HUMAN CLIFF-DWELLERS. 93 



be estimated. Some of the cHfE-liouses are of con- 

 siderable size. One is mentioned several hundred 

 feet above the Eio de Chelly, five hundred and fifty- 

 feet long, three stories high, containing seventy-six 

 rooms on the ground floor. The walls were plastered 

 with white cement. The prints of the human hands 

 that uncounted centuries ago spread it upon the walls 

 may be still seen, l^ear the floor are the impressions 

 of the chubby palms of little children, every crease 

 and dimple being perfectly preserved. 



It has been ascertained that these people were fire- 

 worshipers. However small the niche in the rocks 

 in which their houses were crowded, there was always 

 room left for a circular building, called an estufa, in 

 which the sacred fire was kept burning. 



" It is said," writes Mr. Davies, in his Conquest of 

 ISew Mexico, "that Montezuma kindled sacred fire in 

 the estufas, and commanded that they be kept burn- 

 ing until his return. He was expected to appear 

 with the rising sun, and every morning the inhabit- 

 ants ascended to the housetops and strained their eyes 

 looking to the east for the appearance of their deliv- 

 erer and king. The task of watching the sacred fires 

 was assigned to the warriors, who served by turns a 

 period of two days and two nights without eating or 

 drinking. 



