AND THE CASAS GRANDES. 275 
brick, and enable it to last for centuries. How long it 
has been in this ruined state, is not known; we only 
know that when visited by the missionaries a century 
ago, it was in the same condition as at present. 
The exterior dimensions of this building are fifty 
feet from north to south, and forty from east to west. 
On the ground floor are five apartments. Those on 
the north and south sides extend the whole width of 
the building, and measure 32 by 10 feet. Between 
these are three smaller apartments, the central one 
béing within the tower. All are open-to the sky. 
There is no appearance of a stairway on any of the 
walls; whence it has been inferred that the means of 
ascent may have been outside. 
On the south-west of the principal building is a 
second one in a state of ruin, with hardly enough of 
the walls remaining to trace its original form. The 
accompanying ground-plan will show what portions of 
the walls are standing. The dark lines represent the 
erect walls, the faint lines the heaps of fallen ones. 
The central portion, judging from the height of the 
present walls, was two stories high; the outer wall, 
which can only be estimated from the debris, could not 
have been more than a single story. 
- North-east of the main building is a third one, 
smaller than either of the others, but in such an utter 
state of decay that its original form cannot be deter- 
mined. It is small, and may have been no more than 
a watch tower. In every direction as far as the eye 
can reach, are seen heaps of ruined edifices, with no 
portions of their walls standing. To the north-west, 
about two hundred yards distant, is a circular embank- 
