564 THE CLIFF VILLAGES OF THE EED ROCK COUNTRY. 



evidently by the use of some stone implement, a laborious process, as 

 may well be imagined. A good illustration of this method of wood 

 cutting can be seen in a log which I collected in one of the best preserved 

 rooms of Bear House. 



The second ruin of Palatki is built in a cavern of the same cliff, 70 

 feet across, and is totally covered by a projecting roof of overhanging 

 rock. Its front wall is much broken, but enough remains to show that 

 the rooms were in two series, one behind the other, and that at one time 

 it was three stories high. There were six inclosures in eacli series, indica- 

 tive of three stories in each, of eighteen rooms, the habitation of proba- 

 bly 30 persons. Such walls as were standing were of well-laid masonry 

 smoothly plastered and were tolerably well preserved. 



Excavations were attempted on a small scale in both the Red Houses, 

 and numerous objects characteristic of cliff people were dug from the 

 debris on the floor. Fragments of basketry, stone implements, woven 

 fabrics of cotton cloth, and ropes of agave fiber were found in several 

 rooms. Even fireplaces could be readily discovered, and in the ashes 

 of that in a central room I found a fireboard identical with those now 

 used to kindle fire in a New Eire ceremony at Walpi. In a niche near by 

 there was a section of a large reed, closed at one end by an iuternode, 

 and with a wad of cotton in the open end. It has been suggested, with 

 great probability of truth, that this was a slow match for conserving a 

 light after fire had been obtained by the fire drill. The specimens of 

 cotton cloth were finely woven, in one case ornamented with an open 

 mesh, an art in weaving still retained among Pueblo Indians. 



Want of water and other practical difficulties made it impossible for 

 me to carry on extensive excavations commensurate with the possibil- 

 ities of discovery which these ruins present. There was unfortunately 

 no available spring near these ruins, and we were obliged to bring 

 drinking water from a long distance. The indications, however, are 

 that this difficulty could be minimized, or if excavation of these prom- 

 ising ruins were undertaken at the proper season the supply of water 

 and fodder for horses would be sufficient for all requirements. 



Passing by several smaller cliff houses which I discovered in the Red 

 Eock country, we may tarry for a few lines descriptive of the largest 

 ruin of this region, to which I have given the name Honanki. The 

 existing remains of this ruin show that it was a rambling row of two- 

 storied houses extending for an eighth of a mile along the foot of a cliff, 

 culminating in a large communal house, built in an extensive cavern 

 with overhanging roof. Evidently this was a populous pueblo, large 

 enough to accommodate at least 300 people, about the same population 

 as Walpi today. Although there was good evidence that Honanki 

 had been visited by other white men before us, we search in vain in 

 archaeological literature for even a mention of this prehistoric village. 

 Fortunately enough of the structure remained to show the finished 

 character of the masonry, and the large size of the former rooms. In 



