as the great earthworks in the Scioto valley, Ohio. Some of them were intended for household purposes, others as fortresses for protection and defense, while the towers are believed to have had some religious significance. A large proportion of the archæologic finds consisted of objects of soapstone and pottery, both of which were deftly made with elaborate ornamentation. Spindle whorls of pottery were found in abundance, many objects of iron, and crucibles and furnace for smelting and melting gold.

Mr. Bent gives his conclusion on page 188: "It would seem to be evident that a prehistoric race built the ruins in this country, a race like the mythical Pelasgi, who inhabited the shores of Greece and Asia Minor, a race like the mythical inhabitants of Great Britain and France, who built Stonehenge and Carnac, a race which continued in possession down to the dawn of history, which provided gold for the merchants of Phoenicia and Arabia, and which eventually became influenced by and perhaps absorbed in the more powerful and wealthier organizations of Semites."

THOMAS WILSON.

Excavations in Bokerly and Wansdyke, Dorset and Wilts. 1888

1891.

F. S. A.

By Lieutenant-General Pitt Rivers, D. C. L., F. R. S., With observations on the human remains by J. G. Garson, M. D. Vol. III. Printed privately. [London] 1892, pp. xiv-308, maps and plates, 4to.

What a substantial, splendid volume is this, in paper covers but still imposing. England may well be proud of its series of archeologic volumes, privately printed, which come out one after another to challenge our admiration and excite our rivalry. The work in symmetry and completeness is what would be expected from the author, whose portrait is given, and cannot but add to his already firmly established and enviable reputation. Little by little, but most surely, the prehistoric sites of England are being made to yield up their treasures of incident and art, and these classic volumes are the store-houses in which the harvests of history are gar nered.

W. H. HOLMES.

The Navajo, or, as they call themselves, Tin-néh, meaning "the people," constitute the most flourishing branch of that vigorous Athapascan stock which is spread in widely separate tribal communities on the Pacific slope, from Alaska to Mexico.

An extensive scope of land, embracing northeastern Arizona and the adjoining northwestern corner of New Mexico, is held by them as a reservation, with the Hopi, or so-called Moki, a small pueblo tribe, occupying its southwestern corner. These latter live in compact villages of stone houses, built on rocky promontories projecting from the higher table-lands. They have long been on fairly amicable terms with their neighbors, yet in some of their habits traces of an earlier hostile period still survive. They persist in clinging to their secluded habitations on mesa points of difficult access; they nightly shut up their flocks in little pens on cliff ledges close to their houses; and although the Navajo are constantly trafficking at their villages, it is rare for a Hopi to venture far among them, nor do the scornful insults of the Navajo ever provoke a Hopi to retaliate.

The Table-lands. This table-land region, although composed of horizontal sandstone measures, is by no means a mere elevated plain of level uniformity, for the area occupied by the Navajo displays a wide diversity of features. On the boundary line of the two territories it is traversed from south to north by the Tunicha moun tains, a lofty range covered with magnificent pine forests, and wide plateaus lie folded along its flanks, through which solemn, cliffwalled cañons wind in tortuous courses into the heart of the range. (345)

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To the north and west, along the course of the San Juan, which forms the northern boundary of the Navajo country, broken ranges, occasionally clustering in high volcanic domes, confine the river in deep, gloomy gorges; and toward the south low sloping hills rise in straggling ridges covered with dwarfish piñon and gnarly juniper. The waters of a primeval period have eroded spacious valleys through the great plateau which originally overlaid the entire region, and smaller defiles intersect it in every direction, cutting it up into numerous separate mesas, with steep, rocky cliffs sharply outlining their irregular forms. The principal valleys extend for long distances; one of them, called the Tchi-ni-lí, stretches along the west side of the Tunicha range, exposing a broad, level pass across the reservation from its southern limit to the San Juan river and beyond. To the traveler following the low-lying trails the region presents itself as a land of cliff-walled, bare, sandy valleys, while to one upon the higher plateaus it offers an immense landscape of undulating plain, studded with woody hills, and viewed from the mountaintops the land seems everywhere cleft into a network of jagged cañons.

In the few weeks of early summer the table-lands are seen in their most attractive guise. High mesa plateau and low sandy valley become meadow-like with short grassy verdure, and richly adorned with flowers in profusion, blooming in surprising variety and beauty; marigold, larkspur, daisy and lily, and such familiar acquaintances mingling among countless clusters of less known flowering plants and fragrant herbage. The tracts of desert now strive to conceal their arid nature; the sagebrush contrives to imbibe sufficient sap to brighten its crisp gray leaves with a tint of green, and the furzy greasewood hangs in flakes of yellow bloom. Straggling beds of prickly pear spread out in exasperating luxuriance, and each thorny, green-skinned tablet, bursting with stemless blossoms, seems grafted with rosebuds. Vagrant pariahs of cactus kin are also glowing with rich-hued flowers of surpassing brilliance, crimson, pink, and gold, gorgeous and odorless. But within the broad horizon no winding streams flow through the valleys; no brook trickles down the mesa side; not a single glimpse of running water may be discovered. Valley and cliff and mesa level lie parching under a hot sun in a cloudless, unchanging sky, and this fair but arid landscape leaves a cheerless impression.

In July and August sudden, heavy showers of short duration

are common, and the sandy soil absorbs enough moisture to nourish vegetation. But the deep channels carved through mesa and valley carry off almost the entire rainfall in swift rushing torrents to the profound cañons of the San Juan and the Colorado. Water from the melting snow, and of course a portion of the rainfall, percolates through the porous sandstone of the surface measure, and issues in numerous small springs along the edges of the mesa cañons, their locality being usually indicated by the convergence of trails and the trampled bareness of the vicinity.

✔ Pastoral Life.—The region is specially adapted for sheep culture, and the Navajo equally well adapted for shepherds, coinciding circumstances which have happily influenced their destiny, transforming them wholly into a peaceable, pastoral tribe. Every family is possessed of a flock of sheep and goats and a band of horses, so that the condition of the tribe is not only far removed from hardship, but is really that of comparative affluence.

To maintain the flocks in sufficient pasture they move them to different grazing grounds at least twice a year, sometimes oftener, these movements being regulated by the condition of the grass and the supply of water. In a dry season many of the smaller springs cease to flow, and besides that, when flocks are held too long in one place, their close cropping destroys the vegetation, enforcing an abandonment of the locality for two or three years, by which time, if left entirely alone, the grasses again recover. The usual practice is to take the flocks up to the higher plateaus and mountains in summer, grazing in the neighborhood of springs or an occasional rain pool, and moving down to the valleys and lower wooded mesas in the winter, when both sheep and shepherds depend, to a great extent, upon the snow for their water supply. By this means they are able to partially utilize the pasturage in the broad waterless valleys, retiring as the summer advances to the grassy uplands that have been fertilized by the melting snow.

This shepherd's life, of course, prevents them from dwelling in large communities; perhaps some desirable watering place may be occupied by as many as ten or twelve families, usually of the same kindred, but commonly fewer than that number frequent the same locality, and it is rare to see more than three or four huts together. A few of the larger cañons containing small streams and patches of arable land are occupied permanently; one of these, called the Tse-yi, is famous for the numerous ancient dwellings in its cliffs,

its peach orchards, and other memorials of its former house-building occupants. This is a specially attractive summer resort, and is the scene of many festive concourses, scattered members of the different families gathering there from every part of the reservation to feast together for ten days or a fortnight upon green corn, watermelons, and peaches.

Aside from the cañon localities the spot chosen for a dwelling place is either some sheltering mesa nook or southward hill slope in the edge of a piñon grove, securing convenient fuel, and not too far from water. But the Navajo seldom lives very close to a spring, a survival of an old habit of their former hunting life when they kept away from the springs as much as possible so as not to disturb the game when coming to water. This choice of secluded dwelling place is apt to mislead a stranger who might cross the reservation and deem it quite unoccupied; and yet it is estimated there are upwards of 15,000 persons within its limits.

But likely enough a family may be met moving with their flock of sheep and herd of ponies to fresh pasture. The hos-teen, as the head of a family is conventionally called, drives before him the band of ponies, which, as a rule, are a degenerate lot of "scrubs," small bodied, big headed, and ungainly. He carries a bow and quiver of arrows slung at his side, and probably a rifle and revolver, for the coyotes, and now and then a wolf, make havoc among their sheep, and against these depredators they now resort to the more effective modern weapons. He carries on his saddle two or three blankets and a buckskin or two, but is not very heavily loaded, as he has to chase the straying ponies and keep them to the trail. Following hard behind comes the bleating flock of sheep and goats, meandering and nibbling as they are urged slowly along by the dustgrimed squaw and her children. Two or three of the more tractable ponies carry burdens of household gear stuffed in buckskin pouches and blankets; a bag or two of corn; a bundle of washed wool, and the primitive weaving apparatus; baskets and wicker water-bottles, and often a little imp of two or three years will be perched securely on top of the miscellaneous pyramid. Three or four dogs are an invariable accompaniment of such a caravan, sorry looking curs, but invaluable helpers to the children while herding the flocks.

Land Tenure.-These changes to fresh pastures occasionally lead a family to a neighborhood in which they have never lived before,