How they built the edifices for the Lords, and the royal road along which to travel over the kingdom.

ONE of the things which I admired most, in contemplating and noting down the affairs of this kingdom, was to think how and in what manner they can have made such grand and admirable roads as we now see, and what a number of men would suffice for their construction, and with what tools and instruments they can have levelled the mountains and broken through the rocks to make them so broad and good as they are. For it seems to me that if the Emperor should desire to give orders for another royal road to be made, like that which goes from Quito to Cuzco, or the other from Cuzco to go to Chile, with all his power I believe that he could not get it done; nor could any force of men achieve such results unless there was also the perfect order by means of which the commands of the Incas were carried into execution. For if the road to be made was fifty leagues long, or one hundred or two hundred, and though the ground was of the most rugged character, it would be done with diligent care. But their roads were much longer, some of them extending for over one thousand one hundred leagues along such dizzy and frightful abysses that, looking down, the sight failed one. In some places, to secure the regular width, it was necessary to hew a path out of the living rock; all which was done with fire and their picks. In other places the ascents were so steep and high that steps had to be cut from below to enable the ascent to be made, with wider spaces at intervals for resting-places. In other parts there were great heaps of snow, which were more to be feared, and not at one spot only, but often recurring. Where these snows obstructed the way, and where there were forests of trees and loose clods of earth, the road was levelled and paved with stones when necessary.

Those who read this book, and have been in Peru, will remember the road which goes from Lima to Xauxa by the rugged mountains of Huarochiri and the snowy heights of Pariacaca, and will understand if they have heard or seen more than I write. Besides this, they will remember the path which descends to the river Apurimac, and how the road passes along the mountains of Paltas, Caxas, and Ayancas, and other parts of this kingdom where it is fifteen feet wide, a little more or less; and in time of the kings it was kept clean, so that there was neither a loose stone nor a growing weed on it, for it was always kept in good order. In the inhabited parts, near the towns, there were great palaces and lodgings for the soldiers. In the snowy wildernesses and plains, shelter-houses were built, where travellers could take refuge from the cold and rain. In many places, as in the Collao and other parts, there were distance-marks like the heaps in Europe which indicate boundaries, except that those in Peru are larger and better made. They called them topos,[102] and the distance between them is a Castillian league and a half.

The manner of making these roads and their grandeur being understood, I will explain the ease with which they were constructed by the natives, without increasing the death-rate, or causing excessive labour. When any king determined to have any of these famous roads made, much preparation was not necessary, but it was merely needful that the king should give the order. For then the overseers went over the ground to make a trace, and the Indians received instructions to construct the road from among the inhabitants who were on either side. One province completed the section within its limits, and when it reached the boundary it was presently taken up by the next: and if it was urgent, they all worked at one time. When they reached the uninhabited parts, the Indians of the nearest inhabited districts brought provisions and tools, in such wise that, with much rejoicing and little fatigue, it was finished. For there was no apprehension, and the Yncas or their servants interfered in nothing.

They also made great paved causeways of excellent construction, such as that which passes by the valley of Xaquixaguana, leading from the city of Cuzco to Muhina. There were many of these royal roads, both in the mountains and along the coast. Among them all there are four which are considered most important. They are those starting from the central square of the city of Cuzco, as from a cross-road, to the provinces of the kingdom, as I have mentioned in the First Part of this Chronicle, where I treat of the founding of Cuzco.[103] The lords were so respected, that when they travelled on these roads, the attendant guards went by one, and rest of the retinue by another. Their grandeur was so considered that, one being dead, the son, on occasion of a long journey, caused a road to be made for himself, larger and wider than that of his predecessor. This was when such a king set out on some conquest, or to achieve something worthy of memory, that it might be said that the road prepared for him was larger than any made before. This is clearly the case, for I have seen three or four roads near Vilcas, and I even lost my way on one, believing that I was on the one which is now in use. These roads are called, one the road of the Ynca Yupanqui, another that of Tupac Ynca; and that which is now used, and always will be hereafter, is that of Huayna Ccapac, reaching to the river Ancasmayu in the north, and to the south far beyond what we now call Chile; so long, indeed, that from one end to the other the distance is over one thousand two hundred leagues.