We made camp one and a half miles from the village, and in the evening we were visited by my friend from the sierra and another Mormon.  Both expressed their readiness to serve us in every way they could; we bought some potatoes and half a hog.

As is the custom with the Mormons, they have several colonies outlying from a central one.  Among these is Cave Valley, about five miles east to north from Pacheco, immediately upon the river already mentioned.  On the following day I went there with the scientific corps to examine the cave dwellings of which the Mormons had been speaking.  The settlement (having an elevation 6,850 feet) consisted of eight houses.  Knocking on the door of one of these I walked in, introduced myself, and stated the purpose of my visit.  “How do you do?” said my host; “my name is Nelson”—­as if he had been accustomed to receive strangers every day.

Mr. Nelson was quite a charming old man, more than seventy years old, but hardy.  In spite of the cold, he walked out in his shirt sleeves in the full moonlight to select a camping place for me.  The animals, he suggested, might be left in the field for the night; he would see about them in the morning, and he did not think there would be any difficulty about keeping them there.  We got a fine camp on top of a hill with a view of the valley in which the caves are.

Mr. Nelson told us of two interesting caves on this side of the river; also, that there were numerous “inscriptions” (petroglyphs), that the country was full of mounds, and that skeletons and mummies had been found but had been buried again.  From his statement it was evident that we had a rich field before us, and the results of the following day more than came up to our expectations.

The old man, acting as our guide, showed us on the way to the valley a primitive kind of corn-mill driven by water power, and with some pride he pointed out to us an “infant industry,” the product of which so far was a dozen wooden chairs with seats of interwoven strips of green hide, instead of cane.

A number of caves were found to contain houses.  One of them especially made a great impression on us on account of an extraordinary cupola-shaped structure, which from a considerable distance sprang into view from the mouth of the cave.  Most of the caves were found on the western side of the river; but there were also some on the eastern bank, among them a number of burial caves.  In one of the latter a well-preserved mummy was shown to us.  It had already been taken up two or three times to be looked at; but our guide intimated that the influential Mormons in Utah did not want to have the skeletons and caves disturbed.  I therefore left it for the present, but thought that in time we might get this, with whatever others might be found there.

I was introduced to a Mormon in the neighbourhood, who invited me to excavate a large mound close to his house.  He would even help to dig, he said, and I was free to take whatever I might find inside of it.  He was sure that there would be no difficulty about the mummies I might want to remove from the burial caves.