riioto by liiiam JJinghain 



THE INTERIOR oF A CAVE UNDER A tJACRED STONE: MACHU TICCHU 



Under the sacred stones frequent!}' caves were constructed and in some cases lined with 

 l)eautifully cut stones. This is a flashlight of such a cave underneath tlie semicircular tower 

 (see' page 471, and pictures, pages 484, 485, and 496). 



of i<> lar^-e sheets. It should ]irove Yei_\ 

 tisefiil in lielpiiii;' us to g'ain a correct 

 idea of this wonderful city, which seems 

 to have escaped the notice of the Sj^anish 

 c()nc|uerors and to have remained prac- 

 tically unknown until it was first visited 

 by the present writer in Jul}', kjii. 



OTHER IMPORTANT INCA RUINS 



It is still too early to make definite 

 statements in regard to the importance of 

 this discovery ; in fact, such o])inions can 

 only be passed by archcBological experts 

 after the full re])ort of the work at 

 Machu Picchu has been prepared and 

 l)ublished. This mttch. however, can be 

 said in regard to the superiority in ex- 

 tent and interest of ]\Iachu Picchu over 

 ])reviously discovered Inca rtiins : 



The most im]x>rtant Inca ruins here- 

 tofore discovered are in the city of Cuzco, 

 the town and fortress of Ollantaytambo, 

 Pisac. and on the islands of Lake Ti- 

 ticaca. There are. besides these, on the 

 coast a number of localities like Pacha- 

 camac. Xazca. Ancon, Trujillo, and the 

 country of the Grand Chimu. where the 

 chief interest lies in the extensive find- 



ings of mummies, pottery, textiles, and 

 metal ornaments, including gold, silver, 

 bronze, etc. All of these places, how- 

 ever, were known to the Sjianish Con- 

 querors, and have been ransacked l)y 

 treasure hunters from the earliest times. 



Cuzco, the most imi)ortant place of all. 

 was a(k)pted by the Spaniards as their 

 most im])ortant city outside of Lima. 

 They entirely remade the city, using large 

 quantities of the ancient Inca walls to 

 build their own palaces and churches. 

 .\lthough the city still has many Inca re- 

 mains and retains a great charm for the 

 tourist and the archaeological student, it 

 is more of a Spanish colonial city than 

 of an Inca city. 



The same is partly true of Ollantay- 

 tambo. The ruins of Pisac and many 

 others in the vicinity, of which it is not 

 necessary to give an account here, have 

 repeatedly been ransacked by treasure 

 hunters. The long palace at \'itcos. 

 identified in i(>ii as the last Inca cajiital. 

 has been almost com])letely destroyed bv 

 these treasure hunters, (^f the 30 beauti- 

 ful door of ctit granite, only two or three 

 remain intact. 



483 



