Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/214

178 When the Inca Pachacuti sent the first army for the conquest of Chinchay-suyu, it included a large contingent of the conquered Chancas, led by one of their own chiefs named Anco-ayllu. They fought well for the Incas, but their leader chafed at his subjection, and incited his men to desert. A plot was arranged, and on a day settled beforehand the Chanca contingent left the camp and, led by Anco-ayllu, they proceeded by forced marches into the Amazonian forests. This exodus was commenced at a place called Huarac-tampu, near Huanuco. They were soon beyond the reach of pursuit, and it is believed that they settled in valleys along the lower course of the Huallaga. They were found there by a Spanish expedition in 1556, and a recent traveller has suggested that the half-civilised Lamistas, or Motilones, on the Huallaga, are their descendants. This event made a deep impression on the Inca recorders, for it is mentioned by several Spanish writers who received their information from the native Amautas.

On marching north from Vilcas-huaman, after crossing the deep gorge of the Pampas by a bridge of aloe cables, the Inca army entered upon the basin of the Jauja river, another tributary of the Apurimac. The various streams flowing to the Jauja are in the bottoms of deep ravines, while the intervening higher lands are fertile and produced large crops. To the west the splendid maritime cordillera rises abruptly, and in this part