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Show 16 Figure 3 is given for the purpose of making clear the geologic conditions that give shape to the cliffs as well as to show the relations of these houses to the cliffs. The hard and massive beds of rock resist the erosive agents; the soft and friable beds yield, hence the irregularity- the overhanging cliffs, the niches and benches, a is a section ot the lower house, ft of the upper. It has heretofore been supposed that the occupants of these bouses obtained water, either from the river below or from springs on the mesa above; but the immense labor of carrying water up these cliffs, as well as the impossibility of securing a suppiy in case of siege, made me suspect the existence of springs in the cliffs themselves. In three or four cases these springs have been found, and it is evident that with a climate a very little more moist than the present, a plentiful supply could be expected. Running water was found within a few yards of the group of houses just described, and Mr. Brandegee observed water dripping down the cliffs near a group of small houses on the opposite side of the cailon. About one mile farther up the caiion, I came upon the ruin photographed by Mr. Jackson in 1874, and minutely described by him as the two- story cliff- house of the Bio Mancos. It is also in the cliffs of the north side, about seven hundred feet above the river, and although not so large or complicated in design as the houses just described, it shows higher skill in construction and is in a better state of preservation. It is also exceedingly difficult of access. It seems hardly necessary for me to enter into a detailed description, as little can be added to what has already been published;* but for the purpose of having as much of the matter together as possible I present plate VII, illustrating some of the interesting features of this house. Figure 1 gives the ground- plan, and shows the position of the house in relation to the floor of the niche. There are four small apartments only; the front one, a, being 10 feet long by 6 wide. Of the back rooms, one is 9 by 10 and the other 6 by 6 feet, while the apartment with the curved wall is much smaller. The walls are about twelve feet high and reach within from two to three feet of the overhanging roof. They are built in the ordinary manner of stone and adobe mortar, and what is rather remarkable are plastered both inside and out. This plaster does not differ greatly from the common mortar, is lightly spread over the walls, probably with the hands, and in color imitates very closely the hues of the surrounding cliffs, a pleasing variety of red and yellow grays. Whether this was intended to add to the beauty of the dwelling or to add to its security by increasing its resemblance to the surrounding cliffs, I shall not attempt to determine. Another remarkable feature of this house is the consummate skill with which the foundations are laid upon and cemented to the sloping and overhanging faces of the ledge. The buttresses ft, ft, which have probably at one time supported a superstructure of wood or stone, now totally obliterated, are most striking illustrations of this; and just here is a fact that has an interesting bearing upon the question of the antiquity of this structure. These wall- supports, or buttresses, have originally been four in number, one evideutly having fallen off, and are built in continuation of the front wall, on a smooth, sloping surface of rock. Now the sandstone of which this rounded slope is composed is rather coarse aud soft, and hence easily disintegrated. It is here also not greatly protected from the weather, since the cliffs above do not " Bulletin No. 1, second series, p. 20. |
