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THE LAST IXCA CAPITAL 



VITCOS . 



A map of the vicinity of 

 the last Inca capital of Vitcos, 

 including the present-day vil- 

 lages of Puquiura and Vilca- 

 bamba. was made on a scale 

 of 3 inches = i mile, with 

 I GO- foot contours. 



This country is of great in- 

 terest to students of historical 

 geography. It is in the midst 

 of a wonderful labyrinth of 

 tropical valleys and gl. cier- 

 clad mountains. Readers of 

 Prescotfs "Conquest of Pe- 

 ru," a book whose charm is 

 as fresh today as it eve ■ wai. 

 will remember that Pizarro 

 selected ]\Ianco, a son of a 

 former Inca, as the most avail- 

 able figurehead in whose name 

 the Spaniards could govern 

 Peru. He was crowned Inca 

 in 1534. but he had too much 

 good red blood in his "^'ein? to 

 submit to Spanish tutelage, so 

 he escaped, raised an army 

 of faithful Indians, besieged 

 Cuzco unsuccessfully, retreat- 

 ed to Ollantaytambo, and 

 thence made good his escape 

 into the fastnesses of this An- 

 dean labyrinth. 



He found it easy to defend 

 himself in this practically im- 

 pregnable region called \'ilca- 

 bamba, and he was able occa- 

 sionally to make raids on 

 Spanish caravans bound from 

 Cuzco to Lima. A large part 

 of the road over which he 

 must have passed in making 

 these raids was mapped for 

 the first time by .\rr. Hum- 

 stead, and is included in thc- 

 Andean cross-section map re- 

 ferred to above (page 507). 



The young Inca Manco 

 lived at a place called X'itcos 

 for K) years. Here he actu- 

 allv received and entertained 

 Spanish refugees. One of 

 these, a hot-headed fellow, fell 

 out with the Inca over a game 



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