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Figure

The Best Inca Wall at Maucallacta, near Paccaritampu
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Figure

The Caves of Puma Urco, near Paccaritampu
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The Spaniards who asked about Tampu-tocco were told that it was at or near Paccaritampu, a small town eight or ten miles south of Cuzco.  I learned that ruins are very scarce in its vicinity.  There are none in the town.  The most important are the ruins of Maucallacta, an Inca village, a few miles away.  Near it I found a rocky hill consisting of several crags and large rocks, the surface of one of which is carved into platforms and two sleeping pumas.  It is called Puma Urco.  Beneath the rocks are some caves.  I was told they had recently been used by political refugees.  There is enough about the caves and the characteristics of the ruins near Paccaritampu to lend color to the story told to the early Spaniards.  Nevertheless, it would seem as if Tampu-tocco must have been a place more remote from Cuzco and better defended by Nature from any attacks on that side.  How else would it have been possible for the disorganized remnant of Pachacuti VI’s army to have taken refuge there and set up an independent kingdom in the face of the warlike invaders from the south?  A few men might have hid in the caves of Puma Urco, but Paccaritampu is not a natural citadel.

The surrounding region is not difficult of access.  There are no precipices between here and the Cuzco Basin.  There are no natural defenses against such an invading force as captured the capital of the Amautas.  Furthermore, tampu means “a place of temporary abode,” or “a tavern,” or “an improved piece of ground” or “farm far from a town”; tocco means “window.”  There is an old tavern at Maucallacta near Paccaritampu, but there are no windows in the building to justify the name of “window tavern” or “place of temporary abode” (or “farm far from a town”) “noted for its windows.”  There is nothing of a “masonry wall with three windows” corresponding to Salcamayhua’s description of Manco Ccapac’s memorial at his birthplace.  The word “Tampu-tocco” does not occur on any map I have been able to consult, nor is it in the exhaustive gazetteer of Peru compiled by Paz Soldan.

CHAPTER XVII

Machu Picchu

It was in July, 1911, that we first entered that marvelous canyon of the Urubamba, where the river escapes from the cold regions near Cuzco by tearing its way through gigantic mountains of granite.  From Torontoy to Colpani the road runs through a land of matchless charm.  It has the majestic grandeur of the Canadian Rockies, as well as the startling beauty of the Nuuanu Pali near Honolulu, and the enchanting vistas of the Koolau Ditch Trail on Maul.  In the variety of its charms and the power of its spell, I know of no place in the world which can compare with it.  Not only has it great snow peaks looming above the