Evening star., 1923-07-08
BY HIRAM BINGHAM,
Professor of Latin American History
Of Yale University.

Professor of Latin American History
Of Yale University.
TCCZCO, the ancient capital of
~ the mighty empire of the
~ Incas. | was urged by the
4 n Peruvian authorities to visit
some newly re-discovered Inca ruins.
These ruins were at Choqquequirau,
on top of a jungle-covered ridge
several thousand feet above the roar
ing rapids of the great Apurimac.
While later, as a result Of this in
vitation, Clarence L. Hay and l stood
On the slopes of Choqquequirau. the
clouds would occasionally break
away and give us tantalizing glimpses
of snow-covered mountains. There
seemed to us to be still another un-
known region, behind the ranges"
which might contain great possibili-
ties. Our guides could tell us nothing
about it. Little was to be found in
books. Perhaps the Inca Manco's
capital was hidden there.
For months afterward the fascina-
tion of the unknown drew my
thoughts to Choqquequirau and be-
yond In the words of Kipling's 8
Explorer:
"s . voice. bad conscience, rang
interminabe changes
On everlasting whisper day and night
ted-so
''Eomething hidden. Go and find it. Go and
look behind the ranges
Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and
waiting for you. Co. "
To add to my unrest. I read Ban
delicr's volume, "Titicaca and Koati,"
which had just appeared. In one of
the interesting footnotes was this
startling remark: 1t is much to be
desired that the elevation of the most
prominent peaks of the western or
coast range of Peru be accurately de-
termined. 1t Is likely that
Coropuna. in the Peruvian coast range
of the Department Arequipa, Is the
eliminating point of the continent. 1t
exceeds $4,000 feet in height. whereas
Aconcagua Conceded to be the high
est peak in the western hemisphere
Is but 22.763 feet above sea level"
His estimate was based on survey
made by the civil engineers of the
Southern Railroads of Peru, using a
section of the railroad as base.
My sensations when I read this are
difficult to describe. Although l had
been studying South American history
and geography for more than ten
years, l did not remember ever to
have heard of coropuna. On most
maps it did not exist. Fortunately,
on one of the sheets of Raimondi's
large-scale map of Peru, 1 finally
found "Coropuna - 6,949 m.''-nine
meters higher than Aconcagua.
T OOk1NG up and down the seventy
IL third meridian on the map, which
ran close to Coropuna, as 1T crossed
Peru from the Amazon valley to the
Pacific ocean, 1 saw that it passed
very near Choqquequirau, and actu-
ally traversed those very lands be
hind the ranges" which had been
beckoning to me. The coincidence
was intriguing. The desire to go and
find that something hidden" was
now re-enforced by the temptation to
go and see whether Coropuna really
was the highest mountain in America.
There followed the organization of
an expedition whose objective was a
geographical reconnaissance of Peru
Of canoe navigation on the Urubamba
to tidewater on the Pacific. We
achieved more in some directions than
We expected.
The prefect of Arequipa obligingIy
offered US military escort in the
person of Corp. Gamarra, a full
6looded Indian Of rather more than
average height and considerably more
than average courage, who knew the
country. However. had he suspected
the trials that were before him on
Mount Coropuna, he probably would
have begged off-but / am anticipat-
ing.
The desert plateau above Chuqui-
bamba is nearly $500 feet higher than
the town, and it was 9 o'clock in the
morning Of the ninth day after our
start before we got out of the valley.
Thereafter Coropuna was always in
sight. and as we slowly approached it
we studied it with care. Coropuna is
really "a range about twenty miles
long. Its gigantic massif was COW
cred with snow fields from one end
to the other.
cred slopes, however, lay more than
twenty miles of volcanic desert inter-
sected by deep canyons. The altitude
of the rim of the canyons was 10000
feet; the mules showed signs of acute
distress from mountain sickness
No bearers or carriers were to be
obtained at some Indian huts on the
slope of the mountain as we had
hoped, and 1t was essential to per-
suade the muleteers to take their
pack animals up as far as the snow,
feat they declined to do. However,
after a long argument, they agreed
10 go as far as there was a good
apath, and no farther.
We could easily walk faster than
the loaded mules, and thought it best
TO avoid trouble by keeping far
enough ahead so as not to hear the
nrrieros' (muNteers) constant COM
plants. After an hour Of not very
hard climbing, they not only stopped