ACOMA AND LAGUNA. 163 



stories high. . I^either windows nor doors are to be found on 

 the outer wall of the first story ; the second rises a little back 

 from the roof of the first, leaving a ledge in front of it. 

 Ladders are nsed to mount to this ledge; they are then 

 drawn up, and the rooms are entered either by openings 



in the 



;round-floor, or by doors givin 



ifltranee from the ledge to the second suite of rooms ; the 

 Ltter alone are used for sleeDinff. Store-rooms occudy the 



■ound-fioor. 



In 1858 there was a BaDtist minister at La 



of hi 



ar 



Secretary 



Interior he stated that the amount of real Christianit} 

 the Indians is very small ; they cling to the religioi 



be 



service of 



11 



the Boman Catholic Church by thi-eats, promises, and even 

 t>lows, whereas they perform their own religious duties with 

 the utmost regularity. He also joined in the universal 



eulo 



sobrietv of the men, and 



the women 



Acoma, some twenty miles west of Laguua, is a large and 

 "^ery interesting pueblo. It rests on the summit of a flat 

 mesa, whose perpendicular cliffs rise to a height of from oOO 

 *o 400 feet above the valley. The houses here are three 

 stories high, built on the usual principle, each successive 

 story being smaller than that on ^diich it rests. Ladders are 

 also used to reach the ledges. The flat top of the mesa in- 

 cludes about fifty acres of land ; it is reached by a steep 

 wmding path cut in the rock, and so placed as to be easily 

 defended. It is a very wealthy pueblo; the Indians o^ti 

 abundance of cattle, and grow large quantities of com, peaches, 

 pumpkins, and other produce. 



The houses of San Domingo, Sandia, and others, although 



M 2 



