The Town Of
Guamanga Is About Eighty Leagues From The City Of Cuzco; The Road Between
Being Exceedingly Difficult, As It Goes Over High And Precipitous
Mountains, And Through Very Dangerous Passes.
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the kings of Peru resided in the city
of Cuzco, whence they governed the whole of this great country of which I
have endeavoured to give some account, and which will be more particularly
treated of in the sequel of this history.
This city served as the common
centre for all the chiefs or caciques of this vast kingdom, to which they
resorted from all quarters, to pay their tributes to the king, and to
obtain justice in case of disputes among each other. At that time Cuzco
was the only place in all Peru that had the least resemblance to a city.
It had even a strong fortress, built of such enormous dressed stones, that
it was very wonderful to conceive in what manner the Indians had been able
to transport such vast masses of stone without the aid of any animals of
draught. In fact some of these are so large that they would have required
ten yokes of oxen to have dragged them along on a fit carriage. The houses
which are now inhabited by the Spaniards are the same which were formerly
occupied by the Indians; some of which houses have been merely repaired
and others enlarged by their present possessors. This city was formerly
divided into four quarters, corresponding to the four cardinal points; and
by orders of the _Incas_, or sovereigns of Peru, all those natives who
came to the capital were obliged to lodge in the particular quarter which
was towards the direction of the province from whence they came, under
severe penalties.
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