Cuzco: America's Ancient Mecca 



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REMAINS OF THE PALACE OF THE FIRST INCA, MANCO CAPAC, THE FOUNDER OF 



CUZCO 



throughout the town are plazas, and fac- 

 ing the largest one are the Cathedral and 

 the Church of the Jesuits ; the latter has 

 a most beautiful facade. It is certainly 

 a city of belfries. Many of the sweet- 

 toned bells you hear were brought over 

 from Spain in the sixteenth century. 



Not a vehicle is in sight. Those snail- 

 like green objects on the streets are 

 burros, ears and all hidden by the fodder 

 they are carrying. Look at these strange 

 little animals coming up the hill. 

 "Bus-ss ss ! Bus-ss ss !" the driver is 

 shouting. That means, "Get up, old slow 

 pokes ! It's a long way home across the 

 mountains !" The queer little creatures 

 are llamas, Peruvian camels, and the 

 homespun bags which they carry, panier- 

 wise, were woven from their own wool. 

 The great white mushrooms down there 

 in the main plaza are really circular 

 awnings. Under them the market women 

 sit, surrounded by their wares. Only at 

 this distance can we enjoy the many pic- 

 turesque little streams flowing through 

 the streets. When we descend we find 



that they are the open sewers of a city 

 which rivals Constantinople in unpleas- 

 ant odors — in fact, I believe Cuzco holds 

 the world's record. 



Those villages beyond the town are 

 San Sebastian and San Geronimo. There 

 is a legend hereabouts that people of royal 

 blood were allowed to retire to these 

 hamlets after the Conquest. I doubt it. 

 It seems far more likely that the Span- 

 iards did away with most of the Inca 

 princes and married the unwilling 

 princesses. If that great snow peak be- 

 yond the hills could speak we would 

 know the true story; it is Mount Azun- 

 gato, rising from the majestic Cordillera 

 de los Andes, and it stood there even 

 when a pre-Incasic people inhabited this 

 land. 



From up here on the heights Cuzco 

 looks old, with hardly a modern touch, 

 but to realize its great antiquity we must 

 go down to the streets or turn and study 

 the hoary fortress crowning the hill on 

 which we stand. 



I shall never forget my entrance into 



