lustrated in the neighboring country. Here small
ruts in the surface of the ground are rapidly converted into large
arroyos. Frequently ordinary wagon tracks along a bit of valley slope
serve as an initial channel to the rapidly accumulating waters and are
eaten away in a few weeks so that the road becomes wholly impassable,
and must be abandoned for a new one alongside.

[Illustration: Fig. 44. Zuni roof drain, with splash stones on roof
below.]

The shiftlessness of the native builders in the use of the more
convenient material brings its own penalty during this season in a
necessity for constant watchfulness and frequent repairs to keep the
houses habitable. One can often see in Zuni where an inefficient drain
or a broken coping has given the water free access to the face of a
plastered wall, carrying away all its covering and exposing in a
vertical space the jagged stones of the underlying masonry. It is
noticeable that much more attention has been paid to protective devices
at Zuni than at Tusayan. This is undoubtedly due to the prevalent use of
adobe in the former. This friable material must be protected at all
vulnerable points with slabs of stone in order quickly to divert the
water and preserve the roofs and walls from destruction.

LADDERS AND STEPS.

In the inclosed court of the old fortress pueblos the first terrace was
reached only by means of ladders, but the terraces or rooms above this
were reached both by ladders and steps. The removal of the lower tier of
ladders thus gave security against intrusion and attack. The builders of
Tusayan have preserved this primitive arrangement in much greater purity
than those of Cibola.

[Illustration: Plate LXXV. House at Ojo Caliente.]

In Zuni numerous ladders are seen on every terrace, but the purpose of
these, on the highest terraces, is not to provide access to the rooms of
the upper story, which always have external doors opening on the
terraces, but to facilitate repairs of the roofs. At Tusayan, on the
other hand, ladders are of rare occurrence above the first terrace,
their place being supplied by flights of stone steps. The relative
scarcity of stone at Zuni, suitable for building material, and its great
abundance at Tusayan, undoubtedly account for this difference of usage,
especially as the proximity of the timber supply of the Zuni mountains
to the former facilitates the substitution of wood for steps of masonry.

[Illustration: Fig. 45. A