engaged in making ethnologic collections at Moki for the United States
National Museum, some Indians of the _Te wa_ pueblo brought me a
quantity of pottery. It had been made with the purpose of deceiving
me, in careful imitation of ancient types, and was certainly equal to
the latter in lightness and the condition of the burning. I paid these
enterprising Indians as good a price as they had been accustomed to
getting for genuine ancient specimens, but told them that, being a
Zuñi, I was almost one of themselves, hence they could not deceive me,
and asked them how they had so cleverly succeeded in burning the ware.
They laughingly replied that they had simply dug some bituminous coal
(_u á ko_) and used it in little pits. When I further asked them why
they did not burn their household utensils thus, they said it was too
uncertain; representing that the pots did not like to be burned in the
_u á ko_, probably because it was so hot, hence they broke more
frequently than if fired in the common way with dried sheep-dung;
furthermore the latter was less troublesome, requiring only to be dug
from the corrals near at hand and dried to make it ready for use.

This partially explains why the art of water-tight basket-making has
here gradually declined since the Spanish conquest, as the ceramic
industry has increased with the introduction of the sheep, which
furnishes fuel for the burning, and the horse, before unknown, has
facilitated transportation, whereby trade for this class of basketry
with the distant nomadic tribes who still make it is rendered easy.
Withal, however, the quality of pottery has not improved, but has
deteriorated; as sheep-dung is but an inferior fuel for firing.