e, but supposed that it was an isolated tower of no great
interest or importance. Their neighbor, Lizarraga, near the bridge
of San Miguel, had reported the presence of the ruins which he first
visited in 1904, but, like our friends in Cuzco, they had paid little
attention to his stories. We were soon to have a demonstration of
the causes of such skepticism.

Our new friends read with interest my copy of those paragraphs of
Calaucha's "Chronicle" which referred to the location of the last Inca
capital. Learning that we were anxious to discover Uiticos, a place of
which they had never heard, they ordered the most intelligent tenants
on the estate to come in and be questioned. The best informed of all
was a sturdy mestizo, a trusted foreman, who said that in a little
valley called Ccllumayu, a few hours' journey down the Urubamba, there
were "important ruins" which had been seen by some of Senora Carmen's
Indians. Even more interesting and thrilling was his statement that on
a ridge up the Salcantay Valley was a place called Yurak Rumi (yurak =
"white"; rumi = "stone") where some very interesting ruins had been
found by his workmen when cutting trees for firewood. We all became
excited over this, for among the paragraphs which I had copied from
Calancha's "Chronicle" was the statement that "close to Uiticos" is the
"white stone of the aforesaid house of the Sun which is called Yurak
Rumi." Our hosts assured us that this must be the place, since no
one hereabouts had ever heard of any other Yurak Rumi. The foreman,
on being closely questioned, said that he had seen the ruins once or
twice, that he had also been up the Urubamba Valley and seen the great
ruins at Ollantaytambo, and that those which he had seen at Yurak Rumi
were "as good as those at Ollantaytambo." Here was a definite statement
made by an eyewitness. Apparently we were about to see that interesting
rock where the last Incas worshiped. However, the foreman said that
the trail thither was at present impassable, although a small gang of
Indians could open it in less than a week. Our hosts, excited by the
pictures we had shown them of Machu Picchu, and now believing that
even finer ruins might be found on their own property, immediately
gave orders to have the path to Yurak Rumi cleared for our benefit.

While this was being done, Senora Carmen's son, the manager of the
plantation, offered to accompany us himself to Ccllumayu, where other
"important ruins" had