Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 
7 
A day and a half’s ride on the faster steamers is sufficient to 
take one from Callao to Mollendo in southern Peru. The port is 
but an open roadstead, and steamers, as usual, anchor far out. 
From Mollendo it is half a day’s ride to Arequipa, and two and a 
half days to Cuzco. 
As one approaches Arequipa, the Pacific is left far below, and the 
volcano Misti appears above the horizon. The country traversed 
is extremely monotonous, save for the distant volcanoes and the 
many symmetrical crescent shaped sand dunes, often beautifully 
Inca Cavern, Cuzco, Peru. 
ripple-marked- Arequipa lies at the foot of Misti, and enjoys an 
almost perfect climate. 
The ride to Cuzco is quite uninteresting until Sicuani is reached- 
The railroad then follows the Vilcanota River, through a rich agri- 
cultural valley, where cultivation has been extended by ancient 
terraces to the steep hillsides above. 
Early one evening we arrived at Cuzco, and boarded a small 
car drawn by a mule. 
The ruins in Cuzco consist largely of the walls of the palaces 
of the Incas, which line many of the streets, and on which have 
been grafted many later structures. Of particular interest is the 
Temple of the Sun, the Convent of La Merced, perhaps the most 
ornate of the Spanish structures, and Ccoleccompata which contains 
