It was inhabited by a population of a superior character
to any which the Spaniards had met on the other side of the mountains,
as was argued by the superior style of their attire, and the greater
cleanliness and comfort visible both in their persons and dwellings.7 As
far as the eye could reach, the level tract exhibited the show of a diligent
and thrifty husbandry. A broad river rolled through the meadows,
supplying facilities for copious irrigation by means of the usual canals
and subterraneous aqueducts. The land, intersected by verdant hedge-
rows, was checkered with patches of various cultivation; for the soil was
rich, and the climate, if less stimulating than that of the sultry regions of
the coast, was more favorable to the hardy products of the temperate
latitudes. Below the adventurers, with its white houses glittering in the
sun, lay the little city of Caxamalca, like a sparkling gem on the dark
skirts of the sierra. At the distance of about a league farther, across the
valley, might be seen columns of vapor rising up towards the heavens,
indicating the place of the famous hot baths, much frequented by the
Peruvian princes. And here, too, was a spectacle less grateful to the eyes
of the Spaniards; for along the slope of the hills a white cloud of
pavilions was seen covering the ground, as thick as snow-flakes, for the
space, apparently, of several miles.
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