The conduit of water which passes through all the divisions of Cuntisuya, I have seen in the province of Qaiechuas, which is part of that division, and considered it an extraordinary work, indeed surpassing the description and report which had been made of it.

72 PRELIMINARY ESSAY.

But the Spaniards, who were aliens and strangers, little regarded the convenience of these works, either to serve themselves in the use of them, or to keep them in repair, nor yet to take so much notice of them, as to mention them in their histories, but rather out of a scornful and disdaining humor, have suffered them to run into ruins beyond all

recovery. The same fate hath befallen the aqueducts which the Indians made for watering their corn lands, of which two thirds at least, are wholly destroyed, and none kept in repair, except some few that are so useful, that without them they cannot sustain themselves with bread, nor with the necessary provisions of life."

One might suspect Garcilasso, himself descended from the Incas, of some exaggeration of these great works, but Humboldt, whose impartiality and exactness are alike well established, confirms his testimony.

In a note to page 31, of the New York edition of Black's Translation of the Essay on New Spain, this passage occurs :

" The largest and finest construction of the Indians in this way, is the aqueduct of the city of Tezcuco. We still perceive the traces of a great mound, constructed to heighten the level of the water. How must we admire the industry and activity displayed by the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians, in the irrigation of arid lands. In the maritime parts of Peru, I have seen the remains of walls, along which water was conducted for a space of from 5 to 6000 metres, from the foot of the Cordilleras to the coast.