Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/81

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OCCUPATION OF CUZCO
55

with the ancient cyclopean fortress on the eastern side. This famous mount is separated from the hills on either side by deep ravines, down which two torrents flow, called the Huatanay and Tulumayu. Beaching the level ground which forms the site of Cuzco, they often overflowed their banks, causing swamps and injuring the land. Eventually they form a junction, and the united stream flows down the valley to join the Vilcamayu. It was at the junction of the torrents, about a mile from the foot of the Sacsahuaman, that Manco established his settlement. Here he erected the House of the Sun, called Inti-cancha, but for a long time it was more a fortress than a temple. He and his successors subdued the former inhabitants of the valley, and the ten tribes from Tampu-tocco occupied their lands. These ayllus, or tribes, formed the fighting strength of the restored rule. Some of them, as the dominion extended, went further afield. The Maras tribe gave its name to the village of Maras, on the plateau overlooking the lovely vale of Vilcamayu. The Uru tribe was established at Urupampa, in the vale itself; and the Tampu tribe further down the same valley.

The date of the event recorded in the Paccari-tampu myth may be placed at about four centuries before the Spanish conquest, in 1100 A.D. or thereabouts. Sarmiento places it at 565 A.D., by making each generation cover a century.

There is practical unanimity among all