llie city was deserted was a change in 

 climate, resulting in scarcity of water 

 supply. At the present time there are 

 onlv three small springs on the moun- 

 tain-side, and in the dry season these 

 could barely furnish water enough for 

 cooking an(l drinking jnirposes for 40 or 

 50 people. There could never have been 

 very much water here, for the a::eqiiias, 

 or water channels, are narrower thail any 

 we have ever seen anywhere else, being 

 generally less than 4 inches in width. 



THE FOUNT.MXS ON THE STAIRWAY 



We were able to trace the principal 

 aceqiiia from the vicinity of the springs 

 along the mountain-side for a distance 

 of perhaps a mile, across the dry moat 

 on a slender bridge, then under the city 

 wall, along one of the terraces, and finally 

 to the first of a series of fountains or 

 baths, located on the principal stairway 

 of the city (see picture on this page). 



This stairway is divided to admit the 

 entrance of one of the fountains, of 

 which there are 14 or 15 in the series. 

 Each basin is about 2}^> feet long by ij/ 

 feet wide and from 5 to 6 inches in 

 depth. In some cases the basin and the 

 tloor of the bath-house, or fountain, is 

 made of a single slab of granite. Gen- 

 erally holes were drilled in one of the 

 corners of the basin to permit the water 

 to flow through carefully cut under- 

 ground channels to the next basin below. 



The Peru\ians call these fountains 

 '"baths."' It does not seem to me likely 

 ihat they were used for this purpose, 

 but rather that, by a careful husbanding 

 in basins of this sort, the water-pots of 

 the inhabitants could the more readily 

 be filled by any one coming to one of the 

 fountains. 



Many of the houses are built on ter- 

 races on the steep sloping hillsides. In 

 such case their doors face the hill and 

 the windows look out on the view. Most 

 of the houses are well provided with 

 niches, the average size being about 2 

 feet in height by 1^4 feet in width. In 

 some interiors projecting cylindrical 

 blocks are found alternating between the 

 niches. In a few houses we found evi- 

 • lence of stucco, but in most cases the 

 mud plaster had entirely disappeared 

 ( see page 463). 



Possibly the most interesting conclu- 

 sion brought out as a result of our ex- 

 tensive clearing and excavating is that 



I'hoto l)_v Hiram IJiiighain 

 Till': STAIRWAY OF THE FOUNTAINS: 

 MACIIU PICCHU 



The longest and most important stairway 

 is so arranged as to admit the entrance of 

 fountains, of which there are 14 or 15 in 

 a series. .A.s they had no pipes, the builders 

 conducted the water in skilfully made stone 

 conduits, carrying the stream from basin 

 to basin, sometimes under the stairway and 

 sometimes at its side (see pages 460-461). 



459 



