_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.