Chap. VII. TOWERS OF SILLUSTANI. Ill 



On the islands of Titicaca and Coati there are also exten- 

 sive ruins, the remains of temples and convents of virgins de- 

 dicated to the worship of the Sun and i\Ioon ; and Dr. Weddell 

 mentions that there is a kind of phlox on these islands [Cantua 

 biixifoUa), its very elegant long scarlet flower being called by 

 the Aymara Indians the " flower of the Incas." ^ 



Although I was unable to visit either the ruins at Tiahua- 

 naco or those on the islands, I found time to examine ruins of 

 the same character on the shores of the lake of Umayu near 

 Vilque, where the great cemetery of the chiefs of the Aymara 

 tribes of the CoUao appears to have been. These ruius are 

 at a place called Sillustani, on the north side of the lake of 

 Umayu, where a high rocky table-land juts out so as to form 

 a peninsula, which is literally covered with places of sepul- 

 ture. Four of them are towers of finely-cut masonry, equal 

 to that of Cuzco, with the sides of the stones dovetailing into 

 each other. On climbing up the steep rocky path which leads 

 to the table-land, the first on the right-hand side is perched 

 on the very edge of the northern precipice. Half of it is 

 destroyed, the other half is of well-cut stones, with a broad 

 rounded cornice near the summit, and a vaulted roof, part 

 of which remains entire. In the interior, near the founda- 

 tion, there is a vaulted chamber entered by a smaU aperture, 

 and full of human bones. The rest of the tower was iilled 

 up with small stones and earth, leaving a narrow shaft which 

 ascended from the chamber to the summit, down which the 

 bodies may have been lowered into the chamber. 



On the left there is another smaller tower of exactly 

 similar construction. Further on, and near the verge of the 

 southern precipice, there are two other towers close together. 

 One is thirty-six feet high, and built of the same well-cut 

 masonry, with a cornice and vaidted roof, and a great lizard 

 carved in relief on one of the stones near the base, which 



6 It is now introduced into our greenhouses. 



