[107] This reference to windows is important. At the outset we must remind ourselves that Sancho may have confused windows and niches. It is entirely possible, however, that windows may formerly have been present in those walls of Sacsahuaman. As is well known, windows and niches were distinguishing features of Inca architecture during the later period of that dynasty. Sites like Pissac, Limatambo, Yucay, Quente, Vilcabamba (alias Machu Pichu, a post-conquest site in part), and Huaman-marca in the Amaybamba Valley all present one or both of these features, and all present unmistakable signs of recent construction, say from the reign of Viracocha (circa 1425-50) onward. The importance of this mention of windows (or niches) lies in this: It gives strong evidence in support of my belief that the walls of Sacsahuaman which are toward Cuzco were of Inca construction. Garcilasso (II, pp. 305 ff.) attempts to give the credit for the whole of Sacsahuaman to Inca Yupanqui, and ignores the fact that the cyclopean walls on the north side of the hill undoubtedly date, as do "the seats of the Inca" close at hand, from the days of Tiahuanaco. When we see the statement made that the fortress of Sacsahuaman was of Inca construction we must remember that really only the southern walls and a few buildings behind them were built under the Incas.
[108] That is, the joints do not come above one another, but are alternated, as in brick-work.
[109] There are really six walls on the south and three on the north. Cf. Garcilasso, II, 305.
[110] This is a poor attempt to describe the entrant and re-entrant angles that make the cyclopean walls so remarkable from a military point of view. See the plan by Squier and Davis, Garcilasso, II, p. 305.
[111] Orejon, lit. "large-ear"; i.e. a member of the Inca clan privileged to distend his ears by means of ear-plugs. This myth of the founding of Cuzco by a man from the sea is not found elsewhere.
[112] Llamas.
[113] Titicaca.
[114] Cobo describes the Temple of the Sun on Titicaca and that of the Moon on Coati as being, together, the third most important sanctuary in the Inca dominion. The other two, of course, were the temples in Cuzco and Pachacamac. For a detailed description of the temples in Lake Titicaca see Cobo, IV, pp. 54-63 and Bandelier, 1910. The structures at that point are all of late-Inca construction and seem to have been built after the Inca conceived the idea of making himself out to be the "Son of the Sun." They were perhaps built with a view to lending colour to the myth.
[115] Correctly, Chuqui-apu.
[116] The original una seriola is a word whose meaning I have not been able to find. It is found again a little below. The method the Indians had for washing the earth and getting the gold can be seen in Oviedo, Historia General de las Indias, Parte I, lib. 6, Cap. 8.—Note by Icazbalceta.