The
houses, instead of being made of clay baked in the sun, were many of
them constructed of solid stone, so nicely put together, that it was
impossible to detect the line of junction. A river, which passed through
the town, was traversed by a bridge, and the high road of the Incas,
which crossed this district, was far superior to that which the Spaniards
had seen on the sea-board. It was raised in many places, like a
causeway, paved with heavy stone flags, and bordered by trees that
afforded a grateful shade to the passenger, while streams of water were
conducted through aqueducts along the sides to slake his thirst. At
certain distances, also, they noticed small houses, which, they were told,
were for the accommodation of the traveller, who might thus pass,
without inconvenience, from one end of the kingdom to the other.18 In
another quarter they beheld one of those magazines destined for the
army, filled with grain, and with articles of clothing; and at the entrance
of the town was a stone building, occupied by a public officer, whose
business it was to collect the toils or duties on various commodities
brought into the place, or carried out of it.19 These accounts of De Soto
not only confirmed all that the Spaniards had heard of the Indian empire,
but greatly raised their ideas of its resources and domestic policy.
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