Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/247

Rh centre of the Chimu's power. The people were perhaps known to themselves as Muchœn, from the river which supplied water to their capital, or possibly Nofœn, their word for a man. Their language was Muchica.

The great Chimu ruins were first described, in any detail, by Don Mariano E. Rivero in his 'Antiguedades Peruanas,' then by Squier, and more recently by the French traveller Wiener. Of these accounts that of Squier's is the most accurate and intelligent. It must be understood that, owing to the elaborate and complicated arrangement of rooms, passages and enclosures, and to the destruction that has taken place in the search for treasure, an intelligible description, even with plans, is exceedingly difficult.

We may picture to ourselves a vast fertile plain, at least ninety miles long from south to north, watered by the three rivers Chicama, Mansiche, and Viru, and bounded on one side by the Andes and on the other by the Pacific Ocean. In the centre, but bordering on the seashore, was the great city of the Chimu, surrounded by highly cultivated land sustaining a dense population. An effective system of irrigation was essential for the cultivation of this extensive area and for the existence of the people in the city. An aqueduct took off the water of the Muchi river high up among the mountains. It was carried across the valley on a lofty embankment of stones and earth sixty feet in height, the channel being lined with stones. 3em