possessed before European
civilisation found its way to that quarter of the world. Even those who
are unacquainted with the wise dominion of the ancient Peruvian
sovereigns, their comprehensive laws, and the high civilisation they
diffused over the whole country, must by this gigantic work be impressed
with the highest idea of the cultivation of the age; for
well-constructed roads may always be regarded as proofs of a nation's
advancement. There is not in Peru at the present time any modern road
in the most remote degree comparable to the Incas' highway. The best
preserved fragments which came under my observation were in the
Altos, between Jauja and Tarma. Judging from these portions, it would
appear that the road must have been from twenty-five to thirty feet
broad, and that it was paved with large flat stones. At intervals of
about twelve paces distant one from another there is a row of smaller
stones, laid horizontally and a little elevated, so that the road
ascended, as it were, by a succession of terraces. It was edged on
each side by a low wall of small stones.

Other remains of ancient Peru, frequently met with in these parts, are
small buildings, formerly used as stations for the messengers who
promulgated the commands of the Incas through all parts of the country.
Some of these buildings are still in a tolerably good state of
preservation. They were always erected on little hillocks, and at such
distances apart, that from each station the nearest one on either side
was discernible. When a messenger was despatched from a station a signal
was hoisted, and a messenger from the next successive station met him
halfway, and received from him the despatch, which was in this manner
forwarded from one station to another till it reached its destination. A
constant communication was thus kept up between the capital and the most
distant parts of the country. A proof of the extraordinary rapidity with
which these communications were carried on is the fact, recorded on
unquestionable authority, that the royal table in Cuzco was served with
fresh fish, caught in the sea near the Temple of the Sun in Lurin, a
distance of more than 200 leagues from Cuzco.

The messenger stations have by some travellers been confounded with
the forts, of which remains are met with along the great Inca road. The
forts were buildings destined for totally different purposes. They were
magazines for grain, and were built by the Incas to secure to