St. Paul daily globe., 1886-11-21
A PALACE OF PIGMIES,
The Miniature Marble Mansion on
Colorado Cliff
A Traveller Discovers Traces Of a
Tiny Race of Beings.

! legends and traditions brought from
| America to England by adventures of the
Raleigh and Gilbert school, it appearing
from recent discovery that pigmy race
at one time lived and died upon this conti-
| nent The discovery spoken Of is that of
! traveller in the reglop Of the Grand can.
/ yOn of the Colorado river, in Northwestern
Arizona. This traveller is at present
visiting Cheyenne, and from him
correspondent of the San Francisco
Call obtained particulars of his
singular find" This gent eman is vet
eran traveller and has grown gray in the
climates of many regions. but says that he
never experienced more genuine surprise
than wnen he came upon the traces which
established beyond all question the exist
ence III the ooscurty OF long-past ages Of
lllllputlan race in the WiidS of Arizona.
1he adventurous narrator had been wan
dering for some time in the Arizona noun
talns hunting, fishing and exploring. He
came at last to that portion of the terrific
chasm of the Colorado known as the Mar
BILE canyon. Here seduced by the wild
and grand beauty of the surroundings. he
pitched his adventurous camp for some
| time.
One day while on the trail of a deer he
noticed some singular indentationS in a
lofty cliff of marble that overhung the
chasm. These indentations presented such
curious appearance to the naked eye that
he ceased the pursuit of his game to eX-
| anime them through his field glasses. What
was his astOniSlment when the glasses re-
vealed regular paths cut deep in the solid
marble. These paths, though deep. were
very narrow, having more the look of
| trenches. All thought of his deer now for
! gotten the hunter turned his eager atten-
| tiOn to the investigation of his singular dis
| cOvery.
! He had noticed that the paths or branches
all tended toward deep recess situated
high up on the face of the cliff. Accord
ingly, he began the ascent of the cliff from
| the land side, and after an hours severe
toll stood upon the summit of the dizzy emf
nence. He had marked well the position
of the recess in the face of the cliff and
was delighted to find that the descent from
the summit was less perpendicular in the
direction of the locality he sought than
elsewhere. He could even discern a species
of platform. which seemed to be situated
exactly at the mouth of the recess
Scrambling back by the way he had
assembled he proceeded to his camp and re-
turned with long and stout rope. Fasten-
| ing this to the trunk of storm-beaten pine
|
he carefully knot ed it at distances of
twelve to fifteen inches. lowered it over the
edge Of the precipice and trusted himself
| to its strength. Hand under hand down he
went. swinging over the dizzy and perilOus
| depths of the terrific Marble canyon. At
last his foot touched the rocky platform in
| front of the recess and he found himself at
h s goal. And now. indeed, singular
sight presented itself.
| In front of him was miniature dwell
! ing embedded in the recess. This dwelling
was perfect in all it's appointments. though
those appointments were of the rudest kind.
| 1t had certainly been fashioned by human
hands, and those hands, though small, had
evidently been industrious and guided by
| intelligence. The marble dwelling boasted
doors scarcely fifteen inches in height. and
the tiny windows which lighted up the front
were scarcely the span of baby hand.
These doors and windows were nothing
more than holes in the walls of the dwell
ing, and through them the various apart
ments could be seen.
There were accommodations. apparently.
| for some eight to ten little persons, and
scattered about were many utensils of use
and ornament. These things were fash
iOned from the clear-veined marble and
bore the look of children's toys rather than
| the household goods Of grown folk. The
paths h.ch converged to the entrance of
the dwelling from all parts of the cliff
| face were some ten or twelve inches in
depth and must have been cut with enor-
nous labor by men whose stature could no.
| have exceeded foot.
Our adventurer, after concluding his OBJ
| servatiOns. grasped his rope, and after a
perilOus ascent again stood upon the sum-
NIT of the mighty cliff, in whose face the
pigmy race of old had followed and hewn
their dwelling place. Who these little
| folks were. how they lived and how they
died are secrets buried forever in the mighty
tonnes of the past They may have died
one by one in the course of nature or the
race, like their prototypes of old. may have
been raded and devoured collectively by
cranes great number of which birds fire.
Quent the locality.