about one foot high. This constituted the range. Little fires were built within this ring, one under each of the pottery vessels used in the operations. After this uncomfortable fashion the cooking was done, the smoke circling about at its own sweet will and at length finding vent through a small door at one side, the only opening in the room.
The sole piece of furniture was a worm-eaten table supported on two legs, the inner side braced against the wall. Its decayed condition indicated that it was at least a hundred years old.
Mrs. R—— amused herself by experimenting on the circus-ring— minus the aid of horses, however—a docile native woman executing what "ground and lofty tumbling" might be required in the culinary preparations.
The second kitchen contained another style of range equally primitive in its design.
Along the wall was built a solid breastwork of adobe, about two feet high, two feet deep, and extending the entire length of the room. An opening was left in the roof over this structure for the escape of smoke, but the grimy walls proved that it failed to answer its purpose. Upon this ledge, projection, or whatever it may be termed, the cook places her various pottery vessels with fires made of charcoal or small bits of wood under each, and there the stewing, boiling, frying, and crying go on all day. This cook, unlike the one in kitchen No. I, stands up in the performance of her duties.
When I inspected these kitchens, it may be imagined that the sight was rather depressing, coupled with the certainty that I could
