Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/218

182 They were now an immense distance from their base, but their generalship was carefully thought out and so sound that they advanced with confidence to the great lake of Chinchay-cocha and the mountain knot of Cerro Pasco, which, like that of Vilcañota, connects the eastern Andes with the maritime cordillera. The march, be it remembered, was not a matter of months, but of years.

The conquerors now entered another region, the basin of the Marañon, and the very remarkable formation known as the 'Callejon de Huaras.' At Huanuco a great palace was projected and afterwards built by Tupac Inca Yupanqui, forming eventually the chief seat of Inca government in Chinchay-suyu. Among the Conchucos they met with a people who had made marked progress in the arts, and had taken their own line in the conception of a religious belief. The Incas passed on and, after slight opposition, occupied Caxamarca. In another campaign Tupac Inca conquered the Paltas, and the turbulent tribe of Cañaris, while the territories of the great Chimu, in the coast valleys, were reduced to subjection. Quito also became part of the empire after one decisive battle.

The greatest proof of the genius of these Inca generals is the way in which they changed their tactics and methods of warfare as soon as they encountered circumstances of which they had previously no experience. Tupac Inca was at the palace he had caused to be built at Tumipampa, in the country of the Cañaris, when he heard of