300 JANOS TO CORRELITOS, 
turned while we could see to find our way back through 
the thick mezquit chapporal, and partook of an excel- 
lent supper with such appetites as people might be sup- 
posed to have who had not eaten since sunrise. The 
evening was spent in questioning our friend about the 
ruins, and in selecting some fragments of pottery from 
a peck or more which the boys who had accompanied 
us had picked up, I having set them to work for the 
purpose. 
The ruins of Casas Grandes, or Great Houses, face 
the cardinal points, and consist of fallen and erect walls, 
the latter varying in height from five to thirty feet, and 
often projecting above the heaps of others which have 
fallen and crumbled away. If the height were esti- 
mated from their foundations, it would be much greater, 
particularly of those in the central parts of the build- 
ing, where the fallen walls and rubbish form a mound 
twenty feet above the ground. If, therefore, the high- 
est walls now standing have their foundation on the 
lowest level, they have a height of from forty to fifty 
feet; and as these ruins have stood exposed to the 
elements for more than three centuries, they must 
originally have been much higher. Indeed the thick- 
ness of the walls, some of which are five feet at their 
base, would indicate that they must have been much 
higher than they now appear. 
From a close examination of what remains of the 
building or buildings, I came to the conclusion that the 
outer portions were the lowest, and not above one 
story in height, while the central ones were from three 
to six stories. Hence the large heaps of ruined walls 
and rubbish in the centre, and in consequence the bet- 
