ders, from which particularl} beautiful 

 views can be obtained. 



Remarkable as is the architecture of 

 Machu Picchu, and impressive as is the 

 extent of the stone-cutting done by a 

 people who had no steel or iron tools. 

 neither of these things leaves more im- 

 pression on the mind of the visitor than 

 the inexpressible beauty and grandeur of 

 the surroundings. 



A reconnaissance of the forestration 

 of the immediate vicinity and a large 

 scale map of Alachu Picchu and its vi- 

 cinity were made by Assistant Topog- 

 rapher Stephenson. From the map we 

 hope some day to be able to construct a 

 model which will give those not fortunate 

 enough to visit this marvelous place some 

 idea of its character and beauty. 



FORESTRATION OF THE REGION 



In regard to the forestration of the 

 region, Air. Stephenson reports that tree- 

 growth begins about midway between the 

 source and the mouth of the Urubamba 

 River. Forests frequently interrupted by 

 open areas occupy the lower half of the 

 valley. The open bottoms are moist, un- 

 timbered, and used for agriculture. In 

 these the soil is a deep sandy loam, rich 

 in humus and having abundant moisture. 



The valley is very narrow, with many 

 tributaries, and rough precipitous sides 

 frequently broken by cliffs. The lower 

 slopes have fairly rich soil and abundant 

 moisture. They extend for several hun- 

 dred feet above the river. Above them 

 the soil is regularly dry and poor. Al- 

 though rainfall is abundant, the sunny 

 north slopes have a dry rocky soil. 



The forest in the Machu Picchu re- 

 gion is made up of subtropical hard- 

 woods, with probably more than 30 spe- 

 cies in the stand. Good growth is con- 

 fined to the valley bottoms and the lower 

 slopes. On the shaded slopes the forest 

 sometimes extends to a point 2.000 feet 

 above the river, and in narrow, protected 

 valleys even higher; but on the upper 

 slopes the trees are of poor form, gnarled 

 and stunted. 



On the ridges some trees occur, but 

 they are very scrubby and do not form a 

 canopy. Timber-line here is at elevation 

 of about 10.000 feet above sea-level. The 

 elevation of the river near Machu Picchu 

 is about 6.!;oo feet above sea-level. 



Photo by Hiram Bingham 



THE FINEST DOORWAY AT MACHU PICCHU 



One of the monolithic lintels in the group 

 distinguished also by having unusually steep 

 gables. In the other groups the houses almost 

 invariably had duolithic Untels. but the chief 

 of this clan determined to overcome the me- 

 chanical difficulties involved in placing a solid 

 block weighing three tons on top of his door- 

 post and fitting it accurately to them. As he 

 had neither cranes nor pulleys, but only levers 

 and inclined planes, it must have required a 

 prodigious amount of patient effort. This 

 group we named the King's Group on account 

 of the extraordinary solidity of the stonework. 



Owing to the large number of species, 

 the quality of the timber varies greatly. 

 Manv of these species produce hard, dur- 

 able wood of fine texture that takes good 

 polish. Other quick-growing species pro- 

 duce woods of inferior quality — soft, 

 brittle, quickly decaying, and of little 

 value for anything but rough lumber. 



477 



