ured "three and a
half yards" in length. Sculptured decorations appear on them, and,
according to Cieca de Leon, the figures seemed to be "clothed in long
vestments" different from those worn in the time of the Incas. Of a very
remarkable edifice, whose foundations could be traced near these
statues, nothing remained then "but a well-built wall, which must have
been there for ages, the stones being very much worn and crumbled."
Cieca de Leon's description goes on as follows:

"In this place, also, there are stones so large and so overgrown that
our wonder is incited, it being incomprehensible how the power of man
could have placed them where we see them. They are variously wrought,
and some of them, having the form of men, must have been idols. Near the
walls are many caves and excavations under the earth, but in another
place, farther west, are other and greater monuments, such as large
gateways with hinges, platforms, and porches, each made of a single
stone. It surprised me to see these enormous gateways made of great
masses of stone, some of which were thirty feet long, fifteen high, and
six thick."

[Illustration: Fig. 55.--Monolithic Gateway at Tiahuanaco.]

Many of the stone monuments at Tiahuanaco have been removed, some for
building, some for other purposes. In one case, "large masses of
sculptured stone ten yards in length and six in width" were used to make
grinding stones for a chocolate mill. The principal monuments now seen
on this field of ruins are a vast mound covering several acres, where
there seems to have been a great edifice, fragments of columns, erect
slabs of stone which formed parts of buildings, and several of the
monolithic gateways, the largest of which was made of a single stone ten
feet high and thirteen broad. Figure 55 gives a view of one. The doorway
is six feet four inches high, and three feet two inches wide. Above it,
along the whole length of the stone, which is now broken, is a cornice
covered with sculptured figures. "The whole neighborhood," says Mr.
Squier, "is strewn with immense blocks of stone elaborately wrought,
equaling, if not surpassing in size, any known to exist in Egypt or
India."

[Illustration: Fig. 56.--Remains of Fortress Walls at Cuzco.]

[Illustration: Fig. 57.--End View of Fortress Walls at Cuzco.]

At Cuzco, two or more degrees north of Lake Titicaca, there are ruins of
buildings that were occupied until the rule of the Incas was overthrown.
Remains of