because they are of stones so large that
anyone who sees them would not say that they had been put in place by
human hands, for they are as large as chunks of mountains and huge
rocks, and they have a height of thirty palms and a length of as many
more, and others have twenty and twenty-five, and others fifteen, but
there is none so small that three carts could carry it. These are not
smooth stones, but rather well joined and matched one with another. The
Spaniards who see them say that neither the bridge of Segovia nor any
other of the edifices which Hercules or the Romans made is so worthy of
being seen as this. The city of Tarragona has some works in its walls
made in this style, but neither so strong nor of such large stones.
These walls twist in such a way that if they are attacked, it is not
possible to do so from directly in front, but only obliquely.[110] These
walls are of the same stone, and between wall and wall there is enough
earth to permit three carts to go along the top at one time. They are
made after the fashion of steps, so that one begins where another leaves
off. The whole fortress was a deposit of arms, clubs, lances, bows,
axes, shields, doublets thickly padded with cotton and other arms of
various sorts, and clothes for the soldiers collected here from all
parts of the land subject to the lords of Cuzco. They had many colors,
blue, yellow, brown and many others for painting, much tin and lead with
other metals, and much silver and some gold, many mantles and quilted
doublets for the warriors. The reason why this fortress contained so
much workmanship was that, when this city was founded it was done by a
lord _orejon_[111] who came from Condisuyo, toward the sea, a great
warrior who conquered this land as far as Bilcas and who, perceiving
that this was the best place to fix his domicile, founded that city
with its fortress. And all the other lords who followed after him made
some improvements in this fortress so that it was ever augmenting in
size. From this fortress are seen around the city many houses a quarter
of a league, half a league and a league away, and in the valley, which
is surrounded by hills, there are more than five thousand houses, many
of them for the pleasure and recreation of former lords and others for
the caciques of all the land who dwell continuously in the city. The
others are storehouses full of mantles, wool, arms, metals, and clothes
and all the things which are grown or