Read Online Lost City of the Incas (Phoenix Press) by Hiram Bingham - Free Book Online
Authors: Hiram Bingham
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dispatch from the capital of the empire to distant magistrates. It is said that fresh fish caught in the Pacific Ocean were brought over the mountains by the special messengers of the Inca Emperor and reached his table in excellent condition. Post houses were provided at convenient intervals so that before a runner’s strength was exhausted his message could be picked up and carried forward with the least possible delay. Furthermore the runners were permitted to chew coca leaves as a stimulant.
The Incas had never acquired the art of writing, but they had developed an elaborate system of knotted cords called
quipus
.These were made of the wool of the alpaca or the llama, and dyed in various colours, the significance of which was known to the magistrates. The cords were knotted in such a way as to represent the decimal system and were fastened at close intervals along the principal strand of the
quipu
. Thus an important message relating to the progress of crops, the amount of taxes collected, or the advance of an enemy could be speedily sent by the trained runners along the post roads.
Caravans of llamas carrying supplies could proceed safely, if slowly, over the most mountainous country.
Tambos
, or resthouses, as well as storehouses, were built wherever it was likely that those who travelled on the Inca’s business – and there were no other travellers – would need suitable accommodation and supplies. The storehouses were large enough to provide for companies of soldiers as well as llama drivers.
The roads were carried across rivers on suspension bridges made by braiding together countless strands of lianas, the ropelike vines found frequently in the jungles of the Amazon basin. Using huge cables of remarkable thickness, the Inca engineers were able to construct bridges 200 or 300 feet in length whenever it was necessary. These bridges, of course, sagged in the middle, swayed in the wind, and were not at all pleasant to use. Furthermore, they could be destroyed easily, but the death penalty awaited anyone found guilty of such an act. Had they not been so highly regarded or had the Incas had the foresight to destroy them when Pizarro and his conquistadors started to enter the Central Andes, the conquest of Peru would have been extremely difficult, if not well-nigh impossible.
IRRIGATION
No less striking than the remarkable system of highways were the irrigation ditches, which ran for scores of miles in the Central Andes. The height of the mountains, often rising to 18,000 or 20,000 feet, forces the moisture-laden winds coming from the east across the humid basin of the Amazon to deposit their burden in heavy rains on the eastern slopes of the greatAndean chain. Little rain falls on the western slopes. In fact, one of the greatest deserts in the world is the 2,000-mile coastal strip extending from central Chile to Ecuador.
The soil in the bottom of the valleys that cross this region is rich enough to grow luxuriant crops of sugar cane, cotton, and corn, but it needs to be regularly irrigated in order to do so. For this purpose the rivers, fed by melting snow in the high Andes, are deflected into irrigation ditches which follow the contours of the valleys for many miles. Inca engineers must have had good eyes and a fine sense of grading since they had none of the instruments on which our engineers depend to lay out similar projects. Imagine running a perfect contour for twenty miles!
Not only did the Incas provide their fields with necessary water, they also saw to it that their towns and cities had adequate supplies and for that purpose built fine aqueducts.
AGRICULTURE
To the Incas the art of agriculture was of supreme interest. They carried it to a remarkable extreme, attaching more importance to it than we do today. They not only developed many different plants for food and medicinal purposes, but they understood thoroughly the cultivation of the soil, the art of proper drainage, correct methods of irrigation,
The Incas had never acquired the art of writing, but they had developed an elaborate system of knotted cords called
quipus
.These were made of the wool of the alpaca or the llama, and dyed in various colours, the significance of which was known to the magistrates. The cords were knotted in such a way as to represent the decimal system and were fastened at close intervals along the principal strand of the
quipu
. Thus an important message relating to the progress of crops, the amount of taxes collected, or the advance of an enemy could be speedily sent by the trained runners along the post roads.
Caravans of llamas carrying supplies could proceed safely, if slowly, over the most mountainous country.
Tambos
, or resthouses, as well as storehouses, were built wherever it was likely that those who travelled on the Inca’s business – and there were no other travellers – would need suitable accommodation and supplies. The storehouses were large enough to provide for companies of soldiers as well as llama drivers.
The roads were carried across rivers on suspension bridges made by braiding together countless strands of lianas, the ropelike vines found frequently in the jungles of the Amazon basin. Using huge cables of remarkable thickness, the Inca engineers were able to construct bridges 200 or 300 feet in length whenever it was necessary. These bridges, of course, sagged in the middle, swayed in the wind, and were not at all pleasant to use. Furthermore, they could be destroyed easily, but the death penalty awaited anyone found guilty of such an act. Had they not been so highly regarded or had the Incas had the foresight to destroy them when Pizarro and his conquistadors started to enter the Central Andes, the conquest of Peru would have been extremely difficult, if not well-nigh impossible.
IRRIGATION
No less striking than the remarkable system of highways were the irrigation ditches, which ran for scores of miles in the Central Andes. The height of the mountains, often rising to 18,000 or 20,000 feet, forces the moisture-laden winds coming from the east across the humid basin of the Amazon to deposit their burden in heavy rains on the eastern slopes of the greatAndean chain. Little rain falls on the western slopes. In fact, one of the greatest deserts in the world is the 2,000-mile coastal strip extending from central Chile to Ecuador.
The soil in the bottom of the valleys that cross this region is rich enough to grow luxuriant crops of sugar cane, cotton, and corn, but it needs to be regularly irrigated in order to do so. For this purpose the rivers, fed by melting snow in the high Andes, are deflected into irrigation ditches which follow the contours of the valleys for many miles. Inca engineers must have had good eyes and a fine sense of grading since they had none of the instruments on which our engineers depend to lay out similar projects. Imagine running a perfect contour for twenty miles!
Not only did the Incas provide their fields with necessary water, they also saw to it that their towns and cities had adequate supplies and for that purpose built fine aqueducts.
AGRICULTURE
To the Incas the art of agriculture was of supreme interest. They carried it to a remarkable extreme, attaching more importance to it than we do today. They not only developed many different plants for food and medicinal purposes, but they understood thoroughly the cultivation of the soil, the art of proper drainage, correct methods of irrigation,
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