This article about the Inca is a few pages from a book that was published in 1898. The article is quite concise and it is very informative for as short as it is. In addition to information about the Inca there is information about astonishingly mysterious ruins that long predate the Incan civilization. Who in the world built that stuff, and how in the world did they do it? —fadedpages.com

The most remarkable, as well as one of the most lofty plateaus that has been occupied by man is known as the Puna or Altos of Peru. It extends through a great part of the length of Peru and Bolivia at a height of 10,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level. It is that cold and rugged region which forms the broad summit of the Cordillera. It has the aspect of an irregular plain and is diversified with mountain ridges and snowy volcanic peaks, imposing in their proportions.

In this vast, elevated region there is nothing else which possesses such deep human interest as Lake Titicaca, for in it is embosomed the sacred island, to which the Incas traced their origin, and which to this day is to their descendants all that Jerusalem and Mecca are to Christians and Mohammedans. This beautiful body of fresh water is at an elevation of 12,864 feet above the sea, higher than any point in Europe except the ten loftiest peaks of the Alps. It is 120 miles long, and from fifty to sixty miles wide. Though the temperature falls quite low, the lake never freezes over, but ice forms along its shores. In the winter months the temperature of the lake is usually ten or twelve degrees higher than that of the atmosphere.

The largest island in this lake is the sacred island of Titicaca, bare and rocky, about six miles long and five miles broad. Tradition tells us that here Manco Capac and Mama Oella, at once his wife and sister, who were both children of the sun, and messengers of that luminary, started on their errand to civilize the barbarous tribes which then occupied the country. Manco Capac was directed to travel northward until he should reach a spot where his golden staff would sink into the ground of its own accord, and there he was to fix the seat of his empire. In obedience to these directions he traveled slowly along the western shore of Lake Titicaca, through the barren Puna lands, until he reached the Vilcanota River, one of the principal branches of the Amazon, when he descended its valley, and, after a journey of three hundred miles, his golden staff sank into the ground upon the spot where the city of Cuzco now stands. Here he fixed his seat of empire, and here arose the city of the sun, the capital of the Inca Empire, which in time spread over a length of thirty-seven degrees of latitude, and in breadth from the eastern base of the Andes westward to where the Pacific beats against the deeply planted feet of the Cordilleras.

So runs the legend; but there are mythical ideas incorporated into the traditions respecting Manco Capac. We find his counterpart in the Fohi of the Chinese, the Buddha of the Hindus, the Osiris of Egypt, the Odin of Scandinavia, the Jatzacoal of Mexico, and the Votan of Central America. Still, there can be no doubt that he is a real historical character, to whom, however, have been attributed many of the achievements of those who preceded him, and perhaps of some who followed him. The time when he lived is altogether uncertain. Some, studying the quipus, or knotted cords, which are the only records of ancient Peruvian history, place his advent back to within five centuries after the deluge. But the best authorities give the date approximately at about four centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards under Pizarro, or about 1000, A. D., the period when all Christendom was hurling itself in crusades upon the Holy Land.

This civilization, in some respects one of the most remarkable which the world has ever seen, had its origin in the lofty table-land of the Puna, which we are now considering; and far and wide as the reign of the Incas subsequently extended, they and their subjects always retained their reverence for the little rocky islet in Lake Titicaca. At the northern end of the island is a frayed and water-worn mass of red sandstone, about two hundred and twenty-five feet long and twenty-five feet high. This is the sacred rock of Manco Capac, the most holy spot in all Peru. Upon it, as was believed, no bird would alight, no animal venture, and upon which no human being not of royal blood dared set his foot. From this rock the sun first rose to dispel the primal vapors and illuminate the world. It was, so runs the legend, planted all over with gold and silver, and, except upon the most solemn occasions, covered with a veil of cloth of costly material and gorgeous colors. The gold and silver, as well as the gorgeous covering, have long since disappeared, and what is now seen is only a bare rock, on the crest of the island, which rises 2000 feet above the waters of the lake. Yet even now, when the Indian guides come within sight of it they raise their hats, bow reverently, and mutter words of mystic import, which they themselves most likely do not understand. In front of the rock is a level artificial terrace, 372 feet long and 125 feet broad, supported by a low stone wall. According to tradition the soil which once covered this terrace was carried upon the backs of men from the distant valleys of the Amazon, so that it might nourish a vegetation denied by the hard, ungrateful soil of the island.

Everywhere on the holy island are the ruins of Inca structures, and the sites of the most sacred spots are still shown. Here is the sheltered bay where the Incas landed when they came to visit the spot consecrated to the sun. Half-way up the ascent are the "footprints" of the great Inca, Tupanqui, marking the place where he stood, when, catching his first view of the hallowed rock, he removed the imperial covering from his head in token of adoration of the divinity whose shrine rose before him. These so-called footprints bear strong resemblance to the impressions of a gigantic foot, thirty-six inches long and of proportionate breadth. Their outline is formed by hard ferruginous veins around which the softer rock has been worn away, leaving them in relief.

The Fountain of the Incas is situated in a sheltered nook, surrounded with terraces upon which grow patches of maize with ears not longer than one's finger. The bath is a pool forty feet long, ten wide, and five deep, built of worked stones. Into this pour four jets of water, as large as a man's arm, from openings cut in the stones behind. The water comes through subterranean passages from sources now unknown, and never diminishes in volume. It flows to-day as freely as when the Incas resorted here and cut the deep hillsides into terraces, bringing the earth all the way from the valley of Yucay, or "Vale of Imperial Delights," four hundred miles distant. Over the walls droop the tendrils of vines; and what with the odors, and the tinkle and patter of the water one might imagine himself in the court of the Alhambra.

Besides the sacred island of Titicaca, there are eight smaller ones in the lake. Soto was the isle of Penitence, where the Incas were wont to resort for fasting and humiliation. Coati was sacred to the moon, the wife and sister of the sun, and on it is the palace of the Virgins of the Sun, one of the most remarkable and best preserved remains of aboriginal architecture on the continent of America.

Pizarro in the court of the Inca.

At Tihuanico, on the border of the lake, are immense ruins which clearly antedate the time of the Incas. They were ruins when the Spaniards made their appearance, and the natives could give no account of them. They supposed that they were built by divine architects in a single night. Cieza de Leon, one of the companions of Pizarro, writes of them: "What most surprised me was that the enormous gateways were formed on other great masses of stone, some of which were thirty feet long, fifteen wide, and six thick. I cannot conceive with what tools or instruments these stones were hewn out, for they must have been vastly larger than we now see them. It is supposed that some of these structures were built long before the dominion of the Incas; and I have heard the Indians affirm that these sovereigns constructed their great building at Cuzco after the plans of the walls of Tihuanico." The most remarkable thing in these ruins are the great doorways of a single block of stone. The largest of these is ten feet high and thirteen broad, the opening cut through it being six feet four inches high, and three feet two inches wide. The whole neighborhood is strewn with immense blocks of stone elaborately wrought, equaling if not surpassing in size any known to exist in Egypt, India, or any part of the world. Some of these are thirty feet long, eighteen broad, and six thick.

All these gigantic remains of a past civilization are found in the lofty table-land of the Puna. When these come to be fully described and illustrated, it will be seen that here, in a climate so cold that hardly a vegetable will grow, were planted the seeds of a civilization as remarkable as any which ever existed, But more wonderful, perhaps, than these great architectural works, were the great military roads constructed by the Incas. One reached from Cuzco down to the ocean. Another stretched from the capital, along the very crest of the Cordilleras, and down their ravines, to Quito, 1200 miles distant. The length of these great roads, including branches, was not less than 3000 miles. Modern travelers compare them with the best in the world. They were from eighteen to twenty-five feet broad, paved with immense blocks of stone, sometimes covered with asphaltum. In ascending steep mountains, broad steps were cut in the rock; ravines were filled with heavy embankments flanked with parapets, and, wherever the climate permitted, lined with shade trees and shrubs, with houses at regular distances for the accommodation of travelers, and specially serving as post-stations. For there was a regular postal service by which the Incas could send messages from one extremity of their dominion to the other. This service was performed by runners; for the Peruvians had no beasts of burden stronger or swifter than the llama. These messengers were trained to great speed. On approaching a station they gave a loud shout to warn the next courier of their approach, so that he might be ready to take the message or parcel without delay. In this manner it is said that dispatches were sent at the rate of 150 miles a day, a speed unequaled until within our own times, when the railway and the telegraph have brought the ends of the world almost together.

Warning - This information has been transcribed from a source that is well over 100 years old. It may be incorrect or outdated in some cases. It is also possible that errors were made during the transcription process. This information is being made available for entertainment purposes only.