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THE
HISTORICAL
AND
MONUMENTAL
CITY OF PERU
gnel,
eight leagues
f r om Torontoi
if
it shoUJld so happen in
the dry season there is no bridge ; otherwise t o
a
place called
Putucusu near Mándo.r.
By thi<s
l aitter route the ascent
i.s
lees
dif1icult and foss dangerous. The di-stance from the Puente to the top
of
the .mountain is b etween
srix
and seven kilometers, r equiring
abont three hours traveil. The v isitor wishin.g to ascend
to
Machu
Pieehu eould secure
t h e
services
a.isa
guide
of
one of. the
inhabitants
of
Mállldor. One by the name <>f FeliC!i.ano Arteaga
is
recommended. In any
ca.seit is necessary to make the C1limb
during the
ea~
morning in l()rder to have sufficient time
to
view
the ruins and r eturn in the afternoon to San Miguel or Mándor.
lt
is
.dangerous to
}llhSS
t he night in Machu Picchu, whcre there
is
no place to .sleep, no water, and plenty
of
poisonous snak es
and spi.ders.
W·hen the Yale
C
. ·
'ó
made ex.cavations
m
Machu Picchu
many
<Yf
its old h ou es, streets and 'Sllipl)r-altars of a peculiar
lltyle of constru ction
e;re
descov~red.
The
a~thor
hais had
the good-fortune of
)T
~
ly.
vicwing the e in er·esting ruins.
It
iR
eatimated that t hree hundrea houses, more
tlian
one hundred
atreets an>d staii'wiays were -unear.thed.
The place wa5 built on
a
dee'livity, hence t he numiber of stairways lea.ding to the river. The
central staJ.rway is elegant. It deseends between we1'1s, wli.ich ilook
like
reserV\Qirs,
and
leads
to
a plaza
surroun>de~
by
large
bnildings.
The large temple and walls
of
enormous blocks of stone has in
the rear a mon oli h remark.ably higb, wide and tbick with thfr
appearance
of
i ts being a meteor, which mu!!'t have been the altar
óf
sacri1foe. Adj oining the tempile is a saila ca<lled Tres Ventanas
from which
c~n
be had a view
of
the deep valley of the Vilcanota.
This wall with its t hree windowa can be seen from a pllace caJ.led
Media Nnranja before arriving at Putucusi. Rareily are seen in
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