monstrous bean pot, from the opening of which a ladder rose to a
height of twenty feet. This proved to be the only means of descending
into an enclosure, to which we were politely but firmly denied
admission. Peering into the aperture, however, and noting the warm,
close air which came from it, I understood why the Spanish word
_estufa_, or oven, was applied to these underground cells by their
European discoverers; for neither light nor ventilation is obtainable
except through the one opening, and in summer the temperature of the
shallow cavern must be warm indeed.

[Illustration: ESTUFA AND SURROUNDINGS.]

[Illustration: MEXICAN OVENS.]

[Illustration: THE OLD CHURCH AT ÁCOMA.]

The only other notable structure in Ácoma is the Roman Catholic
church, the walls of which are sixty feet in height and ten feet
thick. One can realize the enormous amount of labor involved in its
construction, when he reflects that every stone and every piece of
timber used in building it had to be brought hither on the backs of
Indians, over the plains, from a considerable distance, and up the
desperately difficult and narrow trail. Even the graveyard, which
occupies a space in front of the church, about two hundred feet
square, is said to have required a labor of forty years, since the
cemetery had to be enclosed with stone walls, forty feet deep at one
edge and filled with earth brought in small basket-loads up the steep
ascent from the plain below. The church itself is regarded by the
Indians with the utmost reverence, although it must be said that
their religion is still almost as much Pagan as Christian. Thus,