lava flow. It
occurs to me that possibly this flow destroyed some of the clay
beds from which the ancient potters got their precious material. The
temple may have been erected as a propitiatory offering to the god
of volcanoes in the hope that the anger which had caused him to send
the lava flow might be appeased. It may be that the Inca Viracocha,
an unusually gifted ruler, was particularly interested in ceramics and
was responsible for building the temple. If so, it would be natural
for people who are devoted to ancestor worship to have here worshiped
his memory.

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FIGURE

Route Map of the Peruvian Expedition of 1912
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CHAPTER VII

The Valley of the Huatanay

The valley of the Huatanay is one of many valleys tributary to the
Urubamba. It differs from them in having more arable land located under
climatic conditions favorable for the raising of the food crops of the
ancient Peruvians. Containing an area estimated at less than 160 square
miles, it was the heart of the greatest empire that South America has
ever seen. It is still intensively cultivated, the home of a large
percentage of the people of this part of Peru. The Huatanay itself
sometimes meanders through the valley in a natural manner, but at
other times is seen to be confined within carefully built stone walls
constructed by prehistoric agriculturists anxious to save their fields
from floods and erosion. The climate is temperate. Extreme cold is
unknown. Water freezes in the lowlands during the dry winter season,
in June and July, and frost may occur any night in the year above
13,000 feet, but in general the climate may be said to be neither
warm nor cold.

This rich valley was apportioned by the Spanish conquerors to
soldiers who were granted large estates as well as the labor of
the Indians living on them. This method still prevails and one may
occasionally meet on the road wealthy landholders on their way to and
from town. Although mules are essentially the most reliable saddle
animals for work in the Andes, these landholders usually prefer horses,
which are larger and faster, as well as being more gentle and better
gaited. The gentry of the Huatanay Valley prefer a deep-seated saddle,
over which is laid a heavy sheepskin or thick fur mat. The fashionable
stirrups are pyramidal in shape, made of wood decorated with silver
bands. Owing to the steepness of the roads, a crupper is considered
necessary and is usually decorated