The town of Zuñi is built upon a hill, about forty feet above the bank of the river Zuñi; it covers about fifteen acres. The town is like a great beehive, for the houses are merely rooms built one over the other, each family living in a few small rooms which are reached by means of ladders. Some houses are only two stories high, while others are fully five stories. The wealthier Indians live in the lower houses, except the official whose duty it is to give the orders of the governor from the housetop. He lives with his family in rooms near the roof. These Zuñi houses are built around two plazas, or squares, with several streets and covered ways to connect them with the other parts of the town. The mesa called Thunder Mountain, upon which similar homes were built by them in ancient times, is very near their peaceful village. Cliff-dwellings have been found that are entirely deserted, built by a very ancient people of whom we know little. Curious relics of dishes, cloth, and ornaments are found in these cliff-dwellings, but no one knows how many centuries since the empty houses were filled with living people, and no one knows why they were deserted. Some have thought the Zuñis are the descendants of this lost race; others think them to be like the mound-builders. The Zuñi Indians weave handsome wool blankets in handmade looms. They invented these looms themselves. They sell or trade these blankets to Indians of many other tribes. The Zuñi and other Pueblos make very good dishes of red clay. Their common cooking ware is much like the dishes seen in wigwams. They make handsome pitchers, vases, and table dishes of a brown color. They understand the working and coloring of clay, and the value of the different kinds. They make a common black ware, which is sometimes used instead of the red ware. Their very best work is of a cream-white color, and the vases and dishes are handsomely decorated with colored borders and pictures. Many travelers have brought home fine specimens of Zuñi dishes, for their town is not far from the railroad. The Navajos live near the Zuñis. Their hogans, or homes, are not so well made as the Zuñis’ adobe houses; they are low adobe huts. The Navajos find time and have the skill to do some very good work in metals, although their tools are rude. They make some use of iron, but their best work is shown in the making and carving of ornaments and other articles of silver. They also have invented hand looms and are blanket weavers. All the Pueblos make handsome water-tight baskets of elegant shape from the fibers of the yucca plant. This plant, sometimes called the Spanish bayonet, from its sharp-pointed leaves, grows to a great size on the plains. The Pueblos color the fibers in some manner and weave handsome borders of black, white, or yellow into their baskets. These are used for flour or meal holders, or for holding water, and are called ollas.