348 BUINS ON THE LAS ANIMAS. 



the longer side of the building ; the walls supporting the towers on either 

 side of the court were square -cornered, but had re-entrant angles. The 

 remainder of the building was divided into rectangular compartments, 

 apparently of three stories, the two upper ones nearly in ruins, on two sides 

 of the building, which was about 150 by 100 feet; the wall was quite perfect 

 and in places 25 feet in height still standing.* Entering a room nearly 

 altogether in ruins, it was found connected with an interior one by a door- 

 way 4 feet 4 inches by 2 feet 4 inches, cased with nicely-dressed soft 

 sandstone in pieces about the size of ordinary bricks ; the walls were 2 

 feet 4 inches thick, many of the stones being marked with crosses (+)> 

 &c, and some with inscriptions, though these latter were nearly obliterated. 

 The interior room was 14 feet 4 inches by 6 feet 4 inches, and the roof 

 fallen in. An entrance was found to a lower room, apparently one of the 

 lower story, through a door of about the same dimensions as the other men- 

 tioned; the lintel was composed of small, round pieces of wood well cleaned, 

 fitted, and bound together with withes ; the dimensions of the room were 14 

 feet 4 inches by 6 feet, and 7 feet high; the walls, which were well plastered, 

 remained nearly intact, and were covered on all sides with curious figures 

 and signs scratched upon them. The floor must have been of earth; the ceil- 

 ing was supported primarily by clean pine or spruce beams about 6 inches 

 in diameter and 30 inches apart ; these were crossed by smaller ones of the 

 same kind, and across these latter were split pieces, small and half-round, 

 and fitting closely together, supporting the earth above. The room was in 

 good condition, though sand had washed in and partly covered the floor. 

 No entrance could be found to the numerous other rooms constituting this 

 floor, except in one case where an interior wall was found broken through. 

 This room was like the other, but higher and without plaster, the floor 

 covered with debris fallen from above. Near the center of the building was 

 a rectangular shaft about 8 feet by 6 feet. Through a hole already broken 

 in the roof, and by means of a rope, I descended about 12 feet to a floor- 

 ing, the beams supporting which had given way and only part remained ; 



*A heliotype plate, made from a photograph of trie interior of the building here mentioned, is 

 contained in the Report of the Chief of Engineers from which this account is taken, and is here alluded 

 to, as it gives the best presentation I have seen of the method of building the walls of these ancient 

 structures. — F. W. P. 



