Note 165 — Chapter XXXV

There are two rivulets which flow through Cuzco, the Huatanay and Tulumayu or Rodadero, coming from either side of the Sacsahuaman hill on which the Ynca fortress was built. The two streams unite beyond the convent of San Domingo, at Pumap-chupan or the “lion’s tail”. Both these streams are confined by walls of cut stone, with stairways descending to the water, and stone bridges, consisting of long slabs at frequent intervals. The houses on the western side of the great square are built over the Huatanay river; but these are modern, and did not exist in the time of the Yncas. Garcilasso de la Vega says that the Huatanay was lined and paved with masonry, the floor being of large flags, and that this masonry work extended for a quarter of a league beyond the city. Although there is very little water in ordinary times, the stream is subject to violent freshes, when the rush of water sometimes injures the masonry. The name is composed of two words, Huata (a year), and Ananay an ejaculation of weariness, indicating the fatigue caused by the yearly necessity for renewing the river banks.

Garcilasso de la Vega mentions other springs which conveyed water to the temple and gardens of the sun, under the Huatanay. He says that, in 1558, a flood tore up the flag-stones in the bed of the river, just over the place where the pipe leading water to the temple was laid down, and broke the pipe itself. The silt then covered the place, concealing the position of the pipe, so that no sign was left of it (i, p. 281).