homes in Sonora, going over the sierra by the
trail we had made in coming east. A few months later several of them
returned, bringing others with them, and asked to work again in the
camp, which remained in San Diego for about nine months longer--long
enough for us to see quite a little trade in oranges, sugar, tobacco,
etc., developing between Sonora and Chihuahua by way of the road cut
out by us, and called, after me, _el camino del doctor_.

Excavations in Cave Valley were continued, and the burial caves gave
even better results than the cave-dwellings. They were located in
the eastern side of the canon, which is rarely touched by the sun's
rays. With one exception the ceilings and sides of these caves were
much blackened by smoke. There was not the slightest trace of house
walls, and no other sign that the place had ever been inhabited;
therefore, a fire here could have had no other purpose than a religious
one, just as the Tarahumares to this day make a fire in the cave in
which they bury their dead. Indeed, at first sight there was nothing
in the cave to indicate that they had ever been utilised by man;
but below the dust we came upon a hard, concrete floor, and after
digging through this to a depth of three feet, we fortunately struck a
skull, and then came upon the body of a man. After this we disinterred
that of a mother holding a child in her arms, and two other bodies,
all lying on their left sides, their knees half drawn up, and their
faces turned toward the setting sun. All were in a marvellous state
of preservation, owing to the presence of saltpetre in the dust. This
imparted to the dead a mummy-like appearance, but there was nothing
to suggest that embalming or other artificial means of preservation
of the bodies had been used. The entire system was simply desiccated
intact, merely shrunken, with the skin on most of the bodies almost
unbroken. The features, and even the expression of the countenance,
were in many cases quite distinct. Some had retained their eyebrows and
part of their hair, and even their intestines had not all disappeared.

The hair of these people was very slightly wavy, and softer than
that of the modern Indian; in fact, almost silky. The statures were
quite low, and in general appearance these ancients bear a curious
resemblance to the Moqui Indians, who have a tradition that their
ancestors came from the south, and who, to this day, speak of their
"southern brethren"; but it would