lls themselves are reduced to a few metres elevation. The church may
originally have been not less than 10 m.--33 ft.--perhaps higher. It
had, according to tradition, but one belfry and a single bell,--a very
large one at that. The Indians carried it off, it is said, to the top of
the _mesa_, where it broke. It is certain that a very large bell, of
which I saw one fragment, now in possession of Mr. E. K. Walters, of
Pecos, was found on the western slope of the Mesa de Pecos, about three
miles from its eastern rim, in a _canada_ of the Ojo de Vacas stream,
towards San Cristobal. Mr. Thomas Munn, of Baughl's, took the pains of
piloting me a whole day (6th of September) through the wilderness of the
_mesa_, and showing me the place where this interesting relic was
finally deposited. I shall return to this by and by.

Mrs. Kozlowski (wife of a Polish gentleman, living two miles south on
the _arroyo_) informed me that in 1858, when she came to her present
home with her husband, the roof of the church was still in existence.
Her husband tore it down, and used it for building out-houses; he also
attempted to dig out the corner-stone, but failed. In general, the
vandalism committed in this venerable relic of antiquity defies all
description. It is only equalled by the foolishness of such as, having
no other means to secure immortality, have cut out the ornaments from
the sculptured beams in order to obtain a surface suitable to carve
their euphonious names. All the beams of the old structure are quaintly,
but still not tastelessly, carved; there was, as is shown in Plate VII.,
much scroll-work terminating them. Most of this was taken away, chipped
into uncouth boxes, and sold, to be scattered everywhere. Not content
with this, treasure-hunters, inconsiderate amateurs, have recklessly and
ruthlessly disturbed the abodes of the dead. "After becoming
Christians," said to me Sr. Mariano Ruiz, the only remaining 'son of the
tribe' of Pecos, still settled near to its site, "they buried their dead
within the church." These dead have been dug out regardless of their
position relative to the walls of the building, and their remains have
been scattered over the surface, to become the prey of relic-hunters.
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of New Mexico has finally stopped such
abuses by asserting his title of ownership; but it was far too late. It
cannot be denied, besides, that his concession to Kozlowski to use some
of the timber for his o