248 AT THE COCO-MARICOPA AND 
canals extending miles in length; but they seem to 
have left no trace or tradition by which we can tell 
who they were, or what was their fate. I made fre- 
quent inquiries of the Pimos and Coco-Maricopas as to 
the builders of these and the ruins on the Gila, but 
could obtain no other than the ever-ready, Quien 
sabe? These, as well as the ruins above the Pimo 
villages are known among the Indians as the “ houses of 
Montezuma,” an idea doubtless derived from the Mexi- 
cans, rather than from any tradition of their own. We 
asked our Indian guide, who Montezuma was. He 
answered, ‘‘Nobody knows who the devil he was; all 
we know is, that he built these houses.” 
After spending an hour here, we took a strongly 
marked trail, which looked as though it had been 
travelled for a century, and which led due south 
towards the Fimo villages. There were other trails, 
leading in various directions; showing that the plain 
is much traversed, and the ruins often visited. We 
journeyed rapidly over the plain, which was a portion 
of the great plateau or desert. It was a perfect level 
without an undulation. Nota hill or a ravine inter- 
cepted our path. The vegetation was the same as 
found on the plateau in our journey up the south side 
of the Gila. Larrea and small mezquit bushes predom- 
inated; while now and then the graceful petahaya 
raised its tall head far above the dwarfish plants of the 
desert, often startling us with its sudden appearance. 
It was near midnight when we entered a thick grove 
of mezquit, from whose branches were pendent large 
quantities of the beans of which the mules are so fond. 
As we had now travelled from twenty-three to twenty- 
