Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/603

Rh UK. II. Ch. III. WALLS OF CUZCO. 587 walls of Cuzco, the ancient capital of the kingdom, forming altogether the most remarkable si:)ecimen now existing of the masonry of the ancient Peruvians. They ai-e composed of imniense blocks of lime- stone, of polygonal form, but beautifully fitted together ; some of the 1014. Sketch Plans of Walls of Cuzco. No scale. Stones are 8 and 10 ft. in length, by at least half as much in width and depth, and weigh from fifteen to twenty tons ; these are piled one over the other in three successive terraces, and, as may be seen from the plan, are arranged with a degree of skill nowhere else to be 1015. View of Walls of Cuzco. (From a Sketch by J. B. Pentland.) met with in any work of fortification anterior to the invention of gunpowder. To use a modern term, it is a fortification en tenaille; the re-entering angles are generally right angles, so contrived that every part is seen, and as perfectly flanked as in the best European fortifications of the present day.