In the main portion of Honanki we found that the two ends of the
crescentic row of united rooms which compose it are built on rocky
elevations, with foundations considerably higher than those of the
rooms in the middle portion of the ruins. The line of the front wall
is, therefore, not exactly crescentic, but irregularly curved (figure
249), conforming to the rear of the cavern in which the houses are
situated. About midway in the curve of the front walls two walls
indicative of former rooms extend at an angle of about 25° to the main
front wall. All the component rooms of the main part of Honanki can be
entered, some by external passageways, others by doorways
communicating with adjacent chambers. None of the inclosures have
roofs or upper floors, although indications of the former existence of
both these structural features may readily be seen in several places.
Although wooden beams are invariably wanting, fragments of these still
project from the walls, almost always showing on their free ends,
inside the rooms, the effect of fire. I succeeded in adding to the
collection a portion of one of these beams, the extremity of which had
been battered off, evidently with a stone implement. In the alkaline
dust which covered the floor several similar specimens were seen.
The stones which form the masonry of the wall (figure 250) were not,
as a rule, dressed or squared before they were laid with adobe mortar,
but were generally set in place in the rough condition in which they
may still be obtained anywhere under the cliff.
All the mortar used was of adobe or the tenacious clay which serves so
many purposes among the Pueblos. The walls of the rooms were plastered
with a thick layer of the same material. The rear wall of each room is
the natural rock of the cliff, which rises vertically and has a very
smooth surface. The great natural archway which covers the whole
pueblo protects it from wind and rain, and as a consequence, save on
the front face, there are few signs of natural erosion. The hand of
man, however, has dealt rudely with this venerable building, and many
of the walls, especially of rooms which formerly stood before the
central portion, lie prone upon the earth; but so securely were the
component stones held together by the adobe that even after their fall
sections of masonry still remain intact.
[Illustration: FIG. 250--Structure of wall of Honanki]
There are seven walled inclosures in the main part of Honanki, and as
each of these was formerly at least two stories high there is
substantial evidence of the former existence of fourteen rooms in this
part of the ruin. There can be little doubt that there were other
rooms along the front of the central portion, and the fallen walls
show them to have been of large size. It would likewise appear that
the middle part was higher than the two wings, which would increase
the number of chambers, so that with these additions it may safely be
said that this part of Honanki alone contained not far from twenty
rooms.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY