In this text, Hiram Bingham recounts the two days leading up to his “discovery” of the Incan capital at Machu Picchu. Writing in the first person, he begins his story by describing his and his companions’ (a naturalist and doctor from the United States, and an armed Peruvian guide) walk through a spectacularly beautiful canyon of the Urubamba River. Bingham tells of how the group met a man along the way, living in a grass hut, that he paid to help him look for the “palace of the last Inca.” This man knew of ruins on a ridge called Machu Picchu, and the next day led Bingham and the Peruvian guide through the jungle to find them. Bingham recounts, in a dramatic narrative, how they braved a dangerous hike through the jungle to reach a remote high plateau where they found Indians farming on Incan terraces. They continued on, Bingham describes, not expecting to find much, but, after encountering many fine stonework structures hidden under roots and leaves, they were shocked to find themselves in a plaza with a clear view of a site of Incan ruins whose significance was immediately evident. Bingham describes the structures of the site in great detail, including the method of construction, the color and shapes of the stones, the walls, niches, courtyards and plazas, and he suggests possible uses for some of the structures. Ultimately, he speculates that, because of the three ceremonial windows that pierce a certain wall, he has perhaps found both the first and last city of the Incas.