]
Their course lay along the great road of the Incas, which
stretched across the elevated regions of the Cordilleras, all the
way to Cuzco. It was of nearly a uniform breadth, though
constructed with different degrees of care, according to the
ground. *6 Sometimes it crossed smooth and level valleys, which
offered of themselves little impediment to the traveller; at
other times, it followed the course of a mountain stream that
flowed round the base of some beetling cliff, leaving small space
for the foothold; at others, again, where the sierra was so
precipitous that it seemed to preclude all further progress, the
road, accommodated to the natural sinuosities of the ground,
wound round the heights which it would have been impossible to
scale directly. *7
[Footnote 6: "Va todo el camino de una traza y anchura hecho a
mano." Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.]
[Footnote 7: "En muchas partes viendo lo que esta adelante,
parece cosa impossible poderlo pasar." Ibid., Ms.]
But although managed with great address, it was a formidable
passage for the cavalry. The mountain was hewn into steps, but
the rocky ledges cut up the hoofs of the horses; and, though the
troopers dismounted and led them by the bridle, they suffered
severely in their efforts to keep their footing. *8 The road was
constructed for man and the light-footed llama; and the only
heavy beast of burden at all suited to it was the sagacious and
sure-footed mule, with which the Spanish adventurers were not
then provided.
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