ck. Some
of the large jars are classic in shape, and recall in form and
decoration the ancient Cypriote ware, but the colors are commonly
brilliant and barbaric. The designs seem to be indigenous, and to betray
little Spanish influence. The art displayed in this pottery is indeed
wonderful, and, to my eye, much more effective and lastingly pleasing
than much of our cultivated decoration. A couple of handsome jars that I
bought of an old woman, she assured me she made and decorated herself;
but I saw no ovens there, nor any signs of manufacture, and suppose
that most of the ware is made at Acoma.

It did not seem to be a very religious community, although the town has
a Catholic church, and I understand that Protestant services are
sometimes held in the place. The church is not much frequented, and the
only evidence of devotion I encountered was in a woman who wore a large
and handsome silver cross, made by the Navajos. When I asked its price,
she clasped it to her bosom, with an upward look full of faith and of
refusal to part with her religion at any price. The church, which is
adobe, and at least two centuries old, is one of the most interesting I
have seen anywhere. It is a simple parallelogram, 104 feet long and 21
feet broad, the gable having an opening in which the bells hang. The
interior is exceedingly curious, and its decorations are worth
reproduction. The floor is of earth, and many of the tribe who were
distinguished and died long ago are said to repose under its smooth
surface, with nothing to mark their place of sepulture. It has an open
timber roof, the beams supported upon carved corbels. The ceiling is
made of wooden sticks, about two inches in diameter and some four feet
long, painted in alternated colors--red, blue, orange, and black--and so
twisted or woven together as to produce the effect of plaited straw, a
most novel and agreeable decoration. Over the entrance is a small
gallery, the under roof of which is composed of sticks laid in straw
pattern and colored. All around the wall runs a most striking dado, an
odd, angular pattern, with conventionalized birds at intervals, painted
in strong yet _fade_ colors--red, yellow, black, and white. The north
wall is without windows; all the light, when the door is closed, comes
from two irregular windows, without glass, high up in the south wall.

[Illustration: GRAND CANON ON THE COLORADO--VIEW FROM POINT SUBLIME.]

The chancel walls are covered with fre