FURTHER EXPLORATIONS IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS 471 



much affection for them. They were ex- 

 ceedingly gentle with their pets and were 

 never seen to strike them or to show 

 anger at any misbehavior on their part. 



"Considerable hunting was done at 

 night with a reflecting lantern of high 

 power. These nocturnal rambles yield- 

 ed specimens of red deer, several species 

 of night-prowling carnivorous animals, 

 opossums, and a peculiar night snake of 

 the genus boa. The eyes of this snake 

 were quite luminous and could be de- 

 tected at a distance of 20 yards or more. ' 

 The body was distinctly compressed, like 

 that of a fish, instead of being circular 

 in outline. The head was large and ar- 

 row-shaped, and armed with long teeth 

 in the upper jaw, giving it a close re- 

 semblance to such poisonous snakes as 

 vipers. The snake was light gray, re- 

 sembling the bark of many forest trees ; 

 but on the back it was marked by large 

 diamond blotches of a brown color. 



"The largest specimen obtained, some 

 6 J / 2 feet long, was shot at 10 o'clock one 

 night, hanging with its head within a foot 

 of the ground and close to a small spring 

 of water in the forest, which was a favor- 

 ite resort for small mammals and other 

 animals. This snake, after being ren- 

 dered harmless by a shot in the head, 

 coiled its body about the barrel of my 

 shot-gun and exhibited such powers of 

 constriction that it could scarcely be 

 pulled loose again. 



"Some 30 specimens of monkeys were 

 collected, representing six different gen- 

 era, with a single species to each. Be- 

 sides the monkeys, two species of rare 

 carnivorous mammals were obtained." 



The complete zoological collection con- 

 sists of 891 specimens of mammals, rep- 

 resenting some 80 species, and 695 speci- 

 mens of birds, representing some 400 

 species, besides several tanks filled with 

 reptiles and batrachians. Of snakes there 

 are some 15 or 20 species, of which 5 are 

 vipers. There are 100 or 200 specimens 

 of fishes, most of them of small size. 



RICH IN FOODS 



The botanists spent three weeks in the 

 canyon near Machu Picchu and found 

 the region particularly interesting, be- 

 cause it represented the border line be- 



tween tropical crops and those of the 

 temperate zone. The people of Machu 

 Picchu, by going down the valley, could 

 raise well-known tropical fruits like alli- 

 gator pears, custard apples, guavas and 

 papayas, and tree tomatoes. At the pres- 

 ent time coffee, cocoa, bananas, sugar- 

 cane, oranges, limes, and lemons can be 

 grown in the valley not far below Machu 

 Picchu. Whether any of these last- 

 named vegetables were known to the 

 Incas is very doubtful. On the other 

 hand, they did grow in these tropical val- 

 leys cotton and coca, from which we de- 

 rive the extract cocaine. 



By going up the valley a few miles on 

 the other side, such temperate-zone plants 

 as potatoes in large variety, many kinds 

 of Indian corn, and a considerable num- 

 ber of food plants that have not as yet 

 been domesticated in the Lmited States, 

 could be grown in profusion. 



Although Machu Picchu is thus shown 

 to have been remarkably well situated 

 strategically from the food point of view, 

 the builders were greatly handicapped by 

 the small amount of flat, arable land. As 

 a result, they built terraces everywhere, 

 and the extent to which they carried the 

 construction of these small garden plots 

 is even more extraordinary than we at 

 first supposed it to be. Mr. Cook says in 

 his report that "every spot where plants 

 could be made to grow appears to have 

 been utilized" (see the original paper by 

 Professor Cook beginning on p. 474). 



MODERN INDIANS Of THE LAND Of THE 



INCAS 



Studies of the modern Indians, par- 

 ticularly in the Department of Cuzco. 

 were made by Surgeon Ford and Chief 

 Assistant Hardy. While Dr. Ford had 

 to deal chiefly with Indians who came to 

 consult him on account of their health, 

 he made it a point to take measurements 

 of as many subjects as were willing to 

 submit to the "white man's medicine" of 

 measuring-tape, calipers, and camera. 

 Mr. Hardy gave his special attention to 

 the general subject of the manners and 

 customs of this region. Owing to the 

 necessary limitation of space, I can only 

 quote from a few paragraphs of their 

 reports. 



