History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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Adjoining the principal structure were several chapels of smaller
dimensions. One of them was consecrated to the Moon, the deity held
next in reverence, as the mother of the Incas. Her effigy was delineated
in the same manner as that of the Sun, on a vast plate that nearly covered
one side of the apartment. But this plate, as well as all the decorations of
the building, was of silver, as suited to the pale, silvery light of the
beautiful planet. There were three other chapels, one of which was
dedicated to the host of Stars, who formed the bright court of the Sister
of the Sun; another was consecrated to his dread ministers of vengeance,
the Thunder and the Lightning; and a third, to the Rainbow, whose
many-colored arch spanned the walls of the edifice with hues almost as
radiant as its own. There were besides several other buildings, or
insulated apartments, for the accommodation of the numerous priests
who officiated in the services of the temple.19

All the plate, the ornaments, the utensils of every description,
appropriated to the uses of religion, were of gold or silver. Twelve
immense vases of the latter metal stood on the floor of the great saloon,
filled with grain of the Indian corn;20 the censers for the perfumes, the
ewers which held the water for sacrifice, the pipes which conducted it
through subterraneous channels into the buildings, the reservoirs that
received it, even the agricultural implements used in the gardens of the
temple, were all of the same rich materials. The gardens, like those
described, belonging to the royal palaces, sparkled with flowers of gold
and silver, and various imitations of the vegetable kingdom. Animals,
also, were to be found there,--among which the llama, with its golden
fleece, was most conspicuous,--executed in the same style, and with a
degree of skill, which, in this instance, probably, did not surpass the
excellence of the material.21

If the reader sees in this fairy picture only the romantic coloring of some
fabulous El Dorado, he must recall what has been said before in
reference to the palaces of the Incas, and consider that these "Houses of
the Sun," as they were styled, were the common reservoir into which
flowed all the streams of public and private benefaction throughout the
empire. Some of the statements, through credulity, and others, in the
desire of exciting admiration, may be greatly exaggerated; but, in the
coincidence of contemporary testimony, it is not easy to determine the
exact line which should mark the measure of our skepticism. Certain it
is, that the glowing picture I have given is warranted by those who saw
these buildings in their pride, or shortly after they had been despoiled by
the cupidity of their countrymen. Many of the costly articles were buried
by the natives, or thrown into the waters of the rivers and the lakes; but
enough remained to attest the unprecedented opulence of these religious
establishments. Such things as were in their nature portable were
speedily removed, to gratify the craving of the Conquerors, who even
tore away the solid cornices and frieze of gold from the great temple,
filling the vacant places with the cheaper, but--since it affords no
temptation to avarice--more durable, material of plaster. Yet even thus
shorn of their splendor, the venerable edifices still presented an
attraction to the spoiler, who found in their dilapidated walls an
inexhaustable quarry for the erection of other buildings. On the very
ground once crowned by the gorgeous Coricancha rose the stately church
of St. Dominic, one of the most magnificent structures of the New
World. Fields of maize and lucerne now bloom on the spot which
glowed with the golden gardens of the temple; and the friar chants his
orisons within the consecrated precincts once occupied by the Children
of the Sun.22

Besides the great temple of the Sun, there was a large number of inferior
temples and religious houses in the Peruvian capital and its environs,
amounting, as is stated, to three or four hundred.23 For Cuzco was a
sanctified spot, venerated not only as the abode of the Incas, but of all
those deities who presided over the motley nations of the empire. It was
the city beloved of the Sun; where his worship was maintained in its
splendor; "where every fountain, pathway, and wall," says an ancient
chronicler, "was regarded as a holy mystery." 24 And unfortunate was
the Indian noble who, at some period or other of his life, had not made
his pilgrimage to the Peruvian Mecca.

Other temples and religious dwellings were scattered over the provinces;
and some of them constructed on a scale of magnificence, that almost
rivalled that of the metropolis. The attendants on these composed an
army of themselves. The whole number of functionaries, including those
of the sacerdotal order, who officiated at the Coricancha alone, was no
less than four thousand.25

At the head of all, both here and throughout the land, stood the great
High-Priest, or Villac Vmu, as he was called. He was second only to the
Inca in dignity, and was usually chosen from his brothers or nearest
kindred. He was appointed by the monarch, and held his office for life;
and he, in turn, appointed to all the subordinate stations of his own order.
This order was very numerous. Those members of it who officiated in
the House of the Sun, in Cuzco, were taken exclusively from the sacred
race of the Incas. The ministers in the provincial temples were drawn
from the families of the curacas; but the office of high-priest in each
district was reserved for one of the blood royal. It was designed by this
regulation to preserve the faith in its purity, and to guard against any
departure from the stately ceremonial which it punctiliously
prescribed.26

The sacerdotal order, though numerous, was not distinguished by any
peculiar badge or costume from the rest of the nation. Neither was it the
sole depository of the scanty science of the country, nor was it charged
with the business of instruction, nor with those parochial duties, if they
may so be called, which bring the priest in contact with the great body of
the people,--as was the case in Mexico. The cause of this peculiarity
may probably be traced to the existence of a superior order, like that of
the Inca nobles, whose sanctity of birth so far transcended all human
appointments, that they in a manner engrossed whatever there was of
religious veneration in the people. They were, in fact, the holy order of
the state. Doubtless, any of them might, as very many of them did, take
on themselves the sacerdotal functions; and their own insignia and
peculiar privileges were too well understood to require any further badge
to separate them from the people.

The duties of the priest were confined to ministration in the temple.
Even here his attendance was not constant, as he was relieved after a
stated interval by other brethren of his order, who succeeded one another
in regular rotation. His science was limited to an acquaintance with the
fasts and festivals of his religion, and the appropriate ceremonies which
distinguished them. This, however frivolous might be its character, was
no easy acquisition; for the ritual of the Incas involved a routine of
observances, as complex and elaborate as ever distinguished that of any
nation, whether pagan or Christian. Each month had its appropriate
festival, or rather festivals. The four principal had reference to the Sun,
and commemorated the great periods of his annual progress, the solstices
and equinoxes. Perhaps the most magnificent of all the national
solemnities was the feast of Raymi, held at the period of the summer
solstice, when the Sun, having touched the southern extremity of his
course, retraced his path, as if to gladden the hearts of his chosen people
by his presence. On this occasion, the Indian nobles from the different
quarters of the country thronged to the capital to take part in the great
religious celebration.

For three days previous, there was a general fast, and no fire was allowed
to be lighted in the dwellings. When the appointed day arrived, the Inca
and his court, followed by the whole population of the city, assembled at
early dawn in the great square to greet the rising of the Sun. They were
dressed in their gayest apparel, and the Indian lords vied with each other
in the display of costly ornaments and jewels on their persons, while
canopies of gaudy feather-work and richly tinted stuffs, borne by the
attendants over their heads, gave to the great square, and the streets that
emptied into it, the appearance of being spread over with one vast and
magnificent awning. Eagerly they watched the coming of their deity,
and, no sooner did his first yellow rays strike the turrets and loftiest
buildings of the capital, than a shout of gratulation broke forth from the
assembled multitude, accompanied by songs of triumph, and the wild
melody of barbaric instruments, that swelled louder and louder as his
bright orb, rising above the mountain range towards the east, shone in
full splendor on his votaries. After the usual ceremonies of adoration, a
libation was offered to the great deity by the Inca, from a huge golden
vase, filled with the fermented liquor of maize or of maguey, which,
after the monarch had tasted it himself, he dispensed among his royal
kindred. These ceremonies completed, the vast assembly was arranged
in order of procession, and took its way towards the Coricancha.27

As they entered the street of the sacred edifice, all divested themselves of
their sandals, except the Inca and his family, who did the same on
passing through the portals of the temple, where none but these august
personages were admitted.28 After a decent time spent in devotion, the
sovereign, attended by his courtly train, again appeared, and preparations
were made to commence the sacrifice. This, with the Peruvians,
consisted of animals, grain, flowers, and sweet-scented gums; sometimes
of human beings, on which occasions a child or beautiful maiden was
usually selected as the victim. But such sacrifices were rare, being
reserved to celebrate some great public event, as a coronation, the birth
of a royal heir, or a great victory. They were never followed by those
cannibal repasts familiar to the Mexicans, and to many of the fierce
tribes conquered by the Incas. Indeed, the conquests of these princes
might well be deemed a blessing to the Indian nations, if it were only
from their suppression of cannibalism, and the diminution, under their
rule, of human sacrifices.29

At the feast of Raymi, the sacrifice usually offered was that of the llama;
and the priest, after opening the body of his victim, sought in the
appearances which it exhibited to read the lesson of the mysterious
future. If the auguries were unpropitious, a second victim was
slaughtered, in the hope of receiving some more comfortable assurance.
The Peruvian augur might have learned a good lesson of the Roman,--to
consider every omen as favorable, which served the interests of his
country.30

A fire was then kindled by means of a concave mirror of polished metal,
which, collecting the rays of the sun into a focus upon a quantity of dried
cotton, speedily set it on fire. It was the expedient used on the like
occasions in ancient Rome, at least under the reign of the pious Numa.
When the sky was overcast, and the face of the good deity was hidden
from his worshippers, which was esteemed a bad omen, fire was
obtained by means of friction. The sacred flame was intrusted to the care
of the Virgins of the Sun, and if, by any neglect, it was suffered to go out
in the course of the year, the event was regarded as a calamity that boded
some strange disaster to the monarchy.31 A burnt offering of the victims
was then made on the altars of the deity. This sacrifice was but the
prelude to the slaughter of a great number of llamas, part of the flocks of
the Sun, which furnished a banquet not only for the Inca and his Court,
but for the people, who made amends at these festivals for the frugal fare
to which they were usually condemned. A fine bread or cake, kneaded
of maize flour by the fair hands of the Virgins of the Sun, was also
placed on the royal board, where the Inca, presiding over the feast,
pledged his great nobles in generous goblets of the fermented liquor of
the country, and the long revelry of the day was closed at night by music
and dancing. Dancing and drinking were the favorite pastimes of the
Peruvians. These amusements continued for several days, though the
sacrifices terminated on the first.--Such was the great festival of Raymi;
and the recurrence of this and similar festivities gave relief to the
monotonous routine of toil prescribed to the lower orders of the
community.32

In the distribution of bread and wine at this high festival, the orthodox
Spaniards, who first came into the country, saw a striking resemblance to
the Christian communion; 33 as in the practice of confession and
penance, which, in a most irregular form, indeed, seems to have been
used by the Peruvians, they discerned a coincidence with another of the
sacraments of the Church.34 The good fathers were fond of tracing such
coincidences, which they considered as the contrivance of Satan, who
thus endeavored to delude his victims by counterfeiting the blessed rites
of Christianity.35 Others, in a different vein, imagined that they saw in
such analogies the evidence, that some of the primitive teachers of the
Gospel, perhaps an apostle himself, had paid a visit to these distant
regions, and scattered over them the seeds of religious truth.36 But it
seems hardly necessary to invoke the Prince of Darkness, or the
intervention of the blessed saints, to account for coincidences which
have existed in countries far removed from the light of Christianity, and
in ages, indeed, when its light had not yet risen on the world. It is much
more reasonable to refer such casual points of resemblance to the general
constitution of man, and the necessities of his moral nature.37

Another singular analogy with Roman Catholic institutions is presented
by the Virgins of the Sun, the "elect," as they were called,38 to whom I
have already had occasion to refer. These were young maidens,
dedicated to the service of the deity, who, at a tender age, were taken
from their homes, and introduced into convents, where they were placed
under the care of certain elderly matrons, mamaconas, who had grown
grey within their walls.39 Under these venerable guides, the holy virgins
were instructed in the nature of their religious duties. They were
employed in spinning and embroidery, and, with the fine hair of the
vicuna wove the hangings for the temples, and the apparel for the Inca
and his household.40 It was their duty, above all, to watch over the
sacred fire obtained at the festival of Raymi. From the moment they
entered the establishment, they were cut off from all connection with the
world, even with their own family and friends. No one but the Inca, and
the Coya or queen, might enter the consecrated precincts. The greatest
attention was paid to their morals, and visitors were sent every year to
inspect the institutions, and to report on the state of their discipline.41
Woe to the unhappy maiden who was detected in an intrigue! By the
stern law of the Incas, she was to be buried alive, her lover was to be
strangled, and the town or village to which he belonged was to be razed
to the ground, and "sowed with stones," as if to efface every memorial of
his existence.42 One is astonished to find so close a resemblance
between the institutions of the American Indian, the ancient Roman, and
the modern Catholic! Chastity and purity of life are virtues in woman,
that would seem to be of equal estimation with the barbarian and with the
civilized.--Yet the ultimate destination of the inmates of these religious
houses was materially different.

The great establishment at Cuzco consisted wholly of maidens of the
royal blood, who amounted, it is said, to no less than fifteen hundred.
The provincial convents were supplied from the daughters of the curacas
and inferior nobles, and, occasionally, where a girl was recommended by
great personal attractions, from the lower classes of the people.43 The
"Houses of the Virgins of the Sun" consisted of low ranges of stone
buildings, covering a large extent of ground, surrounded by high walls,
which excluded those within entirely from observation. They were
provided with every accommodation for the fair inmates, and were
embellished in the same sumptuous and costly manner as the palaces of
the Incas, and the temples; for they received the particular care of
government, as an important part of the religious establishment.44

Yet the career of all the inhabitants of these cloisters was not confined
within their narrow walls. Though Virgins of the Sun, they were brides
of the Inca, and, at a marriageable age, the most beautiful among them
were selected for the honors of his bed, and transferred to the royal
seraglio. The full complement of this amounted in time not only to
hundreds, but thousands, who all found accommodations in his different
palaces throughout the country. When the monarch was disposed to
lessen the number of his establishment, the concubine with whose society
he was willing to dispense returned, not to her former monastic
residence, but to her own home; where, however humble might be her
original condition, she was maintained in great state, and, far from being
dishonored by the situation she had filled, was held in universal
reverence as the Inca's bride.45

The great nobles of Peru were allowed, like their sovereign, a plurality of
wives. The people, generally, whether by law, or by necessity stronger
than law, were more happily limited to one. Marriage was conducted in
a manner that gave it quite as original a character as belonged to the
other institutions of the country. On an appointed day of the year, all
those of a marriageable age--which, having reference to their ability to
take charge of a family, in the males was fixed at not less than
twentyfour years, and in the women at eighteen or twenty--were called
together in the great squares of their respective towns and villages,
throughout the empire. The Inca presided in person over the assembly of
his own kindred, and taking the hands of the different couples who were
to be united, he placed them within each other, declaring the parties man
and wife. The same was done by the curacas towards all persons of their
own or inferior degree in their several districts. This was the simple
form of marriage in Peru. No one was allowed to select a wife beyond
the community to which he belonged, which generally comprehended all
his own kindred; 46 nor was any but the sovereign authorized to dispense
with the law of nature--or at least, the usual law of nations--so far as to
marry his own sister.47 No marriage was esteemed valid without the
consent of the parents; and the preference of the parties, it is said, was
also to be consulted; though, considering the barriers imposed by the
prescribed age of the candidates, this must have been within rather
narrow and whimsical limits. A dwelling was got ready for the new-
married pair at the charge of the district, and the prescribed portion of
land assigned for their maintenance. The law of Peru provided for the
future, as well as for the present. It left nothing to chance.--The simple
ceremony of marriage was followed by general festivities among the
friends of the parties, which lasted several days; and as every wedding
took place on the same day, and as there were few families who had not
someone of their members or their kindred personally interested, there
was one universal bridal jubilee throughout the empire.48

The extraordinary regulations respecting marriage under the Incas are,
eminently characteristic of the genius of the government; which, far from
limiting itself to matters of public concern, penetrated into the most
private recesses of domestic life, allowing no man, however humble, to
act for himself, even in those personal matters in which none but himself,
or his family at most, might be supposed to be interested. No Peruvian
was too low for the fostering vigilance of government. None was so high
that he was not made to feel his dependence upon it in every act of his
life. His very existence as an individual was absorbed in that of the
community. His hopes and his fears, his joys and his sorrows, the
tenderest sympathies of his nature, which would most naturally shrink
from observation, were all to be regulated by law. He was not allowed
even to be happy in his own way. The government of the Incas was the
mildest, --but the most searching of despotisms.

Book 1

Chapter 4

Education--Quipus-Astronomy-Agriculture--Aqueducts-Guano--
Important Esculents

"Science was not intended for the people; but for those of generous
blood. Persons of low degree are only puffed up by it, and rendered
vain and arrogant. Neither should such meddle with the affairs of
government; for this would bring high offices into disrepute, and cause
detriment to the state.1 Such was the favorite maxim, often repeated, of
Tupac Inca Yupanqui, one of the most renowned of the Peruvian
sovereigns. It may seem strange that such a maxim should ever have
been proclaimed in the New World, where popular institutions have beer
established on a more extensive scale than was ever before witnessed;
where government rests wholly on the people; and education--at least, in
the great northern division of the continent--is mainly directed to qualify
the people for the duties of government. Yet this maxim was strictly
conformable to the genius of the Peruvian monarchy, and may serve as a
key to its habitual policy; since, while it watched with unwearied
solicitude over its subjects, provided for their physical necessities, was
mindful of their morals, and showed, throughout, the affectionate
concern of a parent for his children, it yet regarded them only as
children, who were never to emerge from the state of pupilage, to act or
to think for themselves, but whose whole duty was comprehended in the
obligation of implicit obedience.

Such was the humiliating condition of the people under the Incas: while
the numerous families of the blood royal enjoyed the benefit of all the
light of education, which the civilization of the country could afford;
and, long after the Conquest, the spots continued to be pointed out where
the seminaries had existed for their instruction. These were placed
under the care of the amautas, or "wise men," who engrossed the scanty
stock of science--if science it could be called--possessed by the
Peruvians, and who were the sole teachers of youth. It was natural that
the monarch should take a lively interest in the instruction of the young
nobility, his own kindred. Several of the Peruvian princes are said to
have built their palaces in the neighborhood of the schools, in order that
they might the more easily visit them and listen to the lectures of the
amautas, which they occasionally reinforced by a homily of their own.2
In these schools, the royal pupils were instructed in all the different kinds
of knowledge in which their teachers were versed, with especial
reference to the stations they were to occupy in after-life. They studied
the laws, and the principles of administering the government, in which
many of them were to take part. They were initiated in the peculiar rites
of their religion, most necessary to those who were to assume the
sacerdotal functions. They learned also to emulate the achievements of
their royal ancestors by listening to the chronicles compiled by the
amautas. They were taught to speak their own dialect with purity and
elegance; and they became acquainted with the mysterious science of the
quipus, which supplied the Peruvians with the means of communicating
their ideas to one another, and of transmitting them to future
generations.3

The quipu was a cord about two feet long, composed of different colored
threads tightly twisted together, from which a quantity of smaller threads
were suspended in the manner of a fringe. The threads were of different
colors and were tied into knots. The word quipu, indeed, signifies a
knot. The colors denoted sensible objects; as, for instance, white
represented silver, and yellow, gold. They sometimes also stood for
abstract ideas. Thus, white signified peace, and red, war. But the
quipus were chiefly used for arithmetical purposes. The knots served
instead of ciphers, and could be combined in such a manner as to
represent numbers to any amount they required. By means of these they
went through their calculations with great rapidity, and the Spaniards
who first visited the country bear testimony to their accuracy.4

Officers were established in each of the districts, who, under the title of
quipucamayus, Or "keepers of the quipus," were required to furnish the
government with information on various important matters. One had
charge of the revenues, reported the quantity of raw material distributed
among the laborers, the quality and quantity of the fabrics made from it,
and the amount of stores, of various kinds, paid into the royal magazines.
Another exhibited the register of births and deaths, the marriages, the
number of those qualified to bear arms, and the like details in reference
to the population of the kingdom. These returns were annually
forwarded to the capital, where they were submitted to the inspection of
officers acquainted with the art of deciphering these mystic records.
The government was thus provided with a valuable mass of statistical
information, and the skeins of many-colored threads, collected and
carefully preserved, constituted what might be called the national
archives.5