266 THE ROAD TO BOLIVIA 



cracked his whip at the frantic animals, and eacli liorse started in a 

 different direction, tearing the body of Tupac Amaru into four pieces. 



Cuzco is 11,380 feet above the sea, and occu]jies one of the most 

 beautiful sites ever selected for a city, which, according to tradition, 

 was chosen by Manco Capac and Mama Occlo Huaco, those mys- 

 terious beings who taught the arts and industries to the savage Indians 

 of the Andes and founded a d^'nast}' tliat grew in ])ower until it 

 dominated half the continent of South America. The climate is sa- 

 lubrious and healthful. Within 20 miles down the valle}' all the 

 serai-tropical fruits and vegetables are produced, and, although the 

 soil has been cultivated for centuries, it still yields harvests of all the 

 staples of the temperate zone. 



On a hill known as Sacsahuaman the first Inca built his palace, 

 which was surrounded by temples, convents, and fortifications. The 

 nuns of St Catalina now occup}' the restored ruins of the palace of the 

 Virgins of the Sun. The friars of Santo Domingo occupy a magnifi- 

 cent and extensive monastery, rebuilt from tlie walls of the Temple 

 of the Sun, which was perhaps the most extensive and imposing 

 building in America. Tbe accounts of its splendor and riches that 

 have come down to us from those who destroj'ed it are beyond belief. 

 They said it was four hundred paces square, and inclosed courts, 

 gardens, shrines, and various otiier apartments decorated with gold 

 for religious sacrifices and ceremonies. The cornices were of solid 

 gold, and at the eastern end of the great courtyard a massive plate 

 of gohl, representing the sun, spread from one wall to the other, 60 

 feet in diameter. The walls of a dozen other temples, palaces, con- 

 vents, and fortresses still are utilized, so that it is eas}' to define the 

 outlines of the ancient city, and if the stories that its conquerors told 

 are only half true they sheltered an accunjulation of ricbes whose 

 value is beyond computation. 



There is little of interest to the modern traveler outside tlie ruins 

 and the ecclesiastical edifices which the Spaniards erected upon them. 

 The market-place, particularly on Sunday morning, is worth visiting; 

 but tbe Indians are a sullen, reticent race and lack the dramatic and 

 l>icturesque characteristics that make the Amayras of Bolivia so at- 

 tractive. A few Americans live in Cuzco — two Protestant mission- 

 aries, a dentist, a miner or two, and the men who are building a stage 

 road to connect with the railway. 



One da}' in a countr}' village we got a glimpse of a curious custom 

 among the i»easants. Squatting in the churchyards, in a row, were 



