VALLEY OF THE RIO GRA.NDE. 
189 
ancient Assyrians, and practised at the present day on 
the banks of the Euphrates and the Nile. From the 
Church and Plaza, El Paso. 
inches thick, and baked in the sun. This material, 
with slight repairs, will endure for centuries. Some- 
times chopped straw and gravel are mixed with it, 
which greatly improves its quality. The houses of the 
better classes are large, and built in the form of a hollow 
square. The walls are from two to three feet in thick- 
ness, and have but few openings. When plastered 
and whitewashed they look very neat, and make com- 
fortable dwellings.- All the floors are laid with mud, 
concrete, or brick. Such a thing as a wooden floor is 
unknown in the country. This mode of building, as 
well as the material, is precisely that adopted by the 
