304 SOUTH AMEEICA— THE ANDES EEGIONS. 



fabrics were far more durable than those at present imported from Europe, and 

 were coloured with fast and brilliant dyes. 



In engineering they executed great works. Not onl}' in the Sierra, from 

 Ecuador to Bolivia, but near the coasts, there still exist hundreds of their 

 structures, huacas (graves), dykes and embankments, bridges, temples and for- 

 tresses. Such is the Ollantai-tambo, " House of Ollantaï," celebrated in the most 

 valuable literary document of Peru. On a limestone rock, towering above the 

 Vilcamaj-o valley north-east of Cuzco, stand the unfinished walls of the renowned 

 citadel, on which thousands of hands had been employed for a period of ten years. 

 Enormous granite slabs project above the buildings, while others, the so-called 

 " tired stones," lie abandoned on the road from the quarries some six miles distant. 

 The observer stands amazed at the prodigious labour involved in the transport of 

 these huge monoliths across a roaring stream, and up steep, rugged slopes. His 

 wonder is enhanced by the maj'vellous finish of these blocks, hewn without the aid 

 of iron, and polished by the friction of other stones and of plants with silicious 

 integuments. 



The high state of culture attained by the ancient Quichuas is also revealed by 

 their bridges and highways. In this respect they were unrivalled in the New 

 World, except perhaps by the Mayas ; and even in the Eastern Hemisphere they 

 had been surpassed by the Romans and the Chinese alone. Their roads, all laid 

 down in a straight line, avoided any such unsurmountable obstacles as lakes and 

 precipices, but were carried over swamps, ascended steep inclines, and in places 

 were cut out of the live rock. The causeways, strengthened by a layer of pilca 

 (concrete), resisted the action of frosts and rains, and were kept in repair by 

 gangs of " navvies," stationed at intervals along the route. Llama enclosures for 

 the transport service were also maintained at fixed stations, and tambos [tamj)ii, 

 "shelters") were erected at the passes and on the more difficult slopes. 



Stone bridges, some of a monumental character, still exist, spanning the 

 narrower streams, while the broad watercourses and rocky defiles were crossed 

 by means of the oroyas, basket-chairs, swung in mid-air on the liana suspension 

 bridges. There can be no doubt that, in the interior of the Sierra, Peru, being 

 better provided with roads, was formerly far more accessible than at present. 

 Hence, during the last four centuries, there has been a retrogade movement in 

 this respect, despite the infusion of new blood. But even under the Incas, these 

 highways, which ramified in all directions throughout the empire, at last became 

 useless in the economic life of the nation. They had been transformed to an 

 instrument of despotism, along which the chasqui, or " carriers," were organised 

 to keep up the communications between Cuzco and Quito, and from the j^lateaux 

 to the coast, and transmit the imperial orders from one end of the empire to the 

 other more rapidly than could elsewhere be done by mounted messengers. 



As in some modern European " republics," the subjects of the Inca were all 

 confined to their respective districts, from which they could not stir without a 

 special "permit." Now, however, the railways which are crecj)ing up the 

 Cordillenis mnj^ become disseminators of new ideas on the elevated jjlateaux. 



