JACKSON] RUINS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO, &C. 423 



are built two small houses, each about ten feet square, and one with its 

 roof still entire. The approach from below is a smooth, rocky surface, 

 so steep as to be almost impossible of ascent, and with no remains of any 

 other easier method of getting up. 



At the foot of the bluff beneath that portion of the ruin marked d, 

 in the ground-plan, a low bench rises about ten feet above the surround- 

 ing valley, upon which are indications of old buildings and of other 

 remains — our so-called burial-places. Chipped flint-work was plentiful, 

 as we found a number of very beautiful specimens of arrow-points, per- 

 forators, knives, and other domestic utensils. In a mass of debris at the 

 foot of the two-story tower, seven large earthen pots of rough indented 

 ware were found imbedded in the soil and filled with earth. They were 

 too fragile to admit of transportation upon pack-animals, so we put them 

 carefully by for future investigators. In the rubbish at the extreme 

 right, a handsome little jug or vase (see Fig. 5, Plate LXY) was found, 

 lacking only its handle, A careful search through the very thick de- 

 posits of debris would undoubtedly reveal many treasures, and we felt 

 many regrets that we could not consistently devote a number of days 

 to the pleasant undertaking. We can only expect to skim the surface, 

 leaving to others hereafter the more satisfactory duty of exhausting each 

 subject in detail. 



In progressing southward we again find it necessary to climb the steep 

 bluffs bordering the Chelly, here so tortuous and walled up as to be im- 

 practicable, if not impassable. Once on top, however, we made our 

 way with comparative ease over great dunes of a very fine, yellowish- 

 white sand, packed so solidly as to inconvenience the animals but very 

 little. Much the greater part of the way is over a solid floor of bare, 

 nearly white, sandstone, rising into occasional dome-shaped hillocks, 

 and furrowed by shallow ravines. Sage-brush, juniper, and pifion trees 

 are scattered plentifully over the whole region, affording the only re- 

 lief to an otherwise perfectly barren desert. Travelling thus over this 

 trackless waste, w^e reach in about fifteen or twenty miles the bare red 

 plains of the famous so-called diamond-fields of Arizona. Beautiful 

 garnets were found scattered plentifully over the whole region, but 

 they could not tempt us to linger, for the sun beat down upon its arid 

 surface with such an intensity that but for the extreme dryness and 

 salubrity of the atmosphere it would have prostrated anything but a 

 salamander. 



After crossing this plain we came suddenly upon a side canon running 

 across our course, seemingly a mere gash in the rocky plateau, into 

 which we were fortunate enough to find a practicable way for ourselves 

 and animals. But what a contrast ! A smooth sward of grass, and 

 thick patches of the tall reedy kind peculiar to damp localities, made a 

 change grateful to both man and beast. Continuing down this cafion — 

 which has, in consequence of its inviting appearance, been called the 

 CaSon Bonito Chiquito — a couple of miles brings us the wash of the 

 Chelly again, bordered with groves of fine old cottonwoods, but its 

 bed, in which were pools of clear water, was so deep as to be almost 

 inaccessible. A band of wandering Navajos just before us, with largo 

 flocks of sheep, had, however, made a way down that we found prac- 

 ticable. 



An after-investigation revealed the presence of water in large artifi- 

 cial reservoirs, or tanks, in the caQon Bonito, just above where we en- 

 tered it first, about which are grouped a number of old ruins. This has 

 been a favorite Indian wintering-ground, so that the ruins here have 

 been much modified by their occupation. 



