which became separated from the ocean as the Andes rose. The
fact that the lake fishes are fresh-water, rather than marine, forms
does not bother him. Senor Posnansky pins his faith to a small dried
seahorse once given him by a Titicaca fisherman. He seems to forget
that dried specimens of marine life, including starfish, are frequently
offered for sale in the Andes by the dealers in primitive medicines who
may be found in almost every market-place. Probably Senor Posnansky's
seahorse was brought from the ocean by some particularly enterprising
trader. Although starfish are common enough in the Andes and a seahorse
has actually found its resting-place in La Paz, this does not alter the
fact that scientific investigators have never found any strictly marine
fauna in Lake Titicaca. On the other hand, it has two or three kinds
of edible fresh-water fish. One of them belongs to a species found in
the Rimac River near Lima. It seems to me entirely possible that the
Incas, with their scorn of the difficulties of carrying heavy burdens
over seemingly impossible trails, might have deliberately transplanted
the desirable fresh-water fishes of the Rimac River to Lake Titicaca.

Polo de Ondegardo, who lived in Cuzco in 1560, says that the Incas
used to bring fresh fish from the sea by special runners, and that
"they have records in their quipus of the fish having been brought
from Tumbez, a distance of more than three hundred leagues." The
actual transference of water jars containing the fish would have
offered no serious obstacle whatever to the Incas, provided the idea
happened to appeal to them as desirable. Yet I may be as far wrong
as Senor Posnansky! At any rate, the romantic stories of a gigantic
inland sea, vastly more extensive than the present lake and actually
surrounding the ancient city of Tiahuanaco, must be treated with
respectful skepticism.

Tiahuanaco, at the southern end of Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia,
is famous for the remains of a pre-Inca civilization. Unique among
prehistoric remains in the highlands of Peru or Bolivia are its carved
monolithic images. Although they have suffered from weathering and
from vandalism, enough remains to show that they represent clothed
human figures. The richly decorated girdles and long tunics are
carved in low relief with an intricate pattern. While some of
the designs are undoubtedly symbolic of the rank, achievements,
or attributes of the divinities or chiefs here portrayed,