AND VISIT TO CASAS GRANDES. 361 
those on the white ground being black, red, or brown; 
and on the darker material, black. I made inquiry 
for any relics that had been found, and was successful 
in obtaining a few. One of these was a small black 
jar; another a vessel in the form of a tortoise, of reddish 
pottery; and the third a beautifully sculptured stone 
pipe. Such relics are eagerly sought for by the peo- 
ple of Chihuahua and other large towns, and when 
perfect command a high price. I heard of many such; 
but they were in towns beyond my reach. I request- 
ed a friend to procure drawings of these and forward 
them to me, but have not yet received them, and the 
only addition I am able to make to those which I 
obtained, is a drawing from one found by Lieut. Hardy, 
a copy of which I give, rather to show the style 
of ornament than the form.* I also saw, at the house 
of the gentleman who was so polite to us, a fine 
metate taken from the ruins, about two feet in length, 
handsomely cut from a block of dark stone, a drawing 
of which I made. Similar ones are occasionally 
found there; and in my rambles I saw several broken 
ones. 
The whole valley and plain for miles about these 
ruins is strewed with fragments of pottery. I collect- 
ed a number of specimens exhibiting various patterns, 
in order to show the taste of the makers in ornamental 
* Hardy's Travels in the Interior of Mexico in 1825-8. This 
author spent a couple of hours at these ruins, and procured the jar re- 
ferred to, which he says was in excellent preservation. “There were 
also,” continued he, “good specimens of earthen images in the Egyp- 
tian style; which are, to me at least,so perfectly uninteresting, that I 
was at no pains to procure any of them.” p. 465. 
