The manner of making these roads and their grandeur being understood, I will explain the ease with which they were constructed by the natives, without increasing the death-rate, or causing excessive labour. When any king determined to have any of these famous roads made, much preparation was not necessary, but it was merely needful that the king should give the order. For then the overseers went over the ground to make a trace, and the Indians received instructions to construct the road from among the inhabitants who were on either side. One province completed the section within its limits, and when it reached the boundary it was presently taken up by the next: and if it was urgent, they all worked at one time. When they reached the uninhabited parts, the Indians of the nearest inhabited districts brought provisions and tools, in such wise that, with much rejoicing and little fatigue, it was finished. For there was no apprehension, and the Yncas or their servants interfered in nothing. They also made great paved causeways of excellent construction, such as that which passes by the valley of Xaquixaguana, leading from the city of Cuzco to Muhina. There were many of these royal roads, both in the mountains and along the coast. Among them all there are four which are considered most important. They are those starting from the central square of the city of Cuzco, as from a cross-road, to the provinces of the kingdom, as I have mentioned in the First Part of this Chronicle, where I treat of the founding of Cuzco.[103] The lords were so respected, that when they travelled on these roads, the attendant guards went by one, and rest of the retinue by another. Their grandeur was so considered that, one being dead, the son, on occasion of a long journey, caused a road to be made for himself, larger and wider than that of his predecessor. This was when such a king set out on some conquest, or to achieve something worthy of memory, that it might be said that the road prepared for him was larger than any made before. This is clearly the case, for I have seen three or four roads near Vilcas, and I even lost my way on one, believing that I was on the one which is now in use. These roads are called, one the road of the Ynca Yupanqui, another that of Tupac Ynca; and that which is now used, and always will be hereafter, is that of Huayna Ccapac, reaching to the river Ancasmayu in the north, and to the south far beyond what we now call Chile; so long, indeed, that from one end to the other the distance is over one thousand two hundred leagues. CHAPTER XVI. _How and in what manner they made the royal hunts for the Lords of Peru._