the time of the visit of the American archæologist, E. G. Squier, who spent some time here, and whose account of the ruins in his book on Peru is one of the most complete and satisfactory that we possess. Unfortunately, his drawings give an erroneous impression of the size of many of the monuments which are not so large as he has represented them.

Squier saw no subterranean vaults or passages, but we were more fortunate, for only a short time previous to our visit, thanks to the activity of Mr. John Pierce Hope of La Paz, who has taken a great interest in the work of exploration, a small vault was discovered and we were able to enter and examine it. It is about six feet square and the same in depth and is made of beautifully cut stones, accurately fitted together. Nothing of value was found in the vault and it is probably one of those to which Von Tschudi, who was here before Squier’s visit, refers. The winds that blow over these sandy plains will soon fill the vault and cover it up again and leave it to be rediscovered by some future traveller.

The largest monolithic doorway, now broken, is covered with figures not unlike some of the Central American monuments. It is very different from anything else here or in Cuzco. The story goes, that when the Spaniards first arrived, it was lying on its side, and there appears to be no record to show who raised it nor when the crack developed which led finally to the door breaking into two parts. The southern and larger half has lost its balance and will soon be lying on the ground. By a curious coincidence, Mr. Barbour, who made a careful photograph of the carvings on this doorway, afterwards secured from a grave near Pachacamac in the vicinity of Lima, a textile that was decorated with a similar pattern.

After examining the ruins, we spent an hour or more in the village itself where we were struck by the great number of finely cut stones inserted into the walls of the huts and used as paving in the streets. The church on the plaza is built entirely of blocks brought from the ruins. It has a fence or wall in front composed of a row of arches that reminded me of Potosí and Bartolo. The exterior of the church gives no evidence of the extraordinary magnificence within, which is quite in keeping with the ancient importance of this little village. Here we found religious paintings, some of them very good, elaborate gilded carvings, and an altar built of pure silver, beautifully worked.

La Paz has two or three remarkable collections of antiquities which consist largely of material brought from Tiahuanaco. Perhaps the best is in the National Museum, which owes its existence to the enlightened patriotism of Sr. Don Manuel Vicente Ballivian, a descendant of one of the most distinguished Bolivian families, and the leading antiquarian in the republic.

Of the ancient Tiahuanaco, there is comparatively little left now. Not only did the Spaniards use cartloads of it in building the churches of La Paz and Guaqui, but the modern Guaqui-to-La Paz railroad has taken away within the past ten years more than five hundred trainloads of stone for building its bridges and warehouses. From the point of view of the railroad manager, whose business it is to secure lasting results with the greatest possible economy, it must have seemed a most fortunate circumstance that within a few rods of his tracks there should be such a quantity of nicely cut stone, and “a lot of old stone walls,” all ready to use! O tempora! O mores!

CHAPTER XIX
CUZCO

We left La Paz on January 26, 1909, at 8.30 A.M. When we reached Guaqui we found that our steamer was to be the old Yavarí that we had before. She was late in arriving from Puno; the afternoon was spent in unloading her cargo; and we did not sail until eight o’clock that evening.

The night was wet and chilly. Thunder-storms and squalls made the lake quite rough and we had the usual discomforts. The storm and the late start kept us from reaching Puno before 11 A.M. The regular train had gone, but a special was made up for the convenience of the Arequipa passengers and we reached Juliaca at one o’clock. Here I bade the last of the delegados farewell and asked for the train for Cuzco. “It had left several hours before and the next train was due to leave day after to-morrow!”

Thanks to the courtesy of the railway officials, however, a special train, consisting of half a dozen freight cars and a small passenger coach, was made up to take me as far as Checcacupe.