own the valley from the direction of Ollantaytambo. They could
easily have held it against a considerable force, for it is powerfully
built and constructed with skill. Supplies from the plantations of
Torontoy, lower down the river, might have reached it along the path
which antedated the present government road. Salapunco may have been
occupied by the troops of the Inca Manco when he established himself
in Uiticos and ruled over Uilcapampa. He could hardly, however,
have built a megalithic work of this kind. It is more likely that
he would have destroyed the narrow trails than have attempted to
hold the fort against the soldiers of Pizarro. Furthermore, its
style and character seem to date it with the well-known megalithic
structures of Cuzco and Ollantaytambo. This makes it seem all the
more extraordinary that Salapunco could ever have been built as a
defense against Ollantaytambo, unless it was built by folk who once
occupied Cuzco and who later found a retreat in the canyons below here.

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FIGURE

Grosvenor Glacier and Mt. Salcantay
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When we first visited Salapunco no megalithic remains had been
reported as far down the valley as this. It never occurred to us that,
in hunting for the remains of such comparatively recent structures as
the Inca Manco had the force and time to build, we were to discover
remains of a far more remote past. Yet we were soon to find ruins
enough to explain why such a fortress as Salapunco might possibly
have been built so as to defend Uilcapampa against Ollantaytambo and
Cuzco and not those well-known Inca cities against the savages of
the Amazon jungles.

Passing Salapunco, we skirted granite cliffs and precipices and entered
a most interesting region, where we were surprised and charmed by the
extent of the ancient terraces, their length and height, the presence
of many Inca ruins, the beauty of the deep, narrow valleys, and the
grandeur of the snow-clad mountains which towered above them. Across
the river, near Qquente, on top of a series of terraces, we saw the
extensive ruins of Patallacta (pata = height or terrace; llacta =
town or city), an Inca town of great importance. It was not known to
Raimondi or Paz Soldan, but is indicated on Wiener's map, although he
does not appear to have visited it. We have been unable to find any
reference to it in the chronicles. We spent several months here in
1915 excavating and determining the character of the ruins. In another