some still remain, while the ground around
is strewn with fragments of vases which
have crumbled into decay from age.

Not far from the present pueblo is a lofty
mesa, which rises about a thousand feet
perpendicularly from the plain; upon this
are many ruins of houses and a sacred
altar, constituting all that remains of old
Zuñi. The following tradition is related
about this place. Long before the first
appearance of the white man, a dreadful
flood visited the land. Waters gushed forth
from the earth, and huge waves rolled in
from the west, drowning man and beast;
even the wild Apaches and Coyotes did not
escape. Then many of the people of Zuñi
rushed to the lofty mesa, but many more
perished in the waters. Night came, and
yet the waters rose higher and higher,
until they reached the water-mark still
distinctly visible high up on the cliff wall.
The great Spirit was very wroth with his
people, and must be appeased by a fitting
sacrifice. So the son of the cacique and the
most beautiful maiden in the tribe were
bound and lowered down into the seething
flood; then the waves abated, and the
remnant of the people were saved. The
young man and the maiden were
transformed into two lofty pillars of stone, which
rise from a natural battlement on one part
of the summit. Time has worn these two
pillars into four; they are still greatly
venerated by the people of Zuñi. After
building a town on the lofty mesa, they lived
there for many years, but as it was far
removed from their fertile bottom-lands, and
as no second flood visited their country,
they removed to their present abode. When
the Spaniards, however, made war against
them, they fled for a second time to their
ancient stronghold, and, according to their
own account, made a fierce resistance, by
fortifying the only two approaches by which
the summit could be gained, and by hurling
huge stones upon their assailants; the
enemy, however, was victorious.

Spanish influence was never strong
enough at Zuñi to convert the natives to
Christianity; they tolerated the presence
of a church outside the walls of the pueblo
(now a ruin), but they still cling devotedly
to their old traditions, and attribute their
temporal prosperity, and the comparative
immunity of their country from drought, to
the steadfast observance of their ancient
ceremonies. They believe in the one great
Spirit, and in Montezuma his son, who will
some day come again to them from the
east, and unite all the nations once more
under his banner.

Our party found the people of Zuñi to be
very honest, but uncommonly sharp traders,
so much so that they had the greatest
difficulty in buying any sheep from them,
although they had flocks in abundance; they
parted with their maize and farm produce
much more readily, but they understood the
value of everything so thoroughly that they
always insisted on receiving quid pro quo.
They seemed to take great pleasure in keeping
tame eagles and turkeys. Albinos are
unusually common amongst them, whose
complexions are as fair as those of Europeans.
Like the other branches of the Pueblo
Indians, the women of Zuñi are very chaste,
and plurality of wives is not allowed.

Situated to the north-east of the San
Francisco Peaks, about twenty miles from the
Colorado Chiquito, on the opposite side to
the mountains, are grouped, within a radius
of seven miles, the seven villages of Moqui.
The country is arid and uninviting, much
broken and partly formed of steep mesas,
partly of volcanic peaks. Upon the very edge
of some of these mesas the villages are planted.
They are mostly of three stories, built in
the form of a square, with a court common
to the whole community forming the centre.
The first story, or basement, consists of a
stone wall fifteen feet high, the top of which
forms a landing extending round the whole.
A flight of stone steps leads from the first
to the second landing, and thence up to the
roof. The doors open upon the landing.
The houses are three rooms deep; the first
being used for eating, cooking, &c.; the
others as sleeping apartments; great neatness
is observable both in the household
arrangements and personal habits of the
people. They sit upon skins on the floor,
clothe themselves with linen trousers, shirts,
and a Navajo blanket thrown across their
shoulders. Upon the walls hang bows,
arrows, quivers, antlers, blankets, articles
of clothing,; vases, flat dishes, and
gourds, filled with meal or water, stand
usually along one side of the room. In
complexion they are rather fair for Indians;
although quiet in their manners, they are
very light-hearted; honesty, frankness, and
hospitality are amongst their good qualities,
but they want the manly bearing of the
Zuñi Indians, and have, until lately, lived
in great fear of their warlike neighbours,
the Navajos.

The most interesting features about thoir
villages are the reservoirs which they build
to retain the rain water. At the back of
the building upon the mesa itself, a good-
sized reservoir, some five feet or upwards
in depth, and lined throughout with