ries of the neighboring tribes in regard to the history
of these dwellings, but could elicit no information from any of them.
The response was invariably, "they are very old and the people who
occupied them are gone."

An inspection of a portion of this area revealed a condition of things
which I have no doubt prevails throughout. The dwellings were found in
the faces of the cliffs, about 20 feet apart in many instances, but the
distances are irregular. A careful examination satisfied me that they
were excavated with rude stone implements resembling adzes, numbers of
which were found here, and which were probably used by fastening one end
to a handle.

The doorways, which are square, were first cut into the face of the wall
to a depth of about one foot, and then the work of enlarging the room
began. The interiors of the rooms are oval in shape, about 12 feet in
diameter, and only of sufficient height to enable one to stand upright.

The process, from the evidences shown inside, of carving out the
interior of the dwelling was by scraping grooves several inches deep and
apart, and breaking out the intermediate portion; in this way the work
progressed until the room reached the desired size. Inside of these
rooms were found many little niches and excavated recesses used for
storing household ornaments, the larger ones probably supplying the
place of cupboards. Near the roofs of many of the caves are mortises,
projecting from which, in many instances, were found the decayed ends of
wooden beams or sleepers, which were probably used, as they are now in
the modern Pueblo dwellings, as poles over which to hang blankets and
clothing, or to dry meat. These dwellings were without fireplaces; but
the evidences of fire were plainly visible at the side of each cave,
and in none of those visited did we find any orifice for the egress of
the smoke but the small doorway. On the outside or in front of these
singular habitations are rows of holes mortised into the face of the
cliffs about the doors. It is quite evident that these were for the
insertion of beams of wood (for forming booths or shelters in the
front), as ends of beams were found sticking there, which, in their
sheltered position and in this dry climate, may have been preserved for
centuries.

Upon the top of the mesa of which these cliffs are the exposed sides we
found the ruins of large circular buildings made of square stones 8 by
12 inches in size. The walls of some