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2'94
-=..t:
R.oyal
Commentaries.
BooKVH.
CH AP.
XXVII.
Of the
Fortrefs
of
Cozco,
and the greatnefs
of
the
Stones
with which
it
was built.
T
HE
JncM,
who
w~re
Kings
of
Peru;
ereeted
many
wonderfull and
fiately
Edifices; their Caftles, Temples, and Royal Palaces,
their
Gardens, Store–
houfes,
and
other Fabricks , were
Buildings
of greatMagnificence,
as
is
apparent
by
the mines of them;
though very
obfcure conjeetures are to
be
gathered from
fuch remains.
The work of greacell: ofl:entation, and which evidenc€S molt the
Power atid
Majefl:y of the
IncM,
was the ForttefS of
Cozco1
whofe greacnefS is incredible to
any who hath not feen
it,
and fuch as have viewed
it
with great attention cannot
but admire
it,
and believe
that
fuch a work was ereeted
by
Enc=hanonent,
or the
help ofSpirits, being that which furpaffes the Art and power ofMan. For the
Stones are fo many and
fo
great, which were laid
in
the three firft rounds, being
· rather Rocks
than
Stones,
as
paffes
all
underftanding, how
and
in what
maHner
they were bewen from the
Q!arry,
or brought from thence, for rhey had no
in–
fuuments of Iron or Steel, wherewith co cut
or
fafhion them: Nor leiS wonder–
full
is
it
to
think, how
they
could be carried
to
the Building; for
they
had nei•
ther Carts nor Oxen
to
draw them with; and
if
they had,
the
weight was fo
vaft as no
Cart
could bear, or Oxen draw; then
to
think
that
they drew them
with
gr~at
Ropes, over Hills, and Dales, and difficult ways by che mere force of
Mens Armes
is
alike incredible; for many of them were brought ten, twelve and
fifteen Leagues off, parcicularly that
Stone, or
Rock
rather,
which the
Indians
call
Sttycufca,
which figll.ifies
tired
or weary,
becaufe
it
lies
in
the way, having never
been brought
fo
far as co the Building;
but
it
is
certain
that
it came fifceen Leagues
from the
City,
and was tranfporced over the River of
Tucay,
which is almoft as
,broad
as the
G11adalq11iver,
whlch runs
by
Cordova.
The Stones brought from the
neareft
parts
were
from
Muyntt,
which
is five
Leagues
diftant
from
Couo:
Bue to
proceed farther
in
our imagination of this matcer, and confider how
it
was
11_01li–
ble for this people co
fie
and join fuch vaft Machins
of
Stones together, and ce•
ment them
fo
clofe, that the
point
of a Knife can
fcarce
pafs between them,
is
a
thing above all admiration, and
fome
of them are
fo
art.ificially joined,
that
the
crevices are fcarce difcernible between them: Then to confider that to fquare
and fit thefe Stones one to the other, they were to be railed, and
lifted
up and re–
moved often, untill they were brought to their
juft
fize and proportion ; buc how
th.iswas
done
by Men, who had no ufe of the Rule and Square, or knew how
ro make Cranes, or Pullies, and
Cramps, and
other Engines, to raife and lowr
them as
they
had
occafion,
is beyond our
imagination,
being of that biggefS
that
[of
epfa
Acofta
faith was
prodi~ous:
For the bigne!S and compa!S of thefe Stones, I
<hall
rather
refer
my felf to
Authority of
this
Acofta,
than
to
che report of
my
School-fellows, of whom I defiring to be informed of the jufi proportion of thefe
Stones,
they fent me the meafures of them by Fathoms, and noc by Yards and
Inches,;
which account not being
fo
exact as I defired ,
it
feemed requilite
in
a
work
fo
wonderful}, and
in
which the vafinefs of the Stones is
the
greatefi mat–
ter of Admiration, to take the more authentick tefiimony ofNotaries.
Acofta
in
the
14th
Chapter of bis
6th
Book, faith,
"
That
the Expences which the
J11ca1
'' made
in
building Fons, Temples, Houfes of Pleafore, and other Edifices was
r,
very grear, and the labour exceffive, as the Ruins which remain make
to
ap–
cc
pear, anC:t are
fiill
to
be
feen
in
Couo,
Tiaguamtco,
Tamho,
and other
places,
er
where
the
Stones
are
of
that
vafi
proportion,
as pa£fes
underftanding
how they
cc
were
hewen,
fquared, and carried co
the places
where
they
are
now fixed. It
cc
is certain>
that
for ereeting thofe vaft Buildings of
Fons
and Temples
in
Cozco,
~
and other
parts, by
direcnon of the
Inca;
there was the affifience and
concour~
-.