"Yes, yes."

Her hand sought his. "You see mehow I am. I shall not survive my child, for my mother did not before me. Listen. You are town clerk. You write the names of the new born on a sheet of ruled paper and that is their name?" Rackby nodded.

.

"So much I knew. . . . Come. How would it be if you gave my child your name . . Rackby? Don't say no to me. Say you will. Just the scratching of pen, and what a deal of hardship she'll be saved not to be known as Cad Sills over again."

Her hand tightened on his wrist. Recollecting how they had watched the tide horse over Pull-an'-be-Damned thus, he said, eagerly, "Yes, yes, if so be 'tis a she," thinking nothing of the consequences of his promise.

"Now I can go happy," murmured Cad Sills.

"Where will you go?" said the harbor master, timorously, feeling that she was whirled out of his grasp a second time.

"How should I know?" lisped Caddie Sills, with a remembering smile. "The sea is wide and uncertain, little man."

The door opened again. A woman appeared and little Rackby was thrust out among the able seamen.

Three hours later he came and looked down on Cad Sills again. Rain still beat on the black windows. Her lips were parted, as if she were only weary and asleep. But in one glance he saw that she, had no need to lie northeast and southwest to make certain of unbroken sleep.

WE

mapping of the most remote parts of the earth have made the ancient and honorable profession of exploring less appealing; but the course of daily events indicates that the hidden wonders of the world are by no means exhausted. Even within the United States there are still possibilities. For one thing, explorers in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado have brought to light some of the most fascinating ruins to be found anywhere in the world, and no doubt hundreds of others lie beneath the sands or are hidden in the almost inaccessible niches of overhanging cliffs. Imagine the sensation when, setting foot upon a spade to throw off the top of what seemed a mere mound of earth, you suddenly feel your homely digging implement break through into space. Further, conjure up the thrill resulting from a peep down through the opening thus made into a beautiful rectangular room with glistening white walls- -an ancient sanctuary, sealed up and hidden away for no one knows how many centuries. This is about what happened to Earl H. Morris, on an expedition for the American Museum of Natural History, no longer ago than last June. But, to comprehend the significance of this experience, we must take up the story at the beginning.

In the northwest corner of New Mexico, not far from the Colorado line, near the town of Aztec, lies a group of impressive ruins. The largest and best preserved of these has long been known as the Aztec Ruin. The name may be a little unfortunate, for it calls to mind the

famous exploits of Cortes, who overthrew and destroyed a native kingdom of that name in Mexico, and thus suggests that the builders of these ruins were also Aztecs. Though it is true that for centuries historians have used the term Aztec as a general name for the prehistoric population of the entire country between Utah and Panama, we now know that this name applies properly only to the people dwelling in and around the City of Mexico when Cortes arrived upon the scene. So when we read of the ruin at the town of Aztec, New Mexico, we must not fall into the error of thinking of it as one of the homes of the valiant builders of Tenochtitlan, or ancient Mexico City.

This now famous ruin of Aztec stands upon an elevated plot overlooking a modern town of the same name, in the valley of the Animas River. When first observed it appeared as a large, low mound of sandy earth, overgrown with shrubbery. Mr. Morris, the head of the Museum's field party which began operations at this site in 1916, describes it as "nothing more than a patch of jungle rising above the surrounding level, an impenetrable tangle of thorns and weeds."

Obviously, the Museum's party were not the first visitors. The honor of discovery belongs to one J. S. Newbury, who saw the ruin on August 4, 1859, while passing through the country on an exploring trip for the United States government, and in his journal, under the entry for that day, one may read a brief description of the place. Another noted visitor was Lewis H. Morgan, July 22, 1878, who, after careful examination of the site, prepared a ground

plan and published a brief description. While in the days of Newbury and Morgan a journey to these ruins was an undertaking of no small magnitude, today one may ride to them by train or automobile with little or no discomfort. Few travelers now pass through that part of the country without visiting these ruins, where, thanks to the American Museum, they may see the whole structure laid bare, wander through its maze of walls, or creep through its low doorways into chambers long since deserted. The first question these visitors ask is, "How long since people lived here, and what manner of men were they?" And it is precisely such questions as these that the Museum's expedition seeks to answer. For one thing, we know that the ruin was abandoned long before the Spanish explorers came up from Mexico. This can be demonstrated by archæological methods.

When the archæologist wishes to know which of two civilizations is the older, he seeks a place where the debris of one is piled upon that of the other-superposition, he calls it. Again, if he wishes to determine the periods in the development of a single city, he seeks out the places where the daily refuse was dumped. Naturally, the bottom of the dump is the older, the top the most recent. Experience has shown that pottery decorations and styles are subject to frequent changes and that where pottery is made numerous fragments find their way to the dump, where they form successive layers in order of their dates. The first effective use of this method was in the Valley of the Nile, where lies the refuse of the ages, in the strata of which was found the key to the history of early Egypt. The same method has been applied to the Valley of the San Juan in New Mexico, in which lies the Animas River and this ruin, and to the neighboring valleys where similar ruins are found. The extensive researches of Kidder, Morris, and Nelson have established a relative chronology for the pot tery types in this valley as follows:

1. Basket-maker Period.-A people of simple culture, skilled in basketry, having some knowledge of agriculture, but without pottery. These basket makers may have been the first visitors to the region, but the chances are that they were preceded by simple nomads, hunters who left behind no traces of their crude culture.

2. Pre-Pueblo Period.-Crude pottery appears for the first time.

3. Early Period of Black-and-white Pottery.-Small houses were built in this period from which were ultimately developed such buildings as Aztec (Period 4).

4. Late Period of Black-and-white Pottery.-Aztec was built near the close of this period. It was also the time of the large cliff houses in Mesa Verde Park and the famous ruins in Chaco Cañon.

5. Period of Two - color Glazed Ware.-Pueblo culture began in the valley of the Rio Grande around what is now Santa Fé and became extinct at Aztec.

6. Latest Prehistoric Period (?1540).-Three-color Glazed and Painted Wares. During this period many of the Pueblo villages to be seen around Santa Fé came into existence.

7. Historic Period (1540-1921).Pottery index, Two-color Glazed Ware. Also modern pottery, some forms of which are still made around Santa Fé, New Mexico.

All earlier than Period 6 fall before the coming of the Spanish explorers, almost four hundred years ago. At this ratio, counting backward to Period 3, to which the ruin at Aztec belongs, according to the prevailing type of pottery, one must allow at least one thousand years, with the probabilities favoring twice that interval.

When the ruin was first uncovered, its ground plan was found to be somewhat like a letter E, with a row of onestory rooms closing up the front, thus giving a large inner court. The outside dimensions of the building are approxi

highest sections of the walls now standing, parts of the building were originally of three stories, the whole cut up into small, rectangular rooms. Hence, it was a great apartment house with an inclosed court. Twenty-four rooms in the first story were found to be in perfect condition, with the ceilings still standing; the others are more or less tumbled in. In many cases the walls are standing to the second story, but filled within by stones from the walls above and sand blown in by the winds of centuries. Often, when this debris is dug away, the explorer finds upon the floor of the lower room utensils and other objects standing about, as left by the last occupants. It is these that tell the story of the builders. For example, in one room a workman had been making metates, or the stone troughlike slabs upon which cornmeal was ground. In the center of the floor was a partially finished metate, hewn from a large hard river bowlder. corner were two untouched bowlders awaiting their turn. Near by were the stonecutter's tools. These were halves of hard, smooth pebbles, broken through the middle, so as to present sharp edges. Holding the smooth part in the hand, it is obvious that the workman struck glancing blows on the surface to be worked down. In one corner was a heap of unbroken pebbles; in another, broken pebbles with the edges worn completely away. So this was the shop of a patient stone worker, who walked out of his door one day, no one knows where, leaving behind these fragments to tell the story of his toil.

In a

The walls of the ruin are of sandstones, the outer surfaces of which are nicely dressed. The nearest quarry from which such stone can be obtained is at least two miles away. Here and at another outcrop of this same sandstone, some five miles distant, the Museum's party found the ancient workings of these old builders of Aztec and the huge stone hammers used to break up the layers into suitable lengths for human trans

none. The nicety with which some of the walls are faced is surprising. The doorways are laid up with perfectly squared blocks, so true to the vertical that a plumb line must have been used. Anyway, Mr. Morris found on the floor of a room two long cords with weights attached, about the size of plummets used by modern masons. Certainly in the art of stone work the old dweller at Aztec was no novice, even if his tools were of stone. Stone cut stone, was his motto, no doubt; but wood was also skillfully handled without the aid of metals.

The lumberman of to-day would spurn a stone ax; yet this ruin contained enough heavy beams to have required the cutting of more than 250 spruce and pine trees approximating twelve inches in diameter. Something over sixty ceiling beams made from these logs may still be seen in perfect condition, while fragments of others and timbers of all kinds abound. The ends of unfinished beams are bluntly conical, coming almost to a point at the center, and look very much as if they had been gnawed off by beavers. Most of the timbers used in ceiling construction appear to have been cut in the spring when the sap was running. Every vestige of bark has been carefully removed and the knots rubbed smooth, so that the heavy pine stringers and smaller transverse beams of pine and cottonwood resemble lathe-turned cylinders more than peeled logs.

The old dwellers at Aztec lived in a stone age. Neither iron, silver, nor gold fell to their lot. Of copper they had but the faintest knowledge, since in all the ruin but two or three small bits of this metal have come to light, and upon examination these prove to be the remains of bells and beads imported from the land of the real Aztecs.

Besides being expert builders with wood and stone, these people were good potters. Pottery fragments cover the surface of the ground around the ruin and turn up in every shovel of earth

moved from within. A few vessels were found unbroken, but most of those left upon the floors were crushed by falling stones and by the dead weight of the debris accumulating above. Yet, most of these can be repaired, for our excavators not only keep in separate boxes the contents of the different rooms, but whenever their practiced eyes give the hint of a broken vessel beneath their shovels all the fragments are picked out, placed in a bag, and labeled. Later, these are examined and fitted together in their original form. In this way something more than four hundred complete vessels have been recovered, not to mention many more in partial restoration. The decorated vessels are the most interesting. Though somewhat dulled by age and use, these vessels are finished in creamy white and in many cases ornamented with geometric designs in black. The common forms are mugs, pitchers, dippers, bowls, and water jars. Occasionally, ornamental forms occur, such as vessels in the shapes of birds, animals, and, rarer still, human beings. While it

VOL. CXLIII.-No. 853.-7

is evident that the greater part of these decorated vessels were for household use, they were outnumbered ten to one by the homely cooking pot, finished in black and showing the original coils of the potter, for it should be noted that no such thing as the potter's wheel was known in the New World and that everywhere pottery was made by coiling up slender rolls of clay. In decorated pottery the ridges left by these coils have been carefully smoothed over, but in the case of cooking vessels and others for rough usage they still appear, even bearing the marks of the potter's fingers which pressed them into place. Pots of this type are so numerous that the Museum's party long ago ceased restoring them, merely taking note of the fragments to see that no new forms appeared. Had all of those so far found been mended it would have required several moving vans to have carted them away.

You may wonder what it was that filled these many hundred dinner pots. This also the archæologist can tell, for