BRIGHT ANGEL KIVEE, 87 
Angel River, with the special purpose of seeking timber, from which to make 
oars. A couple of miles above, we find a large pine log, which has been 
floated down from the plateau, probably from an altitude of more than six 
thousand feet, but not many miles back. On its way, it must have passed 
over many cataracts and falls, for it bears scars in evidence of the rough 
usage which it has received. The" men roll it on skids, and the work of 
sawing oars is commenced. 
This stream heads away back, under a line of abrupt cliffs, that termi 
nates the plateau, and tumbles down more than four thousand feet in the first 
mile or two of its course ; then runs through a deep, narrow canon, until it 
reaches the river. 
Late in the afternoon I return, and go up a little gulch, just above this 
creek, about two hundred yards from camp, and discover the ruins of two 
or three old houses, which were originally of stone, laid in mortar. Only 
the foundations are left, but irregular blocks, of which the houses were con 
structed, lie scattered about. In one room I find an old mealing stone, 
deeply worn, as if it had been much used. A great deal of pottery is strewn 
around, and old trails, which in some places are deeply worn into the rocks, 
are seen. 
It is ever a source of wonder to us why these ancient people sought 
such inaccessible places for their homes. They were, doubtless, an agricul 
tural race, but there are no lands here, of any considerable extent, that they 
could have cultivated. To the west of Oraiby, one of the towns in the 
"Province of Tusayan," in Northern Arizona, the inhabitants have actually 
built little terraces along the face of the cliff, where a spring gushes out, 
and thus made their sites for gardens. It is possible that the ancient inhab 
itants of this place made their agricultural lands in the same way. But why 
should they seek such spots ? Surely, the country was not so crowded with 
population as to demand the utilization of so barren a region. The only 
solution of the problem suggested is this: We know that, for a century or two 
after the settlement of Mexico, many expeditions were sent into the country, 
now comprised in Arizona and New Mexico, for the purpose of bringing the 
town building people under the dominion of the Spanish government. Many 
of their villages were destroyed, and the inhabitants fled to regions at that 
