not used by the Indians of Santa Clara in decorating their pottery.

Among the specimens are a number of interesting stone implements, nearly all of an older kind than any made by this people at the present day.

During our stay at this pueblo some interesting archaeological discoveries were made of which a brief mention in this connection may not be out of place, and which will certainly prove of great interest to future investigators. Between the Rio Grande and Valle Mountains, commencing

about 12 miles below, or south, of Santa Clara, and extending south, to within ten miles of Cochití, a distance of about 65 miles, is an extensive area, the intermediate elevated portion of which is composed of a yellowish volcanic tufa, of coarse texture and sufficiently soft and yielding to be readily worked or carved with rude stone implements. Over this entire area there are irregular elevations, somewhat circular in outline, from 50 to 200 feet in height, the faces of which have been worn away by the elements, and are in nearly all instances perpendicular. These consecutive elevations extend back from the Rio Grande from five to fifteen miles. Over this whole expanse of country, in the faces of these cliffs, we found an immense number of cavate dwellings, cut out by the hand of man. We made no attempt to count the number of these curious dwellings, dug like hermit cells out of the rock, but they may be estimated with safety among the thousands. I made many inquiries 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 of these structures remain standing to the height of ten or twelve feet, and show that from four to five hundred people can find room within each inclosure. One of these buildings was rectangular and two were round structures. The latter were about 100 and 150 feet in diameter, the rectangular one about 300 feet square. Many small square rooms were constructed in the interior from large cut bricks of the tufa of which the bluffs are composed. These rooms all opened toward the center of the large inclosure, which has but one general doorway. From these ruins we secured great quantities of pottery, arrow and spear heads, knives, grinding-stones, arrow-smoothers, and many of the small flint adzes, which were undoubtedly used for making the blocks for the structures on the mesa and for excavating the cave dwellings. Among the débris in the dwellings are found corncobs and other evidences of the food used by the inhabitants. This certainly indicates that the people who occupied these singular dwellings were agricultural.

The faces of some of the more prominent cliffs contained as many as three rows of chambers one above the other; the débris at the foot, sometimes 200 feet deep, covered up at least two rows of these chambers.

Along the edges of the cliffs and over the rocky surface of the mesa are winding footpaths from 3 to 10 inches deep, worn by the feet of the inhabitants. Some of these paths showed perceptible foot-prints where it was inconvenient for those following the path to do otherwise than tread in the footsteps of their predecessors.

In our limited investigations we were unable to discover any evidence of burial customs. No graves could be found, and nothing of human remains.

The southern portion of this area seems to have been most densely populated. Some of the protected walls in the neighborhood retain hieroglyphics in abundance. These resemble the picture writing of the present Indians of that region. Many interesting specimens of the art of this ancient people can be seen in the images of wild animals scattered over various spots. Many of them are cut in full relief out of the tufa and are always in some natural attitude, and can always be identified where the weather has not destroyed the original form. The most prominent are two mountain lions, side by side and life size.

Further examinations will reveal much more of value and interest in connection with this very inviting locality.

Mr. Galbraith, who accompanied my party, spent some time examining this region and made collections here.

The next pueblo visited was San Ildefonso, about five miles below Santa Clara, on the opposite bank of the Rio Grande. But few specimens

were obtained here. The people of this pueblo devote their time chiefly to agricultural and pastoral pursuits, and have almost abandoned the manufacture of pottery, that in use by them at the present time being mostly obtained from neighboring tribes.

From San Ildefonso we proceeded to Nambé, a pueblo which has become almost extinct. The remnant of this people is situated about 25 miles above Ildefonso, on Nambé Creek, and not far from the base of the mountains. The people of Nambé have several times in years past moved their pueblo higher up the stream, the valley of which furnishes them fine agricultural and grazing grounds. They make very little pottery, but we found stored in many of the houses of the village great quantities of stone implements, principally large metates and grinding-stones. We also found many specimens of interest among the ruins of old Nambé and Pojuaque, as well as the remains of pottery in such quantities as to show that in the past the manufacture of pottery had been carried on quite extensively. In this vicinity I made arrangements with one of the employés of the party, who had resided many years at Santa Fé, to make excavations