hirty wide, and crawl, in the the most
abject manner possible, through a tube-like passage-way nearly twenty
feet in length."

"My first impression was that this peculiarly constructed way was a
precaution against enemies, and that it was probably the only means of
entrance to the interior of the house, but I am now inclined to think
this is hardly probable, and conclude that this was rather designed to
render a sacred chamber as free as possible from profane intrusion."
This illustrates the peculiar regard in which it was held. Even when
sore pressed by their enemies, and obliged to flee to inaccessible
heights, they still constructed their sacred place.

Illustration of Cliff-town, Rio Mancos.------------

These cliff-houses, of which we give illustrations, are quite common in
the Mancos. Our frontispiece shows an interesting group, about ten miles
from the foot of the canyon. These are situated only about forty feet
above the bed of the creek, but still in a secure position. Here a bed
of shale had been weathered out of the sandstone, leaving a sort of
horizontal groove four feet high and from four to six feet deep. In this
a row of minute houses had been built. They had been made to occupy the
full height and depth of the crevice, so that when one reaches it at the
only accessible point he is between two houses, and must pass through
these to get at the others.

Besides the cliff-houses, the explorers found that these people had made
use of little cave-like openings in the cliffs, and, by walling up the
openings, had converted them into houses. These were very common in
the Mancos, and of all sizes. Some were evidently merely little hiding
places, in which to store away provisions or other articles. In
some places the cliffs were literally honey-combed with these little
habitations. Sometimes the walls were quite well preserved and
new-looking, while all about were others in all stages of decay.

"In one place in particular a picturesque outstanding promontory
has been full of dwellings.... As one from below views the ragged,
window-pierced crags, he is unconsciously led to wonder if they are
not the ruins of some ancient castle, behind whose mouldering walls
are hidden the dread secrets of a long-forgotten people; but a nearer
approach quickly dispels such fancies, for the windows prove to be only
the doorways to shallow and irregular apartments hardly sufficiently
commodious for a race of pigmies. Neither