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'Something hidden. Go and find it. Go  and look behind the Ranges -
Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!'
                                                                Kipling: "The Explorer"

 

INCA LAND
Explorations in the Highlands of  Peru
BY
HIRAM BINGHAM 
 
Director of the Peruvian Expeditions of Yale University and the National Geographic Society, Member of the American Alpine Club, Professor of Latin-American History in Yale University; author of "Across South America," etc. 
 
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
 
COPYRIGHT, 1912, 1913, AND 1914,
By HARPER & BROTHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1913, 1915, AND 1916,
BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY HIRAM BINGHAM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
SECOND IMPRESSION, NOVEMBER, 1922
THIRD IMPRESSION, APRIL, 1923
 
The Riverside Press
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
 
 
THIS VOLUME
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
TO
THE MUSE WHO INSPIRED IT -
THE LITTLE MOTHER OF SEVEN SONS

 
PREFACE

THE following pages represent some of the results of four journeys into the interior of Peru and also many explorations into the labyrinth of early writings which treat of the Incas and their Land. Although my travels covered only a part of southern Peru, they took me into every variety of climate and forced me to camp at almost every altitude at which men have constructed houses or erected tents in the Western Hemisphere — from sea level up to 21,703 feet. It has been my lot to cross bleak Andean passes, where there are heavy snowfalls and low temperatures, as well as to wend my way through gigantic canyons into the dense jungles of the Amazon Basin, as hot and humid a region as exists anywhere in the world. The Incas lived in a land of violent contrasts. No deserts in the world have less vegetation than those of Sihuas and Majes; no luxuriant tropical valleys have more plant life than the jungles of Conservidayoc. In Inca Land one may pass from glaciers to tree ferns within a few hours. So also in the labyrinth of contemporary chronicles of the last of the Incas — no historians go more rapidly from fact to fancy, from accurate observation to grotesque imagination; no writers omit important details and give conflicting statements with greater frequency. The story of the Incas is still in a maze of doubt and contradiction. It was the mystery and romance of some of the wonderful pictures of a nineteenth-century explorer that first led me into the relatively unknown  region between the Apurimac and the Urubamba,  times called “the Cradle of the Incas.” Although my photographs cannot compete with the imaginative pencil of such an artist, nevertheless, I hope that some of them may lead future travelers to penetrate  still farther into the Land of the Incas and engage in the fascinating game of identifying elusive places mentioned in the chronicles.

Some of my story has already been told in Harper’s and the National Geographic, to whose editors acknowledgments are due for permission to use the material in its present form. A glance at the Bibliography will show that more than sixty articles and monographs have been published as a result of the Peruvian Expeditions of Yale University and the National Geographic Society. Other reports are still in course of preparation. My own observations are based partly on a study of these monographs and the writings of former travelers, partly on the maps and notes made by my companions, and partly on a study of our Peruvian photographs, a collection now numbering over eleven thousand negatives. Another source of information was the opportunity of frequent conferences with my fellow explorers. One of the great advantages of large expeditions is the bringing to bear on the same problem of minds which have received widely different training.

My companions on these journeys were, in 1909, Mr. Clarence L. Hay; in 1911, Dr. Isaiah Bowman, Professor Harry Ward Foote, Dr. William G. Erving, Messrs. Kai Hendriksen, H. L. Tucker, and Paul B. Lanius; in 1912, Professor Herbert E. Gregory, Dr. George F. Eaton, Dr. Luther T. Nelson, Messrs. Albert H. Bumstead, E. C. Erdis, Kenneth C. Heald, Robert Stephenson, Paul Bestor, Osgood Hardy, and Joseph Little; and in 1915, Dr. David E. Ford, Messrs. O. F. Cook, Edmund Heller E. C. Erdis, E. L. Anderson, Clarence F. Maynard, J. J. Hasbrouck, Osgood Hardy, Geoffrey IV. Morkill, and G. Bruce Gilbert. To these, my comrades in enterprises which were not always free from discomfort or danger, I desire to acknowledge most fully my great obligations. In the following pages they will sometimes recognize their handiwork; at other times they may wonder why it has been overlooked. Perhaps in another volume, which is already under way and in which I hope to cover more particularly Machu Picchu1 and its vicinity, they will eventually find much of what cannot be told here.

Sincere and grateful thanks are due also to Mr. Edward S. Harkness for offering generous assistance when aid was most difficult to secure; to Mr. Gilbert Grosvenor and the National Geographic Society for liberal and enthusiastic support; to President Taft of the United States and President Leguia of Peru for official help of a most important nature; to Messrs. W. R. Grace & Company and to Mr. William L. Morkill and Mr. L. S. Blaisdell, of the Peruvian Corporation, for cordial and untiring cooperation; to Don Cesare Lomellini, Don Pedro Duque, and their sons, and Mr. Frederic B. Johnson, of Yale University, for many practical kindnesses; to Mrs. Blanche Peberdy Tompkins and Miss Mary G. Reynolds for invaluable secretarial aid; and last, but by no means least, to Mrs. Alfred Mitchell for making possible the writing of this book.

HIRAM BINGHAM
YALE UNIVERSITY
October 1, 1922

1 Many people have asked me how to pronounce Machu Picchu. Quichua words should always be pronounced as nearly as possible as they are written. They represent an attempt at phonetic spelling. If the attempt is made by a Spanish writer, he is always likely to put a silent “h” at the beginning of such words as huilca which is pronounced “weel-ka.” In the middle of a word “h” is always sounded. Machu Picchu is pronounced “Mah’-chew Pick’-chew.” Uiticos is pronounced “ Weet’-ee-kos.” Uilcapampa is pronounced “ Weel’-ka-pahm-pah.” Cuzco is “Koos’-koh.”

  

CONTENTS
 
GLOSSARY
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE PERUVIAN EXPEDITIONS OF YALE UNIVERSITY AND THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

"SOMETHING HIDDEN. GO AND FIND IT. GO AND LOOK
     BEHIND THE RANGES"
SKETCH MAP OF SOUTHERN PERU
MT. COROPUNA FROM THE NORTHWEST
MT. COROPUNA FROM THE SOUTH
THE BASE CAMP, COROPUNA, AT 17,300 FEET
     Photograph by H. L. Tucker
CAMPING AT 18,450 FEET ON THE SLOPES OF COROPUNA
     Photograph by H. L. Tucker
ONE OF THE FREQUENT RESTS IN THE ASCENT OF
     COROPUNA
     Photograph by H. L. Tucker
THE CAMP ON THE SUMMIT
      Photograph by H. L. Tucker
THE SUB-PREFECT OF COTAHUASI, HIS MILITARY AIDE, AND
      MESSRS. TUCKER, HENDRIKSEN, BOWMAN, AND
      BINGHAM INSPECTING THE LOCAL RUG-WEAVING
      INDUSTRY
     Photograph by C. Watkins
INCA STOREHOUSES AT CHICHIPAMPA, NEAR COLTA
     Photograph by H. L. Tucker
FLAMINGOS ON LAKE PARINACOCHAS, AND MT. SARASARA
MR. TUCKER ON A MOUNTAIN TRAIL NEAR CARAVELI
THE MAIN STREET OF CHUQUIBAMBA
     Photograph by H. L. Tucker
A LAKE TITICACA BALSA AT PUNO
A STEP-TOPPED NICHE ON THE ISLAND OF KOATI
INDIAN ALCALDES  AT SANTA ROSA                                    
NATIVE DRUGGISTS IN THE PLAZA OF SICUANI
LAYING DOWN THE WARP FOR A BLANKET;
      NEAR THE PASS OF LA RAYA
PLOWING A POTATO-FIELD AT LA RAYA                               
THE RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF VIRACOCHA AT RACCHE   
ROUTE MAP OF THE PERUVIAN EXPEDITION OF 1912         
LUCRE BASIN, LAKE MUYNA, AND THE CITY WALL OF
      PIQUILLACTA                               
SACSAHUAMAN: DETAIL OF LOWER TERRACE WALL
RUINS OF THE AQUEDUCT OF RUMICCOLCA
HUATANAY VALLEY, CUZCO, AND THE AYAHUAYCCO
      QUEBRADA 
MAP OF PERU AND VIEW OF CUZCO
     From the "Speculum Orbis Terrarum," Antwerp, 1514      
TOWERS OF JESUIT CHURCH WITH CLOISTERS AND TENNIS
     COURT OF UNIVERSITY, CUZCO
GLACIERS BETWEEN CUZCO AND UITICOS                         
THE URUBAMBA CANYON: A REASON FOR THE SAFETY OF
     THE INCAS IN UILCAPAMPA
YUCAY, LAST HOME OF SAYRI TUPAC
PART OF THE NUREMBERG MAP OF 1599, SHOWING PINCOS AND THE ANDES MOUNTAINS
ROUTE MAP OF THE PERUVIAN EXPEDITION OF 1915  
MT. VERONICA AND SALAPUNCO, THE GATEWAY TO
      UILCAPAMPA                                 
GROSVENOR GLACIER AND MT. SALCANTAY
THE ROAD BETWEEN MAQUINA AND MANDOR PAMPA,
      NEAR MACHU PICCHU
HUADQUINA
RUINS OF YURAK RUMI NEAR HUADQUINA
     Plan and elevations drawn by A. H. Bumstead
PUCYURA AND THE HILL OF ROSASPATA IN THE
     VILCABAMBA VALLEY
PRINCIPAL DOORWAY OF THE LONG PALACE AT
     ROSASPATA
     Photograph by E. C. Erdis
ANOTHER DOORWAY IN THE RUINS OF ROSASPATA
NORTHEAST FACE OF YURAK RUMI
PLAN OF THE RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN AT
     NUSTA ISPPANA
     Drawn by A. H. Bumstead
CARVED SEATS AND PLATFORMS OF NUSTA ISPPANA
TWO OF THE SEVEN SEATS NEAR THE SPRING UNDER THE GREAT WHITE ROCK
     Photograph by A. H. Bumstead
NUSTA ISPPANA
QUISPI CUSI TESTIFYING ABOUT INCA RUINS
     Photograph by H. W. Foote
ONE OF OUR BEARERS CROSSING THE PAMPACONAS
     RIVER
     Photograph by H. W. Foote
SAAVEDRA AND HIS INCA POTTERY
INCA GABLE AT ESPIRITU PAMPA
     Photograph by H. L. Tucker
INCA RUINS IN THE JUNGLES OF ESPIRITU PAMPA
CAMPA MEN AT ESPIRITU PAMPA
     Photograph by H. L. Tucker
CAMPA WOMEN AND CHILDREN AT ESPIRITU PAMPA
     Photograph by H. L. Tucker
PUMA URCO, NEAR PACCARITAMPU
THE   BEST INCA WALL AT MAUCALLACTA, NEAR PACCARITAMPU
THE CAVES OF PUMA URCO, NEAR PACCARITAMPU
FLASHLIGHT VIEW OF INTERIOR OF CAVE, MACHU PICCHU
TEMPLE OVER CAVE AT MACHU PICCHU; SUGGESTED BY
     THE AUTHOR AS THE PROBABLE SITE OF TAMPU-TOCCO
DETAIL OF PRINCIPAL TEMPLE, MACHU PICCHU
DETAIL OF EXTERIOR OF TEMPLE OF THE THREE
     WINDOWS, MACHU PICCHU
THE MASONRY WALL WITH THREE WINDOWS, MACHU
     PICCHU
THE GORGES, OPENING WIDE APART, REVEAL
     UILCAPAMPA'S GRANITE CITADEL, THE CROWN OF,
     INCA LAND: MACHU PICCHU 

Except as otherwise indicated the illustrations are from photographs by the author.