en them already, and if the Queres chose to
still further widen it, the Tehuas felt ready for any emergency. It was
resolved to prepare for war at once, to call to arms the entire male
population, send ahead the necessary spies, and thus prepared, to wait.
With this the matter went into the hands of the great medicine-man and
the head war-chief. The former was almost an equivalent to the Hishtanyi
Chayan among the Queres, the latter the exact equivalent of the maseua.

The castle-like rock of the Puye, along whose base the numerous
cave-dwellings are burrowed out of a very friable and almost snow-white
tufa, is situated about ten miles west of the Rio Grande, and not two
miles south of the picturesque canon of Santa Clara. The cliff is over
one half mile long, and it dominates the mesa on which it stands. For
many miles there are groves of timber surrounding the foot of the high
and rugged slope that leads up to the cave-dwellings. While the Queres
at the Rito dwelt at the bottom of a secluded gorge, the Tehuas occupied
a picturesque citadel rising from a high and level plateau. Northeast of
the Puye, and separated from it by the canon of Santa Clara, there rises
a similar rock, equally bold and striking, and higher still, but not as
extensive. This is called by the Tehuas, Shu Finne. Its lower rim is
also perforated by cave-dwellings, and these were inhabited by a portion
of the same tribe. During the night runners were sent to the Shu Finne,
calling upon its people for assistance; and videttes were placed on the
mountains and on the little mesa capping the cliff. The Tehuas were more
numerous than the Queres of the Rito, and might well wait calmly and
with dignity until the latter either sought to negotiate or broke out in
unjustifiable warfare.

The five days which, as the tuyo had correctly inferred, would be spent
by the people of the Tyuonyi in mourning and in warlike preparations,
passed; and no messenger of peace came to the Tehuas. The Queres
remained in perfect confidence that those whom they intended to surprise
were in absolute ignorance of any evil intentions on their part. But
when the night of the fifth day had shrouded the landscape in purple
darkness, Tehua warriors began to stream down the slopes from the cliff
and its cave-dwellings. The deepest silence was observed, instructions
having been given beforehand, and the bands of armed men moved
noiselessly forward. The plan was not to await the attack at