284 CAVE AND CLIFF DWELLERS. 
taken the place for a deserted village. 
After riding a mile through the street we 
reached a little plaza about twenty-five 
feet square, where the mountains receded 
and made room for this level little patch 
of ground. Here one of the great 
wooden doors of the apparently deserted 
houses opened and our host came forth, 
followed by a number of others. By the 
time the whole party reached the plaza 
there were one or two hundred Mexicans 
congregated to welcome us and see us 
alight. As there were no accommoda¬ 
tions of any sort in the town for trav¬ 
elers, Don Augustin Becerra, with the 
graceful courtesy of a Mexican gentle¬ 
man, had moved out of his own home 
and literally placed his whole house and 
all it contained at our disposal; and this 
was done as though it were the most com- 
