56 CAVE AND CUFF DWELLERS. 
tivated the rich soil of the valleys. They 
well understood the value of water, too, 
for around the bases of the small, stream¬ 
less valleys leading into the watered ones 
were damlike terraces, evidently designed 
to catch and retain the water after show¬ 
ers until it was needed in the irrigating 
ditches. On the top of high hills adja¬ 
cent were fortified places, apparently 
where they must have fled in times of 
danger from other tribes. They were a 
wonderful and interesting people, one 
that would repay careful study, even from 
the little evidence of their existence that 
is left. 
On the Tapasita we came upon the 
ruins of what must have been a large 
city of these people—the largest we saw 
in that part of the country. The only 
life we saw there was a mountain lion 
