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diff --git a/old/10772.txt b/old/10772.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..87f9866 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10772.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10036 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Inca Land, by Hiram Bingham + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Inca Land + Explorations in the Highlands of Peru + +Author: Hiram Bingham + +Release Date: January 21, 2004 [EBook #10772] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INCA LAND *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman + + + + +INCA LAND + +Explorations in the Highlands of Peru + +By + +Hiram Bingham + +1922 + + +------ +FIGURE + +"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the +Ranges--Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for +you. Go!" + +Kipling: "The Explorer" +------ + + + + +This Volume + +is affectionately dedicated + +to + +the Muse who inspired it + +the Little Mother of Seven Sons + + + +Preface + +The following pages represent some of the results of four journeys into +the interior of Peru and also many explorations into the labyrinth of +early writings which treat of the Incas and their Land. Although my +travels covered only a part of southern Peru, they took me into every +variety of climate and forced me to camp at almost every altitude +at which men have constructed houses or erected tents in the Western +Hemisphere--from sea level up to 21,703 feet. It has been my lot to +cross bleak Andean passes, where there are heavy snowfalls and low +temperatures, as well as to wend my way through gigantic canyons into +the dense jungles of the Amazon Basin, as hot and humid a region as +exists anywhere in the world. The Incas lived in a land of violent +contrasts. No deserts in the world have less vegetation than those of +Sihuas and Majes; no luxuriant tropical valleys have more plant life +than the jungles of Conservidayoc. In Inca Land one may pass from +glaciers to tree ferns within a few hours. So also in the labyrinth +of contemporary chronicles of the last of the Incas--no historians +go more rapidly from fact to fancy, from accurate observation to +grotesque imagination; no writers omit important details and give +conflicting statements with greater frequency. The story of the Incas +is still in a maze of doubt and contradiction. + +It was the mystery and romance of some of the wonderful pictures of +a nineteenth-century explorer that first led me into the relatively +unknown region between the Apurimac and the Urubamba, sometimes called +"the Cradle of the Incas." Although my photographs cannot compete with +the imaginative pencil of such an artist, nevertheless, I hope that +some of them may lead future travelers to penetrate still farther +into the Land of the Incas and engage in the fascinating game of +identifying elusive places mentioned in the chronicles. + +Some of my story has already been told in Harper's and the National +Geographic, to whose editors acknowledgments are due for permission +to use the material in its present form. A glance at the Bibliography +will show that more than fifty articles and monographs have been +published as a result of the Peruvian Expeditions of Yale University +and the National Geographic Society. Other reports are still in course +of preparation. My own observations are based partly on a study +of these monographs and the writings of former travelers, partly +on the maps and notes made by my companions, and partly on a study +of our Peruvian photographs, a collection now numbering over eleven +thousand negatives. Another source of information was the opportunity +of frequent conferences with my fellow explorers. One of the great +advantages of large expeditions is the bringing to bear on the same +problem of minds which have received widely different training. + +My companions on these journeys were, in 1909, Mr. Clarence L. Hay; +in 1911, Dr. Isaiah Bowman, Professor Harry Ward Foote, Dr. William +G. Erving, Messrs. Kai Hendriksen, H. L. Tucker, and Paul B. Lanius; +in 1912, Professor Herbert E. Gregory, Dr. George F. Eaton, Dr. Luther +T. Nelson, Messrs. Albert H. Bumstead, E. C. Erdis, Kenneth C. Heald, +Robert Stephenson, Paul Bestor, Osgood Hardy, and Joseph Little; +and in 1915, Dr. David E. Ford, Messrs. O. F. Cook, Edmund Heller, +E. C. Erdis, E. L. Anderson, Clarence F. Maynard, J. J. Hasbrouck, +Osgood Hardy, Geoffrey W. Morkill, and G. Bruce Gilbert. To these, my +comrades in enterprises which were not always free from discomfort or +danger, I desire to acknowledge most fully my great obligations. In +the following pages they will sometimes recognize their handiwork; +at other times they may wonder why it has been overlooked. Perhaps +in another volume, which is already under way and in which I hope to +cover more particularly Machu Picchu [1] and its vicinity, they will +eventually find much of what cannot be told here. + +Sincere and grateful thanks are due also to Mr. Edward S. Harkness for +offering generous assistance when aid was most difficult to secure; to +Mr. Gilbert Grosvenor and the National Geographic Society for liberal +and enthusiastic support; to President Taft of the United States and +President Leguia of Peru for official help of a most important nature; +to Messrs. W. R. Grace & Company and to Mr. William L. Morkill and +Mr. L. S. Blaisdell, of the Peruvian Corporation, for cordial and +untiring cooeperation; to Don Cesare Lomellini, Don Pedro Duque, +and their sons, and Mr. Frederic B. Johnson, of Yale University, +for many practical kindnesses; to Mrs. Blanche Peberdy Tompkins and +Miss Mary G. Reynolds for invaluable secretarial aid; and last, but +by no means least, to Mrs. Alfred Mitchell for making possible the +writing of this book. + +Hiram Bingham + +Yale University +October 1, 1922 + + + + +Contents + + +I. Crossing the Desert 1 +II. Climbing Coropuna 23 +III. To Parinacochas 50 +IV. Flamingo Lake 74 +V. Titicaca 95 +VI. The Vilcanota Country and the Peruvian Highlanders 110 +VII. The Valley of the Huatanay 133 +VIII. The Oldest City in South America 157 +IX. The Last Four Incas 170 +X. Searching for the Last Inca Capital 198 +XI. The Search Continued 217 +XII. The Fortress of Uiticos and the House of the Sun 241 +XIII. Vilcabamba 255 +XIV. Conservidayoc 266 +XV. The Pampa of Ghosts 292 +XVI. The Story of Tampu-tocco, a Lost City of the First Incas 306 +XVII. Machu Picchu 314 +XVIII. The Origin of Machu Picchu 326 + + Glossary 341 + Bibliography of the Peruvian Expeditions of Yale University + and the National Geographic Society 345 + Index 353 + + + + +Illustrations + + +"Something Hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges" +Frontispiece +Sketch Map of Southern Peru 1 +Mt. Coropuna from the Northwest 12 +Mt. Coropuna from the South 24 +The Base Camp, Coropuna, at 17,300 Feet 32 + Photograph by H. L. Tucker +Camping at 18,450 Feet on the Slopes of Coropuna 32 + Photograph by H. L. Tucker +One of the Frequent Rests in the Ascent of Coropuna 42 + Photograph by H. L. Tucker +The Camp on the Summit 42 + Photograph by H. L. Tucker +The Sub-Prefect of Cotahuasi, his Military Aide, and Messrs. Tucker, +Hendriksen, Bowman, and Bingham inspecting the Local Rug-weaving +Industry 60 + Photograph by C. Watkins +Inca Storehouses at Chichipampa, near Colta 66 + Photograph by H. L. Tucker +Flamingoes on Lake Parinacochas, and Mt. Sarasara 78 +Mr. Tucker on a Mountain Trail near Caraveli 90 +The Main Street of Chuquibamba 90 + Photograph by H. L. Tucker +A Lake Titicaca Balsa at Puno 98 +A Step-topped Niche on the Island of Koati 98 +Indian Alcaldes at Santa Rosa 114 +Native Druggists in the Plaza of Sicuani 114 +Laying Down the Warp for a Blanket; near the Pass of La Raya 120 +Plowing a Potato-field at La Raya 120 +The Ruins of the Temple of Viracocha at Racche 128 +Route Map of the Peruvian Expedition of 1912 132 +Lucre Basin, Lake Muyna, and the City Wall of Piquillacta 136 +Sacsahuaman: Detail of Lower Terrace Wall 140 +Ruins of the Aqueduct of Rumiccolca 140 +Huatanay Valley, Cuzco, and the Ayahuaycco Quebrada 150 +Map of Peru and View of Cuzco 158 + From the "Speculum Orbis Terrarum," Antwerp, 1578 +Towers of Jesuit Church with Cloisters and Tennis Court of University, +Cuzco 162 +Glaciers Between Cuzco and Uiticos 170 +The Urubamba Canyon: A Reason for the Safety of the Incas in +Uilcapampa 176 +Yucay, Last Home of Sayri Tupac 186 +Part of the Nuremberg Map of 1599, showing Pincos and the Andes +Mountains 198 +Route Map of the Peruvian Expedition of 1915 202 +Mt. Veronica and Salapunco, the Gateway to Uilcapampa 206 +Grosvenor Glacier and Mt. Salcantay 210 +The Road between Maquina and Mandor Pampa, near Machu Picchu 214 +Huadquina 220 +Ruins of Yurak Rumi near Huadquina 225 + Plan and elevations drawn by A. H. Bumstead +Pucyura and the Hill of Rosaspata in the Vilcabamba Valley 238 +Principal Doorway of the Long Palace at Rosaspata 242 + Photograph by E. C. Erdis +Another Doorway in the Ruins of Rosaspata 242 +Northeast Face of Yurak Rumi 246 +Plan of the Ruins of the Temple of the Sun at Nusta Isppana 248 + Drawn by R. H. Bumstead +Carved Seats and Platforms of Nusta Isppana 250 +Two of the Seven Seats near the Spring under the Great White Rock 250 + Photograph by A. H. Bumstead +Nusta Isppana 256 +Quispi Cusi testifying about Inca Ruins 268 + Photograph by H. W. Foote +One of our Bearers crossing the Pampaconas River 268 + Photograph by H. W. Foote +Saavedra and his Inca Pottery 288 +Inca Gable at Espiritu Pampa 288 +Inca Ruins in the Jungles of Espiritu Pampa 294 + Photograph by H. W. Foote +Campa Men at Espiritu Pampa 302 + Photograph by H. L. Tucker +Campa Women and Children at Espiritu Pampa 302 + Photograph by H. L. Tucker +Puma Urco, near Paccaritampu 306 +The Best Inca Wall at Maucallacta, near Paccaritampu 312 +The Caves of Puma Urco, Near Paccaritampu 312 +Flashlight View of Interior of Cave, Machu Picchu 320 +Temple over Cave at Machu Picchu; suggested by the Author as the +Probable Site of Tampu-tocco 320 +Detail of Principal Temple, Machu Picchu 324 +Detail of Exterior of Temple of the Three Windows, Machu Picchu 324 +The Masonry Wall with Three Windows, Machu Picchu 328 +The Gorges, opening Wide Apart, reveal Uilcapampa's Granite Citadel, +the Crown of Inca Land 338 + + +Except as otherwise indicated the illustrations are from photographs +by the author. + + + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Sketch Map of Southern Peru. +------ + + + +INCA LAND + + + +CHAPTER I + +Crossing the Desert + +A kind friend in Bolivia once placed in my hands a copy of a most +interesting book by the late E. George Squier, entitled "Peru. Travel +and Exploration in the Land of the Incas." In that volume is a +marvelous picture of the Apurimac Valley. In the foreground is a +delicate suspension bridge which commences at a tunnel in the face +of a precipitous cliff and hangs in mid-air at great height above the +swirling waters of the "great speaker." In the distance, towering above +a mass of stupendous mountains, is a magnificent snow-capped peak. The +desire to see the Apurimac and experience the thrill of crossing that +bridge decided me in favor of an overland journey to Lima. + +As a result I went to Cuzco, the ancient capital of the mighty empire +of the Incas, and was there urged by the Peruvian authorities to +visit some newly re-discovered Inca ruins. As readers of "Across +South America" will remember, these ruins were at Choqquequirau, an +interesting place on top of a jungle-covered ridge several thousand +feet above the roaring rapids of the great Apurimac. There was some +doubt as to who had originally lived here. The prefect insisted that +the ruins represented the residence of the Inca Manco and his sons, +who had sought refuge from Pizarro and the Spanish conquerors of Peru +in the Andes between the Apurimac and Urubamba rivers. + +While Mr. Clarence L. Hay and I were on the slopes of Choqquequirau the +clouds would occasionally break away and give us tantalizing glimpses +of snow-covered mountains. There seemed to be an unknown region, +"behind the Ranges," which might contain great possibilities. Our +guides could tell us nothing about it. Little was to be found in +books. Perhaps Manco's capital was hidden there. For months afterwards +the fascination of the unknown drew my thoughts to Choqquequirau and +beyond. In the words of Kipling's "Explorer": + + +"... a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes +On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated--so: +'Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges-- +Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!' " + + +To add to my unrest, during the following summer I read Bandelier's +"Titicaca and Koati," which had just appeared. In one of the +interesting footnotes was this startling remark: "It is much to be +desired that the elevation of the most prominent peaks of the western +or coast range of Peru be accurately determined. It is likely ... that +Coropuna, in the Peruvian coast range of the Department Arequipa, +is the culminating point of the continent. It exceeds 23,000 feet +in height, whereas Aconcagua [conceded to be the highest peak in +the Western Hemisphere] is but 22,763 feet (6940 meters) above +sea level." His estimate was based on a survey made by the civil +engineers of the Southern Railways of Peru, using a section of the +railroad as a base. My sensations when I read this are difficult to +describe. Although I had been studying South American history and +geography for more than ten years, I did not remember ever to have +heard of Coropuna. On most maps it did not exist. Fortunately, on one +of the sheets of Raimondi's large-scale map of Peru, I finally found +"Coropuna--6,949 m."--9 meters higher than Aconcagua!--one hundred +miles northwest of Arequipa, near the 73d meridian west of Greenwich. + +Looking up and down the 73d meridian as it crossed Peru from the +Amazon Valley to the Pacific Ocean, I saw that it passed very near +Choqquequirau, and actually traversed those very lands "behind +the Ranges" which had been beckoning to me. The coincidence was +intriguing. The desire to go and find that "something hidden" was now +reenforced by the temptation to go and see whether Coropuna really was +the highest mountain in America. There followed the organization of an +expedition whose object was a geographical reconnaissance of Peru along +the 73d meridian, from the head of canoe navigation on the Urubamba +to tidewater on the Pacific. We achieved more than we expected. + +Our success was due in large part to our "unit-food-boxes," a device +containing a balanced ration which Professor Harry W. Foote had +cooperated with me in assembling. The object of our idea was to +facilitate the provisioning of small field parties by packing in a +single box everything that two men would need in the way of provisions +for a given period. These boxes have given such general satisfaction, +not only to the explorers themselves, but to the surgeons who had the +responsibility of keeping them in good condition, that a few words +in regard to this feature of our equipment may not be unwelcome. + +The best unit-food-box provides a balanced ration for two men +for eight days, breakfast and supper being hearty, cooked meals, +and luncheon light and uncooked. It was not intended that the men +should depend entirely on the food-boxes, but should vary their +diet as much as possible with whatever the country afforded, which +in southern Peru frequently means potatoes, corn, eggs, mutton, +and bread. Nevertheless each box contained sliced bacon, tinned +corned beef, roast beef, chicken, salmon, crushed oats, milk, cheese, +coffee, sugar, rice, army bread, salt, sweet chocolates, assorted jams, +pickles, and dried fruits and vegetables. By seeing that the jam, dried +fruits, soups, and dried vegetables were well assorted, a sufficient +variety was procured without destroying the balanced character of +the ration. On account of the great difficulty of transportation in +the southern Andes we had to eliminate foods that contained a large +amount of water, like French peas, baked beans, and canned fruits, +however delicious and desirable they might be. In addition to food, +we found it desirable to include in each box a cake of laundry soap, +two yards of dish toweling, and three empty cotton-cloth bags, to be +used for carrying lunches and collecting specimens. The most highly +appreciated article of food in our boxes was the rolled oats, a dish +which on account of its being already partially cooked was easily +prepared at high elevations, where rice cannot be properly boiled. It +was difficult to satisfy the members of the Expedition by providing +the right amount of sugar. At the beginning of the field season the +allowance--one third of a pound per day per man--seemed excessive, and +I was criticized for having overloaded the boxes. After a month in the +field the allowance proved to be too small and had to be supplemented. + +Many people seem to think that it is one of the duties of an explorer +to "rough it," and to "trust to luck" for his food. I had found on +my first two expeditions, in Venezuela and Colombia and across South +America, that the result of being obliged to subsist on irregular +and haphazard rations was most unsatisfactory. While "roughing it" +is far more enticing to the inexperienced and indiscreet explorer, +I learned in Peru that the humdrum expedient of carefully preparing, +months in advance, a comprehensive bill of fare sufficiently varied, +wholesome, and well-balanced, is "the better part of valor," The truth +is that providing an abundance of appetizing food adds very greatly +to the effectiveness of a party. To be sure, it may mean trouble +and expense for one's transportation department, and some of the +younger men may feel that their reputations as explorers are likely +to be damaged if it is known that strawberry jam, sweet chocolate and +pickles are frequently found on their menu! Nevertheless, experience +has shown that the results of "trusting to luck" and "living as the +natives do" means not only loss of efficiency in the day's work, but +also lessened powers of observation and diminished enthusiasm for +the drudgery of scientific exploration. Exciting things are always +easy to do, no matter how you are living, but frequently they produce +less important results than tasks which depend upon daily drudgery; +and daily drudgery depends upon a regular supply of wholesome food. + + + + + +We reached Arequipa, the proposed base for our campaign against +Mt. Coropuna, in June, 1911. We learned that the Peruvian "winter" +reaches its climax in July or August, and that it would be folly to +try to climb Coropuna during the winter snowstorms. On the other +hand, the "summer months," beginning with November, are cloudy +and likely to add fog and mist to the difficulties of climbing a +new mountain. Furthermore, June and July are the best months for +exploration in the eastern slopes of the Andes in the upper Amazon +Basin, the lands "behind the Ranges." Although the montana, or jungle +country, is rarely actually dry, there is less rain then than in the +other months of the year; so we decided to go first to the Urubamba +Valley. The story of our discoveries there, of identifying Uiticos, +the capital of the last Incas, and of the finding of Machu Picchu will +be found in later chapters. In September I returned to Arequipa and +started the campaign against Coropuna by endeavoring to get adequate +transportation facilities for crossing the desert. + +Arequipa, as everybody knows, is the home of a station of +the Harvard Observatory, but Arequipa is also famous for its +large mules. Unfortunately, a "mule trust" had recently been +formed--needless to say, by an American--and I found it difficult to +make any satisfactory arrangements. After two weeks of skirmishing, +the Tejada brothers appeared, two arrieros, or muleteers, who seemed +willing to listen to our proposals. We offered them a thousand soles +(five hundred dollars gold) if they would supply us with a pack train +of eleven mules for two months and go with us wherever we chose, +we agreeing not to travel on an average more than seven leagues +[2] a day. It sounds simple enough but it took no end of argument +and persuasion on the part of our friends in Arequipa to convince +these worthy arrieros that they were not going to be everlastingly +ruined by this bargain. The trouble was that they owned their mules, +knew the great danger of crossing the deserts that lay between us +and Mt. Coropuna, and feared to travel on unknown trails. Like most +muleteers, they were afraid of unfamiliar country. They magnified the +imaginary evils of the road to an inconceivable pitch. The argument +that finally persuaded them to accept the proffered contract was my +promise that after the first week the cargo would be so much less that +at least two of the pack mules could always be free. The Tejadas, +realizing only too well the propensity of pack animals to get sore +backs and go lame, regarded my promise in the light of a factor of +safety. Lame mules would not have to carry loads. + +Everything was ready by the end of the month. Mr. H. L. Tucker, +a member of Professor H. C. Parker's 1910 Mr. McKinley Expedition +and thoroughly familiar with the details of snow-and-ice-climbing, +whom I had asked to be responsible for securing the proper equipment, +was now entrusted with planning and directing the actual ascent +of Coropuna. Whatever success was achieved on the mountain was +due primarily to Mr. Tucker's skill and foresight. We had no Swiss +guides, and had originally intended to ask two other members of the +Expedition to join us on the climb. However, the exigencies of making +a geological and topographical cross section along the 73d meridian +through a practically unknown region, and across one of the highest +passes in the Andes (17,633 ft.), had delayed the surveying party to +such an extent as to make it impossible for them to reach Coropuna +before the first of November. On account of the approach of the cloudy +season it did not seem wise to wait for their cooeperation. Accordingly, +I secured in Arequipa the services of Mr. Casimir Watkins, an English +naturalist, and of Mr. F. Hinckley, of the Harvard Observatory. It +was proposed that Mr. Hinckley, who had twice ascended El Misti +(19,120 ft.), should accompany us to the top, while Mr. Watkins, +who had only recently recovered from a severe illness, should take +charge of the Base Camp. + +The prefect of Arequipa obligingly offered us a military escort in +the person of Corporal Gamarra, a full-blooded Indian of rather more +than average height and considerably more than average courage, who +knew the country. As a member of the mounted gendarmerie, Gamarra had +been stationed at the provincial capital of Cotahuasi a few months +previously. One day a mob of drunken, riotous revolutionists stormed +the government buildings while he was on sentry duty. Gamarra stood +his ground and, when they attempted to force their way past him, shot +the leader of the crowd. The mob scattered. A grateful prefect made +him a corporal and, realizing that his life was no longer safe in that +particular vicinity, transferred him to Arequipa. Like nearly all of +his race, however, he fell an easy prey to alcohol. There is no doubt +that the chief of the mounted police in Arequipa, when ordered by the +prefect to furnish us an escort for our journey across the desert, +was glad enough to assign Gamarra to us. His courage could not be +called in question even though his habits might lead him to become +troublesome. It happened that Gamarra did not know we were planning +to go to Cotahuasi. Had he known this, and also had he suspected the +trials that were before him on Mt. Coropuna, he probably would have +begged off--but I am anticipating. + +On the 2d of October, Tucker, Hinckley, Corporal Gamarra and I left +Arequipa; Watkins followed a week later. The first stage of the +journey was by train from Arequipa to Vitor, a distance of thirty +miles. The arrieros sent the cargo along too. In addition to the +food-boxes we brought with us tents, ice axes, snowshoes, barometers, +thermometers, transit, fiber cases, steel boxes, duffle bags, and +a folding boat. Our pack train was supposed to have started from +Arequipa the day before. We hoped it would reach Vitor about the +same time that we did, but that was expecting too much of arrieros +on the first day of their journey. So we had an all-day wait near +the primitive little railway station. + +We amused ourselves wandering off over the neighboring pampa and +studying the medanos, crescent-shaped sand dunes which are common in +the great coastal desert. One reads so much of the great tropical +jungles of South America and of wellnigh impenetrable forests that +it is difficult to realize that the West Coast from Ecuador, on +the north, to the heart of Chile, on the south, is a great desert, +broken at intervals by oases, or valleys whose rivers, coming +from melting snows of the Andes, are here and there diverted for +purposes of irrigation. Lima, the capital of Peru, is in one of the +largest of these oases. Although frequently enveloped in a damp fog, +the Peruvian coastal towns are almost never subjected to rain. The +causes of this phenomenon are easy to understand. Winds coming from +the east, laden with the moisture of the Atlantic Ocean and the +steaming Amazon Basin, are rapidly cooled by the eastern slopes of +the Andes and forced to deposit this moisture in the montana. By +the time the winds have crossed the mighty cordillera there is no +rain left in them. Conversely, the winds that come from the warm +Pacific Ocean strike a cold area over the frigid Humboldt Current, +which sweeps up along the west coast of South America. This cold belt +wrings the water out of the westerly winds, so that by the time they +reach the warm land their relative humidity is low. To be sure, there +are months in some years when so much moisture falls on the slopes +of the coast range that the hillsides are clothed with flowers, but +this verdure lasts but a short time and does not seriously affect the +great stretches of desert pampa in the midst of which we now were. Like +the other pampas of this region, the flat surface inclines toward the +sea. Over it the sand is rolled along by the wind and finally built +into crescent-shaped dunes. These medanos interested us greatly. + +The prevailing wind on the desert at night is a relatively gentle +breeze that comes down from the cool mountain slopes toward the +ocean. It tends to blow the lighter particles of sand along in a +regular dune, rolling it over and over downhill, leaving the heavier +particles behind. This is reversed in the daytime. As the heat +increases toward noon, the wind comes rushing up from the ocean to +fill the vacuum caused by the rapidly ascending currents of hot air +that rise from the overheated pampas. During the early afternoon this +wind reaches a high velocity and swirls the sand along in clouds. It +is now strong enough to move the heavier particles of sand, uphill. It +sweeps the heaviest ones around the base of the dune and deposits +them in pointed ridges on either side. The heavier material remains +stationary at night while the lighter particles are rolled downhill, +but the whole mass travels slowly uphill again during the gales of +the following afternoon. The result is the beautiful crescent-shaped +medano. + + + + + +About five o'clock our mules, a fine-looking lot--far superior to any +that we had been able to secure near Cuzco--trotted briskly into the +dusty little plaza. It took some time to adjust the loads, and it was +nearly seven o'clock before we started off in the moonlight for the +oasis of Vitor. As we left the plateau and struck the dusty trail +winding down into a dark canyon we caught a glimpse of something +white shimmering faintly on the horizon far off to the northwest; +Coropuna! Shortly before nine o'clock we reached a little corral, +where the mules were unloaded. For ourselves we found a shed with +a clean, stone-paved floor, where we set up our cots, only to be +awakened many times during the night by passing caravans anxious to +avoid the terrible heat of the desert by day. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Mt. Coropuna from the Northwest +------ + + +Where the oases are only a few miles apart one often travels by day, +but when crossing the desert is a matter of eight or ten hours' +steady jogging with no places to rest, no water, no shade, the pack +animals suffer greatly. Consequently, most caravans travel, so far +as possible, by night. Our first desert, the pampa of Sihuas, was +reported to be narrow, so we preferred to cross it by day and see +what was to be seen. We got up about half-past four and were off +before seven. Then our troubles began. Either because he lived in +Arequipa or because they thought he looked like a good horseman, +or for reasons best known to themselves, the Tejadas had given +Mr. Hinckley a very spirited saddle-mule. The first thing I knew, +her rider, carrying a heavy camera, a package of plate-holders, and +a large mercurial barometer, borrowed from the Harvard Observatory, +was pitched headlong into the sand. Fortunately no damage was done, +and after a lively chase the runaway mule was brought back by Corporal +Gamarra. After Mr. Hinckley was remounted on his dangerous mule we +rode on for a while in peace, between cornfields and vineyards, over +paths flanked by willows and fig trees. The chief industry of Vitor is +the making of wine from vines which date back to colonial days. The +wine is aged in huge jars, each over six feet high, buried in the +ground. We had a glimpse of seventeen of them standing in a line, +awaiting sale. It made one think of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, +who would have had no trouble at all hiding in these Cyclopean crocks. + +The edge of the oasis of Vitor is the contour line along which +the irrigating canal runs. There is no gradual petering out of +foliage. The desert begins with a stunning crash. On one side is +the bright, luxurious green of fig trees and vineyards; on the other +side is the absolute stark nakedness of the sandy desert. Within the +oasis there is an abundance of water. Much of it runs to waste. The +wine growers receive more than they can use; in fact, more land +could easily be put under cultivation. The chief difficulties are +the scarcity of ports from which produce can be shipped to the outer +world, the expense of the transportation system of pack trains over +the deserts which intervene between the oases and the railroad, +and the lack of capital. Otherwise the irrigation system might be +extended over great stretches of rich, volcanic soil, now unoccupied. + +A steady climb of three quarters of an hour took us to the northern rim +of the valley. Here we again saw the snowy mass of Coropuna, glistening +in the sunlight, seventy-five miles away to the northwest. Our view was +a short one, for in less than three minutes we had to descend another +canyon. We crossed this and climbed out on the pampa of Sihuas. There +was little to interest us in our immediate surroundings, but in the +distance was Coropuna, and I had just begun to study the problem of +possible routes for climbing the highest peak when Mr. Hinckley's +mule trotted briskly across the trail directly in front of me, kicked +up her heels, and again sent him sprawling over the sand, barometer, +camera, plates, and all. Unluckily, this time his foot caught in a +stirrup and, still holding the bridle, he was dragged some distance +before he got it loose. He struggled to his feet and tried to keep +the mule from running away, when a violent kick released his hold +and knocked him out. We immediately set up our little "Mummery" +tent on the hot, sandy floor of the desert and rendered first-aid to +the unlucky astronomer. We found that the sharp point of one of the +vicious mule's new shoes had opened a large vein in Mr. Hinckley's +leg. The cut was not dangerous, but too deep for successful mountain +climbing. With Gamarra's aid, Mr. Hinckley was able to reach Arequipa +that night, but his enforced departure not only shattered his own hopes +of climbing Coropuna, but also made us wonder how we were going to have +the necessary three-men-on-the-rope when we reached the glaciers. To +be sure, there was the corporal--but would he go? Indians do not like +snow mountains. Packing up the tent again, we resumed our course over +the desert. + +The oasis of Sihuas, another beautiful garden in the bottom of a +huge canyon, was reached about four o'clock in the afternoon. We +should have been compelled to camp in the open with the arrieros had +not the parish priest invited us to rest in the cool shade of his +vine-covered arbor. He graciously served us with cakes and sweet +native wine, and asked us to stay as long as we liked. The desert +of Majes, which now lay ahead of us, is perhaps the widest, hottest, +and most barren in this region. Our arrieros were unwilling to cross +it in the daytime. They said it was forty-five miles between water +and water. The next day we enjoyed the hospitality of our kindly host +until after supper. + +So sure are the inhabitants of these oases that it is not going to +rain that their houses are built merely as a shelter against the sun +and wind. They are made of the canes that grow in the jungles of the +larger river bottoms, or along the banks of irrigating ditches. On the +roof the spaces between the canes are filled with adobe, sun-dried +mud. It is not necessary to plaster the sides of the houses, for it +is pleasant to let the air have free play, and it is amusing to look +out through the cracks and see everything that is passing. + +That evening we saddled in the moonlight. Slowly we climbed out of the +valley, to spend the night jogging steadily, hour after hour, across +the desert. As the moon was setting we entered a hilly region, and +at sunrise found ourselves in the midst of a tumbled mass of enormous +sand dunes--the result of hundreds of medanos blown across the pampa +of Majes and deposited along the border of the valley. It took us +three hours to wind slowly down from the level of the desert to a +point where we could see the great canyon, a mile deep and two miles +across. Its steep sides are of various colored rocks and sand. The +bottom is a bright green oasis through which flows the rapid Majes +River, too deep to be forded even in the dry season. A very large +part of the flood plain of the unruly river is not cultivated, and +consists of a wild jungle, difficult of access in the dry season and +impossible when the river rises during the rainy months. The contrast +between the gigantic hills of sand and the luxurious vegetation was +very striking; but to us the most beautiful thing in the landscape +was the long, glistening, white mass of Coropuna, now much larger +and just visible above the opposite rim of the valley. + +At eight o'clock in the morning, as we were wondering how long it would +be before we could get down to the bottom of the valley and have some +breakfast, we discovered, at a place called Pitas (or Cerro Colorado), +a huge volcanic boulder covered with rude pictographs. Further +search in the vicinity revealed about one hundred of these boulders, +each with its quota of crude drawings. I did not notice any ruins of +houses near the rocks. Neither of the Tejada brothers, who had been +past here many times, nor any of the natives of this region appeared +to have any idea of the origin or meaning of this singular collection +of pictographic rocks. The drawings represented jaguars, birds, men, +and dachshund-like dogs. They deserved careful study. Yet not even the +interest and excitement of investigating the "rocas jeroglificos," +as they are called here, could make us forget that we had had no +food or sleep for a good many hours. So after taking a few pictures +we hastened on and crossed the Majes River on a very shaky temporary +bridge. It was built to last only during the dry season. To construct +a bridge which would withstand floods is not feasible at present. We +spent the day at Coriri, a pleasant little village where it was almost +impossible to sleep, on account of the myriads of gnats. + +The next day we had a short ride along the western side of the valley +to the town of Aplao, the capital of the province of Castilla, called +by its present inhabitants "Majes," although on Raimondi's map that +name is applied only to the river and the neighboring desert. In 1865, +at the time of his visit, it had a bad reputation for disease. Now +it seems more healthy. The sub-prefect of Castilla had been informed +by telegraph of our coming, and invited us to an excellent dinner. + +The people of Majes are largely of mixed white and Indian +ancestry. Many of them appeared to be unusually businesslike. The +proprietor of one establishment was a great admirer of American shoes, +the name of which he pronounced in a manner that puzzled us for a +long time. "W" is unknown in Spanish and the letters "a," "l," and "k" +are never found in juxtaposition. When he asked us what we thought of +"Valluck-ofair'," accenting strongly the last syllable, we could not +imagine what he meant. He was equally at a loss to understand how we +could be so stupid as not to recognize immediately the well-advertised +name of a widely known shoe. + +At Majes we observed cotton, which is sent to the mills at Arequipa, +alfalfa, highly prized as fodder for pack animals, sugar cane, from +which aguardiente, or white rum, is made, and grapes. It is said that +the Majes vineyards date back to the sixteenth century, and that some +of the huge, buried, earthenware wine jars now in use were made as far +back as the reign of Philip II. The presence of so much wine in the +community does not seem to have a deleterious effect on the natives, +who were not only hospitable but energetic--far more so, in fact, +than the natives of towns in the high Andes, where the intense cold +and the difficulty of making a living have reacted upon the Indians, +often causing them to be morose, sullen, and without ambition. The +residences of the wine growers are sometimes very misleading. A typical +country house of the better class is not much to look at. Its long, +low, flat roof and rough, unwhitewashed, mud-colored walls give it +an unattractive appearance; yet to one's intense surprise the inside +may be clean and comfortable, with modern furniture, a piano, and +a phonograph. + +Our conscientious and hard-working arrieros rose at two o'clock the +next morning, for they knew their mules had a long, hard climb ahead +of them, from an elevation of 1000 feet above sea level to 10,000 +feet. After an all-day journey we camped at a place where forage could +be obtained. We had now left the region of tropical products and come +back to potatoes and barley. The following day a short ride brought us +past another pictographic rock, recently blasted open by an energetic +"treasure seeker" of Chuquibamba. This town has 3000 inhabitants and +is the capital of the province of Condesuyos. It was the place which +we had selected several months before as the rendezvous for the attack +on Coropuna. The climate here is delightful and the fruits and cereals +of the temperate zone are easily raised. The town is surrounded by +gardens, vineyards, alfalfa and grain fields; all showing evidence +of intensive cultivation. It is at the head of one of the branches +of the Majes Valley and is surrounded by high cliffs. + +The people of Chuquibamba were friendly. We were kindly welcomed by +Senor Benavides, the sub-prefect, who hospitably told us to set up our +cots in the grand salon of his own house. Here we received calls from +the local officials, including the provincial physician, Dr. Pastor, +and the director of the Colegio Nacional, Professor Alejandro +Coello. The last two were keen to go with us up Mt. Coropuna. They +told us that there was a hill near by called the Calvario, whence the +mountain could be seen, and offered to take us up there. We accepted, +thinking at the same time that this would show who was best fitted to +join in the climb, for we needed another man on the rope. Professor +Coello easily distanced the rest of us and won the coveted place. + +From the Calvario hill we had a splendid view of those white solitudes +whither we were bound, now only twenty-five miles away. It seemed +clear that the western or truncated peak, which gives its name to the +mass (koro = "cut off at the top"; puna = "a cold, snowy height"), +was the highest point of the range, and higher than all the eastern +peaks. Yet behind the flat-topped dome we could just make out a +northerly peak. Tucker wondered whether or not that might prove to +be higher than the western peak which we decided to climb. No one +knew anything about the mountain. There were no native guides to be +had. The wildest opinions were expressed as to the best routes and +methods of getting to the top. We finally engaged a man who said he +knew how to get to the foot of the mountain, so we called him "guide" +for want of a more appropriate title. The Peruvian spring was now well +advanced and the days were fine and clear. It appeared, however, that +there had been a heavy snowstorm on the mountain a few days before. If +summer were coming unusually early it behooved us to waste no time, +and we proceeded to arrange the mountain equipment as fast as possible. + +Our instruments for determining altitude consisted of a special +mountain-mercurial barometer made by Mr. Henry J. Green, of +Brooklyn, capable of recording only such air pressures as one might +expect to find above 12,000 feet; a hypsometer loaned us by the +Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution +of Washington, with thermometers especially made for us by Green; +a large mercurial barometer, borrowed from the Harvard Observatory, +which, notwithstanding its rough treatment by Mr. Hinckley's mule, was +still doing good service; and one of Green's sling psychrometers. Our +most serious want was an aneroid, in case the fragile mercurials +should get broken. Six months previously I had written to J. Hicks, +the celebrated instrument maker of London, asking him to construct, +with special care, two large "Watkins" aneroids capable of recording +altitudes five thousand feet higher than Coropuna was supposed to +be. His reply had never reached me, nor did any one in Arequipa know +anything about the barometers. Apparently my letter had miscarried. It +was not until we opened our specially ordered "mountain grub" boxes +here in Chuquibamba that we found, alongside of the pemmican and +self-heating tins of stew which had been packed for us in London by +Grace Brothers, the two precious aneroids, each as large as a big alarm +clock. With these two new aneroids, made with a wide margin of safety, +we felt satisfied that, once at the summit, we should know whether +there was a chance that Bandelier was right and this was indeed the +top of America. + +For exact measurements we depended on Topographer Hendriksen, who was +due to triangulate Coropuna in the course of his survey along the 73d +meridian. My chief excuse for going up the mountain was to erect a +signal at or near the top which Hendriksen could use as a station in +order to make his triangulation more exact. My real object, it must +be confessed, was to enjoy the satisfaction, which all Alpinists feel, +of conquering a "virgin peak." + + + +CHAPTER II + +Climbing Coropuna + +The desert plateau above Chuquibamba is nearly 2500 feet higher than +the town, and it was nine o'clock on the morning of October 10th +before we got out of the valley. Thereafter Coropuna was always in +sight, and as we slowly approached it we studied it with care. The +plateau has an elevation of over 15,000 feet, yet the mountain stood +out conspicuously above it. Coropuna is really a range about twenty +miles long. Its gigantic massif was covered with snow fields from one +end to the other. So deep did the fresh snow lie that it was generally +impossible to see where snow fields ended and glaciers began. We could +see that of the five well-defined peaks the middle one was probably +the lowest. The two next highest are at the right, or eastern, end of +the massif. The culminating truncated dome at the western end, with its +smooth, uneroded sides, apparently belonged to a later volcanic period +than the rest of the mountain. It seemed to be the highest peak of +all. To reach it did not appear to be difficult. Rock-covered slopes +ran directly up to the snow. Snow fields, without many rock-falls, +appeared to culminate in a saddle at the base of the great snowy +dome. The eastern slope of the dome itself offered an unbroken, +if steep, path to the top. If we could once reach the snow line, +it looked as though, with the aid of ice-creepers or snowshoes, +we could climb the mountain without serious trouble. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Mt. Coropuna from the South +------ + + +Between us and the first snow-covered slopes, however, lay more +than twenty miles of volcanic desert intersected by deep canyons, +steep quebradas, and very rough aa lava. Directed by our "guide," +we left the Cotahuasi road and struck across country, dodging the +lava flows and slowly ascending the gentle slope of the plateau. As +it became steeper our mules showed signs of suffering. While waiting +for them to get their wind we went ahead on foot, climbed a short +rise, and to our surprise and chagrin found ourselves on the rim of a +steep-walled canyon, 1500 feet deep, which cut right across in front +of the mountain and lay between us and its higher slopes. After the +mules had rested, the guide now decided to turn to the left instead of +going straight toward the mountain. A dispute ensued as to how much he +knew, even about the foot of Coropuna. He denied that there were any +huts whatever in the canyon. "Abandonado; despoblado; desierto." "A +waste; a solitude; a wilderness." So he described it. Had he been +there? "No, Senor." Luckily we had been able to make out from the rim +of the canyon two or three huts near a little stream. As there was no +question that we ought to get to the snow line as soon as possible, we +decided to dispense with the services of so well-informed a "guide," +and make such way as we could alone. The altitude of the rim of the +canyon was 16,000 feet; the mules showed signs of acute distress from +mountain sickness. The arrieros began to complain loudly, but did +what they could to relieve the mules by punching holes in their ears; +the theory being that bloodletting is a good thing for soroche. As +soon as the timid arrieros reached a point where they could see +down into the canyon, they spotted some patches of green pasture, +cheered up a bit, and even smiled over the dismal ignorance of the +"guide." Soon we found a trail which led to the huts. + +Near the huts was a taciturn Indian woman, who refused to furnish us +with either fuel or forage, although we tried to pay in advance and +offered her silver. Nevertheless, we proceeded to pitch our tents +and took advantage of the sheltering stone wall of her corral for +our camp fire. After peace had settled down and it became perfectly +evident that we were harmless, the door of one of the huts opened +and an Indian man appeared. Doubtless the cause of his disappearance +before our arrival had been the easily discernible presence in our +midst of the brass buttons of Corporal Gamarra. Possibly he who had +selected this remote corner of the wilderness for his abode had a +guilty conscience and at the sight of a gendarme decided that he had +better hide at once. More probably, however, he feared the visit of +a recruiting party, since it is quite likely that he had not served +his legal term of military service. At all events, when his wife +discovered that we were not looking for her man, she allowed his +curiosity to overcome his fears. We found that the Indians kept a +few llamas. They also made crude pottery, firing it with straw and +llama dung. They lived almost entirely on gruel made from chuno, +frozen bitter potatoes. Little else than potatoes will grow at 14,000 +feet above the sea. For neighbors the Indians had a solitary old man, +who lived half a mile up nearer the glaciers, and a small family, +a mile and a half down the valley. + +Before dark the neighbors came to call, and we tried our best to +persuade the men to accompany us up the mountain and help to carry +the loads from the point where the mules would have to stop; but they +declined absolutely and positively. I think one of the men might have +gone, but as soon as his quiet, well-behaved wife saw him wavering +she broke out in a torrent of violent denunciation, telling him the +mountain would "eat him up" and that unless he wanted to go to heaven +before his time he had better let well enough alone and stay where he +was. Cieza de Leon, one of the most careful of the early chroniclers +(1550), says that at Coropuna "the devil" talks "more freely" than +usual. "For some secret reason known to God, it is said that devils +walk visibly about in that place, and that the Indians see them and are +much terrified. I have also heard that these devils have appeared to +Christians in the form of Indians." Perhaps the voluble housewife was +herself one of the famous Coropuna devils. She certainly talked "more +freely" than usual. Or possibly she thought that the Coropuna "devils" +were now appearing to Indians "in the form of" Christians! Anyhow the +Indians said that on top of Coropuna there was a delightful, warm +paradise containing beautiful flowers, luscious fruits, parrots of +brilliant plumage, macaws, and even monkeys, those faithful denizens +of hot climates. The souls of the departed stop to rest and enjoy +themselves in this charming spot on their upward flight. Like most +primitive people who live near snow-capped mountains, they had an +abject terror of the forbidding summits and the snowstorms that seem +to come down from them. Probably the Indians hope to propitiate +the demons who dwell on the mountain tops by inventing charming +stories relating to their abode. It is interesting to learn that in +the neighboring hamlet of Pampacolca, the great explorer Raimondi, +in 1865, found the natives "exiled from the civilized world, still +preserving their primitive customs... carrying idols to the slopes +of the great snow mountain Coropuna, and there offering them as a +sacrifice." Apparently the mountain still inspires fear in the hearts +of all those who live near it. + +The fact that we agreed to pay in advance unheard-of wages, ten +times the usual amount earned by laborers in this vicinity, that we +added offers of the precious coca leaves, the greatly-to-be-desired +"fire-water," the rarely seen tobacco, and other good things usually +coveted by Peruvian highlanders, had no effect in the face of the +terrors of the mountain. They knew only too well that snow-blindness +was one of the least of ills to be encountered; while the advantages +of dark-colored glasses, warm clothes, kerosene stoves, and plenty +of good food, which we freely offered, were far too remote from the +realm of credible possibilities. Professor Coello understood all these +matters perfectly and, being able to speak Quichua, the language of +our prospective carriers, did his best in the way of argument, not +only out of loyalty to the Expedition, but because Peruvian gentlemen +always regard the carrying of a load as extremely undignified and +improper. I have known one of the most energetic and efficient business +men in Peru, a highly respected gentleman in a mountain city, so to +dislike being obliged to carry a rolled and unmounted photograph, +little larger than a lead pencil, that he sent for a cargador, an +Indian porter, to bear it for him! + +As a matter of fact, Professor Coello was perfectly willing to do +his share and more; but neither he nor we were anxious to climb with +heavy packs on our backs, in the rarefied air of elevations several +thousand feet higher than Mont Blanc. The argument with the Indians +was long and verbose and the offerings of money and goods were made +more and more generous. All was in vain. We finally came to realize +that whatever supplies and provisions were carried up Coropuna would +have to be borne on our own shoulders. That evening the top of the +truncated dome, which was just visible from the valley near our camp, +was bathed in a roseate Alpine glow, unspeakably beautiful. The air, +however, was very bitter and the neighboring brook froze solid. During +the night the gendarme's mule became homesick and disappeared with +Coello's horse. Gamarra was sent to look for the strays, with orders +to follow us as soon as possible. + +As no bearers or carriers were to be secured, it was essential to +persuade the Tejadas to take their pack mules up as far as the snow, +a feat they declined to do. The mules, Don Pablo said, had already gone +as far as and farther than mules had any business to go. Soon after +reaching camp Tucker had gone off on a reconnaissance. He reported that +there was a path leading out of the canyon up to the llama pastures on +the lower slopes of the mountains. The arrieros denied the accuracy +of his observations. However, after a long argument, they agreed +to go as far as there was a good path, and no farther. There was no +question of our riding. It was simply a case of getting the loads as +high up as possible before we had to begin to carry them ourselves. It +may be imagined that the arrieros packed very slowly and grudgingly, +although the loads were now considerably reduced. Finally, leaving +behind our saddles, ordinary supplies, and everything not considered +absolutely necessary for a two weeks' stay on the mountain, we set off. + +We could easily walk faster than the loaded mules, and thought it +best to avoid trouble by keeping far enough ahead so as not to hear +the arrieros' constant complaints. After an hour of not very hard +climbing over a fairly good llama trail, the Tejadas stopped at the +edge of the pastures and shouted to us to come back. We replied +equally vociferously, calling them to come ahead, which they did +for half an hour more, slowly zigzagging up a slope of coarse, +black volcanic sand. Then they not only stopped but commenced to +unload the mules. It was necessary to rush back and commence a +violent and acrimonious dispute as to whether the letter of the +contract had been fulfilled and the mules had gone "as far as they +could reasonably be expected to go." The truth was, the Tejadas +were terrified at approaching mysterious Coropuna. They were sure +it would take revenge on them by destroying their mules, who would +"certainly die the following day of soroche." We offered a bonus of +thirty soles--fifteen dollars--if they would go on for another hour, +and threatened them with all sorts of things if they would not. At +last they readjusted the loads and started climbing again. + +The altitude was now about 16,000 feet, but at the foot of a steep +little rise the arrieros stopped again. This time they succeeded in +unloading two mules before we could scramble down over the sand and +boulders to stop them. Threats and prayers were now of no avail. The +only thing that would satisfy was a legal document! They demanded +an agreement "in writing" that in case any mule or mules died as +a result of this foolish attempt to get up to the snow line, I +should pay in gold two hundred soles for each and every mule that +died. Further, I must agree to pay a bonus of fifty soles if they +would keep climbing until noon or until stopped by snow. This document, +having been duly drawn up by Professor Coello, seated on a lava rock +amidst the clinker-like cinders of the old volcano, was duly signed +and sealed. In order that there might be no dispute as to the time, +my best chronometer was handed over to Pablo Tejada to carry until +noon. The mules were reloaded and again the ascent began. Presently the +mules encountered some pretty bad going, on a steep slope covered with +huge lava boulders and scoriaceous sand. We expected more trouble every +minute. However, the arrieros, having made an advantageous bargain, +did their best to carry it out. Fortunately the mules reached the +snow line just fifteen minutes before twelve o'clock. The Tejadas +lost no time in unloading, claimed their bonus, promised to return +in ten days, and almost before we knew it had disappeared down the +side of the mountain. + +We spent the afternoon establishing our Base Camp. We had three tents, +the "Mummery," a very light and diminutive wall tent about four feet +high, made by Edgington of London; an ordinary wall tent, 7 by 7, of +fairly heavy material, with floor sewed in; and an improved pyramidal +tent, made by David Abercrombie, but designed by Mr. Tucker after +one used on Mt. McKinley by Professor Parker. Tucker's tent had two +openings--a small vent in the top of the pyramid, capable of being +closed by an adjustable cap in case of storm, and an oval entrance +through which one had to crawl. This opening could be closed to any +desired extent with a pucker string. A fairly heavy, waterproof floor, +measuring 7 by 7, was sewed to the base of the pyramid so that a single +pole, without guy ropes, was all that was necessary to keep the tent +upright after the floor had been securely pegged to the ground, or +snow. Tucker's tent offered the advantages of being carried without +difficulty, easily erected by one man, readily ventilated and yet +giving shelter to four men in any weather. We proposed to leave the +wall tent at the Base, but to take the pyramidal tent with us on the +climb. We determined to carry the "Mummery" to the top of the mountain +to use while taking observations. + +The elevation of the Base Camp was 17,300 feet. We were surprised +and pleased to find that at first we had good appetites and no +soroche. Less than a hundred yards from the wall tent was a small +diurnal stream, fed by melting snow. Whenever I went to get water for +cooking or washing purposes I noticed a startling and rapid rise in +pulse and increasing shortness of breath. My normal pulse is 70. After +I walked slowly a hundred feet on a level at this altitude it rose to +120. After I had been seated awhile it dropped down to 100. Gradually +our sense of well-being departed and was followed by a feeling of +malaise and general disability. There was a splendid sunset, but we +were too sick and cold to enjoy it. That night all slept badly and had +some headache. A high wind swept around the mountain and threatened +to carry away both of our tents. As we lay awake, wondering at what +moment we should find ourselves deserted by the frail canvas shelters, +we could not help thinking that Coropuna was giving us a fair warning +of what might happen higher up. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Base Camp, Coropuna, at 17,300 Feet +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Camping at 18,450 Feet on the Slopes of Coropuna +------ + + +For breakfast we had pemmican, hard-tack, pea soup and tea. We +all wanted plenty of sugar in our tea and drank large quantities +of it. Experience on Mt. McKinley had led Tucker to believe +heartily in the advantages of pemmican, a food especially prepared +for Arctic explorers. Neither Coello nor Gamarra nor I had ever +tasted it before. We decided that it is not very palatable on first +acquaintance. Although doubtless of great value when one has to spend +long periods of time in the Arctic, where even seal's blubber is a +delicacy "as good as cow's cream," I presume we could have done just +as well without it. + +It was decided to carry with us from the Base enough fuel and +supplies to last through any possible misadventure, even of a week's +duration. Accounts of climbs in the high Andes are full of failures +due to the necessity of the explorers' being obliged to return to +food, warmth, and shelter before having effected the conquest of +a new peak. One remembers the frequent disappointments that came +to such intrepid climbers as Whymper in Ecuador, Martin Conway in +Bolivia and Fitzgerald in Chile and Argentina, due to high winds, +the sudden advent of terrific snowstorms and the weakness caused by +soroche. At the cost of carrying extra-heavy loads we determined to +try to avoid being obliged to turn back. We could only hope that no +unforeseen event would finally defeat our efforts. + +Tucker decided to establish a cache of food and fuel as far up the +mountain side as he and Coello could carry fifty pounds in a single +day's climb. Leaving me to reset the demoralized tents and do other +chores, they started off, packing loads of about twenty-five pounds +each. To me their progress up the mountain side seemed extraordinarily +slow. Were they never going to get anywhere? Their frequent stops +seemed ludicrous. I was to learn later that it is as difficult at a +high elevation for one who is not climbing to have any sympathy for +those suffering from soroche as it is for a sailor to appreciate the +sensations of one who is seasick. + +During the morning I set up the barometers and took a series of +observations. It was pleasant to note that the two new mountain +aneroids registered exactly alike. All the different units of the +cargo that was to be taken up the mountain then had to be weighed, +so that they might be equitably distributed in our loads the following +day. We had two small kerosene stoves with Primus burners. Our grub, +ordered months before, specially for this climb, consisted of pemmican +in 8 1/4-pound tins, Kola chocolate in half-pound tins, seeded raisins +in 1-pound tins, cube sugar in 4-pound tins, hard-tack in 6 1/2-pound +tins, jam, sticks of dried pea soup, Plasmon biscuit, tea, and a few +of Silver's self-heating "messtins" containing Irish stew, beef a la +mode, et al. Corporal Gamarra appeared during the day, having found +his mule, which had strayed twelve miles down the canyon. He did not +relish the prospect of climbing Coropuna, but when he saw the warm +clothes which we had provided for him and learned that he would get +a bonus of five gold sovereigns on top of the mountain, he decided +to accept his duties philosophically. + +Tucker and Coello returned in the middle of the afternoon, reported +that there seemed to be no serious difficulties in the first part +of the climb and that a cache had been established about 2000 feet +above the Base Camp, on a snow field. Tucker now assigned our packs +for the morrow and skillfully prepared the tump-lines and harness +with which we were to carry them. + +Notwithstanding an unusual headache which lasted all day long, I +still had some appetite. Our supper consisted of pemmican pudding +with raisins, hard-tack and pea soup, which every one was able to +eat, if not to enjoy. That night we slept better, one reason being +that the wind did not blow as hard as it had the night before. The +weather continued fine. Watkins was due to arrive from Arequipa in +a day or two, but we decided not to wait for him or run any further +risk of encountering an early summer snowstorm. The next morning, +after adjusting our fifty-pound loads to our unaccustomed backs, +we left camp about nine o'clock. We wore Appalachian Mountain +Club snow-creepers, or crampons, heavy Scotch mittens, knit woolen +helmets, dark blue snow-glasses, and very heavy clothing. It will be +remembered by visitors to the Zermatt Museum that the Swiss guides +who once climbed Huascaran, in the northern Peruvian Andes, had been +maimed for life by their experiences in the deep snows of those great +altitudes. We determined to take no chances, and in order to prevent +the possibility of frost-bite each man was ordered to put on four pairs +of heavy woolen socks and two or three pairs of heavy underdrawers. + +Professor Coello and Corporal Gamarra wore large, heavy boots. I +had woolen puttees and "Arctic" overshoes. Tucker improvised what +he regarded as highly satisfactory sandals out of felt slippers and +pieces of a rubber poncho. Since there seemed to be no rock-climbing +ahead of us, we decided to depend on crampons rather than on the +heavy hob-nailed climbing boots with which Alpinists are familiar. + +The snow was very hard until about one o'clock. By three o'clock it +was so soft as to make further progress impossible. We found that, +loaded as we were, we could not climb a gentle rise faster than twenty +steps at a time. On the more level snow fields we took twenty-five +or thirty steps before stopping to rest. At the end of each stint +it seemed as though they would be the last steps we should ever +take. Panting violently, fatigued beyond belief, and overcome with +mountain-sickness, we would stop and lean on our ice axes until able +to take twenty-five steps more. + +It did not take very long to recover one's wind. Finally we reached a +glacier marked by a network of crevasses, none very wide, and nearly +all covered with snow-bridges. We were roped together, and although +there was an occasional fall no great strain was put on the rope. Then +came great snow fields with not a single crevasse. For the most part +our day was simply an unending succession of stints--twenty-five steps +and a rest, repeated four or five times and followed by thirty-five +steps and a longer rest, taken lying down in the snow. We pegged along +until about half-past two, when the rapidly melting snow stopped all +progress. At an altitude of about 18,450 feet, the Tucker tent was +pitched on a fairly level snow field. We now noticed with dismay that +the two big aneroids had begun to differ. As the sun declined the +temperature fell rapidly. At half-past five the thermometer stood +at 22 deg. F. During the night the minimum thermometer registered 9 deg. +F. We noticed a considerable number of lightning flashes in the +northeast. They were not accompanied by any thunder, but alarmed us +considerably. We feared the expected November storms might be ahead of +time. We closed the tent door on account of a biting wind. Owing to +the ventilating device at the top of the tent, we managed to breathe +fairly well. Mountain climbers at high altitudes have occasionally +observed that one of the symptoms of acute soroche is a very annoying, +racking cough, as violent as whooping cough and frequently accompanied +by nausoa. We had not experienced this at 17,000 feet, but now it +began to be painfully noticeable, and continued during the ensuing +days and nights, particularly nights, until we got back to the Indians' +huts again. We slept very poorly and continually awakened one another +by coughing. + +The next morning we had very little appetite, no ambition, and a +miserable sense of malaise and great fatigue. There was nothing for +it but to shoulder our packs, arrange our tump-lines, and proceed with +the same steady drudgery--now a little harder than the day before. We +broke camp at half-past seven and by noon had reached an altitude +of about 20,000 feet, on a snow field within a mile of the saddle +between the great truncated peak and the rest of the range. It looked +possible to reach the summit in one more day's climb from here. The +aneroids now differed by over five hundred feet. Leaving me to pitch +the tent, the others went back to the cache to bring up some of the +supplies. Due to the fact that we were carrying loads twice as heavy +as those which Tucker and Coello had first brought up, we had not +passed their cache until to-day. By the time my companions appeared +again I was so completely rested that I marveled at the snail-like +pace they made over the nearly level snow field. It seemed incredible +that they should find it necessary to rest four times after they were +within one hundred yards of the camp. + +We were none of us hungry that evening. We craved sweet tea. Before +turning in for the night we took the trouble to melt snow and make +a potful of tea which could be warmed up the first thing in the +morning. We passed another very bad night. The thermometer registered +7 deg. F., but we did not suffer from the cold. In fact, when you stow away +four men on the floor of a 7 by 7 tent they are obliged to sleep so +close together as to keep warm. Furthermore, each man had an eiderdown +sleeping-bag, blankets, and plenty of heavy clothes and sweaters. We +did, however, suffer from soroche. Violent whooping cough assailed +us at frequent intervals. None of us slept much. I amused myself by +counting my pulse occasionally, only to find that it persistently +refused to go below 120, and if I moved would jump up to 135. I don't +know where it went on the actual climb. So far as I could determine, +it did not go below 120 for four days and nights. + +On the morning of October 15th we got up at three o'clock. Hot sweet +tea was the one thing we all craved. The tea-pot was found to be +frozen solid, although it had been hung up in the tent. It took an +hour to thaw and the tea was just warm enough for practical purposes +when I made an awkward move in the crowded tent and kicked over the +tea-pot! Never did men keep their tempers better under more aggravating +circumstances. Not a word of reproach or indignation greeted my +clumsy accident, although poor Corporal Gamarra, who was lying on the +down side of the tent, had to beat a hasty retreat into the colder +(but somewhat drier) weather outside. My clumsiness necessitated +a delay of nearly an hour in starting. While we were melting more +frozen snow and re-making the tea, we warmed up some pea soup and +Irish stew. Tucker and I managed to eat a little. Coello and Gamarra +had no stomachs for anything but tea. We decided to leave the Tucker +tent at the 20,000 foot level, together with most of our outfit and +provisions. From here to the top we were to carry only such things +as were absolutely necessary. They included the Mummery tent with +pegs and poles, the mountain-mercurial barometer, the two Watkins +aneroids, the hypsometer, a pair of Zeiss glasses, two 3A kodaks, +six films, a sling psychrometer, a prismatic compass and clinometer, +a Stanley pocket level, an eighty-foot red-strand mountain rope, +three ice axes, a seven-foot flagpole, an American flag and a Yale +flag. In order to avoid disaster in case of storm, we also carried +four of Silver's self-heating cans of Irish stew and mock-turtle soup, +a cake of chocolate, and eight hard-tack, besides raisins and cubes +of sugar in our pockets. Our loads weighed about twenty pounds each. + +To our great satisfaction and relief, the weather continued fine +and there was very little wind. On the preceding afternoon the snow +had been so soft one frequently went in over one's knees, but now +everything was frozen hard. We left camp at five o'clock. It was +still dark. The great dome of Coropuna loomed up on our left, cut +off from direct attack by gigantic ice falls. To reach it we must +first surmount the saddle on the main ridge. From there an apparently +unbroken slope extended to the top. Our progress was distressingly +slow, even with the light loads. When we reached the saddle there came +a painful surprise. To the north of us loomed a great snowy cone, the +peak which we had at first noticed from the Chuquibamba Calvario. Now +it actually looked higher than the dome we were about to climb! From +the Sihuas Desert, eighty miles away, the dome had certainly seemed +to be the highest point. So we stuck to our task, although constantly +facing the possibility that our painful labors might be in vain and +that eventually, this north peak would prove to be higher. We began to +doubt whether we should have strength enough for both. Loss of sleep, +soroche, and lack of appetite were rapidly undermining our endurance. + +The last slope had an inclination of thirty degrees. We should have +had to cut steps with our ice axes all the way up had it not been for +our snow-creepers, which worked splendidly. As it was, not more than +a dozen or fifteen steps actually had to be cut even in the steepest +part. Tucker was first on the rope, I was second, Coello third, and +Gamarra brought up the rear. We were not a very gay party. The high +altitude was sapping all our ambition. I found that an occasional lump +of sugar acted as the best rapid restorative to sagging spirits. It was +astonishing how quickly the carbon in the sugar was absorbed by the +system and came to the relief of smoldering bodily fires. A single +cube gave new strength and vigor for several minutes. Of course, +one could not eat sugar without limit, but it did help to tide over +difficult places. + +We zigzagged slowly up, hour after hour, alternately resting and +climbing, until we were about to reach what seemed to be the top, +obviously, alas, not as high as our enemy to the north. Just then +Tucker gave a great shout. The rest of us were too much out of breath +to ask him why he was wasting his strength shouting. When at last we +painfully came to the edge of what looked like the summit we saw the +cause of his joy. There, immediately ahead of us, lay another slope +three hundred feet higher than where we were standing. It may seem +strange that in our weakened condition we should have been glad to +find that we had three hundred feet more to climb. Remember, however, +that all the morning we had been gazing with dread at that aggravating +north peak. Whenever we had had a moment to give to the consideration +of anything but the immediate difficulties of our climb our hearts +had sunk within us at the thought that possibly, after all, we might +find the north peak higher. The fact that there lay before us another +three hundred feet, which would undoubtedly take us above the highest +point of that aggravating north peak, was so very much the less of +two possible evils that we understood Tucker's shout. Yet none of us +was lusty enough to echo it. + +With faint smiles and renewed courage we pegged along, resting on +our ice axes, as usual, every twenty-five steps until at last, at +half-past eleven, after six hours and a half of climbing from the +20,000-foot camp, we reached the culminating point of Coropuna. As +we approached it, Tucker, although naturally much elated at having +successfully engineered the first ascent of this great mountain, +stopped and with extraordinary courtesy and self-abnegation smilingly +motioned me to go ahead in order that the director of the Expedition +might be actually the first person to reach the culminating point. In +order to appreciate how great a sacrifice he was willing to make, +it should be stated that his willingness to come on the Expedition +was due chiefly to a fondness for mountain climbing and his desire +to add Coropuna to his sheaf of victories. Greatly as I appreciated +his kindness in making way for me, I could only acquiesce in so far +as to continue the climb by his side. We reached the top together, +and sank down to rest and look about. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Camp on the Summit of Coropuna Elevation, 21,703 Feet +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +One of the Frequent Rests in the Ascent of Coropuna +------ + + + +The truncated summit is an oval-shaped snow field, almost flat, +having an area of nearly half an acre, about 100 feet north and +south and 175 feet east and west. If it once were, as we suppose, a +volcanic crater, the pit had long since been filled up with snow and +ice. There were no rocks to be seen on the rim--only the hard crust of +the glistening white surface. The view from the top was desolate in +the extreme. We were in the midst of a great volcanic desert dotted +with isolated peaks covered with snow and occasional glaciers. Not +an atom of green was to be seen anywhere. Apparently we stood on +top of a dead world. Mountain climbers in the Andes have frequently +spoken of seeing condors at great altitudes. We saw none. Northwest, +twenty miles away across the Pampa Colorada, a reddish desert, rose +snow-capped Solimana. In the other direction we looked along the +range of Coropuna itself; several of the lesser peaks being only a +few hundred feet below our elevation. Far to the southwest we imagined +we could see the faint blue of the Pacific Ocean, but it was very dim. + +My father was an ardent mountain climber, glorying not only in the +difficulties of the ascent, but particularly in the satisfaction coming +from the magnificent view to be obtained at the top. His zeal had +led him once, in winter, to ascend the highest peak in the Pacific, +Mauna Kea on Hawaii. He taught me as a boy to be fond of climbing +the mountains of Oahu and Maui and to be appreciative of the views +which could be obtained by such expenditure of effort. Yet now I +could not take the least interest or pleasure in the view from the +top of Coropuna, nor could my companions. No sense of satisfaction +in having attained a difficult objective cheered us up. We all felt +greatly depressed and said little, although Gamarra asked for his +bonus and regarded the gold coins with grim complacency. + +After we had rested awhile we began to take observations. Unslinging +the aneroid which I had been carrying, I found to my surprise and +dismay that the needle showed a height of only 21,525 feet above +sea level. Tucker's aneroid read more than a thousand feet higher, +22,550 feet, but even this fell short of Raimondi's estimate of +22,775 feet, and considerably below Bandelier's "23,000 feet." This +was a keen disappointment, for we had hoped that the aneroids would +at least show a margin over the altitude of Mt. Aconcagua, 22,763 +feet. This discovery served to dampen our spirits still further. We +took what comfort we could from the fact that the aneroids, which +had checked each other perfectly up to 17,000 feet, were now so +obviously untrustworthy. We could only hope that both might prove +to be inaccurate, as actually happened, and that both might now +be reading too low. Anyhow, the north peak did look lower than we +were. To satisfy any doubts on this subject, Tucker took the wooden +box in which we had brought the hypsometer, laid it on the snow, +leveled it up carefully with the Stanley pocket level, and took a +squint over it toward the north peak. He smiled and said nothing. So +each of us in turn lay down in the snow and took a squint. It was +all right. We were at least 250 feet higher than that aggravating peak. + +We were also 450 feet higher than the east peak of Coropuna, and +a thousand feet higher than any other mountain in sight. At any +rate, we should not have to call upon our fast-ebbing strength for +any more hard climbs in the immediate future. After arriving at +this satisfactory conclusion we pitched the little Mummery tent, +set up the tripod for the mercurial barometer, arranged the boiling +point thermometer with its apparatus, and with the aid of kodaks and +notebooks proceeded to take as many observations as possible in the +next four hours. At two o'clock we read the mercurial, knowing that +at the same hour readings were being made by Watkins at the Base Camp +and by the Harvard astronomers in the Observatory at Arequipa. The +barometer was suspended from a tripod set up in the shade of the +tent. The mercury, which at sea level often stands at 31 inches, now +stood at 13.838 inches. The temperature of the thermometer on the +barometer was exactly +32 deg. F. At the same time, inside the tent we +got the water to boiling and took a reading with the hypsometer. Water +boils at sea level at a temperature of 212 deg. F. Here it boiled at 174 deg. +F. After taking the reading we greedily drank the water which had been +heated for the hypsometer. We were thirsty enough to have drunk five +times as much. We were not hungry, and made no use of our provisions +except a few raisins, some sugar, and chocolate. + +After completing our observations, we fastened the little tent +as securely as possible, banking the snow around it, and left it +on top, first having placed in it one of the Appalachian Mountain +Club's brass record cylinders, in which we had sealed the Yale flag, +a contemporary map of Peru, and two brief statements regarding the +ascent. The American flag was left flying from a nine-foot pole, +which we planted at the northwest rim of the dome, where it could +be seen from the road to Cotahuasi. Here Mr. Casimir Watkins saw +it a week later and Dr. Isaiah Bowman two weeks later. When Chief +Topographer Hendriksen arrived three weeks later to make his survey, +it had disappeared. Probably a severe storm had blown it over and +buried it in the snow. + +We left the summit at three o'clock and arrived at the 20,000 foot camp +two hours and fifteen minutes later. The first part of the way down +to the saddle we attempted a glissade. Then the slope grew steeper and +we got up too much speed for comfort, so we finally had to be content +with a slower method of locomotion. That night there was very little +wind. Mountain climbers have more to fear from excessively high winds +than almost any other cause. We were very lucky. Nothing occurred +to interfere with the best progress we were physically capable of +making. It turned out that we did not need to have brought so many +supplies with us. In fact, it is an open question whether our acute +mountain-sickness would have permitted us to outlast a long storm, +or left us enough appetite to use the provisions. Although one does +get accustomed to high altitudes, we felt very doubtful. No one in +the Western Hemisphere had ever made night camps at 20,000 feet or +pitched a tent as high as the summit of Coropuna. The severity of +mountain-sickness differs greatly in different localities, apparently +not depending entirely on the altitude. I do not know how long we could +have stood it. It is difficult to believe that with strength enough +to achieve the climb we should have felt as weak and ill as we did. + +That night, although we were very weary, none of us slept much. The +violent whooping cough continued and all of us were nauseated again +in the morning. We felt so badly and were able to take so little +nourishment that it was determined to get to a lower altitude as +fast as possible. To lighten our loads we left behind some of our +supplies. We broke camp at 9:20. Eighteen minutes later, without +having to rest, the cache was reached and the few remnants were picked +up. Although many things had been abandoned, our loads seemed heavier +than ever. We had some difficulty in negotiating the crevasses, but +Gamarra was the only one actually to fall in, and he was easily pulled +out again. About noon we heard a faint halloo, and finally made out two +animated specks far down the mountain side. The effect of again seeing +somebody from the outside world was rather curious. I had a choking +sensation. Tucker, who led the way, told me long afterward that he +could not keep the tears from running down his cheeks, although we +did not see it at the time. The "specks" turned out to be Watkins +and an Indian boy, who came up as high as was safe without ropes or +crampons, and relieved us of some weight. The Base Camp was reached +at half-past twelve. One of the first things Tucker did on returning +was to weigh all the packs. To my surprise and disgust I learned that +on the way down Tucker, afraid that some of us would collapse, had +carried sixty-one pounds, and Gamarra sixty-four, while he had given +me only thirty-one pounds, and the same to Coello. This, of course, +does not include the weight of our ice-creepers, axes, or rope. + +The next day all of us felt very tired and drowsy. In fact, I was +almost overcome with inertia. It was a fearful task even to lift one's +hand. The sun had burned our faces terribly. Our lips were painfully +swollen. We coughed and whooped. It seemed best to make every effort +to get back to a still lower altitude for the mules. So we broke camp, +got the loads ready without waiting, put our sleeping-bags and blankets +on our backs, and went rapidly down to the Indians' huts. Immediately +our malaise left us. We felt physically stronger. We took deep breaths +as though we had gotten back to sea level. There was no sensation +of oppression on the chest. Yet we were still actually higher than +the top of Pike's Peak. We could move rapidly about without getting +out of breath; the aggravating "whooping cough" left us; and our +appetites returned. To be sure, we still suffered from the effects +of snow and sun. On the ascent I had been very thirsty and foolishly +had allowed myself to eat a considerable amount of snow. As a result +my tongue was now so extremely sensitive that pieces of soda biscuit +tasted like broken glass. Corporal Gamarra, who had been unwilling +to keep his snow-glasses always in place and thought to relieve his +eyes by frequently dispensing with them, now suffered from partial +snow-blindness. The rest of us were spared any inflammation of the +eyes. There followed two days of resting and waiting. Then the smiling +arrieros, surprised and delighted at seeing us alive again after our +adventure with Coropuna, arrived with our mules. The Tejadas gave us +hearty embraces and promptly went off up to the snow line to get the +loads. The next day we returned to Chuquibamba. + +In November Chief Topographer Hendriksen completed his survey and +found the latitude of Coropuna to be 15 deg. 31' South, and the longitude +to be 72 deg. 42' 40'' West of Greenwich. He computed its altitude to be +21,703 feet above sea level. The result of comparing the readings of +our mercurial barometer, taken at the summit, with the simultaneous +readings taken at Arequipa gave practically the same figures. There +was less than sixty feet difference between the two. Although Coropuna +proves to be thirteen hundred feet lower than Bandelier's estimate, +and a thousand feet lower than the highest mountain in South America, +still it is a thousand feet higher than the highest mountain in +North America. While we were glad we were the first to reach the top, +we all agreed we would never do it again! + + + +CHAPTER III + +To Parinacochas + +After a few days in the delightful climate of Chuquibamba we set +out for Parinacochas, the "Flamingo Lake" of the Incas. The late Sir +Clements Markham, literary and historical successor of the author of +"The Conquest of Peru," had called attention to this unexplored lake +in one of the publications of the Royal Geographical Society, and had +named a bathymetric survey of Parinacochas as one of the principal +desiderata for future exploration in Peru. So far as one could judge +from the published maps Parinacochas, although much smaller than +Titicaca, was the largest body of water entirely in Peru. A thorough +search of geographical literature failed to reveal anything regarding +its depth. The only thing that seemed to be known about it was that it +had no outlet. General William Miller, once British consul general in +Honolulu, who had as a young man assisted General San Martin in the +Wars for the Independence of Chile and Peru, published his memoirs +in London in 1828. During the campaigns against the Spanish forces +in Peru he had had occasion to see many out-of-the-way places in the +interior. On one of his rough sketch maps he indicates the location of +Lake Parinacochas and notes the fact that the water is "brackish." This +statement of General Miller's and the suggestion of Sir Clements +Markham that a bathymetric survey of the lake would be an important +contribution to geographical knowledge was all that we were able to +learn. Our arrieros, the Tejadas, had never been to Parinacochas, +but knew in a general way its location and were not afraid to try to +get there. Some of their friends had been there and come back alive! + +First, however, it was necessary for us to go to Cotahuasi, the +capital of the Province of Antabamba, and meet Dr. Bowman and +Mr. Hendriksen, who had slowly been working their way across the +Andes from the Urubamba Valley, and who would need a new supply of +food-boxes if they were to complete the geographical reconnaissance +of the 73d meridian. Our route led us out of the Chuquibamba Valley +by a long, hard climb up the steep cliffs at its head and then over +the gently sloping, semi-arid desert in a northerly direction, around +the west flanks of Coropuna. When we stopped to make camp that night +on the Pampa of Chumpillo, our arrieros used dried moss and dung for +fuel for the camp fire. There was some bunch-grass, and there were +llamas pasturing on the plains. Near our tent were some Inca ruins, +probably the dwelling of a shepherd chief, or possibly the remains +of a temple described by Cieza de Leon (1519-1560), whose remarkable +accounts of what he saw and learned in Peru during the time of the +Pizarros are very highly regarded. He says that among the five most +important temples in the Land of the Incas was one "much venerated and +frequented by them, named Coropuna." "It is on a very lofty mountain +which is covered with snow both in summer and winter. The kings +of Peru visited this temple making presents and offerings .... It +is held for certain [by treasure hunters!] that among the gifts +offered to this temple there were many loads of silver, gold, and +precious stones buried in places which are now unknown. The Indians +concealed another great sum which was for the service of the idol, +and of the priests and virgins who attended upon it. But as there +are great masses of snow, people do not ascend to the summit, nor is +it known where these are hidden. This temple possessed many flocks, +farms, and service of Indians." No one lives here now, but there are +many flocks and llamas, and not far away we saw ancient storehouses +and burial places. That night we suffered from intense cold and were +kept awake by the bitter wind which swept down from the snow fields +of Coropuna and shook the walls of our tent violently. + +The next day we crossed two small oases, little gulches watered from +the melting snow of Coropuna. Here there was an abundance of peat +and some small gnarled trees from which Chuquibamba derives part of +its fuel supply. We climbed slowly around the lower spurs of Coropuna +into a bleak desert wilderness of lava blocks and scoriaceous sand, +the Red Desert, or Pampa Colorada. It is for the most part between +15,000 and 16,000 feet above sea level, and is bounded on the northwest +by the canyon of the Rio Arma, 2000 feet deep, where we made our camp +and passed a more agreeable night. The following morning we climbed +out again on the farther side of the canyon and skirted the eastern +slopes of Mt. Solimana. Soon the trail turned abruptly to the left, +away from our old friend Coropuna. + +We wondered how long ago our mountain was an active volcano. To-day, +less than two hundred miles south of here are live peaks, like El +Misti and Ubinas, which still smolder occasionally and have been +known in the memory of man to give forth great showers of cinders +covering a wide area. Possibly not so very long ago the great +truncated peak of Coropuna was formed by a last flickering of the +ancient fires. Dr. Bowman says that the greater part of the vast +accumulation of lavas and volcanic cinders in this vicinity goes +far back to a period preceding the last glacial epoch. The enormous +amount of erosion that has taken place in the adjacent canyons and +the great numbers of strata, composed of lava flows, laid bare by +the mighty streams of the glacial period all point to this conclusion. + +My saddle mule was one of those cantankerous beasts that are gentle +enough as long as they are allowed to have their own way. In her +case this meant that she was happy only when going along close to +her friends in the caravan. If reined in, while I took some notes, +she became very restive, finally whirling around, plunging and +kicking. Contrariwise, no amount of spurring or lashing with a stout +quirt availed to make her go ahead of her comrades. This morning I +was particularly anxious to get a picture of our pack train jogging +steadily along over the desert, directly away from Coropuna. Since +my mule would not gallop ahead, I had to dismount, run a couple of +hundred yards ahead of the rapidly advancing animals and take the +picture before they reached me. We were now at an elevation of 16,000 +feet above sea level. Yet to my surprise and delight I found that it +was relatively as easy to run here as anywhere, so accustomed had my +lungs and heart become to very rarefied air. Had I attempted such +a strenuous feat at a similar altitude before climbing Coropuna it +would have been physically impossible. Any one who has tried to run +two hundred yards at three miles above sea level will understand. + +We were still in a very arid region; mostly coarse black sand and +pebbles, with typical desert shrubs and occasional bunches of tough +grass. The slopes of Mt. Solimana on our left were fairly well covered +with sparse vegetation. Among the bushes we saw a number of vicunas, +the smallest wild camels of the New World. We tried in vain to get +near enough for a photograph. They were extremely timid and scampered +away before we were within three hundred yards. + +Seven or eight miles more of very gradual downward slope brought +us suddenly and unexpectedly to the brink of a magnificent canyon, +the densely populated valley of Cotahuasi. The walls of the canyon +were covered with innumerable terraces--thousands of them. It seemed +at first glance as though every available spot in the canyon had been +either terraced or allotted to some compact little village. One could +count more than a score of towns, including Cotahuasi itself, its long +main street outlined by whitewashed houses. As we zigzagged down into +the canyon our road led us past hundreds of the artificial terraces +and through little villages of thatched huts huddled together on spurs +rescued from the all-embracing agriculture. After spending several +weeks in a desert region, where only the narrow valley bottoms showed +any signs of cultivation, it seemed marvelous to observe the extent +to which terracing had been carried on the side of the Cotahuasi +Valley. Although we were now in the zone of light annual rains, it +was evident from the extraordinary irrigation system that agriculture +here depends very largely on ability to bring water down from the +great mountains in the interior. Most of the terraces and irrigation +canals were built centuries ago, long before the discovery of America. + +No part of the ancient civilization of Peru has been more admired +than the development of agriculture. Mr. Cook says that there is no +part of the world in which more pains have been taken to raise crops +where nature made it hard for them to be planted. In other countries, +to be sure, we find reclamation projects, where irrigation canals serve +to bring water long distances to be used on arid but fruitful soil. We +also find great fertilizer factories turning out, according to proper +chemical formula, the needed constituents to furnish impoverished soils +with the necessary materials for plant growth. We find man overcoming +many obstacles in the way of transportation, in order to reach great +regions where nature has provided fertile fields and made it easy to +raise life-giving crops. Nowhere outside of Peru, either in historic or +prehistoric times, does one find farmers spending incredible amounts +of labor in actually creating arable fields, besides bringing the +water to irrigate them and the guano to fertilize them; yet that +is what was done by the ancient highlanders of Peru. As they spread +over a country in which the arable flat land was usually at so great +an elevation as to be suitable for only the hardiest of root crops, +like the white potato and the oca, they were driven to use narrow +valley bottoms and steep, though fertile, slopes in order to raise the +precious maize and many of the other temperate and tropical plants +which they domesticated for food and medicinal purposes. They were +constantly confronted by an extraordinary scarcity of soil. In the +valley bottoms torrential rivers, meandering from side to side, were +engaged in an endless endeavor to tear away the arable land and bear +it off to the sea. The slopes of the valleys were frequently so very +steep as to discourage the most ardent modern agriculturalist. The +farmer might wake up any morning to find that a heavy rain during +the night had washed away a large part of his carefully planted +fields. Consequently there was developed, through the centuries, +a series of stone-faced andenes, terraces or platforms. + +Examination of the ancient andenes discloses the fact that they were +not made by simply hoeing in the earth from the hillside back of a +carefully constructed stone wall. The space back of the walls was +first filled in with coarse rocks, clay, and rubble; then followed +smaller rocks, pebbles, and gravel, which would serve to drain the +subsoil. Finally, on top of all this, and to a depth of eighteen +inches or so, was laid the finest soil they could procure. The +result was the best possible field for intensive cultivation. It +seems absolutely unbelievable that such an immense amount of pains +should have been taken for such relatively small results. The need +must have been very great. In many cases the terraces are only a few +feet wide, although hundreds of yards in length. Usually they follow +the natural contours of the valley. Sometimes they are two hundred +yards wide and a quarter of a mile long. To-day corn, barley, and +alfalfa are grown on the terraces. + +Cotahuasi itself lies in the bottom of the valley, a pleasant place +where one can purchase the most fragrant and highly prized of all +Peruvian wines. The climate is agreeable, and has attracted many +landlords, whose estates lie chiefly on the bleak plateaus of the +surrounding highlands, where shepherds tend flocks of llamas, sheep, +and alpacas. + +We were cordially welcomed by Senor Viscarra, the sub-prefect, and +invited to stay at his house. He was a stranger to the locality, and, +as the visible representative of a powerful and far-away central +government, was none too popular with some of the people of his +province. Very few residents of a provincial capital like Cotahuasi +have ever been to Lima;--probably not a single member of the Lima +government had ever been to Cotahuasi. Consequently one could not +expect to find much sympathy between the two. The difficulties of +traveling in Peru are so great as to discourage pleasure trips. With +our letters of introduction and the telegrams that had preceded us +from the prefect at Arequipa, we were known to be friends of the +government and so were doubly welcome to the sub-prefect. By nature a +kind and generous man, of more than usual education and intelligence, +Senor Viscarra showed himself most courteous and hospitable to us in +every particular. In our honor he called together his friends. They +brought pictures of Theodore Roosevelt and Elihu Root, and made a +large American flag; a courtesy we deeply appreciated, even if the +flag did have only thirty-six stars. Finally, they gave us a splendid +banquet as a tribute of friendship for America. + +One day the sub-prefect offered to have his personal barber attend +us. It was some time since Mr. Tucker and I had seen a barber-shop. The +chances were that we should find none at Parinacochas. Consequently we +accepted with pleasure. When the barber arrived, closely guarded by a +gendarme armed with a loaded rifle, we learned that he was a convict +from the local jail! I did not like to ask the nature of his crime, +but he looked like a murderer. When he unwrapped an ancient pair of +clippers from an unspeakably soiled and oily rag, I wished I was in +a position to decline to place myself under his ministrations. The +sub-prefect, however, had been so kind and was so apologetic as to +the inconveniences of the "barber-shop" that there was nothing for it +but to go bravely forward. Although it was unpleasant to have one's +hair trimmed by an uncertain pair of rusty clippers, I could not +help experiencing a feeling of relief that the convict did not have a +pair of shears. He was working too near my jugular vein. Finally the +period of torture came to an end, and the prisoner accepted his fees +with a profound salutation. We breathed sighs of relief, not unmixed +with sympathy, as we saw him marched safely away by the gendarme. + +We had arrived in Cotahuasi almost simultaneously with Dr. Bowman and +Topographer Hendriksen. They had encountered extraordinary difficulties +in carrying out the reconnaissance of the 73d meridian, but were now +past the worst of it. Their supplies were exhausted, so those which we +had brought from Arequipa were doubly welcome. Mr. Watkins was assigned +to assist Mr. Hendriksen and a few days later Dr. Bowman started south +to study the geology and geography of the desert. He took with him +as escort Corporal Gamarra, who was only too glad to escape from the +machinations of his enemies. It will be remembered that it was Gamarra +who had successfully defended the Cotahuasi barracks and jail at the +time of a revolutionary riot which occurred some months previous to +our visit. The sub-prefect accompanied Dr. Bowman out of town. For +Gamarra's sake they left the house at three o'clock in the morning +and our generous host agreed to ride with them until daybreak. In his +important monograph, "The Andes of Southern Peru," Dr. Bowman writes: +"At four o'clock our whispered arrangements were made. We opened +the gates noiselessly and our small cavalcade hurried through the +pitch-black streets of the town. The soldier rode ahead, his rifle +across his saddle, and directly behind him rode the sub-prefect and +myself. The pack mules were in the rear. We had almost reached the +end of the street when a door opened suddenly and a shower of sparks +flew out ahead of us. Instantly the soldier struck spurs into his +mule and turned into a side street. The sub-prefect drew his horse +back savagely, and when the next shower of sparks flew out pushed +me against the wall and whispered, 'For God's sake, who is it?' Then +suddenly he shouted. 'Stop blowing! Stop blowing!' " + +The cause of all the disturbance was a shabby, hard-working tailor +who had gotten up at this unearthly hour to start his day's work by +pressing clothes for some insistent customer. He had in his hand +an ancient smoothing-iron filled with live coals, on which he had +been vigorously blowing. Hence the sparks! That a penitent tailor +and his ancient goose should have been able to cause such terrific +excitement at that hour in the morning would have interested our own +Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was fond of referring to this picturesque +apparatus and who might have written an appropriate essay on The Goose +that Startled the Soldier of Cotahuasi; with Particular Reference to +His Being a Possible Namesake of the Geese that Aroused the Soldiers +of Ancient Rome. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The sub-perfect of Cotahuasi, his military aide, and Messrs. Tucker, +Hendriksen, Bowman, and Bingham inspecting the local rug-weaving +industry. +------ + + +The most unusual industry of Cotahuasi is the weaving of rugs and +carpets on vertical hand looms. The local carpet weavers make the warp +and woof of woolen yarn in which loops of alpaca wool, black, gray, +or white, are inserted to form the desired pattern. The loops are cut +so as to form a deep pile. The result is a delightfully thick, warm, +gray rug. Ordinarily the native Peruvian rug has no pile. Probably the +industry was brought from Europe by some Spaniard centuries ago. It +seems to be restricted to this remote region. The rug makers are a +small group of Indians who live outside the town but who carry their +hand looms from house to house, as required. It is the custom for the +person who desires a rug to buy the wool, supply the pattern, furnish +the weaver with board, lodging, coca, tobacco and wine, and watch the +rug grow from day to day under the shelter of his own roof. The rug +weavers are very clever in copying new patterns. Through the courtesy +of Senor Viscarra we eventually received several small rugs, woven +especially for us from monogram designs drawn by Mr. Hendriksen. + +Early one morning in November we said good-bye to our friendly host, +and, directed by a picturesque old guide who said he knew the road to +Parinacochas, we left Cotahuasi. The highway crossed the neighboring +stream on a treacherous-looking bridge, the central pier of which +was built of the crudest kind of masonry piled on top of a gigantic +boulder in midstream. The main arch of the bridge consisted of two +long logs across which had been thrown a quantity of brush held down +by earth and stones. There was no rail on either side, but our mules +had crossed bridges of this type before and made little trouble. On +the northern side of the valley we rode through a compact little town +called Mungi and began to climb out of the canyon, passing hundreds +of very fine artificial terraces, at present used for crops of maize +and barley. In one place our road led us by a little waterfall, +an altogether surprising and unexpected phenomenon in this arid +region. Investigation, however, proved that it was artificial, as +well as the fields. Its presence may be due to a temporary connection +between the upper and lower levels of ancient irrigation canals. + +Hour after hour our pack train painfully climbed the narrow, rocky +zigzag trail. The climate is favorable for agriculture. Wherever the +sides of the canyon were not absolutely precipitous, stone-faced +terraces and irrigation had transformed them long ago into arable +fields. Four thousand feet above the valley floor we came to a very +fine series of beautiful terraces. On a shelf near the top of the +canyon we pitched our tent near some rough stone corrals used by +shepherds whose flocks grazed on the lofty plateau beyond, and near +a tiny brook, which was partly frozen over the next morning. Our +camp was at an elevation of 14,500 feet above the sea. Near by were +turreted rocks, curious results of wind-and-sand erosion. + +The next day we entered a region of mountain pastures. We passed +occasional swamps and little pools of snow water. From one of these +we turned and looked back across the great Cotahuasi Canyon, to the +glaciers of Solimana and snow-clad Coropuna, now growing fainter +and fainter as we went toward Parinacochas. At an altitude of 16,500 +feet we struck across a great barren plateau covered with rocks and +sand--hardly a living thing in sight. In the midst of it we came to +a beautiful lake, but it was not Parinacochas. On the plateau it was +intensely cold. Occasionally I dismounted and jogged along beside my +mule in order to keep warm. Again I noticed that as the result of my +experiences on Coropuna I suffered no discomfort, nor any symptoms +of mountain-sickness, even after trotting steadily for four or five +hundred yards. In the afternoon we began to descend from the plateau +toward Lampa and found ourselves in the pasture lands of Ajochiucha, +where ichu grass and other little foliage plants, watered by rain +and snow, furnish forage for large flocks of sheep, llamas, and +alpacas. Their owners live in the cultivated valleys, but the Indian +herdsmen must face the storms and piercing winds of the high pastures. + +Alpacas are usually timid. On this occasion, however, possibly +because they were thirsty and were seeking water holes in the upper +courses of a little swale, they stopped and allowed me to observe +them closely. The fleece of the alpaca is one of the softest in +the world. However, due to the fact that shrewd tradesmen, finding +that the fabric manufactured from alpaca wool was highly desired, +many years ago gave the name to a far cheaper fabric, the "alpaca" +of commerce, a material used for coat linings, umbrellas, and thin, +warm-weather coats, is a fabric of cotton and wool, with a hard +surface, and generally dyed black. It usually contains no real alpaca +wool at all, and is fairly cheap. The real alpaca wool which comes into +the market to-day is not so called. Long and silky, straighter than +the sheep's wool, it is strong, small of fiber, very soft, pliable and +elastic. It is capable of being woven into fabrics of great beauty and +comfort. Many of the silky, fluffy, knitted garments that command the +highest prices for winter wear, and which are called by various names, +such as "vicuna," "camel's hair," etc., are really made of alpaca. + +The alpaca, like its cousin, the llama, was probably domesticated by +the early Peruvians from the wild guanaco, largest of the camels of the +New World. The guanaco still exists in a wild state and is always of +uniform coloration. Llamas and alpacas are extremely variegated. The +llama has so coarse a hair that it is seldom woven into cloth for +wearing apparel, although heavy blankets made from it are in use by +the natives. Bred to be a beast of burden, the llama is accustomed to +the presence of strangers and is not any more timid of them than our +horses and cows. The alpaca, however, requiring better and scarcer +forage--short, tender grass and plenty of water--frequents the most +remote and lofty of the mountain pastures, is handled only when the +fleece is removed, seldom sees any one except the peaceful shepherds, +and is extremely shy of strangers, although not nearly as timid as its +distant cousin the vicuna. I shall never forget the first time I ever +saw some alpacas. They looked for all the world like the "woolly-dogs" +of our toys shops--woolly along the neck right up to the eyes and +woolly along the legs right down to the invisible wheels! There was +something inexpressibly comic about these long-legged animals. They +look like toys on wheels, but actually they can gallop like cows. + +The llama, with far less hair on head, neck, and legs, is also amusing, +but in a different way. His expression is haughty and supercilious +in the extreme. He usually looks as though his presence near one is +due to circumstances over which he really had no control. Pride of +race and excessive haughtiness lead him to carry his head so high +and his neck so stiffly erect that he can be corralled, with others +of his kind, by a single rope passed around the necks of the entire +group. Yet he can be bought for ten dollars. + +On the pasture lands of Ajochiucha there were many ewes and lambs, +both of llamas and alpacas. Even the shepherds were mostly children, +more timid than their charges. They crouched inconspicuously behind +rocks and shrubs, endeavoring to escape our notice. About five o'clock +in the afternoon, on a dry pampa, we found the ruins of one of the +largest known Inca storehouses, Chichipampa, an interesting reminder +of the days when benevolent despots ruled the Andes and, like the +Pharaohs of old, provided against possible famine. The locality is +not occupied, yet near by are populous valleys. + +As soon as we left our camp the next morning, we came abruptly to the +edge of the Lampa Valley. This was another of the mile-deep canyons +so characteristic of this region. Our pack mules grunted and groaned +as they picked their way down the corkscrew trail. It overhangs the +mud-colored Indian town of Colta, a rather scattered collection of +a hundred or more huts. Here again, as in the Cotahuasi Valley, are +hundreds of ancient terraces, extending for thousands of feet up the +sides of the canyon. Many of them were badly out of repair, but those +near Colta were still being used for raising crops of corn, potatoes, +and barley. The uncultivated spots were covered with cacti, thorn +bushes, and the gnarled, stunted trees of a semi-arid region. In the +town itself were half a dozen specimens of the Australian eucalyptus, +that agreeable and extraordinarily successful colonist which one +encounters not only in the heart of Peru, but in the Andes of Colombia +and the new forest preserves of California and the Hawaiian Islands. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Inca Storehouses at Chinchipampa, near Colta +------ + + +Colta has a few two-storied houses, with tiled roofs. Some of them +have open verandas on the second floor--a sure indication that the +climate is at times comfortable. Their walls are built of sun-dried +adobe, and so are the walls of the little grass-thatched huts of the +majority. Judging by the rather irregular plan of the streets and +the great number of terraces in and around town, one may conclude +that Colta goes far back of the sixteenth century and the days of +the Spanish Conquest, as indeed do most Peruvian towns. The cities +of Lima and Arequipa are noteworthy exceptions. Leaving Colta, +we wound around the base of the projecting ridge, on the sides of +which were many evidences of ancient culture, and came into the +valley of Huancahuanca, a large arid canyon. The guide said that we +were nearing Parinacochas. Not many miles away, across two canyons, +was a snow-capped peak, Sarasara. + +Lampa, the chief town in the Huancahuanca Canyon, lies on a great +natural terrace of gravel and alluvium more than a thousand feet +above the river. Part of the terrace seemed to be irrigated and +under cultivation. It was proposed by the energetic farmers at +the time of our visit to enlarge the system of irrigation so as to +enable them to cultivate a larger part of the pampa on which they +lived. In fact, the new irrigation scheme was actually in process of +being carried out and has probably long since been completed. Our +reception in Lampa was not cordial. It will be remembered that +our military escort, Corporal Gamarra, had gone back to Arequipa +with Dr. Bowman. Our two excellent arrieros, the Tejada brothers, +declared they preferred to travel without any "brass buttons," +so we had not asked the sub-prefect of Cotahuasi to send one of +his small handful of gendarmes along with us. Probably this was a +mistake. Unless one is traveling in Peru on some easily understood +matter, such as prospecting for mines or representing one of the +great importing and commission houses, or actually peddling goods, +one cannot help arousing the natural suspicions of a people to whom +traveling on muleback for pleasure is unthinkable, and scientific +exploration for its own sake is incomprehensible. Of course, if the +explorers arrive accompanied by a gendarme it is perfectly evident +that the enterprise has the approval and probably the financial +backing of the government. It is surmised that the explorers are +well paid, and what would be otherwise inconceivable becomes merely +one of the ordinary experiences of life. South American governments +almost without exception are paternalistic, and their citizens are +led to expect that all measures connected with research, whether it be +scientific, economic, or social, are to be conducted by the government +and paid for out of the national treasury. Individual enterprise is +not encouraged. During all my preceding exploration in Peru I had +had such an easy time that I not only forgot, but failed to realize, +how often an ever-present gendarme, provided through the courtesy of +President Leguia's government, had quieted suspicions and assured us +a cordial welcome. + +Now, however, when without a gendarme we entered the smart little +town of Lampa, we found ourselves immediately and unquestionably the +objects of extreme suspicion and distrust. Yet we could not help +admiring the well-swept streets, freshly whitewashed houses, and +general air of prosperity and enterprise. The gobernador of the town +lived on the main street in a red-tiled house, whose courtyard and +colonnade were probably two hundred years old. He had heard nothing +of our undertaking from the government. His friends urged him to take +some hostile action. Fortunately, our arrieros, respectable men of high +grade, although strangers in Lampa, were able to allay his suspicions +temporarily. We were not placed under arrest, although I am sure +his action was not approved by the very suspicious town councilors, +who found it far easier to suggest reasons for our being fugitives +from justice than to understand the real object of our journey. + +The very fact that we were bound for Lake Parinacochas, a place well +known in Lampa, added to their suspicion. It seems that Lampa is famous +for its weavers, who utilize the wool of the countless herds of sheep, +alpacas, and vicunas in this vicinity to make ponchos and blankets +of high grade, much desired not only in this locality but even in +Arequipa. These are marketed, as so often happens in the outlying +parts of the world, at a great annual fair, attended by traders who +come hundreds of miles, bringing the manufactured articles of the +outer world and seeking the highly desired products of these secluded +towns. The great fair for this vicinity has been held, for untold +generations, on the shores of Lake Parinacochas. Every one is anxious +to attend the fair, which is an occasion for seeing one's friends, an +opportunity for jollification, carousing, and general enjoyment--like a +large county fair at home. Except for this annual fair week, the basin +of Parinacochas is as bleak and desolate as our own fair-grounds, +with scarcely a house to be seen except those that are used for the +purposes of the fair. Had we been bound for Parinacochas at the proper +season nothing could have been more reasonable and praiseworthy. Why +anybody should want to go to Parinacochas during one of the other +fifty-one weeks in the year was utterly beyond the comprehension +or understanding of these village worthies. So, to our "selectmen," +are the idiosyncrasies of itinerant gypsies who wish to camp in our +deserted fair-grounds. + +The Tejadas were not anxious to spend the night in town--probably +because, according to our contract, the cost of feeding the mules +devolved entirely upon them and fodder is always far more expensive +in town than in the country. It was just as well for us that this +was so, for I am sure that before morning the village gossips would +have persuaded the gobernador to arrest us. As it was, however, he was +pleasant and hospitable, and considerably amused at the embarrassment +of an Indian woman who was weaving at a hand loom in his courtyard +and whom we desired to photograph. She could not easily escape, for +she was sitting on the ground with one end of the loom fastened around +her waist, the other end tied to a eucalyptus tree. So she covered her +eyes and mouth with her hands, and almost wept with mortification at +our strange procedure. Peruvian Indian women are invariably extremely +shy, rarely like to be photographed, and are anxious only to escape +observation and notice. The ladies of the gobernador's own family, +however, of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry, not only had no +objection to being photographed, but were moved to unseemly and +unsympathetic laughter at the predicament of their unfortunate sister. + +After leaving Lampa we found ourselves on the best road that we +had seen in a long time. Its excellence was undoubtedly due to the +enterprise and energy of the people of this pleasant town. One might +expect that citizens who kept their town so clean and neat and were +engaged in the unusual act of constructing new irrigation works would +have a comfortable road in the direction toward which they usually +would wish to go, namely, toward the coast. + +As we climbed out of the Huancahuanca Valley we noticed no evidences +of ancient agricultural terraces, either on the sides of the valley +or on the alluvial plain which has given rise to the town of Lampa +and whose products have made its people well fed and energetic. The +town itself seems to be of modern origin. One wonders why there are so +few, if any, evidences of the ancient regime when there are so many +a short distance away in Colta and the valley around it. One cannot +believe that the Incas would have overlooked such a fine agricultural +opportunity as an extensive alluvial terrace in a region where there +is so little arable land. Possibly the very excellence of the land +and its relative flatness rendered artificial terracing unnecessary +in the minds of the ancient people who lived here. On the other hand, +it may have been occupied until late Inca times by one of the coast +tribes. Whatever the cause, certainly the deep canyon of Huancahuanca +divides two very different regions. To come in a few hours, from +thickly terraced Colta to unterraced Lampa was so striking as to give +us cause for thought and speculation. It is well known that in the +early days before the Inca conquest of Peru, not so very long before +the Spanish Conquest, there were marked differences between the tribes +who inhabited the high plateau and those who lived along the shore +of the Pacific. Their pottery is as different as possible in design +and ornamentation; the architecture of their cities and temples is +absolutely distinct. Relative abundance of flat lands never led them +to develop terracing to the same extent that the mountain people had +done. Perhaps on this alluvial terrace there lived a remnant of the +coastal peoples. Excavation would show. + +Scarcely had we climbed out of the valley of Huancahuanca and +surmounted the ridge when we came in sight of more artificial +terraces. Beyond a broad, deep valley rose the extinct volcanic cone of +Mt. Sarasara, now relatively close at hand, its lower slopes separated +from us by another canyon. Snow lay in the gulches and ravines near +the top of the mountain. Our road ran near the towns of Pararca +and Colcabamba, the latter much like Colta, a straggling village of +thatched huts surrounded by hundreds of terraces. The vegetation on +the valley slopes indicated occasional rains. Near Pararca we passed +fields of barley and wheat growing on old stone-faced terraces. On +every hand were signs of a fairly large population engaged in +agriculture, utilizing fields which had been carefully prepared +for them by their ancestors. They were not using all, however. We +noticed hundreds of terraces that did not appear to have been under +cultivation recently. They may have been lying fallow temporarily. + +Our arrieros avoided the little towns, and selected a camp site on the +roadside near the Finca Rodadero. After all, when one has a comfortable +tent, good food, and skillful arrieros it is far pleasanter to spend +the night in the clean, open country, even at an elevation of 12,000 +or 13,000 feet, than to be surrounded by the smells and noises of an +Indian town. + +The next morning we went through some wheat fields, past the town +of Puyusca, another large Indian village of thatched adobe houses +placed high on the shoulder of a rocky hill so as to leave the +best arable land available for agriculture. It is in a shallow, +well-watered valley, full of springs. The appearance of the country +had changed entirely since we left Cotahuasi. The desert and its +steep-walled canyons seemed to be far behind us. Here was a region of +gently sloping hills, covered with terraces, where the cereals of the +temperate zone appeared to be easily grown. Finally, leaving the grain +fields, we climbed up to a shallow depression in the low range at the +head of the valley and found ourselves on the rim of a great upland +basin more than twenty miles across. In the center of the basin was +a large, oval lake. Its borders were pink. The water in most of the +lake was dark blue, but near the shore the water was pink, a light +salmon-pink. What could give it such a curious color? Nothing but +flamingoes, countless thousands of flamingoes--Parinacochas at last! + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Flamingo Lake + +The Parinacochas Basin is at an elevation of between 11,500 and +12,000 feet above sea level. It is about 150 miles northwest of +Arequipa and 170 miles southwest of Cuzco, and enjoys a fair amount +of rainfall. The lake is fed by springs and small streams. In past +geological times the lake, then very much larger, had an outlet not +far from the town of Puyusca. At present Parinacochas has no visible +outlet. It is possible that the large springs which we noticed as we +came up the valley by Puyusca may be fed from the lake. On the other +hand, we found numerous small springs on the very borders of the lake, +generally occurring in swampy hillocks--built up perhaps by mineral +deposits--three or four feet higher than the surrounding plain. There +are very old beach marks well above the shore. The natives told us that +in the wet season the lake was considerably higher than at present, +although we could find no recent evidence to indicate that it had +been much more than a foot above its present level. Nevertheless a +rise of a foot would enlarge the area of the lake considerably. + +When making preparations in New Haven for the "bathymetric survey of +Lake Parinacochas," suggested by Sir Clements Markham, we found it +impossible to discover any indication in geographical literature as +to whether the depth of the lake might be ten feet or ten thousand +feet. We decided to take a chance on its not being more than ten +hundred feet. With the kind assistance of Mr. George Bassett, I secured +a thousand feet of stout fish line, known to anglers as "24 thread," +wound on a large wooden reel for convenience in handling. While we +were at Chuquibamba Mr. Watkins had spent many weary hours inserting +one hundred and sixty-six white and red cloth markers at six-foot +intervals in the strands of this heavy line, so that we might be able +more rapidly to determine the result in fathoms. + +Arrived at a low peninsula on the north shore of the lake, Tucker +and I pitched our camp, sent our mules back to Puyusca for fodder, +and set up the Acme folding boat, which we had brought so many miles +on muleback, for the sounding operations. The "Acme" proved easy +to assemble, although this was our first experience with it. Its +lightness enabled it to be floated at the edge of the lake even in +very shallow water, and its rigidity was much appreciated in the late +afternoon when the high winds raised a vicious little "sea." Rowing +out on waters which we were told by the natives had never before +been navigated by craft of any kind, I began to take soundings. Lake +Titicaca is over nine hundred feet deep. It would be aggravating if +Lake Parinacochas should prove to be over a thousand, for I had brought +no extra line. Even nine hundred feet would make sounding slow work, +and the lake covered an area of over seventy square miles. + +It was with mixed feelings of trepidation and expectation that I rowed +out five miles from shore and made a sounding. Holding the large reel +firmly in both hands, I cast the lead overboard. The reel gave a turn +or two and stopped. Something was wrong. The line did not run out. Was +the reel stuck? No, the apparatus was in perfect running order. Then +what was the matter? The bottom was too near! Alas for all the pains +that Mr. Bassett had taken to put a thousand feet of the best strong +24-thread line on one reel! Alas for Mr. Watkins and his patient +insertion of one hundred and sixty-six "fathom-markers"! The bottom of +the lake was only four feet away from the bottom of my boat! After +three or four days of strenuous rowing up and down the eighteen +miles of the lake's length, and back and forth across the seventeen +miles of its width, I never succeeded in wetting Watkins's first +marker! Several hundred soundings failed to show more than five feet of +water anywhere. Possibly if we had come in the rainy season we might +at least have wet one marker, but at the time of our visit (November, +1911), the lake had a maximum depth of 4 1/2 feet. The satisfaction of +making this slight contribution to geographic knowledge was, I fear, +lost in the chagrin of not finding a really noteworthy body of water. + +Who would have thought that so long a lake could be so +shallow? However, my feelings were soothed by remembering the story of +the captain of a man-of-war who was once told that the salt lake near +one of the red hills between Honolulu and Pearl Harbor was reported +by the natives to be "bottomless." He ordered one of the ship's heavy +boats to be carried from the shore several miles inland to the salt +lake, at great expenditure of strength and labor. The story told me +in my boyhood does not say how much sounding line was brought. Anyhow, +they found this "fathomless" body of water to be not more than fifteen +feet deep. + +Notwithstanding my disappointment at the depth of Parinacochas, I +was very glad that we had brought the little folding boat, for it +enabled me to float gently about among the myriads of birds which +use the shallow waters of the lake as a favorite feeding ground; +pink flamingoes, white gulls, small "divers," large black ducks, +sandpipers, black ibis, teal ducks, and large geese. On the banks +were ground owls and woodpeckers. It is not surprising that the +natives should have named this body of water "Parinacochas" (Parina = +"flamingo," cochas = "lake"). The flamingoes are here in incredible +multitudes; they far outnumber all other birds, and as I have said, +actually make the shallow waters of the lake look pink. Fortunately +they had not been hunted for their plumage and were not timid. After +two days of familiarity with the boat they were willing to let me +approach within twenty yards before finally taking wing. The coloring, +in this land of drab grays and browns, was a delight to the eye. The +head is white, the beak black, the neck white shading into salmon-pink; +the body pinkish white on the back, the breast white, and the tail +salmon-pink. The wings are salmon-pink in front, but the tips and +the under-parts are black. As they stand or wade in the water their +general appearance is chiefly pink-and-white. When they rise from the +water, however, the black under-parts of the wings become strikingly +conspicuous and cause a flock of flying flamingoes to be a wonderful +contrast in black-and-white. When flying, the flamingo seems to keep +his head moving steadily forward at an even pace, although the ropelike +neck undulates with the slow beating of the wings. I could not be sure +that it was not an optical delusion. Nevertheless, I thought the heavy +body was propelled irregularly, while the head moved forward at uniform +speed, the difference being caught up in the undulations of the neck. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Flamingos on Lake Parinacochas, and Mt. Sarasara +------ + + +The flamingo is an amusing bird to watch. With its haughty Roman +nose and long, ropelike neck, which it coils and twists in a most +incredible manner, it seems specially intended to distract one's mind +from bathymetric disappointments. Its hoarse croaking, "What is it," +"What is it," seemed to express deep-throated sympathy with the +sounding operations. On one bright moonlight night the flamingoes +were very noisy, keeping up a continual clatter of very hoarse +"What-is-it's." Apparently they failed to find out the answer in time +to go to bed at the proper time, for next morning we found them all +sound asleep, standing in quiet bays with their heads tucked under +their wings. During the course of the forenoon, when the water was +quiet, they waded far out into the lake. In the afternoon, as winds +and waves arose, they came in nearer the shores, but seldom left +the water. The great extent of shallow water in Parinacochas offers +them a splendid, wide feeding ground. We wondered where they all +came from. Apparently they do not breed here. Although there were +thousands and thousands of birds, we could find no flamingo nests, +either old or new, search as we would. It offers a most interesting +problem for some enterprising biological explorer. Probably Mr. Frank +Chapman will some day solve it. + +Next in number to the flamingoes were the beautiful white gulls (or +terns?), looking strangely out of place in this Andean lake 11,500 +feet above the sea. They usually kept together in flocks of several +hundred. There were quantities of small black divers in the deeper +parts of the lake where the flamingoes did not go. The divers were +very quick and keen, true individualists operating alone and showing +astonishing ability in swimming long distances under water. The large +black ducks were much more fearless than the flamingoes and were +willing to swim very near the canoe. When frightened, they raced over +the water at a tremendous pace, using both wings and feet in their +efforts to escape. These ducks kept in large flocks and were about +as common as the small divers. Here and there in the lake were a few +tiny little islands, each containing a single deserted nest, possibly +belonging to an ibis or a duck. In the banks of a low stream near +our first camp were holes made by woodpeckers, who in this country +look in vain for trees and telegraph poles. + +Occasionally, a mile or so from shore, my boat would startle a great +amphibious ox standing in the water up to his middle, calmly eating +the succulent water grass. To secure it he had to plunge his head +and neck well under the surface. + +While I was raising blisters and frightening oxen and flamingoes, +Mr. Tucker triangulated the Parinacochas Basin, making the first +accurate map of this vicinity. As he carried his theodolite from point +to point he often stirred up little ground owls, who gazed at him with +solemn, reproachful looks. And they were not the only individuals to +regard his activities with suspicion and dislike. Part of my work was +to construct signal stations by piling rocks at conspicuous points on +the well-rounded hills so as to enable the triangulation to proceed as +rapidly as possible. During the night some of these signal stations +would disappear, torn down by the superstitious shepherds who lived +in scattered clusters of huts and declined to have strange gods set +up in their vicinity. Perhaps they thought their pastures were being +preempted. We saw hundreds of their sheep and cattle feeding on flat +lands formerly the bed of the lake. The hills of the Parinacochas +Basin are bare of trees, and offer some pasturage. In some places they +are covered with broken rock. The grass was kept closely cropped by +the degenerate descendants of sheep brought into the country during +Spanish colonial days. They were small in size and mostly white in +color, although there were many black ones. We were told that the +sheep were worth about fifty cents apiece here. + +On our first arrival at Parinacochas we were left severely alone by the +shepherds; but two days later curiosity slowly overcame their shyness, +and a group of young shepherds and shepherdesses gradually brought +their grazing flocks nearer and nearer the camp, in order to gaze +stealthily on these strange visitors, who lived in a cloth house, +actually moved over the forbidding waters of the lake, and busied +themselves from day to day with strange magic, raising and lowering +a glittering glass eye on a tripod. The women wore dresses of heavy +material, the skirts reaching halfway from knee to ankle. In lieu of +hats they had small variegated shawls, made on hand looms, folded +so as to make a pointed bonnet over the head and protect the neck +and shoulders from sun and wind. Each woman was busily spinning with +a hand spindle, but carried her baby and its gear and blankets in a +hammock or sling attached to a tump-line that went over her head. These +sling carry-alls were neatly woven of soft wool and decorated with +attractive patterns. Both women and boys were barefooted. The boys +wore old felt hats of native manufacture, and coats and long trousers +much too large for them. + +At one end of the upland basin rises the graceful cone of +Mt. Sarasara. The view of its snow-capped peak reflected in the +glassy waters of the lake in the early morning was one long to be +remembered. Sarasara must once have been much higher than it is at +present. Its volcanic cone has been sharply eroded by snow and ice. In +the days of its greater altitude, and consequently wider snow fields, +the melting snows probably served to make Parinacochas a very much +larger body of water. Although we were here at the beginning of summer, +the wind that came down from the mountain at night was very cold. Our +minimum thermometer registered 22 deg. F. near the banks of the lake at +night. Nevertheless, there was only a very thin film of ice on the +borders of the lake in the morning, and except in the most shallow +bays there was no ice visible far from the bank. The temperature of the +water at 10:00 A.M. near the shore, and ten inches below the surface, +was 61 deg. F., while farther out it was three or four degrees warmer. By +noon the temperature of the water half a mile from shore was 67.5 deg. +F. Shortly after noon a strong wind came up from the coast, stirring +up the shallow water and cooling it. Soon afterwards the temperature +of the water began to fall, and, although the hot sun was shining +brightly almost directly overhead, it went down to 65 deg. by 2:30 P.M. + +The water of the lake is brackish, yet we were able to make our +camps on the banks of small streams of sweet water, although in +each case near the shore of the lake. A specimen of the water, +taken near the shore, was brought back to New Haven and analyzed +by Dr. George S. Jamieson of the Sheffield Scientific School. He +found that it contained small quantities of silica, iron phosphate, +magnesium carbonate, calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate, potassium +nitrate, potassium sulphate, sodium borate, sodium sulphate, and a +considerable quantity of sodium chloride. Parinacochas water contains +more carbonate and potassium than that of the Atlantic Ocean or the +Great Salt Lake. As compared with the salinity of typical "salt" +waters, that of Lake Parinacochas occupies an intermediate position, +containing more than Lake Koko-Nor, less than that of the Atlantic, +and only one twentieth the salinity of the Great Salt Lake. + +When we moved to our second camp the Tejada brothers preferred to let +their mules rest in the Puyusca Valley, where there was excellent +alfalfa forage. The arrieros engaged at their own expense a pack +train which consisted chiefly of Parinacochas burros. It is the +custom hereabouts to enclose the packs in large-meshed nets made of +rawhide which are then fastened to the pack animal by a surcingle. The +Indians who came with the burro train were pleasant-faced, sturdy +fellows, dressed in "store clothes" and straw hats. Their burros +were as cantankerous as donkeys can be, never fractious or flighty, +but stubbornly resisting, step by step, every effort to haul them +near the loads. + +Our second camp was near the village of Incahuasi, "the house of the +Inca," at the northwestern corner of the basin. Raimondi visited it +in 1863. The representative of the owner of Parinacochas occupies +one of the houses. The other buildings are used only during the third +week in August, at the time of the annual fair. In the now deserted +plaza were many low stone rectangles partly covered with adobe and +ready to be converted into booths. The plaza was surrounded by long, +thatched buildings of adobe and stone, mostly of rough ashlars. A +few ashlars showed signs of having been carefully dressed by ancient +stonemasons. Some loose ashlars weighed half a ton and had baffled +the attempts of modern builders. + +In constructing the large church, advantage was taken of a beautifully +laid wall of close-fitting ashlars. Incahuasi was well named; there had +been at one time an Inca house here, possibly a temple--lakes were once +objects of worship--or rest-house, constructed in order to enable the +chiefs and tax-gatherers to travel comfortably over the vast domains +of the Incas. We found the slopes of the hills of the Parinacochas +Basin to be well covered with remains of ancient terraces. Probably +potatoes and other root crops were once raised here in fairly large +quantities. Perhaps deforestation and subsequent increased aridity +might account for the desertion of these once-cultivated lands. The +hills west of the lake are intersected by a few dry gulches in which +are caves that have been used as burial places. The caves had at one +time been walled in with rocks laid in adobe, but these walls had +been partly broken down so as to permit the sepulchers to be rifled of +whatever objects of value they might have contained. We found nine or +ten skulls lying loose in the rubble of the caves. One of the skulls +seemed to have been trepanned. + +On top of the ridge are the remains of an ancient road, fifty feet +wide, a broad grassy way through fields of loose stones. No effort +had been made at grading or paving this road, and there was no +evidence of its having been used in recent times. It runs from the +lake across the ridge in a westerly direction toward a broad valley, +where there are many terraces and cultivated fields; it is not far from +Nasca. Probably the stones were picked up and piled on each side to +save time in driving caravans of llamas across the stony ridges. The +llama dislikes to step over any obstacle, even a very low wall. The +grassy roadway would certainly encourage the supercilious beasts to +proceed in the desired direction. + +In many places on the hills were to be seen outlines of large and +small rock circles and shelters erected by herdsmen for temporary +protection against the sudden storms of snow and hail which come +up with unexpected fierceness at this elevation (12,000 feet). The +shelters were in a very ruinous state. They were made of rough, +scoriaceous lava rocks. The circular enclosures varied from 8 to 25 +feet in diameter. Most of them showed no evidences whatever of recent +occupation. The smaller walls may have been the foundation of small +circular huts. The larger walls were probably intended as corrals, to +keep alpacas and llamas from straying at night and to guard against +wolves or coyotes. I confess to being quite mystified as to the age +of these remains. It is possible that they represent a settlement +of shepherds within historic times, although, from the shape and +size of the walls, I am inclined to doubt this. The shelters may +have been built by the herdsmen of the Incas. Anyhow, those on the +hills west of Parinacochas had not been used for a long time. Nasca, +which is not very far away to the northwest, was the center of one +of the most artistic pre-Inca cultures in Peru. It is famous for its +very delicate pottery. + +Our third camp was on the south side of the lake. Near us the traces +of the ancient road led to the ruins of two large, circular corrals, +substantiating my belief that this curious roadway was intended to keep +the llamas from straying at will over the pasture lands. On the south +shores of the lake there were more signs of occupation than on the +north, although there is nothing so clearly belonging to the time of +the Incas as the ashlars and finely built wall at Incahuasi. On top of +one of the rocky promontories we found the rough stone foundations of +the walls of a little village. The slopes of the promontory were nearly +precipitous on three sides. Forty or fifty very primitive dwellings +had been at one time huddled together here in a position which could +easily be defended. We found among the ruins a few crude potsherds +and some bits of obsidian. There was nothing about the ruins of the +little hill village to give any indication of Inca origin. Probably +it goes back to pre-Inca days. No one could tell us anything about +it. If there were traditions concerning it they were well concealed +by the silent, superstitious shepherds of the vicinity. Possibly it +was regarded as an unlucky spot, cursed by the gods. + +The neighboring slopes showed faint evidences of having been roughly +terraced and cultivated. The tutu potato would grow here, a hardy +variety not edible in the fresh state, but considered highly desirable +for making potato flour after having been repeatedly frozen and its +bitter juices all extracted. So would other highland root crops of the +Peruvians, such as the oca, a relative of our sheep sorrel, the anu, +a kind of nasturtium, and the ullucu (ullucus tuberosus). + +On the flats near the shore were large corrals still kept in good +repair. New walls were being built by the Indians at the time of our +visit. Near the southeast corner of the lake were a few modern huts +built of stone and adobe, with thatched roofs, inhabited by drovers +and shepherds. We saw more cattle at the east end of the lake than +elsewhere, but they seemed to prefer the sweet water grasses of the +lake to the tough bunch-grass on the slopes of Sarasara. + +Viscachas were common amongst the gray lichen-covered rocks. They +are hunted for their beautiful pearly gray fur, the "chinchilla" of +commerce; they are also very good eating, so they have disappeared +from the more accessible parts of Peru. One rarely sees them, although +they may be found on bleak uplands in the mountains of Uilcapampa, +a region rarely visited by any one on account of treacherous bogs and +deep tams. Writers sometimes call viscachas "rabbit-squirrels." They +have large, rounded ears, long hind legs, a long, bushy tail, and do +look like a cross between a rabbit and a gray squirrel. + +Surmounting one of the higher ridges one day, I came suddenly upon +an unusually large herd of wild vicunas. It included more than one +hundred individuals. Their relative fearlessness also testified to the +remoteness of Parinacochas and the small amount of hunting that is done +here. Vicunas have never been domesticated, but are often hunted for +their skins. Their silky fleece is even finer than alpaca. The more +fleecy portions of their skins are sewed together to make quilts, +as soft as eider down and of a golden brown color. + +After Mr. Tucker finished his triangulation of the lake I told the +arrieros to find the shortest road home. They smiled, murmured +"Arequipa," and started south. We soon came to the rim of the +Maraicasa Valley where, peeping up over one of the hills far to the +south, we got a little glimpse of Coropuna. The Maraicasa Valley is +well inhabited and there were many grain fields in sight, although +few seemed to be terraced. The surrounding hills were smooth and +well rounded and the valley bottom contained much alluvial land. We +passed through it and, after dark, reached Sondor, a tiny hamlet +inhabited by extremely suspicious and inhospitable drovers. In the +darkness Don Pablo pleaded with the owners of a well-thatched hut, +and told them how "important" we were. They were unwilling to give +us any shelter, so we were forced to pitch our tent in the very rocky +and dirty corral immediately in front of one of the huts, where pigs, +dogs, and cattle annoyed us all night. If we had arrived before dark +we might have received a different welcome. As a matter of fact, +the herdsmen only showed the customary hostility of mountaineers and +wilderness folk to those who do not arrive in the daytime, when they +can be plainly seen and fully discussed. + +The next morning we passed some fairly recent lava flows and noted also +many curious rock forms caused by wind and sand erosion. We had now +left the belt of grazing lands and once more come into the desert. At +length we reached the rim of the mile-deep Caraveli Canyon and our eyes +were gladdened at sight of the rich green oasis, a striking contrast +to the barren walls of the canyon. As we descended the long, winding +road we passed many fine specimens of tree cactus. At the foot of the +steep descent we found ourselves separated from the nearest settlement +by a very wide river, which it was necessary to ford. Neither of the +Tejadas had ever been here before and its depths and dangers were +unknown. Fortunately Pablo found a forlorn individual living in a +tiny hut on the bank, who indicated which way lay safety. After an +exciting two hours we finally got across to the desired shore. Animals +and men were glad enough to leave the high, arid desert and enter +the oasis of Caraveli with its luscious, green fields of alfalfa, +its shady fig trees and tall eucalyptus. The air, pungent with the +smell of rich vegetation, seemed cooler and more invigorating. + +We found at Caraveli a modern British enterprise, the gold mine of +"La Victoria." Mr. Prain, the Manager, and his associates at the +camp gave us a cordial welcome, and a wonderful dinner which I shall +long remember. After two months in the coastal desert it seemed like +home. During the evening we learned of the difficulties Mr. Prain +had had in bringing his machinery across the plateau from the nearest +port. Our own troubles seemed as nothing. The cost of transporting on +muleback each of the larger pieces of the quartz stamping-mill was +equivalent to the price of a first-class pack mule. As a matter of +fact, although it is only a two days' journey, pack animals' backs +are not built to survive the strain of carrying pieces of machinery +weighing five hundred pounds over a desert plateau up to an altitude of +4000 feet. Mules brought the machinery from the coast to the brink of +the canyon, but no mule could possibly have carried it down the steep +trail into Caraveli. Accordingly, a windlass had been constructed +on the edge of the precipice and the machinery had been lowered, +piece by piece, by block and tackle. Such was one of the obstacles +with which these undaunted engineers had had to contend. Had the man +who designed the machinery ever traveled with a pack train, climbing +up and down over these rocky stairways called mountain trails, I am +sure that he would have made his castings much smaller. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Mr. Tucker on a Mountain Trail near Caraveli +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Main Street of Chuquibamba +------ + + +It is astonishing how often people who ship goods to the interior +of South America fail to realize that no single piece should be any +heavier than a pack animal can carry comfortably on one side. One +hundred and fifty pounds ought to be the extreme limit of a unit. Even +a large, strong mule will last only a few days on such trails as +are shown in the accompanying illustration if the total weight of +his cargo is over three hundred pounds. When a single piece weighs +more than two hundred pounds it has to be balanced on the back of the +animal. Then the load rocks, and chafes the unfortunate mule, besides +causing great inconvenience and constant worry to the muleteers. As a +matter of expediency it is better to have the individual units weigh +about seventy-five pounds. Such a weight is easier for the arrieros to +handle in the loading, unloading, and reloading that goes on all day +long, particularly if the trail is up-and-down, as usually happens +in the Andes. Furthermore, one seventy-five-pound unit makes a fair +load for a man or a llama, two are right for a burro, and three for +an average mule. Four can be loaded, if necessary, on a stout mule. + +The hospitable mining engineers urged us to prolong our stay at +"La Victoria," but we had to hasten on. Leaving the pleasant shade +trees of Caraveli, we climbed the barren, desolate hills of coarse +gravel and lava rock and left the canyon. We were surprised to find +near the top of the rise the scattered foundations of fifty little +circular or oval huts averaging eight feet in diameter. There was +no water near here. Hardly a green thing of any sort was to be seen +in the vicinity, yet here had once been a village. It seemed to +belong to the same period as that found on the southern slopes of +the Parinacochas Basin. The road was one of the worst we encountered +anywhere, being at times merely a rough, rocky trail over and among +huge piles of lava blocks. Several of the larger boulders were covered +with pictographs. They represented a serpent and a sun, besides men +and animals. + +Shortly afterwards we descended to the Rio Grande Valley at Callanga, +where we pitched our camps among the most extensive ruins that +I have seen in the coastal desert. They covered an area of one +hundred acres, the houses being crowded closely together. It gave +one a strange sensation to find such a very large metropolis in what +is now a desolate region. The general appearance of Callanga was +strikingly reminiscent of some of the large groups of ruins in our +own Southwest. Nothing about it indicated Inca origin. There were +no terraces in the vicinity. It is difficult to imagine what such a +large population could have done here, or how they lived. The walls +were of compact cobblestones, rough-laid and stuccoed with adobe and +sand. Most of the stucco had come off. Some of the houses had seats, +or small sleeping-platforms, built up at one end. Others contained +two or three small cells, possibly storerooms, with neither doors +nor windows. We found a number of burial cists--some square, others +rounded--lined with small cobblestones. In one house, at the foot of +"cellar stairs" we found a subterranean room, or tomb. The entrance +to it was covered with a single stone lintel. In examining this +tomb Mr. Tucker had a narrow escape from being bitten by a boba, +a venomous snake, nearly three feet in length, with vicious mouth, +long fangs like a rattlesnake, and a strikingly mottled skin. At one +place there was a low pyramid less than ten feet in height. To its +top led a flight of rude stone steps. + +Among the ruins we found a number of broken stone dishes, rudely +carved out of soft, highly porous, scoriaceous lava. The dishes must +have been hard to keep clean! We also found a small stone mortar, +probably used for grinding paint; a broken stone war club; and a +broken compact stone mortar and pestle possibly used for grinding +corn. Two stones, a foot and a half long, roughly rounded, with +a shallow groove across the middle of the flatter sides, resembled +sinkers used by fishermen to hold down large nets, although ten times +larger than any I had ever seen used. Perhaps they were to tie down +roofs in a gale. There were a few potsherds lying on the surface of +the ground, so weathered as to have lost whatever decoration they once +had. We did no excavating. Callanga offers an interesting field for +archeological investigation. Unfortunately, we had heard nothing of +it previously, came upon it unexpectedly, and had but little time to +give it. After the first night camp in the midst of the dead city we +made the discovery that although it seemed to be entirely deserted, it +was, as a matter of fact, well populated! I was reminded of Professor +T. D. Seymour's story of his studies in the ruins of ancient Greece. We +wondered what the fleas live on ordinarily. + +Our next stopping-place was the small town of Andaray, whose thatched +houses are built chiefly of stone plastered with mud. Near it we +encountered two men with a mule, which they said they were taking +into town to sell and were willing to dispose of cheaply. The Tejadas +could not resist the temptation to buy a good animal at a bargain, +although the circumstances were suspicious. Drawing on us for six gold +sovereigns, they smilingly added the new mule to the pack train; only +to discover on reaching Chuquibamba that they had purchased it from +thieves. We were able to clear our arrieros of any complicity in the +theft. Nevertheless, the owner of the stolen mule was unwilling to pay +anything for its return. So they lost their bargain and their gold. We +spent one night in Chuquibamba, with our friend Senor Benavides, +the sub-prefect, and once more took up the well-traveled route to +Arequipa. We left the Majes Valley in the afternoon and, as before, +spent the night crossing the desert. + +About three o'clock in the morning--after we had been jogging steadily +along for about twelve hours in the dark and quiet of the night, the +only sound the shuffle of the mules' feet in the sand, the only sight +an occasional crescent-shaped dune, dimly visible in the starlight--the +eastern horizon began to be faintly illumined. The moon had long since +set. Could this be the approach of dawn? Sunrise was not due for at +least two hours. In the tropics there is little twilight preceding +the day; "the dawn comes up like thunder." Surely the moon could +not be going to rise again! What could be the meaning of the rapidly +brightening eastern sky? While we watched and marveled, the pure white +light grew brighter and brighter, until we cried out in ecstasy as +a dazzling luminary rose majestically above the horizon. A splendor, +neither of the sun nor of the moon, shone upon us. It was the morning +star. For sheer beauty, "divine, enchanting ravishment," Venus that day +surpassed anything I have ever seen. In the words of the great Eastern +poet, who had often seen such a sight in the deserts of Asia, "the +morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy." + + + +CHAPTER V + +Titicaca + +Arequipa is one of the pleasantest places in the world: mountain air, +bright sunshine, warm days, cool nights, and a sparkling atmosphere +dear to the hearts of star-gazers. The city lies on a plateau, +surrounded by mighty snow-capped volcanoes, Chachani (20,000 ft.), El +Misti (19,000 ft.), and Pichu Pichu (18,000 ft.). Arequipa has only +one nightmare--earthquakes. About twice in a century the spirits of +the sleeping volcanoes stir, roll over, and go to sleep again. But +they shake the bed! And Arequipa rests on their bed. The possibility +of a "terremoto" is always present in the subconscious mind of the +Arequipeno. + +One evening I happened to be dining with a friend at the hospitable +Arequipa Club. Suddenly the windows rattled violently and we heard +a loud explosion; at least that is what it sounded like to me. To +the members of the club, however, it meant only one thing--an +earthquake. Everybody rushed out; the streets were already crowded +with hysterical people, crying, shouting, and running toward the great +open plaza in front of the beautiful cathedral. Here some dropped on +their knees in gratitude at having escaped from falling walls, others +prayed to the god of earthquakes to spare their city. Yet no walls +had fallen! In the business district a great column of black smoke +was rising. Gradually it became known to the panic-stricken throngs +that the noise and the trembling had not been due to an earthquake, +but to an explosion in a large warehouse which had contained gasoline, +kerosene, dynamite and giant powder! + +In this city of 35,000 people, the second largest of Peru, fires are +so very rare, not even annual, scarcely biennial, that there were +no fire engines. A bucket brigade was formed and tried to quench the +roaring furnace by dipping water from one of the azequias, or canals, +that run through the streets. The fire continued to belch forth dense +masses of smoke and flame. In any American city such a blaze would +certainly become a great conflagration. + +While the fire was at its height I went into the adjoining building +to see whether any help could be rendered. To my utter amazement +the surface of the wall next to the fiery furnace was not even +warm. Such is the result of building houses with massive walls of +stone. Furthermore, the roofs in Arequipa are of tiles; consequently +no harm was done by sparks. So, without a fire department, this +really terrible fire was limited to one warehouse! The next day +the newspapers talked about the "dire necessity" of securing fire +engines. It was difficult for me to see what good a fire engine +could have done. Nothing could have saved the warehouse itself once +the fire got under way; and surely the houses next door would have +suffered more had they been deluged with streams of water. The facts +are almost incredible to an American. We take it as a matter of course +that cities should have fires and explosions. In Arequipa everybody +thought it was an earthquake! + + + + + +A day's run by an excellent railroad takes one to Puno, the chief +port of Lake Titicaca, elevation 12,500 feet. Puno boasts a soldier's +monument and a new theater, really a "movie palace." There is a good +harbor, although dredging is necessary to provide for steamers like +the Inca. Repairs to the lake boats are made on a marine--or, rather, +a lacustrine--railway. The bay of Puno grows quantities of totoras, +giant bulrushes sometimes twelve feet long. Ages ago the lake dwellers +learned to dry the totoras, tie them securely in long bundles, fasten +the bundles together, turn up the ends, fix smaller bundles along the +sides as a free-board, and so construct a fishing-boat, or balsa. Of +course the balsas eventually become water-logged and spend a large +part of their existence on the shore, drying in the sun. Even so, +they are not very buoyant. I can testify that it is difficult to use +them without getting one's shoes wet. As a matter of fact one should +go barefooted, or wear sandals, as the natives do. + +The balsas are clumsy, and difficult to paddle. The favorite method of +locomotion is to pole or, when the wind favors, sail. The mast is an +A-shaped contraption, twelve feet high, made of two light poles tied +together and fastened, one to each side of the craft, slightly forward +of amidships. Poles are extremely scarce in this region--lumber has +to be brought from Puget Sound, 6000 miles away--so nearly all the +masts I saw were made of small pieces of wood spliced two or three +times. To the apex of the "A" is attached a forked stick, over which +run the halyards. The rectangular "sail" is nothing more nor less +than a large mat made of rushes. A short forestay fastened to the +sides of the "A" about four feet above the hull prevents the mast from +falling when the sail is hoisted. The main halyards take the place of +a backstay. The balsas cannot beat to windward, but behave very well +in shallow water with a favoring breeze. When the wind is contrary the +boatmen must pole. They are extremely careful not to fall overboard, +for the water in the lake is cold, 55 deg. F., and none of them know how +to swim. Lake Titicaca itself never freezes over, although during +the winter ice forms at night on the shallow bays and near the shore. + + +------ +FIGURE + +A Lake Titicaca Balsa at Puno +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +A Step-Topped Niche on the Island of Koati +------ + + +When the Indians wish to go in the shallowest waters they use a very +small balsa not over eight feet long, barely capable of supporting +the weight of one man. On the other hand, large balsas constructed +for use in crossing the rough waters of the deeper portions of the +lake are capable of carrying a dozen people and their luggage. Once +I saw a ploughman and his team of oxen being ferried across the lake +on a bulrush raft. To give greater security two balsas are sometimes +fastened together in the fashion of a double canoe. + +One of the more highly speculative of the Bolivian writers, Senor +Posnansky, of La Paz, believes that gigantic balsas were used in +bringing ten-ton monoliths across the lake to Tiahuanaco. This +theory is based on the assumption that Titicaca was once very much +higher than it is now, a hypothesis which has not commended itself +to modern geologists or geographers. Dr. Isaiah Bowman and Professor +Herbert Gregory, who have studied its geology and physiography, have +not been able to find any direct evidence of former high levels for +Lake Titicaca, or of its having been connected with the ocean. + +Nevertheless, Senor Posnansky believes that Lake Titicaca was once a +salt sea which became separated from the ocean as the Andes rose. The +fact that the lake fishes are fresh-water, rather than marine, forms +does not bother him. Senor Posnansky pins his faith to a small dried +seahorse once given him by a Titicaca fisherman. He seems to forget +that dried specimens of marine life, including starfish, are frequently +offered for sale in the Andes by the dealers in primitive medicines who +may be found in almost every market-place. Probably Senor Posnansky's +seahorse was brought from the ocean by some particularly enterprising +trader. Although starfish are common enough in the Andes and a seahorse +has actually found its resting-place in La Paz, this does not alter the +fact that scientific investigators have never found any strictly marine +fauna in Lake Titicaca. On the other hand, it has two or three kinds +of edible fresh-water fish. One of them belongs to a species found in +the Rimac River near Lima. It seems to me entirely possible that the +Incas, with their scorn of the difficulties of carrying heavy burdens +over seemingly impossible trails, might have deliberately transplanted +the desirable fresh-water fishes of the Rimac River to Lake Titicaca. + +Polo de Ondegardo, who lived in Cuzco in 1560, says that the Incas +used to bring fresh fish from the sea by special runners, and that +"they have records in their quipus of the fish having been brought +from Tumbez, a distance of more than three hundred leagues." The +actual transference of water jars containing the fish would have +offered no serious obstacle whatever to the Incas, provided the idea +happened to appeal to them as desirable. Yet I may be as far wrong +as Senor Posnansky! At any rate, the romantic stories of a gigantic +inland sea, vastly more extensive than the present lake and actually +surrounding the ancient city of Tiahuanaco, must be treated with +respectful skepticism. + +Tiahuanaco, at the southern end of Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia, +is famous for the remains of a pre-Inca civilization. Unique among +prehistoric remains in the highlands of Peru or Bolivia are its carved +monolithic images. Although they have suffered from weathering and +from vandalism, enough remains to show that they represent clothed +human figures. The richly decorated girdles and long tunics are +carved in low relief with an intricate pattern. While some of +the designs are undoubtedly symbolic of the rank, achievements, +or attributes of the divinities or chiefs here portrayed, there is +nothing hieroglyphic. The images are stiff and show no appreciation +of the beauty of the human form. Probably the ancient artists never +had an opportunity to study the human body. In Andean villages, even +little children do not go naked as they do among primitive peoples +who live in warm climates. The Highlanders of Peru and Bolivia are +always heavily clothed, day and night. Forced by their climate to +seek comfort in the amount and thickness of their apparel, they have +developed an excessive modesty in regard to bodily exposure which +is in striking contrast to people who live on the warm sands of the +South Seas. Inca sculptors and potters rarely employed the human +body as a motif. Tiahuanaco is pre-Inca, yet even here the images are +clothed. They were not represented as clothed in order to make easier +the work of the sculptor. His carving shows he had great skill, was +observant, and had true artistic feeling. Apparently the taboo against +"nakedness" was too much for him. + +Among the thirty-six islands in Lake Titicaca, some belong to +Peru, others to Bolivia. Two of the latter, Titicaca and Koati, +were peculiarly venerated in Inca days. They are covered with +artificial terraces, most of which are still used by the Indian +farmers of to-day. On both islands there are ruins of important Inca +structures. On Titicaca Island I was shown two caves, out of which, +say the Indians, came the sun and moon at their creation. These caves +are not large enough for a man to stand upright, but to a people +who do not appreciate the size of the heavenly bodies it requires +no stretch of the imagination to believe that those bright disks +came forth from caves eight feet wide. The myth probably originated +with dwellers on the western shore of the lake who would often see +the sun or moon rise over this island. On an ancient road that runs +across the island my native guide pointed out the "footprints of the +sun and moon"--two curious effects of erosion which bear a distant +resemblance to the footprints of giants twenty or thirty feet tall. + +The present-day Indians, known as Aymaras, seem to be hard-working and +fairly cheerful. The impression which Bandelier gives, in his "Islands +of Titicaca and Koati," of the degradation and surly character of these +Indians was not apparent at the time of my short visit in 1915. It is +quite possible, however, that if I had to live among the Indians, as +he did for several months, digging up their ancient places of worship, +disturbing their superstitious prejudices, and possibly upsetting, +in their minds, the proper balance between wet weather and dry, +I might have brought upon myself uncivil looks and rough, churlish +treatment such as he experienced. In judging the attitude of mind +of the natives of Titicaca one should remember that they live under +most trying conditions of climate and environment. During several +months of the year everything is dried up and parched. The brilliant +sun of the tropics, burning mercilessly through the rarefied air, +causes the scant vegetation to wither. Then come torrential rains. I +shall never forget my first experience on Lake Titicaca, when the +steamer encountered a rain squall. The resulting deluge actually +came through the decks. Needless to say, such downpours tend to wash +away the soil which the farmers have painfully gathered for field or +garden. The sun in the daytime is extremely hot, yet the difference +in temperature between sun and shade is excessive. Furthermore, the +winds at night are very damp; the cold is intensely penetrating. Fuel +is exceedingly scarce, there is barely enough for cooking purposes, +and none for artificial heat. + +Food is hard to get. Few crops can be grown at 12,500 feet. Some +barley is raised, but the soil is lacking in nitrogen. The principal +crop is the bitter white potato, which, after being frozen and dried, +becomes the insipid chuno, chief reliance of the poorer families. The +Inca system of bringing guano from the islands of the Pacific coast +has long since been abandoned. There is no money to pay for modern +fertilizers. Consequently, crops are poor. On Titicaca Island I +saw native women, who had just harvested their maize, engaged in +shucking and drying ears of corn which varied in length from one to +three inches. To be sure this miniature corn has the advantage of +maturing in sixty days, but good soil and fertilizers would double +its size and productiveness. + +Naturally these Indians always feel themselves at the mercy of the +elements. Either a long rainy season or a drought may cause acute +hunger and extreme suffering. Consequently, one must not blame the +Bolivian or Peruvian Highlander if he frequently appears to be sullen +and morose. On the other hand, one ought not to praise Samoans for +being happy, hospitable, and light-hearted. Those fortunate Polynesians +are surrounded by warm waters in which they can always enjoy a swim, +trees from which delicious food can always be obtained, and cocoanuts +from which cooling drinks are secured without cost. Who could not +develop cheerfulness under such conditions? + +On the small island, Koati, some of the Inca stonework is remarkably +good, and has several unusual features, such as the elaboration of the +large, reentrant, ceremonial niches formed by step-topped arches, one +within the other. Small ornamental niches are used to break the space +between these recesses and the upper corners of the whole rectangle +containing them. Also unusual are the niches between the doorways, +made in the form of an elaborate quadrate cross. It might seem at first +glance as though this feature showed Spanish influence, since a Papal +cross is created by the shadow cast in the intervening recessed courses +within their design. As a matter of fact, the cross nowy quadrant is +a natural outcome of using for ornamental purposes the step-shaped +design, both erect and inverted. All over the land of the Incas one +finds flights of steps or terraces used repeatedly for ornamental or +ceremonial purposes. Some stairs are large enough to be used by man; +others are in miniature. Frequently the steps were cut into the sacred +boulders consecrated to ancestor worship. It was easy for an Inca +architect, accustomed to the stairway motif, to have conceived these +curious doorways on Koati and also the cross-like niches between them, +even if he had never seen any representation of a Papal cross, or a +cross nowy quadrant. My friend, Mr. Bancel La Farge, has also suggested +a striking resemblance which the sedilia-like niches bear to Arabic +or Moorish architecture, as shown, for instance, in the Court of the +Lions in the Alhambra. The step-topped arch is distinctly Oriental +in form, yet flights of steps or terraces are also thoroughly Incaic. + +The principal structure on Koati was built around three sides of +a small plaza, constructed on an artificial terrace in a slight +depression on the eastern side of the island. The fourth side is +open and affords a magnificent view of the lake and the wonderful +snow-covered Cordillera Real, 200 miles long and nowhere less than +17,000 feet high. This range of lofty snow-peaks of surpassing beauty +culminates in Mt. Sorata, 21,520 feet high. To the worshipers of the +sun and moon, who came to the sacred islands for some of their most +elaborate religious ceremonies, the sight of those heavenly luminaries, +rising over the majestic snow mountains, their glories reflected in the +shining waters of the lake, must have been a sublime spectacle. On such +occasions the little plaza would indeed have been worth seeing. We may +imagine the gayly caparisoned Incas, their faces lit up by the colors +of "rosy-fingered dawn, daughter of the morning," their ceremonial +formation sharply outlined against the high, decorated walls of +the buildings behind them. Perhaps the rulers and high priests had +special stations in front of the large, step-topped niches. One may +be sure that a people who were fond of bright colors, who were able +to manufacture exquisite textiles, and who loved to decorate their +garments with spangles and disks of beaten gold, would have lost no +opportunity for making the ancient ceremonies truly resplendent. + +On the peninsula of Copacabana, opposite the sacred islands, a great +annual pageant is still staged every August. Although at present +connected with a pious pilgrimage to the shrine of the miraculous +image of the "Virgin of Copacabana," this vivid spectacle, the +most celebrated fair in all South America, has its origin in the +dim past. It comes after the maize is harvested and corresponds to +our Thanksgiving festival. The scene is laid in the plaza in front +of a large, bizarre church. During the first ten days in August +there are gathered here thousands of the mountain folk from far and +near. Everything dear to the heart of the Aymara Indian is offered +for sale, including quantities of his favorite beverages. Traders, +usually women, sit in long rows on blankets laid on the cobblestone +pavement. Some of them are protected from the sun by primitive +umbrellas, consisting of a square cotton sheet stretched over a bamboo +frame. In one row are those traders who sell parched and popped corn; +in another those who deal in sandals and shoes, the simple gear +of the humblest wayfarer and the elaborately decorated high-laced +boots affected by the wealthy Chola women of La Paz. In another row +are the dealers in Indian blankets; still another is devoted to such +trinkets as one might expect to find in a "needle-and-thread" shop at +home. There are stolid Aymara peddlers with scores of bamboo flutes +varying in size from a piccolo to a bassoon; the hat merchants, with +piles of freshly made native felts, warranted to last for at least a +year; and vendors of aniline dyes. The fabrics which have come to us +from Inca times are colored with beautifully soft vegetable dyes. Among +Inca ruins one may find small stone mortars, in which the primitive +pigments were ground and mixed with infinite care. Although the modern +Indian still prefers the product of hand looms, he has been quick to +adopt the harsh aniline dyes, which are not only easier to secure, +but produce more striking results. + +As a citizen of Connecticut it gave me quite a start to see, carelessly +exposed to the weather on the rough cobblestones of the plaza, +bright new hardware from New Haven and New Britain--locks, keys, +spring scales, bolts, screw eyes, hooks, and other "wooden nutmegs." + +At the tables of the "money-changers," just outside of the +sacred enclosure, are the real moneymakers, who give nothing for +something. Thimble-riggers and three-card-monte-men do a brisk +business and stand ready to fleece the guileless native or the +unsuspecting foreigner. The operators may wear ragged ponchos and +appear to be incapable of deep designs, but they know all the tricks +of the trade! The most striking feature of the fair is the presence +of various Aymara secret societies, whose members, wearing repulsive +masks, are clad in the most extraordinary costumes which can be +invented by primitive imaginations. Each society has its own uniform, +made up of tinsels and figured satins, tin-foil, gold and silver leaf, +gaudy textiles, magnificent epaulets bearing large golden stars on a +background of silver decorated with glittering gems of colored glass; +tinted "ostrich" plumes of many colors sticking straight up eighteen +inches above the heads of their wearers, gaudy ribbons, beruffled +bodices, puffed sleeves, and slashed trunks. Some of these strange +costumes are actually reminiscent of the sixteenth century. The wearers +are provided with flutes, whistles, cymbals, flageolets, snare drums, +and rattles, or other noise-makers. The result is an indescribable +hubbub; a garish human kaleidoscope, accompanied by fiendish clamor +and unmusical noises which fairly outstrip a dozen jazz bands. It is +bedlam let loose, a scene of wild uproar and confusion. + +The members of one group were dressed to represent female angels, +their heads tightly turbaned so as to bear the maximum number of +tall, waving, variegated plumes. On their backs were gaudy wings +resembling the butterflies of children's pantomimes. Many wore colored +goggles. They marched solemnly around the plaza, playing on bamboo +flageolets, their plaintive tunes drowned in the din of big bass +drums and blatant trumpets. In an eddy in the seething crowd was a +placid-faced Aymara, bedecked in the most tawdry manner with gewgaws +from Birmingham or Manchester, sedately playing a melancholy tune on +a rustic syrinx or Pan's pipe, charmingly made from little tubes of +bamboo from eastern Bolivia. + +At the close of the festival, on a Sunday afternoon, the costumes +disappear and there occurs a bull-baiting. Strong temporary barriers +are erected at the comers of the plaza; householders bar their +doors. A riotous crowd, composed of hundreds of pleasure-seekers, +well fortified with Dutch courage, gathers for the fray. All are +ready to run helter-skelter in every direction should the bull take +it into his head to charge toward them. It is not a bullfight. There +are no picadors, armed with lances to prick the bull to madness; no +banderilleros, with barbed darts; no heroic matador, ready with shining +blade to give a mad and weary bull the coup de grace. Here all is fun +and frolic. To be sure, the bull is duly annoyed by boastful boys or +drunken Aymaras, who prod him with sticks and shake bright ponchos +in his face until he dashes after his tormentors and causes a mighty +scattering of some spectators, amid shrieks of delight from everybody +else. When one animal gets tired, another is brought on. There is +no chance of a bull being wounded or seriously hurt. At the time of +our visit the only animal who seemed at all anxious to do real damage +was let alone. He showed no disposition to charge at random into the +crowds. The spectators surrounded the plaza so thickly that he could +not distinguish any one particular enemy on whom to vent his rage. He +galloped madly after any individual who crossed the plaza. Five or +six bulls were let loose during the excitement, but no harm was done, +and every one had an uproariously good time. + +Such is the spectacle of Copacabana, a mixture of business and +pleasure, pagan and Christian, Spain and Titicaca. Bedlam is not +pleasant to one's ears; yet to see the staid mountain herdsmen, attired +in plumes, petticoats, epaulets, and goggles, blowing mightily with +puffed-out lips on bamboo flageolets, is worth a long journey. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +The Vilcanota Country and the Peruvian Highlanders + +In the northernmost part of the Titicaca Basin are the grassy foothills +of the Cordillera Vilcanota, where large herds of alpacas thrive on +the sweet, tender pasturage. Santa Rosa is the principal town. Here +wool-buyers come to bid for the clip. The high prices which alpaca +fleece commands have brought prosperity. Excellent blankets, renowned +in southern Peru for their weight and texture, are made here on hand +looms. Notwithstanding the altitude--nearly as great as the top of +Pike's Peak--the stocky inhabitants of Santa Rosa are hardy, vigorous, +and energetic. Ricardo Charaja, the best Quichua assistant we ever had, +came from Santa Rosa. Nearly all the citizens are of pure Indian stock. + +They own many fine llamas. There is abundant pasturage and the llamas +are well cared for by the Indians, who become personally attached to +their flocks and are loath to part with any of the individuals. Once I +attempted through a Cuzco acquaintance to secure the skin and skeleton +of a fine llama for the Yale Museum. My friend was favorably known +and spoke the Quichua language fluently. He offered a good price and +obtained from various llama owners promises to bring the hide and bones +of one of their "camels" for shipment; but they never did. Apparently +they regarded it as unlucky to kill a llama, and none happened to die +at the right time. The llamas never show affection for their masters, +as horses often do. On the other hand I have never seen a llama kick +or bite at his owner. + +The llama was the only beast of burden known in either North or South +America before Columbus. It was found by the Spaniards in all parts of +Inca Land. Its small two-toed feet, with their rough pads, enable it +to walk easily on slopes too rough or steep for even a nimble-footed, +mountain-bred mule. It has the reputation of being an unpleasant pet, +due to its ability to sneeze or spit for a considerable distance +a small quantity of acrid saliva. When I was in college Barnum's +Circus came to town. The menagerie included a dozen llamas, whose +supercilious expression, inoffensive looks, and small size--they are +only three feet high at the shoulder + +tempted some little urchins to tease them. When the llamas felt +that the time had come for reprisals, their aim was straight and the +result a precipitate retreat. Their tormentors, howling and rubbing +their eyes, had to run home and wash their faces. Curiously enough, +in the two years which I have spent in the Peruvian highlands I have +never seen a llama so attack a single human being. On the other hand, +when I was in Santa Rosa in 1915 some one had a tame vicuna which was +perfectly willing to sneeze straight at any stranger who came within +twenty feet of it, even if one's motive was nothing more annoying than +scientific curiosity. The vicuna is the smallest American "camel," +yet its long, slender neck, small head, long legs, and small body, +from which hangs long, feathery fleece, make it look more like an +ostrich than a camel. + +In the churchyard of Santa Rosa are two or three gnarled trees which +have been carefully preserved for centuries as objects of respect and +veneration. Some travelers have thought that 14,000 feet is above the +tree line, but the presence of these trees at Santa Rosa would seem +to show that the use of the words "tree line" is a misnomer in the +Andes. Mr. Cook believes that the Peruvian plateau, with the exception +of the coastal deserts, was once well covered with forests. When man +first came into the Andes, everything except rocky ledges, snow fields, +and glaciers was covered with forest growth. Although many districts +are now entirely treeless, Mr. Cook found that the conditions of light, +heat, and moisture, even at the highest elevations, are sufficient +to support the growth of trees; also that there is ample fertility of +soil. His theories are well substantiated by several isolated tracts +of forests which I found growing alongside of glaciers at very high +elevations. One forest in particular, on the slopes of Mt. Soiroccocha, +has been accurately determined by Mr. Bumstead to be over 15,000 feet +above sea level. It is cut off from the inhabited valley by rock falls +and precipices, so it has not been available for fuel. Virgin forests +are not known to exist in the Peruvian highlands on any lands which +could have been cultivated. A certain amount of natural reforestation +with native trees is taking place on abandoned agricultural terraces +in some of the high valleys. Although these trees belong to many +different species and families, Mr. Cook found that they all have +this striking peculiarity--when cut down they sprout readily from +the stumps and are able to survive repeated pollarding; remarkable +evidence of the fact that the primeval forests of Peru were long ago +cut down for fuel or burned over for agriculture. + +Near the Santa Rosa trees is a tall bell-tower. The sight of a +picturesque belfry with four or five bells of different sizes hanging +each in its respective window makes a strong appeal. It is quite +otherwise on Sunday mornings when these same bells, "out of tune with +themselves," or actually cracked, are all rung at the same time. The +resulting clangor and din is unforgettable. I presume the Chinese would +say it was intended to drive away the devils--and surely such noise +must be "thoroughly uncongenial even to the most irreclaimable devil," +as Lord Frederick Hamilton said of the Canton practices. Church bells +in the United States and England are usually sweet-toned and intended +to invite the hearer to come to service, or else they ring out in +joyous peals to announce some festive occasion. There is nothing +inviting or joyous about the bells in southern Peru. Once in a while +one may hear a bell of deep, sweet tone, like that of the great bell in +Cuzco, which is tolled when the last sacrament is being administered +to a dying Christian; but the general idea of bell-ringers in this +part of the world seems to be to make the greatest possible amount +of racket and clamor. On popular saints' days this is accompanied by +firecrackers, aerial bombs, and other noise-making devices which again +remind one of Chinese folkways. Perhaps it is merely that fundamental +fondness for making a noise which is found in all healthy children. + +On Sunday afternoon the plaza of Santa Rosa was well filled with +Quichua holiday-makers, many of whom had been imbibing freely of +chicha, a mild native brew usually made from ripe corn. The crowd was +remarkably good-natured and given to an unusual amount of laughter +and gayety. For them Sunday is truly a day of rest, recreation, +and sociability. On week days, most of them, even the smaller boys, +are off on the mountain pastures, watching the herds whose wool +brings prosperity to Santa Rosa. One sometimes finds the mountain +Indians on Sunday afternoon sodden, thoroughly soaked with chicha, +and inclined to resent the presence of inquisitive strangers; not so +these good folk of Santa Rosa. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Indian Alcaldes at Santa Rosa +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Native Druggists in the Plaza of Sicuani +------ + + +To be sure, the female vendors of eggs, potatoes, peppers, and sundry +native vegetables, squatting in two long rows on the plaza, did not +enjoy being photographed, but the men and boys crowded eagerly forward, +very much interested in my endeavors. Some of the Indian alcaldes, +local magistrates elected yearly to serve as the responsible officials +for villages or tribal precincts, were very helpful and, armed with +their large, silver-mounted staffs of office, tried to bring the +shy, retiring women of the market-place to stand in a frightened, +disgruntled, barefooted group before the camera. The women were dressed +in the customary tight bodices, heavy woolen skirts, and voluminous +petticoats of the plateau. Over their shoulders were pinned heavy +woolen shawls, woven on hand looms. On their heads were reversible +"pancake" hats made of straw, covered on the wet-weather side with +coarse woolen stuff and on the fair-weather side with tinsel and +velveteen. In accordance with local custom, tassels and fringes hung +down on both sides. It is said that the first Inca ordered the dresses +of each village to be different, so that his officials might know +to which tribe an Indian belonged. It was only with great difficulty +and by the combined efforts of a good-natured priest, the gobernador +or mayor, and the alcaldes that a dozen very reluctant females +were finally persuaded to face the camera. The expression of their +faces was very eloquent. Some were highly indignant, others looked +foolish or supercilious, two or three were thoroughly frightened, not +knowing what evil might befall them next. Not one gave any evidence +of enjoying it or taking the matter as a good joke, although that +was the attitude assumed by all their male acquaintances. In fact, +some of the men were so anxious to have their pictures taken that +they followed us about and posed on the edge of every group. + +Men and boys all wore knitted woolen caps, with ear flaps, which they +seldom remove either day or night. On top of these were large felt +hats, turned up in front so as to give a bold aspect to their husky +wearers. Over their shoulders were heavy woolen ponchos, decorated with +bright stripes. Their trousers end abruptly halfway between knee and +ankle, a convenient style for herdsmen who have to walk in the long, +dewy grasses of the plateau. These "high-water" pantaloons do not +look badly when worn with sandals, as is the usual custom; but since +this was Sunday all the well-to-do men had put on European boots, +which did not come up to the bottom of their trousers and produced +a singular effect, hardly likely to become fashionable. + +The prosperity of the town was also shown by corrugated iron roofs. Far +less picturesque than thatch or tile, they require less attention +and give greater satisfaction during the rainy season. They can also +be securely bolted to the rafters. On this wind-swept plateau we +frequently noticed that a thatched roof was held in place by ropes +passed over the house and weights resting on the roof. Sometimes to +the peak of a gable are fastened crosses, tiny flags, or the skulls of +animals--probably to avert the Evil Eye or bring good luck. Horseshoes +do not seem to be in demand. Horses' skulls, however, are deemed +very efficacious. + +On the rim of the Titicaca Basin is La Raya. The watershed is so level +that it is almost impossible to say whether any particular raindrop +will eventually find itself in Lake Titicaca or in the Atlantic +Ocean. The water from a spring near the railroad station of Araranca +flows definitely to the north. This spring may be said to be one of the +sources of the Urubamba River, an important affluent of the Ucayali +and also of the Amazon, but I never have heard it referred to as +"the source of the Amazon" except by an adventurous lecturer, Captain +Blank, whose moving picture entertainment bore the alluring title, +"From the Source to the Mouth of the Amazon." As most of his pictures +of wild animals "in the jungle" looked as though they were taken in +the zooelogical gardens at Para, and the exciting tragedies of his canoe +trip were actually staged near a friendly hacienda at Santa Ana, less +than a week's journey from Cuzco, it is perhaps unnecessary to censure +him for giving this particular little spring such a pretentious title. + +The Urubamba River is known by various names to the people who live on +its banks. The upper portion is sometimes spoken of as the Vilcanota, +a term which applies to a lake as well as to the snow-covered peaks +of the cordillera in this vicinity. The lower portion was called by +the Incas the Uilca or the Uilcamayu. + +Near the water-parting of La Raya I noticed the remains of an +interesting wall which may have served centuries ago to divide the +Incas of Cuzco from the Collas or warlike tribes of the Titicaca +Basin. In places the wall has been kept in repair by the owners of +grazing lands, but most of it can be but dimly traced across the +valley and up the neighboring slopes to the cliffs of the Cordillera +Vilcanota. It was built of rough stones. Near the historic wall +are the ruins of ancient houses, possibly once occupied by an Inca +garrison. I observed no ashlars among the ruins nor any evidence of +careful masonry. It seems to me likely that it was a hastily thrown-up +fortification serving for a single military campaign, rather than any +permanent affair like the Roman wall of North Britain or the Great Wall +of China. We know from tradition that war was frequently waged between +the peoples of the Titicaca Basin and those of the Urubamba and Cuzco +valleys. It is possible that this is a relic of one of those wars. + +On the other hand, it may be much older than the Incas. Montesinos, +[3] one of the best early historians, tells us of Titu Yupanqui, +Pachacuti VI, sixty-second of the Peruvian Amautas, rulers who +long preceded the Incas. Against Pachacuti VI there came (about 800 +A.D.) large hordes of fierce soldiers from the south and east, laying +waste fields and capturing cities and towns; evidently barbarian +migrations which appear to have continued for some time. During +these wars the ancient civilization, which had been built up with +so much care and difficulty during the preceding twenty centuries, +was seriously threatened. Pachacuti VI, more religious than warlike, +ruler of a people whose great achievements had been agricultural +rather than military, was frightened by his soothsayers and priests; +they told him of many bad omens. Instead of inducing him to follow +a policy of military preparedness, he was urged to make sacrifices +to the deities. Nevertheless he ordered his captains to fortify the +strategic points and make preparations for defense. The invaders +may have come from Argentina. It is possible that they were spurred +on by hunger and famine caused by the gradual exhaustion of forested +areas and the subsequent spread of untillable grasslands on the great +pampas. Montesinos indicates that many of the people who came up +into the highlands at that time were seeking arable lands for their +crops and were "fleeing from a race of giants"--possibly Patagonians +or Araucanians--who had expelled them from their own lands. On their +journey they had passed over plains, swamps, and jungles. It is obvious +that a great readjustment of the aborigines was in progress. The +governors of the districts through which these hordes passed were not +able to summon enough strength to resist them. Pachacuti VI assembled +the larger part of his army near the pass of La Raya and awaited the +approach of the enemy. If the accounts given in Montesinos are true, +this wall near La Raya may have been built about 1100 years ago, +by the chiefs who were told to "fortify the strategic points." + +Certainly the pass of La Raya, long the gateway from the Titicaca +Basin to the important cities and towns of the Urubamba Basin, was the +key to the situation. It is probable that Pachacuti VI drew up his +army behind this wall. His men were undoubtedly armed with slings, +the weapon most familiar to the highland shepherds. The invaders, +however, carried bows and arrows, more effective arms, swifter, more +difficult to see, less easy to dodge. As Pachacuti VI was carried +over the field of battle on a golden stretcher, encouraging his men, +he was killed by an arrow. His army was routed. Montesinos states that +only five hundred escaped. Leaving behind their wounded, they fled to +"Tampu-tocco," a healthy place where there was a cave, in which they +hid the precious body of their ruler. Most writers believe this to +be at Paccaritampu where there are caves under an interesting carved +rock. There is no place in Peru to-day which still bears the name +of Tampu-tocco. To try and identify it with some of the ruins which +do exist, and whose modern names are not found in the early Spanish +writers, has been one of the principal objects of my expeditions to +Peru, as will be described in subsequent chapters. + + +------ +FIGURE + +A Potato-field at La Raya +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Laying Down the Warp for a Blanket: Near the Pass of La Raya +------ + + +Near the watershed of La Raya we saw great flocks of sheep and alpacas, +numerous corrals, and the thatched-roofed huts of herdsmen. The +Quichua women are never idle. One often sees them engaged in the +manufacture of textiles--shawls, girdles, ponchos, and blankets--on +hand looms fastened to stakes driven into the ground. When tending +flocks or walking along the road they are always winding or spinning +yarn. Even the men and older children are sometimes thus engaged. The +younger children, used as shepherds as soon as they reach the +age of six or seven, are rarely expected to do much except watch +their charges. Some of them were accompanied by long-haired suncca +shepherd dogs, as large as Airedales, but very cowardly, given to +barking and slinking away. It is claimed that the sunccas, as well +as two other varieties, were domesticated by the Incas. None of them +showed any desire to make the acquaintance of "Checkers," my faithful +Airedale. Their masters, however, were always interested to see that +"Checkers" could understand English. They had never seen a dog that +could understand anything but Quichua! + +On the hillside near La Raya, Mr. Cook, Mr. Gilbert, and I visited +a healthy potato field at an elevation of 14,500 feet, a record +altitude for potatoes. When commencing to plough or spade a potato +field on the high slopes near here, it is the custom of the Indians to +mark it off into squares, by "furrows" about fifteen feet apart. The +Quichuas commence their task soon after daybreak. Due to the absence +of artificial lighting and the discomfort of rising in the bitter cold +before dawn, their wives do not prepare breakfast before ten o'clock, +at which time it is either brought from home in covered earthenware +vessels or cooked in the open fields near where the men are working. + +We came across one energetic landowner supervising a score or more +of Indians who were engaged in "ploughing" a potato field. Although +he was dressed in European garb and was evidently a man of means and +intelligence, and near the railroad, there were no modern implements +in sight. We found that it is difficult to get Indians to use any +except the implements of their ancestors. The process of "ploughing" +this field was undoubtedly one that had been used for centuries, +probably long before the Spanish Conquest. The men, working in unison +and in a long row, each armed with a primitive spade or "foot plough," +to the handle of which footholds were lashed, would, at a signal, leap +forward with a shout and plunge their spades into the turf. Facing +each pair of men was a girl or woman whose duty it was to turn the +clods over by hand. The men had taken off their ponchos, so as to +secure greater freedom of action, but the women were fully clothed as +usual, modesty seeming to require them even to keep heavy shawls over +their shoulders. Although the work was hard and painful, the toil was +lightened by the joyous contact of community activity. Every one worked +with a will. There appeared to be a keen desire among the workers to +keep up with the procession. Those who fell behind were subjected to +good-natured teasing. Community work is sometimes pleasant, even though +it appears to require a strong directing hand. The "boss" was right +there. Such practices would never suit those who love independence. + +In the centuries of Inca domination there was little opportunity for +individual effort. Private property was not understood. Everything +belonged to the government. The crops were taken by the priests, +the Incas and the nobles. The people were not as unhappy as we +should be. One seldom had to labor alone. Everything was done in +common. When it was time to cultivate the fields or to harvest the +crops, the laborers were ordered by the Incas to go forth in huge +family parties. They lessened the hardships of farm labor by village +gossip and choral singing, interspersed at regular intervals with +rest periods, in which quantities of chicha quenched the thirst and +cheered the mind. + +Habits of community work are still shown in the Andes. One often sees a +score or more of Indians carrying huge bundles of sheaves of wheat or +barley. I have found a dozen yoke of oxen, each a few yards from the +other in a parallel line, engaged in ploughing synchronously small +portions of a large field. Although the landlords frequently visit +Lima and sometimes go to Paris and New York, where they purchase +for their own use the products of modern invention, the fields are +still cultivated in the fashion introduced three centuries ago by the +conquistadores, who brought the first draft animals and the primitive +pointed plough of the ancient Mediterranean. + +Crops at La Raya are not confined to potatoes. Another food plant, +almost unknown to Europeans, even those who live in Lima, is canihua, +a kind of pigweed. It was being harvested at the time of our visit +in April. The threshing floor for canihua is a large blanket laid +on the ground. On top of this the stalks are placed and the flail +applied, the blanket serving to prevent the small grayish seeds from +escaping. The entire process uses nothing of European origin and has +probably not changed for centuries. + +We noticed also quinoa and even barley growing at an elevation of +14,000 feet. Quinoa is another species of pigweed. It often attains +a height of three to four feet. There are several varieties. The +white-seeded variety, after being boiled, may be fairly compared +with oatmeal. Mr. Cook actually preferred it to the Scotch article, +both for taste and texture. The seeds retain their form after being +cooked and "do not appear so slimy as oatmeal." Other varieties of +quinoa are bitter and have to be boiled several times, the water +being frequently changed. The growing quinoa presents an attractive +appearance; its leaves assume many colors. + +As we went down the valley the evidences of extensive cultivation, +both ancient and modern, steadily increased. Great numbers of old +terraces were to be seen. There were many fields of wheat, some of them +growing high up on the mountain side in what are called temporales, +where, owing to the steep slope, there is little effort at tillage or +cultivation, the planter trusting to luck to get some kind of a crop +in reward for very little effort. On April 14th, just above Sicuani, +we saw fields where habas beans had been gathered and the dried stalks +piled in little stacks. At Occobamba, or the pampa where oca grows, +we found fields of that useful tuber, just now ripening. Near by +were little thatched shelters, erected for the temporary use of night +watchmen during the harvest season. + +The Peruvian highlanders whom we met by the roadside were different +in feature, attitude, and clothing from those of the Titicaca Basin +or even of Santa Rosa, which is not far away. They were typical +Quichuas--peaceful agriculturists--usually spinning wool on the +little hand spindles which have been used in the Andes from time +immemorial. Their huts are built of adobe, the roofs thatched with +coarse grass. + +The Quichuas are brown in color. Their hair is straight and black. Gray +hair is seldom seen. It is the custom among the men in certain +localities to wear their hair long and braided. Beards are sparse or +lacking. Bald heads are very rare. Teeth seem to be more enduring +than with us. Throughout the Andes the frequency of well-preserved +teeth was everywhere noteworthy except on sugar plantations, where +there is opportunity to indulge freely in crude brown sugar nibbled +from cakes or mixed with parched corn and eaten as a travel ration. + +The Quichua face is broad and short. Its breadth is nearly the same +as the Eskimo. Freckles are not common and appear to be limited to +face and arms, in the few cases in which they were observed. On the +other hand, a large proportion of the Indians are pock-marked and +show the effects of living in a country which is "free from medical +tyranny." There is no compulsory vaccination. + +One hardly ever sees a fat Quichua. It is difficult to tell whether +this is a racial characteristic or due rather to the lack of +fat-producing foods in their diet. Although the Peruvian highlander +has made the best use he could of the llama, he was never able to +develop its slender legs and weak back sufficiently to use it for +loads weighing more than eighty or a hundred pounds. Consequently, for +the carrying of really heavy burdens he had to depend on himself. As +a result, it is not surprising to learn from Dr. Ferris that while +his arms are poorly developed, his shoulders are broader, his back +muscles stronger, and the calves of his legs larger and more powerful +than those of almost any other race. + +The Quichuas are fond of shaking hands. When a visiting Indian +joins a group he nearly always goes through the gentle ceremony with +each person in turn. I do not know whether this was introduced by +the Spaniards or comes down from prehistoric times. In any event, +this handshaking in no way resembles the hearty clasp familiar to +undergraduates at the beginning of the college year. As a matter of +fact the Quichua handshake is extremely fishy and lacks cordiality. In +testing the hand grip of the Quichuas by a dynamometer our surgeons +found that the muscles of the forearm were poorly developed in the +Quichua and the maximum grip was weak in both sexes, the average +for the man being only about half of that found among American white +adults of sedentary habits. + +Dr. Ales Hrdlicka believes that the aboriginal races of North +and South America were of the same stock. The wide differences +in physiognomy observable among the different tribes in North and +South America are perhaps due to their environmental history during +the past 10,000 or 20,000 years. Mr. Frank Chapman, of the American +Museum of Natural History, has pointed out the interesting biological +fact that animals and birds found at sea level in the cold regions of +Tierra del Fuego, while not found at sea level in Peru, do exist at +very high altitudes, where the climate is similar to that with which +they are acquainted. Similarly, it is interesting to learn that the +inhabitants of the cold, lofty regions of southern Peru, living in +towns and villages at altitudes of from 9000 to 14,000 feet above the +sea, have physical peculiarities closely resembling those living at +sea level in Tierra del Fuego, Alaska, and Labrador. Dr. Ferris says +the Labrador Eskimo and the Quichua constitute the two "best-known +short-stature races on the American continent." + +So far as we could learn by questions and observation, about one +quarter of the Quichuas are childless. In families which have children +the average number is three or four. Large families are not common, +although we generally learned that the living children in a family +usually represented less than half of those which had been born. Infant +mortality is very great. The proper feeding of children is not +understood and it is a marvel how any of them manage to grow up at all. + +Coughs and bronchial trouble are very common among the Indians. In +fact, the most common afflictions of the tableland are those of the +throat and lungs. Pneumonia is the most serious and most to be dreaded +of all local diseases. It is really terrifying. Due to the rarity +of the air and relative scarcity of oxygen, pneumonia is usually +fatal at 8000 feet and is uniformly so at 11,000 feet. Patients are +frequently ill only twenty-four hours. Tuberculosis is fairly common, +its prevalence undoubtedly caused by the living conditions practiced +among the highlanders, who are unwilling to sleep in a room which is +not tightly closed and protected against any possible intrusion of +fresh air. In the warmer valleys, where bodily comfort has led the +natives to use huts of thatch and open reeds, instead of the air-tight +hovels of the cold, bleak plateau, tuberculosis is seldom seen. Of +course, there are no "boards of health," nor are the people bothered by +being obliged to conform to any sanitary regulations. Water supplies +are so often contaminated that the people have learned to avoid +drinking it as far as possible. Instead, they eat quantities of soup. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Ruins of the Temple of Viracocha at Racche +------ + + +In the market-place of Sicuani, the largest town in the valley, and +the border-line between the potato-growing uplands and lowland maize +fields, we attended the famous Sunday market. Many native "druggists" +were present. Their stock usually consisted of "medicines," whose +efficacy was learned by the Incas. There were forty or fifty kinds +of simples and curiosities, cure-alls, and specifics. Fully half +were reported to me as being "useful against fresh air" or the evil +effects of drafts. The "medicines" included such minerals as iron +ore and sulphur; such vegetables as dried seeds, roots, and the +leaves of plants domesticated hundreds of years ago by the Incas or +gathered in the tropical jungles of the lower Urubamba Valley; and +such animals as starfish brought from the Pacific Ocean. Some of them +were really useful herbs, while others have only a psychopathic effect +on the patient. Each medicine was in an attractive little particolored +woolen bag. The bags, differing in design and color, woven on miniature +hand looms, were arranged side by side on the ground, the upper parts +turned over and rolled down so as to disclose the contents. + +Not many miles below Sicuani, at a place called Racche, are the +remarkable ruins of the so-called Temple of Viracocha, described by +Squier. At first sight Racche looks as though there were here a row +of nine or ten lofty adobe piers, forty or fifty feet high! Closer +inspection, however, shows them all to be parts of the central wall of +a great temple. The wall is pierced with large doors and the spaces +between the doors are broken by niches, narrower at the top than at +the bottom. There are small holes in the doorposts for bar-holds. The +base of the great wall is about five feet thick and is of stone. The +ashlars are beautifully cut and, while not rectangular, are roughly +squared and fitted together with most exquisite care, so as to insure +their making a very firm foundation. Their surface is most attractive, +but, strange to say, there is unmistakable evidence that the builders +did not wish the stonework to show. This surface was at one time +plastered with clay, a very significant fact. The builders wanted the +wall to seem to be built entirely of adobe, yet, had the great clay +wall rested on the ground, floods and erosion might have succeeded +in undermining it. Instead, it rests securely on a beautifully built +foundation of solid masonry. Even so, the great wall does not stand +absolutely true, but leans slightly to the westward. The wall also +seems to be less weathered on the west side. Probably the prevailing +or strongest wind is from the east. + +An interesting feature of the ruins is a round column about twenty +feet high--a very rare occurrence in Inca architecture. It also +is of adobe, on a stone foundation. There is only one column now +standing. In Squier's day the remains of others were to be seen, +but I could find no evidences of them. There was probably a double +row of these columns to support the stringers and tiebeams of the +roof. Apparently one end of a tiebeam rested on the circular column +and the other end was embedded in the main wall. The holes where the +tiebeams entered the wall have stone lintels. + +Near the ruins of the great temple are those of other buildings, also +unique, so far as I know. The base of the party wall, decorated with +large niches, is of cut ashlars carefully laid; the middle course is of +adobe, while the upper third is of rough, uncut stones. It looks very +odd now but was originally covered with fine clay or stucco. In several +cases the plastered walls are still standing, in fairly good condition, +particularly where they have been sheltered from the weather. + +The chief marvel of Racche, however, is the great adobe wall of the +temple, which is nearly fifty feet high. It is slowly disintegrating, +as might be expected. The wonder is that it should have stood so +long in a rainy region without any roof or protecting cover. It is +incredible that for at least five hundred years a wall of sun-dried +clay should have been able to defy severe rainstorms. The lintels, +made of hard-wood timbers and partially embedded in the wall, are all +gone; yet the adobe remains. It would be very interesting to find out +whether the water of the springs near the temple contains lime. If +so this might have furnished natural calcareous cement in sufficient +quantity to give the clay a particularly tenacious quality, able to +resist weathering. The factors which have caused this extraordinary +adobe wall to withstand the weather in such an exposed position for +so many centuries, notwithstanding the heavy rains of each summer +season from December to March, are worthy of further study. + +It has been claimed that this temple was devoted to the worship +of Viracocha, a great deity, the Jove or Zeus of the ancient +pantheon. It seems to me more reasonable to suppose that a primitive +folk constructed here a temple to the presiding divinity of the place, +the god who gave them this precious clay. The principal industry +of the neighboring village is still the manufacture of pottery. No +better clay for ceramic purposes has been found in the Andes. + +It would have been perfectly natural for the prehistoric potters to +have desired to placate the presiding divinity, not so much perhaps +out of gratitude for the clay as to avert his displeasure and fend +off bad luck in baking pottery. It is well known that the best pottery +of the Incas was extremely fine in texture. Students of ceramics are +well aware of the uncertainty of the results of baking clay. Bad luck +seems to come most unaccountably, even when the greatest pains are +taken. Might it not have been possible that the people who were most +concerned with creating pottery decided to erect this temple to insure +success and get as much good luck as possible? Near the ancient temple +is a small modern church with two towers. The churchyard appears to be +a favorite place for baking pottery. Possibly the modern potters use +the church to pray for success in their baking, just as the ancient +potters used the great temple of Viracocha. The walls of the church are +composed partly of adobe and partly of cut stones taken from the ruins. + +Not far away is a fairly recent though prehistoric lava flow. It +occurs to me that possibly this flow destroyed some of the clay +beds from which the ancient potters got their precious material. The +temple may have been erected as a propitiatory offering to the god +of volcanoes in the hope that the anger which had caused him to send +the lava flow might be appeased. It may be that the Inca Viracocha, +an unusually gifted ruler, was particularly interested in ceramics and +was responsible for building the temple. If so, it would be natural +for people who are devoted to ancestor worship to have here worshiped +his memory. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Route Map of the Peruvian Expedition of 1912 +------ + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +The Valley of the Huatanay + +The valley of the Huatanay is one of many valleys tributary to the +Urubamba. It differs from them in having more arable land located under +climatic conditions favorable for the raising of the food crops of the +ancient Peruvians. Containing an area estimated at less than 160 square +miles, it was the heart of the greatest empire that South America has +ever seen. It is still intensively cultivated, the home of a large +percentage of the people of this part of Peru. The Huatanay itself +sometimes meanders through the valley in a natural manner, but at +other times is seen to be confined within carefully built stone walls +constructed by prehistoric agriculturists anxious to save their fields +from floods and erosion. The climate is temperate. Extreme cold is +unknown. Water freezes in the lowlands during the dry winter season, +in June and July, and frost may occur any night in the year above +13,000 feet, but in general the climate may be said to be neither +warm nor cold. + +This rich valley was apportioned by the Spanish conquerors to +soldiers who were granted large estates as well as the labor of +the Indians living on them. This method still prevails and one may +occasionally meet on the road wealthy landholders on their way to and +from town. Although mules are essentially the most reliable saddle +animals for work in the Andes, these landholders usually prefer horses, +which are larger and faster, as well as being more gentle and better +gaited. The gentry of the Huatanay Valley prefer a deep-seated saddle, +over which is laid a heavy sheepskin or thick fur mat. The fashionable +stirrups are pyramidal in shape, made of wood decorated with silver +bands. Owing to the steepness of the roads, a crupper is considered +necessary and is usually decorated with a broad, embossed panel, +from which hang little trappings reminiscent of medieval harness. The +bridle is usually made of carefully braided leather, decorated with +silver and frequently furnished with an embossed leather eye shade or +blinder, to indicate that the horse is high-spirited. This eye shade, +which may be pulled down so as to blind both eyes completely, is more +useful than a hitching post in persuading the horse to stand still. + +The valley of the Huatanay River is divided into three parts, the +basins of Lucre, Oropesa, and Cuzco. The basaltic cliffs near Oropesa +divide the Lucre Basin from the Oropesa Basin. The pass at Angostura, +or "the narrows," is the natural gateway between the Oropesa Basin and +the Cuzco Basin. Each basin contains interesting ruins. In the Lucre +Basin the most interesting are those of Rumiccolca and Piquillacta. + +At the extreme eastern end of the valley, on top of the pass which +leads to the Vilcanota is an ancient gateway called Rumiccolca (Rumi = +"stone"; ccolca = "granary"). It is commonly supposed that this was +an Inca fortress, intended to separate the chiefs of Cuzco from those +of Vilcanota. It is now locally referred to as a "fortaleza." The +major part of the wall is well built of rough stones, laid in clay, +while the sides of the gateway are faced with carefully cut andesite +ashlars of an entirely different style. It is conceivable that some +great chieftain built the rough wall in the days when the highlands +were split up among many little independent rulers, and that later one +of the Incas, no longer needing any fortifications between the Huatanay +Valley and the Vilcanota Valley, tore down part of the wall and built +a fine gateway. The faces of the ashlars are nicely finished except +for several rough bosses or nubbins. They were probably used by the +ancient masons in order to secure a better hold when finally adjusting +the ashlars with small crowbars. It may have been the intention of the +stone masons to remove these nubbins after the wall was completed. In +one of the unfinished structures at Machu Picchu I noticed similar +bosses. The name "Stone-granary" was probably originally applied to +a neighboring edifice now in ruins. + +On the rocky hillside above Rumiccolca are the ruins of many ancient +terraces and some buildings. Not far from Rumiccolca, on the slopes +of Mt. Piquillacta, are the ruins of an extensive city, also called +Piquillacta. A large number of its houses have extraordinarily high +walls. A high wall outside the city, and running north and south, +was obviously built to protect it from enemies approaching from the +Vilcanota Valley. In the other directions the slopes are so steep as +to render a wall unnecessary. The walls are built of fragments of lava +rock, with which the slopes of Mt. Piquillacta are covered. Cacti and +thorny scrub are growing in the ruins, but the volcanic soil is rich +enough to attract the attention of agriculturists, who come here from +neighboring villages to cultivate their crops. The slopes above the +city are still extensively cultivated, but without terraces. Wheat +and barley are the principal crops. + +As an illustration of the difficulty of identifying places in ancient +Peru, it is worth noting that the gateway now called Rumiccolca is +figured in Squier's "Peru" as "Piquillacta." On the other hand, +the ruins of the large city, "covering thickly an area nearly a +square mile," are called by Squier "the great Inca town of Muyna," +a name also applied to the little lake which lies in the bottom of +the Lucre Basin. As Squier came along the road from Racche he saw +Mt. Piquillacta first, then the gateway, then Lake Muyna, then the +ruins of the city. In each case the name of the most conspicuous, +harmless, natural phenomenon seems to have been applied to ruins by +those of whom he inquired. My own experience was different. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Lucre Basin, Lake Muyna, and the City Wall of Piquillacta +------ + + +Dr. Aguilar, a distinguished professor in the University of Cuzco, who +has a country place in the neighborhood and is very familiar with this +region, brought me to this ancient city from the other direction. From +him I learned that the city ruins are called Piquillacta, the name +which is also applied to the mountain which lies to the eastward +of the ruins and rises 1200 feet above them. Dr. Aguilar lives near +Oropesa. As one comes from Oropesa, Mt. Piquillacta is a conspicuous +point and is directly in line with the city ruins. Consequently, +it would be natural for people viewing it from this direction to +give to the ruins the name of the mountain rather than that of the +lake. Yet the mountain may be named for the ruins. Piqui means "flea"; +llacta means "town, city, country, district, or territory." Was this +"The Territory of the Fleas" or was it "Flea Town"? And what was its +name in the days of the Incas? Was the old name abandoned because it +was considered unlucky? + +Whatever the reason, it is a most extraordinary fact that we have +here the evidences of a very large town, possibly pre-Inca, long since +abandoned. There are scores of houses and numerous compounds laid out +in regular fashion, the streets crossing each other at right angles, +the whole covering an area considerably larger than the important town +of Ollantaytambo. Not a soul lives here. It is true that across the +Vilcanota to the east is a difficult, mountainous country culminating +in Mt. Ausangate, the highest peak in the department. Yet Piquillacta +is in the midst of a populous region. To the north lies the thickly +settled valley of Pisac and Yucay; to the south, the important +Vilcanota Valley with dozens of villages; to the west the densely +populated valley of the Huatanay and Cuzco itself, the largest city +in the highlands of Peru. Thousands of people live within a radius of +twenty miles of Piquillacta, and the population is on the increase. It +is perfectly easy of access and is less than a mile east of the +railroad. Yet it is "abandonado--desierto--despoblado"! Undoubtedly +here was once a large city of great importance. The reason for its +being abandoned appears to be the absence of running water. Although +Mt. Piquillacta is a large mass, nearly five miles long and two miles +wide, rising to a point of 2000 feet above the Huatanay and Vilcanota +rivers, it has no streams, brooks, or springs. It is an isolated, +extinct volcano surrounded by igneous rocks, lavas, andesites, +and basalts. + +How came it that so large a city as Piquillacta could have been built +on the slopes of a mountain which has no running streams? Has the +climate changed so much since those days? If so, how is it that the +surrounding region is still the populous part of southern Peru? It is +inconceivable that so large a city could have been built and occupied +on a plateau four hundred feet above the nearest water unless there +was some way of providing it other than the arduous one of bringing +every drop up the hill on the backs of men and llamas. If there +were no places near here better provided with water than this site, +one could understand that perhaps its inhabitants were obliged to +depend entirely upon water carriers. On the contrary, within a radius +of six miles there are half a dozen unoccupied sites near running +streams. Until further studies can be made of this puzzling problem +I believe that the answer lies in the ruins of Rumiccolca, which are +usually thought of as a fortress. + +Squier says that this "fortress" was "the southern limit of the +dominions of the first Inca." "The fortress reaches from the mountain, +on one side, to a high, rocky eminence on the other. It is popularly +called 'El Aqueducto,' perhaps from some fancied resemblance to an +aqueduct--but the name is evidently misapplied." Yet he admits that the +cross-section of the wall, diminishing as it does "by graduations or +steps on both sides," "might appear to conflict with the hypothesis +of its being a work of defense or fortification" if it occupied +"a different position." He noticed that "the top of the wall is +throughout of the same level; becomes less in height as it approaches +the hills on either hand and diminishes proportionately in thickness" +as an aqueduct should do. Yet, so possessed was he by the "fortress" +idea that he rejected not only local tradition as expressed in the +native name, but even turned his back on the evidence of his own +eyes. It seems to me that there is little doubt that instead of the +ruins of Rumiccolca representing a fortification, we have here the +remains of an ancient azequia, or aqueduct, built by some powerful +chieftain to supply the people of Piquillacta with water. + +A study of the topography of the region shows that the river which +rises southwest of the village of Lucre and furnishes water power +for its modern textile mills could have been used to supply such +an azequia. The water, collected at an elevation of 10,700 feet, +could easily have been brought six miles along the southern slopes +of the Lucre Basin, around Mt. Rumiccolca and across the old road, +on this aqueduct, at an elevation of about 10,600 feet. This would +have permitted it to flow through some of the streets of Piquillacta +and give the ancient city an adequate supply of water. The slopes +of Rumiccolca are marked by many ancient terraces. Their upper limit +corresponds roughly with the contour along which such an azequia would +have had to pass. There is, in fact, a distinct line on the hillside +which looks as though an azequia had once passed that way. In the +valley back of Lucre are also faint indications of old azequias. There +has been, however, a considerable amount of erosion on the hills, +and if, as seems likely, the water-works have been out of order for +several centuries, it is not surprising that all traces of them have +disappeared in places. I regret very much that circumstances over +which I had no control prevented my making a thorough study of the +possibilities of such a theory. It remains for some fortunate future +investigator to determine who were the inhabitants of Piquillacta, +how they secured their water supply, and why the city was abandoned. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Sacsahuaman: Detail of Lower Terrace Wall +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Ruins of the Aqueduct of Rumiccolca +------ + + +Until then I suggest as a possible working hypothesis that we have at +Piquillacta the remains of a pre-Inca city; that its chiefs and people +cultivated the Lucre Basin and its tributaries; that as a community +they were a separate political entity from the people of Cuzco; +that the ruler of the Cuzco people, perhaps an Inca, finally became +sufficiently powerful to conquer the people of the Lucre Basin, and +removed the tribes which had occupied Piquillacta to a distant part of +his domain, a system of colonization well known in the history of the +Incas; that, after the people who had built and lived in Piquillacta +departed, no subsequent dwellers in this region cared to reoccupy the +site, and its aqueduct fell into decay. It is easy to believe that +at first such a site would have been considered unlucky. Its houses, +unfamiliar and unfashionable in design, would have been considered not +desirable. Their high walls might have been used for a reconstructed +city had there been plenty of water available. In any case, the ruins +of the Lucre Basin offer a most fascinating problem. + +In the Oropesa Basin the most important ruins are those of Tipon, +a pleasant, well-watered valley several hundred feet above the +village of Quispicanchi. They include carefully constructed houses +of characteristic Inca construction, containing many symmetrically +arranged niches with stone lintels. The walls of most of the houses +are of rough stones laid in clay. Tipon was probably the residence +of the principal chief of the Oropesa Basin. It commands a pleasant +view of the village and of the hills to the south, which to-day +are covered with fields of wheat and barley. At Tipon there is a +nicely constructed fountain of cut stone. Some of the terraces are +extremely well built, with roughly squared blocks fitting tightly +together. Access from one terrace to another was obtained by steps made +each of a single bonder projecting from the face of the terrace. Few +better constructed terrace walls are to be seen anywhere. The terraces +are still cultivated by the people of Quispicanchi. No one lives at +Tipon now, although little shepherd boys and goatherds frequent the +neighborhood. It is more convenient for the agriculturists to live +at the edge of their largest fields, which are in the valley bottom, +than to climb five hundred feet into the narrow valley and occupy the +old buildings. Motives of security no longer require a residence here +rather than in the open plain. + +While I was examining the ruins and digging up a few attractive +potsherds bearing Inca designs, Dr. Giesecke, the President of the +University of Cuzco, who had accompanied me, climbed the mountain above +Tipon with Dr. Aguilar and reported the presence of a fortification +near its summit. My stay at Oropesa was rendered most comfortable +and happy by the generous hospitality of Dr. Aguilar, whose finca +is between Quispicanchi and Oropesa and commands a charming view of +the valley. + +From the Oropesa Basin, one enters the Cuzco Basin through an opening +in the sandstone cliffs of Angostura near the modern town of San +Geronimo. On the slopes above the south bank of the Huatanay, just +beyond Angostura, are the ruins of a score or more of gable-roofed +houses of characteristic Inca construction. The ancient buildings +have doors, windows, and niches in walls of small stones laid in clay, +the lintels having been of wood, now decayed. When we asked the name +of these ruins we were told that it was Saylla, although that is +the name of a modern village three miles away, down the Huatanay, +in the Oropesa Basin. Like Piquillacta, old Saylla has no water +supply at present. It is not far from a stream called the Kkaira +and could easily have been supplied with water by an azequia less +than two miles in length brought along the 11,000 feet contour. It +looks very much like the case of a village originally placed on the +hills for the sake of comparative security and isolation and later +abandoned through a desire to enjoy the advantages of living near +the great highway in the bottom of the valley, after the Incas had +established peace over the highlands. There may be another explanation. + +It appears from Mr. Cook's studies that the deforestation of the Cuzco +Basin by the hand of man, and modern methods of tillage on unterraced +slopes, have caused an unusual amount of erosion to occur. Landslides +are frequent in the rainy season. + +Opposite Saylla is Mt. Picol, whose twin peaks are the most conspicuous +feature on the north side of the basin. Waste material from its +slopes is causing the rapid growth of a great gravel fan north of the +village of San Geronimo. Professor Gregory noticed that the streams +traversing the fan are even now engaged in burying ancient fields by +"transporting gravel from the head of the fan to its lower margin," +and that the lower end of the Cuzco Basin, where the Huatanay, hemmed +in between the Angostura Narrows, cannot carry away the sediment as +fast as it is brought down by its tributaries, is being choked up. If +old Saylla represents a fortress set here to defend Cuzco against old +Oropesa, it might very naturally have been abandoned when the rule +of the Incas finally spread far over the Andes. On the other hand, +it seems more likely that the people who built Saylla were farmers +and that when the lower Cuzco Basin was filled up by aggradation, +due to increased erosion, they abandoned this site for one nearer the +arable lands. One may imagine the dismay with which the agricultural +residents of these ancient houses saw their beautiful fields at the +bottom of the hill, covered in a few days, or even hours, by enormous +quantities of coarse gravel brought down from the steep slopes of Picol +after some driving rainstorm. It may have been some such catastrophe +that led them to take up their residence elsewhere. As a matter of +fact we do not know when it was abandoned. Further investigation +might point to its having been deserted when the Spanish village of +San Geronimo was founded. However, I believe students of agriculture +will agree with me that deforestation, increased erosion, and aggrading +gravel banks probably drove the folk out of Saylla. + +The southern rim of the Cuzco Basin is broken by no very striking +peaks, although Huanacaurai (13,427 ft.), the highest point, is +connected in Inca tradition with some of the principal festivals +and religious celebrations. The north side of the Huatanay Valley is +much more irregular, ranging from Ttica Ttica pass (12,000 ft.) to +Mt. Pachatucsa (15,915 ft.), whose five little peaks are frequently +snow-clad. There is no permanent snow either here or elsewhere in +the Huatanay Valley. + +The people of the Cuzco Basin are very short of fuel. There is no +native coal. What the railroad uses comes from Australia. Firewood is +scarce. The ancient forests disappeared long ago. The only trees in +sight are a few willows or poplars from Europe and one or two groves of +eucalyptus, also from Australia. Cuzco has been thought of and written +of as being above the tree line, but such is not the case. The absence +of trees on the neighboring hills is due entirely to the hand of man, +the long occupation, the necessities of early agriculturists, who +cleared the forests before the days of intensive terrace agriculture, +and the firewood requirements of a large population. The people of +Cuzco do not dream of having enough fuel to make their houses warm +and comfortable. Only with difficulty can they get enough for cooking +purposes. They depend largely on fagots and straw which are brought +into town on the backs of men and animals. + +In the fields of stubble left from the wheat and barley harvest we +saw many sheep feeding. They were thin and long-legged and many of +the rams had four horns, apparently due to centuries of inbreeding +and the failure to improve the original stock by the introduction of +new and superior strains. + +When one looks at the great amount of arable slopes on most of the +hills of the Cuzco Basin and the unusually extensive flat land near the +Huatanay, one readily understands why the heart of Inca Land witnessed +a concentration of population very unusual in the Andes. Most of the +important ruins are in the northwest quadrant of the basin either in +the immediate vicinity of Cuzco itself or on the "pampas" north of the +city. The reason is that the arable lands where most extensive potato +cultivation could be carried out are nearly all in this quadrant. In +the midst of this potato country, at the foot of the pass that leads +directly to Pisac and Paucartambo, is a picturesque ruin which bears +the native name of Pucara. + +Pucara is the Quichua word for fortress and it needs but one glance +at the little hilltop crowned with a rectangular fortification to +realize that the term is justified. The walls are beautifully made of +irregular blocks closely fitted together. Advantage was taken of small +cliffs on two sides of the hill to strengthen the fortifications. We +noticed openings or drains which had been cut in the wall by the +original builders in order to prevent the accumulation of moisture on +the terraced floor of the enclosed area, which is several feet above +that of the sloping field outside. Similar conduits may be seen in +many of the old walls in the city of Cuzco. Apparently, the ancient +folk fully appreciated the importance of good drainage and took pains +to secure it. At present Pucara is occupied by llama herdsmen and +drovers, who find the enclosure a very convenient corral. Probably +Pucara was built by the chief of a tribe of prehistoric herdsmen who +raised root crops and kept their flocks of llamas and alpacas on the +neighboring grassy slopes. + +A short distance up the stream of the Lkalla Chaca, above Pucara, is +a warm mineral spring. Around it is a fountain of cut stone. Near by +are the ruins of a beautiful terrace, on top of which is a fine wall +containing four large, ceremonial niches, level with the ground and +about six feet high. The place is now called Tampu Machai. Polo de +Ondegardo, who lived in Cuzco in 1560, while many of the royal family +of the Incas were still alive, gives a list of the sacred or holy +places which were venerated by all the Indians in those days. Among +these he mentions that of Timpucpuquio, the "hot springs" near Tambo +Machai, "called so from the manner in which the water boils up." The +next huaca, or holy place, he mentions is Tambo Machai itself, +"a house of the Inca Yupanqui, where he was entertained when he +went to be married. It was placed on a hill near the road over the +Andes. They sacrifice everything here except children." + +The stonework of the ruins here is so excellent in character, the +ashlars being very carefully fitted together, one may fairly assume +a religious origin for the place. The Quichua word macchini means +"to wash" or "to rinse a large narrow-mouthed pitcher." It may be +that at Tampu Machai ceremonial purification of utensils devoted to +royal or priestly uses was carried on. It is possible that this is +the place where, according to Molina, all the youths of Cuzco who had +been armed as knights in the great November festival came on the 21st +day of the month to bathe and change their clothes. Afterwards they +returned to the city to be lectured by their relatives. "Each relation +that offered a sacrifice flogged a youth and delivered a discourse to +him, exhorting him to be valiant and never to be a traitor to the Sun +and the Inca, but to imitate the bravery and prowess of his ancestors." + +Tampu Machai is located on a little bluff above the Lkalla Chaca, +a small stream which finally joins the Huatanay near the town of San +Sebastian. Before it reaches the Huatanay, the Lkalla Chaca joins the +Cachimayo, famous as being so highly impregnated with salt as to have +caused the rise of extensive salt works. In fact, the Pizarros named +the place Las Salinas, or "the Salt Pits," on account of the salt +pans with which, by a careful system of terracing, the natives had +filled the Cachimayo Valley. Prescott describes the great battle which +took place here on April 26, 1539, between the forces of Pizarro and +Almagro, the two leaders who had united for the original conquest of +Peru, but quarreled over the division of the territory. Near the salt +pans are many Inca walls and the ruins of structures, with niches, +called Rumihuasi, or "Stone House." The presence of salt in many of +the springs of the Huatanay Valley was a great source of annoyance +to our topographic engineers, who were frequently obliged to camp in +districts where the only water available was so saline as to spoil +it for drinking purposes and ruin the tea. + + + + + +The Cuzco Basin was undoubtedly once the site of a lake, "an ancient +water-body whose surface," says Professor Gregory, "lay well above +the present site of San Sebastian and San Geronimo." This lake is +believed to have reached its maximum expansion in early Pleistocene +times. Its rich silts, so well adapted for raising maize, habas beans, +and quinoa, have always attracted farmers and are still intensively +cultivated. It has been named "Lake Morkill" in honor of that loyal +friend of scientific research in Peru, William L. Morkill, Esq., +without whose untiring aid we could never have brought our Peruvian +explorations as far along as we did. In pre-glacial times Lake Morkill +fluctuated in volume. From time to time parts of the shore were +exposed long enough to enable plants to send their roots into the fine +materials and the sun to bake and crack the muds. Mastodons grazed +on its banks. "Lake Morkill probably existed during all or nearly +all of the glacial epoch." Its drainage was finally accomplished +by the Huatanay cutting down the sandstone hills, near Saylla, and +developing the Angostura gorge. + +In the banks of the Huatanay, a short distance below the city of +Cuzco, the stratified beds of the vanished Lake Morkill to-day +contain many fossil shells. Above these are gravels brought down by +the floods and landslides of more modern times, in which may be found +potsherds and bones. One of the chief affluents of the Huatanay is the +Chunchullumayo, which cuts off the southernmost third of Cuzco from +the center of the city. Its banks are terraced and are still used for +gardens and food crops. Here the hospitable Canadian missionaries have +their pleasant station, a veritable oasis of Anglo-Saxon cleanliness. + +On a July morning in 1911, while strolling up the Ayahuaycco quebrada, +an affluent of the Chunchullumayo, in company with Professor Foote +and Surgeon Erving, my interest was aroused by the sight of several +bones and potsherds exposed by recent erosion in the stratified gravel +banks of the little gulch. Further examination showed that recent +erosion had also cut through an ancient ash heap. On the side toward +Cuzco I discovered a section of stone wall, built of roughly finished +stones more or less carefully fitted together, which at first sight +appeared to have been built to prevent further washing away of that +side of the gulch. Yet above the wall and flush with its surface +the bank appeared to consist of stratified gravel, indicating that +the wall antedated the gravel deposits. Fifty feet farther up the +quebrada another portion of wall appeared under the gravel bank. On +top of the bank was a cultivated field! Half an hour's digging in +the compact gravel showed that there was more wall underneath the +field. Later investigation by Dr. Bowman showed that the wall was +about three feet thick and nine feet in height, carefully faced on +both sides with roughly cut stone and filled in with rubble, a type +of stonework not uncommon in the foundations of some of the older +buildings in the western part of the city of Cuzco. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Huatanay Vallye, Cuzco, and the Ayahuaycco Quebrada +------ + + +Even at first sight it was obvious that this wall, built by man, +was completely covered to a depth of six or eight feet by a compact +water-laid gravel bank. This was sufficiently difficult to understand, +yet a few days later, while endeavoring to solve the puzzle, +I found something even more exciting. Half a mile farther up the +gulch, the road, newly cut, ran close to the compact, perpendicular +gravel bank. About five feet above the road I saw what looked like +one of the small rocks which are freely interspersed throughout the +gravels here. Closer examination showed it to be the end of a human +femur. Apparently it formed an integral part of the gravel bank, +which rose almost perpendicularly for seventy or eighty feet above +it. Impressed by the possibilities in case it should turn out to be +true that here, in the heart of Inca Land, a human bone had been buried +under seventy-five feet of gravel, I refrained from disturbing it +until I could get Dr. Bowman and Professor Foote, the geologist and the +naturalist of the 1911 Expedition, to come with me to the Ayahuaycco +quebrada. We excavated the femur and found behind it fragments of +a number of other bones. They were excessively fragile. The femur +was unable to support more than four inches of its own weight and +broke off after the gravel had been partly removed. Although the +gravel itself was somewhat damp the bones were dry and powdery, +ashy gray in color. The bones were carried to the Hotel Central, +where they were carefully photographed, soaked in melted vaseline, +packed in cotton batting, and eventually brought to New Haven. Here +they were examined by Dr. George F. Eaton, Curator of Osteology in +the Peabody Museum. In the meantime Dr. Bowman had become convinced +that the compact gravels of Ayahuaycco were of glacial origin. + +When Dr. Eaton first examined the bone fragments he was surprised +to find among them the bone of a horse. Unfortunately a careful +examination of the photographs taken in Cuzco of all the fragments +which were excavated by us on July 11th failed to reveal this +particular bone. Dr. Bowman, upon being questioned, said that he had +dug out one or two more bones in the cliff adjoining our excavation +of July 11th and had added these to the original lot. Presumably +this horse bone was one which he had added when the bones were +packed. It did not worry him, however, and so sure was he of his +interpretation of the gravel beds that he declared he did not care +if we had found the bone of a Percheron stallion, he was sure that +the age of the vertebrate remains might be "provisionally estimated +at 20,000 to 40,000 years," until further studies could be made of +the geology of the surrounding territory. In an article on the buried +wall, Dr. Bowman came to the conclusion that "the wall is pre-Inca, +that its relations to alluvial deposits which cover it indicate its +erection before the alluvial slope in which it lies buried was formed, +and that it represents the earliest type of architecture at present +known in the Cuzco basin." + +Dr. Eaton's study of the bones brought out the fact that eight +of them were fragments of human bones representing at least three +individuals, four were fragments of llama bones, one of the bone +of a dog, and three were "bovine remains." The human remains agreed +"in all essential respects" with the bones of modern Quichuas. Llama +and dog might all have belonged to Inca, or even more recent times, +but the bovine remains presented considerable difficulty. The three +fragments were from bones which "are among the least characteristic +parts of the skeleton." That which was of greatest interest was the +fragment of a first rib, resembling the first rib of the extinct +bison. Since this fragmentary bovine rib was of a form apparently +characteristic of bisons and not seen in the domestic cattle of the +United States, Dr. Eaton felt that it could not be denied "that +the material examined suggests the possibility that some species +of bison is here represented, yet it would hardly be in accordance +with conservative methods to differentiate bison from domestic cattle +solely by characters obtained from a study of the first ribs of a small +number of individuals." Although staunchly supporting his theory of +the age of the vertebrate remains, Dr. Bowman in his report on their +geological relations admitted that the weakness of his case lay in the +fact that the bovine remains were not sharply differentiated from the +bones of modern cattle, and also in the possibility that "the bluff +in which the bones were found may be faced by younger gravel and that +the bones were found in a gravel veneer deposited during later periods +of partial valley filling, ... although it still seems very unlikely." + +Reports of glacial man in America have come from places as widely +separated as California and Argentina. Careful investigation, however, +has always thrown doubt on any great age being certainly attributable +to any human remains. In view of the fragmentary character of the +skeletal evidence, the fact that no proof of great antiquity could +be drawn from the characters of the human skeletal parts, and the +suggestion made by Dr. Bowman of the possibility that the gravels +which contained the bones might be of a later origin than he thought, +we determined to make further and more complete investigations in +1912. It was most desirable to clear up all doubts and dissolve all +skepticism. I felt, perhaps mistakenly, that while a further study +of the geology of the Cuzco Basin undoubtedly might lead Dr. Bowman +to reverse his opinion, as was expected by some geologists, if +it should lead him to confirm his original conclusions the same +skeptics would be likely to continue their skepticism and say he +was trying to bolster up his own previous opinions. Accordingly, I +believed it preferable to take another geologist, whose independent +testimony would give great weight to those conclusions should he +find them confirmed by an exhaustive geological study of the Huatanay +Valley. I asked Dr. Bowman's colleague, Professor Gregory, to make the +necessary studies. At his request a very careful map of the Huatanay +Valley was prepared under the direction of Chief Topographer Albert +H. Bumstead. Dr. Eaton, who had had no opportunity of seeing Peru, +was invited to accompany us and make a study of the bones of modern +Peruvian cattle as well as of any other skeletal remains which might +be found. + +Furthermore, it seemed important to me to dig a tunnel into the +Ayahuaycco hillside at the exact point from which we took the bones +in 1911. So I asked Mr. K. C. Heald, whose engineering training had +been in Colorado, to superintend it. Mr. Heald dug a tunnel eleven +feet long, with a cross-section four and a half by three feet, into +the solid mass of gravel. He expected to have to use timbering, but +so firmly packed was the gravel that this was not necessary. No bones +or artifacts were found--nothing but coarse gravel, uniform in texture +and containing no unmistakable evidences of stratification. Apparently +the bones had been in a land slip on the edge of an older, compact +gravel mass. + +In his studies of the Cuzco Basin Professor Gregory came to the +conclusion that the Ayahuaycco gravel banks might have been repeatedly +buried and reexcavated many times during the past few centuries. He +found evidence indicating periodic destruction and rebuilding of some +gravel terraces, "even within the past one hundred years." Accordingly +there was no longer any necessity to ascribe great antiquity to the +bones or the wall which we found in the Ayahuaycco quebrada. Although +the "Cuzco gravels are believed to have reached their greatest extent +and thickness in late Pleistocene times," more recent deposits have, +however, been superimposed on top and alongside of them. "Surface +wash from the bordering slopes, controlled in amount and character by +climatic changes, has probably been accumulating continuously since +glacial times, and has greatly increased since human occupation +began." "Geologic data do not require more than a few hundreds of +years as the age of the human remains found in the Cuzco gravels." + +But how about the "bison"? Soon after his arrival in Cuzco, Dr. Eaton +examined the first ribs of carcasses of beef animals offered for sale +in the public markets. He immediately became convinced that the "bison" +was a Peruvian domestic ox. "Under the life-conditions prevailing in +this part of the Andes, and possibly in correlation with the increased +action of the respiratory muscles in a rarefied air, domestic cattle +occasionally develop first ribs, closely approaching the form observed +in bison." Such was the sad end of the "bison" and the "Cuzco man," +who at one time I thought might be forty thousand years old, and +now believe to have been two hundred years old, perhaps. The word +Ayahuaycco in Quichua means "the valley of dead bodies" or "dead +man's gulch." There is a story that it was used as a burial place +for plague victims in Cuzco, not more than three generations ago! + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +The Oldest City in South America + +Cuzco, the oldest city in South America, has changed completely since +Squier's visit. In fact it has altered considerably since my own +first impressions of it were published in "Across South America." To +be sure, there are still the evidences of antiquity to be seen on +every side; on the other hand there are corresponding evidences +of advancement. Telephones, electric lights, street cars, and the +"movies" have come to stay. The streets are cleaner. If the modern +traveler finds fault with some of the conditions he encounters he +must remember that many of the achievements of the people of ancient +Cuzco are not yet duplicated in his own country nor have they ever +been equaled in any other part of the world. And modern Cuzco is +steadily progressing. The great square in front of the cathedral was +completely metamorphosed by Prefect Nunez in 1911; concrete walks +and beds of bright flowers have replaced the market and the old +cobblestone paving and made the plaza a favorite promenade of the +citizens on pleasant evenings. + +The principal market-place now is the Plaza of San Francisco. It is +crowded with booths of every description. Nearly all of the food-stuffs +and utensils used by the Indians may be bought here. Frequently +thronged with Indians, buying and selling, arguing and jabbering, +it affords, particularly in the early morning, a never-ending source +of entertainment to one who is fond of the picturesque and interested +in strange manners and customs. + +The retail merchants of Cuzco follow the very old custom of +congregating by classes. In one street are the dealers in hats; in +another those who sell coca. The dressmakers and tailors are nearly +all in one long arcade in a score or more of dark little shops. Their +light seems to come entirely from the front door. The occupants are +operators of American sewing-machines who not only make clothing to +order, but always have on hand a large assortment of standard sizes and +patterns. In another arcade are the shops of those who specialize in +everything which appeals to the eye and the pocketbook of the arriero: +richly decorated halters, which are intended to avert the Evil Eye +from his best mules; leather knapsacks in which to carry his coca or +other valuable articles; cloth cinches and leather bridles; rawhide +lassos, with which he is more likely to make a diamond hitch than +to rope a mule; flutes to while away the weary hours of his journey, +and candles to be burned before his patron saint as he starts for some +distant village; in a word, all the paraphernalia of his profession. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Map of Peru and view of Cuzco + +From the "Speculum Orbis Terrarum," Antwerp, 1578. +------ + + +In order to learn more about the picturesque Quichuas who throng the +streets of Cuzco it was felt to be important to secure anthropometric +measurements of a hundred Indians. Accordingly, Surgeon Nelson set up +a laboratory in the Hotel Central. His subjects were the unwilling +victims of friendly gendarmes who went out into the streets with +orders to bring for examination only pure-blooded Quichuas. Most +of the Indians showed no resentment and were in the end pleased and +surprised to find themselves the recipients of a small silver coin +as compensation for loss of time. + +One might have supposed that a large proportion of Dr. Nelson's +subjects would have claimed Cuzco as their native place, but this was +not the case. Actually fewer Indians came from the city itself than +from relatively small towns like Anta, Huaracondo, and Maras. This +may have been due to a number of causes. In the first place, +the gendarmes may have preferred to arrest strangers from distant +villages, who would submit more willingly. Secondly, the city folk +were presumably more likely to be in their shops attending to their +business or watching their wares in the plaza, an occupation which the +gendarmes could not interrupt. On the other hand it is also probably +true that the residents of Cuzco are of more mixed descent than those +of remote villages, where even to-day one cannot find more than two +or three individuals who speak Spanish. Furthermore, the attention +of the gendarmes might have been drawn more easily to the quaintly +caparisoned Indians temporarily in from the country, where city +fashions do not prevail, than to those who through long residence +in the city had learned to adopt a costume more in accordance with +European notions. In 1870, according to Squier, seven eighths of +the population of Cuzco were still pure Indian. Even to-day a large +proportion of the individuals whom one sees in the streets appears +to be of pure aboriginal ancestry. Of these we found that many are +visitors from outlying villages. Cuzco is the Mecca of the most +densely populated part of the Andes. + +Probably a large part of its citizens are of mixed Spanish and Quichua +ancestry. The Spanish conquistadores did not bring European women +with them. Nearly all took native wives. The Spanish race is composed +of such an extraordinary mixture of peoples from Europe and northern +Africa, Celts, Iberians, Romans, and Goths, as well as Carthaginians, +Berbers, and Moors, that the Hispanic peoples have far less antipathy +toward intermarriage with the American race than have the Anglo-Saxons +and Teutons of northern Europe. Consequently, there has gone on for +centuries intermarriage of Spaniards and Indians with results which +are difficult to determine. Some writers have said there were once +200,000 people in Cuzco. With primitive methods of transportation +it would be very difficult to feed so many. Furthermore, in 1559, +there were, according to Montesinos, only 20,000 Indians in Cuzco. + +One of the charms of Cuzco is the juxtaposition of old and new. Street +cars clanging over steel rails carry crowds of well-dressed Cuzcenos +past Inca walls to greet their friends at the railroad station. The +driver is scarcely able by the most vigorous application of his +brakes to prevent his mules from crashing into a compact herd of +quiet, supercilious llamas sedately engaged in bringing small sacks of +potatoes to the Cuzco market. The modern convent of La Merced is built +of stones taken from ancient Inca structures. Fastened to ashlars which +left the Inca stonemason's hands six or seven centuries ago, one sees a +bill-board advertising Cuzco's largest moving-picture theater. On the +2d of July, 1915, the performance was for the benefit of the Belgian +Red Cross! Gazing in awe at this sign were Indian boys from some remote +Andean village where the custom is to wear ponchos with broad fringes, +brightly colored, and knitted caps richly decorated with tasseled +tops and elaborate ear-tabs, a costume whose design shows no trace +of European influence. Side by side with these picturesque visitors +was a barefooted Cuzco urchin clad in a striped jersey, cloth cap, +coat, and pants of English pattern. + +One sees electric light wires fastened to the walls of houses +built four hundred years ago by the Spanish conquerors, walls which +themselves rest on massive stone foundations laid by Inca masons +centuries before the conquest. In one place telephone wires intercept +one's view of the beautiful stone facade of an old Jesuit Church, now +part of the University of Cuzco. It is built of reddish basalt from +the quarries of Huaccoto, near the twin peaks of Mt. Picol. Professor +Gregory says that this Huaccoto basalt has a softness and uniformity +of texture which renders it peculiarly suitable for that elaborately +carved stonework which was so greatly desired by ecclesiastical +architects of the sixteenth century. As compared with the dense +diorite which was extensively used by the Incas, the basalt weathers +far more rapidly. The rich red color of the weathered portions gives +to the Jesuit Church an atmosphere of extreme age. The courtyard of +the University, whose arcades echoed to the feet of learned Jesuit +teachers long before Yale was founded, has recently been paved with +concrete, transformed into a tennis court, and now echoes to the +shouts of students to whom Dr. Giesecke, the successful president, is +teaching the truth of the ancient axiom, "Mens sana in corpore sano." + +Modern Cuzco is a city of about 20,000 people. Although it is the +political capital of the most important department in southern Peru, +it had in 1911 only one hospital--a semi-public, non-sectarian +organization on the west of the city, next door to the largest +cemetery. In fact, so far away is it from everything else and +so close to the cemetery that the funeral wreaths and the more +prominent monuments are almost the only interesting things which the +patients have to look at. The building has large courtyards and open +colonnades, which would afford ideal conditions for patients able to +take advantage of open-air treatment. At the time of Surgeon Erving's +visit he found the patients were all kept in wards whose windows +were small and practically always closed and shuttered, so that the +atmosphere was close and the light insufficient. One could hardly +imagine a stronger contrast than exists between such wards and those +to which we are accustomed in the United States, where the maximum +of sunlight and fresh air is sought and patients are encouraged to +sit out-of-doors, and even have their cots on porches. There was +no resident physician. The utmost care was taken throughout the +hospital to have everything as dark as possible, thus conforming to +the ancient mountain traditions regarding the evil effects of sunlight +and fresh air. Needless to say, the hospital has a high mortality +and a very poor local reputation; yet it is the only hospital in the +Department. Outside of Cuzco, in all the towns we visited, there was +no provision for caring for the sick except in their own homes. In +the larger places there are shops where some of the more common drugs +may be obtained, but in the great majority of towns and villages +no modern medicines can be purchased. No wonder President Giesecke, +of the University, is urging his students to play football and tennis. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Towers of Jesuit Church With Cloisters and Tennis Court of University, +Cuzco +------ + + +On the slopes of the hill which overshadows the University are the +interesting terraces of Colcampata. Here, in 1571, lived Carlos Inca, +a cousin of Inca Titu Cusi, one of the native rulers who succeeded +in maintaining a precarious existence in the wilds of the Cordillera +Uilcapampa after the Spanish Conquest. In the gardens of Colcampata +is still preserved one of the most exquisite bits of Inca stonework to +be seen in Peru. One wonders whether it is all that is left of a fine +palace, or whether it represents the last efforts of a dying dynasty +to erect a suitable residence for Titu Cusi's cousin. It is carefully +preserved by Don Cesare Lomellini, the leading business man of Cuzco, a +merchant prince of Italian origin, who is at once a banker, an exporter +of hides and other country produce, and an importer of merchandise of +every description, including pencils and sugar mills, lumber and hats, +candy and hardware. He is also an amateur of Spanish colonial furniture +as well as of the beautiful pottery of the Incas. Furthermore, he +has always found time to turn aside from the pressing cares of his +large business to assist our expeditions. He has frequently brought +us in touch with the owners of country estates, or given us letters +of introduction, so that our paths were made easy. He has provided us +with storerooms for our equipment, assisted us in procuring trustworthy +muleteers, seen to it that we were not swindled in local purchases +of mules and pack saddles, given us invaluable advice in overcoming +difficulties, and, in a word, placed himself wholly at our disposal, +just as though we were his most desirable and best-paying clients. As +a matter of fact, he never was willing to receive any compensation +for the many favors he showed us. So important a factor was he in +the success of our expeditions that he deserves to be gratefully +remembered by all friends of exploration. + +Above his country house at Colcampata is the hill of Sacsahuaman. It +is possible to scramble up its face, but only by making more exertion +than is desirable at this altitude, 11,900 feet. The easiest way to +reach the famous "fortress" is by following the course of the little +Tullumayu, "Feeble Stream," the easternmost of the three canalized +streams which divide Cuzco into four parts. On its banks one first +passes a tannery and then, a short distance up a steep gorge, the +remains of an old mill. The stone flume and the adjoining ruins +are commonly ascribed by the people of Cuzco to-day to the Incas, +but do not look to me like Inca stonework. Since the Incas did not +understand the mechanical principle of the wheel, it is hardly likely +that they would have known how to make any use of water power. Finally, +careful examination of the flume discloses the presence of lead cement, +a substance unknown in Inca masonry. + +A little farther up the stream one passes through a massive +megalithic gateway and finds one's self in the presence of the +astounding gray-blue Cyclopean walls of Sacsahuaman, described in +"Across South America." Here the ancient builders constructed three +great terraces, which extend one above another for a third of a mile +across the hill between two deep gulches. The lowest terrace of the +"fortress" is faced with colossal boulders, many of which weigh ten +tons and some weigh more than twenty tons, yet all are fitted together +with the utmost precision. I have visited Sacsahuaman repeatedly. Each +time it invariably overwhelms and astounds. To a superstitious Indian +who sees these walls for the first time, they must seem to have been +built by gods. + +About a mile northeast of Sacsahuaman are several small artificial +hills, partly covered with vegetation, which seem to be composed +entirely of gray-blue rock chips--chips from the great limestone blocks +quarried here for the "fortress" and later conveyed with the utmost +pains down to Sacsahuaman. They represent the labor of countless +thousands of quarrymen. Even in modern times, with steam drills, +explosives, steel tools, and light railways, these hills would +be noteworthy, but when one pauses to consider that none of these +mechanical devices were known to the ancient stonemasons and that +these mountains of stone chips were made with stone tools and were all +carried from the quarries by hand, it fairly staggers the imagination. + +The ruins of Sacsahuaman represent not only an incredible amount of +human labor, but also a very remarkable governmental organization. That +thousands of people could have been spared from agricultural +pursuits for so long a time as was necessary to extract the blocks +from the quarries, hew them to the required shapes, transport them +several miles over rough country, and bond them together in such an +intricate manner, means that the leaders had the brains and ability +to organize and arrange the affairs of a very large population. Such +a folk could hardly have spent much time in drilling or preparing for +warfare. Their building operations required infinite pains, endless +time, and devoted skill. Such qualities could hardly have been called +forth, even by powerful monarchs, had not the results been pleasing +to the great majority of their people, people who were primarily +agriculturists. They had learned to avert hunger and famine by relying +on carefully built, stone-faced terraces, which would prevent their +fields being carried off and spread over the plains of the Amazon. It +seems to me possible that Sacsahuaman was built in accordance with +their desires to please their gods. Is it not reasonable to suppose +that a people to whom stone-faced terraces meant so much in the way +of life-giving food should have sometimes built massive terraces of +Cyclopean character, like Sacsahuaman, as an offering to the deity +who first taught them terrace construction? This seems to me a more +likely object for the gigantic labor involved in the construction +of Sacsahuaman than its possible usefulness as a fortress. Equally +strong defenses against an enemy attempting to attack the hilltop +back of Cuzco might have been constructed of smaller stones in an +infinitely shorter time, with far less labor and pains. + +Such a display of the power to control the labor of thousands of +individuals and force them to superhuman efforts on an unproductive +undertaking, which in its agricultural or strategic results was out +of all proportion to the obvious cost, might have been caused by the +supreme vanity of a great soldier. On the other hand, the ancient +Peruvians were religious rather than warlike, more inclined to worship +the sun than to fight great battles. Was Sacsahuaman due to the desire +to please, at whatever cost, the god that fructified the crops which +grew on terraces? It is not surprising that the Spanish conquerors, +warriors themselves and descendants of twenty generations of a fighting +race, accustomed as they were to the salients of European fortresses, +should have looked upon Sacsahuaman as a fortress. To them the military +use of its bastions was perfectly obvious. The value of its salients +and reentrant angles was not likely to be overlooked, for it had +been only recently acquired by their crusading ancestors. The height +and strength of its powerful walls enabled it to be of the greatest +service to the soldiers of that day. They saw that it was virtually +impregnable for any artillery with which they were familiar. In fact, +in the wars of the Incas and those which followed Pizarro's entry +into Cuzco, Sacsahuaman was repeatedly used as a fortress. + +So it probably never occurred to the Spaniards that the Peruvians, +who knew nothing of explosive powder or the use of artillery, did +not construct Sacsahuaman in order to withstand such a siege as the +fortresses of Europe were only too familiar with. So natural did it +seem to the first Europeans who saw it to regard it as a fortress +that it has seldom been thought of in any other way. The fact that +the sacred city of Cuzco was more likely to be attacked by invaders +coming up the valley, or even over the gentle slopes from the west, +or through the pass from the north which for centuries has been +used as part of the main highway of the central Andes, never seems +to have troubled writers who regarded Sacsahuaman essentially as a +fortress. It may be that Sacsahuaman was once used as a place where +the votaries of the sun gathered at the end of the rainy season to +celebrate the vernal equinox, and at the summer solstice to pray for +the sun's return from his "farthest north." In any case I believe +that the enormous cost of its construction shows that it was probably +intended for religious rather than military purposes. It is more +likely to have been an ancient shrine than a mighty fortress. + +It now becomes necessary, in order to explain my explorations north +of Cuzco, to ask the reader's attention to a brief account of the +last four Incas who ruled over any part of Peru. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The Last Four Incas + +Readers of Prescott's charming classic, "The Conquest of Peru," +will remember that Pizarro, after killing Atahualpa, the Inca who +had tried in vain to avoid his fate by filling a room with vessels +of gold, decided to establish a native prince on the throne of the +Incas to rule in accordance with the dictates of Spain. The young +prince, Manco, a son of the great Inca Huayna Capac, named for the +first Inca, Manco Ccapac, the founder of the dynasty, was selected +as the most acceptable figurehead. He was a young man of ability +and spirit. His induction into office in 1534 with appropriate +ceremonies, the barbaric splendor of which only made the farce the +more pitiful, did little to gratify his natural ambition. As might +have been foreseen, he chafed under restraint, escaped as soon as +possible from his attentive guardians, and raised an army of faithful +Quichuas. There followed the siege of Cuzco, briefly characterized +by Don Alonzo Enriques de Guzman, who took part in it, as "the most +fearful and cruel war in the world." When in 1536 Cuzco was relieved +by Pizarro's comrade, Almagro, and Manco's last chance of regaining +the ancient capital of his ancestors failed, the Inca retreated to +Ollantaytambo. Here, on the banks of the river Urubamba, Manco made a +determined stand, but Ollantaytambo was too easily reached by Pizarro's +mounted cavaliers. The Inca's followers, although aroused to their +utmost endeavors by the presence of the magnificent stone edifices, +fortresses, granaries, palaces, and hanging gardens of their ancestors, +found it necessary to retreat. They fled in a northerly direction and +made good their escape over snowy passes to Uiticos in the fastnesses +of Uilcapampa, a veritable American Switzerland. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Glaciers Between Cuzco and Uiticos +------ + + +The Spaniards who attempted to follow Manco found his position +practically impregnable. The citadel of Uilcapampa, a gigantic +natural fortress defended by Nature in one of her profoundest moods, +was only to be reached by fording dangerous torrents, or crossing +the mountains by narrow defiles which themselves are higher than +the most lofty peaks of Europe. It was hazardous for Hannibal and +Napoleon to bring their armies through the comparatively low passes +of the Alps. Pizarro found it impossible to follow the Inca Manco +over the Pass of Panticalla, itself a snowy wilderness higher than +the summit of Mont Blanc. In no part of the Peruvian Andes are there +so many beautiful snowy peaks. Near by is the sharp, icy pinnacle +of Mt. Veronica (elevation 19,342 ft.). Not far away is another +magnificent snow-capped peak, Mt. Salcantay, 20,565 feet above the +sea. Near Salcantay is the sharp needle of Mt. Soray (19,435 ft.), +while to the west of it are Panta (18,590 ft.) and Soiroccocha (18,197 +ft.). On the shoulders of these mountains are unnamed glaciers and +little valleys that have scarcely ever been seen except by some hardy +prospector or inquisitive explorer. These valleys are to be reached +only through passes where the traveler is likely to be waylaid by +violent storms of hail and snow. During the rainy season a large part +of Uilcapampa is absolutely impenetrable. Even in the dry season the +difficulties of transportation are very great. The most sure-footed +mule is sometimes unable to use the trails without assistance from +man. It was an ideal place for the Inca Manco. + +The conquistador, Cieza de Leon, who wrote in 1550 a graphic account +of the wars of Peru, says that Manco took with him a "great quantity +of treasure, collected from various parts ... and many loads of +rich clothing of wool, delicate in texture and very beautiful +and showy." The Spaniards were absolutely unable to conceive of +the ruler of a country traveling without rich "treasure." It is +extremely doubtful whether Manco burdened himself with much gold or +silver. Except for ornament there was little use to which he could +have put the precious metals and they would have served only to +arouse the cupidity of his enemies. His people had never been paid +in gold or silver. Their labor was his due, and only such part of it +as was needed to raise their own crops and make their own clothing +was allotted to them; in fact, their lives were in his hands and the +custom and usage of centuries made them faithful followers of their +great chief. That Manco, however, actually did carry off with him +beautiful textiles, and anything else which was useful, may be taken +for granted. In Uiticos, safe from the armed forces of his enemies, +the Inca was also able to enjoy the benefits of a delightful climate, +and was in a well-watered region where corn, potatoes, both white +and sweet, and the fruits of the temperate and sub-tropical regions +easily grow. Using this as a base, he was accustomed to sally forth +against the Spaniards frequently and in unexpected directions. His +raids were usually successful. It was relatively easy for him, with +a handful of followers, to dash out of the mountain fastnesses, +cross the Apurimac River either by swimming or on primitive rafts, +and reach the great road between Cuzco and Lima, the principal highway +of Peru. Officials and merchants whose business led them over this +route found it extremely precarious. Manco cheered his followers by +making them realize that in these raids they were taking sweet revenge +on the Spaniards for what they had done to Peru. It is interesting +to note that Cieza de Leon justifies Manco in his attitude, for the +Spaniards had indeed "seized his inheritance, forcing him to leave +his native land, and to live in banishment." + +Manco's success in securing such a place of refuge, and in using +it as a base from which he could frequently annoy his enemies, led +many of the Orejones of Cuzco to follow him. The Inca chiefs were +called Orejones, "big ears," by the Spaniards because the lobes of +their ears had been enlarged artificially to receive the great gold +earrings which they were fond of wearing. Three years after Manco's +retirement to the wilds of Uilcapampa there was born in Cuzco in the +year 1539, Garcilasso Inca de la Vega, the son of an Inca princess +and one of the conquistadores. As a small child Garcilasso heard +of the activities of his royal relative. He left Peru as a boy and +spent the rest of his life in Spain. After forty years in Europe +he wrote, partly from memory, his "Royal Commentaries," an account +of the country of his Indian ancestors. Of the Inca Manco, of whom +he must frequently have heard uncomplimentary reports as a child, +he speaks apologetically. He says: "In the time of Manco Inca, +several robberies were committed on the road by his subjects; but +still they had that respect for the Spanish Merchants that they let +them go free and never pillaged them of their wares and merchandise, +which were in no manner useful to them; howsoever they robbed the +Indians of their cattle [llamas and alpacas], bred in the countrey +.... The Inca lived in the Mountains, which afforded no tame Cattel; +and only produced Tigers and Lions and Serpents of twenty-five and +thirty feet long, with other venomous insects." (I am quoting from Sir +Paul Rycaut's translation, published in London in 1688.) Garcilasso +says Manco's soldiers took only "such food as they found in the hands +of the Indians; which the Inca did usually call his own," saying, +"That he who was Master of that whole Empire might lawfully challenge +such a proportion thereof as was convenient to supply his necessary +and natural support"--a reasonable apology; and yet personally I doubt +whether Manco spared the Spanish merchants and failed to pillage them +of their "wares and merchandise." As will be seen later, we found +in Manco's palace some metal articles of European origin which might +very well have been taken by Manco's raiders. Furthermore, it should +be remembered that Garcilasso, although often quoted by Prescott, +left Peru when he was sixteen years old and that his ideas were +largely colored by his long life in Spain and his natural desire to +extol the virtues of his mother's people, a brown race despised by +the white Europeans for whom he wrote. + +The methods of warfare and the weapons used by Manco and his followers +at this time are thus described by Guzman. He says the Indians had no +defensive arms such as helmets, shields, and armor, but used "lances, +arrows, dubs, axes, halberds, darts, and slings, and another weapon +which they call ayllas (the bolas), consisting of three round stones +sewn up in leather, and each fastened to a cord a cubit long. They +throw these at the horses, and thus bind their legs together; and +sometimes they will fasten a man's arms to his sides in the same +way. These Indians are so expert in the use of this weapon that they +will bring down a deer with it in the chase. Their principal weapon, +however, is the sling .... With it, they will hurl a huge stone with +such force that it will kill a horse; in truth, the effect is little +less great than that of an arquebus; and I have seen a stone, thus +hurled from a sling, break a sword in two pieces which was held in +a man's hand at a distance of thirty paces." + +Manco's raids finally became so annoying that Pizarro sent a small +force from Cuzco under Captain Villadiego to attack the Inca. Captain +Villadiego found it impossible to use horses, although he realized +that cavalry was the "important arm against these Indians." Confident +in his strength and in the efficacy of his firearms, and anxious +to enjoy the spoils of a successful raid against a chief reported +to be traveling surrounded by his family "and with rich treasure," +he pressed eagerly on, up through a lofty valley toward a defile in +the mountains, probably the Pass of Panticalla. Here, fatigued and +exhausted by their difficult march and suffering from the effects +of the altitude (16,000 ft.), his men found themselves ambushed by +the Inca, who with a small party, "little more than eighty Indians," +"attacked the Christians, who numbered twenty-eight or thirty, and +killed Captain Villadiego and all his men except two or three." To any +one who has clambered over the passes of the Cordillera Uilcapampa +it is not surprising that this military expedition was a failure or +that the Inca, warned by keen-sighted Indians posted on appropriate +vantage points, could have succeeded in defeating a small force of +weary soldiers armed with the heavy blunderbuss of the seventeenth +century. In a rocky pass, protected by huge boulders, and surrounded +by quantities of natural ammunition for their slings, it must have +been relatively simple for eighty Quichuas, who could "hurl a huge +stone with such force that it would kill a horse," to have literally +stoned to death Captain Villadiego's little company before they could +have prepared their clumsy weapons for firing. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Urubamba Canyon + +A reason for the safety of the Incas in Uilcapampa. +------ + + +The fugitives returned to Cuzco and reported their misfortune. The +importance of the reverse will be better appreciated if one remembers +that the size of the force with which Pizarro conquered Peru was less +than two hundred, only a few times larger than Captain Villadiego's +company which had been wiped out by Manco. Its significance is +further increased by the fact that the contemporary Spanish writers, +with all their tendency to exaggerate, placed Manco's force at only +"a little more than eighty Indians." Probably there were not even +that many. The wonder is that the Inca's army was not reported as +being several thousand. + +Francisco Pizarro himself now hastily set out with a body of soldiers +determined to punish this young Inca who had inflicted such a blow on +the prestige of Spanish arms, "but this attempt also failed," for the +Inca had withdrawn across the rivers and mountains of Uilcapampa to +Uiticos, where, according to Cieza de Leon, he cheered his followers +with the sight of the heads of his enemies. Unfortunately for accuracy, +the custom of displaying on the ends of pikes the heads of one's +enemies was European and not Peruvian. To be sure, the savage Indians +of some of the Amazonian jungles do sometimes decapitate their enemies, +remove the bones of the skull, dry the shrunken scalp and face, +and wear the trophy as a mark of prowess just as the North American +Indians did the scalps of their enemies. Such customs had no place +among the peace-loving Inca agriculturists of central Peru. There were +no Spaniards living with Manco at that time to report any such outrage +on the bodies of Captain Villadiego's unfortunate men. Probably the +conquistadores supposed that Manco did what the Spaniards would have +done under similar circumstances. + +Following the failure of Francisco Pizarro to penetrate to Uiticos, +his brother, Gonzalo, "undertook the pursuit of the Inca and occupied +some of his passes and bridges," but was unsuccessful in penetrating +the mountain labyrinth. Being less foolhardy than Captain Villadiego, +he did not come into actual conflict with Manco. Unable to subdue +the young Inca or prevent his raids on travelers from Cuzco to Lima, +Francisco Pizarro, "with the assent of the royal officers who were +with him," established the city of Ayacucho at a convenient point +on the road, so as to make it secure for travelers. Nevertheless, +according to Montesinos, Manco caused the good people of Ayacucho quite +a little trouble. Finally, Francisco Pizarro, "having taken one of +Manco's wives prisoner with other Indians, stripped and flogged her, +and then shot her to death with arrows." + +Accounts of what happened in Uiticos under the rule of Manco are +not very satisfactory. Father Calancha, who published in 1639 his +"Coronica Moralizada," or "pious account of the missionary activities +of the Augustinians" in Peru, says that the Inca Manco was obeyed +by all the Indians who lived in a region extending "for two hundred +leagues and more toward the east and toward the south, where there +were innumerable Indians in various provinces." With customary monastic +zeal and proper religious fervor, Father Calancha accuses the Inca of +compelling the baptized Indians who fled to him from the Spaniards to +abandon their new faith, torturing those who would no longer worship +the old Inca "idols." This story need not be taken too literally, +although undoubtedly the escaped Indians acted as though they had +never been baptized. + +Besides Indians fleeing from harsh masters, there came to Uilcapampa, +in 1542, Gomez Perez, Diego Mendez, and half a dozen other Spanish +fugitives, adherents of Almagro, "rascals," says Calancha, "worthy +of Manco's favor." Obliged by the civil wars of the conquistadores +to flee from the Pizarros, they were glad enough to find a welcome +in Uiticos. To while away the time they played games and taught +the Inca checkers and chess, as well as bowling-on-the-green and +quoits. Montesinos says they also taught him to ride horseback +and shoot an arquebus. They took their games very seriously and +occasionally violent disputes arose, one of which, as we shall see, +was to have fatal consequences. They were kept informed by Manco of +what was going on in the viceroyalty. Although "encompassed within +craggy and lofty mountains," the Inca was thoroughly cognizant of +all those "revolutions" which might be of benefit to him. + +Perhaps the most exciting news that reached Uiticos in 1544 was in +regard to the arrival of the first Spanish viceroy. He brought the +New Laws, a result of the efforts of the good Bishop Las Casas to +alleviate the sufferings of the Indians. The New Laws provided, among +other things, that all the officers of the crown were to renounce +their repartimientos or holdings of Indian serfs, and that compulsory +personal service was to be entirely abolished. Repartimientos given +to the conquerors were not to pass to their heirs, but were to revert +to the king. In other words, the New Laws gave evidence that the +Spanish crown wished to be kind to the Indians and did not approve +of the Pizarros. This was good news for Manco and highly pleasing +to the refugees. They persuaded the Inca to write a letter to the +new viceroy, asking permission to appear before him and offer his +services to the king. The Spanish refugees told the Inca that by +this means he might some day recover his empire, "or at least the +best part of it." Their object in persuading the Inca to send such +a message to the viceroy becomes apparent when we learn that they +"also wrote as from themselves desiring a pardon for what was past" +and permission to return to Spanish dominions. + +Gomez Perez, who seems to have been the active leader of the little +group, was selected to be the bearer of the letters from the Inca and +the refugees. Attended by a dozen Indians whom the Inca instructed +to act as his servants and bodyguard, he left Uilcapampa, presented +his letters to the viceroy, and gave him "a large relation of the +State and Condition of the Inca, and of his true and real designs +to doe him service." "The Vice-king joyfully received the news, +and granted a full and ample pardon of all crimes, as desired. And +as to the Inca, he made many kind expressions of love and respect, +truly considering that the Interest of the Inca might be advantageous +to him, both in War and Peace. And with this satisfactory answer +Gomez Perez returned both to the Inca and to his companions." The +refugees were delighted with the news and got ready to return to king +and country. Their departure from Uiticos was prevented by a tragic +accident, thus described by Garcilasso. + +"The Inca, to humour the Spaniards and entertain himself with them, +had given directions for making a bowling-green; where playing one day +with Gomez Perez, he came to have some quarrel and difference with this +Perez about the measure of a Cast, which often happened between them; +for this Perez, being a person of a hot and fiery brain, without any +judgment or understanding, would take the least occasion in the world +to contend with and provoke the Inca .... Being no longer able to +endure his rudeness, the Inca punched him on the breast, and bid him +to consider with whom he talked. Perez, not considering in his heat +and passion either his own safety or the safety of his Companions, +lifted up his hand, and with the bowl struck the Inca so violently on +the head, that he knocked him down. [He died three days later.] The +Indians hereupon, being enraged by the death of their Prince, joined +together against Gomez and the Spaniards, who fled into a house, +and with their Swords in their hands defended the door; the Indians +set fire to the house, which being too hot for them, they sallied out +into the Marketplace, where the Indians assaulted them and shot them +with their Arrows until they had killed every man of them; and then +afterwards, out of mere rage and fury they designed either to eat +them raw as their custome was, or to burn them and cast their ashes +into the river, that no sign or appearance might remain of them; but +at length, after some consultation, they agreed to cast their bodies +into the open fields, to be devoured by vulters and birds of the air, +which they supposed to be the highest indignity and dishonour that +they could show to their Corps." Garcilasso concludes: "I informed +myself very perfectly from those chiefs and nobles who were present +and eye-witnesses of the unparalleled piece of madness of that rash +and hair-brained fool; and heard them tell this story to my mother +and parents with tears in their eyes." There are many versions of +the tragedy. [4] They all agree that a Spaniard murdered the Inca. + +Thus, in 1545, the reign of an attractive and vigorous personality +was brought to an abrupt close. Manco left three young sons, Sayri +Tupac, Titu Cusi, and Tupac Amaru. Sayri Tupac, although he had not +yet reached his majority, became Inca in his father's stead, and with +the aid of regents reigned for ten years without disturbing his Spanish +neighbors or being annoyed by them, unless the reference in Montesinos +to a proposed burning of bridges near Abancay, under date of 1555, +is correct. By a curious lapse Montesinos ascribes this attempt to +the Inca Manco, who had been dead for ten years. In 1555 there came +to Lima a new viceroy, who decided that it would be safer if young +Sayri Tupac were within reach instead of living in the inaccessible +wilds of Uilcapampa. The viceroy wisely undertook to accomplish this +difficult matter through the Princess Beatrix Coya, an aunt of the +Inca, who was living in Cuzco. She took kindly to the suggestion and +dispatched to Uiticos a messenger, of the blood royal, attended by +Indian servants. The journey was a dangerous one; bridges were down +and the treacherous trails were well-nigh impassable. Sayri Tupac's +regents permitted the messenger to enter Uilcapampa and deliver the +viceroy's invitation, but were not inclined to believe that it was +quite so attractive as appeared on the surface, even though brought +to them by a kinsman. Accordingly, they kept the visitor as a hostage +and sent a messenger of their own to Cuzco to see if any foul play +could be discovered, and also to request that one John Sierra, a more +trusted cousin, be sent to treat in this matter. All this took time. + +In 1558 the viceroy, becoming impatient, dispatched from Lima Friar +Melchior and one John Betanzos, who had married the daughter of the +unfortunate Inca Atahualpa and pretended to be very learned in his +wife's language. Montesinos says he was a "great linguist." They +started off quite confidently for Uiticos, taking with them several +pieces of velvet and damask, and two cups of gilded silver as +presents. Anxious to secure the honor of being the first to reach the +Inca, they traveled as fast as they could to the Chuquichaca bridge, +"the key to the valley of Uiticos." Here they were detained by the +soldiers of the regents. A day or so later John Sierra, the Inca's +cousin from Cuzco, arrived at the bridge and was allowed to proceed, +while the friar and Betanzos were still detained. John Sierra was +welcomed by the Inca and his nobles, and did his best to encourage +Sayri Tupac to accept the viceroy's offer. Finally John Betanzos and +the friar were also sent for and admitted to the presence of the Inca, +with the presents which the viceroy had sent. Sayri Tupac's first +idea was to remain free and independent as he had hitherto done, +so he requested the ambassadors to depart immediately with their +silver gilt cups. They were sent back by one of the western routes +across the Apurimac. A few days later, however, after John Sierra +had told him some interesting stories of life in Cuzco, the Inca +decided to reconsider the matter. His regents had a long debate, +observed the flying of birds and the nature of the weather, but +according to Garcilasso "made no inquiries of the devil." The omens +were favorable and the regents finally decided to allow the Inca to +accept the invitation of the viceroy. + +Sayri Tupac, anxious to see something of the world, went directly +to Lima, traveling in a litter made of rich materials, carried by +relays chosen from the three hundred Indians who attended him. He +was kindly received by the viceroy, and then went to Cuzco, where +he lodged in his aunt's house. Here his relatives went to welcome +him. "I, myself," says Garcilasso, "went in the name of my Father. I +found him then playing a certain game used amongst the Indians .... I +kissed his hands, and delivered my Message; he commanded me to sit +down, and presently they brought two gilded cups of that Liquor, +made of Mayz [chicha] which scarce contained four ounces of Drink; +he took them both, and with his own Hand he gave one of them to me; +he drank, and I pledged him, which as we have said, is the custom of +Civility amongst them. This Ceremony being past, he asked me, Why I +did not meet him at Uillcapampa. I answered him, 'Inca, as I am but a +Youngman, the Governours make no account of me, to place me in such +Ceremonies as these!' 'How,' replied the Inca, 'I would rather have +seen you than all the Friers and Fathers in Town.' As I was going +away I made him a submissive bow and reverence, after the manner of +the Indians, who are of his Alliance and Kindred, at which he was so +much pleased, that he embraced me heartily, and with much affection, +as appeared by his Countenance." + +Sayri Tupac now received the sacred Red Fringe of Inca sovereignty, +was married to a princess of the blood royal, joined her in baptism, +and took up his abode in the beautiful valley of Yucay, a day's +journey northeast of Cuzco, and never returned to Uiticos. His only +daughter finally married a certain Captain Garcia, of whom more +anon. Sayri Tupac died in 1560, leaving two brothers; the older, +Titu Cusi Yupanqui, illegitimate, and the younger, Tupac Amaru, +his rightful successor, an inexperienced youth. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Yucay, Last Home of Sayri Tupac +------ + + +The throne of Uiticos was seized by Titu Cusi. The new Inca seems to +have been suspicious of the untimely death of Sayri Tupac, and to have +felt that the Spaniards were capable of more foul play. So with his +half-brother he stayed quietly in Uilcapampa. Their first visitor, +so far as we know, was Diego Rodriguez de Figueroa, who wrote an +interesting account of Uiticos and says he gave the Inca a pair of +scissors. He was unsuccessful in his efforts to get Titu Cusi to go +to Cuzco. In time there came an Augustinian missionary, Friar Marcos +Garcia, who, six years after the death of Sayri Tupac, entered the +rough country of Uilcapampa, "a land of moderate wealth, large rivers, +and the usual rains," whose "forested mountains," says Father Calancha, +"are magnificent." Friar Marcos had a hard journey. The bridges were +down, the roads had been destroyed, and the passes blocked up. The few +Indians who did occasionally appear in Cuzco from Uilcapampa said the +friar could not get there "unless he should be able to change himself +into a bird." However, with that courage and pertinacity which have +marked so many missionary enterprises, Friar Marcos finally overcame +all difficulties and reached Uiticos. + +The missionary chronicler says that Titu Cusi was far from glad +to see him and received him angrily. It worried him to find that a +Spaniard had succeeded in penetrating his retreat. Besides, the Inca +was annoyed to have any one preach against his "idolatries." Titu +Cusi's own story, as written down by Friar Marcos, does not agree +with Calancha's. Anyhow, Friar Marcos built a little church in a place +called Puquiura, where many of the Inca's people were then living. "He +planted crosses in the fields and on the mountains, these being the +best things to frighten off devils." He "suffered many insults at +the hands of the chiefs and principal followers of the Inca. Some +of them did it to please the Devil, others to flatter the Inca, and +many because they disliked his sermons, in which he scolded them for +their vices and abominated among his converts the possession of four +or six wives. So they punished him in the matter of food, and forced +him to send to Cuzco for victuals. The Convent sent him hard-tack, +which was for him a most delicious banquet." + +Within a year or so another Augustinian missionary, Friar Diego +Ortiz, left Cuzco alone for Uilcapampa. He suffered much on the +road, but finally reached the retreat of the Inca and entered his +presence in company with Friar Marcos. "Although the Inca was not +too happy to see a new preacher, he was willing to grant him an +entrance because the Inca ... thought Friar Diego would not vex +him nor take the trouble to reprove him. So the Inca gave him a +license. They selected the town of Huarancalla, which was populous +and well located in the midst of a number of other little towns and +villages. There was a distance of two or three days journey from one +Convent to the other. Leaving Friar Marcos in Puquiura, Friar Diego +went to his new establishment and in a short time built a church, +a house for himself, and a hospital,--all poor buildings made in a +short time." He also started a school for children, and became very +popular as he went about healing and teaching. He had an easier time +than Friar Marcos, who, with less tact and no skill as a physician, +was located nearer the center of the Inca cult. + +The principal shrine of the Inca is described by Father Calancha as +follows: "Close to Vitcos [or Uiticos] in a village called Chuquipalpa, +is a House of the Sun, and in it a white rock over a spring of water +where the Devil appears as a visible manifestation and was worshipped +by those idolators. This was the principal mochadero of those forested +mountains. The word 'mochadero' [5] is the common name which the +Indians apply to their places of worship. In other words it is the +only place where they practice the sacred ceremony of kissing. The +origin of this, the principal part of their ceremonial, is that very +practice which Job abominates when he solemnly clears himself of all +offences before God and says to Him: 'Lord, all these punishments and +even greater burdens would I have deserved had I done that which the +blind Gentiles do when the sun rises resplendent or the moon shines +clear and they exult in their hearts and extend their hands toward +the sun and throw kisses to it,' an act of very grave iniquity which +is equivalent to denying the true God." + +Thus does the ecclesiastical chronicler refer to the practice in +Peru of that particular form of worship of the heavenly bodies +which was also widely spread in the East, in Arabia, and Palestine +and was inveighed against by Mohammed as well as the ancient Hebrew +prophets. Apparently this ceremony "of the most profound resignation +and reverence" was practiced in Chuquipalpa, close to Uiticos, in +the reign of the Inca Titu Cusi. + +Calancha goes on to say: "In this white stone of the aforesaid +House of the Sun, which is called Yurac Rumi [meaning, in Quichua, +a white rock], there attends a Devil who is Captain of a legion. He +and his legionaries show great kindness to the Indian idolators, but +great terrors to the Catholics. They abuse with hideous cruelties the +baptized ones who now no longer worship them with kisses, and many +of the Indians have died from the horrible frights these devils have +given them." + +One day, when the Inca and his mother and their principal chiefs and +counselors were away from Uiticos on a visit to some of their outlying +estates, Friar Marcos and Friar Diego decided to make a spectacular +attack on this particular Devil, who was at the great "white rock +over a spring of water." The two monks summoned all their converts +to gather at Puquiura, in the church or the neighboring plaza, and +asked each to bring a stick of firewood in order that they might burn +up this Devil who had tormented them. "An innumerable multitude" came +together on the day appointed. The converted Indians were most anxious +to get even with this Devil who had slain their friends and inflicted +wounds on themselves; the doubters were curious to see the result; +the Inca priests were there to see their god defeat the Christians'; +while, as may readily be imagined, the rest of the population came +to see the excitement. Starting out from Pucyura they marched to "the +Temple of the Sun, in the village of Chuquipalpa, close to Uiticos." + +Arrived at the sacred palisade, the monks raised the standard of +the cross, recited their orisons, surrounded the spring, the white +rock and the Temple of the Sun, and piled high the firewood. Then, +having exorcised the locality, they called the Devil by all the vile +names they could think of, to show their lack of respect, and finally +commanded him never to return to this vicinity. Calling on Christ and +the Virgin, they applied fire to the wood. "The poor Devil then fled +roaring in a fury, and making the mountains to tremble." + +It took remarkable courage on the part of the two lone monks thus +to desecrate the chief shrine of the people among whom they were +dwelling. It is almost incredible that in this remote valley, +separated from their friends and far from the protecting hand +of the Spanish viceroy, they should have dared to commit such an +insult to the religion of their hosts. Of course, as soon as the +Inca Titu Cusi heard of it, he was greatly annoyed. His mother was +furious. They returned immediately to Pucyura. The chiefs wished to +"slay the monks and tear them into small pieces," and undoubtedly +would have done so had it not been for the regard in which Friar +Diego was held. His skill in curing disease had so endeared him to +the Indians that even the Inca himself dared not punish him for the +attack on the Temple of the Sun. Friar Marcos, however, who probably +originated the plan, and had done little to gain the good will of the +Indians, did not fare so well. Calancha says he was stoned out of +the province and the Inca threatened to kill him if he ever should +return. Friar Diego, particularly beloved by those Indians who came +from the fever-stricken jungles in the lower valleys, was allowed to +remain, and finally became a trusted friend and adviser of Titu Cusi. + +One day a Spaniard named Romero, an adventurous prospector for gold, +was found penetrating the mountain valleys, and succeeded in getting +permission from the Inca to see what minerals were there. He was too +successful. Both gold and silver were found among the hills and he +showed enthusiastic delight at his good fortune. The Inca, fearing +that his reports might encourage others to enter Uilcapampa, put the +unfortunate prospector to death, notwithstanding the protestations +of Friar Diego. Foreigners were not wanted in Uilcapampa. + +In the year 1570, ten years after the accession of Titu Cusi +to the Inca throne in Uiticos, a new Spanish viceroy came to +Cuzco. Unfortunately for the Incas, Don Francisco de Toledo, an +indefatigable soldier and administrator, was excessively bigoted, +narrow-minded, cruel, and pitiless. Furthermore, Philip II and his +Council of the Indies had decided that it would be worth while to make +every effort to get the Inca out of Uiticos. For thirty-five years +the Spanish conquerors had occupied Cuzco and the major portion of +Peru without having been able to secure the submission of the Indians +who lived in the province of Uilcapampa. It would be a great feather +in the cap of Toledo if he could induce Titu Cusi to come and live +where he would always be accessible to Spanish authority. + +During the ensuing rainy season, after an unusually lively party, +the Inca got soaked, had a chill, and was laid low. In the meantime +the viceroy had picked out a Cuzco soldier, one Tilano de Anaya, who +was well liked by the Inca, to try to persuade Titu Cusi to come to +Cuzco. Tilano was instructed to go by way of Ollantaytambo and the +Chuquichaca bridge. Luck was against him. Titu Cusi's illness was +very serious. Friar Diego, his physician, had prescribed the usual +remedies. Unfortunately, all the monk's skill was unavailing and his +royal patient died. The "remedies" were held by Titu Cusi's mother +and her counselors to be responsible. The poor friar had to suffer +the penalty of death "for having caused the death of the Inca." + +The third son of Manco, Tupac Amaru, brought up as a playfellow of +the Virgins of the Sun in the Temple near Uiticos, and now happily +married, was selected to rule the little kingdom. His brows were +decked with the Scarlet Fringe of Sovereignty, but, thanks to the +jealous fear of his powerful illegitimate brother, his training had +not been that of a soldier. He was destined to have a brief, unhappy +existence. When the young Inca's counselors heard that a messenger +was coming from the viceroy, seven warriors were sent to meet him on +the road. Tilano was preparing to spend the night at the Chuquichaca +bridge when he was attacked and killed. + +The viceroy heard of the murder of his ambassador at the same time +that he learned of the martyrdom of Friar Diego. A blow had been +struck at the very heart of Spanish domination; if the representatives +of the Vice-Regent of Heaven and the messengers of the viceroy of +Philip II were not inviolable, then who was safe? On Palm Sunday the +energetic Toledo, surrounded by his council, determined to make war +on the unfortunate young Tupac Amaru and give a reward to the soldier +who would effect his capture. The council was of the opinion that +"many Insurrections might be raised in that Empire by this young +Heir." "Moreover it was alledged," says Garcilasso .... "That by the +Imprisonment of the Inca, all that Treasure might be discovered, which +appertained to former kings, together with that Chain of Gold, which +Huayna Capac commanded to be made for himself to wear on the great +and solemn days of their Festival"! Furthermore, the "Chain of Gold +with the remaining Treasure belong'd to his Catholic Majesty by right +of Conquest"! Excuses were not wanting. The Incas must be exterminated. + +The expedition was divided into two parts. One company was sent by way +of Limatambo to Curahuasi, to head off the Inca in case he should cross +the Apurimac and try to escape by one of the routes which had formerly +been used by his father, Manco, in his marauding expeditions. The other +company, under General Martin Hurtado and Captain Garcia, marched from +Cuzco by way of Yucay and Ollantaytambo. They were more fortunate +than Captain Villadiego whose force, thirty-five years before, had +been met and destroyed at the pass of Panticalla. That was in the +days of the active Inca Manco. Now there was no force defending this +important pass. They descended the Lucumayo to its junction with the +Urubamba and came to the bridge of Chuquichaca. + +The narrow suspension bridge, built of native fibers, sagged deeply +in the middle and swayed so threateningly over the gorge of the +Urubamba that only one man could pass it at a time. The rapid river +was too deep to be forded. There were no canoes. It would have been +a difficult matter to have constructed rafts, for most of the trees +that grow here are of hard wood and do not float. On the other side +of the Urubamba was young Tupac Amaru, surrounded by his councilors, +chiefs, and soldiers. The first hostile forces which in Pizarro's +time had endeavored to fight their way into Uilcapampa had never +been allowed by Manco to get as far as this. His youngest son, +Tupac Amaru, had had no experience in these matters. The chiefs and +nobles had failed to defend the pass; and they now failed to destroy +the Chuquichaca bridge, apparently relying on their ability to take +care of one Spanish soldier at a time and prevent the Spaniards from +crossing the narrow, swaying structure. General Hurtado was not taking +any such chances. He had brought with him one or two light mountain +field pieces, with which the raw troops of the Inca were little +acquainted. The sides of the valley at this point rise steeply from +the river and the reverberations caused by gun fire would be fairly +terrifying to those who had never heard anything like it before. A +few volleys from the guns and the arquebuses, and the Indians fled +pellmell in every direction, leaving the bridge undefended. + +Captain Garcia, who had married the daughter of Sayri Tupac, was +sent in pursuit of the Inca. His men found the road "narrow in the +ascent, with forest on the right, and on the left a ravine of great +depth." It was only a footpath, barely wide enough for two men to +pass. Garcia, with customary Spanish bravery, marched at the head +of his company. Suddenly out of the thick forest an Inca chieftain +named Hualpa, endeavoring to protect the flight of Tupac Amaru, +sprang on Garcia, held him so that he could not get at his sword and +endeavored to hurl him over the cliff. The captain's life was saved +by a faithful Indian servant who was following immediately behind him, +carrying his sword. Drawing it from the scabbard "with much dexterity +and animation," the Indian killed Hualpa and saved his master's life. + +Garcia fought several battles, took some forts and succeeded in +capturing many prisoners. From them it was learned that the Inca had +"gone inland toward the valley of Simaponte; and that he was flying to +the country of the Manaries Indians, a warlike tribe and his friends, +where balsas and canoes were posted to save him and enable him to +escape." Nothing daunted by the dangers of the jungle nor the rapids of +the river, Garcia finally managed to construct five rafts, on which he +put some of his soldiers. Accompanying them himself, he descended the +rapids, escaping death many times by swimming, and finally arrived +at a place called Momori, only to find that the Inca, learning of +their approach, had gone farther into the woods. Garcia followed +hard after, although he and his men were by this time barefooted and +suffering from want of food. They finally captured the Inca. Garcilasso +says that Tupac Amaru, "considering that he had not People to make +resistance, and that he was not conscious to himself of any Crime, +or disturbance he had done or raised, suffered himself to be taken; +choosing rather to entrust himself in the hands of the Spaniards, +than to perish in those Mountains with Famine, or be drowned in those +great Rivers .... The Spaniards in this manner seizing on the Inca, +and on all the Indian Men and Women, who were in Company with him, +amongst which was his Wife, two Sons, and a Daughter, returned +with them in Triumph to Cuzco; to which place the Vice-King went, +so soon as he was informed of the imprisonment of the poor Prince." A +mock trial was held. The captured chiefs were tortured to death with +fiendish brutality. Tupac Amaru's wife was mangled before his eyes. His +own head was cut off and placed on a pole in the Cuzco Plaza. His +little boys did not long survive. So perished the last of the Incas, +descendants of the wisest Indian rulers America has ever seen. + +Brief Summary of the Last Four Incas + +1534. The Inca Manco ascends the throne of his fathers. + +1536. Manco flees from Cuzco to Uiticos and Uilcapampa. + +1542. Promulgation of the "New Laws." + +1545. Murder of Manco and accession of his son Sayri Tupac. +1555. Sayri Tupac goes to Cuzco and Yucay. + +1560. Death of Sayri Tupac. His half brother Titu Cusi becomes Inca. + +1566. Friar Marcos reaches Uiticos. Settles in Puquiura. + +1566. Friar Diego joins him. + +1568-9 (?). They burn the House of the Sun at Yurac Rumi in +Chuquipalpa. + +1571. Titu Cusi dies. Friar Diego suffers martyrdom. Tupac Amaru +becomes Inca. + +1572. Expedition of General Martin Hurtado and Captain Garcia de +Loyola. Execution of Tupac Amaru. + + + +CHAPTER X + +Searching for the Last Inca Capital + +The events described in the preceding chapter happened, for the most +part, in Uiticos [6] and Uilcapampa, northwest of Ollantaytambo, about +one hundred miles away from the Cuzco palace of the Spanish viceroy, +in what Prescott calls "the remote fastnesses of the Andes." One looks +in vain for Uiticos on modern maps of Peru, although several of the +older maps give it. In 1625 "Viticos" is marked on de Laet's map of +Peru as a mountainous province northeast of Lima and three hundred +and fifty miles northwest of Vilcabamba! This error was copied by +some later cartographers, including Mercator, until about 1740, +when "Viticos" disappeared from all maps of Peru. The map makers +had learned that there was no such place in that vicinity. Its real +location was lost about three hundred years ago. A map published at +Nuremberg in 1599 gives "Pincos" in the "Andes" mountains, a small +range west of "Cusco." This does not seem to have been adopted by +other cartographers; although a Palls map of 1739 gives "Picos" in +about the same place. Nearly all the cartographers of the eighteenth +century who give "Viticos" supposed it to be the name of a tribe, e.g., +"Los Viticos" or "Les Viticos." + + +------ +FIGURE + +Part of the Nuremberg Map of 1599, Showing Pincos and the Andes +Mountains +------ + + +The largest official map of Peru, the work of that remarkable explorer, +Raimondi, who spent his life crossing and recrossing Peru, does not +contain the word Uiticos nor any of its numerous spellings, Viticos, +Vitcos, Pitcos, or Biticos. Incidentally, it may seem strange that +Uiticos could ever be written "Biticos." The Quichua language has +no sound of V. The early Spanish writers, however, wrote the capital +letter U exactly like a capital V. In official documents and letters +Uiticos became Viticos. The official readers, who had never heard +the word pronounced, naturally used the V sound instead of the U +sound. Both V and P easily become B. So Uiticos became Biticos and +Uilcapampa became Vilcabamba. + +Raimondi's marvelous energy led him to penetrate to more out-of-the-way +Peruvian villages than any one had ever done before or is likely to do +again. He stopped at nothing in the way of natural obstacles. In 1865 +he went deep into the heart of Uilcapampa; yet found no Uiticos. He +believed that the ruins of Choqquequirau represented the residence of +the last Incas. This view had been held by the French explorer, Count +de Sartiges, in 1834, who believed that Choqquequirau was abandoned +when Sayri Tupac, Manco's oldest son, went to live in Yucay. Raimondi's +view was also held by the leading Peruvian geographers, including +Paz Soldan in 1877, and by Prefect Nunez and his friends in 1909, at +the time of my visit to Choqquequirau. [7] The only dissenter was the +learned Peruvian historian, Don Carlos Romero, who insisted that the +last Inca capital must be found elsewhere. He urged the importance +of searching for Uiticos in the valleys of the rivers now called +Vilcabamba and Urubamba. It was to be the work of the Yale Peruvian +Expedition of 1911 to collect the geographical evidence which would +meet the requirements of the chronicles and establish the whereabouts +of the long-lost Inca capital. + +That there were undescribed and unidentified ruins to be found in the +Urubamba Valley was known to a few people in Cuzco, mostly wealthy +planters who had large estates in the province of Convencion. One +told us that he went to Santa Ana every year and was acquainted with +a muleteer who had told him of some interesting ruins near the San +Miguel bridge. Knowing the propensity of his countrymen to exaggerate, +however, he placed little confidence in the story and, shrugging his +shoulders, had crossed the bridge a score of times without taking +the trouble to look into the matter. Another, Senor Pancorbo, whose +plantation was in the Vilcabamba Valley, said that he had heard vague +rumors of ruins in the valley above his plantation, particularly +near Pucyura. If his story should prove to be correct, then it was +likely that this might be the very Puquiura where Friar Marcos had +established the first church in the "province of Uilcapampa." But +that was "near" Uiticos and near a village called Chuquipalpa, where +should be found the ruins of a Temple of the Sun, and in these ruins +a "white rock over a spring of water." Yet neither these friendly +planters nor the friends among whom they inquired had ever heard of +Uiticos or a place called Chuquipalpa, or of such an interesting rock; +nor had they themselves seen the ruins of which they had heard. + +One of Senor Lomellini's friends, a talkative old fellow who +had spent a large part of his life in prospecting for mines in +the department of Cuzco, said that he had seen ruins "finer than +Choqquequirau" at a place called Huayna Picchu; but he had never been +to Choqquequirau. Those who knew him best shrugged their shoulders +and did not seem to place much confidence in his word. Too often he +had been over-enthusiastic about mines which did not "pan out." Yet +his report resembled that of Charles Wiener, a French explorer, +who, about 1875, in the course of his wanderings in the Andes, +visited Ollantaytambo. While there he was told that there were fine +ruins down the Urubamba Valley at a place called "Huaina-Picchu or +Matcho-Picchu." He decided to go down the valley and look for these +ruins. According to his text he crossed the Pass of Panticalla, +descended the Lucumayo River to the bridge of Choqquechacca, and +visited the lower Urubamba, returning by the same route. He published +a detailed map of the valley. To one of its peaks he gives the name +"Huaynapicchu, ele. 1815 m." and to another "Matchopicchu, ele. 1720 +m." His interest in Inca ruins was very keen. He devotes pages to +Ollantaytambo. He failed to reach Machu Picchu or to find any ruins +of importance in the Urubamba or Vilcabamba valleys. Could we hope +to be any more successful? Would the rumors that had reached us "pan +out" as badly as those to which Wiener had listened so eagerly? Since +his day, to be sure, the Peruvian Government had actually finished +a road which led past Machu Picchu. On the other hand, a Harvard +Anthropological Expedition, under the leadership of Dr. William +C. Farrabee, had recently been over this road without reporting +any ruins of importance. They were looking for savages and not +ruins. Nevertheless, if Machu Picchu was "finer than Choqquequirau" +why had no one pointed it out to them? + + +------ +FIGURE + +Peruvian Expedition of 1915 +------ + + +To most of our friends in Cuzco the idea that there could be anything +finer than Choqquequirau seemed, absurd. They regarded that "cradle +of gold" as "the most remarkable archeological discovery of recent +times." They assured us there was nothing half so good. They even +assumed that we were secretly planning to return thither to dig +for buried treasure! Denials were of no avail. To a people whose +ancestors made fortunes out of lucky "strikes," and who themselves +have been brought up on stories of enormous wealth still remaining +to be discovered by some fortunate excavator, the question of +tesoro--treasure, wealth, riches--is an ever-present source of +conversation. Even the prefect of Cuzco was quite unable to conceive +of my doing anything for the love of discovery. He was convinced +that I should find great riches at Choqquequirau--and that I was +in receipt of a very large salary! He refused to believe that the +members of the Expedition received no more than their expenses. He +told me confidentially that Professor Foote would sell his collection +of insects for at least $10,000! Peruvians have not been accustomed to +see any one do scientific work except as he was paid by the government +or employed by a railroad or mining company. We have frequently found +our work misunderstood and regarded with suspicion, even by the Cuzco +Historical Society. + + + + + +The valley of the Urubamba, or Uilcamayu, as it used to be called, may +be reached from Cuzco in several ways. The usual route for those going +to Yucay is northwest from the city, over the great Andean highway, +past the slopes of Mt. Sencca. At Ttica-Ttica (12,000 ft.) the road +crosses the lowest pass at the western end of the Cuzco Basin. At the +last point from which one can see the city of Cuzco, all true Indians, +whether on their way out of the valley or into it, pause, turn toward +the east, facing the city, remove their hats and mutter a prayer. I +believe that the words they use now are those of the "Ave Maria," +or some other familiar orison of the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, +the custom undoubtedly goes far back of the advent of the first +Spanish missionaries. It is probably a relic of the ancient habit +of worshiping the rising sun. During the centuries immediately +preceding the conquest, the city of Cuzco was the residence of the Inca +himself, that divine individual who was at once the head of Church and +State. Nothing would have been more natural than for persons coming in +sight of his residence to perform an act of veneration. This in turn +might have led those leaving the city to fall into the same habit at +the same point in the road. I have watched hundreds of travelers pass +this point. None of those whose European costume proclaimed a white or +mixed ancestry stopped to pray or make obeisance. On the other hand, +all those, without exception, who were clothed in a native costume, +which betokened that they considered themselves to be Indians rather +than whites, paused for a moment, gazing at the ancient city, removed +their hats, and said a short prayer. + +Leaving Ttica-Ttica, we went northward for several leagues, passed +the town of Chincheros, with its old Inca walls, and came at length +to the edge of the wonderful valley of Yucay. In its bottom are great +level terraces rescued from the Urubamba River by the untiring energy +of the ancient folk. On both sides of the valley the steep slopes +bear many remains of narrow terraces, some of which are still in +use. Above them are "temporales," fields of grain, resting like a +patch-work quilt on slopes so steep it seems incredible they could +be cultivated. Still higher up, their heads above the clouds, are +the jagged snow-capped peaks. The whole offers a marvelous picture, +rich in contrast, majestic in proportion. In Yucay once dwelt the Inca +Manco's oldest son, Sayri Tupac, after he had accepted the viceroy's +invitation to come under Spanish protection. Here he lived three years +and here, in 1560, he died an untimely death under circumstances +which led his brothers, Titu Cusi and Tupac Amaru, to think that +they would be safer in Uiticos. We spent the night in Urubamba, +the modern capital of the province, much favored by Peruvians of +to-day because of its abundant water supply, delightful climate, +and rich fruits. Cuzco, 11,000 feet, is too high to have charming +surroundings, but two thousand feet lower, in the Urubamba Valley, +there is everything to please the eye and delight the horticulturist. + +Speaking of horticulturists reminds me of their enemies. Uru is the +Quichua word for caterpillars or grubs, pampa means flat land. Urubamba +is "flat-land-where-there-are-grubs-or-caterpillars." Had it been named +by people who came up from a warm region where insects abound, it would +hardly have been so denominated. Only people not accustomed to land +where caterpillars and grubs flourished would have been struck by such +a circumstance. Consequently, the valley was probably named by plateau +dwellers who were working their way down into a warm region where +butterflies and moths are more common. Notwithstanding its celebrated +caterpillars, Urubamba's gardens of to-day are full of roses, lilies, +and other brilliant flowers. There are orchards of peaches, pears, +and apples; there are fields where luscious strawberries are raised +for the Cuzco market. Apparently, the grubs do not get everything. + +The next day down the valley brought us to romantic Ollantaytambo, +described in glowing terms by Castelnau, Marcou, Wiener, and Squier +many years ago. It has lost none of its charm, even though Marcou's +drawings are imaginary and Squier's are exaggerated. Here, as at +Urubamba, there are flower gardens and highly cultivated green +fields. The brooks are shaded by willows and poplars. Above them +are magnificent precipices crowned by snow-capped peaks. The village +itself was once the capital of an ancient principality whose history +is shrouded in mystery. There are ruins of curious gabled buildings, +storehouses, "prisons," or "monasteries," perched here and there +on well-nigh inaccessible crags above the village. Below are broad +terraces of unbelievable extent where abundant crops are still +harvested; terraces which will stand for ages to come as monuments to +the energy and skill of a bygone race. The "fortress" is on a little +hill, surrounded by steep cliffs, high walls, and hanging gardens so +as to be difficult of access. Centuries ago, when the tribe which +cultivated the rich fields in this valley lived in fear and terror +of their savage neighbors, this hill offered a place of refuge to +which they could retire. It may have been fortified at that time. As +centuries passed in which the land came under the control of the Incas, +whose chief interest was the peaceful promotion of agriculture, it +is likely that this fortress became a royal garden. The six great +ashlars of reddish granite weighing fifteen or twenty tons each, and +placed in line on the summit of the hill, were brought from a quarry +several miles away with an immense amount of labor and pains. They +were probably intended to be a record of the magnificence of an able +ruler. Not only could he command the services of a sufficient number +of men to extract these rocks from the quarry and carry them up an +inclined plane from the bottom of the valley to the summit of the hill; +he had to supply the men with food. The building of such a monument +meant taking five hundred Indians away from their ordinary occupations +as agriculturists. He must have been a very good administrator. To his +people the magnificent megaliths were doubtless a source of pride. To +his enemies they were a symbol of his power and might. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Mt. Veronica and Salapunco, the Gateway to Uilcapampa +------ + + +A league below Ollantaytambo the road forks. The right branch +ascends a steep valley and crosses the pass of Panticalla near +snow-covered Mt. Veronica. Near the pass are two groups of ruins. One +of them, extravagantly referred to by Wiener as a "granite palace, +whose appearance [appareil] resembles the more beautiful parts +of Ollantaytambo," was only a storehouse. The other was probably a +tampu, or inn, for the benefit of official travelers. All travelers in +Inca times, even the bearers of burdens, were acting under official +orders. Commercial business was unknown. The rights of personal +property were not understood. No one had anything to sell; no one +had any money to buy it with. On the other hand, the Incas had an +elaborate system of tax collecting. Two thirds of the produce raised +by their subjects was claimed by the civil and religious rulers. It +was a reasonable provision of the benevolent despotism of the Incas +that inhospitable regions like the Panticalla Pass near Mt. Veronica +should be provided with suitable rest houses and storehouses. Polo de +Ondegardo, an able and accomplished statesman, who was in office in +Cuzco in 1560, says that the food of the chasquis, Inca post runners, +was provided from official storehouses; "those who worked for the +Inca's service, or for religion, never ate at their own expense." In +Manco's day these buildings at Havaspampa probably sheltered the +outpost which defeated Captain Villadiego. + +Before the completion of the river road, about 1895, travelers from +Cuzco to the lower Urubamba had a choice of two routes, one by way +of the pass of Panticalla, followed by Captain Garcia in 1571, by +General Miller in 1835, Castelnau in 1842, and Wiener in 1875; and +one by way of the pass between Mts. Salcantay and Soray, along the +Salcantay River to Huadquina, followed by the Count de Sartiges in +1834 and Raimondi in 1865. Both of these routes avoid the highlands +between Mt. Salcantay and Mt. Veronica and the lowlands between the +villages of Piri and Huadquina. This region was in 1911 undescribed +in the geographical literature of southern Peru. We decided not to +use either pass, but to go straight down the Urubamba river road. It +led us into a fascinating country. + +Two leagues beyond Piri, at Salapunco, the road skirts the base of +precipitous cliffs, the beginnings of a wonderful mass of granite +mountains which have made Uilcapampa more difficult of access than the +surrounding highlands which are composed of schists, conglomerates, and +limestone. Salapunco is the natural gateway to the ancient province, +but it was closed for centuries by the combined efforts of nature and +man. The Urubamba River, in cutting its way through the granite range, +forms rapids too dangerous to be passable and precipices which can +be scaled only with great effort and considerable peril. At one +time a footpath probably ran near the river, where the Indians, +by crawling along the face of the cliff and sometimes swinging from +one ledge to another on hanging vines, were able to make their way +to any of the alluvial terraces down the valley. Another path may +have gone over the cliffs above the fortress, where we noticed, in +various inaccessible places, the remains of walls built on narrow +ledges. They were too narrow and too irregular to have been intended +to support agricultural terraces. They may have been built to make the +cliff more precipitous. They probably represent the foundations of an +old trail. To defend these ancient paths we found that prehistoric +man had built, at the foot of the precipices, close to the river, +a small but powerful fortress whose ruins now pass by the name of +Salapunco; sala = ruins; punco = gateway. Fashioned after famous +Sacsahuaman and resembling it in the irregular character of the large +ashlars and also by reason of the salients and reentrant angles which +enabled its defenders to prevent the walls being successfully scaled, +it presents an interesting problem. + +Commanding as it does the entrance to the valley of Torontoy, +Salapunco may have been built by some ancient chief to enable him +to levy tribute on all who passed. My first impression was that +the fortress was placed here, at the end of the temperate zone, +to defend the valleys of Urubamba and Ollantaytambo against savage +enemies coming up from the forests of the Amazon. On the other hand, +it is possible that Salapunco was built by the tribes occupying the +fastnesses of Uilcapampa as an outpost to defend them against enemies +coming down the valley from the direction of Ollantaytambo. They could +easily have held it against a considerable force, for it is powerfully +built and constructed with skill. Supplies from the plantations of +Torontoy, lower down the river, might have reached it along the path +which antedated the present government road. Salapunco may have been +occupied by the troops of the Inca Manco when he established himself +in Uiticos and ruled over Uilcapampa. He could hardly, however, +have built a megalithic work of this kind. It is more likely that +he would have destroyed the narrow trails than have attempted to +hold the fort against the soldiers of Pizarro. Furthermore, its +style and character seem to date it with the well-known megalithic +structures of Cuzco and Ollantaytambo. This makes it seem all the +more extraordinary that Salapunco could ever have been built as a +defense against Ollantaytambo, unless it was built by folk who once +occupied Cuzco and who later found a retreat in the canyons below here. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Grosvenor Glacier and Mt. Salcantay +------ + + +When we first visited Salapunco no megalithic remains had been +reported as far down the valley as this. It never occurred to us that, +in hunting for the remains of such comparatively recent structures as +the Inca Manco had the force and time to build, we were to discover +remains of a far more remote past. Yet we were soon to find ruins +enough to explain why such a fortress as Salapunco might possibly +have been built so as to defend Uilcapampa against Ollantaytambo and +Cuzco and not those well-known Inca cities against the savages of +the Amazon jungles. + +Passing Salapunco, we skirted granite cliffs and precipices and entered +a most interesting region, where we were surprised and charmed by the +extent of the ancient terraces, their length and height, the presence +of many Inca ruins, the beauty of the deep, narrow valleys, and the +grandeur of the snow-clad mountains which towered above them. Across +the river, near Qquente, on top of a series of terraces, we saw the +extensive ruins of Patallacta (pata = height or terrace; llacta = +town or city), an Inca town of great importance. It was not known to +Raimondi or Paz Soldan, but is indicated on Wiener's map, although he +does not appear to have visited it. We have been unable to find any +reference to it in the chronicles. We spent several months here in +1915 excavating and determining the character of the ruins. In another +volume I hope to tell more of the antiquities of this region. At +present it must suffice to remark that our explorations near Patallacta +disclosed no "white rock over a spring of water." None of the place +names in this vicinity fit in with the accounts of Uiticos. Their +identity remains a puzzle, although the symmetry of the buildings, +their architectural idiosyncrasies such as niches, stone roof-pegs, +bar-holds, and eye-bonders, indicate an Inca origin. At what date these +towns and villages flourished, who built them, why they were deserted, +we do not yet know; and the Indians who live hereabouts are ignorant, +or silent, as to their history. + +At Torontoy, the end of the cultivated temperate valley, we found +another group of interesting ruins, possibly once the residence of +an Inca chief. In a cave near by we secured some mummies. The ancient +wrappings had been consumed by the natives in an effort to smoke out +the vampire bats that lived in the cave. On the opposite side of the +river are extensive terraces and above them, on a hilltop, other +ruins first visited by Messrs. Tucker and Hendriksen in 1911. One +of their Indian bearers, attempting to ford the rapids here with a +large surveying instrument, was carried off his feet, swept away by +the strong current, and drowned before help could reach him. + +Near Torontoy is a densely wooded valley called the Pampa Ccahua. In +1915 rumors of Andean or "spectacled" bears having been seen here and +of damage having been done by them to some of the higher crops, led +us to go and investigate. We found no bears, but at an elevation of +12,000 feet were some very old trees, heavily covered with flowering +moss not hitherto known to science. Above them I was so fortunate as +to find a wild potato plant, the source from which the early Peruvians +first developed many varieties of what we incorrectly call the Irish +potato. The tubers were as large as peas. + +Mr. Heller found here a strange little cousin of the kangaroo, a near +relative of the coenolestes. It turned out to be new to science. To +find a new genus of mammalian quadrupeds was an event which delighted +Mr. Heller far more than shooting a dozen bears. [8] + +Torontoy is at the beginning of the Grand Canyon of the Urubamba, +and such a canyon! The river "road" runs recklessly up and down +rock stairways, blasts its way beneath overhanging precipices, spans +chasms on frail bridges propped on rustic brackets against granite +cliffs. Under dense forests, wherever the encroaching precipices +permitted it, the land between them and the river was once terraced +and cultivated. We found ourselves unexpectedly in a veritable +wonderland. Emotions came thick and fast. We marveled at the exquisite +pains with which the ancient folk had rescued incredibly narrow strips +of arable land from the tumbling rapids. How could they ever have +managed to build a retaining wall of heavy stones along the very edge +of the dangerous river, which it is death to attempt to cross! On one +sightly bend near a foaming waterfall some Inca chief built a temple, +whose walls tantalize the traveler. He must pass by within pistol shot +of the interesting ruins, unable to ford the intervening rapids. High +up on the side of the canyon, five thousand feet above this temple, +are the ruins of Corihuayrachina (kori = "gold"; huayara = "wind"; +huayrachina = "a threshing-floor where winnowing takes place." Possibly +this was an ancient gold mine of the Incas. Half a mile above us on +another steep slope, some modern pioneer had recently cleared the +jungle from a fine series of ancient artificial terraces. + +On the afternoon of July 23d we reached a hut called "La Maquina," +where travelers frequently stop for the night. The name comes from the +presence here of some large iron wheels, parts of a "machine" destined +never to overcome the difficulties of being transported all the way to +a sugar estate in the lower valley, and years ago left here to rust in +the jungle. There was little fodder, and there was no good place for +us to pitch our camp, so we pushed on over the very difficult road, +which had been carved out of the face of a great granite cliff. Part +of the cliff had slid off into the river and the breach thus made in +the road had been repaired by means of a frail-looking rustic bridge +built on a bracket composed of rough logs, branches, and reeds, +tied together and surmounted by a few inches of earth and pebbles +to make it seem sufficiently safe to the cautious cargo mules who +picked their way gingerly across it. No wonder "the machine" rested +where it did and gave its name to that part of the valley. + +Dusk falls early in this deep canyon, the sides of which are +considerably over a mile in height. It was almost dark when we passed +a little sandy plain two or three acres in extent, which in this land +of steep mountains is called a pampa. Were the dwellers on the pampas +of Argentina--where a railroad can go for 250 miles in a straight +line, except for the curvature of the earth--to see this little bit +of flood-plain called Mandor Pampa, they would think some one had been +joking or else grossly misusing a word which means to them illimitable +space with not a hill in sight. However, to the ancient dwellers in +this valley, where level land was so scarce that it was worth while +to build high stone-faced terraces so as to enable two rows of corn +to grow where none grew before, any little natural breathing space +in the bottom of the canyon is called a pampa. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Road Between Maquina and Mandor Pampa Near Machu Picchu +------ + + +We passed an ill-kept, grass-thatched hut, turned off the road through +a tiny clearing, and made our camp at the edge of the river Urubamba +on a sandy beach. Opposite us, beyond the huge granite boulders +which interfered with the progress of the surging stream, was a steep +mountain clothed with thick jungle. It was an ideal spot for a camp, +near the road and yet secluded. Our actions, however, aroused the +suspicions of the owner of the hut, Melchor Arteaga, who leases the +lands of Mandor Pampa. He was anxious to know why we did not stay at +his hut like respectable travelers. Our gendarme, Sergeant Carrasco, +reassured him. They had quite a long conversation. When Arteaga learned +that we were interested in the architectural remains of the Incas, he +said there were some very good ruins in this vicinity--in fact, some +excellent ones on top of the opposite mountain, called Huayna Picchu, +and also on a ridge called Machu Picchu. These were the very places +Charles Wiener heard of at Ollantaytambo in 1875 and had been unable to +reach. The story of my experiences on the following day will be found +in a later chapter. Suffice it to say at this point that the ruins +of Huayna Picchu turned out to be of very little importance, while +those of Machu Picchu, familiar to readers of the "National Geographic +Magazine," are as interesting as any ever found in the Andes. + +When I first saw the remarkable citadel of Machu Picchu perched on +a narrow ridge two thousand feet above the river, I wondered if it +could be the place to which that old soldier, Baltasar de Ocampo, +a member of Captain Garcia's expedition, was referring when he said: +"The Inca Tupac Amaru was there in the fortress of Pitcos [Uiticos], +which is on a very high mountain, whence the view commanded a great +part of the province of Uilcapampa. Here there was an extensive level +space, with very sumptuous and majestic buildings, erected with great +skill and art, all the lintels of the doors, the principal as well +as the ordinary ones, being of marble, elaborately carved." Could +it be that "Picchu" was the modern variant of "Pitcos"? To be sure, +the white granite of which the temples and palaces of Machu Picchu +are constructed might easily pass for marble. The difficulty about +fitting Ocampo's description to Machu Picchu, however, was that there +was no difference between the lintels of the doors and the walls +themselves. Furthermore, there is no "white rock over a spring of +water" which Calancha says was "near Uiticos." There is no Pucyura +in this neighborhood. In fact, the canyon of the Urubamba does not +satisfy the geographical requirements of Uiticos. Although containing +ruins of surpassing interest, Machu Picchu did not represent that +last Inca capital for which we were searching. We had not yet found +Manco's palace. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +The Search Continued + +Machu Picchu is on the border-line between the temperate zone and the +tropics. Camping near the bridge of San Miguel, below the ruins, both +Mr. Heller and Mr. Cook found interesting evidences of this fact in +the flora and fauna. From the point of view of historical geography, +Mr. Cook's most important discovery was the presence here of huilca, +a tree which does not grow in cold climates. The Quichua dictionaries +tell us huilca is a "medicine, a purgative." An infusion made from +the seeds of the tree is used as an enema. I am indebted to Mr. Cook +for calling my attention to two articles by Mr. W. E. Safford in +which it is also shown that from seeds of the huilca a powder is +prepared, sometimes called cohoba. This powder, says Mr. Safford, is a +narcotic snuff "inhaled through the nostrils by means of a bifurcated +tube." "All writers unite in declaring that it induced a kind of +intoxication or hypnotic state, accompanied by visions which were +regarded by the natives as supernatural. While under its influence +the necromancers, or priests, were supposed to hold communication +with unseen powers, and their incoherent mutterings were regarded as +prophecies or revelations of hidden things. In treating the sick the +physicians made use of it to discover the cause of the malady or the +person or spirit by whom the patient was bewitched." Mr. Safford quotes +Las Casas as saying: "It was an interesting spectacle to witness how +they took it and what they spake. The chief began the ceremony and +while he was engaged all remained silent .... When he had snuffed up +the powder through his nostrils, he remained silent for a while with +his head inclined to one side and his arms placed on his knees. Then +he raised his face heavenward, uttering certain words which must +have been his prayer to the true God, or to him whom he held as God; +after which all responded, almost as we do when we say amen; and this +they did with a loud voice or sound. Then they gave thanks and said +to him certain complimentary things, entreating his benevolence and +begging him to reveal to them what he had seen. He described to them +his vision, saying that the Cemi [spirits] had spoken to him and had +predicted good times or the contrary, or that children were to be born, +or to die, or that there was to be some dispute with their neighbors, +and other things which might come to his imagination, all disturbed +with that intoxication." [9] + +Clearly, from the point of view of priests and soothsayers, the place +where huilca was first found and used in their incantations would be +important. It is not strange to find therefore that the Inca name of +this river was Uilca-mayu: the "huilca river." The pampa on this river +where the trees grew would likely receive the name Uilca pampa. If it +became an important city, then the surrounding region might be named +Uilcapampa after it. This seems to me to be the most probable origin +of the name of the province. Anyhow it is worth noting the fact that +denizens of Cuzco and Ollantaytambo, coming down the river in search +of this highly prized narcotic, must have found the first trees not +far from Machu Picchu. + +Leaving the ruins of Machu Picchu for later investigation, we now +pushed on down the Urubamba Valley, crossed the bridge of San Miguel, +passed the house of Senor Lizarraga, first of modern Peruvians to +write his name on the granite walls of Machu Picchu, and came to the +sugar-cane fields of Huadquina. We had now left the temperate zone +and entered the tropics. + +At Huadquina we were so fortunate as to find that the proprietress of +the plantation, Senora Carmen Vargas, and her children, were spending +the season here. During the rainy winter months they live in Cuzco, +but when summer brings fine weather they come to Huadquina to enjoy +the free-and-easy life of the country. They made us welcome, not +only with that hospitality to passing travelers which is common +to sugar estates all over the world, but gave us real assistance +in our explorations. Senora Carmen's estate covers more than +two hundred square miles. Huadquina is a splendid example of the +ancient patriarchal system. The Indians who come from other parts of +Peru to work on the plantation enjoy perquisites and wages unknown +elsewhere. Those whose home is on the estate regard Senora Carmen with +an affectionate reverence which she well deserves. All are welcome to +bring her their troubles. The system goes back to the days when the +spiritual, moral, and material welfare of the Indians was entrusted +in encomienda to the lords of the repartimiento or allotted territory. + +Huadquina once belonged to the Jesuits. They planted the first sugar +cane and established the mill. After their expulsion from the Spanish +colonies at the end of the eighteenth century, Huadquina was bought +by a Peruvian. It was first described in geographical literature by +the Count de Sartiges, who stayed here for several weeks in 1834 when +on his way to Choqquequirau. He says that the owner of Huadquina "is +perhaps the only landed proprietor in the entire world who possesses +on his estates all the products of the four parts of the globe. In +the different regions of his domain he has wool, hides, horsehair, +potatoes, wheat, corn, sugar, coffee, chocolate, coca, many mines of +silver-bearing lead, and placers of gold." Truly a royal principality. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Huadquina +------ + + +Incidentally it is interesting to note that although Sartiges was +an enthusiastic explorer, eager to visit undescribed Inca ruins, +he makes no mention whatever of Machu Picchu. Yet from Huadquina +one can reach Machu Picchu on foot in half a day without crossing +the Urubamba River. Apparently the ruins were unknown to his hosts +in 1834. They were equally unknown to our kind hosts in 1911. They +scarcely believed the story I told them of the beauty and extent of +the Inca edifices. [10] When my photographs were developed, however, +and they saw with their own eyes the marvelous stonework of the +principal temples, Senora Carmen and her family were struck dumb +with wonder and astonishment. They could not understand how it was +possible that they should have passed so close to Machu Picchu every +year of their lives since the river road was opened without knowing +what was there. They had seen a single little building on the crest +of the ridge, but supposed that it was an isolated tower of no great +interest or importance. Their neighbor, Lizarraga, near the bridge +of San Miguel, had reported the presence of the ruins which he first +visited in 1904, but, like our friends in Cuzco, they had paid little +attention to his stories. We were soon to have a demonstration of +the causes of such skepticism. + +Our new friends read with interest my copy of those paragraphs of +Calaucha's "Chronicle" which referred to the location of the last Inca +capital. Learning that we were anxious to discover Uiticos, a place of +which they had never heard, they ordered the most intelligent tenants +on the estate to come in and be questioned. The best informed of all +was a sturdy mestizo, a trusted foreman, who said that in a little +valley called Ccllumayu, a few hours' journey down the Urubamba, there +were "important ruins" which had been seen by some of Senora Carmen's +Indians. Even more interesting and thrilling was his statement that on +a ridge up the Salcantay Valley was a place called Yurak Rumi (yurak = +"white"; rumi = "stone") where some very interesting ruins had been +found by his workmen when cutting trees for firewood. We all became +excited over this, for among the paragraphs which I had copied from +Calancha's "Chronicle" was the statement that "close to Uiticos" is the +"white stone of the aforesaid house of the Sun which is called Yurak +Rumi." Our hosts assured us that this must be the place, since no +one hereabouts had ever heard of any other Yurak Rumi. The foreman, +on being closely questioned, said that he had seen the ruins once or +twice, that he had also been up the Urubamba Valley and seen the great +ruins at Ollantaytambo, and that those which he had seen at Yurak Rumi +were "as good as those at Ollantaytambo." Here was a definite statement +made by an eyewitness. Apparently we were about to see that interesting +rock where the last Incas worshiped. However, the foreman said that +the trail thither was at present impassable, although a small gang of +Indians could open it in less than a week. Our hosts, excited by the +pictures we had shown them of Machu Picchu, and now believing that +even finer ruins might be found on their own property, immediately +gave orders to have the path to Yurak Rumi cleared for our benefit. + +While this was being done, Senora Carmen's son, the manager of the +plantation, offered to accompany us himself to Ccllumayu, where other +"important ruins" had been found, which could be reached in a few +hours without cutting any new trails. Acting on his assurance that we +should not need tent or cots, we left our camping outfit behind and +followed him to a small valley on the south side of the Urubamba. We +found Ccllumayu to consist of two huts in a small clearing. Densely +wooded slopes rose on all sides. The manager requested two of +the Indian tenants to act as guides. With them, we plunged into +the thick jungle and spent a long and fatiguing day searching in +vain for ruins. That night the manager returned to Huadquina, but +Professor Foote and I preferred to remain in Ccllumayu and prosecute +a more vigorous search on the next day. We shared a little thatched +hut with our Indian hosts and a score of fat cuys (guinea pigs), the +chief source of the Ccllumayu meat supply. The hut was built of rough +wattles which admitted plenty of fresh air and gave us comfortable +ventilation. Primitive little sleeping-platforms, also of wattles, +constructed for the needs of short, stocky Indians, kept us from +being overrun by inquisitive cuys, but could hardly be called as +comfortable as our own folding cots which we had left at Huadquina. + +The next day our guides were able to point out in the woods a few +piles of stones, the foundations of oval or circular huts which +probably were built by some primitive savage tribe in prehistoric +times. Nothing further could be found here of ruins, "important" +or otherwise, although we spent three days at Ccllumayu. Such was +our first disillusionment. + +On our return to Huadquina, we learned that the trail to Yurak Rumi +would be ready "in a day or two." In the meantime our hosts became much +interested in Professor Foote's collection of insects. They brought +an unnamed scorpion and informed us that an orange orchard surrounded +by high walls in a secluded place back of the house was "a great +place for spiders." We found that their statement was not exaggerated +and immediately engaged in an enthusiastic spider hunt. When these +Huadquina spiders were studied at the Harvard Museum of Comparative +Zooelogy, Dr. Chamberlain found among them the representatives of four +new genera and nineteen species hitherto unknown to science. As a +reward of merit, he gave Professor Foote's name to the scorpion! + + +------ +FIGURE + +Ruins of Yurak Rumi near Huadquina. Probably an Inca Storehouse, well +ventilated and well drained. Drawn by A. H. Bumstead from measurements +and photographs by Hiram Bingham and H. W. Foote. +------ + + +Finally the trail to Yurak Rumi was reported finished. It was with +feelings of keen anticipation that I started out with the foreman +to see those ruins which he had just revisited and now declared were +"better than those of Ollantaytambo." It was to be presumed that in the +pride of discovery he might have exaggerated their importance. Still it +never entered my head what I was actually to find. After several hours +spent in clearing away the dense forest growth which surrounded the +walls I learned that this Yurak Rumi consisted of the ruins of a single +little rectangular Inca storehouse. No effort had been made at beauty +of construction. The walls were of rough, unfashioned stones laid in +clay. The building was without a doorway, although it had several small +windows and a series of ventilating shafts under the house. The lintels +of the windows and of the small apertures leading into the subterranean +shafts were of stone. There were no windows on the sunny north side +or on the ends, but there were four on the south side through which +it would have been possible to secure access to the stores of maize, +potatoes, or other provisions placed here for safe-keeping. It +will be recalled that the Incas maintained an extensive system of +public storehouses, not only in the centers of population, but also +at strategic points on the principal trails. Yurak Rumi is on top of +the ridge between the Salcantay and Huadquina valleys, probably on an +ancient road which crossed the province of Uilcapampa. As such it was +interesting; but to compare it with Ollantaytambo, as the foreman had +done, was to liken a cottage to a palace or a mouse to an elephant. It +seems incredible that anybody having actually seen both places could +have thought for a moment that one was "as good as the other." To be +sure, the foreman was not a trained observer and his interest in Inca +buildings was probably of the slightest. Yet the ruins of Ollantaytambo +are so well known and so impressive that even the most casual traveler +is struck by them and the natives themselves are enormously proud +of them. The real cause of the foreman's inaccuracy was probably his +desire to please. To give an answer which will satisfy the questioner +is a common trait in Peru as well as in many other parts of the +world. Anyhow, the lessons of the past few days were not lost on +us. We now understood the skepticism which had prevailed regarding +Lizarraga's discoveries. It is small wonder that the occasional +stories about Machu Picchu which had drifted into Cuzco had never +elicited any enthusiasm nor even provoked investigation on the part +of those professors and students in the University of Cuzco who were +interested in visiting the remains of Inca civilization. They knew +only too well the fondness of their countrymen for exaggeration and +their inability to report facts accurately. + +Obviously, we had not yet found Uiticos. So, bidding farewell to +Senora Carmen, we crossed the Urubamba on the bridge of Colpani and +proceeded down the valley past the mouth of the Lucumayo and the +road from Panticalla, to the hamlet of Chauillay, where the Urubamba +is joined by the Vilcabamba River. [11] Both rivers are restricted +here to narrow gorges, through which their waters rush and roar on +their way to the lower valley. A few rods from Chauillay was a fine +bridge. The natives call it Chuquichaca! Steel and iron have superseded +the old suspension bridge of huge cables made of vegetable fiber, with +its narrow roadway of wattles supported by a network of vines. Yet +here it was that in 1572 the military force sent by the viceroy, +Francisco de Toledo, under the command of General Martin Hurtado and +Captain Garcia, found the forces of the young Inca drawn up to defend +Uiticos. It will be remembered that after a brief preliminary fire +the forces of Tupac Amaru were routed without having destroyed the +bridge and thus Captain Garcia was enabled to accomplish that which +had proved too much for the famous Gonzalo Pizarro. Our inspection of +the surroundings showed that Captain Garcia's companion, Baltasar de +Ocampo, was correct when he said that the occupation of the bridge +of Chuquichaca "was a measure of no small importance for the royal +force." It certainly would have caused the Spaniards "great trouble" +if they had had to rebuild it. + +We might now have proceeded to follow Garcia's tracks up the Vilcabamba +had we not been anxious to see the proprietor of the plantation of +Santa Ana, Don Pedro Duque, reputed to be the wisest and ablest man +in this whole province. We felt he would be able to offer us advice of +prime importance in our search. So leaving the bridge of Chuquichaca, +we continued down the Urubamba River which here meanders through a +broad, fertile valley, green with tropical plantations. We passed +groves of bananas and oranges, waving fields of green sugar cane, the +hospitable dwellings of prosperous planters, and the huts of Indians +fortunate enough to dwell in this tropical "Garden of Eden." The day +was hot and thirst-provoking, so I stopped near some large orange trees +loaded with ripe fruit and asked the Indian proprietress to sell me +ten cents' worth. In exchange for the tiny silver real she dragged out +a sack containing more than fifty oranges! I was fain to request her +to permit us to take only as many as our pockets could hold; but she +seemed so surprised and pained, we had to fill our saddle-bags as well. + +At the end of the day we crossed the Urubamba River on a fine +steel bridge and found ourselves in the prosperous little town of +Quillabamba, the provincial capital. Its main street was lined with +well-filled shops, evidence of the fact that this is one of the +principal gateways to the Peruvian rubber country which, with the +high price of rubber then prevailing, 1911, was the scene of unusual +activity. Passing through Quillabamba and up a slight hill beyond +it, we came to the long colonnades of the celebrated sugar estate of +Santa Ana founded by the Jesuits, where all explorers who have passed +this way since the days of Charles Wiener have been entertained. He +says that he was received here "with a thousand signs of friendship" +("mille temoignages d'amitie"). We were received the same way. Even +in a region where we had repeatedly received valuable assistance from +government officials and generous hospitality from private individuals, +our reception at Santa Ana stands out as particularly delightful. + +Don Pedro Duque took great interest in enabling us to get all possible +information about the little-known region into which we proposed +to penetrate. Born in Colombia, but long resident in Peru, he was +a gentleman of the old school, keenly interested, not only in the +administration and economic progress of his plantation, but also in +the intellectual movements of the outside world. He entered with zest +into our historical-geographical studies. The name Uiticos was new +to him, but after reading over with us our extracts from the Spanish +chronicles he was sure that he could help us find it. And help us he +did. Santa Ana is less than thirteen degrees south of the equator; +the elevation is barely 2000 feet; the "winter" nights are cool; +but the heat in the middle of the day is intense. Nevertheless, +our host was so energetic that as a result of his efforts a number +of the best-informed residents were brought to the conferences at +the great plantation house. They told all they knew of the towns and +valleys where the last four Incas had found a refuge, but that was +not much. They all agreed that "if only Senor Lopez Torres were alive +he could have been of great service" to us, as "he had prospected +for mines and rubber in those parts more than any one else, and had +once seen some Inca ruins in the forest!" Of Uiticos and Chuquipalpa +and most of the places mentioned in the chronicles, none of Don +Pedro's friends had ever heard. It was all rather discouraging, +until one day, by the greatest good fortune, there arrived at Santa +Ana another friend of Don Pedro's, the teniente gobernador of the +village of Lucma in the valley of Vilcabamba--a crusty old fellow +named Evaristo Mogrovejo. His brother, Pio Mogrovejo, had been a +member of the party of energetic Peruvians who, in 1884, had searched +for buried treasure at Choqquequirau and had left their names on +its walls. Evaristo Mogrovejo could understand searching for buried +treasure, but he was totally unable otherwise to comprehend our desire +to find the ruins of the places mentioned by Father Calancha and the +contemporaries of Captain Garcia. Had we first met Mogrovejo in Lucma +he would undoubtedly have received us with suspicion and done nothing +to further our quest. Fortunately for us, his official superior was +the sub-prefect of the province of Convencion, lived at Quillabamba +near Santa Ana, and was a friend of Don Pedro's. The sub-prefect had +received orders from his own official superior, the prefect of Cuzco, +to take a personal interest in our undertaking, and accordingly gave +particular orders to Mogrovejo to see to it that we were given every +facility for finding the ancient ruins and identifying the places +of historic interest. Although Mogrovejo declined to risk his skin +in the savage wilderness of Conservidayoc, he carried out his orders +faithfully and was ultimately of great assistance to us. + +Extremely gratified with the result of our conferences in Santa +Ana, yet reluctant to leave the delightful hospitality and charming +conversation of our gracious host, we decided to go at once to Lucma, +taking the road on the southwest side of the Urubamba and using +the route followed by the pack animals which carry the precious +cargoes of coca and aguardiente from Santa Ana to Ollantaytambo and +Cuzco. Thanks to Don Pedro's energy, we made an excellent start; +not one of those meant-to-be-early but really late-in-the-morning +departures so customary in the Andes. + +We passed through a region which originally had been heavily forested, +had long since been cleared, and was now covered with bushes and +second growth. Near the roadside I noticed a considerable number of +land shells grouped on the under-side of overhanging rocks. As a boy +in the Hawaiian Islands I had spent too many Saturdays collecting +those beautiful and fascinating mollusks, which usually prefer the +trees of upland valleys, to enable me to resist the temptation of +gathering a large number of such as could easily be secured. None of +the snails were moving. The dry season appears to be their resting +period. Some weeks later Professor Foote and I passed through Maras +and were interested to notice thousands of land shells, mostly white in +color, on small bushes, where they seemed to be quietly sleeping. They +were fairly "glued to their resting places"; clustered so closely in +some cases as to give the stems of the bushes a ghostly appearance. + +Our present objective was the valley of the river Vilcabamba. So +far as we have been able to learn, only one other explorer had +preceded us--the distinguished scientist Raimondi. His map of the +Vilcabamba is fairly accurate. He reports the presence here of +mines and minerals, but with the exception of an "abandoned tampu" +at Maracnyoc ("the place which possesses a millstone"), he makes no +mention of any ruins. Accordingly, although it seemed from the story +of Baltasar de Ocampo and Captain Garcia's other contemporaries that +we were now entering the valley of Uiticos, it was with feel-hags of +considerable uncertainty that we proceeded on our quest. It may seem +strange that we should have been in any doubt. Yet before our visit +nearly all the Peruvian historians and geographers except Don Carlos +Romero still believed that when the Inca Manco fled from Pizarro he +took up his residence at Choqquequirau in the Apurimac Valley. The +word choqquequirau means "cradle of gold" and this lent color to the +legend that Manco had carried off with him from Cuzco great quantities +of gold utensils and much treasure, which he deposited in his new +capital. Raimondi, knowing that Manco had "retired to Uilcapampa," +visited both the present villages of Vilcabamba and Pucyura and +saw nothing of any ruins. He was satisfied that Choqquequirau was +Manco's refuge because it was far enough from Pucyura to answer the +requirements of Calancha that it was "two or three days' journey" +from Uilcapampa to Puquiura. + +A new road had recently been built along the river bank by the owner +of the sugar estate at Paltaybamba, to enable his pack animals to +travel more rapidly. Much of it had to be carved out of the face +of a solid rock precipice and in places it pierces the cliffs in +a series of little tunnels. My gendarme missed this road and took +the steep old trail over the cliffs. As Ocampo said in his story of +Captain Garcia's expedition, "the road was narrow in the ascent with +forest on the fight, and on the left a ravine of great depth." We +reached Paltaybamba about dusk. The owner, Senor Jose S. Pancorbo, +was absent, attending to the affairs of a rubber estate in the jungles +of the river San Miguel. The plantation of Paltaybamba occupies the +best lands in the lower Vilcabamba Valley, but lying, as it does, +well off the main highway, visitors are rare and our arrival was +the occasion for considerable excitement. We were not unexpected, +however. It was Senor Pancorbo who had assured us in Cuzco that we +should find ruins near Pucyura and he had told his major-domo to be +on the look-out for us. We had a long talk with the manager of the +plantation and his friends that evening. They had heard little of +any ruins in this vicinity, but repeated one of the stories we had +heard in Santa Ana, that way off somewhere in the montana there was +"an Inca city." All agreed that it was a very difficult place to reach; +and none of them had ever been there. In the morning the manager gave +us a guide to the next house up the valley, with orders that the man +at that house should relay us to the next, and so on. These people, +all tenants of the plantation, obligingly carried out their orders, +although at considerable inconvenience to themselves. + +The Vilcabamba Valley above Paltaybamba is very picturesque. There +are high mountains on either side, covered with dense jungle and dark +green foliage, in pleasing contrast to the light green of the fields of +waving sugar cane. The valley is steep, the road is very winding, and +the torrent of the Vilcabamba roars loudly, even in July. What it must +be like in February, the rainy season, we could only surmise. About +two leagues above Paltaybamba, at or near the spot called by Raimondi +"Maracnyoc," an "abandoned tampu," we came to some old stone walls, +the ruins of a place now called Huayara or "Hoyara." I believe them to +be the ruins of the first Spanish settlement in this region, a place +referred to by Ocampo, who says that the fugitives of Tupac Amaru's +army were "brought back to the valley of Hoyara," where they were +"settled in a large village, and a city of Spaniards was founded +.... This city was founded on an extensive plain near a river, with +an admirable climate. From the river channels of water were taken for +the service of the city, the water being very good." The water here +is excellent, far better than any in the Cuzco Basin. On the plain +near the river are some of the last cane fields of the plantation +of Paltaybamba. "Hoyara" was abandoned after the discovery of gold +mines several leagues farther up the valley, and the Spanish "city" +was moved to the village now called Vilcabamba. + +Our next stop was at Lucma, the home of Teniente Gobernador +Mogrovejo. The village of Lucma is an irregular cluster of about thirty +thatched-roofed huts. It enjoys a moderate amount of prosperity due to +the fact of its being located near one of the gateways to the interior, +the pass to the rubber estates in the San Miguel Valley. Here are +"houses of refreshment" and two shops, the only ones in the region. One +can buy cotton cloth, sugar, canned goods and candles. A picturesque +belfry and a small church, old and somewhat out of repair, crown the +small hill back of the village. There is little level land, but the +slopes are gentle, and permit a considerable amount of agriculture. + +There was no evidence of extensive terracing. Maize and alfalfa seemed +to be the principal crops. Evaristo Mogrovejo lived on the little plaza +around which the houses of the more important people were grouped. He +had just returned from Santa Ana by the way of Idma, using a much +worse trail than that over which we had come, but one which enabled +him to avoid passing through Paltaybamba, with whose proprietor he +was not on good terms. He told us stories of misadventures which had +happened to travelers at the gates of Paltaybamba, stories highly +reminiscent of feudal days in Europe, when provincial barons were +accustomed to lay tribute on all who passed. + +We offered to pay Mogrovejo a gratificacion of a sol, or Peruvian +silver dollar, for every ruin to which he would take us, and double +that amount if the locality should prove to contain particularly +interesting ruins. This aroused all his business instincts. He +summoned his alcaldes and other well-informed Indians to appear and be +interviewed. They told us there were "many ruins" hereabouts! Being +a practical man himself, Mogrovejo had never taken any interest in +ruins. Now he saw the chance not only to make money out of the ancient +sites, but also to gain official favor by carrying out with unexampled +vigor the orders of his superior, the sub-prefect of Quillabamba. So +he exerted himself to the utmost in our behalf. + +The next day we were guided up a ravine to the top of the ridge back +of Lucma. This ridge divides the upper from the lower Vilcabamba. On +all sides the hills rose several thousand feet above us. In places +they were covered with forest growth, chiefly above the cloud line, +where daily moisture encourages vegetation. In some of the forests on +the more gentle slopes recent clearings gave evidence of enterprise +on the part of the present inhabitants of the valley. After an hour's +climb we reached what were unquestionably the ruins of Inca structures, +on an artificial terrace which commands a magnificent view far down +toward Paltaybamba and the bridge of Chuquichaca, as well as in the +opposite direction. The contemporaries of Captain Garcia speak of a +number of forts or pucaras which had to be stormed and captured before +Tupac Amaru could be taken prisoner. This was probably one of those +"fortresses." Its strategic position and the ease with which it could +be defended point to such an interpretation. Nevertheless this ruin +did not fit the "fortress of Pitcos," nor the "House of the Sun" +near the "white rock over the spring." It is called Incahuaracana, +"the place where the Inca shoots with a sling." + +Incahuaracana consists of two typical Inca edifices--one of two +rooms, about 70 by 20 feet, and the other, very long and narrow, +150 by 11 feet. The walls, of unhewn stone laid in clay, were not +particularly well built and resemble in many respects the ruins at +Choqquequirau. The rooms of the principal house are without windows, +although each has three front doors and is lined with niches, four +or five on a side. The long, narrow building was divided into three +rooms, and had several front doors. A force of two hundred Indian +soldiers could have slept in these houses without unusual crowding. + +We left Lucma the next day, forded the Vilcabamba River and soon +had an uninterrupted view up the valley to a high, truncated hill, +its top partly covered with a scrubby growth of trees and bushes, +its sides steep and rocky. We were told that the name of the hill was +"Rosaspata," a word of modern hybrid origin--pata being Quichua for +"hill," while rosas is the Spanish word for "roses." Mogrovejo said +his Indians told him that on the "Hill of Roses" there were more ruins. + +At the foot of the hill, and across the river, is the village of +Pucyura. When Raimondi was here in 1865 it was but a "wretched hamlet +with a paltry chapel." To-day it is more prosperous. There is a large +public school here, to which children come from villages many miles +away. So crowded is the school that in fine weather the children +sit on benches out of doors. The boys all go barefooted. The girls +wear high boots. I once saw them reciting a geography lesson, but I +doubt if even the teacher knew whether or not this was the site of +the first school in this whole region. For it was to "Puquiura" that +Friar Marcos came in 1566. Perhaps he built the "mezquina capilla" +which Raimondi scorned. If this were the "Puquiura" of Friar Marcos, +then Uiticos must be near by, for he and Friar Diego walked with +their famous procession of converts from "Puquiura" to the House of +the Sun and the "white rock" which was "close to Uiticos." + +Crossing the Vilcabamba on a footbridge that afternoon, we came +immediately upon some old ruins that were not Incaic. Examination +showed that they were apparently the remains of a very crude Spanish +crushing mill, obviously intended to pulverize gold-bearing quartz on a +considerable scale. Perhaps this was the place referred to by Ocampo, +who says that the Inca Titu Cusi attended masses said by his friend +Friar Diego in a chapel which is "near my houses and on my own lands, +in the mining district of Puquiura, close to the ore-crushing mill of +Don Christoval de Albornoz, Precentor that was of the Cuzco Cathedral." + + +------ +FIGURE + +Pucyura and the Hill of Rosaspata in the Vilcabamba Valley +------ + + +One of the millstones is five feet in diameter and more than a foot +thick. It lay near a huge, flat rock of white granite, hollowed +out so as to enable the millstone to be rolled slowly around in a +hollow trough. There was also a very large Indian mortar and pestle, +heavy enough to need the services of four men to work it. The mortar +was merely the hollowed-out top of a large boulder which projected +a few inches above the surface of the ground. The pestle, four feet +in diameter, was of the characteristic rocking-stone shape used from +time immemorial by the Indians of the highlands for crushing maize or +potatoes. Since no other ruins of a Spanish quartz-crushing plant have +been found in this vicinity, it is probable that this once belonged +to Don Christoval de Albornoz. + +Near the mill the Tincochaca River joins the Vilcabamba from the +southeast. Crossing this on a footbridge, I followed Mogrovejo to an +old and very dilapidated structure in the saddle of the hill on the +south side of Rosaspata. They called the place Uncapampa, or Inca +pampa. It is probably one of the forts stormed by Captain Garcia +and his men in 1571. The ruins represent a single house, 166 feet +long by 33 feet wide. If the house had partitions they long since +disappeared. There were six doorways in front, none on the ends or +in the rear walls. The ruins resembled those of Incahuaracana, near +Lucma. The walls had originally been built of rough stones laid in +clay. The general finish was extremely rough. The few niches, all +at one end of the structure, were irregular, about two feet in width +and a little more than this in height. The one corner of the building +which was still standing had a height of about ten feet. Two hundred +Inca soldiers could have slept here also. + +Leaving Uncapampa and following my guides, I climbed up the ridge and +followed a path along its west side to the top of Rosaspata. Passing +some ruins much overgrown and of a primitive character, I soon found +myself on a pleasant pampa near the top of the mountain. The view +from here commands "a great part of the province of Uilcapampa." It +is remarkably extensive on all sides; to the north and south are +snow-capped mountains, to the east and west, deep verdure-clad valleys. + +Furthermore, on the north side of the pampa is an extensive level +space with a very sumptuous and majestic building "erected with great +skill and art, all the lintels of the doors, the principal as well as +the ordinary ones," being of white granite elaborately cut. At last +we had found a place which seemed to meet most of the requirements +of Ocampo's description of the "fortress of Pitcos." To be sure it +was not of "marble," and the lintels of the doors were not "carved," +in our sense of the word. They were, however, beautifully finished, +as may be seen from the illustrations, and the white granite might +easily pass for marble. If only we could find in this vicinity that +Temple of the Sun which Calancha said was "near" Uiticos, all doubts +would be at an end. + +That night we stayed at Tincochaca, in the hut of an Indian friend of +Mogrovejo. As usual we made inquiries. Imagine our feelings when in +response to the oft-repeated question he said that in a neighboring +valley there was a great white rock over a spring of water! If his +story should prove to be true our quest for Uiticos was over. It +behooved us to make a very careful study of what we had found. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +The Fortress of Uiticos and the House of the Sun + +When the viceroy, Toledo, determined to conquer that last stronghold of +the Incas where for thirty-five years they had defied the supreme +power of Spain, he offered a thousand dollars a year as a pension +to the soldier who would capture Tupac Amaru. Captain Garcia +earned the pension, but failed to receive it; the "manana habit" +was already strong in the days of Philip II. So the doughty captain +filed a collection of testimonials with Philip's Royal Council of +the Indies. Among these is his own statement of what happened on the +campaign against Tupac Amaru. In this he says: "and having arrived +at the principal fortress, Guay-napucara ["the young fortress"], +which the Incas had fortified, we found it defended by the Prince +Philipe Quispetutio, a son of the Inca Titu Cusi, with his captains +and soldiers. It is on a high eminence surrounded with rugged crags and +jungles, very dangerous to ascend and almost impregnable. Nevertheless, +with my aforesaid company of soldiers I went up and gained the +fortress, but only with the greatest possible labor and danger. Thus +we gained the province of Uilcapampa." The viceroy himself says this +important victory was due to Captain Garcia's skill and courage in +storming the heights of Guaynapucara, "on Saint John the Baptist's day, +in 1572." + +The "Hill of Roses" is indeed "a high eminence surrounded with rugged +crags." The side of easiest approach is protected by a splendid, long +wall, built so carefully as not to leave a single toe-hold for active +besiegers. The barracks at Uncapampa could have furnished a contingent +to make an attack on that side very dangerous. The hill is steep on +all sides, and it would have been extremely easy for a small force +to have defended it. It was undoubtedly "almost impregnable." This +was the feature Captain Garcia was most likely to remember. + +On the very summit of the hill are the ruins of a partly enclosed +compound consisting of thirteen or fourteen houses arranged so as to +form a rough square, with one large and several small courtyards. The +outside dimensions of the compound are about 160 feet by 145 feet. The +builders showed the familiar Inca sense of symmetry in arranging +the houses, Due to the wanton destruction of many buildings by the +natives in their efforts at treasure-hunting, the walls have been so +pulled down that it is impossible to get the exact dimensions of the +buildings. In only one of them could we be sure that there had been +any niches. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Principal Doorway of the Long Palace at Rosaspata +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Another Doorway in the Ruins of Rosaspata +------ + + +Most interesting of all is the structure which caught the attention +of Ocampo and remained fixed in his memory. Enough remains of this +building to give a good idea of its former grandeur. It was indeed a +fit residence for a royal Inca, an exile from Cuzco. It is 245 feet by +43 feet. There were no windows, but it was lighted by thirty doorways, +fifteen in front and the same in back. It contained ten large rooms, +besides three hallways running from front to rear. The walls were built +rather hastily and are not noteworthy, but the principal entrances, +namely, those leading to each hall, are particularly well made; not, +to be sure, of "marble" as Ocampo said--there is no marble in the +province--but of finely cut ashlars of white granite. The lintels +of the principal doorways, as well as of the ordinary ones, are +also of solid blocks of white granite, the largest being as much as +eight feet in length. The doorways are better than any other ruins in +Uilcapampa except those of Machu Picchu, thus justifying the mention +of them made by Ocampo, who lived near here and had time to become +thoroughly familiar with their appearance. Unfortunately, a very +small portion of the edifice was still standing. Most of the rear +doors had been filled up with ashlars, in order to make a continuous +fence. Other walls had been built from the ruins, to keep cattle out +of the cultivated pampa. Rosaspata is at an elevation which places it +on the borderland between the cold grazing country, with its root crops +and sublimated pigweeds, and the temperate zone where maize flourishes. + +On the south side of the hilltop, opposite the long palace, is the ruin +of a single structure, 78 feet long and 35 feet wide, containing doors +on both sides, no niches and no evidence of careful workmanship. It +was probably a barracks for a company of soldiers. + +The intervening "pampa" might have been the scene of those games +of bowls and quoits, which were played by the Spanish refugees who +fled from the wrath of Gonzalo Pizarro and found refuge with the Inca +Manco. Here may have occurred that fatal game when one of the players +lost his temper and killed his royal host. + +Our excavations in 1915 yielded a mass of rough potsherds, a few Inca +whirl-bobs and bronze shawl pins, and also a number of iron articles of +European origin, heavily rusted--horseshoe nails, a buckle, a pair of +scissors, several bridle or saddle ornaments, and three Jew's-harps. My +first thought was that modern Peruvians must have lived here at one +time, although the necessity of carrying all water supplies up the hill +would make this unlikely. Furthermore, the presence here of artifacts +of European origin does not of itself point to such a conclusion. In +the first place, we know that Manco was accustomed to make raids +on Spanish travelers between Cuzco and Lima. He might very easily +have brought back with him a Spanish bridle. In the second place the +musical instruments may have belonged to the refugees, who might have +enjoyed whiling away their exile with melancholy twanging. In the +third place the retainers of the Inca probably visited the Spanish +market in Cuzco, where there would have been displayed at times a +considerable assortment of goods of European manufacture. Finally +Rodriguez de Figueroa speaks expressly of two pairs of scissors he +brought as a present to Titu Cusi. That no such array of European +artifacts has been turned up in the excavations of other important +sites in the province of Uilcapampa would seem to indicate that they +were abandoned before the Spanish Conquest or else were occupied by +natives who had no means of accumulating such treasures. + +Thanks to Ocampo's description of the fortress which Tupac Amaru was +occupying in 1572 there is no doubt that this was the palace of the +last Inca. Was it also the capital of his brothers, Titu Cusi and Sayri +Tupac, and his father, Manco? It is astonishing how few details we have +by which the Uiticos of Manco may be identified. His contemporaries +are strangely silent. When he left Cuzco and sought refuge "in the +remote fastnesses of the Andes," there was a Spanish soldier, Cieza +de Leon, in the armies of Pizarro who had a genius for seeing and +hearing interesting things and writing them down, and who tried to +interview as many members of the royal family as he could;--Manco +had thirteen brothers. Ciezo de Leon says he was much disappointed +not to be able to talk with Manco himself and his sons, but they had +"retired into the provinces of Uiticos, which are in the most retired +part of those regions, beyond the great Cordillera of the Andes." [12] +The Spanish refugees who died as the result of the murder of Manco +may not have known how to write. Anyhow, so far as we can learn they +left no accounts from which any one could identify his residence. + +Titu Cusi gives no definite clue, but the activities of Friar Marcos +and Friar Diego, who came to be his spiritual advisers, are fully +described by Calancha. It will be remembered that Calancha remarks that +"close to Uiticos in a village called Chuquipalpa, is a House of the +Sun and in it a white stone over a spring of water." Our guide had +told us there was such a place close to the hill of Rosaspata. + +On the day after making the first studies of the "Hill of Roses," I +followed the impatient Mogrovejo--whose object was not to study ruins +but to earn dollars for finding them--and went over the hill on its +northeast side to the Valley of Los Andenes ("the Terraces"). Here, +sure enough, was a large, white granite boulder, flattened on top, +which had a carved seat or platform on its northern side. Its west +side covered a cave in which were several niches. This cave had been +walled in on one side. When Mogrovejo and the Indian guide said there +was a manantial de agua ("spring of water") near by, I became greatly +interested. On investigation, however, the" spring" turned out to +be nothing but part of a small irrigating ditch. (Manantial means +"spring"; it also means "running water"). But the rock was not "over +the water." Although this was undoubtedly one of those huacas, or +sacred boulders, selected by the Incas as the visible representations +of the founders of a tribe and thus was an important accessory to +ancestor worship, it was not the Yurak Rumi for which we were looking. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Northeast Face of Yurak Rumi +------ + + +Leaving the boulder and the ruins of what possibly had been the house +of its attendant priest, we followed the little water course past a +large number of very handsomely built agricultural terraces, the first +we had seen since leaving Machu Picchu and the most important ones in +the valley. So scarce are andenes in this region and so noteworthy were +these in particular that this vale has been named after them. They were +probably built under the direction of Manco. Near them are a number of +carved boulders, huacas. One had an intihuatana, or sundial nubbin, +on it; another was carved in the shape of a saddle. Continuing, we +followed a trickling stream through thick woods until we suddenly +arrived at an open place called nusta Isppana. Here before us was a +great white rock over a spring. Our guides had not misled us. Beneath +the trees were the ruins of an Inca temple, flanking and partly +enclosing the gigantic granite boulder, one end of which overhung a +small pool of running water. When we learned that the present name +of this immediate vicinity is Chuquipalta our happiness was complete. + +It was late on the afternoon of August 9, 1911, when I first saw this +remarkable shrine. Densely wooded hills rose on every side. There was +not a hut to be seen; scarcely a sound to be heard. It was an ideal +place for practicing the mystic ceremonies of an ancient cult. The +remarkable aspect of this great boulder and the dark pool beneath its +shadow had caused this to become a place of worship. Here, without +doubt, was "the principal mochadero of those forested mountains." It is +still venerated by the Indians of the vicinity. At last we had found +the place where, in the days of Titu Cusi, the Inca priests faced the +east, greeted the rising sun, "extended their hands toward it," and +"threw kisses to it," "a ceremony of the most profound resignation and +reverence." We may imagine the sun priests, clad in their resplendent +robes of office, standing on the top of the rock at the edge of +its steepest side, their faces lit up with the rosy light of the +early morning, awaiting the moment when the Great Divinity should +appear above the eastern hills and receive their adoration. As it +rose they saluted it and cried: "O Sun! Thou who art in peace and +safety, shine upon us, keep us from sickness, and keep us in health +and safety. O Sun! Thou who hast said let there be Cuzco and Tampu, +grant that these children may conquer all other people. We beseech +thee that thy children the Incas may be always conquerors, since it +is for this that thou hast created them." + + +------ +FIGURE + +Plan of the Ruins of the Temple of the Sun at Nusta Isppana Formerly +Yurak Rumi in Chuquipalpa Near Uiticos +------ + + +It was during Titu Cusi's reign that Friars Marcos and Diego marched +over here with their converts from Puquiura, each carrying a stick of +firewood. Calancha says the Indians worshiped the water as a divine +thing, that the Devil had at times shown himself in the water. Since +the surface of the little pool, as one gazes at it, does not reflect +the sky, but only the overhanging, dark, mossy rock, the water looks +black and forbidding, even to unsuperstitious Yankees. It is easy to +believe that simple-minded Indian worshipers in this secluded spot +could readily believe that they actually saw the Devil appearing +"as a visible manifestation" in the water. Indians came from the most +sequestered villages of the dense forests to worship here and to offer +gifts and sacrifices. Nevertheless, the Augustinian monks here raised +the standard of the cross, recited their orisons, and piled firewood +all about the rock and temple. Exorcising the Devil and calling him +by all the vile names they could think of, the friars commanded him +never to return. Setting fire to the pile, they burned up the temple, +scorched the rock, making a powerful impression on the Indians and +causing the poor Devil to flee, "roaring in a fury." "The cruel Devil +never more returned to the rock nor to this district." Whether the +roaring which they heard was that of the Devil or of the flames we +can only conjecture. Whether the conflagration temporarily dried up +the swamp or interfered with the arrangements of the water supply so +that the pool disappeared for the time being and gave the Devil no +chance to appear in the water, where he had formerly been accustomed +to show himself, is also a matter for speculation. + +The buildings of the House of the Sun are in a very ruinous state, +but the rock itself, with its curious carvings, is well preserved +notwithstanding the great conflagration of 1570. Its length is +fifty-two feet, its width thirty feet, and its height above the present +level of the water, twenty-five feet. On the west side of the rock are +seats and large steps or platforms. It was customary to kill llamas at +these holy huacas. On top of the rock is a flattened place which may +have been used for such sacrifices. From it runs a little crack in +the boulder, which has been artificially enlarged and may have been +intended to carry off the blood of the victim killed on top of the +rock. It is still used for occult ceremonies of obscure origin which +are quietly practiced here by the more superstitious Indian women of +the valley, possibly in memory of the nusta or Inca princess for whom +the shrine is named. + +On the south side of the monolith are several large platforms and four +or five small seats which have been cut in the rock. Great care was +exercised in cutting out the platforms. The edges are very nearly +square, level, and straight. The east side of the rock projects +over the spring. Two seats have been carved immediately above the +water. On the north side there are no seats. Near the water, steps +have been carved. There is one flight of three and another of seven +steps. Above them the rock has been flattened artificially and carved +into a very bold relief. There are ten projecting square stones, +like those usually called intihuatana or "places to which the sun +is tied." In one line are seven; one is slightly apart from the six +others. The other three are arranged in a triangular position above +the seven. It is significant that these stones are on the northeast +face of the rock, where they are exposed to the rising sun and cause +striking shadows at sunrise. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Carved Seats and Platforms of Nusta Isppana +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Two of the Seven Seats Near the Spring Under the Great White Rock +------ + + +Our excavations yielded no artifacts whatever and only a handful of +very rough old potsherds of uncertain origin. The running water under +the rock was clear and appeared to be a spring, but when we drained +the swamp which adjoins the great rock on its northeastern side, we +found that the spring was a little higher up the hill and that the +water ran through the dark pool. We also found that what looked like +a stone culvert on the borders of the little pool proved to be the +top of the back of a row of seven or eight very fine stone seats. The +platform on which the seats rested and the seats themselves are parts +of three or four large rocks nicely fitted together. Some of the +seats are under the black shadows of the overhanging rock. Since the +pool was an object of fear and mystery the seats were probably used +only by priests or sorcerers. It would have been a splendid place to +practice divination. No doubt the devils "roared." + +All our expeditions in the ancient province of Uilcapampa have +failed to disclose the presence of any other "white rock over a +spring of water" surrounded by the ruins of a possible "House of +the Sun." Consequently it seems reasonable to adopt the following +conclusions: First, nusta Isppana is the Yurak Rumi of Father +Calancha. The Chuquipalta of to-day is the place to which he refers +as Chuquipalpa. Second, Uiticos, "close to" this shrine, was once +the name of the present valley of Vilcabamba between Tincochaca and +Lucma. This is the "Viticos" of Cieza de Leon, a contemporary of Manco, +who says that it was to the province of Viticos that Manco determined +to retire when he rebelled against Pizarro, and that "having reached +Viticos with a great quantity of treasure collected from various +parts, together with his women and retinue, the king, Manco Inca, +established himself in the strongest place he could find, whence he +sallied forth many times and in many directions and disturbed those +parts which were quiet, to do what harm he could to the Spaniards, +whom he considered as cruel enemies." Third, the "strongest place" +of Cieza, the Guaynapucara of Garcia, was Rosaspata, referred to by +Ocampo as "the fortress of Pitcos," where, he says, "there was a level +space with majestic buildings," the most noteworthy feature of which +was that they had two kinds of doors and both kinds had white stone +lintels. Fourth, the modern village of Pucyura in the valley of the +river Vilcabamba is the Puquiura of Father Calancha, the site of the +first mission church in this region, as assumed by Raimondi, although +he was disappointed in the insignificance of the "wretched little +village." The remains of the old quartz-crushing plant in Tincochaca, +which has already been noted, the distance from the "House of the Sun," +not too great for the religious procession, and the location of Pucyura +near the fortress, all point to the correctness of this conclusion. + +Finally, Calancha says that Friar Ortiz, after he had secured +permission from Titu Cusi to establish the second missionary station +in Uilcapampa, selected "the town of Huarancalla, which was populous +and well located in the midst of a number of other little towns and +villages. There was a distance of two or three days' journey from +one convent to the other. Leaving Friar Marcos in Puquiura, Friar +Diego went to his new establishment, and in a short time built a +church." There is no "Huarancalla" to-day, nor any tradition of any, +but in Mapillo, a pleasant valley at an elevation of about 10,000 +feet, in the temperate zone where the crops with which the Incas +were familiar might have been raised, near pastures where llamas and +alpacas could have flourished, is a place called Huarancalque. The +valley is populous and contains a number of little towns and +villages. Furthermore, Huarancalque is two or three days' journey +from Pucyura and is on the road which the Indians of this region +now use in going to Ayacucho. This was undoubtedly the route used by +Manco in his raids on Spanish caravans. The Mapillo flows into the +Apurimac near the mouth of the river Pampas. Not far up the Pampas is +the important bridge between Bom-bon and Ocros, which Mr. Hay and I +crossed in 1909 on our way from Cuzco to Lima. The city of Ayacucho was +founded by Pizarro, a day's journey from this bridge. The necessity +for the Spanish caravans to cross the river Pampas at this point +made it easy for Manco's foraging expeditions to reach them by sudden +marches from Uiticos down the Mapillo River by way of Huarancalque, +which is probably the "Huarancalla" of Calancha's "Chronicles." He +must have had rafts or canoes on which to cross the Apurimac, which +is here very wide and deep. In the valleys between Huarancalque and +Lucma, Manco was cut off from central Peru by the Apurimac and its +magnificent canyon, which in many places has a depth of over two +miles. He was cut off from Cuzco by the inhospitable snow fields and +glaciers of Salcantay, Soray, and the adjacent ridges, even though +they are only fifty miles from Cuzco. Frequently all the passes are +completely snow-blocked. Fatalities have been known even in recent +years. In this mountainous province Manco could be sure of finding +not only security from his Spanish enemies, but any climate that he +desired and an abundance of food for his followers. There seems to +be no reason to doubt that the retired region around the modern town +of Pucyura in the upper Vilcabamba Valley was once called Uiticos. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +Vilcabamba + +Although the refuge of Manco is frequently spoken of as Uiticos +by the contemporary writers, the word Vilcabamba, or Uilcapampa, +is used even more often. In fact Garcilasso, the chief historian of +the Incas, himself the son of an Inca princess, does not mention +Uiticos. Vilcabamba was the common name of the province. Father +Calancha says it was a very large area, "covering fourteen degrees of +longitude," about seven hundred miles wide. It included many savage +tribes "of the far interior" who acknowledged the supremacy of the +Incas and brought tribute to Manco and his sons. "The Manaries and +the Pilcosones came a hundred and two hundred leagues" to visit the +Inca in Uiticos. + +The name, Vilcabamba, is also applied repeatedly to a town. Titu Cusi +says he lived there many years during his youth. Calancha says it +was "two days' journey from Puquiura." Raimondi thought it must be +Choqquequirau. Captain Garcia's soldiers, however, speak of it as +being down in the warm valleys of the montana, the present rubber +country. On the other hand the only place which bears this name on +the maps of Peru is near the source of the Vilcabamba River, not more +than three or four leagues from Pucyura. We determined to visit it. + +We found the town to lie on the edge of bleak upland pastures, 11,750 +feet above the sea. Instead of Inca walls or ruins Vilcabamba has +threescore solidly built Spanish houses. At the time of our visit they +were mostly empty, although their roofs, of unusually heavy thatch, +seemed to be in good repair. We stayed at the house of the gobernador, +Manuel Condore. The nights were bitterly cold and we should have been +most uncomfortable in a tent. + +The gobernador said that the reason the town was deserted was that most +of the people were now attending to their chacras, or little farms, +and looking after their herds of sheep and cattle in the neighboring +valleys. He said that only at special festival times, such as the +annual visit of the priest, who celebrates mass in the church here, +once a year, are the buildings fully occupied. In the latter part +of the sixteenth century, gold mines were discovered in the adjacent +mountains and the capital of the Spanish province of Vilcabamba was +transferred from Hoyara to this place. Its official name, Condore +said, is still San Francisco de la Victoria de Vilcabamba, and as +such it occurs on most of the early maps of Peru. The solidity of +the stone houses was due to the prosperity of the gold diggers. The +present air of desolation and absence of population is probably due +to the decay of that industry. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Nusta Isppana +------ + + +The church is large. Near it, and slightly apart from the building, +is a picturesque stone belfry with three old Spanish bells. Condore +said that the church was built at least three hundred years ago. It +is probably the very structure whose construction was carefully +supervised by Ocampo. In the negotiations for permission to move +the municipality of San Francisco de la Victoria from Hoyara to the +neighborhood of the mines, Ocampo, then one of the chief settlers, +went to Cuzco as agent of the interested parties, to take the matter +up with the viceroy. Ocampo's story is in part as follows: + +"The change of site appeared convenient for the service of God our +Lord and of his Majesty, and for the increase of his royal fifths, +as well as beneficial to the inhabitants of the said city. Having +examined the capitulations and reasons, the said Don Luis de Velasco +[the viceroy] granted the licence to move the city to where it is +now founded, ordering that it should have the title and name of the +city of San Francisco of the Victory of Uilcapampa, which was its +first name. By this change of site I, the said Baltasar de Ocampo, +performed a great service to God our Lord and his Majesty. Through my +care, industry and solicitude, a very good church was built, with its +principal chapel and great doors." We found the walls to be heavy, +massive, and well buttressed, the doors to be unusually large and +the whole to show considerable "industry and solicitude." + +The site was called "Onccoy, where the Spaniards who first discovered +this land found the flocks and herds." Modern Vilcabamba is on grassy +slopes, well suited for flocks and herds. On the steeper slopes +potatoes are still raised, although the valley itself is given up +to-day almost entirely to pasture lands. We saw horses, cattle, and +sheep in abundance where the Incas must have pastured their llamas +and alpacas. In the rocky cliffs near by are remains of the mines +begun in Ocampo's day. There is little doubt that this was Onccoy, +although that name is now no longer used here. + +We met at the gobernador's an old Indian who admitted that an Inca had +once lived on Rosaspata Hill. Of all the scores of persons whom we +interviewed through the courtesy of the intelligent planters of the +region or through the customary assistance of government officials, +this Indian was the only one to make such an admission. Even he denied +having heard of "Uiticos" or any of its variations. If we were indeed +in the country of Manco and his sons, why should no one be familiar +with that name? + +Perhaps, after all, it is not surprising. The Indians of the highlands +have now for so many generations been neglected by their rulers +and brutalized by being allowed to drink all the alcohol they can +purchase and to assimilate all the cocaine they can secure, through +the constant chewing of coca leaves, that they have lost much if not +all of their racial self-respect. It is the educated mestizos of the +principal modern cities of Peru who, tracing their descent not only +from the Spanish soldiers of the Conquest, but also from the blood +of the race which was conquered, take pride in the achievements of +the Incas and are endeavoring to preserve the remains of the wonderful +civilization of their native ancestors. Until quite recently Vilcabamba +was an unknown land to most of the Peruvians, even those who live in +the city of Cuzco. Had the capital of the last four Incas been in a +region whose climate appealed to Europeans, whose natural resources +were sufficient to support a large population, and whose roads made +transportation no more difficult than in most parts of the Andes, +it would have been occupied from the days of Captain Garcia to the +present by Spanish-speaking mestizos, who might have been interested +in preserving the name of the ancient Inca capital and the traditions +connected with it. + +After the mines which attracted Ocampo and his friends "petered +out," or else, with the primitive tools of the sixteenth century, +ceased to yield adequate returns, the Spaniards lost interest in that +remote region. The rude trails which connected Pucyura with Cuzco and +civilization were at best dangerous and difficult. They were veritably +impassable during a large part of the year even to people accustomed +to Andean "roads." + +The possibility of raising sugar cane and coca between Huadquina and +Santa Ana attracted a few Spanish-speaking people to live in the lower +Urubamba Valley, notwithstanding the difficult transportation over +the passes near Mts. Salcantay and Veronica; but there was nothing +to lead any one to visit the upper Vilcabamba Valley or to desire +to make it a place of residence. And until Senor Pancorbo opened +the road to Lucma, Pucyura was extremely difficult of access. Nine +generations of Indians lived and died in the province of Uilcapampa +between the time of Tupac Amaru and the arrival of the first modern +explorers. The great stone buildings constructed on the "Hill of +Roses" in the days of Manco and his sons were allowed to fall into +ruin. Their roofs decayed and disappeared. The names of those who +once lived here were known to fewer and fewer of the natives. The +Indians themselves had no desire to relate the story of the various +forts and palaces to their Spanish landlords, nor had the latter any +interest in hearing such tales. It was not until the renaissance of +historical and geographical curiosity, in the nineteenth century, that +it occurred to any one to look for Manco's capital. When Raimondi, +the first scientist to penetrate Vilcabamba, reached Pucyura, no one +thought to tell him that on the hilltop opposite the village once +lived the last of the Incas and that the ruins of their palaces were +still there, hidden underneath a thick growth of trees and vines. + +A Spanish document of 1598 says the first town of "San Francisco +de la Victoria de Vilcabamba" was in the "valley of Viticos." The +town's long name became shortened to Vilcabamba. Then the river which +flowed past was called the Vilcabamba, and is so marked on Raimondi's +map. Uiticos had long since passed from the memory of man. + +Furthermore, the fact that we saw no llamas or alpacas in the upland +pastures, but only domestic animals of European origin, would also +seem to indicate that for some reason or other this region had been +abandoned by the Indians themselves. It is difficult to believe that +if the Indians had inhabited these valleys continuously from Inca +times to the present we should not have found at least a few of the +indigenous American camels here. By itself, such an occurrence would +hardly seem worth a remark, but taken in connection with the loss of +traditions regarding Uiticos, it would seem to indicate that there +must have been quite a long period of time in which no persons of +consequence lived in this vicinity. + +We are told by the historians of the colonial period that the mining +operations of the first Spanish settlers were fatal to at least +a million Indians. It is quite probable that the introduction of +ordinary European contagious diseases, such as measles, chicken pox, +and smallpox, may have had a great deal to do with the destruction +of a large proportion of those unfortunates whose untimely deaths +were attributed by historians to the very cruel practices of the +early Spanish miners and treasure seekers. Both causes undoubtedly +contributed to the result. There seems to be no question that the +population diminished enormously in early colonial days. If this is +true, the remaining population would naturally have sought regions +where the conditions of existence and human intercourse were less +severe and rigorous than in the valleys of Uiticos and Uilcapampa. + +The students and travelers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth +centuries, including such a careful observer as Bandelier, are of +the opinion that the present-day population in the Andes of Peru +and Bolivia is about as great as that at the time of the Conquest. In +other words, with the decay of early colonial mining and the consequent +disappearance of bad living conditions and forced labor at the mines, +also with the rise of partial immunity to European diseases, and +the more comfortable conditions of existence which have followed the +coming of Peruvian independence, it is reasonable to suppose that the +number of highland Indians has increased. With this increase has come +a consequent crowding in certain localities. There would be a natural +tendency to seek less crowded regions, even at the expense of using +difficult mountain trails. This would lead to their occupying as remote +and inaccessible a region as the ancient province of Uilcapampa. It +is probable that after the gold mines ceased to pay, and before the +demand for rubber caused the San Miguel Valley to be appropriated by +the white man, there was a period of nearly three hundred years when +no one of education or of intelligence superior to the ordinary Indian +shepherd lived anywhere near Pucyura or Lucma. The adobe houses of +these modern villages look fairly modern. They may have been built +in the nineteenth century. + +Such a theory would account for the very small amount of information +prevailing in Peru regarding the region where we had been privileged +to find so many ruins. This ignorance led the Peruvian geographers +Raimondi and Paz Soldan to conclude that Choqquequirau, the only ruins +reported between the Apurimac and the Urubamba, must have been the +capital of the Incas who took refuge there. It also makes it seem +more reasonable that the existence of Rosaspata and nusta Isppana +should not have been known to Peruvian geographers and historians, +or even to the government officials who lived in the adjacent villages. + +We felt sure we had found Uiticos; nevertheless it was quite +apparent that we had not yet found all the places which were called +Vilcabamba. Examination of the writers of the sixteenth century +shows that there may have been three places bearing that name; +one spoken of by Calancha as Vilcabamba Viejo ("the old"), another +also so called by Ocampo, and a third founded by the Spaniards, +namely, the town we were now in. The story of the first is given in +Calancha's account of the trials and tribulations of Friar Marcos +and the martyrdom of Friar Diego Ortiz. The chronicler tells with +considerable detail of their visit to "Vilcabamba Viejo." It was +after the monks had already founded their religious establishment +at Puquiura that they learned of the existence of this important +religious center. They urged Titu Cusi to permit them to visit +it. For a long time he refused. Its whereabouts remained unknown to +them, but its strategic position as a religious stronghold led them +to continue their demands. Finally, either to rid himself of their +importunities or because he imagined the undertaking might be made +amusing, he yielded to their requests and bade them prepare for the +journey. Calancha says that the Inca himself accompanied the two +friars, with a number of his captains and chieftains, taking them +from Puquiura over a very rough and rugged road. The Inca, however, +did not suffer from the character of the trail because, like the +Roman generals of old, he was borne comfortably along in a litter by +servants accustomed to this duty. The unfortunate missionaries were +obliged to go on foot. The wet, rocky trail soon demoralized their +footgear. When they came to a particularly bad place in the road, +"Ungacacha," the trail went for some distance through water. The +monks were forced to wade. The water was very cold. The Inca and his +chieftains were amused to see how the friars were hampered by their +monastic garments while passing through the water. However, the monks +persevered, greatly desiring to reach their goal, "on account of its +being the largest city in which was the University of Idolatry, where +lived the teachers who were wizards and masters of abomination." If +one may judge by the name of the place, Uilcapampa, the wizards and +sorcerers were probably aided by the powerful effects of the ancient +snuff made from huilca seeds. After a three days' journey over very +rough country, the monks arrived at their destination. Yet even then +Titu Cusi was unwilling that they should live in the city, but ordered +that the monks be given a dwelling outside, so that they might not +witness the ceremonies and ancient rites which were practiced by the +Inca and his captains and priests. + +Nothing is said about the appearance of "Vilcabamba Viejo" and it +is doubtful whether the monks were ever allowed to see the city, +although they reached its vicinity. Here they stayed for three weeks +and kept up their preaching and teaching. During their stay Titu Cusi, +who had not wished to bring them here, got his revenge by annoying +them in various ways. He was particularly anxious to make them break +their vows of celibacy. Calancha says that after consultation with +his priests and soothsayers Titu Cusi selected as tempters the most +beautiful Indian women, including some individuals of the Yungas who +were unusually attractive. It is possible that these women, who lived +at the "University of Idolatry" in "Vilcabamba Viejo," were "Virgins of +the Sun," who were under the orders of the Inca and his high priests +and were selected from the fairest daughters of the empire. It is +also evident that "Vilcabamba Viejo" was so constructed that the +monks could be kept for three weeks in its vicinity without being +able to see what was going on in the city or to describe the kinds of +"abominations" which were practiced there, as they did those at the +white rock of Chuquipalta. As will be shown later, it is possible +that this Vilcabamba, referred to in Calancha's story as "Vilcabamba +Viejo," was on the slopes of the mountain now called Machu Picchu. + +In the meantime it was necessary to pursue the hunt for the ruins +of Vilcabamba called "the old" by Ocampo, to distinguish it from +the Spanish town of that name which he had helped to found after +the capture of Tupac Amaru, and referred to merely as Vilcabamba by +Captain Garcia and his companions in their accounts of the campaign. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +Conservidayoc + +When Don Pedro Duque of Santa Aria was helping us to identify places +mentioned in Calancha and Ocampo, the references to "Vilcabamba Viejo," +or Old Uilcapampa, were supposed by two of his informants to point +to a place called Conservidayoc. Don Pedro told us that in 1902 Lopez +Torres, who had traveled much in the montana looking for rubber trees, +reported the discovery there of the ruins of an Inca city. All of Don +Pedro's friends assured us that Conservidayoc was a terrible place +to reach. "No one now living had been there." "It was inhabited by +savage Indians who would not let strangers enter their villages." + +When we reached Paltaybamba, Senor Pancorbo's manager confirmed what +we had heard. He said further that an individual named Saavedra lived +at Conservidayoc and undoubtedly knew all about the ruins, but was +very averse to receiving visitors. Saavedra's house was extremely +difficult to find. "No one had been there recently and returned +alive." Opinions differed as to how far away it was. + +Several days later, while Professor Foote and I were studying the ruins +near Rosaspata, Senor Pancorbo, returning from his rubber estate in +the San Miguel Valley and learning at Lucma of our presence near by, +took great pains to find us and see how we were progressing. When he +learned of our intention to search for the ruins of Conservidayoc, +he asked us to desist from the attempt. He said Saavedra was "a very +powerful man having many Indians under his control and living in +grand state, with fifty servants, and not at all desirous of being +visited by anybody." The Indians were "of the Campa tribe, very wild +and extremely savage. They use poisoned arrows and are very hostile +to strangers." Admitting that he had heard there were Inca ruins near +Saavedra's station, Senor Pancorbo still begged us not to risk our +lives by going to look for them. + +By this time our curiosity was thoroughly aroused. We were familiar +with the current stories regarding the habits of savage tribes who +lived in the montana and whose services were in great demand as rubber +gatherers. We had even heard that Indians did not particularly like +to work for Senor Pancorbo, who was an energetic, ambitious man, +anxious to achieve many things, results which required more laborers +than could easily be obtained. We could readily believe there might +possibly be Indians at Conservidayoc who had escaped from the rubber +estate of San Miguel. Undoubtedly, Senor Pancorbo's own life would +have been at the mercy of their poisoned arrows. All over the Amazon +Basin the exigencies of rubber gatherers had caused tribes visited +with impunity by the explorers of the nineteenth century to become so +savage and revengeful as to lead them to kill all white men at sight. + +Professor Foote and I considered the matter in all its aspects. We +finally came to the conclusion that in view of the specific reports +regarding the presence of Inca ruins at Conservidayoc we could not +afford to follow the advice of the friendly planter. We must at least +make an effort to reach them, meanwhile taking every precaution to +avoid arousing the enmity of the powerful Saavedra and his savage +retainers. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Quispi Cusi Testifying about Inca Ruins +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +One of our Bearers Crossing the Pampaconas River +------ + + +On the day following our arrival at the town of Vilcabamba, the +gobernador, Condore, taking counsel with his chief assistant, had +summoned the wisest Indians living in the vicinity, including a +very picturesque old fellow whose name, Quispi Cusi, was strongly +reminiscent of the days of Titu Cusi. It was explained to him +that this was a very solemn occasion and that an official inquiry +was in progress. He took off his hat--but not his knitted cap--and +endeavored to the best of his ability to answer our questions about +the surrounding country. It was he who said that the Inca Tupac +Amaru once lived at Rosaspata. He had never heard of Uilcapampa +Viejo, but he admitted that there were ruins in the montana near +Conservidayoc. Other Indians were questioned by Condore. Several had +heard of the ruins of Conservidayoc, but, apparently, none of them, +nor any one in the village, had actually seen the ruins or visited +their immediate vicinity. They all agreed that Saavedra's place was +"at least four days' hard journey on foot in the montana beyond +Pampaconas." No village of that name appeared on any map of Peru, +although it is frequently mentioned in the documents of the sixteenth +century. Rodriguez de Figueroa, who came to seek an audience with +Titu Cusi about 1565, says that he met Titu Cusi at a place called +Banbaconas. He says further that the Inca came there from somewhere +down in the dense forests of the montana and presented him with a +macaw and two hampers of peanuts--products of a warm region. + +We had brought with us the large sheets of Raimondi's invaluable map +which covered this locality. We also had the new map of South Peru and +North Bolivia which had just been published by the Royal Geographical +Society and gave a summary of all available information. The +Indians said that Conservidayoc lay in a westerly direction from +Vilcabamba, yet on Raimondi's map all of the rivers which rise in +the mountains west of the town are short affluents of the Apurimac +and flow southwest. We wondered whether the stories about ruins at +Conservidayoc would turn out to be as barren of foundation as those +we had heard from the trustworthy foreman at Huadquina. One of our +informants said the Inca city was called Espiritu Pampa, or the "Pampa +of Ghosts." Would the ruins turn out to be "ghosts"? Would they vanish +on the arrival of white men with cameras and steel measuring tapes? + +No one at Vilcabamba had seen the ruins, but they said that at +the village of Pampaconas, "about five leagues from here," there +were Indians who had actually been to Conservidayoc. Our supplies +were getting low. There were no shops nearer than Lucma; no food +was obtainable from the natives. Accordingly, notwithstanding the +protestations of the hospitable gobernador, we decided to start +immediately for Conservidayoc. + +At the end of a long day's march up the Vilcabamba Valley, Professor +Foote, with his accustomed skill, was preparing the evening meal and we +were both looking forward with satisfaction to enjoying large cups of +our favorite beverage. Several years ago, when traveling on muleback +across the great plateau of southern Bolivia, I had learned the value +of sweet, hot tea as a stimulant and bracer in the high Andes. At +first astonished to see how much tea the Indian arrieros drank, I +learned from sad experience that it was far better than cold water, +which often brings on mountain-sickness. This particular evening, +one swallow of the hot tea caused consternation. It was the most +horrible stuff imaginable. Examination showed small, oily particles +floating on the surface. Further investigation led to the discovery +that one of our arrieros had that day placed our can of kerosene on +top of one of the loads. The tin became leaky and the kerosene had +dripped down into a food box. A cloth bag of granulated sugar had +eagerly absorbed all the oil it could. There was no remedy but to +throw away half of our supply. As I have said, the longer one works +in the Andes the more desirable does sugar become and the more one +seems to crave it. Yet we were unable to procure any here. + +After the usual delays, caused in part by the difficulty of catching +our mules, which had taken advantage of our historical investigations +to stray far up the mountain pastures, we finally set out from the +boundaries of known topography, headed for "Conservidayoc," a vague +place surrounded with mystery; a land of hostile savages, albeit said +to possess the ruins of an Inca town. + +Our first day's journey was to Pampaconas. Here and in its vicinity the +gobernador told us he could procure guides and the half-dozen carriers +whose services we should require for the jungle trail where mules could +not be used. As the Indians hereabouts were averse to penetrating +the wilds of Conservidayoc and were also likely to be extremely +alarmed at the sight of men in uniform, the two gendarmes who were +now accompanying us were instructed to delay their departure for a few +hours and not to reach Pampaconas with our pack train until dusk. The +gobernador said that if the Indians of Pampaconas caught sight of any +brass buttons coming over the hills they would hide so effectively +that it would be impossible to secure any carriers. Apparently this +was due in part to that love of freedom which had led them to abandon +the more comfortable towns for a frontier village where landlords +could not call on them for forced labor. Consequently, before the +arrival of any such striking manifestations of official authority as +our gendarmes, the gobernador and his friend Mogrovejo proposed to +put in the day craftily commandeering the services of a half-dozen +sturdy Indians. Their methods will be described presently. + +Leaving modern Vilcabamba, we crossed the flat, marshy bottom of an +old glaciated valley, in which one of our mules got thoroughly mired +while searching for the succulent grasses which cover the treacherous +bog. Fording the Vilcabamba River, which here is only a tiny brook, +we climbed out of the valley and turned westward. On the mountains +above us were vestiges of several abandoned mines. It was their +discovery in 1572 or thereabouts which brought Ocampo and the first +Spanish settlers to this valley. Raimondi says that he found here +cobalt, nickel, silver-bearing copper ore, and lead sulphide. He +does not mention any gold-bearing quartz. It may have been exhausted +long before his day. As to the other minerals, the difficulties of +transportation are so great that it is not likely that mining will +be renewed here for many years to come. + +At the top of the pass we turned to look back and saw a long chain +of snow-capped mountains towering above and behind the town of +Vilcabamba. We searched in vain for them on our maps. Raimondi, +followed by the Royal Geographical Society, did not leave room +enough for such a range to exist between the rivers Apurimac and +Urubamba. Mr. Hendriksen determined our longitude to be 73 deg. west, +and our latitude to be 13 deg. 8' south. Yet according to the latest map +of this region, published in the preceding year, this was the very +position of the river Apurimac itself, near its junction with the river +Pampas. We ought to have been swimming "the Great Speaker." Actually +we were on top of a lofty mountain pass surrounded by high peaks and +glaciers. The mystery was finally solved by Mr. Bumstead in 1912, when +he determined the Apurimac and the Urubamba to be thirty miles farther +apart than any one had supposed. His surveys opened an unexplored +region, 1500 square miles in extent, whose very existence had not been +guessed before 1911. It proved to be one of the largest undescribed +glaciated areas in South America. Yet it is less than a hundred miles +from Cuzco, the chief city in the Peruvian Andes, and the site of a +university for more than three centuries. That Uilcapampa could so +long defy investigation and exploration shows better than anything +else how wisely Manco had selected his refuge. It is indeed a veritable +labyrinth of snow-clad peaks, unknown glaciers, and trackless canyons. + +Looking west, we saw in front of us a great wilderness of deep green +valleys and forest-clad slopes. We supposed from our maps that we were +now looking down into the basin of the Apurimac. As a matter of fact, +we were on the rim of the valley of the hitherto uncharted Pampaconas, +a branch of the Cosireni, one of the affluents of the Urubamba. Instead +of being the Apurimac Basin, what we saw was another unexplored region +which drained into the Urubamba! + +At the time, however, we did not know where we were, but understood +from Condore that somewhere far down in the montana below us was +Conservidayoc, the sequestered domain of Saavedra and his savage +Indians. It seemed less likely than ever that the Incas could have +built a town so far away from the climate and food to which they were +accustomed. The "road" was now so bad that only with the greatest +difficulty could we coax our sure-footed mules to follow it. Once we +had to dismount, as the path led down a long, steep, rocky stairway +of ancient origin. At last, rounding a hill, we came in sight of a +lonesome little hut perched on a shoulder of the mountain. In front of +it, seated in the sun on mats, were two women shelling corn. As soon as +they saw the gobernador approaching, they stopped their work and began +to prepare lunch. It was about eleven o'clock and they did not need to +be told that Senor Condore and his friends had not had anything but a +cup of coffee since the night before. In order to meet the emergency +of unexpected guests they killed four or five squealing cuys (guinea +pigs), usually to be found scurrying about the mud floor of the huts +of mountain Indians. Before long the savory odor of roast cuy, well +basted, and cooked-to-a-turn on primitive spits, whetted our appetites. + +In the eastern United States one sees guinea pigs only as pets or +laboratory victims; never as an article of food. In spite of the +celebrated dogma that "Pigs is Pigs," this form of "pork" has never +found its way to our kitchens, even though these "pigs" live on a +very clean, vegetable diet. Incidentally guinea pigs do not come +from Guinea and are in no way related to pigs--Mr. Ellis Parker +Butler to the contrary notwithstanding! They belong rather to the +same family as rabbits and Belgian hares and have long been a highly +prized article of food in the Andes of Peru. The wild species are +of a grayish brown color, which enables them to escape observation +in their natural habitat. The domestic varieties, which one sees +in the huts of the Indians, are piebald, black, white, and tawny, +varying from one another in color as much as do the llamas, which +were also domesticated by the same race of people thousands of years +ago. Although Anglo-Saxon "folkways," as Professor Sumner would say, +permit us to eat and enjoy long-eared rabbits, we draw the line at +short-eared rabbits, yet they were bred to be eaten. + +I am willing to admit that this was the first time that I had ever +knowingly tasted their delicate flesh, although once in the capital +of Bolivia I thought the hotel kitchen had a diminishing supply! Had +I not been very hungry, I might never have known how delicious a roast +guinea pig can be. The meat is not unlike squab. To the Indians whose +supply of animal food is small, whose fowls are treasured for their +eggs, and whose thin sheep are more valuable as wool bearers than as +mutton, the succulent guinea pig, "most prolific of mammals," as was +discovered by Mr. Butler's hero, is a highly valued article of food, +reserved for special occasions. The North American housewife keeps a +few tins of sardines and cans of preserves on hand for emergencies. Her +sister in the Andes similarly relies on fat little cuys. + +After lunch, Condore and Mogrovejo divided the extensive rolling +countryside between them and each rode quietly from one lonesome farm +to another, looking for men to engage as bearers. When they were +so fortunate as to find the man of the house at home or working in +his little chacra they greeted him pleasantly. When he came forward +to shake hands, in the usual Indian manner, a silver dollar was +un-suspectingly slipped into the palm of his right hand and he was +informed that he had accepted pay for services which must now be +performed. It seemed hard, but this was the only way in which it was +possible to secure carriers. + +During Inca times the Indians never received pay for their labor. A +paternal government saw to it that they were properly fed and clothed +and either given abundant opportunity to provide for their own +necessities or else permitted to draw on official stores. In colonial +days a more greedy and less paternal government took advantage of +the ancient system and enforced it without taking pains to see that +it should not cause suffering. Then, for generations, thoughtless +landlords, backed by local authority, forced the Indians to work +without suitably recompensing them at the end of their labors or +even pretending to carry out promises and wage agreements. The peons +learned that it was unwise to perform any labor without first having +received a considerable portion of their pay. When once they accepted +money, however, their own custom and the law of the land provided +that they must carry out their obligations. Failure to do so meant +legal punishment. + +Consequently, when an unfortunate Pampaconas Indian found he had a +dollar in his hand, he bemoaned his fate, but realized that service +was inevitable. In vain did he plead that he was "busy," that his +"crops needed attention," that his "family could not spare him," that +"he lacked food for a journey." Condore and Mogrovejo were accustomed +to all varieties of excuses. They succeeded in "engaging" half a dozen +carriers. Before dark we reached the village of Pampaconas, a few small +huts scattered over grassy hillsides, at an elevation of 10,000 feet. + +In the notes of one of the military advisers of Viceroy Francisco de +Toledo is a reference to Pampaconas as a "high, cold place." This +is correct. Nevertheless, I doubt if the present village is the +Pampaconas mentioned in the documents of Garcia's day as being "an +important town of the Incas." There are no ruins hereabouts. The huts +of Pampaconas were newly built of stone and mud, and thatched with +grass. They were occupied by a group of sturdy mountain Indians, +who enjoyed unusual freedom from official or other interference +and a good place in which to raise sheep and cultivate potatoes, +on the very edge of the dense forest. We found that there was some +excitement in the village because on the previous night a jaguar, +or possibly a cougar, had come out of the forest, attacked, killed, +and dragged off one of the village ponies. + +We were conducted to the dwelling of a stocky, well-built Indian named +Guzman, the most reliable man in the village, who had been selected +to be the head of the party of carriers that was to accompany us to +Conservidayoc. Guzman had some Spanish blood in his veins, although +he did not boast of it. With his wife and six children he occupied +one of the best huts. A fire in one corner frequently filled it with +acrid smoke. It was very small and had no windows. At one end was a +loft where family treasures could be kept dry and reasonably safe from +molestation. Piles of sheep skins were arranged for visitors to sit +upon. Three or four rude niches in the walls served in lieu of shelves +and tables. The floor of well-trodden clay was damp. Three mongrel +dogs and a flea-bitten cat were welcome to share the narrow space +with the family and their visitors. A dozen hogs entered stealthily +and tried to avoid attention by putting a muffler on involuntary +grunts. They did not succeed and were violently ejected by a boy with +a whip; only to return again and again, each time to be driven out +as before, squealing loudly. Notwithstanding these interruptions, +we carried on a most interesting conversation with Guzman. He had +been to Conservidayoc and had himself actually seen ruins at Espiritu +Pampa. At last the mythical "Pampa of Ghosts" began to take on in +our minds an aspect of reality, even though we were careful to remind +ourselves that another very trustworthy man had said he had seen ruins +"finer than Ollantaytambo" near Huadquina. Guzman did not seem to dread +Conservidayoc as much as the other Indians, only one of whom had ever +been there. To cheer them up we purchased a fat sheep, for which we +paid fifty cents. Guzman immediately butchered it in preparation for +the journey. Although it was August and the middle of the dry season, +rain began to fall early in the afternoon. Sergeant Carrasco arrived +after dark with our pack animals, but, missing the trail as he neared +Guzman's place, one of the mules stepped into a bog and was extracted +only with considerable difficulty. + +We decided to pitch our small pyramidal tent on a fairly well-drained +bit of turf not far from Guzman's little hut. In the evening, after +we had had a long talk with the Indians, we came back through the +rain to our comfortable little tent, only to hear various and sundry +grunts emerging therefrom. We found that during our absence a large +sow and six fat young pigs, unable to settle down comfortably at the +Guzman hearth, had decided that our tent was much the driest available +place on the mountain side and that our blankets made a particularly +attractive bed. They had considerable difficulty in getting out of +the small door as fast as they wished. Nevertheless, the pouring rain +and the memory of comfortable blankets caused the pigs to return +at intervals. As we were starting to enjoy our first nap, Guzman, +with hospitable intent, sent us two bowls of steaming soup, which at +first glance seemed to contain various sizes of white macaroni--a dish +of which one of us was particularly fond. The white hollow cylinders +proved to be extraordinarily tough, not the usual kind of macaroni. As +a matter of fact, we learned that the evening meal which Guzman's +wife had prepared for her guests was made chiefly of sheep's entrails! + +Rain continued without intermission during the whole of a very +cold and dreary night. Our tent, which had never been wet before, +leaked badly; the only part which seemed to be thoroughly waterproof +was the floor. As day dawned we found ourselves to be lying in +puddles of water. Everything was soaked. Furthermore, rain was still +failing. While we were discussing the situation and wondering what +we should cook for breakfast, the faithful Guzman heard our voices +and immediately sent us two more bowls of hot soup, which were this +time more welcome, even though among the bountiful corn, beans, and +potatoes we came unexpectedly upon fragments of the teeth and jaws +of the sheep. Evidently in Pampaconas nothing is wasted. + +We were anxious to make an early start for Conservidayoc, but it was +first necessary for our Indians to prepare food for the ten days' +journey ahead of them. Guzman's wife, and I suppose the wives of our +other carriers, spent the morning grinding chuno (frozen potatoes) +with a rocking stone pestle on a flat stone mortar, and parching or +toasting large quantities of sweet corn in a terra-cotta olla. With +chuno and tostado, the body of the sheep, and a small quantity of coca +leaves, the Indians professed themselves to be perfectly contented. Of +our own provisions we had so small a quantity that we were unable +to spare any. However, it is doubtful whether the Indians would have +liked them as much as the food to which they had long been accustomed. + +Toward noon, all the Indian carriers but one having arrived, and the +rain having partly subsided, we started for Conservidayoc. We were told +that it would be possible to use the mules for this day's journey. San +Fernando, our first stop, was "seven leagues" away, far down in the +densely wooded Pampaconas Valley. Leaving the village we climbed up the +mountain back of Guzman's hut and followed a faint trail by a dangerous +and precarious route along the crest of the ridge. The rains had not +improved the path. Our saddle mules were of little use. We had to +go nearly all the way on foot. Owing to cold rain and mist we could +see but little of the deep canyon which opened below us, and into +which we now began to descend through the clouds by a very steep, +zigzag path, four thousand feet to a hot tropical valley. Below the +clouds we found ourselves near a small abandoned clearing. Passing +this and fording little streams, we went along a very narrow path, +across steep slopes, on which maize had been planted. Finally we +came to another little clearing and two extremely primitive little +shanties, mere shelters not deserving to be called huts; and this +was San Fernando, the end of the mule trail. There was scarcely room +enough in them for our six carriers. It was with great difficulty we +found and cleared a place for our tent, although its floor was only +seven feet square. There was no really flat land at all. + +At 8:30 P.M. August 13, 1911, while lying on the ground in our tent, +I noticed an earthquake. It was felt also by the Indians in the +near-by shelter, who from force of habit rushed out of their frail +structure and made a great disturbance, crying out that there was a +temblor. Even had their little thatched roof fallen upon them, as it +might have done during the stormy night which followed, they were in +no danger; but, being accustomed to the stone walls and red tiled roofs +of mountain villages where earthquakes sometimes do very serious harm, +they were greatly excited. The motion seemed to me to be like a slight +shuffle from west to east, lasting three or four seconds, a gentle +rocking back and forth, with eight or ten vibrations. Several weeks +later, near Huadquina, we happened to stop at the Colpani telegraph +office. The operator said he had felt two shocks on August 13th--one +at five o'clock, which had shaken the books off his table and knocked +over a box of insulators standing along a wall which ran north and +south. He said the shock which I had felt was the lighter of the two. + +During the night it rained hard, but our tent was now adjusting itself +to the "dry season" and we were more comfortable. Furthermore, camping +out at 10,000 feet above sea level is very different from camping +at 6000 feet. This elevation, similar to that of the bridge of San +Miguel, below Machu Picchu, is on the lower edge of the temperate +zone and the beginning of the torrid tropics. Sugar cane, peppers, +bananas, and grenadillas grow here as well as maize, squashes, and +sweet potatoes. None of these things will grow at Pampaconas. The +Indians who raise sheep and white potatoes in that cold region come +to San Fernando to make chacras or small clearings. The three or +four natives whom we found here were so alarmed by the sight of +brass buttons that they disappeared during the night rather than +take the chance of having a silver dollar pressed into their hands +in the morning! From San Fernando, we sent one of our gendarmes back +to Pampaconas with the mules. Our carriers were good for about fifty +pounds apiece. + +Half an hour's walk brought us to Vista Alegre, another little clearing +on an alluvial fan in the bend of the river. The soil here seemed to be +very rich. In the chacra we saw corn stalks eighteen feet in height, +near a gigantic tree almost completely enveloped in the embrace of +a mato-palo, or parasitic fig tree. This clearing certainly deserves +its name, for it commands a "charming view" of the green Pampaconas +Valley. Opposite us rose abruptly a heavily forested mountain, +whose summit was lost in the clouds a mile above. To circumvent +this mountain the river had been flowing in a westerly direction; +now it gradually turned to the northward. Again we were mystified; +for, by Raimondi's map, it should have gone southward. + +We entered a dense jungle, where the narrow path became more and more +difficult for our carriers. Crawling over rocks, under branches, along +slippery little cliffs, on steps which had been cut in earth or rock, +over a trail which not even dogs could follow unassisted, slowly we +made our way down the valley. Owing to the heat, humidity, and the +frequent showers, it was mid-afternoon before we reached another little +clearing called Pacaypata. Here, on a hillside nearly a thousand feet +above the river, our men decided to spend the night in a tiny little +shelter six feet long and five feet wide. Professor Foote and I had +to dig a shelf out of the steep hillside in order to pitch our tent. + +The next morning, not being detained by the vagaries of a mule train, +we made an early start. As we followed the faint little trail across +the gulches tributary to the river Pampaconas, we had to negotiate +several unusually steep descents and ascents. The bearers suffered +from the heat. They found it more and more difficult to carry their +loads. Twice we had to cross the rapids of the river on primitive +bridges which consisted only of a few little logs lashed together +and resting on slippery boulders. + +By one o'clock we found ourselves on a small plain (ele. 4500 ft.) in +dense woods surrounded by tree ferns, vines, and tangled thickets, +through which it was impossible to see for more than a few feet. Here +Guzman told us we must stop and rest a while, as we were now in the +territory of los salvajes, the savage Indians who acknowledged only the +rule of Saavedra and resented all intrusion. Guzman did not seem to be +particularly afraid, but said that we ought to send ahead one of our +carriers, to warn the savages that we were coming on a friendly mission +and were not in search of rubber gatherers; otherwise they might attack +us, or run away and disappear into the jungle. He said we should never +be able to find the ruins without their help. The carrier who was +selected to go ahead did not relish his task. Leaving his pack behind, +he proceeded very quietly and cautiously along the trail and was lost +to view almost immediately. There followed an exciting half-hour while +we waited, wondering what attitude the savages would take toward us, +and trying to picture to ourselves the mighty potentate, Saavedra, +who had been described as sitting in the midst of savage luxury, +"surrounded by fifty servants," and directing his myrmidons to +checkmate our desires to visit the Inca city on the "pampa of ghosts." + +Suddenly, we were startled by the crackling of twigs and the sound +of a man running. We instinctively held our rifles a little tighter +in readiness for whatever might befall--when there burst out of the +woods a pleasant-faced young Peruvian, quite conventionally clad, +who had come in haste from Saavedra, his father, to extend to us +a most cordial welcome! It seemed scarcely credible, but a glance +at his face showed that there was no ambush in store for us. It was +with a sigh of relief that we realized there was to be no shower of +poisoned arrows from the impenetrable thickets. Gathering up our packs, +we continued along the jungle trail, through woods which gradually +became higher, deeper, and darker, until presently we saw sunlight +ahead and, to our intense astonishment, the bright green of waving +sugar cane. A few moments of walking through the cane fields found +us at a large comfortable hut, welcomed very simply and modestly by +Saavedra himself. A more pleasant and peaceable little man it was +never my good fortune to meet. We looked furtively around for his +fifty savage servants, but all we saw was his good-natured Indian +wife, three or four small children, and a wild-eyed maid-of-all-work, +evidently the only savage present. Saavedra said some called this place +"Jesus Maria" because they were so surprised when they saw it. + +It is difficult to describe our feelings as we accepted Saavedra's +invitation to make ourselves at home, and sat down to an abundant meal +of boiled chicken, rice, and sweet cassava (manioc). Saavedra gave us +to understand that we were not only most welcome to anything he had, +but that he would do everything to enable us to see the ruins, which +were, it seemed, at Espiritu Pampa, some distance farther down the +valley, to be reached only by a hard trail passable for barefooted +savages, but scarcely available for us unless we chose to go a +good part of the distance on hands and knees. The next day, while +our carriers were engaged in clearing this trail, Professor Foote +collected a large number of insects, including eight new species of +moths and butterflies. + +I inspected Saavedra's plantation. The soil having lain fallow for +centuries, and being rich in humus, had produced more sugar cane than +he could grind. In addition to this, he had bananas, coffee trees, +sweet potatoes, tobacco, and peanuts. Instead of being "a very powerful +chief having many Indians under his control"--a kind of "Pooh-Bah"--he +was merely a pioneer. In the utter wilderness, far from any neighbors, +surrounded by dense forests and a few savages, he had established +his home. He was not an Indian potentate, but only a frontiersman, +soft-spoken and energetic, an ingenious carpenter and mechanic, +a modest Peruvian of the best type. + +Owing to the scarcity of arable land he was obliged to cultivate +such pampas as he could find--one an alluvial fan near his house, +another a natural terrace near the river. Back of the house was +a thatched shelter under which he had constructed a little sugar +mill. It had a pair of hardwood rollers, each capable of being turned, +with much creaking and cracking, by a large, rustic wheel made of +roughly hewn timbers fastened together with wooden pins and lashed +with thongs, worked by hand and foot power. Since Saavedra had been +unable to coax any pack animals over the trail to Conservidayoc he +was obliged to depend entirely on his own limited strength and that +of his active son, aided by the uncertain and irregular services of +such savages as wished to work for sugar, trinkets, or other trade +articles. Sometimes the savages seemed to enjoy the fun of climbing +on the great creaking treadwheel, as though it were a game. At other +times they would disappear in the woods. + +Near the mill were some interesting large pots which Saavedra was using +in the process of boiling the juice and making crude sugar. He said he +had found the pots in the jungle not far away. They had been made by +the Incas. Four of them were of the familiar aryballus type. Another +was of a closely related form, having a wide mouth, pointed base, +single incised, conventionalized, animal-head nubbin attached to the +shoulder, and band-shaped handles attached vertically below the median +line. Although capable of holding more than ten gallons, this huge +pot was intended to be carried on the back and shoulders by means of a +rope passing through the handles and around the nubbin. Saavedra said +that he had found near his house several bottle-shaped cists lined +with stones, with a flat stone on top--evidently ancient graves. The +bones had entirely disappeared. The cover of one of the graves had +been pierced; the hole covered with a thin sheet of beaten silver. He +had also found a few stone implements and two or three small bronze +Inca axes. + +On the pampa, below his house, Saavedra had constructed with infinite +labor another sugar mill. It seemed strange that he should have taken +the trouble to make two mills; but when one remembered that he had no +pack animals and was usually obliged to bring the cane to the mill on +his own back and the back of his son, one realized that it was easier, +while the cane was growing, to construct a new mill near the cane +field than to have to carry the heavy bundles of ripe cane up the +hill. He said his hardest task was to get money with which to send +his children to school in Cuzco and to pay his taxes. The only way in +which he could get any cash was by making chancaca, crude brown sugar, +and carrying it on his back, fifty pounds at a time, three hard days' +journey on foot up the mountain to Pampaconas or Vilcabamba, six or +seven thousand feet above his little plantation. He said he could +usually sell such a load for five soles, equivalent to two dollars +and a half! His was certainly a hard lot, but he did not complain, +although he smilingly admitted that it was very difficult to keep +the trail open, since the jungle grew so fast and the floods in the +river continually washed away his little rustic bridges. His chief +regret was that as the result of a recent revolution, with which he +had had nothing to do, the government had decreed that all firearms +should be turned in, and so he had lost the one thing he needed to +enable him to get fresh meat in the forest. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Saavedra and his Inca Pottery +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Inca Gable at Espiritu Pampa +------ + + +In the clearing near the house we were interested to see a large +turkey-like bird, the pava de la montana, glossy black, its most +striking feature a high, coral red comb. Although completely at +liberty, it seemed to be thoroughly domesticated. It would make an +attractive bird for introduction into our Southern States. + +Saavedra gave us some very black leaves of native tobacco, which he +had cured. An inveterate smoker who tried it in his pipe said it was +without exception the strongest stuff he ever had encountered! + +So interested did I become in talking with Saavedra, seeing his +plantation, and marveling that he should be worried about taxes and +have to obey regulations in regard to firearms, I had almost forgotten +about the wild Indians. Suddenly our carriers ran toward the house +in a great flurry of excitement, shouting that there was a "savage" +in the bushes near by. The "wild man" was very timid, but curiosity +finally got the better of fear and he summoned up sufficient courage +to accept Saavedra's urgent invitation that he come out and meet +us. He proved to be a miserable specimen, suffering from a very bad +cold in his head. It has been my good fortune at one time or another +to meet primitive folk in various parts of America and the Pacific, +but this man was by far the dirtiest and most wretched savage that +I have ever seen. + +He was dressed in a long, filthy tunic which came nearly to his +ankles. It was made of a large square of coarsely woven cotton cloth, +with a hole in the middle for his head. The sides were stitched up, +leaving holes for the arms. His hair was long, unkempt, and matted. He +had small, deep-set eyes, cadaverous cheeks, thick lips, and a large +mouth. His big toes were unusually long and prehensile. Slung over one +shoulder he carried a small knapsack made of coarse fiber net. Around +his neck hung what at first sight seemed to be a necklace composed +of a dozen stout cords securely knotted together. Although I did not +see it in use, I was given to understand that when climbing trees, +he used this stout loop to fasten his ankles together and thus secure +a tighter grip for his feet. + +By evening two other savages had come in; a young married man and +his little sister. Both had bad colds. Saavedra told us that these +Indians were Pichanguerras, a subdivision of the Campa tribe. Saavedra +and his son spoke a little of their language, which sounded to our +unaccustomed ears like a succession of low grunts, breathings, and +gutturals. It was pieced out by signs. The long tunics worn by the +men indicated that they had one or more wives. Before marrying they +wear very scanty attire--nothing more than a few rags hanging over one +shoulder and tied about the waist. The long tunic, a comfortable enough +garment to wear during the cold nights, and their only covering, must +impede their progress in the jungle; yet they live partly by hunting, +using bows and arrows. We learned that these Pichanguerras had run +away from the rubber country in the lower valleys; that they found it +uncomfortably cold at this altitude, 4500 feet, but preferred freedom +in the higher valleys to serfdom on a rubber estate. + +Saavedra said that he had named his plantation Conservidayoc, because +it was in truth "a spot where one may be preserved from harm." Such +was the home of the potentate from whose abode "no one had been known +to return alive." + + + +CHAPTER XV + +The Pampa of Ghosts + +Two days later we left Conservidayoc for Espiritu Pampa by the trail +which Saavedra's son and our Pampaconas Indians had been clearing. We +emerged from the thickets near a promontory where there was a fine +view down the valley and particularly of a heavily wooded alluvial fan +just below us. In it were two or three small clearings and the little +oval huts of the savages of Espiritu Pampa, the "Pampa of Ghosts." + +On top of the promontory was the ruin of a small, rectangular building +of rough stone, once probably an Inca watch-tower. From here to +Espiritu Pampa our trail followed an ancient stone stairway, about +four feet in width and nearly a third of a mile long. It was built of +uncut stones. Possibly it was the work of those soldiers whose chief +duty it was to watch from the top of the promontory and who used their +spare time making roads. We arrived at the principal clearing just as +a heavy thunder-shower began. The huts were empty. Obviously their +occupants had seen us coming and had disappeared in the jungle. We +hesitated to enter the home of a savage without an invitation, but the +terrific downpour overcame our scruples, if not our nervousness. The +hut had a steeply pitched roof. Its sides were made of small logs +driven endwise into the ground and fastened together with vines. A +small fire had been burning on the ground. Near the embers were two +old black ollas of Inca origin. + +In the little chacra, cassava, coca, and sweet potatoes were growing in +haphazard fashion among charred and fallen tree trunks; a typical milpa +farm. In the clearing were the ruins of eighteen or twenty circular +houses arranged in an irregular group. We wondered if this could be the +"Inca city" which Lopez Torres had reported. Among the ruins we picked +up several fragments of Inca pottery. There was nothing Incaic about +the buildings. One was rectangular and one was spade-shaped, but all +the rest were round. The buildings varied in diameter from fifteen to +twenty feet. Each had but a single opening. The walls had tumbled down, +but gave no evidence of careful construction. Not far away, in woods +which had not yet been cleared by the savages, we found other circular +walls. They were still standing to a height of about four feet. If +the savages have extended their milpa clearings since our visit, the +falling trees have probably spoiled these walls by now. The ancient +village probably belonged to a tribe which acknowledged allegiance to +the Incas, but the architecture of the buildings gave no indication +of their having been constructed by the Incas themselves. We began +to wonder whether the "Pampa of Ghosts" really had anything important +in store for us. Undoubtedly this alluvial fan had been highly prized +in this country of terribly steep hills. It must have been inhabited, +off and on, for many centuries. Yet this was not an "Inca city." + +While we were wondering whether the Incas themselves ever lived here, +there suddenly appeared the naked figure of a sturdy young savage, +armed with a stout bow and long arrows, and wearing a fillet of +bamboo. He had been hunting and showed us a bird he had shot. Soon +afterwards there came the two adult savages we had met at Saavedra's, +accompanied by a cross-eyed friend, all wearing long tunics. They +offered to guide us to other ruins. It was very difficult for us to +follow their rapid pace. Half an hour's scramble through the jungle +brought us to a pampa or natural terrace on the banks of a little +tributary of the Pampaconas. They called it Eromboni. Here we found +several old artificial terraces and the rough foundations of a long, +rectangular building 192 feet by 24 feet. It might have had twenty-four +doors, twelve in front and twelve in back, each three and a half +feet wide. No lintels were in evidence. The walls were only a foot +high. There was very little building material in sight. Apparently +the structure had never been completed. Near by was a typical Inca +fountain with three stone spouts, or conduits. Two hundred yards +beyond the water-carrier's rendezvous, hidden behind a curtain of +hanging vines and thickets so dense we could not see more than a few +feet in any direction, the savages showed us the ruins of a group of +stone houses whose walls were still standing in fine condition. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Ruins in the Jungles of Espiritu Pampa +------ + + +One of the buildings was rounded at one end. Another, standing by +itself at the south end of a little pampa, had neither doors nor +windows. It was rectangular. Its four or five niches were arranged +with unique irregularity. Furthermore, they were two feet deep, an +unusual dimension. Probably this was a storehouse. On the east side +of the pampa was a structure, 120 feet long by 21 feet wide, divided +into five rooms of unequal size. The walls were of rough stones +laid in adobe. Like some of the Inca buildings at Ollantaytambo, +the lintels of the doors were made of three or four narrow uncut +ashlars. Some rooms had niches. On the north side of the pampa +was another rectangular building. On the west side was the edge of +a stone-faced terrace. Below it was a partly enclosed fountain or +bathhouse, with a stone spout and a stone-lined basin. The shapes of +the houses, their general arrangement, the niches, stone roof-pegs +and lintels, all point to Inca builders. In the buildings we picked +up several fragments of Inca pottery. + +Equally interesting and very puzzling were half a dozen crude Spanish +roofing tiles, baked red. All the pieces and fragments we could find +would not have covered four square feet. They were of widely different +sizes, as though some one had been experimenting. Perhaps an Inca who +had seen the new red tiled roofs of Cuzco had tried to reproduce them +here in the jungle, but without success. + +At dusk we all returned to Espiritu Pampa. Our faces, hands, +and clothes had been torn by the jungle; our feet were weary and +sore. Nevertheless the day's work had been very satisfactory and +we prepared to enjoy a good night's rest. Alas, we were doomed to +disappointment. During the day some one had brought to the hut eight +tame but noisy macaws. Furthermore, our savage helpers determined +to make the night hideous with cries, tom-toms, and drums, either to +discourage the visits of hostile Indians or jaguars, or for the purpose +of exorcising the demons brought by the white men, or else to cheer +up their families, who were undoubtedly hiding in the jungle near by. + +The next day the savages and our carriers continued to clear away as +much as possible of the tangled growth near the best ruins. In this +process, to the intense surprise not only of ourselves, but also of +the savages, they discovered, just below the "bathhouse" where we had +stood the day before, the well-preserved ruins of two buildings of +superior construction, well fitted with stone-pegs and numerous niches, +very symmetrically arranged. These houses stood by themselves on a +little artificial terrace. Fragments of characteristic Inca pottery +were found on the floor, including pieces of a large aryballus. + +Nothing gives a better idea of the density of the jungle than the +fact that the savages themselves had often been within five feet of +these fine walls without being aware of their existence. + +Encouraged by this important discovery of the most characteristic +Inca ruins found in the valley, we continued the search, but all that +any one was able to find was a carefully built stone bridge over a +brook. Saavedra's son questioned the savages carefully. They said +they knew of no other antiquities. Who built the stone buildings of +Espiritu Pampa and Eromboni Pampa? Was this the "Vilcabamba Viejo" +of Father Calancha, that "University of Idolatry where lived the +teachers who were wizards and masters of abomination," the place to +which Friar Marcos and Friar Diego went with so much suffering? Was +there formerly on this trail a place called Ungacacha where the +monks had to wade, and amused Titu Cusi by the way they handled their +monastic robes in the water? They called it a "three days' journey +over rough country." Another reference in Father Calancha speaks +of Puquiura as being "two long days' journey from Vilcabamba." It +took us five days to go from Espiritu Pampa to Pucyura, although +Indians, unencumbered by burdens, and spurred on by necessity, +might do it in three. It is possible to fit some other details of +the story into this locality, although there is no place on the road +called Ungacacha. Nevertheless it does not seem to me reasonable to +suppose that the priests and Virgins of the Sun (the personnel of the +"University of Idolatry") who fled from cold Cuzco with Manco and +were established by him somewhere in the fastnesses of Uilcapampa +would have cared to live in the hot valley of Espiritu Pampa. The +difference in climate is as great as that between Scotland and Egypt, +or New York and Havana. They would not have found in Espiritu Pampa +the food which they liked. Furthermore, they could have found the +seclusion and safety which they craved just as well in several other +parts of the province, particularly at Machu Picchu, together with a +cool, bracing climate and food-stuffs more nearly resembling those to +which they were accustomed. Finally Calancha says "Vilcabamba the Old" +was "the largest city" in the province, a term far more applicable +to Machu Picchu or even to Choqquequirau than to Espiritu Pampa. + +On the other hand there seems to be no doubt that Espiritu Pampa in +the montana does meet the requirements of the place called Vilcabamba +by the companions of Captain Garcia. They speak of it as the town +and valley to which Tupac Amaru, the last Inca, escaped after his +forces lost the "young fortress" of Uiticos. Ocampo, doubtless wishing +to emphasize the difference between it and his own metropolis, the +Spanish town of Vilcabamba, calls the refuge of Tupac "Vilcabamba +the old." Ocampo's new "Vilcabamba" was not in existence when Friar +Marcos and Friar Diego lived in this province. If Calancha wrote +his chronicles from their notes, the term "old" would not apply to +Espiritu Pampa, but to an older Vilcabamba than either of the places +known to Ocampo. + +The ruins are of late Inca pattern, not of a kind which would have +required a long period to build. The unfinished building may have +been under construction during the latter part of the reign of Titu +Cusi. It was Titu Cusi's desire that Rodriguez de Figueroa should meet +him at Pampaconas. The Inca evidently came from a Vilcabamba down in +the montana, and, as has been said, brought Rodriguez a present of a +macaw and two hampers of peanuts, articles of trade still common at +Conservidayoc. There appears to me every reason to believe that the +ruins of Espiritu Pampa are those of one of the favorite residences +of this Inca--the very Vilcabamba, in fact, where he spent his boyhood +and from which he journeyed to meet Rodriguez in 1565. [13] + +In 1572, when Captain Garcia took up the pursuit of Tupac Amaru +after the victory of Vilcabamba, the Inca fled "inland toward the +valley of Sima-ponte ... to the country of the Manaries Indians, +a warlike tribe and his friends, where balsas and canoes were posted +to save him and enable him to escape." There is now no valley in this +vicinity called Simaponte, so far as we have been able to discover. The +Manaries Indians are said to have lived on the banks of the lower +Urubamba. In order to reach their country Tupac Amaru probably went +down the Pampaconas from Espiritu Pampa. From the "Pampa of Ghosts" +to canoe navigation would have been but a short journey. Evidently +his friends who helped him to escape were canoe-men. Captain Garcia +gives an account of the pursuit of Tupac Amaru in which he says that, +not deterred by the dangers of the jungle or the river, he constructed +five rafts on which he put some of his soldiers and, accompanying them +himself, went down the rapids, escaping death many times by swimming, +until he arrived at a place called Momori, only to find that the Inca, +learning of his approach, had gone farther into the woods. Nothing +daunted, Garcia followed him, although he and his men now had to go +on foot and barefooted, with hardly anything to eat, most of their +provisions having been lost in the river, until they finally caught +Tupac and his friends; a tragic ending to a terrible chase, hard on +the white man and fatal for the Incas. + +It was with great regret that I was now unable to follow the Pampaconas +River to its junction with the Urubamba. It seemed possible that the +Pampaconas might be known as the Sirialo, or the Cori-beni, both of +which were believed by Dr. Bowman's canoe-men to rise in the mountains +of Vilcabamba. It was not, however, until the summer of 1915 that we +were able definitely to learn that the Pampaconas was really a branch +of the Cosireni. It seems likely that the Cosireni was once called the +"Sima-ponte." Whether the Comberciato is the "Momori" is hard to say. + +To be the next to follow in the footsteps of Tupac Amaru and Captain +Garcia was the privilege of Messrs. Heller, Ford, and Maynard. They +found that the unpleasant features had not been exaggerated. They were +tormented by insects and great quantities of ants--a small red ant +found on tree trunks, and a large black one, about an inch in length, +frequently seen among the leaves on the ground. The bite of the red +ant caused a stinging and burning for about fifteen minutes. One of +their carriers who was bitten in the foot by a black ant suffered +intense pain for a number of hours. Not only his foot, but also +his leg and hip were affected. The savages were both fishermen and +hunters; the fish being taken with nets, the game killed with bows +and arrows. Peccaries were shot from a blind made of palm leaves a +few feet from a runway. Fishing brought rather meager results. Three +Indians fished all night and caught only one fish, a perch weighing +about four pounds. + +The temperature was so high that candles could easily be tied in +knots. Excessive humidity caused all leather articles to become blue +with mould. Clouds of flies and mosquitoes increased the likelihood +of spreading communicable jungle fevers. + +The river Comberciato was reached by Mr. Heller at a point not more +than a league from its junction with the Urubamba. The lower course +of the Comberciato is not considered dangerous to canoe navigation, +but the valley is much narrower than the Cosireni. The width of +the river is about 150 feet and its volume is twice that of the +Cosireni. The climate is very trying. The nights are hot. Insect +pests are numerous. Mr. Heller found that "the forest was filled with +annoying, though sting-less, bees which persisted in attempting to +roost on the countenance of any human being available." On the banks +of the Comberciato he found several families of savages. All the men +were keen hunters and fishermen. Their weapons consisted of powerful +bows made from the wood of a small palm and long arrows made of reeds +and finished with feathers arranged in a spiral. + +Monkeys were abundant. Specimens of six distinct genera were found, +including the large red howler, inert and easily located by its deep, +roaring bellow which can be heard for a distance of several miles; +the giant black spider monkey, very alert, and, when frightened, fairly +flying through the branches at astonishing speed; and a woolly monkey, +black in color, and very intelligent in expression, frequently tamed +by the savages, who "enjoy having them as pets but are not averse to +eating them when food is scarce." "The flesh of monkeys is greatly +appreciated by these Indians, who preserved what they did not require +for immediate needs by drying it over the smoke of a wood fire." + +On the Cosireni Mr. Maynard noticed that one of his Indian guides +carried a package, wrapped in leaves, which on being opened proved to +contain forty or fifty large hairless grubs or caterpillars. The man +finally bit their heads off and threw the bodies into a small bag, +saying that the grubs were considered a great delicacy by the savages. + +The Indians we met at Espiritu Pampa closely resembled those +seen in the lower valley. All our savages were bareheaded and +barefooted. They live so much in the shelter of the jungle that hats +are not necessary. Sandals or shoes would only make it harder to +use the slippery little trails. They had seen no strangers penetrate +this valley for about ten years, and at first kept their wives and +children well secluded. Later, when Messrs. Hendriksen and Tucker +were sent here to determine the astronomical position of Espiritu +Pampa, the savages permitted Mr. Tucker to take photographs of their +families. Perhaps it is doubtful whether they knew just what he was +doing. At all events they did not run away and hide. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Campa Men at Espiritu Pampa +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Campa Women and Children at Espiritu Pampa +------ + + +All the men and older boys wore white fillets of bamboo. The married +men had smeared paint on their faces, and one of them was wearing the +characteristic lip ornament of the Campas. Some of the children wore +no clothing at all. Two of the wives wore long tunics like the men. One +of them had a truly savage face, daubed with paint. She wore no fillet, +had the best tunic, and wore a handsome necklace made of seeds and the +skins of small birds of brilliant plumage, a work of art which must +have cost infinite pains and the loss of not a few arrows. All the +women carried babies in little hammocks slung over the shoulder. One +little girl, not more than six years old, was carrying on her back a +child of two, in a hammock supported from her head by a tump-line. It +will be remembered that forest Indians nearly always use tump-lines +so as to allow their hands free play. One of the wives was fairer +than the others and looked as though she might have had a Spanish +ancestor. The most savage-looking of the women was very scantily clad, +wore a necklace of seeds, a white lip ornament, and a few rags tied +around her waist. All her children were naked. The children of the +woman with the handsome necklace were clothed in pieces of old tunics, +and one of them, evidently her mother's favorite, was decorated with +bird skins and a necklace made from the teeth of monkeys. + +Such were the people among whom Tupac Amaru took refuge when he fled +from Vilcabamba. Whether he partook of such a delicacy as monkey +meat, which all Amazonian Indians relish, but which is not eaten by +the highlanders, may be doubted. Garcilasso speaks of Tupac Amaru's +preferring to entrust himself to the hands of the Spaniards "rather +than to perish of famine." His Indian allies lived perfectly well in +a region where monkeys abound. It is doubtful whether they would ever +have permitted Captain Garcia to capture the Inca had they been able +to furnish Tupac with such food as he was accustomed to. + +At all events our investigations seem to point to the probability of +this valley having been an important part of the domain of the last +Incas. It would have been pleasant to prolong our studies, but the +carriers were anxious to return to Pampaconas. Although they did not +have to eat monkey meat, they were afraid of the savages and nervous +as to what use the latter might some day make of the powerful bows +and long arrows. + +At Conservidayoc Saavedra kindly took the trouble to make some sugar +for us. He poured the syrup in oblong moulds cut in a row along the +side of a big log of hard wood. In some of the moulds his son placed +handfuls of nicely roasted peanuts. The result was a confection or +"emergency ration" which we greatly enjoyed on our return journey. + +At San Fernando we met the pack mules. The next day, in the midst +of continuing torrential tropical downpours, we climbed out of +the hot valley to the cold heights of Pampaconas. We were soaked +with perspiration and drenched with rain. Snow had been falling +above the village; our teeth chattered like castanets. Professor +Foote immediately commandeered Mrs. Guzman's fire and filled our +tea kettle. It may be doubted whether a more wretched, cold, wet, +and bedraggled party ever arrived at Guzman's hut; certainly nothing +ever tasted better than that steaming hot sweet tea. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +The Story of Tampu-tocco, a Lost City of the First Incas + +It will be remembered that while on the search for the capital of the +last Incas we had found several groups of ruins which we could not +fit entirely into the story of Manco and his sons. The most important +of these was Machu Picchu. Many of its buildings are far older than +the ruins of Rosaspata and Espiritu Pampa. To understand just what we +may have found at Machu Picchu it is now necessary to tell the story +of a celebrated city, whose name, Tampu-tocco, was not used even at +the time of the Spanish Conquest as the cognomen of any of the Inca +towns then in existence. I must draw the reader's attention far away +from the period when Pizarro and Manco, Toledo and Tupac Amaru were +the protagonists, back to events which occurred nearly seven hundred +years before their day. The last Incas ruled in Uiticos between 1536 +and 1572. The last Amautas flourished about 800 A.D. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Puma Urco, near Paccaritampu +------ + + +The Amautas had been ruling the Peruvian highlands for about sixty +generations, when, as has been told in Chapter VI, invaders came +from the south and east. The Amautas had built up a wonderful +civilization. Many of the agricultural and engineering feats which +we ordinarily assign to the Incas were really achievements of the +Amautas. The last of the Amautas was Pachacuti VI, who was killed by +an arrow on the battle-field of La Raya. The historian Montesinos, +whose work on the antiquities of Peru has recently been translated +for the Hakluyt Society by Mr. P. A. Means, of Harvard University, +tells us that the followers of Pachacuti VI fled with his body to +"Tampu-tocco." This, says the historian, was "a healthy place" where +there was a cave in which they hid the Amauta's body. Cuzco, the +finest and most important of all their cities, was sacked. General +anarchy prevailed throughout the ancient empire. The good old days +of peace and plenty disappeared before the invader. The glory of the +old empire was destroyed, not to return for several centuries. In +these dark ages, resembling those of European medieval times which +followed the Germanic migrations and the fall of the Roman Empire, +Peru was split up into a large number of small independent units. Each +district chose its own ruler and carried on depredations against +its neighbors. The effects of this may still be seen in the ruins of +small fortresses found guarding the way into isolated Andean valleys. + +Montesinos says that those who were most loyal to the Amautas +were few in number and not strong enough to oppose their enemies +successfully. Some of them, probably the principal priests, +wise men, and chiefs of the ancient regime, built a new city at +"Tampu-tocco." Here they kept alive the memory of the Amautas and +lived in such a relatively civilized manner as to draw to them, +little by little, those who wished to be safe from the prevailing +chaos and disorder and the tyranny of the independent chiefs or +"robber barons." In their new capital, they elected a king, Titi +Truaman Quicho. + +The survivors of the old regime enjoyed living at Tampu-tocco, +because there never have been any earthquakes, plagues, or tremblings +there. Furthermore, if fortune should turn against their new young +king, Titi Truaman, and he should be killed, they could bury him +in a very sacred place, namely, the cave where they hid the body of +Pachacuti VI. + +Fortune was kind to the founders of the new kingdom. They had chosen +an excellent place of refuge where they were not disturbed. To their +ruler, the king of Tampu-tocco, and to his successors nothing worth +recording happened for centuries. During this period several of the +kings wished to establish themselves in ancient Cuzco, where the great +Amautas had reigned, but for one reason or another were obliged to +forego their ambitions. + +One of the most enlightened rulers of Tampu-tocco was a king called +Tupac Cauri, or Pachacuti VII. In his day people began to write on +the leaves of trees. He sent messengers to the various parts of the +highlands, asking the tribes to stop worshiping idols and animals, +to cease practicing evil customs which had grown up since the fall +of the Amautas, and to return to the ways of their ancestors. He +met with little encouragement. On the contrary, his ambassadors were +killed and little or no change took place. Discouraged by the failure +of his attempts at reformation and desirous of learning its cause, +Tupac Cauri was told by his soothsayers that the matter which most +displeased the gods was the invention of writing. Thereupon he forbade +anybody to practice writing, under penalty of death. This mandate was +observed with such strictness that the ancient folk never again used +letters. Instead, they used quipus, strings and knots. It was supposed +that the gods were appeased, and every one breathed easier. No one +realized how near the Peruvians as a race had come to taking a most +momentous step. + +This curious and interesting tradition relates to an event supposed +to have occurred many centuries before the Spanish Conquest. We +have no ocular evidence to support it. The skeptic may brush it +aside as a story intended to appeal to the vanity of persons with +Inca blood in their veins; yet it is not told by the half-caste +Garcilasso, who wanted Europeans to admire his maternal ancestors +and wrote his book accordingly, but is in the pages of that careful +investigator Montesinos, a pure-blooded Spaniard. As a matter of fact, +to students of Sumner's "Folkways," the story rings true. Some young +fellow, brighter than the rest, developed a system of ideographs +which he scratched on broad, smooth leaves. It worked. People were +beginning to adopt it. The conservative priests of Tampu-tocco did +not like it. There was danger lest some of the precious secrets, +heretofore handed down orally to the neophytes, might become public +property. Nevertheless, the invention was so useful that it began to +spread. There followed some extremely unlucky event--the ambassadors +were killed, the king's plans miscarried. What more natural than +that the newly discovered ideographs should be blamed for it? As a +result, the king of Tampu-tocco, instigated thereto by the priests, +determined to abolish this new thing. Its usefulness had not yet +been firmly established. In fact it was inconvenient; the leaves +withered, dried, and cracked, or blew away, and the writings were +lost. Had the new invention been permitted to exist a little longer, +some one would have commenced to scratch ideographs on rocks. Then it +would have persisted. The rulers and priests, however, found that the +important records of tribute and taxes could be kept perfectly well +by means of the quipus. And the "job" of those whose duty it was to +remember what each string stood for was assured. After all there is +nothing unusual about Montesinos' story. One has only to look at the +history of Spain itself to realize that royal bigotry and priestly +intolerance have often crushed new ideas and kept great nations from +making important advances. + +Montesinos says further that Tupac Cauri established in Tampu-tocco +a kind of university where boys were taught the use of quipus, the +method of counting and the significance of the different colored +strings, while their fathers and older brothers were trained in +military exercises--in other words, practiced with the sling, the +bolas and the war-club; perhaps also with bows and arrows. Around the +name of Tupac Cauri, or Pachacuti VII, as he wished to be called, +is gathered the story of various intellectual movements which took +place in Tampu-tocco. Finally, there came a time when the skill and +military efficiency of the little kingdom rose to a high plane. The +ruler and his councilors, bearing in mind the tradition of their +ancestors who centuries before had dwelt in Cuzco, again determined to +make the attempt to reestablish themselves there. An earthquake, which +ruined many buildings in Cuzco, caused rivers to change their courses, +destroyed towns, and was followed by the outbreak of a disastrous +epidemic. The chiefs were obliged to give up their plans, although +in healthy Tampu-tocco there was no pestilence. Their kingdom became +more and more crowded. Every available square yard of arable land was +terraced and cultivated. The men were intelligent, well organized, +and accustomed to discipline, but they could not raise enough food +for their families; so, about 1300 A.D., they were forced to secure +arable land by conquest, under the leadership of the energetic ruler +of the day. His name was Manco Ccapac, generally called the first Inca, +the ruler for whom the Manco of 1536 was named. + +There are many stories of the rise of the first Inca. When he had grown +to man's estate, he assembled his people to see how he could secure new +lands for them. After consultation with his brothers, he determined +to set out with them "toward the hill over which the sun rose," as +we are informed by Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua, an Indian who was +a descendant of a long line of Incas, whose great-grandparents lived +in the time of the Spanish Conquest, and who wrote an account of the +antiquities of Peru in 1620. He gives the history of the Incas as it +was handed down to the descendants of the former rulers of Peru. In +it we read that Manco Ccapac and his brothers finally succeeded in +reaching Cuzco and settled there. With the return of the descendants +of the Amautas to Cuzco there ended the glory of Tampu-tocco. Manco +married his own sister in order that he might not lose caste and that +no other family be elevated by this marriage to be on an equality with +his. He made good laws, conquered many provinces, and is regarded +as the founder of the Inca dynasty. The highlanders came under his +sway and brought him rich presents. The Inca, as Manco Ccapac now +came to be known, was recognized as the most powerful chief, the most +valiant fighter, and the most lucky warrior in the Andes. His captains +and soldiers were brave, well disciplined, and well armed. All his +affairs prospered greatly. "Afterward he ordered works to be executed +at the place of his birth, consisting of a masonry wall with three +windows, which were emblems of the house of his fathers whence he +descended. The first window was called Tampu-tocco." I quote from +Sir Clements Markham's translation. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Best Inca Wall at Maucallacta, near Paccaritampu +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Caves of Puma Urco, near Paccaritampu +------ + + +The Spaniards who asked about Tampu-tocco were told that it was at or +near Paccaritampu, a small town eight or ten miles south of Cuzco. I +learned that ruins are very scarce in its vicinity. There are none in +the town. The most important are the ruins of Maucallacta, an Inca +village, a few miles away. Near it I found a rocky hill consisting +of several crags and large rocks, the surface of one of which is +carved into platforms and two sleeping pumas. It is called Puma +Urco. Beneath the rocks are some caves. I was told they had recently +been used by political refugees. There is enough about the caves and +the characteristics of the ruins near Paccaritampu to lend color to the +story told to the early Spaniards. Nevertheless, it would seem as if +Tampu-tocco must have been a place more remote from Cuzco and better +defended by Nature from any attacks on that side. How else would it +have been possible for the disorganized remnant of Pachacuti VI's army +to have taken refuge there and set up an independent kingdom in the +face of the warlike invaders from the south? A few men might have hid +in the caves of Puma Urco, but Paccaritampu is not a natural citadel. + +The surrounding region is not difficult of access. There are no +precipices between here and the Cuzco Basin. There are no natural +defenses against such an invading force as captured the capital of +the Amautas. Furthermore, tampu means "a place of temporary abode," +or "a tavern," or "an improved piece of ground" or "farm far from a +town"; tocco means "window." There is an old tavern at Maucallacta +near Paccaritampu, but there are no windows in the building to +justify the name of "window tavern" or "place of temporary abode" +(or "farm far from a town") "noted for its windows." There is nothing +of a "masonry wall with three windows" corresponding to Salcamayhua's +description of Manco Ccapac's memorial at his birthplace. The word +"Tampu-tocco" does not occur on any map I have been able to consult, +nor is it in the exhaustive gazetteer of Peru compiled by Paz Soldan. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +Machu Picchu + +It was in July, 1911, that we first entered that marvelous canyon of +the Urubamba, where the river escapes from the cold regions near Cuzco +by tearing its way through gigantic mountains of granite. From Torontoy +to Colpani the road runs through a land of matchless charm. It has the +majestic grandeur of the Canadian Rockies, as well as the startling +beauty of the Nuuanu Pali near Honolulu, and the enchanting vistas of +the Koolau Ditch Trail on Maul. In the variety of its charms and the +power of its spell, I know of no place in the world which can compare +with it. Not only has it great snow peaks looming above the clouds more +than two miles overhead; gigantic precipices of many-colored granite +rising sheer for thousands of feet above the foaming, glistening, +roaring rapids; it has also, in striking contrast, orchids and +tree ferns, the delectable beauty of luxurious vegetation, and the +mysterious witchery of the jungle. One is drawn irresistibly onward +by ever-recurring surprises through a deep, winding gorge, turning +and twisting past overhanging cliffs of incredible height. Above all, +there is the fascination of finding here and there under the swaying +vines, or perched on top of a beetling crag, the rugged masonry of +a bygone race; and of trying to understand the bewildering romance +of the ancient builders who ages ago sought refuge in a region which +appears to have been expressly designed by Nature as a sanctuary for +the oppressed, a place where they might fearlessly and patiently give +expression to their passion for walls of enduring beauty. Space forbids +any attempt to describe in detail the constantly changing panorama, +the rank tropical foliage, the countless terraces, the towering cliffs, +the glaciers peeping out between the clouds. + +We had camped at a place near the river, called Mandor Pampa. Melchor +Arteaga, proprietor of the neighboring farm, had told us of ruins at +Machu Picchu, as was related in Chapter X. + +The morning of July 24th dawned in a cold drizzle. Arteaga shivered +and seemed inclined to stay in his hut. I offered to pay him well if he +would show me the ruins. He demurred and said it was too hard a climb +for such a wet day. When he found that we were willing to pay him a +sol, three or four times the ordinary daily wage in this vicinity, +he finally agreed to guide us to the ruins. No one supposed that they +would be particularly interesting. Accompanied by Sergeant Carrasco +I left camp at ten o'clock and went some distance upstream. On the +road we passed a venomous snake which recently had been killed. This +region has an unpleasant notoriety for being the favorite haunt of +"vipers." The lance-headed or yellow viper, commonly known as the +fer-de-lance, a very venomous serpent capable of making considerable +springs when in pursuit of its prey, is common hereabouts. Later two +of our mules died from snake-bite. + +After a walk of three quarters of an hour the guide left the main road +and plunged down through the jungle to the bank of the river. Here +there was a primitive "bridge" which crossed the roaring rapids at +its narrowest part, where the stream was forced to flow between two +great boulders. The bridge was made of half a dozen very slender logs, +some of which were not long enough to span the distance between the +boulders. They had been spliced and lashed together with vines. Arteaga +and Carrasco took off their shoes and crept gingerly across, using +their somewhat prehensile toes to keep from slipping. It was obvious +that no one could have lived for an instant in the rapids, but would +immediately have been dashed to pieces against granite boulders. I +am frank to confess that I got down on hands and knees and crawled +across, six inches at a time. Even after we reached the other side +I could not help wondering what would happen to the "bridge" if a +particularly heavy shower should fall in the valley above. A light +rain had fallen during the night. The river had risen so that the +bridge was already threatened by the foaming rapids. It would not +take much more rain to wash away the bridge entirely. If this should +happen during the day it might be very awkward. As a matter of fact, +it did happen a few days later and the next explorers to attempt to +cross the river at this point found only one slender log remaining. + +Leaving the stream, we struggled up the bank through a dense jungle, +and in a few minutes reached the bottom of a precipitous slope. For +an hour and twenty minutes we had a hard climb. A good part of the +distance we went on all fours, sometimes hanging on by the tips +of our fingers. Here and there, a primitive ladder made from the +roughly hewn trunk of a small tree was placed in such a way as to +help one over what might otherwise have proved to be an impassable +cliff. In another place the slope was covered with slippery grass +where it was hard to find either handholds or footholds. The guide +said that there were lots of snakes here. The humidity was great, +the heat was excessive, and we were not in training. + +Shortly after noon we reached a little grass-covered hut where several +good-natured Indians, pleasantly surprised at our unexpected arrival, +welcomed us with dripping gourds full of cool, delicious water. Then +they set before us a few cooked sweet potatoes, called here cumara, +a Quichua word identical with the Polynesian kumala, as has been +pointed out by Mr. Cook. + +Apart from the wonderful view of the canyon, all we could see from +our cool shelter was a couple of small grass huts and a few ancient +stone-faced terraces. Two pleasant Indian farmers, Richarte and +Alvarez, had chosen this eagle's nest for their home. They said they +had found plenty of terraces here on which to grow their crops and +they were usually free from undesirable visitors. They did not speak +Spanish, but through Sergeant Carrasco I learned that there were more +ruins "a little farther along." In this country one never can tell +whether such a report is worthy of credence. "He may have been lying" +is a good footnote to affix to all hearsay evidence. Accordingly, +I was not unduly excited, nor in a great hurry to move. The heat +was still great, the water from the Indian's spring was cool +and delicious, and the rustic wooden bench, hospitably covered +immediately after my arrival with a soft, woolen poncho, seemed most +comfortable. Furthermore, the view was simply enchanting. Tremendous +green precipices fell away to the white rapids of the Urubamba +below. Immediately in front, on the north side of the valley, was +a great granite cliff rising 2000 feet sheer. To the left was the +solitary peak of Huayna Picchu, surrounded by seemingly inaccessible +precipices. On all sides were rocky cliffs. Beyond them cloud-capped +mountains rose thousands of feet above us. + +The Indians said there were two paths to the outside world. Of one we +had already had a taste; the other, they said, was more difficult--a +perilous path down the face of a rocky precipice on the other side +of the ridge. It was their only means of egress in the wet season, +when the bridge over which we had come could not be maintained. I was +not surprised to learn that they went away from home only "about once +a month." + +Richarte told us that they had been living here four years. It +seems probable that, owing to its inaccessibility, the canyon had +been unoccupied for several centuries, but with the completion of +the new government road settlers began once more to occupy this +region. In time somebody clambered up the precipices and found on +the slopes of Machu Picchu, at an elevation of 9000 feet above the +sea, an abundance of rich soil conveniently situated on artificial +terraces, in a fine climate. Here the Indians had finally cleared +off some ruins, burned over a few terraces, and planted crops of +maize, sweet and white potatoes, sugar cane, beans, peppers, tree +tomatoes, and gooseberries. At first they appropriated some of the +ancient houses and replaced the roofs of wood and thatch. They found, +however, that there were neither springs nor wells near the ancient +buildings. An ancient aqueduct which had once brought a tiny stream +to the citadel had long since disappeared beneath the forest, filled +with earth washed from the upper terraces. So, abandoning the shelter +of the ruins, the Indians were now enjoying the convenience of living +near some springs in roughly built thatched huts of their own design. + +Without the slightest expectation of finding anything more interesting +than the stone-faced terraces of which I already had a glimpse, and +the ruins of two or three stone houses such as we had encountered +at various places on the road between Ollantaytambo and Torontoy, +I finally left the cool shade of the pleasant little hut and climbed +farther up the ridge and around a slight promontory. Arteaga had +"been here once before," and decided to rest and gossip with Richarte +and Alvarez in the hut. They sent a small boy with me as a guide. + +Hardly had we rounded the promontory when the character of the +stonework began to improve. A flight of beautifully constructed +terraces, each two hundred yards long and ten feet high, had then +recently rescued from the jungle by the Indians. A forest of large +trees had been chopped down and burned over to make a clearing +for agricultural purposes. Crossing these terraces, I entered the +untouched forest beyond, and suddenly found myself in a maze of +beautiful granite houses! They were covered with trees and moss and +the growth of centuries, but in the dense shadow, hiding in bamboo +thickets and tangled vines, could be seen, here and there, walls +of white granite ashlars most carefully cut and exquisitely fitted +together. Buildings with windows were frequent. Here at least was a +"place far from town and conspicuous for its windows." + + +------ +FIGURE + +Flashlight view of Interior of Cave, Machu Picchu +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Temple over Cave at Machu Picchu Suggested by the Author as the +Probable Site of Tampu-Tocco +------ + + +Under a carved rock the little boy showed me a cave beautifully lined +with the finest cut stone. It was evidently intended to be a Royal +Mausoleum. On top of this particular boulder a semicircular building +had been constructed. The wall followed the natural curvature of the +rock and was keyed to it by one of the finest examples of masonry I +have ever seen. This beautiful wall, made of carefully matched ashlars +of pure white granite, especially selected for its fine grain, was the +work of a master artist. The interior surface of the wall was broken +by niches and square stone-pegs. The exterior surface was perfectly +simple and unadorned. The lower courses, of particularly large ashlars, +gave it a look of solidity. The upper courses, diminishing in size +toward the top, lent grace and delicacy to the structure. The flowing +lines, the symmetrical arrangement of the ashlars, and the gradual +gradation of the courses, combined to produce a wonderful effect, +softer and more pleasing than that of the marble temples of the +Old World. Owing to the absence of mortar, there are no ugly spaces +between the rocks. They might have grown together. + +The elusive beauty of this chaste, undecorated surface seems to me +to be due to the fact that the wall was built under the eye of a +master mason who knew not the straight edge, the plumb rule, or the +square. He had no instruments of precision, so he had to depend on +his eye. He had a good eye, an artistic eye, an eye for symmetry +and beauty of form. His product received none of the harshness of +mechanical and mathematical accuracy. The apparently rectangular +blocks are not really rectangular. The apparently straight lines of +the courses are not actually straight in the exact sense of that term. + +To my astonishment I saw that this wall and its adjoining semicircular +temple over the cave were as fine as the finest stonework in the +far-famed Temple of the Sun in Cuzco. Surprise followed surprise in +bewildering succession. I climbed a marvelous great stairway of large +granite blocks, walked along a pampa where the Indians had a small +vegetable garden, and came into a little clearing. Here were the ruins +of two of the finest structures I have ever seen in Peru. Not only were +they made of selected blocks of beautifully grained white granite; +their walls contained ashlars of Cyclopean size, ten feet in length, +and higher than a man. The sight held me spellbound. + +Each building had only three walls and was entirely open on the +side toward the clearing. The principal temple was lined with +exquisitely made niches, five high up at each end, and seven on the +back wall. There were seven courses of ashlars in the end walls. Under +the seven rear niches was a rectangular block fourteen feet long, +probably a sacrificial altar. The building did not look as though +it had ever had a roof. The top course of beautifully smooth ashlars +was not intended to be covered. + +The other temple is on the east side of the pampa. I called it the +Temple of the Three Windows. Like its neighbor, it is unique among +Inca ruins. Its eastern wall, overlooking the citadel, is a massive +stone framework for three conspicuously large windows, obviously too +large to serve any useful purpose, yet most beautifully made with the +greatest care and solidity. This was clearly a ceremonial edifice of +peculiar significance. Nowhere else in Peru, so far as I know, is there +a similar structure conspicuous as "a masonry wall with three windows." + +These ruins have no other name than that of the mountain on the +slopes of which they are located. Had this place been occupied +uninterruptedly, like Cuzco and Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu would +have retained its ancient name, but during the centuries when it +was abandoned, its name was lost. Examination showed that it was +essentially a fortified place, a remote fastness protected by natural +bulwarks, of which man took advantage to create the most impregnable +stronghold in the Andes. Our subsequent excavations and the clearing +made in 1912, to be described in a subsequent volume, has shown that +this was the chief place in Uilcapampa. + +It did not take an expert to realize, from the glimpse of Machu +Picchu on that rainy day in July, 1911, when Sergeant Carrasco and +I first saw it, that here were most extraordinary and interesting +ruins. Although the ridge had been partly cleared by the Indians for +their fields of maize, so much of it was still underneath a thick +jungle growth--some walls were actually supporting trees ten and +twelve inches in diameter--that it was impossible to determine just +what would be found here. As soon as I could get hold of Mr. Tucker, +who was assisting Mr. Hendriksen, and Mr. Lanius, who had gone down the +Urubamba with Dr. Bowman, I asked them to make a map of the ruins. I +knew it would be a difficult undertaking and that it was essential +for Mr. Tucker to join me in Arequipa not later than the first of +October for the ascent of Coropuna. With the hearty aid of Richarte +and Alvarez, the surveyors did better than I expected. In the ten days +while they were at the ruins they were able to secure data from which +Mr. Tucker afterwards prepared a map which told better than could +any words of mine the importance of this site and the necessity for +further investigation. + +With the possible exception of one mining prospector, no one in Cuzco +had seen the ruins of Machu Picchu or appreciated their importance. No +one had any realization of what an extraordinary place lay on top of +the ridge. It had never been visited by any of the planters of the +lower Urubamba Valley who annually passed over the road which winds +through the canyon two thousand feet below. + +It seems incredible that this citadel, less than three days' journey +from Cuzco, should have remained so long undescribed by travelers +and comparatively unknown even to the Peruvians themselves. If the +conquistadores ever saw this wonderful place, some reference to it +surely would have been made; yet nothing can be found which clearly +refers to the ruins of Machu Picchu. Just when it was first seen by a +Spanish-speaking person is uncertain. When the Count de Sartiges was +at Huadquina in 1834 he was looking for ruins; yet, although so near, +he heard of none here. From a crude scrawl on the walls of one of the +finest buildings, we learned that the ruins were visited in 1902 by +Lizarraga, lessee of the lands immediately below the bridge of San +Miguel. This is the earliest local record. Yet some one must have +visited Machu Picchu long before that; because in 1875, as has been +said, the French explorer Charles Wiener heard in Ollantaytambo of +there being ruins at "Huaina-Picchu or Matcho-Picchu." He tried to +find them. That he failed was due to there being no road through the +canyon of Torontoy and the necessity of making a wide detour through +the pass of Panticalla and the Lucumayo Valley, a route which brought +him to the Urubamba River at the bridge of Chuquichaca, twenty-five +miles below Machu Picchu. + + +------ +FIGURE + +Detail of Exterior of Temple of the Three Windows, Machu Picchu +------ + + + +------ +FIGURE + +Detail of Principal Temple Machu Picchu +------ + + +It was not until 1890 that the Peruvian Government, recognizing the +needs of the enterprising planters who were opening up the lower +valley of the Urubamba, decided to construct a mule trail along the +banks of the river through the grand canyon to enable the much-desired +coca and aguardiente to be shipped from Huadquina, Maranura, and Santa +Ann to Cuzco more quickly and cheaply than formerly. This road avoids +the necessity of carrying the precious cargoes over the dangerous +snowy passes of Mt. Veronica and Mt. Salcantay, so vividly described +by Raimondi, de Sartiges, and others. The road, however, was very +expensive, took years to build, and still requires frequent repair. In +fact, even to-day travel over it is often suspended for several days +or weeks at a time, following some tremendous avalanche. Yet it was +this new road which had led Melchor Arteaga to build his hut near +the arable land at Mandor Pampa, where he could raise food for his +family and offer rough shelter to passing travelers. It was this +new road which brought Richarte, Alvarez, and their enterprising +friends into this little-known region, gave them the opportunity of +occupying the ancient terraces of Machu Picchu, which had lain fallow +for centuries, encouraged them to keep open a passable trail over +the precipices, and made it feasible for us to reach the ruins. It +was this new road which offered us in 1911 a virgin field between +Ollantaytambo and Huadquina and enabled us to learn that the Incas, +or their predecessors, had once lived here in the remote fastnesses of +the Andes, and had left stone witnesses of the magnificence and beauty +of their ancient civilization, more interesting and extensive than any +which have been found since the days of the Spanish Conquest of Peru. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +The Origin of Machu Picchu + +Some other day I hope to tell of the work of clearing and excavating +Machu Picchu, of the life lived by its citizens, and of the ancient +towns of which it was the most important. At present I must rest +content with a discussion of its probable identity. Here was a powerful +citadel tenable against all odds, a stronghold where a mere handful +of defenders could prevent a great army from taking the place by +assault. Why should any one have desired to be so secure from capture +as to have built a fortress in such an inaccessible place? + +The builders were not in search of fields. There is so little arable +land here that every square yard of earth had to be terraced in +order to provide food for the inhabitants. They were not looking for +comfort or convenience. Safety was their primary consideration. They +were sufficiently civilized to practice intensive agriculture, +sufficiently skillful to equal the best masonry the world has ever +seen, sufficiently ingenious to make delicate bronzes, and sufficiently +advanced in art to realize the beauty of simplicity. What could have +induced such a people to select this remote fastness of the Andes, +with all its disadvantages, as the site for their capital, unless +they were fleeing from powerful enemies. + +The thought will already have occurred to the reader that the Temple +of the Three Windows at Machu Picchu fits the words of that native +writer who had "heard from a child the most ancient traditions and +histories," including the story already quoted from Sir Clements +Markham's translation that Manco Ccapac, the first Inca, "ordered +works to be executed at the place of his birth; consisting of a +masonry wall with three windows, which were emblems of the house +of his fathers whence he descended. The first window was called +'Tampu-tocco.' " Although none of the other chroniclers gives the +story of the first Inca ordering a memorial wall to be built at the +place of his birth, they nearly all tell of his having come from a +place called Tampu-tocco, "an inn or country place remarkable for +its windows." Sir Clements Markham, in his "Incas of Peru," refers +to Tampu-tocco as "the hill with the three openings or windows." + +The place assigned by all the chroniclers as the location of the +traditional Tampu-tocco, as has been said, is Paccaritampu, about nine +miles southwest of Cuzco. Paccaritampu has some interesting ruins and +caves, but careful examination shows that while there are more than +three openings to its caves, there are no windows in its buildings. The +buildings of Machu Picchu, on the other hand, have far more windows +than any other important ruin in Peru. The climate of Paccaritampu, +like that of most places in the highlands, is too severe to invite +or encourage the use of windows. The climate of Machu Picchu is mild, +consequently the use of windows was natural and agreeable. + +So far as I know, there is no place in Peru where the ruins consist of +anything like a "masonry wall with three windows" of such a ceremonial +character as is here referred to, except at Machu Picchu. It would +certainly seem as though the Temple of the Three Windows, the most +significant structure within the citadel, is the building referred +to by Pachacuti Yamqui Saleamayhua. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Masonry Wall with Three Windows, Machu Picchu +------ + + +The principal difficulty with this theory is that while the +first meaning of tocco in Holguin's standard Quichua dictionary is +"ventana" or "window," and while "window" is the only meaning given +this important word in Markham's revised Quichua dictionary (1908), +a dictionary compiled from many sources, the second meaning of tocco +given by Holguin is "alacena," "a cupboard set in a wall." Undoubtedly +this means what we call, in the ruins of the houses of the Incas, a +niche. Now the drawings, crude as they are, in Sir Clements Markham's +translation of the Salcamayhua manuscript, do give the impression +of niches rather than of windows. Does Tampu-tocco mean a tampu +remarkable for its niches? At Paccaritampu there do not appear to be +any particularly fine niches; while at Machu Picchu, on the other hand, +there are many very beautiful niches, especially in the cave which has +been referred to as a "Royal Mausoleum." As a matter of fact, nearly +all the finest ruins of the Incas have excellent niches. Since niches +were so common a feature of Inca architecture, the chances are that Sir +Clements is right in translating Salcamayhua as he did and in calling +Tampu-tocco "the hill with the three openings or windows." In any case +Machu Picchu fits the story far better than does Paccaritampu. However, +in view of the fact that the early writers all repeat the story that +Tampu-tocco was at Paccaritampu, it would be absurd to say that they +did not know what they were talking about, even though the actual +remains at or near Paccaritampu do not fit the requirements. + +It would be easier to adopt Paccaritampu as the site of Tampu-tocco +were it not for the legal records of an inquiry made by Toledo at the +time when he put the last Inca to death. Fifteen Indians, descended +from those who used to live near Las Salinas, the important salt works +near Cuzco, on being questioned, agreed that they had heard their +fathers and grandfathers repeat the tradition that when the first Inca, +Manco Ccapac, captured their lands, he came from Tampu-tocco. They did +not say that the first Inca came from Paccaritampu, which, it seems +to me, would have been a most natural thing for them to have said if +this were the general belief of the natives. In addition there is the +still older testimony of some Indians born before the arrival of the +first Spaniards, who were examined at a legal investigation in 1570. A +chief, aged ninety-two, testified that Manco Ccapac came out of a cave +called Tocco, and that he was lord of the town near that cave. Not +one of the witnesses stated that Manco Ccapac came from Paccaritampu, +although it is difficult to imagine why they should not have done +so if, as the contemporary historians believed, this was really the +original Tampu-tocco. The chroniclers were willing enough to accept +the interesting cave near Paccaritampu as the place where Manco +Ccapac was born, and from which he came to conquer Cuzco. Why were +the sworn witnesses so reticent? It seems hardly possible that they +should have forgotten where Tampu-tocco was supposed to have been. Was +their reticence due to the fact that its actual whereabouts had been +successfully kept secret? Manco Ccapac's home was that Tampu-tocco +to which the followers of Pachacuti VI fled with his body after the +overthrow of the old regime, a very secluded and holy place. Did they +know it was in the same fastnesses of the Andes to which in the days +of Pizarro the young Inca Manco had fled from Cuzco? Was this the +cause of their reticence? + +Certainly the requirements of Tampu-tocco are met at Machu Picchu. The +splendid natural defenses of the Grand Canyon of the Urubamba made it +an ideal refuge for the descendants of the Amautas during the centuries +of lawlessness and confusion which succeeded the barbarian invasions +from the plains to the east and south. The scarcity of violent +earthquakes and also its healthfulness, both marked characteristics +of Tampu-tocco, are met at Machu Picchu. It is worth noting that the +existence of Machu Picchu might easily have been concealed from the +common people. At the time of the Spanish Conquest its location might +have been known only to the Inca and his priests. + +So, notwithstanding the belief of the historians, I feel it is +reasonable to conclude that the first name of the ruins at Machu Picchu +was Tampu-tocco. Here Pachacuti VI was buried; here was the capital of +the little kingdom where during the centuries between the Amautas and +the Incas there was kept alive the wisdom, skill, and best traditions +of the ancient folk who had developed the civilization of Peru. + +It is well to remember that the defenses of Cuzco were of little avail +before the onslaught of the warlike invaders. The great organization +of farmers and masons, so successful in its ability to perform +mighty feats of engineering with primitive tools of wood, stone, +and bronze, had crumbled away before the attacks of savage hordes +who knew little of the arts of peace. The defeated leaders had to +choose a region where they might live in safety from their fierce +enemies. Furthermore, in the environs of Machu Picchu they found +every variety of climate--valleys so low as to produce the precious +coca, yucca, and plantain, the fruits and vegetables of the tropics; +slopes high enough to be suitable for many varieties of maize, +quinoa, and other cereals, as well as their favorite root crops, +including both sweet and white potatoes, oca, anu, and ullucu. Here, +within a few hours' journey, they could find days warm enough to dry +and cure the coca leaves; nights cold enough to freeze potatoes in +the approved aboriginal fashion. + +Although the amount of arable land which could be made available with +the most careful terracing was not large enough to support a very +great population, Machu Picchu offered an impregnable citadel to the +chiefs and priests and their handful of followers who were obliged +to flee from the rich plains near Cuzco and the broad, pleasant +valley of Yucay. Only dire necessity and terror could have forced a +people which had reached such a stage in engineering, architecture, +and agriculture, to leave hospitable valleys and tablelands for rugged +canyons. Certainly there is no part of the Andes less fitted by nature +to meet the requirements of an agricultural folk, unless their chief +need was a safe refuge and retreat. + +Here the wise remnant of the Amautas ultimately developed great +ability. In the face of tremendous natural obstacles they utilized +their ancient craft to wrest a living from the soil. Hemmed in +between the savages of the Amazon jungles below and their enemies +on the plateau above, they must have carried on border warfare for +generations. Aided by the temperate climate in which they lived, +and the ability to secure a wide variety of food within a few hours' +climb up or down from their towns and cities, they became a hardy, +vigorous tribe which in the course of time burst its boundaries, fought +its way back to the rich Cuzco Valley, overthrew the descendants +of the ancient invaders and established, with Cuzco as a capital, +the Empire of the Incas. + +After the first Inca, Manco Ccapac, had established himself in Cuzco, +what more natural than that he should have built a fine temple in +honor of his ancestors. Ancestor worship was common to the Incas, +and nothing would have been more reasonable than the construction +of the Temple of the Three Windows. As the Incas grew in power and +extended their rule over the ancient empire of the Cuzco Amautas from +whom they traced their descent, superstitious regard would have led +them to establish their chief temples and palaces in the city of Cuzco +itself. There was no longer any necessity to maintain the citadel of +Tampu-tocco. It was probably deserted, while Cuzco grew and the Inca +Empire flourished. + +As the Incas increased in power they invented various myths to account +for their origin. One of these traced their ancestry to the islands of +Lake Titicaca. Finally the very location of Manco Ccapac's birthplace +was forgotten by the common people--although undoubtedly known to the +priests and those who preserved the most sacred secrets of the Incas. + +Then came Pizarro and the bigoted conquistadores. The native chiefs +faced the necessity of saving whatever was possible of the ancient +religion. The Spaniards coveted gold and silver. The most precious +possessions of the Incas, however, were not images and utensils, but +the sacred Virgins of the Sun, who, like the Vestal Virgins of Rome, +were from their earliest childhood trained to the service of the great +Sun God. Looked at from the standpoint of an agricultural people who +needed the sun to bring their food crops to fruition and keep them from +hunger, it was of the utmost importance to placate him with sacrifices +and secure the good effects of his smiling face. If he delayed his +coming or kept himself hidden behind the clouds, the maize would mildew +and the ears would not properly ripen. If he did not shine with his +accustomed brightness after the harvest, the ears of corn could not be +properly dried and kept over to the next year. In short, any unusual +behavior on the part of the sun meant hunger and famine. Consequently +their most beautiful daughters were consecrated to his service, as +"Virgins" who lived in the temple and ministered to the wants of +priests and rulers. Human sacrifice had long since been given up in +Peru and its place taken by the consecration of these damsels. Some +of the Virgins of the Sun in Cuzco were captured. Others escaped and +accompanied Manco into the inaccessible canyons of Uilcapampa. + +It will be remembered that Father Calancha relates the trials of the +first two missionaries in this region, who at the peril of their lives +urged the Inca to let them visit the "University of Idolatry," at +"Vilcabamba Viejo," "the largest city" in the province. Machu Picchu +admirably answers its requirements. Here it would have been very +easy for the Inca Titu Cusi to have kept the monks in the vicinity +of the Sacred City for three weeks without their catching a single +glimpse of its unique temples and remarkable palaces. It would have +been possible for Titu Cusi to bring Friar Marcos and Friar Diego +to the village of Intihuatana near San Miguel, at the foot of the +Machu Picchu cliffs. The sugar planters of the lower Urubamba Valley +crossed the bridge of San Miguel annually for twenty years in blissful +ignorance of what lay on top of the ridge above them. So the friars +might easily have been lodged in huts at the foot of the mountain +without their being aware of the extent and importance of the Inca +"university." Apparently they returned to Puquiura with so little +knowledge of the architectural character of "Vilcabamba Viejo" that +no description of it could be given their friends, eventually to +be reported by Calancha. Furthermore, the difficult journey across +country from Puquiura might easily have taken "three days." + +Finally, it appears from Dr. Eaton's studies that the last residents +of Machu Picchu itself were mostly women. In the burial caves which +we have found in the region roundabout Machu Picchu the proportion +of skulls belonging to men is very large. There are many so-called +"trepanned" skulls. Some of them seem to belong to soldiers injured +in war by having their skulls crushed in, either with clubs or +the favorite sling-stones of the Incas. In no case have we found +more than twenty-five skulls without encountering some "trepanned" +specimens among them. In striking contrast is the result of the +excavations at Machu Picchu, where one hundred sixty-four skulls +were found in the burial caves, yet not one had been "trepanned." Of +the one hundred thirty-five skeletons whose sex could be accurately +determined by Dr. Eaton, one hundred nine were females. Furthermore, +it was in the graves of the females that the finest artifacts were +found, showing that they were persons of no little importance. Not +a single representative of the robust male of the warrior type was +found in the burial caves of Machu Picchu. + +Another striking fact brought out by Dr. Eaton is that some of the +female skeletons represent individuals from the seacoast. This fits in +with Calancha's statement that Titu Cusi tempted the monks not only +with beautiful women of the highlands, but also with those who came +from the tribes of the Yungas, or "warm valleys." The "warm valleys" +may be those of the rubber country, but Sir Clements Markham thought +the oases of the coast were meant. + +Furthermore, as Mr. Safford has pointed out, among the artifacts +discovered at Machu Picchu was a "snuffing tube" intended for use with +the narcotic snuff which was employed by the priests and necromancers +to induce a hypnotic state. This powder was made from the seeds of +the tree which the Incas called huilca or uilca, which, as has been +pointed out in Chapter XI, grows near these ruins. This seems to me +to furnish additional evidence of the identity of Machu Picchu with +Calancha's "Vilcabamba." + +It cannot be denied that the ruins of Machu Picchu satisfy the +requirements of "the largest city, in which was the University of +Idolatry." Until some one can find the ruins of another important place +within three days' journey of Pucyura which was an important religious +center and whose skeletal remains are chiefly those of women, I am +inclined to believe that this was the "Vilcabamba Viejo" of Calancha, +just as Espiritu Pampa was the "Vilcabamba Viejo" of Ocampo. + +In the interesting account of the last Incas purporting to be by Titu +Cusi, but actually written in excellent Spanish by Friar Marcos, +he says that his father, Manco, fleeing from Cuzco went first "to +Vilcabamba, the head of all that province." + +In the "Anales del Peru" Montesinos says that Francisco Pizarro, +thinking that the Inca Manco wished to make peace with him, tried +to please the Inca by sending him a present of a very fine pony and +a mulatto to take care of it. In place of rewarding the messenger, +the Inca killed both man and beast. When Pizarro was informed of this, +he took revenge on Manco by cruelly abusing the Inca's favorite wife, +and putting her to death. She begged of her attendants that "when she +should be dead they would put her remains in a basket and let it float +down the Yucay [or Urubamba] River, that the current might take it +to her husband, the Inca." She must have believed that at that time +Manco was near this river. Machu Picchu is on its banks. Espiritu +Pampa is not. + +We have already seen how Manco finally established himself at Uiticos, +where he restored in some degree the fortunes of his house. Surrounded +by fertile valleys, not too far removed from the great highway which +the Spaniards were obliged to use in passing from Lima to Cuzco, he +could readily attack them. At Machu Picchu he would not have been +so conveniently located for robbing the Spanish caravans nor for +supplying his followers with arable lands. + +There is abundant archeological evidence that the citadel of Machu +Picchu was at one time occupied by the Incas and partly built by them +on the ruins of a far older city. Much of the pottery is unquestionably +of the so-called Cuzco style, used by the last Incas. The more recent +buildings resemble those structures on the island of Titicaca said to +have been built by the later Incas. They also resemble the fortress of +Uiticos, at Rosaspata, built by Manco about 1537. Furthermore, they +are by far the largest and finest ruins in the mountains of the old +province of Uilcapampa and represent the place which would naturally +be spoken of by Titu Cusi as the "head of the province." Espiritu +Pampa does not satisfy the demands of a place which was so important +as to give its name to the entire province, to be referred to as +"the largest city." + +It seems quite possible that the inaccessible, forgotten citadel of +Machu Picchu was the place chosen by Manco as the safest refuge for +those Virgins of the Sun who had successfully escaped from Cuzco in +the days of Pizarro. For them and their attendants Manco probably +built many of the newer buildings and repaired some of the older +ones. Here they lived out their days, secure in the knowledge that +no Indians would ever breathe to the conquistadores the secret of +their sacred refuge. + + +------ +FIGURE + +The Gorges, Opening Wide Apart, Reveal Uilcapampa's Granite Citadel, +the Crown of Inca Land: Machu Picchu +------ + + +When the worship of the sun actually ceased on the heights of Machu +Picchu no one can tell. That the secret of its existence was so well +kept is one of the marvels of Andean history. Unless one accepts the +theories of its identity with "Tampu-tocco" and "Vilcabamba Viejo," +there is no clear reference to Machu Picchu until 1875, when Charles +Wiener heard about it. + +Some day we may be able to find a reference in one of the documents +of the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries which will indicate that +the energetic Viceroy Toledo, or a contemporary of his, knew of +this marvelous citadel and visited it. Writers like Cieza de Leon +and Polo de Ondegardo, who were assiduous in collecting information +about all the holy places of the Incas, give the names of many places +which as yet we have not been able to identify. Among them we may +finally recognize the temples of Machu Picchu. On the other hand, +it seems likely that if any of the Spanish soldiers, priests, or +other chroniclers had seen this citadel, they would have described +its chief edifices in unmistakable terms. + +Until further light can be thrown on this fascinating problem it +seems reasonable to conclude that at Machu Picchu we have the ruins of +Tampu-tocco, the birthplace of the first Inca, Manco Ccapac, and also +the ruins of a sacred city of the last Incas. Surely this granite +citadel, which has made such a strong appeal to us on account of +its striking beauty and the indescribable charm of its surroundings, +appears to have had a most interesting history. Selected about 800 +A.D. as the safest place of refuge for the last remnants of the +old regime fleeing from southern invaders, it became the site of the +capital of a new kingdom, and gave birth to the most remarkable family +which South America has ever seen. Abandoned, about 1300, when Cuzco +once more flashed into glory as the capital of the Peruvian Empire, +it seems to have been again sought out in time of trouble, when in +1534 another foreign invader arrived--this time from Europe--with a +burning desire to extinguish all vestiges of the ancient religion. In +its last state it became the home and refuge of the Virgins of the +Sun, priestesses of the most humane cult of aboriginal America. Here, +concealed in a canyon of remarkable grandeur, protected by art and +nature, these consecrated women gradually passed away, leaving no +known descendants, nor any records other than the masonry walls +and artifacts to be described in another volume. Whoever they were, +whatever name be finally assigned to this site by future historians, +of this I feel sure--that few romances can ever surpass that of the +granite citadel on top of the beetling precipices of Machu Picchu, +the crown of Inca Land. + + + + + +Glossary + +Anu: A species of nasturtium with edible roots. + +Aryballus: A bottle-shaped vase with pointed bottom. + +Azequia: An irrigation ditch or conduit. + +Bar-hold: A stone cylinder or pin, let into a gatepost in such a way +as to permit the gate bar to be tied to it. Sometimes the bar-hold +is part of one of the ashlars of the gatepost. Bar-holds are usually +found in the gateway of a compound or group of Inca houses. + +Coca: Shrub from which cocaine is extracted. The dried leaves are +chewed to secure the desired deadening effect of the drug. + +Conquistadores: Spanish soldiers engaged in the conquest of America. + +Eye-bonder: A narrow, rough ashlar in one end of which a chamfered +hole has been cut. Usually about 2 feet long, 6 inches wide, and 2 +inches thick, it was bonded into the wall of a gable at right angles +to its slope and flush with its surface. To it the purlins of the roof +could be fastened. Eye-bonders are also found projecting above the +lintel of a gateway to a compound. If the "bar-holds" were intended +to secure the horizontal bar of an important gate, these eye-bonders +may have been for a vertical bar. + +Gobernador: The Spanish-speaking town magistrate. The alcaldes are +his Indian aids. + +Habas beans: Broad beans. + +Huaca: A sacred or holy place or thing, sometimes a boulder. Often +applied to a piece of prehistoric pottery. + +Manana: To-morrow, or by and by. The "manana habit" is Spanish-American +procrastination. + +Mestizo: A half-breed of Spanish and Indian ancestry. + +Milpa: A word used in Central America for a small farm or clearing. The +milpa system of agriculture involves clearing the forest by fire, +destroys valuable humus and forces the farmer to seek new fields +frequently. + +Montana: Jungle, forest. The term usually applied by Peruvians to +the heavily forested slopes of the Eastern Andean valleys and the +Amazon Basin. + +Oca: Hardy, edible root, related to sheep sorrel. + +Quebrada: A gorge or ravine. + +Quipu: Knotted, parti-colored strings used by the ancient Peruvians +to keep records. A mnemonic device. + +Roof-peg: A roughly cylindrical block of stone bonded into a gable +wall and allowed to project 12 or 15 inches on the outside. Used +in connection with "eye-bonders," the roof-pegs served as points to +which the roof could be tied down. + +Sol: Peruvian silver dollar, worth about two shillings or a little +less than half a gold dollar. + +Sorocho: Mountain-sickness. + +Stone-peg: A roughly cylindrical block of stone bonded into the +walls of a house and projecting 10 or 12 inches on the inside so as +to permit of its being used as a clothes-peg. Stone-pegs are often +found alternating with niches and placed on a level with the lintels +of the niches. + +Temblor: A slight earthquake. + +Temporales: Small fields of grain which cannot be irrigated and so +depend on the weather for their moisture. + +Teniente gobernador: Administrative officer of a small village +or hamlet. + +Terremoto: A severe earthquake. + +Tesoro: Treasure. + +Tutu: A hardy variety of white potato not edible in a fresh state, +used for making chuno, after drying, freezing, and pressing out the +bitter juices. + +Ulluca: An edible root. + +Viejo: Old. + + + +Bibliography of the Peruvian Expeditions of Yale University and the +National Geographic Society + +Thomas Barbour: + +Reptiles Collected by Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1912. Proceedings of +Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, LXV, 505-507, September, +1913. 1 pl. + +(With G. K. Noble:) + +Amphibians and Reptiles from Southern Peru Collected by Peruvian +Expedition of 1914-1915. Proceedings of U.S. National Museum, LVIII, +609-620, 1921. + +Hiram Bingham: + +The Ruins of Choqquequirau. American Anthropologist, XII, 505-525, +October, 1910. Illus., 4 pl., map. + +Across South America. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1911, xvi, +405 pp., plates, maps, plans, 8 deg.. + +Preliminary Report of the Yale Peruvian Expedition. Bulletin of +American Geographical Society, XLIV, 20-26, January, 1912. + +The Ascent of Coropuna. Harper's Magazine, CXXIV, 489-502, March, +1912. Illus. + +Vitcos, The Last Inca Capital. Proceedings of American Antiquarian +Society, XXII, N.S., 135-196. April, 1912. Illus., plans. + +The Discovery of Pre-Historic Human Remains near Cuzco, Peru. American +Journal of Science, XXXIII, No. 196, 297-305, April, 1912. Illus., +maps. + +A Search for the Last Inca Capital. Harper's Magazine, CXXV, 696-705, +October, 1912. Illus. + +The Discovery of Machu Picchu. Ibid., CXXVI, 709-719, April, +1913. Illus. + +In the Wonderland of Peru. National Geographic Magazine, XXIV, 387-573, +April, 1913. Illus., maps, plans. + +The Investigation of Pre-Historic Human Remains Found near Cuzco in +1911. American Journal of Science, XXXVI, No. 211, 1-2, July, 1913. + +The Ruins of Espiritu Pampa, Peru. American Anthropologist, XVI, +No. 2, 185-199. April-June, 1914. Illus., 1 pl., map. + +Along the Uncharted Pampaconas. Harper's Magazine, CXXIX, 452-463, +August, 1914. Illus., map. + +The Pampaconas River. The Geographical Journal, XLIV, 211-214, August, +1914. 2 pl., map. + +The Story of Machu Picchu. National Geographic Magazine, XXVII, +172-217, February, 1915. Illus. + +Types of Machu Picchu Pottery. American Anthropologist, XVII, 257-271, +April-June, 1915. Illus., 1 pl. + +The Inca Peoples and Their Culture. Proceedings of Nineteenth +International Congress of Americanists, Washington, D.C., pp. 253-260, +December, 1915. + +Further Explorations in the Land of the Incas. National Geographic +Magazine, XXIX, 431-473, May, 1916. Illus., 2 maps. + +Evidences of Symbolism in the Land of the Incas. The Builder, II, +No. 12, 361-366, December, 1916. Illus. + +(With Dr. George S. Jamieson:) + +Lake Parinacochas and the Composition of its Water. American Journal +of Science, XXXIV, 12-16, July, 1912. Illus. + +Isaiah Bowman: + +The Geologic Relations of the Cuzco Remains. American Journal of +Science, XXXIII, No. 196, 306-325, April, 1912. Illus. + +A Buried Wall at Cuzco and its Relation to the Question of a Pre-Inca +Race. Ibid., XXXIV, No. 204, 497-509, December, 1912. Illus. + +The Canon of the Urubamba. Bulletin of American Geographical Society, +XLIV, 881-897, December, 1912. Illus., map. + +The Andes of Southern Peru. Geographical Reconnaissance Along the +Seventy-third Meridian, N.Y., Henry Holt, 1916. xi, 336 pp., plates, +maps, plans. + +Lawrence Bruner: + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911, Orthoptera +(Acridiidae--Short Horned Locusts). Proceedings of U.S. National +Museum, XLIV, 177-187, 1913. + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911, Orthoptera (Addenda to +the Acridiidae). Ibid., XLV, 585-586, 1913. + +A. N. Caudell: + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911, Orthoptera (Exclusive of +Acridiidae). Proceedings of U.S. National Museum, XLIV, 347-357, 1913. + +Ralph V. Chamberlain: + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911. The Arachnida. Bulletin of +Museum of Comparative Zooelogy at Harvard College, LX, No. 6, 177-299, +1916. 25 pl. + +Frank M. Chapman: + +The Distribution of Bird Life in the Urubamba Valley of +Peru. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 117, 138 pp., 1921. 9 pl., map. + +O. F. Cook: + +Quichua Names of Sweet Potatoes. Journal of Washington Academy of +Sciences, VI, No. 4, 86-90, 1916. + +Agriculture and Native Vegetation in Peru. Ibid., VI, No. 10, 284-293, +1916. Illus. + +Staircase Farms of the Ancients. National Geographic Magazine, XXIX, +474-534, May, 1916. Illus. + +Foot-Plow Agriculture in Peru. Smithsonian Report for 1918, +487-491. 4 pl. + +Domestication of Animals in Peru. Journal of Heredity, x, 176-181, +April, 1919. Illus. + +(With Alice C. Cook:) + +Polar Bear Cacti. Journal of Heredity, Washington, D.C., VIII, 113-120, +March, 1917. Illus. + +William H. Dall: + +Some Landshells Collected by Dr. Hiram Bingham in Peru. Proceedings +of U.S. National Museum, XXXVIII, 177-182, 1911. Illus. + +Reports on Landshells Collected in Peru in 1911 by The Yale +Expedition. Smithsonian Misc. Collections, LIX, No. 14, 12 pp., 1912. + +Harrison G. Dyar: + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911. Lepidoptera. Proceedings +of U.S. National Museum, XLV, 627-649, 1913. + +George F. Eaton: + +Report on the Remains of Man and Lower Animals from the Vicinity of +Cuzco. American Journal of Science, XXXIII, No. 196, 325-333, April, +1912. Illus. + +Vertebrate Remains in the Cuzco Gravels. Ibid., XXXVI, No. 211, 3-14, +July, 1913. Illus. + +Vertebrate Fossils from Ayusbamba, Peru. Ibid., XXXVII, No. 218, +141-154, February, 1914. 3 pl. + +The Collection of Osteological Material from Machu +Picchu. Trans. Conn. Academy Arts and Sciences, v, 3-96, May, +1916. Illus., 39 pl., map. + +William G. Erving, M.D.: + +Medical Report of the Yale Peruvian Expedition. Yale Medical Journal, +XVIII, 325-335, April, 1912. 6 pl. + +Alexander W. Evans: + +Hepaticae: Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911. Trans. Conn. Academy Arts +and Sciences, XVIII, 291-345, April, 1914. + +Harry B. Ferris, M.D.: + +The Indians of Cuzco and the Apurimac. Memoirs, American +Anthropological Assoc., III, No. 2, 59-148, 1916. 60 pl. + +Anthropological Studies on the Quichua and Machiganga +Indians. Trans. Conn. Academy Arts and Sciences, XXV, 1-92, April, +1921. 21 pl., map. + +Harry W. Foote: + +(With W. H. Buell:) + +The Composition, Structure and Hardness of some Peruvian Bronze +Axes. American Journal of Science, XXXIV, 128-132, August, 1912. Illus. + +Herbert E. Gregory: + +The Gravels at Cuzco. American Journal of Science, XXXVI, No. 211, +15-29, July, 1913. Illus., map. + +The La Paz Gorge. Ibid., XXXVI, 141-150, August, 1913. Illus. + +A Geographical Sketch of Titicaca, the Island of the Sun. Bulletin of +American Geographical Society, XLV, 561-575, August, 1913. 4 pl., map. + +Geologic Sketch of Titicaca Island and Adjoining Areas. American +Journal of Science, XXXVI, No. 213, 187-213, September, 1913. Illus., +maps. + +Geologic Reconnaissance of the Ayusbamba Fossil Beds. Ibid., XXXVII, +No. 218, 125-140, February, 1914. Illus., map. + +The Rodadero; A Fault Plane of Unusual Aspect. Ibid., XXXVII, No. 220, +289-298, April, 1914. Illus. + +A Geologic Reconnaissance of the Cuzco Valley. Ibid., XLI, No. 241, +1-100, January, 1916. Illus., maps. + +Osgood Hardy: + +Cuzco and Apurimac. Bulletin of American Geographical Society, XLVI, +No. 7, 500-512, 1914. Illus., map. + +The Indians of the Department of Cuzco. American Anthropologist, XXI, +1-27, January-March, 1919. 9 pl. + +Sir Clements Markham: + +Mr. Bingham in Vilcapampa, Geographical Journal, XXXVIII, No. 6, +590-591, Dec. 1911, 1 pl. + +C. H. Mathewson: + +A Metallographic Description of Some Ancient Peruvian Bronzes from +Machu Picchu. American Journal of Science, XL, No. 240, 525-602, +December, 1915. Illus., plates. + +P. R. Myers: + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911--Addendum to the +Hymenoptera-Ichneumonoidea. Proceedings of U.S. National Museum, +XLVII, 361-362, 1914. + +S. A. Rohwer: + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911--Hymenoptera, Superfamilies +Vespoidea and Sphecoidea. Proceedings of U.S. National Museum, XLIV, +439-454, 1913. + +Leonhard Stejneger: + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of 1911. Batrachians and +Reptiles. Proceedings of U.S. National Museum, XLV, 541-547, 1913. + +Oldfield Thomas: + +Report on the Mammalia Collected by Mr. Edmund Heller during Peruvian +Expedition of 1915. Proceedings of U.S. National Museum, LVIII, +217-249, 1920. 2 pl. + +H. L. Viereck: + +Results of Yale Peruvian Expedition of +1911. Hymenoptera-Ichneumonoidea. Proceedings of U.S. National Museum, +XLIV, 469-470, 1913. + +R. S. Williams: + +Peruvian Mosses. Bulletin of Torrey Botanical Club, XLIII, 323-334, +June, 1916. 4 pl. + + + + + + +NOTES + +[1] Many people have asked me how to pronounce Machu Picchu. Quichua +words should always be pronounced as nearly as possible as they are +written. They represent an attempt at phonetic spelling. If the attempt +is made by a Spanish writer, he is always likely to put a silent +"h" at the beginning of such words as huilca which is pronounced +"weel-ka." In the middle of a word "h" is always sounded. Machu +Picchu is pronounced "Mah'-chew Pick'-chew." Uiticos is pronounced +"Weet'-ee-kos." Uilcapampa is pronounced "Weel'-ka-pahm-pah." Cuzco is +"Koos'-koh." + +[2] A league, usually about 3 1/3 miles, is really the distance an +average mule can walk in an hour. + +[3] Fernando Montesinos, an ecclesiastical lawyer of the seventeenth +century, appears to have gone to Peru in 1629 as the follower of +that well-known viceroy, the Count of Chinchon, whose wife having +contracted malaria was cured by the use of Peruvian bark or quinine +and was instrumental in the introduction of this medicine into +Europe, a fact which has been commemorated in the botanical name +of the genus cinchona. Montesinos was well educated and appears to +have given himself over entirely to historical research. He traveled +extensively in Peru and wrote several books. His history of the Incas +was spoiled by the introduction, in which, as might have been expected +of an orthodox lawyer, he contended that Peru was peopled under the +leadership of Ophir, the great-grandson of Noah! Nevertheless, one +finds his work to be of great value and the late Sir Clements Markham, +foremost of English students of Peruvian archeology, was inclined +to place considerable credence in his statements. His account of +pre-Hispanic Peru has recently been edited for the Hakluyt Society +by Mr. Philip A. Means of Harvard University. + +[4] Another version of this event is that the quarrel was over a game +of chess between the Inca and Diego Mendez, another of the refugees, +who lost his temper and called the Inca a dog. Angered at the tone and +language of his guest, the Inca gave him a blow with his fist. Diego +Mendez thereupon drew a dagger and killed him. A totally different +account from the one obtained by Garcilasso from his informants is +that in a volume purporting to have been dictated to Friar Marcos by +Manco's son, Titu Cusi, twenty years after the event. I quote from +Sir Clements Markham's translation: + +"After these Spaniards had been with my Father for several years in +the said town of Viticos they were one day, with much good fellowship, +playing at quoits with him; only them, my Father and me, who was then a +boy [ten years old]. Without having any suspicion, although an Indian +woman, named Banba, had said that the Spaniards wanted to murder the +Inca, my Father was playing with them as usual. In this game, just as +my Father was raising the quoit to throw, they all rushed upon him with +knives, daggers and some swords. My Father, feeling himself wounded, +strove to make some defence, but he was one and unarmed, and they were +seven fully armed; he fell to the ground covered with wounds, and they +left him for dead. I, being a little boy, and seeing my Father treated +in this manner, wanted to go where he was to help him. But they turned +furiously upon me, and hurled a lance which only just failed to kill +me also. I was terrified and fled amongst some bushes. They looked +for me, but could not find me. The Spaniards, seeing that my Father +had ceased to breathe, went out of the gate, in high spirits, saying, +'Now that we have killed the Inca we have nothing to fear.' But at +this moment the captain Rimachi Yupanqui arrived with some Antis, +and presently chased them in such sort that, before they could get +very far along a difficult road, they were caught and pulled from +their horses. They all had to suffer very cruel deaths and some were +burnt. Notwithstanding his wounds my Father lived for three days." + +Another version is given by Montesinos in his Anales. It is more like +Titu Cusi's. + +[5] A Spanish derivative from the Quichua mucha, "a kiss." Muchani +means "to adore, to reverence, to kiss the hands." + +[6] Uiticos is probably derived from Uiticuni, meaning "to withdraw +to a distance." + +[7] Described in "Across South America." + +[8] On the 1915 Expedition Mr. Heller captured twelve new species +of mammals, but, as Mr. Oldfield Thomas says: "Of all the novelties, +by far the most interesting is the new Marsupial .... Members of the +family were previously known from Colombia and Ecuador." Mr. Heller's +discovery greatly extends the recent range of the kangaroo family. + +[9] Mr. Safford says in his article on the "Identity of Cohoba" +(Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, Sept. 19, 1916): +"The most remarkable fact connected with Piptadenia peregrina, or +'tree-tobacco' is that ... the source of its intoxicating properties +still remains unknown." One of the bifurcated tubes."in the first +stages of manufacture," was found at Machu Picchu. + +[10] See the illustrations in Chapters XVII and XVIII. + +[11] Since the historical Uilcapampa is not geographically identical +with the modern Vilcabamba, the name applied to this river and the old +Spanish town at its source, I shall distinguish between the two by +using the correct, official spelling for the river and town, viz., +Vilcabamba; and the phonetic spelling, Uilcapampa, for the place +referred to in the contemporary histories of the Inca Manco. + +[12] In those days the term "Andes" appears to have been very limited +in scope, and was applied only to the high range north of Cuzco where +lived the tribe called Antis. Their name was given to the range. Its +culminating point was Mt. Salcantay. + +[13] Titu Cusi was an illegitimate son of Manco. His mother was not +of royal blood and may have been a native of the warm valleys. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Inca Land, by Hiram Bingham + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INCA LAND *** + +***** This file should be named 10772.txt or 10772.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/7/10772/ + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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