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now. If we were to take the pattern of the primitive ornaments as a 

 criterion — which is, however, not permissible, as certain figures are found 

 in all parts of our planet, wherever people are far enough advanced to 

 invent and to use ornaments — we would meet with the same designs in 

 laoth instances, only that in the majority of cases the ancient ornamen- 

 tation is more careful, and exhibits besides more artistic feeling on the 

 part of the workman than that of the modern. 



The most striking peculiarity of a large number of fragments of pot- 

 tery found near the ruins, and hitherto never noticed in America, is the 

 existence of a regular glazing of great hardness. How this glazing was 

 produced cannot be ascertained without considerable difficulty. In 

 some instances, it is rather opaque, whitish, and covers the surface of 

 the fragment in a thick layer, while in others it is perfectly transparent 

 or shows a slight bluish hue. The colors used in painting the pottery 

 are the same as now, namely, a reddish-brown, brown, and black; the 

 former being produced by iron and manganese, the latter consisting of 

 an organic substance, the character of which could not be determined. 

 Until we shall have some accurate analysis, which will be rather diffi- 

 cult to make, we may perhaps call this organic substance charcoal, 

 mixed intimately witli fine clay before it was used for painting, and pre- 

 vented by the silicious cover from being destroyed by the heat while 

 the vessel was being baked. A closer examination of the dififerent pat- 

 terns demonstrates that the painting was done in a very careful, in some 

 instances hesitating, manner, and it seems that a great deal of time was 

 devoted to this process. There are several fragments on which we may 

 easily recognize the method followed by the artist, and notice how he 

 drew his outlines and how he afterward paiuted the rest of the square 

 or triangle. 



The facts bearing upon the probable age of the human remains are 

 rather contradictory, and it is difficult to make them agree and to draw 

 some satisfactory conclusions. Evidently, the buildings near which they 

 were found represent different ages of perhaps considerable periods of 

 time. How far back the earliest ones may date can scarcely be surmised, 

 but there are some instances, resting however on rather unsatisfactory 

 bases, that might give us some clew as to the approximate time the 

 buildings were abandoned. 



Mr. Jackson states that he noticed several places that appeared to 

 have been used as corrals, and from Dr. Endlich I learn that he discov- 

 ered a stratum ten feet below the surface of the soil, containing, besides 

 fragments of pottery, numerous bones of sheep. Now, nothing would 

 be more tempting than to combine these two facts, and to conclude that 

 the people in question domesticated sheep, which could not have been 

 done during the pre-Columbian period, as this animal does not belong 

 to the American fauna. 



Among a collection of arrow-heads and minor stone chips, I noticed a 

 glass bead, which is, beyond doubt, of Venetian workmanship, and very 

 similar to beads exhumed lately from the grave-mounds at Santa Bar- 

 bara, Lower California, and preserved at the National Museum. If the 

 bead in question did not find its way accidentally to the ruins through 

 some Indian of a later period, we might consider it as a proof in favor 

 of our view ; but at the same time we must not forget that no trace of 

 any metal was found in the graves, as we might have reasonably ex- 

 pected, since the cliff-house builders communicated directly or indirectly 

 with the inhabitants of the Pacific coast. This latter fact is suj)ported 

 by the presence of a considerable quantity of shells of Olivella gracilis 



