Weekly Phoenix herald., 1883-09-20

hundred years ago, and that even
 then was an abandoned rum as it is
 now Who shall say that it had not
 been erected even several centuries
 previous to that datee
 The Mullen ruin of which l am
 about to write IS the largest of ] continuous chain of ancient luins
 which line the Verde river through
 out it's whole course, covering tie
 table like summits of the high gras sy mesas which stand back from the river bottom. The structure in question Is composed of a grayish
 white stone which abounds in this section and IS Lnown as lave ash.
 This stone has been quarried from q
 mountain two miles distant, in large
 and small slabs which are very easi- y laid into a wall. The outer walls
 and partitions within, vary in thick
 ness, being from two to four feet in
 width, and many of them stand from
 two tn twenty feet above the surface
 of the ruin, which itself makes
 mound of fifteen feet from the level
 of the ground. Thus the highest
 point of the wall still standing is
 some thirty-five feet above the
 ground. These walls are all well
 and carefully built; joints well
 broken snd corners perpendicular.
 The ends of the joists which sup~
 ported the flooring of the several
 stories sill remain imbcdded in the
 wall: they arc of cedar and in per
 feet state of preservation, some of
 them beng as thich as mans body
 The nearest cedar it for building is
 ten miles distant, in the mountains,
 and how these immense jDists were
 transported thither without beasts of buroen is mystery, as is also the
 mode of transportation of thous ands ot tons of rock used in the building. The ground plan is one hundred and fifty yards square and lies exactly with the cardinal points of the con- pass. At a distance of fifty feet from the outer walls. there are the remains of still another wall, en- closing broad level esplanade, which completely encircles the building This latter wall had evi> dcntly been left unfinished by inc builders at the time they departed or met their unknown fate. 1 esti> mate that there are tour hundred se- parate rooms connected with each other by door ways. This would al> low twenty room on side, each room 2215 feet square. This is fair estimate IS there are more than 20 rooms on a side, many of them not more than five and six feet square: but to counterbalance these there are other rooms, especially towards the interior, that are 30, 60 and even 100 feet in length by 40 feet in width. The rooms can be counted, as their partitions all show plainly above the debris, but it would be task like exploring the Cretan Labyrinth, and one would have to mark each room as he passed it to prevent a double count, which is not generally 1 desirable except in political elec- tions. I much prefer boring and | poking around among the fallen walls to discover what relics the de parted population have left behind | them. There is not a great deal to be found on the surface. but good | pick and shovel well applied might | unearth wonders. One hundredth | part O. the money that has been ex- pended in this Territory in digging useless prospect holes would clear all the rooms and leave the present | walls standing intact, besides bring ing to light many invaluable histor- ical facts concerning the habits of the unknown; perhaps even the date of their arrival and the causes of their departure. Stone naetates and mortars, axes and hammers | abound, and the ground in the vici- nity is strown with fragments of pottery as thickly as sand upon the sea shore. Same of this latter is far superior to the common pottery of .he present day, being of a light -ream color, fine and even in texture md beautifully glazed. It is orna- nented with stripes and figures in black, white. red and brown, some 1f the patterns being very intricate and ingenious and some represent ing animals and insects. The people who manufactured it were evidently . long ways from barbarism. Speaking of pottery reminds me hat the adobe mud which is used as mortar to the stone work, and stIll re> mains in the center of the walls, is also filled with small pieces of brok- sn earlhenwa-e, showing that the country must have been inhabited, perhaps by different race, before he building of the present struct- ire.
 Along the northern side of the the recent rains have washed out gulley, four feet deep, just outsi :e the walls, and expost d some human bones. At the risk of being called grave robber, un- earthed them, as I considered the owners had had rest enough during heir sleep of several centuries; though l know some men now liv- nag who would kick" on being awakened after the sleep of cycle. [ found two human skeletons entire, though the bones crumbled at haud- IIng. At the head of each, on the
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