tional view of the descent of all mankind from a single pair. Such being the case the inference is that the builders of Tiahuanaco were originally from the Old World, whether from Europe or Asia is yet to be determined.

As to the purpose of these structures and the reason for locating them on an elevated, arid, chilly plateau, where it is difficult to secure subsistence for a large population, nothing is known. Any opinion given on the subject would be idle guesswork. The same may be said regarding the discontinuance of work on the buildings before their completion. Regarding the tools employed in cutting the stone used in these structures we are in almost complete ignorance. There is no evidence whatever that the builders had tools of iron or steel, and it is difficult to understand how the hard stones entering into the construction of these immense edifices could have been fashioned so perfectly by such primitive tools as those made from quartz, or from such a soft material as champi, which was a kind of bronze.

Truth to tell, everything about Tiahuanaco is, as yet, veiled in impenetrable mystery. We know no more about the originators of the mammoth structures of Tiahuanaco than we do about the Mound Builders of our own country, or about the rude sculptors of the colossal statues found on Easter Island. And we know absolutely nothing about their history, religion and language.

As I wandered, years ago, among the cyclopean ruins of Tiryns and Mycenæ, accompanied by an ardent friend of old Hellas, my companion continually gave expression to his surprise by repeating the two words, "Wonderful! Wonderful!" While exploring the monuments of Tiahuanaco, overwhelmed with astonishment at the magnitude of everything around me, and lost in the mystery which enveloped this city of departed greatness, I found myself at every turn-I recollect it well-giving vent to my strong emotion by the frequent repetition of the words "Stupendous! Stupendous!"

And these words, which spontaneously come to the lips of every visitor to this famous spot, but feebly articulate one's feelings of amazement and awe when contemplating the monuments of Tiahuanaco, which, as Desjardins has truthfully remarked, "by reason of their character of religious grandeur and solitary majesty, are comparable only with those of Karnak, Abu-Simbel and Luxor.'

Commenting on the ignorance, that in his time, prevailed regarding everything pertaining to Tiahuanaco, Cieza de Leon, the Herodotus of Peru, and "The Prince of American Chroniclers," as Jimenez de la Espada calls him, expresses himself as follows: "Seeing that all these things are hidden from us we may well say, 'Blessed be the invention of letters!' by virtue of which the memory of events endures for many ages, and their fame flies through the universe. We are not ignorant of what we desire to know, when we hold letters in our hands. But in this new world of the Indies, as they knew nothing of letters, we are in a state of blindness concerning many things."1

But it is probably Lord Houghton who best voices the thoughts of the spectator at Tiahuanaco in his poem on Pelasgian and Cyclopean Walls, which begins as follows:

1 Ut. sup.

"Ye cliffs of masonry, enormous piles,

Which no rude censure of familiar time
Nor record of our puny race defiles,
In dateless mystery ye stand sublime,
Memorials of an age of which we see
Only types in things that once were ye."

CHAPTER XII

THE HOME OF THE QUICHUAS

The second morning after leaving Tiahuanaco, we were again in Puno on our way to Cuzco, the famous capital of the Inca empire and justly called the Rome of South America.

Scarcely had I disembarked from the steamer, which had brought me from Guaqui, when I was cordially greeted by the division superintendent of the Southern Railway of Peru, who informed me that, in compliance with instructions from the general manager, he had a special train in readiness to take me to Checacupe, the then end of the line that was building to Cuzco. "I have also," he said, "ordered breakfast for you, as I am sure you must have an appetite after your sail in the cool, crisp air of Lake Titicaca." Then, giving the train conductor instructions to have everything in readiness, as soon as I should be ready to start, he accompanied me to a cozy dining-room near by, where a splendid breakfast was served.

While there, I met two young men from Yale University -one a student and the other a member of the faculty. They had just come from Bolivia, and, like myself, were on their way to Cuzco. As soon as I learned this, I invited them to accompany me in my special train-an invitation they were as glad to accept as I was to extend. As events proved, it was a providential meeting for all three of us, for they were congenial traveling companions, and contributed much to the pleasure of the journey while we were together.

After being the recipient of numerous delicate attentions

from the courteous superintendent and his obliging assistants, I was finally able to board the train with my young countrymen, and, while the railway officials were yet bidding us God-speed, we were on our way to the City of the Sun, and following the same course as had been taken by Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo nearly a thousand years before.

To one who loves the romance of history and is fond of legendary lore, the narrow strip of territory extending from Tiahuanaco to Cuzco has an interest and a charm not possessed by any other region in the New World. In it are found the most remarkable monuments of South America, and about them are gathered the most cherished traditions of the two most remarkable indigenous peoples of the southern continent. We have learned something regarding the marvelous ruins of Titicaca, Coati and Tiahuanaco, but there are others equally worthy of attentive study, all the way from the northern shore of Lake Titicaca to Ollantaytambo in the lovely valley of Yucay, the most beautiful, probably, in all Peru.

Two of the most interesting places in the southern part of the belt between Lake Titicaca and the valley of Cuzco, are Lake Umayo, about ten miles towards the west of the railroad, and Azangaro, nearly the same distance towards the east.

Lake Umayo is celebrated for the large number of ruins around it and especially for the wonderful necropolis of Sillustani, where are found some of the most imposing and best preserved monuments in the Collao.1 Here are hundreds of them, sometimes standing alone and sometimes in groups. They are called chulpas, are circular in form, and are usually constructed of large blocks of trachyte or basalt. Some of them are of very elaborate workmanship and measure sixteen feet in diameter and forty feet in height. They remind one of certain Pelasgic

1 The name given to the country surrounding Lake Titicaca, formerly inhabited by people called Collas.

towers in Italy, and the domes surmounting them are not unlike the topes and dagobas of India and Ceylon.

According to Squier, these very remarkable monuments are Aymara tombs and have a great antiquity.1 Near these chulpas are other ancient remains so like the sun circles, or Druidical circles, of England and Northern Europe, that they would almost seem to have had a similar origin.

The town of Azangaro is famous for the decorations of its church and for a portion of an old house called Sondorhuasi, that dates back to the time of the Incas. The importance of this house, from an antiquarian point of view, is due to the fact that it still retains its original thatched roof,-the only one now remaining in Peru,- of ichu grass -stipa ichu-which was doubtless the roofing material of the rich Inca palaces of Peru. It seems incredible that such a roof should endure for centuries, as this one has, but there it stands, unless recently removed, as an instance of the adaptation of most perishable material for age-long use, and as a solitary specimen of that astonishing workmanship which has, in so many other respects, distinguished the structures and the enterprises of the Incas.

Aside from the interest which attaches to Azangaro, on account of its church and Sondor-huasi, it is celebrated in Peru as being, par excellence, the city of hidden treasure. Tradition has it that when the Indians were transporting gold and silver to Cajamarca for the ransom of Atahualpa they received news of his death on their arrival at Sicuani, and that, in compliance with orders from Inca Manco, then at Cuzco, to conceal the treasure, they buried it somewhere near Azangaro. Its value is usually estimated at seven million dollars. Besides this immense treasure, it is said that fifteen mule-loads of church plate were brought here

1 Bandelier contends that these chulpas were not tombs, but storehouses. See his article on The Aboriginal Ruins of Sillustani, Peru, in the American Anthropologist, January-March, 1905. Von Tschudi and others considered them to be dwelling places and parts of fortresses.