ace of considerable
importance, but at present it is probably most noted for the famous
ruins located near it. Several of the fertile coast valleys that we have
previously described, here unite; consequently this was a place of
great importance to the coast tribes. The ruins here are among the most
remarkable in Peru. The road from Huanchaco to Truxillo passes directly
through the field of ruins.

Illustration of Palace.------------------

Mr. Squier tells us that the ruins "consist of a wilderness of walls,
forming great inclosures, each containing a labyrinth of ruined
dwellings and other edifices." As our space is limited, we will describe
but one of these inclosed spaces. This is a view of what is usually
called a palace, but this certainly is an absurd name. The inclosure
contains some thirty-two acres; the walls surrounding it are double, and
sufficiently heavy to resist field artillery. At the base the walls,
in some cases, are fifteen feet thick, gradually diminishing toward the
top, where they are not more than three feet thick. They vary in height,
the highest ranging from thirty to forty feet high. In order to give
a clear idea of these walls, we introduce this cut, which gives us a
section of the walls. The materials of which they are built is adobe.

Illustration of Section of Palace Wall.--------------

Within this inclosure we notice three open places, or courts, a number
of smaller cross-walls dividing the remaining space into a number of
small courts. Around each of these courts, generally on three sides, are
the ruins of houses. All in the interior of the large inclosures is
so far gone in ruins that we can with difficulty make out the plan.
Inclosures, such as we have described here, are the principal features
of the Chimu ruins. Mr. Squier speaks of one three or four times
the size of this one. With our present knowledge we are justified in
concluding that Chimu was the head-quarters of a powerful tribe. We are
surely justified in assuming further that each of these great inclosed
squares, containing upwards of thirty, forty, and even fifty acres, was
the home of a gens--their fortified place.

Of the houses, Mr. Squier says: "Around each court the dwellings of the
ancient inhabitants are grouped with the utmost regularity.... Some
are small, as if for watchmen or people on guard; others are relatively
spacious, reaching the dimensions of twenty-five by fifteen feet inside
the walls. The