painted. The ascent was made by winding passages through the walls. On the

side of the upper area facing the sea could be seen the remains of a sort

of walk or esplanade, with traces of edifices of various kinds. On a hill

a mile and a half away were the remains of the Incas' temple and nunnery,

the style differing materially from that of the older building; it was

still more damaged than the temple on the hill by the searchers for

treasure.

 

Pachacamac was the most sacred spot in South America, vast numbers of

pilgrims came here from all points. The city itself had entirely

disappeared, covered deeply in sand, but for a long distance round, it

had, like the neighbourhood of Jerusalem and Mecca, been a vast cemetery,

and a small amount of excavation showed the tombs of the faithful,

occupied in most cases by mummies.

 

"We will ride across to the Incas' temple. There is not much to see there,

but it is as well that you should look at the vaults in which the

treasures were hid. There are similar places at Cuzco and several of the

other ruins."

 

"It may certainly be useful to see them," Harry agreed, and they rode

across the plain. Leaving their mules outside they entered the ruins. The

Indian led them into some underground chambers. He had brought a torch

with him, and this he now lit.

 

"You have to be careful or you might otherwise tumble into one of these

holes and break a limb; and in that case, if you were here by yourselves,

you would certainly never get out again."

 

They came upon several of these places. The openings were sometimes square

and sometimes circular, and had doubtless been covered with square stones.

They were dug out of the solid ground. For about six feet the sides of the

pit were perpendicular; in some it swelled out like a great vase with a

broad shoulder, in others it became a square chamber of some size.

 

"Some of these places were no doubt meant to store grain and other

provisions," the Indian said, "some were undoubtedly treasuries."

 

"Awkward places to find," Harry said; "one might spend a lifetime in

searching for them in only one of these temples."

 

"They were the last places we should think of searching," Dias said. "For

years the Spaniards kept thousands of men at work. I do not say that there

may not be some few places that have escaped the searchers, but what they

could not with their host of workers find certainly could not be found by

four or five men. It is not in the temples that the Incas' wealth has been

hidden, but in caves, in deep mountain gorges, and possibly in ruins on