Encyclopedia of the Incas

llama can carry about 30 kilograms (65 pounds) of weight for 20 kilometers (12
miles) a day, though every third day it must be relieved of its burden. Thus, the
armies had to use a third more llamas than were needed for transport in order to
supply their food demands. In the highlands, llamas can forage for their own
food, so they do not need additional supplies for their use. This was not the case
on the coast.
The other major use of domesticated camelids was for their fiber. Every year,
each household was required to make one garment for the state; the fiber for that
garment was provided by the empire. The finer fiber of alpacas may have been
reserved for the upper echelons of Inca society, and the even finer fiber of the
wild vicuña was reserved for royal uses. Both were likely spun and woven by the
acllacuna at state facilities. In contrast to local herds, yanacuna herded state
flocks.
Fishing constituted the third major subsistence activity of the Incas, but it was
largely restricted to the coastal zones and the shores of Lake Titicaca. Along the
coast, marine resources were extremely important and had been since early
prehistory. Fish, shellfish, marine mammals, birds, and seaweed were all
consumed by communities. It is uncertain whether such resources were
transported into the highlands during Inca times, but it is said that if the Sapa
Inca (the sole, unique Inca ruler) desired fish, it took three days for chasquis
running in relay to carry it to Cuzco (see Roads). Fish and seaweed could be
dried and stored for periods of time, much like the freeze-dried food of the
highlands.
Tools for exploiting the bounty of the sea included cotton nets with bottle
gourd floats; hook and line fishing, with hooks made of cactus spines or shell;
and boats. Along the shores of Lake Titicaca, fishing was conducted in reed
boats similar to those found along the coast. While we do not have examples of
the kinds of boats used, boat images on Moche pottery, dating to the Early
Intermediate Period, indicate two kinds were used—a small individual boat of
reeds lashed together, which the fishermen straddled, and a larger raft of logs.
The latter often had sails, and one such raft was encountered by members of
Francisco Pizarro’s expedition on one of his early voyages down the Ecuadorian
coast (see Invasion, Spanish; Sámano Account; Seafaring). Sea lions were
clubbed, and birds were caught with nets or perhaps killed with slings.
Guinea pigs offered another source of protein besides camelid meat and plants
such as maize or quinoa. Although guinea pigs provided only a small amount of
meat per animal, they reproduce rapidly. They eat a wide variety of food, and