that an old city built there was in ruins. Perhaps the
first Inca found on its site nothing but _coscos_, or heaps of ruins.

[Illustration: Fig. 51.--Ancient Peruvian Masonry.]

[Illustration: Fig. 52.--Ruins of "Temple" on the Island of Titicaca.]

[Illustration: Fig. 53.--Ruins on Titicaca Island.]

At Lake Titicaca some of the more important remains are on the islands.
On Titicaca Island are the ruins of a great edifice described as "a
palace or temple." Remains of other structures exist, but their ruins
are old, much older than the time of the Incas. Figures 52 and 53
represent different ruins on the island of Titicaca. They were all built
of hewn stone, and had doors and windows, with posts, sills, and
thresholds of stone, the doorways being narrower above than below. On
the island of Coati there are remarkable ruins. The largest building
here is also described as "a palace or temple," although it may have
been something else. It was not high, but very large in extent. It stood
around three sides of a parallelogram, with some peculiarities of
construction connected with the ends or wings. Making allowance for the
absence of the pyramidal foundations, it has more resemblance to some of
the great constructions in Central America than to any thing peculiar to
the later period of Peruvian architecture. Another ruin on this island
is shown in Figure 54. The antiquities on the islands and shores of this
lake need to be more completely explored and described, and probably
interesting discoveries could be made at some points by means of
well-directed excavations.

[Illustration: Fig. 54.--Ruins on the Island of Coati.]

A few miles from Lake Titicaca, at Tiahuanaco, are ruins which were very
imposing when first seen by the Spaniards in the time of Pizarro. It is
usual to speak of them as the oldest ruins in Peru, which may or may
not be correct. They must, however, be classed with those at the lake.
Not much now remains of the edifices, which were in a very ruinous
condition three hundred and forty years ago. They were described by
Cieca de Leon, who accompanied Pizarro, and also by Diego d'Alcobaca.
Cieca de Leon mentions "great edifices" that were in ruins, "an
artificial hill raised on a groundwork of stone," and "two stone idols
resembling the human figure, and apparently made by skillful
artificers." These "idols" were great statues, ten or twelve feet high.
One of them, which was carried to La Paz in 1842, meas