in the west by rocky ledges, over which the stream descends to the bottom lands of the Rito. Through these it flows for several miles as a gushing brook, enlivened by trout". (Papers of the Archaeological Institute of America, Amer. Series, IV, Final Rept. Pt. 2, p. 139-quoted in Bull. 32, Bur. Amer. Ethn. P.27 Jemez Plateau). There appears to be no fish now in the stream and the falls make it improbable that there ever were any. (See also, Adolf F. Bandelier's "Delight Makers", Dodd, Mead & Co. N.Y., copyright 1890, p.5).
“The entire formation of the chain [W of the Rio Grande] as far as it faces the Rio Grande, is volcanic, the walls of the gorges consisting generally of a friable white or yellowish tufa containing nodules of a black, translucent obsidian. The rock is so soft that in many places it can be scooped out or detached with the most primitive tools, or even with the fingers alone. Owing to this peculiarity the slopes exposes to the south and east [this should be south and west], whence most of the heavy rains strike them, are invariably abrupt and often even perpendicular; whereas the opposite declivities, though steep, still afford room for scanty vegetation." Delight Makers p. 1. ((comments in square brackets [ ] are by JH on Bandelier's text)).
