Photograph by Hiram Bingham 

 INCA PRINCESS' BATH, NEAR I915 HEADQUARTERS: OEEANTAYTAMBO 



August, the bullet passing through his in- 

 step and affecting some of the small 

 bones. He has recovered. One day, as 

 Mr. Heller was crossing the Cosireni 

 River on one of the rickety native bridges, 

 which requires a person to proceed on all 

 fours, like an ape, the savage carrying 

 the shotgun exploded it accidentally 

 when midway across, the shot striking 

 between Mr. Heller and the Machiganga 

 Indian. Some of the shot cut the skin of 

 his hand and another landed in my cheek, 

 while the savage was struck below one 

 eye by a shot reflected from the rocks 

 near the bridge. 



THE SEARCH FOR OLD HIGHWAYS LEADING 

 TO MACHU PICCHU 



The most thrilling moment in my four 

 expeditions into the interior of Peru was 

 at Machu Picchu, on the 24th of July, 

 191 1, when I first saw the Temple of the 

 Three Windows and the Chief Palace. 



In order to reach them, it had been 

 necessary to follow an Indian guide 

 through a dense jungle, and finally along 

 precipices where one literally had to hold 

 on with one's finger nails. Clearly this 



was not the way that the builders of 

 Machu Picchu had approached their city. 

 There was another path on the other side 

 of the ridge, but this trail was also one 

 that could hardly be conceived of as a 

 highway to the city, for in several places 

 it has to depend on rickety little ladders 

 and protruding roots. 



Later we located part of an ancient 

 road leading back from the city up the 

 mountain side and across the face of one 

 of the towering precipices on Machu 

 Picchu Mountain. It appeared to pro- 

 ceed in a southerly direction into a region 

 of high mountains, deep valleys, and 

 well-nigh impassable jungles. In 191 5 it 

 was my privilege to penetrate that unex- 

 plored country back of Machu Picchu, 

 visit its ruins, and follow its ancient 

 trails. 



The most important ruin in this region 

 is called by the local Indians "Patal- 

 lacta," or the "City on the Hill," at a 

 place called Oquente, or "Humming 

 Bird," which was probably the largest 

 city tributary to Machu Picchu. We 

 spent two months executing a careful 

 survey of the town and making small ex- 



445 



