To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

My letter today concerns the popular Inca pastime of Rolo, which our specialists have just discovered. At the base of the mountain we came upon a huge pile of rocks stacked haphazard at the foot of a broad ramp which led up the slope to the site of the university. We were long in a quandary about their significance, but by means of various records unearthed in the city above, or cut in the rocky faces of the cliff (details of which I must spare you), Senor Alvarotez has deduced this astonishing explanation:

In the early years of the university, it became necessary to erect a new building, and as the material was not at hand on the mountain-top, a few students were requisitioned to bring it up from below. Large cut rocks were stacked at the foot of the slope, and then rolled up the incline one at a time. After a few trips, two of the men suggested that they race each other up. The plan was adopted, end soon a lively game was in progress. Before long the sport was developed so that many men could take part, and it became the most popular pastime in college. It was given the name of Rolo, and all maner of rules were devised. The Circle of the Elders discovered that Rolo had a beneficial effect on the health of the contestants, and as many of the students were becoming anaemic from overwork, the game was prescribed for them--especially for the newcomers--as part of their college work.

But now an unfortunate development was noted. Little by little, the students were beginning to neglect their books and gather on the cliff-tops to watch the progress of the sport. In fact the playing of the game was left to a chosen few, while all the others gathered round to watch. Interest in the contests became intense; teams of Roloists were formed, and the students divided in heated rivalry. It is even recorded that Rolo experts from distant lands came to compete with the Incamen, and that the whole nation became fevered with enthusiasm for the game.

The original purpose of the game, to carry up building materials, had been long since forgotten, in fact a new form of the sport had to be invented to roll the rocks down again. The spectators increased prodigiously in numbers. Railings were built along the cliff-tops, and places allotted on payment of a substantial sum. Tickets were soon at a premium; these, let me add, were the small bone chips which we have gathered in large numbers from the ruins. In time, the income from this source alone was sufficient to maintain the whole institution.

But one day a sage of the university made a startling discovery. The classes were deserted! From every side came the complaints of parents: "Behold, we have sent our children to be instructed; wherefore then, do they roll rocks?" And indeed this was true; no longer did anyone come there to gain training of the mind. They came only for the great sport of Rolo. Rolo was the raison d'etre of the university, the paramount appeal to the people of the Inca realm. The furore which this revelation caused must have been tremendous, says Senor Alvarotez. The cry was taken up on all sides. Leaf after leaf of the college paper was covered with wild appeals to reason, conjecturing what the future would bring forth, suggestions for a remedy of the awful situation. We can fairly see the Incas dashing up and down their narrow streets, tearing their hair, shouting "Rolo is doomed! Rolo must be stopped! Rolo revised!", holding indignation meetings on the street-corners, and filling their "press" with rivers of words. In fact the scene has been preserved to us in a remarkable rock-carving commemorating Rolo Day.

What was the outcome? On this we have no hints from the records, and cannot even make conjectures. The pile of rocks still stands at the foot of the incline, a pathetic witness to the glory that was once the university's.  Cordially yours,  J. BLAIR-DUNCAN

With the University of Nueva Barcelona Peruvian Expedition, Near Machu Piechu, Peru, Nov. 6, 1921