MAN FROM THE FARTHEST PAST 
structed not only temples but mighty fortresses, like that 
of Sacsahuaman protecting the ancient capital of Cuzco 
on the north. In building these, they cut enormous stones 
of irregular shape to fit one another so closely that the 
joints can scarcely be penetrated by a knife blade. Some- 
times they dispensed with mortar and occasionally fas- 
tened blocks together with T-shaped clamps of copper. 
Yet in all this only stone tools seem to have been em- 
ployed, for the Incas had no suitable metal ones. 
They knew the corbeled or “‘false”’ arch, but more often 
they covered buildings with extremely thick and elaborate 
roofs of thatch. Like the Mayas, they sometimes coated 
the walls with stucco; but those of the more important 
buildings, such as palaces and temples, they lined with 
plates of gold studded with jewels. 
The engineering feats of the Incas have aroused the 
admiration of later times. Some of them—the construc- 
tion of aqueducts, the terracing of fields, and the moving of 
blocks of stone weighing many tons—have already been 
mentioned. They also built bridges, sometimes of great 
stone slabs on masonry abutments, or suspended on cables 
of twisted osier. In certain cases mountain streams were 
crossed by means of a traveling basket slung from a single 
cable. The Incas also constructed a remarkable system of 
roads, even at the dizziest heights. These were not, 1n- 
deed, meant for wheeled vehicles, of which none existed; 
but they were perfectly well adapted to the passage of 
swift-marching companies of footmen or strings of laden 
llamas. Without them the Incas could hardly have kept 
their vast empire together. 
In transportation by water, on the other hand, they 
had remained in the canoe and raft stage. The principal 
type of craft was the balsa, made of bundles of reeds 
lashed together, and propelled by means of paddles or 
poles. The early Spanish narratives speak of a sort of 
rudimentary sail as occasionally used, but these state- 
ments all refer to a portion of the coast only a few hundred 
[ 344 ] 
—————— 
