253 



might be led to think, that at some other epocha 

 they could have raised monuments far more 

 considerable. 



The Inga-Chungana, at a distance, resembles 

 a sofa, the back of which is decorated with a 

 sort of arabesque in form of a chain. On enter- 

 ing the oval enclosure, we perceive, that there is 

 no seat but for one person ; but that this person 

 is placed in a commodious manner, so as to enjoy 

 the most delightful prospect over the valley of 

 Gulan. A small river winds along this valley, 

 and forms several cascades, the foam of which is 

 seen through tufts of gunnera and melastomas. 

 This rustic seat would be an ornament to the 

 gardens of Richmond or Ermenonville ; and the 

 prince, who had chosen this site, was not insen- 

 sible to the beauties of nature ; he belonged to 

 a people, whom we have no right to style bar- 

 barous. 



I beheld in this fabric only a seat placed in 

 a delightful spot, at the brink of a precipice, on 

 the steep declivity of a hill that commands the 

 valley : some old Indians, who are the historians 

 of the country, find this explanation too simple . 

 they assert, that the hollow sculptured chain on 

 the edge of the enclosure was formed to receive 

 little balls, which were rolled along it for the 

 amusement of the prince. We must admit, that 

 the edge, on which is the Arabesque, has some 

 slope ; and that the ball, at the place where the 



