318 / 1070
Royal Commentaries.
BooK 'Vn.
in wichout a Guide, or direétion of a twine of Thread,.which being fafiened at
che entrance direél:ed their recurn chrough ali, che,Turnmgs and Meanders of
ir-.
When
I
w~ a Boy
I
often went up
to
che Calle, with others of che f<Une age
with me; and chen che upper Rooms were all ruined, and fome of thofe wh~ch
were under · inco which we duríl: not adventure fart~er than we could fee che
light which 'íhined in them, for che
Jndians
to!d us, thac if we advencured farther,
we fhould lofe our felves, and never find our way out again.
In
making rheir Vaults they were ignorant of ~he way
o(
arching, but infiead
thereofthey laid Braggecs or Corbeis ofSto
· hich ferved mthe place of Bearns
for fupporc of che whole frarne oí Building,
ích
being equally cut, and íhaped
ar ali ends reached from one Wall
to
the oc er. Ali the great Fabrick of this
Forcrefs was rnade in part ofpolifhed, and pare ofrough Scone, richly embellrlhed
according to thé beíl: of the~r Are, whereby the
IncM
made oft~ntation both_of
their Skill and Grandeur, bemg defirous to advance che Excellency and Magnifi–
cence of chis Work above any ocher; that
fo
ic rnight remain for a confumroa–
tion of ali their Trophies; and indeed fo it proved, for che
Spaniards,
a
few years
after chíswas completed, invaded their Empire, and puc a fiop to che proceedings
of feveral ocher great Works, which ch~y defigned to have finifhed.
There were
four
chiefUndertakers in the Building of chis 'Fortrefs; the_ princi–
pal Perfon, who drew che Draught, and deGgned che whole Plot, was
Huallpa
Rimachi,
he was an
fnca,
and füled
Apu,
which fignifies Chief; che fecond
to
him
was
Inca Maricttnchi,
and the third
Acahuana Inca,
to
whom they afcribe the chief
contrivance of che Buildings at
Tiahuanacu,
-which we have formerly mentioned.
The fourch and laíl: was
Calla Cunchuy,
in whofe time che great Stone which refied
in che way was brought chicher, and his Name engraved on ic, as a monumenc
to conferve his memory; che which Stone (or Rock racher) was of that vaíl: pro–
porcion, and fo exceeding ali che others, thac
I
would gladly inferc here che true
rneafute of its height and chicknefs , bue in regard I have nót procured an exaél:
and cerrain accounc ofic,
I Oull
refer my felf to che relation of thofe who have
feen ic:
It
rernains in the Plain before the Fortrefs,
co
which, as che
lndian1
fay,
ie could ·never arrive, in regard ie tired by the way, and wepebloud, proceeding
from the
coil
,and fatigue ie had endured in its motion. ·The fione is rough and
unpoliihed. in che fame manner as it was·hewn from its Quarry, a great pare of
ic is buried under ground, and they fay, it is now funk lower chan wnen
I
faw it;
for chey fanfied ehat chere was great creafure hid under it, and for that reafon they
digged about it as deep as they were able, thae fo they mighc arrive ae chis imagi–
nary Riches; bue in regard ehae as they digged che Scone funk lower, cherefore the
greacefi pare of ie is now hidden uoder che Earth. According to my beíl: remem–
brance it hacha hole or two upon che upper pare of it, or fuch as paífes from one
· fide to che other; che
JndiAns
call thefe boles the
E
yes of che Stone, out of which
it
wepe bloud ; from che Duíl: which
is
lodged in chofe Holes, and the continual
droppings ofwater upon chem, ic hach died che Scone in chofe pares wich
a
reddifh
colour, becaufe the foil thereabouts is of the fame coloúr, and which che
Indian.r
fay proceeded from che bloud which iífued with che cears of thac Stone. This
Fable is commonly reported arnongíl: the
Indians,
and
I
have heard it ofcen lrom
them.
Bue che true Moral of this Fable, recouncéd by-the
Inca's Amauw,
who were
their Philofophers; and people of learning, was chis: Thae chis Stone, or Rock,
was moved and drawn by twenty thoufand
Jndians,
who dragged arid drew it wich.
greac Cables; che undercaking was greac, for ic was to pafs through cragged, and
uneven ways, and over Afcents and Defcencs; one half of che people drew be–
fare, che ocher half were on each fide to poife che weighc, and keep che Scone d\·
,reél:, leíl: ie füould
fall
into any precipice, or gravel ic felf in any J?lace, from
whence it could never be recovered.
le
is faid, thae for wabt ofdue care in chofe
who had the poifing of chis weighc, it happened
to
leán too rnuch towards che de–
fcent of a hill, and being over-born by ics great burthen, ic tumbled clown a bank,
and killed tb_ree or fo?r chou~nd of_ chofe_
Indians
who were tl:le guides
to
direét
and fupport 1t ; notwuhílandmg which m1Sfortune they again took courage and
raifed che Stone, carrying ic ro che Plain where it now reíl:s.
'The Bloud ~hich
it íhed, and fqueezed 'from che Veins of thefe poor Wretches, were che true
cears
which iífued from che hollow orbs of its Eyes; and becaufe che weight was
too ·
vaíl: to·be carried up to che place, unto which ic was defigned, chey faid,
that ic
tired