The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-05-12
which | shall describe later on.

lead. They had copper tools and they
were expert goldsmiths and silver
smiths. They took the wild llamas
n alpacas Of the pampas and tanned
them. They made the llamas their
beasts of burden. and from the wool Of
the alpaca they all sorts Of gar
ments and beautiful blankets. They
made hats and shoes and were skilled
in the dyeing Of fabrics
These Incas. whose ancestors date
back almost to the time of Christ
birth, knew something Of astronomy.
They observed e~Quinoxes and the
eclipseS OF h moon and the sun.
They had a land system and were
skilled in the building OF roads They
knew something OF arithmetic and
made calculations by means of knots
OF strings Of different coloIs. They
had musical instruments like some
that their descendants play upon to-
day and it is said that they had songs
OF loyemaking, n even plays and a
drama
h Incas cultivated first the valley
OF CuzcO. and from there spread their
farms out until they included a vas
part of the high Andes. They swarm
ed over the plateaus, and today you
can see the terraces they made not
only here and there but all through
the wide valley that lies between these
lofty mountains from Ecuador far
down into Peru. They cultivated tens
OF thousands Of square miles on the
high mountain slopes, that have since
gone to waste, but which are marked
by the stone walls they built to hold
In the earth. 1t is on the site of the
ancient capital of this nation that 7
am writing this letter.
me Cuzco Of today is not more than
one-tenth the size it was when Pizarro
first saw it. 1t has now about 20. OO0
and 1T is more like a city of old Spain
built during the days Of Columbus
than the magnificent capital Of Alta
hualpa. h Inca king. The town is
made of one, two and three story
buildings OF stone or adobe covered
with plaster. 1t has roofs OF light
req tiles that sparkles under the blue
SKY and bright sun of the Andes. It's
houses have walls of bright colors:
n are all close to the sidewalks.
running along narrow streets paved
with rough cobbles. The streets are
not more than twenty or thirty feet
wlde, and from above you see nothing
Dut this terra Gotta Of ridged
roofs rising and falling with the
slopes Of the city, and crossed here
and there by streaks Of bright blue
marking the streets.
IaiSn ABOVE the houses, however,
and all over the city rise the domes
ana spires OF the great churches and
converts built by the Spaniards, when
they a grown rich by enslaving the
Indians n taking the vast boards of
silver and gold they found in their
capital. Cuzco has a church for
every thousand Inhabitants, and some
OF them are so magnificent that they
would attract attention in any coun-
IrY or E<nrOno PiOhf ~
OF the town is q beautiful plaza cut
out of what was once the chief cen
tral square of the IncaS. It's area is
now not more than four Or five acres:
put five churches face upon it, includ-
ing the Cathedral Of Cuzco which it
seI1 covers several acres. That build
ing mas a church on one side and inst
across the way is the great structure
OF La Compania, which was built by
Jesults as their c1tief house of wor-
snip. Adjoining this building is the
ola Jesuit convert, a magnificent
structure, where the monks worked
ana taught. This was taken by the
government when it drove the Jesuits
Out, and 1t has been turned into a uni
Versity. The great patio about which
the noly fathers strOlied is now used
as a tennis court, and 1 saw the stu
oents there playing, driving the ball
over the net, when l passed through.
Another great church is La MERGED.
whose interior is one mass Of caryine
nciuolnS futer stone columns, and a
ceiling Of cedar in panels, exouisitely
oone. Here my guide was a young
priest, whom | photographed in the
coasters. And then there are the
cnurch OF SAINT Domingo that stands
on the foundation Of the old Temple
OF the Sun of the Incas and that of
San francisco, whose choir is a mass
OF rich carving. The little Chapel Of
san Bla has the finest wood pulpit
known in the world. 1t is one mass
OF arriving done by the descendants of
the meas, and is so beautiful that
$4,000 was recently offered for If
The Cathedral of Cuzco is perhans
the richest of all Catholic churches
on the South American continent. It
is a vast museum of carvings plated
with gold of wonderful paintings some
OF which were made by the old mast
ers and of chapels whose affairs are
solid silver, and whose is
plated with gold. Some Of the paint
ihgs are forty feet high and twenty
foot u-ido np3 th1~o &C,