getting at it was by digging
down through the roof; and, as usual, a friendly tree was at hand to
assist us in the ascent. The roof was flat, made of stone and mortar
cemented together, and several feet in thickness. The Indians had no
crowbar, but loosening the mortar with their machetes, and prying apart
the stones by means of hard wood saplings with the points sharpened,
they excavated down to the layer on the top of the arch. The stone
lapped over about a foot on each side, and was so heavy that it was
impossible to hoist it out of the hole; our only way, therefore, was to
lower it down into the apartment. The master sent some Indians to the
rancho to search for ropes, and, as a measure of precaution, I had
branches cut, and made a bed several feet thick under the stone. Some
of the Indians still at work were preparing to let it fall, when Dr.
Cabot, who was fortunately on the roof at the time, put a stop to their
proceedings.

The Indians returned with the rope, and while lowering the stone one of
the strands broke, and it came thundering down, but the bed of branches
saved the painting from destruction.

The proprietor made no objections to my carrying it away, but it was
too heavy for a mule-load, and the Indians would not undertake to carry
it on their shoulders. The only way of removing it was to have it cut
down to a portable size; and when we left, the proprietor accompanied
me to the village to procure a stonecutter for that purpose, but there
was none in the village, nor any chance of one within twenty-seven
miles. Unable to do anything with the stone, I engaged the proprietor
to place it in an apartment sheltered from rain; and, if I do not
mistake the character of my Indian friend and inheritor of a ruined
city, it now lies subject to my order; and I hereby authorise the next
American traveller to bring it away at his own expense, and deposite it
in the National Museum at Washington.

[Engraving 17: Front of a Building]

I shall present but one more view from the ruins of Kewick. It is part
of the front of a long building, forming a right angle with the one
last referred to. The terraces almost join, and though all was so
overgrown that it was difficult to make out the plan and juxtaposition,
the probability is that they formed two sides of a grand rectangular
area. The whole building measures two hundred and thirty feet in
length. In the centre is a wide ruined staircase leading to the top.
The pla