PIATEAU OF CAXAMARCA. 271 



constructed for baths with arrangements for conducting hot 

 water ; the larger were designed for the use of the family 

 of the Monarch himself. I had previously seen, measured, 

 and drawn with care, buildings of the same kind in a 

 good state of preservation at the foot of the volcano of Coto- 

 paxi, near Callo. Pedro de Ciega, writing in the 16th 

 century, called them "Aposentos de Mulalo/' ( 3 ) In the 

 pass between Alausi and Loxa, called the Paramo del Assuay, 

 (a much frequented route across the Ladera de Cadlud, 

 14568 French or 15526 English feet above the level of the 

 sea, or almost equal to the height of Mont Blanc), as we 

 were leading our heavily laden mules with great difficulty 

 through the marshy ground on the elevated plain del Pullal, 

 our eyes meanwhile were continually dwelling on the grand 

 remains of the Inca's road, which with a breadth of twenty- 

 one English feet ran by our side for above a German mile. 

 It had a deep under-structure, and was paved with well-cut 

 blocks of blackish trap-porphyry. Nothing that I had seen 

 of the remains of Roman roads in Italy, in the South of 

 France, and in Spain, was more imposing than these works 

 of the ancient Peruvians, which are moreover situated, 

 according to my barometric measurements, at an elevation 

 of 12440 (13258 English) feet above the sea, or more than a 

 thousand feet higher than the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe. 

 The ruins of what is called the Palace of the Inca Tupac 

 Yupanqui, and which are known by the name of the " Pare- 

 doues del Inca," are situated at the same elevation on the 

 Assuay. Proceeding from thence to the southward towards 

 Cuenca, the road leads to the small but well preserved 



