, while the other had been pierced on the 

 underside by some sharp instrument, and had been mended by laying a 

 small fragment of pottery over the aperture on the inside and cement- 

 ing it down with clay. They are of the ordinary corrugated pottery, 

 and have a capacity of about three gallons. 



Beneath the vessels, spread out on the floor, was a large piece of rush- 

 matting, and beneath this a quantity of fine vegetable tissue from the 

 interior bark of some kind of tree. The vessels are illustrated in plate 

 XIII, and the matting in plate XIV. 



The rock-face between this ruin and the one above is smooth and ver- 

 tical, but by passing along the ledge a few yards to the left a sloping 

 face was found, up which a stairway of small niches had been cut; by 

 means of these, an active person, unincumbered, could ascend with 

 safety. On reaching the top, one finds himself in the very doorway of 

 the upper house (a, figure 2) without standing room outside of the wall, and 

 one can imagine that an enemy would stand but little chance of reach- 

 ing and entering such a fortress if defended, even by women and chil- 

 dren alone. The position of this ruin is one of unparalleled security, 

 both from enemies and from the elements. The almost vertical cliff 

 descends abruptly from the front wall, and the immense arched roof of 

 solid stone projects forward 15 or 20 feet beyond the house (see section, 

 figure 3). At the right the ledge ceases, and at the left stops short 

 against a massive vertical wall. The niche-stairway affords the only 

 possible means of approach. 



The house occupies the entire floor of the niche, which is about 120 

 feet long by 10 in depth at the deepest part. The front wall to the 

 right and left of the doorway is quite low, portions having doubtless 

 fallen off. The higher wall / g is about 30 feet long, and from 10 to 12 

 feet high, while a very low rude wall extends along the more inaccessi- 

 ble part of the ledge, and terminates at the extreme right in a small 

 inclosure, as seen in the plan at c. 



In the first apartment entered, there were evidences of fire, the walls 

 and ceiling being blackened with smoke. In the second, a member of the 

 party,* by digging in the rubbish, obtained a quantity of beans, and in 

 the third a number of grains of corn, hence the names given. There 

 are two small windows in the front wall, and doorways communicate 

 between rooms separated by high partitions. 



The walls of these houses are built in the usual manner, and average 

 about a foot in thickness. 



The uiiper house seems to be in a rather unfinished state, looking as 

 if stone and mortar had run short. And when one considers that these 

 materials must have been brought from far below by means of ropes, or 

 carried in small quantities up the dangerous stairwoy, the only wonder 

 is that it was ever brouglit to its present degree of finish. 



* Mr. Braudearee. 



