HOLMES.] CLIFF-HOUSES, EIO MAKCOS. 397 



grapbed by Mr, Jackson in 1874, and minutely described by him as the 

 two-story cliff-house of the Rio Mancos. It is also in the clifis of the 

 north side, about 700 feet above the river, and although not so large or 

 complicated in design as the house just described, it shows higher skill 

 in construction and is in a better state of preservation. It is also ex- 

 ceedingly difficult of access. It seems hardly necessary for me to enter 

 into a detailed description, as little can be added to what has already 

 been published ; * but for the purpose of having as much of the matter to- 

 gether as possible I present Plate XXXYIII, illustrating some of the 

 interesting features of this house. 



Figure 1 gives tht ground-plan, and shows the position of the house 

 in relation to the floor of the niche. There are four small apartments 

 only 5 the front one, a, being 10 feet long by 6 wide. Of the back 

 rooms, one is 9 by 10 and the other 6 by 6 feet, while the apartment with, 

 the curved wall is much smaller. The walls are about twelve feet high 

 and reach within from 2 to 3 feet of the overhanging roof. They are 

 built in the ordinary manner of stone and adobe mortar, and what is 

 rather remarkable are plastered both inside and out. This plaster does 

 not differ greatly from the common mortar, is lightly spread over the 

 walls, probably with the hands, and in color imitates very closely the 

 hues of the surrounding cliffs, a pleasing variety of red and yellow grays. 

 Whether this was intended to add to the beauty of the dwelling or to 

 add to its security by increasing its resemblance to the surrounding 

 cliffs, I shall not attempt to determine. 



Another remarkable feature of this house is the consummate skill with 

 which the foundations are laid upon and cemented to the sloping and 

 overhanging faces of the ledge. The buttresses &, &, which have prob- 

 ably at one time supported a superstructure of wood or stone, now 

 totally obliterated, are most striking illustrations of this ; and just here 

 is a fact that has an interesting bearing upon the question of the an- 

 tiquity of this structure. These wall - supports or buttresses have 

 originally been four in number, one evidently having fallen off, and are 

 built in continuation of the front wall, on a smooth sloping surface of 

 rock. Now, the sandstone of which this rounded slope is composed is 

 rather coarse and soft, and hence easily disintegrated. It is here also 

 not greatly protected from the weather, since the cliffs above do not 

 overhang to any extent, and must, year by year, yield a little to the 

 elements ; but I observe that since the construction of these foundations 

 no perceptible change has taken place; the thickness of a sheet of 

 paper has hardly been washed from the surface of the rock, and the 

 mortar, which is of almost equal firmness with the rock, lies upon it as 

 if placed there within a dozen years, and the appearance of the plaster 

 on the outer wall, although somewhat cracked and broken off, does not 

 add greatly to our impressions of their antiquity. 



There is also a fact worthy of notice in regard to the question of occu- 

 pancy. I have already stated my impression that these houses were not 

 used as constant dwelling-places, but rather as places of occasional 

 resort. I notice that, although the building seems complete and has 

 had its floors laid and its door- ways and windows conveniently and care- 

 fully arranged, the plastering of the interior is almost untouched, that 

 with the exception of three names scratched in the soft, thick coat of 

 adobe by Mr. Jackson's party, there is almost no trace of the presence 

 of man ; yet this plaster may have been applied cnly shortly before the 

 final desertion, and hence no definite conclusion can be drawn. 



* Bulletin No. 1, second series, p. 20. 



