wn purposes was subsequently interpreted by
others in a manner highly prejudicial to the preservation of the
structure.

[Illustration: PLATE VIII
INTERIOR OF BUILDING A, FROM THE SOUTH.]

What alone has saved the old church of Pecos from utter ruin has been
its solid mode of construction. Entirely of adobe, its walls have an
average thickness of 1.5 m.--5 ft. The adobe is made like that now used,
wheat-straw entering into it occasionally; but it also contains small
fragments of obsidian,--minute chips of that material and broken
pottery. This makes it evident that the soil for its construction must
have been gathered somewhere near the _mesilla_; and the suspicion is
very strong on my part that it was the right bank of the _arroyo_ which
furnished the material.[93] It is self-evident that the grounds which
were used for that purpose must have antedated, in point of occupation,
the date of the construction of the church by a very long period. I have
measured all the adobe bricks of the church that are within easy reach,
at various places, and found them alike. They all measure .55 m. x .28
m.--22 in. x 11 in.--and .08 m.--3 in.--in thickness. They are laid as
shown in Plate I., Fig. 4.

The mortar is, as the specimen sent by me will prove, of the same
composition as the brick itself.

The regularity with which these courses are laid is very striking. The
timbers, besides, are all well squared; the ornaments, scrolls, and
friezes are quaint, but not uncouth; there is a deficiency in
workmanship, but great purity in outline and in design.

To the south of the old church, at a distance of 4 m.--13 ft.--there is
another adobe wall, rising in places a few metres above the soil; which
wall, with that of the church, seems to have formed a covered
passage-way. Adjoining it is a rectangular terrace of red earth,
extending out to the west as far as the church front. A valuable record
of the manner in which this terrace was occupied is preserved to us in
the drawing of the Pecos church given by Lieutenant W. H. Emory in 1846.
It appears that south of the church there was a convent;[94] and this is
stated also by Sr. Ruiz. In fact, the walls, whether enclosures or
buildings, which appear to have adjoined the church, extend south from
it 74 m.--250 ft. Plate I., Fig. 2, gives an idea of their relative
position, etc.: _c_ is 4 m.--13 ft.--wide; _d_ is 21 m. x 46 m.--70 ft.
x 156 ft.; _e_ is 25 m. x 46 m.--82 ft. x 150 ft.; _f_