jackson.] ANCIENT RUINS IN S. W. COLORADO. 375 



by a perpendicular ledge, we have here a perpendicular ledge first, of 

 200 or 300 feet, and then a long receding bench, back to the higher mesa 

 beyond. 



Close to our camp was one of the little towers that occur quite fre- 

 quently, about 10 feet in diameter, and now some 8 feet in height, with 

 the inside half-filled with the debris from the walls. Half a mile below, 

 in the vertical face of rock, and at a height of from 50 to 100 feet from 

 the trail, were a number of little nest-like habitations. Fig. 5, Plate I, 

 illustrates one of them, and their general character. Communication 

 with the outside world was from above to a small window-like door, not 

 showing in the sketch. Two small apertures furnish a lookout over the 

 valley. The walls are as firm and solid as the rocks upon which they 

 are bnilt. The stones are more regular in size than any noticed here- 

 tofore, but smaller. The chinking-in of small chips of stone is notice- 

 ably neat and perfect on the inside. This is not a commodious dwelling ; 

 15 feet would span its length, and 6 its height, while in depth it is not 

 more than 5 feet. Near by, upon a low ledge, and readibly accessible 

 from below, is a string of five or six houses, evidently communicating, 

 mere kennels compared with some others, made by walling up the deep 

 cave-like crevices in the sandstone. The same hands built them that 

 lived in the better houses ; the masonry being very similar, especially 

 the inside chinking, which was perfect, and gave the walls a very neat 

 appearance. Fig. 8 of Plate II is an example of the tenacity of the mor- 

 tar j the view being of one of the line of little houses just spoken of. 

 In this case, a portion of the ledge upon which the house stands has 

 -become separated from the cliff, carrying a portion of one of the build- 

 ings with it ; and although torn away from the remaining wall, and 

 thrown over at a considerable angle, yet it remains perfectly firm and 

 unshaken. 



Scratched into the face of the cliff which contains these houses are 

 various inscriptions, one of which is depicted in Fig. 6 of Plate I. As 

 they are not cut in very deeply, and in some places mere scratches, it is 

 very doubtful whether they are contemporaneous with the houses them- 

 selves. 



Two or three miles farther, and the canon changes in feature again ; 

 the highest level of the mesa coming forward and towering over the val- 

 ley with a thousand feet of altitude ; the bottom-lands widening out to 

 a half and three-quarters of a mile in breadth. Cottonwood and willow 

 fringe the meandering stream in pleasant groves, while the dead level 

 of the valley is heavily carpeted with a dense growth of artemisia and 

 cacti. Everything is dry, dusty, and barren ; the stream itself losing in 

 volume, and becoming more turbid. Fig. 13 of Plate III represents in 

 outline the characteristics of the canon, or valley rather, at this point. 



In the high bluff, on the right hand in the sketch, are some of the most 

 curious and unique little habitations yet seen. While jogging along 

 under this bluff, fully 1,000 feet in height, and admiring its bold outlines 

 and brilliant coloring, one of our party, sharper-eyed than the rest, 

 descried, away up near the top, perfect little houses, sandwiched in 

 among the crevices of the horizontal strata of the rock of which the 

 bluff was composed. While busy photographing, two of the party 

 started up to scale the height, and inspect this lofty abode. By pene- 

 trating a side-canon some little ways, a gradual slope was found, that 

 carried them to the summit of the bluff. Now, the trouble was to get 

 down to the house, and this was accomplished only by crawling along 

 a ledge of about 20 inches in width, and not tall enough for more than 

 a creeping position. In momentary peril of life, for the least mistake 



