"It was here that the eighth Inca of Peru erected a building dedicated to the festivals of the people; it was so large that the ancient chronicles say a whole regiment could exercise beneath its roof. In this building the troops of Gonzalez Pizarro barricaded themselves for a battle with the Peruvians, which was to decide the fate of their campaign; it was the last hope of the invaders, who had encountered unexpected resistance, and defeat was equivalent to death.
"The battle was won by the Spaniards, and the Inca power was broken forever. According to a legend sculptured over the doorway, St. James descended from heaven, on a milk-white horse, and took part in the contest for the overthrow of the heathen dominion and the establishment of Christianity in South America.
TERRA-COTTA FIGURES, CUZCO.
"A curious circumstance connected with the antiquities of Peru is the extreme rarity of statues of stone or other material. Some have been found, but not many; in Cuzco there are a few figures in terra cotta and also in stone, but probably not twenty in all. The few that exist are quite rude in character, and not at all comparable to the admirable works of art which abounded in ancient Egypt. Two stone figures representing animals in a sitting posture were taken from the ruins of the Garden of the Sun; they are each about twenty-four inches high, and the shape of the pedestals seems to indicate that they were originally placed on the coping of a wall. If the sculptor made a true representation of his model, it is easy to believe that the animal could walk down his own throat without difficulty.
ANCIENT STONE SCULPTURE, CUZCO.
"Cuzco was defended by a fortress on a high hill just in the rear of the city. The fortress was a remarkable piece of work, and is said to have been built in the twelfth century; it held the same relation to Cuzco that 'The Rock' does to Gibraltar, or the Acropolis did to Athens. It consists of terraces near the summit of the hill, seven hundred and sixty-four feet above the grand square of the city, and of zigzag roads leading from below. All the roads are made so that they can be easily defended; the terraces are three in number, and have a total height of sixty feet.