THE TEMPLE OF THE THREE WINDOWS 



Piioto by Hiram Bingliaiu 

 MACHU PICCHU 



The floors of the principal temples yielded little, but on the terraces beneath the walls 

 of the three-windowed temple, here shown, we found potsherds and artifacts to a depth of 

 four or five feet (see pages 440 and 449). 



much as he had. Accordingly, I started 

 with four peons and Tomas Cobines, the 

 soldier, to have a look. 



"The river was passed easily on the 

 rather shaky four-pole bridge, and we 

 started up the slope, cutting steps as we 

 went, for it was almost vertical. About 

 30 feet up it moderated, however, and, 

 after that, while it was steep, we seldom 

 had to cut steps for more than 20 to 30 

 feet on a stretch. The greatest hindrance 

 was the cane and long grass, through 

 which it was hard to cut a way with the 

 machetes. 



"Our progress, slow at first, got abso- 

 lutely snail-like as the men got tired ; so, 

 getting impatient, I resolved to push on 

 alone, telling them to follow the marks 

 of my machete, and charging Tomas to 

 see that they made a good trail and did 

 not loaf. 



"I pushed on up the hill, clearing my 

 way with the machete, or down on all 

 fours, following a bear trail (of which 

 there were many), stopping occasionally 

 to open my shirt at the throat and cool 

 off. as it was terribly hot. The brush 

 throuirh which I made mv wav was in 



great part mesquite, terribly tough and 

 with heavy, strong thorns. If a branch 

 was not cut through at one blow, it was 

 pretty sure to come whipping back and 

 drive half a dozen spikes into hands, 

 arms, and body. Luckily I had had 

 enough practice to learn how to strike 

 with a heavy shoulder blow, and for the 

 most part made clean strokes, but I didn't 

 get away untouched by any means. 



A NARROW ESCAPE 



"Finally, about 3 p. m., I had almost 

 gained the top of the lowest part of the 

 ridge, which runs along like the back- 

 plates of some spined dinosaur. The 

 trees had given way to grass or bare 

 rock, the face of the rock being practi- 

 cally vertical. A cliff some 200 feet high 

 stood in my way. By going out to the 

 end of the ridge I thought I could look 

 almost straight down to the river, which 

 looked more like a trout-brook than a 

 river at that distance, though its roar in 

 the rapids caine up distinctly. 



"I was just climbing out on the top of 

 the lowest 'back-j^late' when the grass 

 and soil under my feet let go. and I 



431 



