They are variously
wrought, and some of them, having the form of men, must have been idols.
Near the walls are many caves and excavations under the earth; but in
another place, farther west, are other and greater monuments, such as
large gate-ways with hinges, platforms, and porches, each made of a
single stone. It surprised me to see these enormous gate-ways, made of
great masses of stone, some of which were thirty feet long, fifteen
high, and six thick."
The capital of the Chimus of Northern Peru at Gran-Chimu was conquered
by the Incas after a long and bloody struggle, and the capital was given
up to barbaric ravage and spoliation. But its remains exist to-day, the
marvel of the Southern Continent, covering not less than twenty square
miles. Tombs, temples, and palaces arise on every hand, ruined but still
traceable. Immense pyramidal structures, some of them half a mile in
circuit; vast areas shut in by massive walls, each containing its
water-tank, its shops, municipal edifices, and the dwellings of its
inhabitants, and each a branch of a larger organization; prisons,
furnaces for smelting metals, and almost every concomitant of
civilization, existed in the ancient Chimu capital.
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