hollows in the rock, partly natural, partly artificial, which serve
as reservoirs to retain rain water and keep it fresh and cool.

[Illustration: AN ESTUFA.]

Besides the communal apartment-house, every _pueblo_ contains two
characteristic edifices. One is as ancient as the tribe itself and
thoroughly aboriginal, the other is comparatively modern and bears
the imprint of the Spaniard; they are the _estufa_ and the Roman
Catholic church. The _estufa_ has always played a prominent part in
the history of these Indians. It is a semi-subterranean council hall,
where matters of public business are discussed by the chiefs. The
government of the Pueblos is practically the same as when the Spanish
found them. Each village seems to be completely independent of its
neighbors, and no member of one tribe is allowed to sell real estate
to members of another, or to marry into another clan without
permission from his own. Each settlement is governed by a council,
the members of which, including its chief, are chosen annually.
Heredity counts for nothing among them, and official positions are
conferred only by popular vote. Even their war-chieftains are elected
and are under the control of the council. All matters of public
importance are discussed by this body in the _estufa_, the walls of
which are usually whitewashed; but a more dismal place can hardly be
imagined, not only from the dubious light which there prevails, but
from the fact that it contains no furniture whatever, and no
decoration. Sometimes a village will have several _estufas_, each
being reserved for a separate clan of the tribe. In any case, whether
many or few, they are used exclusively by men, women never being
allowed to enter them except to bring food to their male relatives.
As we approached the Ácoma _estufa_, it presented the appearance of a