r well-informed Indians to appear and be
interviewed. They told us there were "many ruins" hereabouts! Being
a practical man himself, Mogrovejo had never taken any interest in
ruins. Now he saw the chance not only to make money out of the ancient
sites, but also to gain official favor by carrying out with unexampled
vigor the orders of his superior, the sub-prefect of Quillabamba. So
he exerted himself to the utmost in our behalf.

The next day we were guided up a ravine to the top of the ridge back
of Lucma. This ridge divides the upper from the lower Vilcabamba. On
all sides the hills rose several thousand feet above us. In places
they were covered with forest growth, chiefly above the cloud line,
where daily moisture encourages vegetation. In some of the forests on
the more gentle slopes recent clearings gave evidence of enterprise
on the part of the present inhabitants of the valley. After an hour's
climb we reached what were unquestionably the ruins of Inca structures,
on an artificial terrace which commands a magnificent view far down
toward Paltaybamba and the bridge of Chuquichaca, as well as in the
opposite direction. The contemporaries of Captain Garcia speak of a
number of forts or pucaras which had to be stormed and captured before
Tupac Amaru could be taken prisoner. This was probably one of those
"fortresses." Its strategic position and the ease with which it could
be defended point to such an interpretation. Nevertheless this ruin
did not fit the "fortress of Pitcos," nor the "House of the Sun"
near the "white rock over the spring." It is called Incahuaracana,
"the place where the Inca shoots with a sling."

Incahuaracana consists of two typical Inca edifices--one of two
rooms, about 70 by 20 feet, and the other, very long and narrow,
150 by 11 feet. The walls, of unhewn stone laid in clay, were not
particularly well built and resemble in many respects the ruins at
Choqquequirau. The rooms of the principal house are without windows,
although each has three front doors and is lined with niches, four
or five on a side. The long, narrow building was divided into three
rooms, and had several front doors. A force of two hundred Indian
soldiers could have slept in these houses without unusual crowding.

We left Lucma the next day, forded the Vilcabamba River and soon
had an uninterrupted view up the valley to a high, truncated hill,
its top partly covered with a scrubby growth of trees and bushes,
its sides