e at an end.

That night we stayed at Tincochaca, in the hut of an Indian friend of
Mogrovejo. As usual we made inquiries. Imagine our feelings when in
response to the oft-repeated question he said that in a neighboring
valley there was a great white rock over a spring of water! If his
story should prove to be true our quest for Uiticos was over. It
behooved us to make a very careful study of what we had found.

CHAPTER XII

The Fortress of Uiticos and the House of the Sun

When the viceroy, Toledo, determined to conquer that last stronghold of
the Incas where for thirty-five years they had defied the supreme
power of Spain, he offered a thousand dollars a year as a pension
to the soldier who would capture Tupac Amaru. Captain Garcia
earned the pension, but failed to receive it; the "manana habit"
was already strong in the days of Philip II. So the doughty captain
filed a collection of testimonials with Philip's Royal Council of
the Indies. Among these is his own statement of what happened on the
campaign against Tupac Amaru. In this he says: "and having arrived
at the principal fortress, Guay-napucara ["the young fortress"],
which the Incas had fortified, we found it defended by the Prince
Philipe Quispetutio, a son of the Inca Titu Cusi, with his captains
and soldiers. It is on a high eminence surrounded with rugged crags and
jungles, very dangerous to ascend and almost impregnable. Nevertheless,
with my aforesaid company of soldiers I went up and gained the
fortress, but only with the greatest possible labor and danger. Thus
we gained the province of Uilcapampa." The viceroy himself says this
important victory was due to Captain Garcia's skill and courage in
storming the heights of Guaynapucara, "on Saint John the Baptist's day,
in 1572."

The "Hill of Roses" is indeed "a high eminence surrounded with rugged
crags." The side of easiest approach is protected by a splendid, long
wall, built so carefully as not to leave a single toe-hold for active
besiegers. The barracks at Uncapampa could have furnished a contingent
to make an attack on that side very dangerous. The hill is steep on
all sides, and it would have been extremely easy for a small force
to have defended it. It was undoubtedly "almost impregnable." This
was the feature Captain Garcia was most likely to remember.

On the very summit of the hill are the ruins of a partly enclosed
compound consisting of thirteen or fourteen houses arranged so as to