Guaqui, the Port for La Paz on Lake Titicaca.
Their stone axes and other implements were of extraordinary interest—their rectangularly-shaped stone knives, the star- and cross-shaped heads for their war clubs, as well as the star-shaped weights which they used for offensive purposes, attached, perhaps, to a sling. Many were the weapons of offence made of stone which have been found near Cuzco, some of which were used by holding in the hand, others attached to sticks.
The Incas were fairly good sculptors, not only in stone but also in moulding human figures and animals in silver and gold. Llamas, deer, long-nosed human-faced idols were represented by them with fidelity of detail, although perhaps not so much accuracy in the general proportions. At a later date the Incas used metal implements, such as small rakes and chisels for smoothing rock. They made hair-pins and ear-rings, chiefly of a mixture of gold, silver, lead and copper.
I saw at Cuzco a stone arrangement which was used by the Incas for washing and milling gold. Many ornaments of silex, agate and emerald, and also of coral, which had evidently been brought there from the coast, have also been found near Cuzco.
The spoons and knives which the Incas used were generally made of gold, with representations of heads attached to them. The average length of these articles was from two to four inches.
I left the city on Friday, February 16th, going back the way I had come as far as the junction of Juliaca.
The Cuzco railway, to my mind, crosses the most beautiful and most interesting scenery of any railway I have ever seen. It is a pity that more English people do not travel by it. The great elevation makes people suffer from mountain-sickness, and that perhaps deters many travellers from attempting the journey. The railway has to contend with great natural difficulties—land-slides, which often stop traffic for days at a time, being frequent.