Viracocha took advantage of all means to extend and increase the power of his monarchy, and, in addition to the famous temple “Viracocha,” he ordered the construction of many others, as well as of new palaces and gardens in various parts of the empire. He made journeys to all the conquered provinces, and while in Collasuyo, at the head of an army of thirty thousand men, he received ambassadors from Charcas, who came to render homage to so great a prince; it is said that from these emissaries the Incas first received information about a country to the south, called “Chile,” which was destined later to be added to the territories in vassalage to the emperors of Cuzco. During Viracocha’s reign, eleven provinces were added to the empire. One of the greatest engineering feats accomplished under the civilization of the Incas, was the construction, by Viracocha’s order, of an extensive irrigating canal, twelve feet in depth and nearly four hundred miles long, which, crossing the present departments of Huancavelica and Ayacucho, watered the plains of Castrovireina and Cangallo, making them green and flourishing pasture lands. This enterprise is the more remarkable when the nature of the country is considered, as the work was carried on at an altitude of from twelve to sixteen thousand feet above sea level, and in the face of such obstacles as gigantic rocks that had to be removed without blasting machinery or iron implements, great ravines to be bridged and mountain torrents to be harnessed and utilized. The hydraulic works constructed by the Incas are the wonder and admiration of all who have seen the evidences of their extent and perfection that remain to this day in the sierra and the coast region. Natural lakes at the head of the coast valleys were in many instances enlarged, and immense dams and aqueducts were built to conduct to the irrigating canals the water which descended from the mountain summits to the barren coast land.