beyond the front wall, while from below
it is absolutely unapproachable except by the one difficult stairway of
niches cut in the rock. In time of war it must have been impregnable.
These dwellings have given more ideas about their interior furnishing
than any of the others. Among the accumulated rubbish were found corn
and beans stored away. In the lower house were two large water-jars of
corrugated pottery standing on a floor covered with neatly-woven rush
matting. In a house not far above were found a bin of charred corn, and
a polished hatchet of stone made with remarkable skill.

From this point onward both the valley and the cliffs are filled with
the traces of a numerous population, every mile of travel bringing many
fresh ones into sight. Among the cliff-houses there is of necessity a
variety in form and size as great as the differences of the caves and
crevices that hold them; but among the buildings of the low ground there
is more uniformity, not only in this canyon, but in all the valleys of
the region. Most of them may be classed as aggregated dwellings or
pueblos with rectangular rooms, round watch-towers and large circular
buildings. To these must be added a few which seem to have been built
only for defence. The straight walls have generally fallen, except the
parts supported by an angle of a building; but, as usual in old masonry,
the circular walls have much better resisted decay.

About midway down the canyon the curved wall of a large ruin rises above
the thicket. It is a building of very curious design. The outer wall
was an exact circle of heavy masonry a hundred and thirty feet in
circumference. Within, there is another circular wall, concentric with
the outer, enclosing one round room with a diameter of twenty feet. The
annular space between the two walls was divided by partitions into ten
small apartments. Other buildings of the same type occur in this region,
some of much larger size and with triple walls. Even in this one, which
is comparatively well preserved, the original height is uncertain,
though the ruin still stands about fifteen feet high.

The vast quantity of debris about some of them indicates that they were
of no insignificant height, and their perfect symmetry of form, the
careful finish of the masonry, the large dimensions and great solidity,
made them the most imposing architectural works of that ancient people.
I find no reason to doubt that they were their temples, and the
pr