The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-04-29
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THE FINCH NTED MESA,

The rocky floor of the meSa-top had
been swept and carved and swept again
by the storm demons of centuries since
the "ancients'' of the fleeing forms
we saw on the roofs in the moonlight
of the night before had descended the
ladder-trail in the early morn of that
Hateful day.
Although the afternoon was still
young, at once saw that the remain
ing hours of daylight would not suf-
flee for thorough examination Of the
summit. Directing the two Lagunas
below to gather together our blankets,
and sufficient supply of provisions for
couple of meals, reconnaissance
was begun, and in a few moments a
fragment Of greatly weatherworn an
cient pottery was picked up.
The storm of the previous day, which
drove the Indians from their religious
ceremonies, and gave birth to the gilt
tering little pools in the verdant valley
below, afforded facilities for observa-
ton on the summit that otherwise
would not have been possible. Here
and there in the rocky floor "pot-holes"
had been eroded by wind and rain, and
were now filled with water; but no
where else on the entire summit had
the rain found resting-place. Over the
brink it had poured in scores of cata-
racts, carrying with it stones and such
earth as it managed to gather from the
scanty store yet remaining.
The :nesa-top was once covered with
a fairly rich vegetation, pifions and ce-
dars predominating; but most of these
now stand gaunt and bare, or lie prone
and decaying on the bleak surface their
| means of subsistence having been long
washed away. A few dozen more
| storms, and the others must inevitably
perish. But the examination Of the sur
| face of Katzimo was not essential to a
determination of the fact that it was
| formerly mantled with a thick stratum
| of earth; the talus had already told the
story that on the very site of their vii
| lage the inhabitants of Katzimo had an
abundance of material with which to
| make the balls of adobe mud described
| by one of the Spanish chroniclers Of the
sixteenth century The last remnants
| of their houses, together with the frag-
ments of their household utensils, save
such as we found, passed over the
brink generations ago; but one may
| still find an abundance of the latter
scattered through the detritus which in
places is piled halfway up the mesa
sides.
| We built huge fire around one of
the gaunt specters that stood about us
with outstretched arms soon there was
mighty blaze, and shout of approx
! al reached us from the two Lagunas
| below.
| The next morning while aiding Major
Pradt in making a survey of the mesa
| top, I was not a little surprised to find
three Acoma Indians among us. They
were by no means friendly at first; for,
| having seen our fire the night before
| they had come to the top by means of
our ladders to learn the cause of this
| unusual burst of flame from their an
cestral home site, and to GUST the in
| truders from the height. The leader,
| who was the war chief of the tribe, and
| medicine man, asked our business.
We told him. The natives became in
| terested, and said that their people had
| feared we were after their land Be
| ing assured we had no desire to make
| our future home on their dry sand
| dunes or drier mesas, but that we were
| merely looking for pottery fragments,
| the chief expressed serious doubt that
| any relics could be found, inasmuch as
many ages passed since his people lived
on the great table, and he believed all
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