LIBRARY, OF CONGRESS, Chap. Copyright No« UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ! THE INCAS TTbc Children of tbc Sun TELF( ) rdtgj*oesbeck With Preface by CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM With Illustrations by ERIC PAPE tAVED o\ Wood by M. HAIDER P. PI YORK AND LONDON NEW 18 *1 fc ,V\ Copyright, 1896 by TELFORD GROESBECK Entered at Stationers' Hall, London Ubc Tknickevbockcv press, "Hew J^ork Ill PREFACE. THE story of the Incas is peculiarly adapted to arouse and interest the imagination of one who has studied it care- fully, and who is gifted with poetic instincts. He sees the dawn rising over the snowy punas, a flock of vicuilas dis- appearing in the mist, the condor soaring into space; then the scene is brought out more clearly as the sun gains power, the trains of llamas wind along the roads, the tambo towers rise in long vistas, the sentries guard the royal store-houses, and as the thunder seems to roll down the gorges, the mythical stories of the Inca people, explaining the phenomena of nature, recur to his mind. Equally suggestive are the Andean terraces, and the rich coast valleys, all irrigated with paternal care, and with palaces and castles embosomed in groves of fruit trees. Still more attractive to the poetic mind are the detailed descriptions of the imperial festivals at Cuzco, the gorgeous ceremonial wor- ship, and the probationary exercises of the youthful Inca aspirants. The whole is pervaded by the religious thoughts engendered by that elemental cult which was subservient to the worship of a supreme disposer of the universe. The im- agination naturally turns from all these glories to the cradle of the Inca race, to the mysterious monolith of Tiahuanacu. and the traditions which centre round the lake of Titicaca. Hut he who would call the muse of poetry to his aid, to in- spire him with the genius not only to raise up these scenes, in vivid reality before his own imagination ; but also to crystallize them in verse so that others may, in part, be able to catch the same inspiration, has no easy task before him. He must not vi Preface. only be gifted with poetic fancy, and with the power of giving expression to it in verse; but he must also be steeped to the lips in an intimate knowledge of Incarial lore. All true poets are accurate. They require in order to satisfy their sense of the dignity of their art, that their imaginations, though soar- ing to the skies, should rest on solid foundations of truth. Each flower and leaf, each stone — nay, each passing cloud must be true to nature, must harmonize with the genii of time and place. There must be no jarring note. Hence, the poet of the Incas must have been a diligent student of their lore, and of nature as displayed amidst their mountains and valleys. It is high praise to say that the author of the Cliildrcn of the Sun is gifted with these qualifications. He certainly has the poetic imagination so far educated as to enable him to give ex- pression to it in verse. One who has made the history of the Incas the study of his life is able to add the further testimony that the poet's knowledge is based on careful reading, and that throughout no jarring note can be detected. Clements R. Markham. October, 1896. CONTENTS. PAGB Pkl FACl V The [ncas ..... . i A Shok i History of the Incas ..... 49 Glossary • • • 73 i \; V, iX ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 1. — " And fragrant flowers brought from every sheltered nest, Arc thrown to cover ground by tread of sovereign blessed." Frontispiece. //'('■■ IV. -False Mummy-Head and Sepulchral Ornaments of the Incas . . i\ Pen Drawi V. — Textile Fabrics of the Incas ........ xiii Pen Drawi VI. -" To soar above the world in countless rings <>f flight Through which departing souls pa-s to eternal light." ... 2 Pen-Drawing, VII, '" By little toquia tires, round which dark shepherds kneel, Beneath the pale blue smoke, to cook theii early meal." . . 4 Wood Engravin VIII. " The\ hear the Thunder's voice, see Lightning dart away I break the East-wind's vase ere the approach of hay ; They see volcanoes puff to raise their plumes >till higher. 'Then boldly kiss the cheek of Morn with lip> of lire." ... 6 // IX. — ..... "Acllahuasi where 'The royal virgins dwell. — perchance embroid'ring there reams "I love for him, whilst watching sacred tires ' .13 // xi xii Illustrations. X. — " In Temple <>f the Sun . . . the morning lights have run Tobeal the gloomy shades with brilliant spectra] wings, Tin- twenty eyes of ;_;<>]<>td its lips rti But, trembling in it it pointed to the And swili d maliciously." The Incas. 45 Light up with Quilla's lamps, and round the lake to north, On overhanging points, unnumbered fires break forth. And, with her silver darts, fling theirs of golden glow. Oh ! then, alarmed, they fled and sought their barks below, And fortunate it was. On Titicaca now The fabled tiger stood, the ruby in its brow Ablaze with agony, whilst soon the spectral shores Where storms and earthquakes lived, the lake, their sails and oars Were bathed in lucid blood. Then on the headland west, From crumbling temple-dust, and its forgotten rest, The old blue idol rose. It cast no ray of light, And yet it swiftly grew, between the bonfires bright, As would a ghost of flame. No sound its lips released, But, trembling in its rage, it pointed to the east And smiled maliciously. 1 1 The idol, in pointing to the east, foretells the coming of the Spaniards. 1 cott says that Huayna Ccapac, on his death-bed, announced the subversion of his empire by this race of white and bearded strangers, as the consummation predicted by the oracles after the reign of the twelfth Inca, and that he enjoined it upon his Is not to resist the decrees of Heaven, but to yield obedience 10 its mi This command has been given as a reason why the Incas were so easily conqu by the Spaniards. v.' \ A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ITiCAS *#*«• COMPILED FROM THE \7RmriGS OF FOUR EnneiT HISTORIAItS. XV &W 47 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE INCAS. COMPILED FROM THE WRITINGS OF FOUR EMINENT HISTORIANS. " T^HERE is reason to believe that a powerful empire had existed in Peru centuries before the rise of the Inca dynasty. Cyclopean ruins, quite foreign to the genius of Inca architecture, point to this conclusion." 1 It is claimed that these people were the " Hatun-runa, the great men who had Pirua for their king, and who originally came from the dis- tant south." ' " Religious myths and dynastic traditions throw some doubtful light on that remote past, which has left its silent memorials in the huge stones of Tiahuanacu, Sacsahua- man, and Ollantay, and in the altar of Concacha," ' " remains as elaborate and admirable as those of Assyria, of Egypt, Greece, or Rome." a Then there is evidence showing that, long before the Piruas appeared, there existed here " municipali- ties, if we may so call them, . . . going back, probably, as far into antiquity as any on the face of the globe," a for their ruins are " almost exact counterparts of those of Stonehenge, and Carnac in Brittany, to which is assigned the remotest place in monumental history." 3 "The catalogue of kings given by Montesinos, allowing an average of twenty years for each, would place the commence- ment of the Pirua dynasty in about 470 B.C.; in the days when the Greeks, under Cimon, were defeating the Persians, and nearly a century after the death of Sakya Muni in India. This early empire flourished for about 1200 years, and the disrup- 1 Clements R. Markham, The Inca Civilization in Peru, Vol. I. Xarrative and Critical History of Amen • E. George Squier, Peru. 4 49 50 The Incas. tion took place in 830 A.D., in the days of King Egbert. The disintegration continued for 500 years, and the rise of the Incas under Manco was probably coeval with the days of St. Louis and Henry III. of England. By that time the country had been broken up into separate tribes for 500 years, and the work of reunion, so splendidly achieved by the Incas, was most arduous. At the same time, the ancient civilization of the Piruas was partially inherited by the various peoples whose ancestors composed their empire ; so that the Inca civilization was a revival rather than a creation." ' " The history of the rise and progress of Inca power, as re- corded by native historians, and related to us by Spanish writers, is, on the whole, coherent and intelligible." ' " The Inca people were divided into small ayllus, or line- ages, when Manco Ccapac advanced down the valley of the Vilcamayu, from Paccari-tampu, and forced the ayllu of Alca- viza and the ayllu of Antasayac to submit to his sway." 1 The ancestral myth of the Peruvians tells us that this Manco Ccapac was one of the four brothers who, " with their four sisters, issued forth from apertures (Tocco) in a cave at Paccari-tampu, a name which means the ' the abode of dawn.' " * This was the same cave where Chasca, the Dawn, died in giving birth to Punchau, the Day, and where, " during the time of the flood, the remnants of the race escaped the fury of the waves." a " It was five miles distant from Cuzco, surrounded by a sacred grove and enclosed with temples of great antiquity." 9 But according to the tradition most familiar to us all, " the Sun, the great luminary and parent of mankind, taking compassion on the degraded condition " of these ancient races, " sent two of his children, Manco Ccapac and Mama Ocllo, to gather the natives into communities, and teach them the arts of civilized life. The celestial pair, brother and sister, husband and wife, • . . bore with them a golden wedge, and were directed to 1 Markham. 5 Daniel G. Brinton, American Hero-Myths. The Incas. 51 take up their residence on the spot where the sacred emblem should without effort sink into the ground. They proceeded ... as far as the valley of Cuzco," when " the wedge spee sank into the earth and disappeared forever." ' Whether these legends be true or false, it appears that Manco Ccapuc M formed the nucleus of his power at Cuzco, the land of these conquered ayllus, and from this point his descendants slowly extended their dominions." ' The next three Inca sovereigns did little more than consoli- date u the small kingdom of their predecessor." 3 The fifth "subdued the Quichuas to the westward, and extended his sway as far as the pass of Vilcanota, overlooking the Collao, or basin of Lake Titicaca." ' The sixth " made few conquests, devoting his attention to the foundation of schools, the organi- zation of government, and to the construction of public work The seventh appears to have done nothing. M One authority says that he was surprised and killed, and all claim that his reign was disastrous." * The four succeeding sovereigns were great conquerors. " Uira-cocha, intervening in a war between the two principal chiefs of the Collas, . . . defeated them in detail, and an- nexed the whole basin of Lake Titicaca to his dominions. He also conquered the lovely valley of Yucay." ' Then came u Yupanqui, the favorite hero of Inca history " ' — the victor in the famous Chanca war, " the decisive battle " of which " was fought outside . . . the sacred gate of Cuzco. . The memory of this great struggle was fresh in men's minds when the Spaniards arrived, and as the new conquerors passed over the battlefield, on their way to Cuzco, they saw the stuffed shins of the vanquished Chancas set up as memo- rials by the roadside. The subjugation of the Ch&fica their allies, the Huancas, led to a vast extension of the Inca empire, which now reached the shores of the Pacific : and the 1 William II. PreSOOtt, CottfU "U. ' Martin 52 The Incas. last years of Yupanqui were passed in the conquest of the alien coast nation, ruled over by a sovereign known as Chimu. Thus the reign of the Inca Yupanqui marks a great epoch. He beat down all rivals, and converted the Cuzco kingdom into a vast empire. He received the name of Pachacutec, or ' he who changes the world.' " ' "Tupac Inca Yupanqui, the son and successor of Pachacutec, completed the subjugation of the coast valleys, extending his conquests beyond Quito on the north and to Chile as far as the river Maule in the south, besides penetrating far into the eastern forests." 1 Huayna Ccapac, the hero of the poem, was the son of Tupac Inca Yupanqui. He " completed and consolidated the con- quests of his father, . . . traversed the valleys of the coast, penetrated to the southern limits of Chile, and fought a memo- rable battle on the banks of the ' lake of blood ' (Yahuar-cocha), near the northern frontier of Quito. After a long reign, the last years of which were passed in Quito, Huayna Ccapac died in November, 1525." ' He was really the last of the Inca sovereigns, and, during his reign, the empire was in its greatest glory. " His eldest legitimate son, named Huascar, succeeded him at Cuzco. But Atahualpa, his father's favorite, was at Quito with the most experienced generals. Haughty messages passed between the brothers, which were followed by war. Huascar's armies were defeated in detail, and eventually the generals of Atahualpa took the legitimate Inca prisoner, entered Cuzco, and massacred the family and adherents of Huascar. The successful aspirant to the throne was on his way to Cuzco, in the wake of his generals, when he encountered Pizarro and the Spanish invaders at Caxamarca." * The empire of Huayna Ccapac extended along the Pacific " a distance of not far from three thousand miles ; while from east to west it spread, with varying width, from the Pacific to the 1 Markham. The Incas. 53 valleys of Paucartambo and Chuquisaca, an average distance of not far from four hundred miles, covering an area . . . equal ... to the whole of the United States to the east- ward of the Mississippi River. . . . The geographical and topographical features of this vast region are singularly bold and remarkable. . . . In no part of the world does nature assume grander, more imposing, or more varied forms. Deserts as bare and repulsive as those of Sahara alternate with valleys as rich and luxuriant as those of Italy. Lofty mountains, crowned with eternal snow, lift high their rugged sides over broad, bleak punas, or table-lands, themselves more elevated than the summits of the White Mountains or of the Alleghanies. Rivers, taking their rise among melting snows, precipitate them- selves through deep and rocky gorges into the Pacific, or wind, with swift but gentle current, among the majestic Andes, to swell the flood of the Amazon. There are lakes, ranging in size with those that feed the St. Lawrence, whose surfaces lie almost level with the summit of Mont Blanc ; and they are the centres of great terrestrial basins, with river systems of their own, and having no outlet to the sea." ' The entire region may be divided into four parts : The Costa, the Despoblado, the Sierra, and the Montafia. The Costa, or coast region, lies between the Western Cordil- lera and the sea. This " bare and repulsive desert strip, aver- aging perhaps forty miles in width," whose sands are " swept smooth by the winds" 1 or blown about rocks into crescent- shaped medano heaps — this " domain of death and silence — a silence only broken by " ' the medano spirits beating their drums,* " the screams of water-birds and the howls of the sea- lions that throng " ! the barren islands " and its frayed and for- bidding shore," : is " intersected here and there by valleys of 1 S^uier. 1 " Sometimes, especially at early dawn, there is a musical noise in the desert, like the sound of distant drums, which is caused by the eddying of grains of sand in the heated atmosphere, on the crests of the 4 Medanos.' " — Encyc. Brit., Peru. 54 The Incas. great fertility and beauty, and often of considerable size," ' formed by fifty streams and torrents from the mountains. Then where the smaller streams came from the gorges, and the canals and subterraneous aqueducts emptied their melted snows, the thirsty sands, drinking the waters as they fell, turned into beau- tiful oases, and, with the coming of the mists, the low hills near the coast changed, as if by magic, to gardens of brilliant wild- flowers. These valleys and oases, in ancient times, " were densely populated by men who left many monuments of their skill and greatness." 1 Many of the inhabitants formed " separate com- munities, independent in government, and with little, if any, intercourse or relationship. In a few instances, however, . . . large and efficient civil and political organizations were effected, and the united communities took the form and status of a state." ' The largest and most powerful of these were Quito, which, at the time it was conquered, " rivalled that of Peru itself in wealth and refinement," s and Chimu, many of whose artisans Inca Yupanqui took with him to Cuzco because they were so skilful " in the working of metals and the fashioning of jewels and vases in silver and gold." ' It is said that the Chimu dominions extended six hundred miles along the coast. " Their most gorgeous temple was that of Pachacamac, their chief divinity, ' the Creator of the world.' It equalled in wealth of silver and gold those of Cuzco and Titicaca. Of the precious metals the Spaniards took away from this temple sixteen hun- dred and eighty-seven and a half pounds of gold, and sixteen thousand ounces of silver. The nails and tacks which had supported the plates of silver bearing the sacred name on the wall of the temple amounted to more than thirty-two thousand ounces." ' Another temple " scarcely less adorned than that of Pachacamac in richness of gold and silver " 1 was that " of the famous oracle-deity, Rimac," * who, it is claimed, spoke through 1 Squier. * Prescott. The Incas. 55 the mouth of " an idol which was of clay," ' and answered ques- tions, favorably or otherwise, " according to the character of the offerings made by the people." ' Where now are the hun- dred cities of these ancient peoples ? The crumbling walls of temples, palaces, fortresses, and tombs, half buried in the drift- ing sands, mark their graves. Where are all the souls of the men and women who would be walking, and of the children who would be playing in their paved streets to-day, if the Spaniards had not come ? " No living thing is to be seen, except, perhaps, a solitary condor circling above, . . . nor sound heard, except the pulsations of the great Pacific." ' Back of the coast region lies the Western Cordillera, " a vast terrestrial billow, bristling with volcanoes and snowy peaks, and supporting a minor net-work of hills and mountains. . . . Its summit often spreads out in broad, undulating plains, vary- ing from fourteen to eighteen thousand feet above the sea." ' This " frigid, barren, desolate . . . region, often a hundred and fifty miles in breadth, is the great Despoblado, the Black Puna, or unpeopled region of Peru. Here, except where we find the ruins of Inca tambos, or huts of refuge, ... no trace of habitation is discovered." ' Beyond the Despoblado, and several thousand feet below, reaching from " the Cordillera of the coast to the glittering Andes," ' are the Sierra lands, a great " plateau, . . . with mountains and hills, plains and valleys, lakes and rivers — a mi- crocosm of the earth itself lifted up into the frosty air, and held in its place by the mighty buttresses of the Andes and Cordilleras." ' Here, at every altitude and with every climate, were those " fertile valleys, called bolsones, or pockets, isolated by ranges of hills and mountains, or by cold, uninhabited punas, and encircled by the mighty gorges of rivers which, like the Apurimac, are impassable, except by the aid of bridges swing- ing dizzily in mid-air." 1 In one of these, that of Cuzco, the 1 Squier. 56 The Incas. Incas founded their empire, and built their capital, the City of the Sun. Another was Yucay, the most beautiful in Peru. Travelling from Cuzco over a "high, bleak ridge," we come to the abrupt edge of the table-land on which Chinchero stands, "and look almost sheer down on the valley of Yucay, four thousand feet below. Here the traveller pauses instinctively, for the view before him is unsurpassed for beauty or grandeur by any on which his eyes have rested. In front rises that gi- gantic spur of the Andes which separates the valleys of the Vilcamayo and Pancartambo with rugged escarpments of bare rocks, lofty snowy peaks, and silvery glaciers, sharp, bright, and distinct, except when the clouds surge up its eastern side, to dissolve and disappear in flurries of snow on its summit. The great peaks of Chicon, Huacahuasi, and Calca tower up with a majesty scarcely second to that of the mighty Sorata, and with the abruptness of the Alpine Jungfrau, Eiger, and Matterhorn. The glaciers that lie between them have a sweep, as compared to those of the Alps, like that of a western prairie as compared with a meadow valley of New England. From the glittering crests of these vast mountains the eye ranges down, through every graduation of color and depth of shadow, past cleft and cliff, ravine and precipice, until it rests on the graceful A ndenes, or terraces, of the far-famed Gardens of Yucay. Equally salu- brious and fertile, easily accessible from the capital, and with a -vegetation exceptional in the Sierra, this sweet, calm valley, framed in by the lofty mountains of the continent, became early the favorite resort of the Incas. Here they constructed those marvellous hanging gardens," * their palaces, their im- mense and impregnable fortresses, their aqueducts, baths, and fountains. Though now the traveller finds these structures built by man in ruins from which the weakest winds blow the dust away, he feels not sad, for there before him still, in all its original grandeur and beauty, is the valley, the work of Vira- 1 Squier. The Incas. 57 cocha's hands. Some cliffs, "literally speckled with the white faces of tombs" 1 containing dried bodies of the Inca dead, rise before him. In thought he looks within their imperishable dungeon walls, and sees countless thousands sitting there, their heads bowed within their hands that rest upon their knees, and all so unconscious of the centuries gliding by. He feels no pity. It is a favor e'en to sleep so near to God in such a paradise. Leaving these valleys and journeying south, through the Pass of La Roya, by palaces and temples, baths and mineral springs at which the princes rested, the traveller comes to " the grand terrestrial basin of Lakes Titicaca and Aullagas." ' Here was Lake Titicaca, one hundred and twenty miles long and fifty wide, with its shores dotted with towns and villages, and its sacred islands crowned with frescoed palaces, convents, and temples, one of which was plated with gold. There was no more sacred spot in Peru than this lake's largest island, that of Titicaca, the Tiger Rock, on the crest of which, as tradition claims, " a tiger or puma was seen with a great carbuncle or ruby in its head that flashed its light far and wide through all the extent of the Collao." 1 Above the cliffs stood, with the gorgeous palace of the Inca, not only the first temple to the sun, but the sacred stone "on which it was believed no bird would light or animal venture ; on which no " ordinary M hu- man being dared to place his foot ";' and " whence the sun rose to dispel the primal vapors and illume the world." ' It was " plated all over with gold and silver, and covered, except on occasions of the most solemn festivals, with a cloth of the rich- est color and material." 1 What must have been the feelings of those countless pilgrim believers when, approaching this island in their little boats, they saw the sun rise above the mighty Andes and flood with light this rock and temple of the Sun ? They must have been as exalted by the sight as they 1 Squier. 58 The Incas. were depressed when, in the darkness of the night, the old blue idol rose from the ruins of its forgotten shrine to point to the coming white men who would overthrow their glorious empire. Think of this immense lake, its waves tossing their spray on a level almost as high above the sea as the summit of Mont Blanc, and then only bathing the feet of great Illampu whose head is three miles higher in " the clear metallic blue " of heaven. " Not an unfitting region this for the development of an original civilization, like that which carved its memorials in the massive stones, and left them on the plain of Tiahua- nacu." ■ The remaining portion of the empire was the Montafia, "the eastern declivity of the Andes, or rather, the valleys of the rivers flowing eastward toward the vast plains of Brazil. The Incas did not extend their empire far in this direction. They pushed down the valleys until they encountered the savage forests, and their still more savage inhabitants. Here their implements were inadequate to the subjugation of nature ; and the fierce Antis, creeping through the dense thickets, launched unseen their poisoned arrows against the Children of the Sun, who protected themselves by fortifications from an enemy they could not see, and whom it was vain to pursue." ' " The Government of Peru was a despotism, mild in its char- acter, but in its form a pure and unmitigated despotism." 9 The sovereign was the direct descendant " and the representative of the Sun. He stood at the head of the priesthood, and pre- sided at the most important religious festivals. He raised armies, and usually commanded them in person. He imposed taxes, made laws, and provided for their execution by the appointment of judges, whom he removed at pleasure. He was the source from which everything flowed — all dignity, all power, all emolument." a " The sceptre of the Incas . . . descended . . . from 1 Squier. 8 Prescott. The Incas. 59 father to son. The Coya, or lawful queen, as she wa: styled, to distinguish her from the host of concubines who sha.ed the affections of the sovereign, . . . was . . . selected from the sisters of the Inca, an arrangement which, however revolting to the ideas of civilized nations, was recommenced to the Peruvians by its securing an heir to the crown of the pure heaven-born race, uncontaminated by any mixture ot earthly mould." ' M The nobility of Peru consisted of two orders. The first . . . was that of the Incas," ' who " were divided into dif- ferent lineages, each of which traced its pedigree to a different member of the royal dynasty, though all terminated in the divine founder of the empire." ' The members of this order M were distinguished by many exclusive and very important privileges," ' and were " the real strength of the Peruvian monarchy," ' the sovereign's kindred, surrounding his throne, commanding his armies and garrisons, governing his provinces — filling, in fact, every high civil, military, and religious office from the capital to the remotest limits of the empire. " They were to the conquered races of the country what the Romans were to the barbarous hordes of the empire, or the Normans to the ancient inhabitants of the British Isles"; 1 yet the proudest of them " could not venture into the royal presence unless barefoot, and bearing a light burden on his shoulders in token of homage." ! " The other order of nobility was the Curacas, the caciques of the conquered nations, or their descendants. They were usually continued by the government in their places, but were never allowed to occupy the highest posts of state, or those nearest the person of the sovereign, like the nobles of the blood." ' The Incas called their kingdom " Tavantinsuyu," ' or " four quarters of the world." l Over each quarter was placed a vice- 1 Prescott. * Markham. 6o The Incas. roy or governor. " Under the Viceroys were the native Cura- cas, who governed the ayllus, or lineages. Each ayllu was divided into sections of ten families, under an officer called Chunca (10) camayu. Ten of these came under a Pachaca (ioo) camayu. Ten Pachacas formed a Huaranca (1,000) camayu, and the Hunu (10,000) camayu ruled over ten Hua- rancas. The Chunca of ten families was the unit of govern- ment, and each Chunca formed a complete community." ' " The amautas, or learned men, the poets and reciters of history, the musical and dramatic composers, the Quipu-cama- yoc, or recorders and accountants," : also held positions under the government. " The art of the Quipu-camayoc reached a high state of perfection. It may reasonably be assumed that with some aid from oral commentary, codes of laws, historical events, and even poems were preserved in the quipus," ' which were " cords of various colors," to which " smaller lines were attached in the form of fringe, on which there were knots in an almost infinite variety of combination." ' " It is probable that the amautas, or men of learning, formed a separate caste devoted to the cultivation of literature and the extension of the Quichua language. . . . Dramatic representations, both of a tragic and comic character, were performed before the Inca court," 1 and " it was the custom for the Yaravecs or Bards to recite the deeds of former Incas on public occasions, and these rhythmical narratives were orally preserved and handed down by the learned men. . . . Pastoral duties are embodied in some of the later Quichuan dramatic litera- ture, and numerous love songs and yaravies, or elegies, have been handed down orally, or preserved in old manuscripts." ' " There were, also, regular tribunals of justice, consisting of magistrates in each of the towns or small communities, with jurisdiction over petty offences, while those of a graver char- acter were carried before superior judges, usually the governors 1 Markham. The Incas. 61 or rulers of the districts. . . . They were obliged to deter- mine every suit in five days from the time it was brought before them ; and there was no appeal from one tribunal to another. Yet there were important provisions for the security of justice. A committee of visitors patrolled the kingdom at certain times to investigate the character and conduct of the magistrates ; and any neglect or violation of duty was punished in the most exemplary manner. The inferior courts were also required to make monthly returns of their proceedings to the higher ones, and these made reports in like manner to the vice- roys ; so that the monarch, seated in the centre of his domin- ions, could look abroad, as it were, to their most distant extremities, and review and rectify any abuses in the adminis- tration of the law ; " ' and if there were any need of haste, the complaint or commend could be carried on the smooth roads by a relay of swift-footed chasquis (runners) " at the rate of one hundred and fifty miles a day." ' " The Peruvians, like so many of the Indian races, acknowl- edged a Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the Uni- verse, whom they adored under the different names of Pacha- camac and Viracocha." ' He was their God of gods, " the Dweller in space, the Creator of Life, and the Teacher of the World — the Invisible Maker, Possessor, and Master of all Things." 3 It was He who raised the sun, moon, and stars from Titicaca's waves, and " created the beautiful Chasca, the Aurora, the Dawn," ' who, impregnated with His heavenly light, brought forth the Day, the Sun's divine and glorious soul. Yet it is said that u no temple was raised to this invisible Being, save one only in the valley, which took its name from the Deity Himself." 1 Whether this be so or not, we know- that many of the most gorgeous ones were dedicated to Him. Though the Sun, called Punchau or Inti, was worshipped M as the father of their royal dynasty, the founder of their cm- 1 Prescott. 9 Markham. ' Brinton. 62 The Incas. pire ; and temples in his honor " rose in every city and vil- lage," " it is certain that many of the Inca sovereigns considered him a mere instrument in the hands of Viracocha. One, the father of Huayna Ccapac, in an edict, " promulgated with the object of enforcing the worship of the Supreme God above all other deities," 3 went so far as to compare him " to a tethered beast, which always makes the same round ; or to a dart, which goes where it is sent, and not where it wishes." a Quilla, the moon, was worshipped as the sister-wife of the sun, and coya, or lawful queen of the skies ; and the stars were revered " as part of her heavenly train." 2 " They dedicated temples also to the Thunder and Light- ning, in whom they recognized the Sun's dread ministers, and to " Cuchi," the Rainbow, whom they worshipped as a beauti- ful emanation of their glorious deity." ' " The Thunder, Light- ning, and Thunderbolt, could be expressed by the Peruvians in one word, Illapa. Hence some Spaniards have inferred a knowledge of the Trinity in the natives. ' The Devil stole all he could,' exclaims Herrera, in righteous indignation." ' But it appears that the Incas had no devil, for their Cupay was not " the shadowy embodiment of evil," ' " but simply and solely their god of the dead, the Pluto of their Pantheon, correspond- ing to the Mictla of the Mexicans." a In addition to these the Incas had innumerable ancestral deities. Each ayllu, or lineage, worshipped its Paccarina, or forefather, who, when his body had been lost by them, was represented by " some natural object converted into a huaca, or deity." 3 Many of these were believed to be oracles. This reverence for forefathers was probably a result of their belief in the existence of the soul hereafter and in the resurrection of the body. The bodies of Inca sovereigns found were " so well preserved that they appeared to be alive. . . . They were in a sitting posture. Their eyes were made of gold, and they 1 Prescott. 2 Markham. 3 Brinton. The Incas. 63 were arrayed in the insignia of their rank." ' Then " the sub- jects of the Incas enrolled among their inferior deities many objects of nature, as the elements, the winds, the earth," called Allpa, M the air, great mountains and rivers, which impressed them with ideas of sublimity and power, or were supposed in some way or other to exercise a mysterious influence over the destinies of man." * The Inca year began on " the 22d of June, with the winter solstice, and there were four great festivals at the occurrences of the solstices and equinoxes." ' " The most magnificent of all the national solemnities was the feast of Raymi," 9 described in the poem. It was " established in special honor of the Sun," ' and was held u in the first month when the granaries were filled after harvest." ' " The second great festival, called Situa, was celebrated at the vernal equinox. This was the commencement of the rainy season, when sickness prevailed, and the object of the cere- mony was to pray to the Creator to drive diseases and evils from the land. In the centre of " Huacapata, " the great square of Cuzco, a body of four hundred warriors was assembled, fully armed for war. One hundred of them faced towards " each of " the four great divisions of the empire. The Inca and the high- priest, with their attendants, then came from the temple, and shouted, ' Go forth, all evils ! ' On the instant the warriors ran at great speed towards the four quarters, shouting the same sentence as they went, until they each came to another party, which took up the cry, and the last parties reached the banks of the great rivers, the Apurimac or Vilcamayu, where they bathed and washed their arms. The rivers were supposed to carry the evils away to the ocean. As the warriors ran through the streets of Cuzco, all the people came to their doors, shaking their clothes, and shouting, 'Let the evils be gone ! ' In the evening they all bathed ; and then they lighted great torches of 1 Markham. .escott. 64 The Incas. straw, called pancurcu, and, marching in procession out of the city, they threw them into the rivers, believing that thus noc- turnal evils were banished. At night, each family partook of a supper consisting of pudding made of coarsely ground maize, called sancu y which was also smeared over their faces and the lintels of their doorways, then washed off and thrown into the rivers with the cry, ' May we be free from sickness, and may no maladies enter our houses! ' " ' "The third great festival, at the summer solstice, called Huaracu, was the occasion on which the youths of the empire were admitted to a rank equivalent to knighthood, after passing through a severe ordeal." 1 " The fourth great festival, called Mosoc-nina, or the ' new fire,' was the annual ceremony of renewing the sacred fire," which was obtained at the festival of Raymi and " kept alive during the year by the virgins of the sun." ' Among the other festivals was that at which " all those of a marriageable age were called together on an appointed day in the great squares of their respective towns and villages," 2 and united in marriage. The ceremony was everywhere " followed by general festivities," 2 so that " there was one universal bridal jubilee throughout the empire." a They determined the period of the solstices by twelve cylin- drical pillars, called sucancas, " set in order, and at such distance one from the other, that each month the length of the shadow of one of the pillars noted the rising and the setting of the sun." 3 By them they also " fixed the feasts and seasons for sowing and reaping." s The period of the equinoxes they de- termined by the sun-circle, which was " a solitary pillar, or gnomon, placed in the centre of a circle." a " Through the centre of each circle (and its column) was drawn a line due east and west." 3 When " the centre of the shadow followed this line from sunrise to sunset, the priest declared that the equinox had arrived." 3 1 Markham. 9 Prescott. 3 Squier. The Incas. 65 " The complicated religious ceremonies connected with the periodical festivals, the daily worship, and the requirements of private families gave rise to the growth of a very numerous caste of priests and diviners. The pope of this hierarchy, the chief pontiff, was called Uillac Umu, words meaning ' The head which gives counsel,' he who repeats to the people the utter- ances of the Deity. He was the most learned and virtuous of the priestly caste, always a member of the reigning family, and next in rank to the Inca. The Villcas, equivalent to the bishops of a Christian hierarchy, were the chief priests in the provinces, and during the greatest extension of the empire they numbered ten. The ordinary ministers of religion were divided into sac- rificers, worshippers, and confessors, diviners, and recluses." ' The recluses were the Virgins of the Sun, and an order of " hermits who meditated in solitary places, . . . and took vows of chastity, obedience, poverty, and penance." ' " The Virgins of the Sun, the ' elect,' as they were called, . . . were young maidens, dedicated to the service of the deity." ■ They lived in convents " under the care of certain elderly matrons, mama-conas, who had grown gray within the walls." ' They " were instructed in the nature of their religious duties," * and employed in spinning, weaving, and embroidering " the hangings for the temples, and the apparel of the Inca and his household. It was their duty, above all, to watch over the sacred fire obtained at the festival of Raymi." 5 There were many of these convents scattered throughout the kingdom, and " they were embellished in the same sumptuous and costly manner as the palaces of the Inca, and the temples." ' The most im- portant was Acllahuasi. This " great establishment at Cuzco consisted wholly of maidens of the royal blood, who amounted, it is said, to no less than fifteen hundred." 9 The Virgins of the Sun were also "brides of the Inca, and at a marriageable age, the most beautiful among them were selected for the 1 Markham. ■ I'rescott. 5 66 The Incas. honors of his bed, and transferred to . . . his different palaces throughout the country." l " The fiscal regulations of the Incas, and the laws respecting property, are the most remarkable features in the Peruvian polity." ' " The cultivable land belonged to the people in their ayllus, each Chunca of ten families being allotted a suffi- cient area to support its ten able-bodied men and their de- pendents. The produce was divided between the government (Inca), the priesthood (Huaca), and the cultivators or poor (Huaccha), but not in equal parts." 3 The portion assigned to the sun supported " the temples, and maintained the costly ceremonial of the Peruvian worship and the multitudinous priesthood." * That " for the Inca went to support the royal state, as well as the numerous members of his household and his kindred, and supplied the various exigencies of govern- ment." ! All the officers of the government, the soldiers of the army, artificers, shepherds, miners, weavers, and potters sub- sisted on the government's share of the produce. " In some parts, the three shares were kept apart in cultivation, but as a rule the produce was divided at harvest time." a " A more thorough and effectual agrarian law than this cannot be imagined." 1 " Not a spot of cultivated land was neglected. Towns and villages were built on rocky ground. Even their dead were buried in waste places. Dry wastes were irrigated, and terraces were constructed, sometimes a hundred deep, up the sides of the mountains." a " Some of the aqueducts were of great length. One that traversed the district of Condesuyu measured between four and five hundred miles." 1 In con- structing them " mountains had to be tunnelled, rivers and marshes had to be crossed ; in fact, the same obstacles had to be encountered as in the construction of their mighty roads." x The flocks of llamas and alpacas were divided into those belonging to the state, and those owned by the people. These 1 Prescott. 8 Markham. The Incas. 67 " supplied meat for the people, dried charqui for soldiers and travellers, and wool for weaving cloth of every degree of fine- ness." ' Then the llamas were often used as beasts of burden. But M the richest store of wool was obtained, not from these domestic animals, but from other species, the Jiuanacos and the vicunas, which roamed in native freedom over the frozen ranges of the Cordilleras. . . . It was only on stated occasions, at the great hunts, which took place once a year, under the personal superintendence of the Inca or his principal officers, that this game was allowed to be taken." a " On these occasions a wide area was surrounded by thousands of people, whogradually closed in towards the centre. They advanced shouting and starting the game before them, and closed in, forming in several ranks, until a great bag was secured. The females were released, with a few of the best and finest males. The rest were then shorn and also released, a certain proportion being killed for the sake of their flesh. The huatiacu wool was divided among the people of the district, while the silky fleeces of the vicufia were reserved for the Inca." ' " In no other part of the world has the administration of a purely socialistic government been attempted. The Incas not only made the attempt, but succeeded." ' The only products not shared with the people were those of the mines. " Gold was obtained by the Incas in immense quantities by washing the sands of the rivers." ' " Silver was extracted from the ore by means of blasting furnaces. Copper was abundant, and tin was found, . . . which enabled the Peruvians to use bronze very extensively. Lead was a known to them. Skilful workers in metals fashioned the vases and other utensils for the use of the Inca and of the temples, forged the arms of the soldiers and implements of husbandry, and stamped or chased the ceremonial breastplates, . . . girdles, and chains. The bronze and copper warlike instru- 1 Markham. 8 Prescott. 68 The Incas. ments . . . were cast in moulds." ' The most remarkable work in pure gold was the chain of Huayna Ccapac. " It was of the thickness of a man's arm, and extended twice around the great square of Cuzco," which " was more than half a mile in circuit." 3 " The Peruvian army, at first inconsiderable, came with the increase of the population, in the latter days of the empire, to be very large. . . . They showed the same skill and respect for order in their military organization as in other things. The troops were divided into bodies corresponding with our battal- ions and companies, led by officers that rose, in regular grada- tion, from the lowest subaltern to the Inca noble, who was intrusted with the general command." 9 " Their arms consisted of . . . bows and arrows, lances, darts, a short kind of sword, a battle-axe or partisan, and slings, with which they were very expert. Their spears and arrows were tipped with copper " 3 and bronze, " or more com- monly with bone, and weapons of the Inca lords were fre- quently mounted with gold and silver. . . . The great mass of the soldiery were dressed in the peculiar costume of their provinces, and their heads were wreathed with a sort of turban or roll of different colored cloths," 8 called a Uautu, " that produced a gay and animated effect." 3 " The Inca wore the crimson llautu, and the wing feathers (black and white) of the alcamari, an Andean vulture. . . . The generals wore yellow llautus. One tribe wore a puma's head. The Canaris were adorned with the feathers of macaws," and " the Huacra- chucus with the horns of deer." 1 " Their defensive armor con- sisted of a shield or buckler, and a close tunic of quilted cotton in the same manner as with the Mexicans. . . . Their heads were protected by casques made either of wood or of the skins of wild animals, and sometimes richly decorated with metal and with precious stones, surmounted by the brilliant plumage of 1 Markham. s Squier. " Prescott. The Incas. 69 the tropical birds. . . . Each company had its peculiar banner, and the imperial standard, high above all, displayed the glittering device of the rainbow, the armorial ensign of the Incas, intimating their claims as children of the skies." ' The armies could easily be moved from one part of the coun- try to another, for M the Inca roads, level and well paved, radi- ated from Cuzco to the remotest part of the empire." 9 To make them " rocks were broken up and levelled when it was necessary, ravines were filled, excavations were made in moun- tain sides," * and the deepest gorges were spanned by bridges. Then on them at regular distances were built, not only the rest-houses for the runners, and the tambos for travellers, but also the garrisons and storehouses, with arms, clothing, and provisions for marching soldiers. Their fortresses were in some respects the most remarkable in the world. Among the largest and strongest ones were Paucartambo, Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Sacsahuaman. The first three were on the eastern frontier, and defined, in this direction, the limits of the Inca empire. The last was on a hill overlooking the city of Cuzco. Sacsahuaman is "a compound word signifying ' Fill thee, falcon ! ' or ' Gorge thyself, hawk ! ' Thus metaphorically did the Incas glorify the strength of their fortress. ' Dash thyself against its rocky and impregnable sides, if thou wilt ; the hawks will gather up thy fragments ! ' " 8 This fortress " was the greatest and most superb of the edifices that the Incas raised to demonstrate their majesty and power." " No one can understand how such tremendous stones " were brought over steep mountains and abrupt decliv- ities from quarries miles away." * It also " passes the power of imagination to conceive how so many and so great stones could be so accurately fitted together as scarcely to admit the insertion of the point of a knife between them." * Those who have studied this fortress, have been " led not only to imagine, 1 Prescott. J Markham. * Squicr. 70 The Incas. but to believe, that it was reared by enchantment — by demons, and not by men." ■ " The first step of the government, after the reduction of a country, was to introduce there the worship of the Sun. . . . Yet the religion of the conquered was not treated with dis- honor. . . . The images of their gods were removed to Cuzco, and established in one of the temples, to hold their rank among the inferior deities of the Peruvian Pantheon." 9 They " provided for the settlement of their new conquests, by ordering a census to be taken of the population, and a care- ful survey to be made of the country, ascertaining its products, and the character and capacity of its soil." a Then they sent skilful husbandmen to teach the people how best to cultivate their lands. " To secure obedience in their new vassals," they not only established military colonies among them, but the rulers of the conquered nations, " and their families were removed for a time to Cuzco. Here they learned the language of the capital, became familiar with the manners and usages of the court, as well as with the general policy of the government, and ex- perienced such marks of favor from the sovereign as would be most grateful to their feelings, and might attach them most warmly to his person. Under the influence of these senti- ments, they were again sent to rule over their vassals, but still leaving their eldest sons in the capital, to remain there as a guarantee for their own fidelity, as well as to grace the court of the Inca. . . . When any portion of the recent conquests showed a " rebellious spirit, " it was not uncommon to cause a part of the population ... to remove to a distant quarter of the kingdom, occupied by ancient vassals of undoubted fidelity to the crown. A like number of these last was trans- ported to the territory left vacant by the emigrants. By this exchange, the population was composed of two distinct races, 1 Squier. * Prescott. The Incas. 71 who regarded each other with an eye of jealousy that served as an effectual check on any mutinous proceeding." ! Yet few nations once conquered by the Incas ever cared to rebel, for they learned in the battles preceding their conquest how vain and useless it would have been. This short history of the Incas is placed in this volume for the same reason the poem is — merely as a little reminder of this marvellous civilization, the highest, it is claimed, among the indigenous races of America. 1 Prescott. The author is indebted to the courtesy of Houghton, Mifflin & Company and of Frank Squier for permission to use in the foregoing sketch of the Incas extracts from the works of Clements K. Markham and of E. George Squier. GLOSSARY. Acllahuasi (a-kl-la-wa'-se). The Palace of the Royal Virgins of the Sun. Alcamari. An Andean vulture. A //pa. The earth. Amautas. Learned men. Ayllu. A tribe or lineage. Bolson. A mountain valley. Calca. A high mountain peak. Chanca. The greatest war in which the Incas were ever en- gaged. Chasca. The Dawn, the mother of the Day. Chasquis. Government messengers or runners. Chicon. A high mountain peak. Chimu. A powerful coast nation conquered by the Incas. Chidpa. A sepulchral monument, an individual or family tomb. CJuimpi-vilca. Celebrated dancers. Coati. The island sacred to the Moon. Corica7icliu. The " Place of Gold " where the temples stood. Coya. Lawful queen. Ciicki. The Rainbow. Cupay. The god of the dead. Dcspoblado. The Black Puna, or unpeopled region between the Central and Western Cordilleras. Hamurpa. Priests who " examined the entrails of sacrifices, and divined by the flight of birds." Huaca (wa-ka). A deity. Huacahuasi (wa-ka-wii -se). A mountain peak. 74 Glossary. Huacap Uillac (wa-kap-vel-yak). Ministering priests who had charge of a special idol. Huacapata (wa-ka-pa'-ta). The central square of Cuzco. Huatenay, A rivulet running through Cuzco. Huayllina (wl-ye'-na). Religious songs. Huayna Ccapac (wl'-na-ka-pak). The last reigning sovereign. Illampu. Sorata, the highest mountain of America. Illapa. A word meaning the Thunder, Lightning, and Thunder- bolt. Illimani. A mountain 24,155 feet high. Inti. The Sun. Intihuasi (en'-te-wa' se). The Temple of the Sun. Inti-pampa. The Field of the Sun, into which the Temple of the Sun opened. It was surrounded with walls sculp- tured all over with serpents. Llautu. A turban of colored folds. Manco. The founder of the Inca dynasty. Mitimaes. Colonists — people moved, for different purposes, from one part of the empire to another. Nacac. Priests who cut up the victims and provided the offer- ings. Ollantaytambo. A gigantic frontier fortress connected with many events in Inca history, as well as with the legend of Ollanta. Pachacamac. The name of the richest shrine, and of the sacred city of the natives of the coast. Another name for Vi- racocha. Paucartambo. One of the largest fortresses. Pinculluna. A mountain on which prisoners were executed. Pisac. A frontier fortress " as remarkable as that of Sacsa- huaman, and only to be paralleled in the Old World by the great hill forts of India." Puna. A desolate mountain plain. An island ten miles from Tumbez. Glossary. 75 Punchau. The Day. Quilla. The Moon. Raymi. The principal feast of the Incas. Rimac. A famous oracle-deity. Sacsahuaman (sak-sa-wa'-man). The Spanish conquerors de- nominated this fortress the eighth wonder of the world. Sierra. " The region intervening between the Cordillera of the coast and the glittering Andes." Soroche. Rarefaction of the air. Sucancas. Cylindrical pillars. Tarpuntay. Sacrificing priests. Tiahuanacu (te-a-wa-na'-ko). The capital of the Piruas, twelve miles south of Lake Titicaca. Tullamayo. A rivulet running through Cuzco. Tumbal. The god of war. Uillac Umu (vel-yak oo-moo). The chief pontiff. Urus. Lake-dwellers and skilful boatmen. Veta. Influence due to mineral substances in the earth. Villca. The chief priest of a province. Viracocha. The Supreme God. Yucay. The most beautiful valley in Peru, about twenty miles north of Cuzco. ->•--■ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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