en fortifications, their situation bears evidence
against the inference of Unanue. Supposing the larger building to have
indicated the position of the Inca Empire, it ought to have been
situated to the south, and the smaller building would have been to the
north. The only passable road along the coast led between these two
fortified hills; and by them the road on that side to the Kingdom of
Chimu could be cut off. The Incas well knew, from experience, that the
subdued populations, usually after a longer or a shorter time, again
revolted, and endeavored to shake off their yoke, and therefore they
were on their guard against such an occurrence. Capac Yupanqui must
have greatly mistrusted an enemy so formidable as Chimu Cancha, who
had only yielded after the most obstinate resistance, and it is no
slight proof of this that Paramanca[46] was built as a fortress to
hold the subjugated nations in check. It was not, however, built as a
monument of victory, for such monuments were always erected in Cozco,
the capital, and never on the field of battle. Etymology affords no
solution of this question. Some write Paramonga, others Paramanca. I
regard the latter as the most correct. Garcilaso de la Vega calls the
valley Parmunca. In the Quichua dialect _Paramanca_[47] signifies a
pot for rain. It is therefore possible that the name may indicate an
allusion to heavy torrents of rain, which, though now unusual on this
particular part of the coast, may have occurred in this basin-like
valley after a great earthquake.

Five leagues to the south of Huacho are the extensive _Salinas_, or salt
pits, which supply Peru and Chile with excellent salt. They spread from
the sea coast to the distance of half a league eastward, and present a
most extraordinary aspect. On approaching them the traveller might fancy
he beholds a field of glaciers, on which the sun's rays produce
wonderful effects of variegated color.

This salt is the produce of a natural evaporation of the sea water,
which trickles through the porous stones of the coast, and fills every
intervening hollow. The whole space is parcelled into divisions, called
fields, from which, according to a definite regulation, square masses,
weighing each one hundred pounds, are cut. In a few days the holes are
again filled up with sea water, which, in the space of twelve to
sixteen, or sometimes twenty to twenty-four months, being evaporated by
the sun, leaves a precipitate completely filling up