c u s c o. 



531 



C jjico. grants that had been left to the hospital by Don Rodrigo 

 — "Y~"""'' de Leon in Seville. Having thus become very rich, it 

 has now no less than 250 beds. A jubilee has been 

 granted to its chapel by the apostolical, see, which is 

 celebrated at the octave of Pentecost with much solem- 

 nity,and by an unusually great concourse of people ; this 

 having once, indeed, been the best observed jubilee of 

 any in America. The hospital belonging to the reli- 

 gious order of San Juan de Dios is for men, and has 50 

 beds. The third hospital, called that of Nuestra Senora 

 de la Almudena, is for all descriptions of individuals, 

 and has also 50 beds ; and the fourth, known by the 

 name of San Andres, has 30 beds, which are appropria- 

 ted to Spanish women. The nunneries of the city are 

 those of St Clare, St Catherine, the barefooted Car- 

 melites, and a Nazarene sisterhood. That of St Ca- 

 therine is founded where the Incas kept the virgins de- 

 dicated to the sun. There are still other religious 

 houses in this place, the principal of which are those 

 of Nuestra Senora del Carmen of Santiago, and of San 

 Bias. 



The city of Cusco, as it is the most ancient, so, in 

 point of extent, it is still the second in the viceroyalty 

 of Peru, being- only inferior to Lima; and so little infe- 

 rior, that as the latter may be called the maritime capi- 

 tal of that viceroyalty, the former may be considered as 

 its inland metropolis. Proudly situated amongst the 

 surrounding Andes, and boasting of an origin that 

 reaches back to a remote antiquity, it may justly lay 

 claim to the dignity of a capital. Its north and west 

 sides are surrounded by the mountain of the Fortress, 

 and others, called by the general name Sanca ; on the 

 south it borders on a plain, in which there are several 

 beautiful walks. The fortress which gives its name to 

 the mountain, situated towards the north and the west 

 ef the city, is still to be traced in its ruins. These oc- 

 cur in the heights contiguous to the northern part of the 

 city, and are the remains of the famous fort built by 

 the Incas for their defence. Their design when they 

 erected this edifice, appears to have been to inclose the 

 whole mountain with a prodigious wall of such con- 

 struction, as might render the ascent of it absolutely 

 impracticable to an enemy, at the same time that it 

 might be easily defended from within. This wall was 

 entirely of freestone, and, like all the other works 

 of the Incas, was strongly built, being particularly re- 

 markable for its dimensions, and the magnitude of the 

 stones of which it is composed, as well as the art with 

 which they were combined. The stones, which form 

 the principal part of the work, are indeed of such vast 

 size, that it is difficult to conceive how they could have 

 been brought thither from the quarries by the bare 

 strength of men, unassisted by the use of machines. 

 One of them, which is still lying on the ground, and 

 which seems not to have been applied to the use intend- 

 ed, is called La Cansada, or the troublesome, in allusion 

 probably to the labour with which its removal was ef- 

 fected The interstices between those enormous mas- 

 ses were filled with smaller stones, which are so closely 

 joined, that a very narrow inspection is necessary for 

 perceiving that the whole is not a single block of stone. 

 It may well appear surprising, how materials so vast 

 and shapeless, and of so irregular a superficies as those 

 which enter into this building, could be knit toge- 

 ther, and laid one upon another with such nicety, in- 

 dependently of the use of mortar or any other combi- 

 ning substance ; and yet more, without the knowledge, 

 on the part of those by whom the building was erect- 

 ed, even of iron or steel, or the simplest of the me- 



chanic powers. The outward wall of this fortress 

 is still standing, but the internal works, which con- v 

 sist of apartments and two other walls, are for the 

 most part in ruins. A subterranean passage, of sin- 

 gular construction, led from the fortress to the pa- 

 lace of the Incas. In these the walls were cut very 

 crooked, admitting for a certain space only one person 

 to pass at a time, and this sidewise, while shortly after- 

 wards two might pass abreast. The egress was by a 

 rock worked in the same narrow manner on the other 

 side ; the whole being upon a plan, which, by enabling 

 a single person to defend himself with ease against a 

 great number, seemed well calculated to afford security 

 against any sudden assault. The whole of these ruins, 

 together with the fragments of a pavement of stone built 

 alsobyorderofthe Incas, and which led to theplace where 

 Lima now stands, are certainly no mean monuments of 

 ancient art. The baths also, of which the one is of cold 

 and the other of warm water, are not undeserving of 

 attention. 



Cusco is, in point of antiquity, coeval with the em- 

 pire of the Incas. It was founded by the first Inca, 

 Manco Capac (?'. e. rich in virtue,) as the seat and ca- 

 pital of his empire. This prince is supposed to have 

 reigned in the 12th or 13th century. Having peopled 

 the city with the first Indians who voluntarily submit- 

 ted to him, he divided it into two parts, which he called 

 Hanam Cozco and Hurin Cozco, or High and Low Cus- 

 co, the former having been occupied by people whom the 

 emperor had himself assembled, and the latter by those, 

 who had been prevailed upon to leave their wander- 

 ing manner of life by his consort Mama-Oello. Him- 

 self and this lady, who was also his sister, he declared, 

 previously to their marriage, to be the children of the 

 sun. The first mentioned division of the city is that 

 which forms the northern, the other is the southern 

 part of it. The houses were at first low and small, like 

 cottages, the principal edifice being the temple of the 

 sun, founded by this prince, and in which he appointed 

 virgins of the royal blood to serve that divinity. As the 

 empire, however, increased, the buildings assumed a 

 new appearance, the streets being proportionably large, 

 wide, and straight, so that the Spaniards, when they 

 landed in this quarter, were astonished at the extent and 

 splendour of the city, particularly at the magnificence 

 of the temple of the sun, the grandeur of the palaces of 

 the Inca, the strength and massiness of the fortress, and 

 at the general appearance of a pomp and richness not 

 unworthy of the seat of so vast an empire. It was in 

 the. month of October 1 534, that Don Francisco Pi- 

 zarro entered this city, and took possession of it in 

 the name of Charles V. emperor and king of Spain. 

 This was followed by a siege on the part of Inca Man- 

 co, who laid great part of it in ashes, but, without dis- 

 lodging the Spaniards, Manco Capac was crowned here 

 with the permission of Pizarro ; but having been after- 

 wards defeated by the Spaniards, he retired to the 

 mountains, and is supposed to have died about the year 

 1553. 



The commerce of Cusco, consists chiefly in the very 

 large quantity of sugar made in the neighbouring ju- 

 risdictions, the inhabitants of which have many sugar 

 plantations. Of these, the most noted is that of Sail 

 Ignacia de Pachacaca, in the boundaries of the jurisdic- 

 tion of Abancay, and which formerly belonged to the 

 regulars of the Jesuits. The mint, which was formerly 

 established here, has for some years been abolished. 



In a magnificent chapel of the cathedral, there is ve- 

 nerated a miraculous crucifix, which was presented by 



Cujc*. 



