reached a little grass-covered hut where several
good-natured Indians, pleasantly surprised at our unexpected arrival,
welcomed us with dripping gourds full of cool, delicious water. Then
they set before us a few cooked sweet potatoes, called here cumara,
a Quichua word identical with the Polynesian kumala, as has been
pointed out by Mr. Cook.

Apart from the wonderful view of the canyon, all we could see from
our cool shelter was a couple of small grass huts and a few ancient
stone-faced terraces. Two pleasant Indian farmers, Richarte and
Alvarez, had chosen this eagle's nest for their home. They said they
had found plenty of terraces here on which to grow their crops and
they were usually free from undesirable visitors. They did not speak
Spanish, but through Sergeant Carrasco I learned that there were more
ruins "a little farther along." In this country one never can tell
whether such a report is worthy of credence. "He may have been lying"
is a good footnote to affix to all hearsay evidence. Accordingly,
I was not unduly excited, nor in a great hurry to move. The heat
was still great, the water from the Indian's spring was cool
and delicious, and the rustic wooden bench, hospitably covered
immediately after my arrival with a soft, woolen poncho, seemed most
comfortable. Furthermore, the view was simply enchanting. Tremendous
green precipices fell away to the white rapids of the Urubamba
below. Immediately in front, on the north side of the valley, was
a great granite cliff rising 2000 feet sheer. To the left was the
solitary peak of Huayna Picchu, surrounded by seemingly inaccessible
precipices. On all sides were rocky cliffs. Beyond them cloud-capped
mountains rose thousands of feet above us.

The Indians said there were two paths to the outside world. Of one we
had already had a taste; the other, they said, was more difficult--a
perilous path down the face of a rocky precipice on the other side
of the ridge. It was their only means of egress in the wet season,
when the bridge over which we had come could not be maintained. I was
not surprised to learn that they went away from home only "about once
a month."

Richarte told us that they had been living here four years. It
seems probable that, owing to its inaccessibility, the canyon had
been unoccupied for several centuries, but with the completion of
the new government road settlers began once more to occupy this
region. In time somebody clambered up the precip