h
bird skins and a necklace made from the teeth of monkeys.

Such were the people among whom Tupac Amaru took refuge when he fled
from Vilcabamba. Whether he partook of such a delicacy as monkey
meat, which all Amazonian Indians relish, but which is not eaten by
the highlanders, may be doubted. Garcilasso speaks of Tupac Amaru's
preferring to entrust himself to the hands of the Spaniards "rather
than to perish of famine." His Indian allies lived perfectly well in
a region where monkeys abound. It is doubtful whether they would ever
have permitted Captain Garcia to capture the Inca had they been able
to furnish Tupac with such food as he was accustomed to.

At all events our investigations seem to point to the probability of
this valley having been an important part of the domain of the last
Incas. It would have been pleasant to prolong our studies, but the
carriers were anxious to return to Pampaconas. Although they did not
have to eat monkey meat, they were afraid of the savages and nervous
as to what use the latter might some day make of the powerful bows
and long arrows.

At Conservidayoc Saavedra kindly took the trouble to make some sugar
for us. He poured the syrup in oblong moulds cut in a row along the
side of a big log of hard wood. In some of the moulds his son placed
handfuls of nicely roasted peanuts. The result was a confection or
"emergency ration" which we greatly enjoyed on our return journey.

At San Fernando we met the pack mules. The next day, in the midst
of continuing torrential tropical downpours, we climbed out of
the hot valley to the cold heights of Pampaconas. We were soaked
with perspiration and drenched with rain. Snow had been falling
above the village; our teeth chattered like castanets. Professor
Foote immediately commandeered Mrs. Guzman's fire and filled our
tea kettle. It may be doubted whether a more wretched, cold, wet,
and bedraggled party ever arrived at Guzman's hut; certainly nothing
ever tasted better than that steaming hot sweet tea.

CHAPTER XVI

The Story of Tampu-tocco, a Lost City of the First Incas

It will be remembered that while on the search for the capital of the
last Incas we had found several groups of ruins which we could not
fit entirely into the story of Manco and his sons. The most important
of these was Machu Picchu. Many of its buildings are far older than
the ruins of Rosaspata and Espiritu Pampa. To understand just what we
may have found at Machu