"...Cuzco has indeed fallen from it's ancient high estate. No longer is it the capital of a vast empire, far vaster than the limits of present-day Peru. To-day it numbers only some thirty thousand souls, whereas the ancient city had more than TEN TIMES that number. Most of the ancient palaces and temples have been destroyed by the Spaniards, but the main outlines of the city as it was in the days of the Incas can still be traced.

"On a high hill to the north of the city lie the remains of the giant citadel and fortress of Saksawaiman, which dominated the city and guarded it against attack. Three huge towers, the military residence of the Incas and their soldiers, were destroyed to provide building-stones for the Spaniards, the enormous stones of the triple ramparts still remain--stones far larger than a man's height and weighing many tons. How were they brought there, and so accurately, so delicately, put into place?

"Near the fortress are several strange caverns reaching far into the earth. Here alters to the gods of the Deep were carved out of the living rock, and the many bones scattered about tell of the sacrifices which were offered up. The end of one of these caverns, Chincana, has never been found. It is supposed to communicate by a long underground passage with the Temple of the Sun, in the heart of Cuzco. In this cavern is supposed to be hidden a large part of the golden treasure of the Inca emperors, which was stored away lest it fall into the hands of the Spaniards. But the cavern is so huge and so complicated, and so manifold are its passages, that its secret has never been uncovered.

"One man indeed is said to have found his way underground to the Sun Temple and, when he emerged, to have had two golden bars in his hand. But his mind had been affected by days of blind wandering in the subterranean caves, and he died almost immediately afterward. Since that time many have gone into the cavern--never to return again. Only a month or two before my arrival the disappearance of three prominent people in this Inca cave caused the prefect of the province of Cuzco to wall up the mouth of the cavern, so that the secret of the treasures of the Incas seem likely to remain undiscovered for the present."

Alexander Von Humboldt, in his volume 'VIEWS OF NATURE' (London, Henry G. Bohn, 1850) relates on pp. 412-413 the following account which he collected while in Cuzco, Peru:

"...The son of the Cacique Astorpilca, an interesting and amiable youth of seventeen, conducted us over the ruins of the ancient palace. Though living in utmost poverty, his imagination was filled with images of the subterranean splendour and the golden treasures which, he assured us, lay hidden beneath the heaps of rubbish over which we were treading. He told us that one of his ancestors once blind-folded the eyes of his wife, and then, through many intricate passages cut in the rock, led her down into the subterranean gardens of the Inca. There the lady beheld, skillfully imitated in the purest gold, trees laden with leaves and fruit, with birds perched on their branches. Among other things, she saw Atahuallpa's gold sedan-chair (UND DE LAS ANDAS) which is alleged to have sunk in the basin of the Baths of Pultamarca. The husband commanded his wife not to touch any of these enchanted treasures, REMINDING HER THAT THE PERIOD FIXED FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE INCA EMPIRE HAD NOT YET ARRIVED, and that whosoever should touch any of the treasures would perish that same night.

Note: This may or may not be the same as the legendary underground 'garden' cavern below the 'fort' referred to by some sources, through which is said to flow a large underground spring and which can only be entered by navigating a confusing labyrinth of underground tunnels. This account would also seem to tie-in with various rumors that not only the Inca treasures, but many of the Incas themselves escaped the Conquistadors through ancient tunnels which led to vast cavern cities built in antediluvian times by the lost 'Atlantean' race.

There are actually people who claim to have met these subterranean 'Incas'. One such person who alleged to have been descended from the Incas themselves, told the former editor of AMAZING STORIES magazine Raymond A. Palmer, that he had encountered one of these ancient 'cousins' of his who acted as a sentry or guard of a entrance to one of the underground abodes. This entrance was in the form of a shaft which was situated on the top of a mountain peak somewhere in the Matto Grosso region of Brazil - Branton)

"These golden dreams and fancies of the youth were founded on recollections and traditions transmitted from remote times. Golden gardens, such as those alluded to (JARDINES O HUERTAS DE ORO), have been described by various writers who allege that they actually saw them; viz., by Cieza de Leon, Parmento, Garcilaso, and other early historians of the Conquista. They are said to have existed beneath the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco, at Caxamarca, and in the lovely valley of Yucay, which was a favorite seat of the sovereign family...

"The son of Astorpilca assured me that underground, a little to the right of the spot on which I then stood, there was a large Datura tree, or Guanto, in full flower, exquisitely made of gold wire and plates of gold, and that its branches overspread the Inca's chair. The morbid faith with which the youth asserted his belief in this fabulous story, made a profound and melancholy impression on me."