Sights in the Andean Highlands 



599 



iages, and even as far as to La Paz, the 

 capital, these great stones were carried 

 to be used as foundations of churches 

 erected in the faith of the conquerors. 



The ruins lie on a level part of the 

 plain where the soil is firm and dry. 

 They consist of rows of stones, sections 

 of foundations, carved doorways, por- 

 tions of stairways, vast masses of rock, 

 but partially hewn. No mortar was 

 used in the construction, yet these stones 

 were so skillfully cut and fitted that the 

 foundations have outlived the centuries. 

 They are of red sandstone, slate-colored 

 trachyte, and dark basalt transported 

 from quarries many miles away. Later, 

 in the ancient Peruvian fortresses, we 

 saw wonderfully cut and massive stones, 

 but none with the carved ornamentation 

 found here. 



The most remarkable monument is the 

 monolithic gateway which, although 

 broken at the time of our visit three 

 years ago, was still standing. A friend 

 who visited the ruins last year tells me 

 that the Mighty is now fallen. As we 

 saw it, a doorway about four and a half 

 feet high and two and a half feet wide 

 was cut out of a great block of stone 

 over seven feet high, thirteen feet wide, 

 and eighteen inches thick. (See illustra- 

 tion on page 598.) Above the doorway, 

 four rows of carving, a central figure 

 sculptured in high relief. It is claimed 

 by students of antiquity that no better 

 piece of stone-cutting exists. The fig- 

 ures in the rows of carving have human 

 bodies, feet, and hands, but are winged, 

 and some have the heads of condors ; 

 others, with human heads, wear crowns 

 and carry scepters. All of these smaller 

 figures seem to be kneeling in worship 

 of the large raised figure, which also is 

 crowned and sceptered, and decorated 

 with the heads of condors and tigers, 

 symbolic of strength and power. 



As I gazed on this quaint doorway, 

 unique on this continent, a picture came 

 to me of the metropolis which it once 

 graced. The massive wall of which it 

 formed a part rose before me, a wall sur- 

 rounding a populous city, contempo- 

 raneous with the ancient capitals of 



IX THE RUINS OF THE OLDEST CITY IN 

 THE NEW WORLD, TIAHUANACO 



Egypt and the East. I did not feel as 

 confident of our triumphant modern civ- 

 ilization as I stood in the shadow of this 

 hoary gateway. "History repeats itself," 

 the thought came to me ; "civilizations 

 rise and fall." Which of the mighty 

 edifices now standing in America will 

 testify to our nation's greatness in the 

 centuries to come? 



I still felt that we were linked. with the 

 past as we walked back to the village of 

 Tiahuanaco. In fact, throughout the 

 Andean highlands the traveler feels 

 transported to centuries gone by. The 

 coast cities of Peru are progressing rap- 

 idly ; in Lima one can now live quite as 

 comfortably as in New York. In the 

 uplands, however, wander a bit off the 

 beaten path and there are only the village 



