Note 448 — Chapter XCII

The ancient city of Cuzco is in lat. 13° 31´ S., and long. 73° 3´ W., at the head of a valley 11,380 feet above the level of the sea. The valley is nine miles long, and from two to three broad, bounded on either side by ranges of bare mountains of considerable elevation. It is covered with fields of barley and lucerne, and, besides many farms and country houses, contains the two small towns of San Sebastian and San Geronimo. On the north side the famous hill of Sacsahuaman rises abruptly over the city, and is divided from the mountains on either side by two deep ravines, through which flow the little rivers of Huatanay and Rodadero. The former stream rushes noisily past the moss-grown walls of the old convent of Santa Teresa, under the houses forming the west side of the great square of Cuzco, down the centre of a broad street, where it is crossed by numerous stone bridges, and eventually unites with the Rodadero. The Huatanay is now but a noisy little mountain torrent confined between banks faced with masonry; but in former times it must have been in the habit of frequently breaking its bounds, as the name implies, which is composed of two words, Huata (a year), and Ananay, an ejaculation of weariness, indicating fatigue from the yearly necessity of renewing its banks. The principal part of the ancient city was built between the two rivers.