NEAR CUZCO 456
WHERE A STONE FIGHT TOOK PLACE IN THE INCA COUNTRY.
(NOTICE THE INNUMERABLE ROCKS WHICH HAVE BEEN
THROWN DOWN THE HILL FROM THE HIGH INCA STRUCTURE) 458
ENTRANCE TO INCA SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES 458
THE GREAT INCA RUINS OF VIRACCOCHA, IN TINTA (CUZCO) 460
INCA POTTERY, WEAPONS AND ORNAMENTS OF GOLD AND COPPER 464
INCA TOWERS OF SILLISTAYNI, PUNO (LAKE TITICACA) 468
AN INCA STATUE, BOLIVIA 468
LAKE TITICACA 470
GUAQUI, THE PORT FOR LA PAZ ON LAKE TITICACA 470
ON THE ANDES 474
LLAMAS IN BOLIVIA 476
BORAX DEPOSITS, BOLIVIA 476

CHAPTER I

The River Arinos--A Rickety Canoe--Mapping the River--The
_Siphonia Elastica_--Rubber and its Collection--An Enormously
Rich Country--A German in Slavery

WE struck the River Arinos at a point called Porto Velho. There
were at that place the miserable sheds of three _seringueiros_
(rubber-collectors). I had made for that particular spot because I had
heard that a big canoe carved out of the trunk of a tree probably existed
there. I was told that the canoe was large enough to carry many people.
It had been constructed, it seemed, some ten years previously by a
rubber-collecting expedition which came to grief, was abandoned, and had
since been taken possession of by seringueiros. I had purchased it on
chance from its last owner for Rs. 300,000. With accessories I gave about
Rs. 450,000, or roughly, L30. It was the only canoe upon that river.

I considered myself lucky, when I arrived at Porto Velho, to find that
the canoe actually existed at all. There she was, floating more or less
gracefully upon the water. She had a total length of 42 ft., was 31/2 ft.
wide, and had been roughly scooped out of a giant tree which was not
quite straight. Her lines, therefore, were not as elegant as might have
been expected. For instance, her starboard and port sides were not
absolutely straight lines, but described curves--in fact, the port side
almost an angle. That gave the canoe an original appearance, which to my
practical mind at once suggested great difficulty of steering. Her sides,
coarsely cut with