Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-18

a. RU0noC0,
alpaca and vicuna, which all belong to the
same family, were the flour sheep Of the early
Peruvians;" the first clothing the common
people. the second the mobiles. the third the
royal governors and the fourth the imperial
family. So the vicuna. q tmid, gentle, gazelle-
like creature whose long, silky. fawn -colored
hairchanges its hues in different lights and has
peculiar gloss resembling that on ''changeable
silks" furnished the royal ermine of the Inca
kings and none below mobiles of certain rank
were permitted to wear it. The animal was
protected by law, as well As by sacred tradi-
tions, and allowed to roam unbarmed in the
hills and forests, where il accumulated in great
numbers. Tho Spanish invaders first began to
slaughter it for food, and it is said that the
conquered Indians expected some dreadful
penalty to be visited on the invaders for de-
stroyins and eating the sacred beast, but lost
faith in the old traditions when the slayers es-
capped divine retribution.
THE MOON TEMPLE
| is elevated some distance above tho lake, and
between it and the waters edge is a succession
of terraces. all neatly built of cut stones. Each
terrace has a wall around its outer edge about
four feet high, so that if any member
OF the priesthood or the royal household
committed the modern indiscretion OF imbib
ing too much chicha they were in no danger
OF tumbllng down the decivity. A series OF
stone steps leads from one terrace to another,
so that even now despite its ruined condition,
Tho Palace of the Virgins" was built in
two parts, around two shrnes. dedicated re-
spectvely to the sun and moon. This re-
markable edifice is still we'll preserved and is
one of the most beautiful specimens Of abor-
lClnal architecture extant. An adjacent Is
land, now called Sofa, il supposed to have been
the ancient Isle do los Penitenties," or Isle Of
Penltents to which representatives OF the
ruling race were expected to retire, ut least
once year, for season of fasting aud humil-
iation.
UNCERTAIN ANTIQUITY.
How old these monuments may be cannot
be accurately determined, as the ancient Pc
ruvians had no system of writing and there
fore left no records, did tho ancient Egyp-
tans. by which We may learn the dates of their
history. Their antiquity can only be guessed
by traditions that have come down to US and
by tho effect of time upon their structures.
The guesses of those Psychologists who have
given the subject most careful study are very
wide apart concerning the date Of Capacs ap-
pearance and the building of these temples.
The government of the Incas. which the Span
| iards found and destroyed, had certainly ex-
| listed not less than five hundred years and some
insist that 1t must have been thousand years
old or more ut the time of the conquest. This
great discrepancy of opinion no doubt arises in
part from the fact that semi-civilized races
| older than the Incas, have left many monu-
ments scattered throughout the country and the
remains of the two distinct epochs are some
times COMPOUNDED. Those earlier tribes, who
ever they may have been, were by no means
barbarians when the sun children set up their
dynasty. Indeed some Of the nations which
the Incas conquered appeared to have been
farther advanced in the useful arts and occu-
pations than they themselves ever became.
HOW THE INCA CAPITAL WAS FORMED.
| Starting from the sacred rock on Titicaca
Island the children of the sun proceeded on
fhair hnn
government all the tribes that occupied the
| country and to instruct them in a new religion.
Manco-Capac carried golden staff, which his
| father, the Sun, had given to him with in
| structlons that he was to continue his travels
| until the proper place was reached for found
ing his capital and scat Of government, where,
| as token, the rod would sink into the ground.
| He obeyed the divine behest, travelling night
and day along the western border of the lake,
| through the broad, level puma lands that lead
up to the valley Of Pucura, continuing on to
the end of the great Titicaca basin and follow
| little lake. La Raya, to swell the waters of the
Amazon. Advancing down the valley Of that
| river he finally reached the spot in central
| Peru where the city OF Cuzco now stands,
when 10! the golden staff Immediately dis
| appeared! So there he found the splendid
City OF the Sun, the capital of the Inca empire.
THE PLACE OF GOLD.
In Cuzco stood the magnificent temple known
as Coricancha, the place of Gold" History
tells US that that on its western wall was fas-
tened a colossal representation OF the human
| face, made of pure gold, from which golden
rays darted in all directions. In other parts of
the building were golden images, vessels and
| figures of all descriptions; that when the
sun, whom they adored, shed his golden beams
upon the edfice the whole place was one mass
OF light and splendor. Underneath the great
| golden face chairs were ranged, also made OF
solid gold, in which were seated the embalmed
bodies of the Inca emperors. as they died in
succession. In its outer court were smaller
temples-one to the Moon one to Venus, one
| to the Rainbow, one to the Pleiades, one to
Thunder and Nightingale OF which were
richly decorated with gold and silver
And SO Manco- Capac became a priest and
ruler in the land. He made laws and taught
the people the arts of peace and war; while his
wife and sister. Mama Della, instructed the
women in weaving and spinning and the care
| of their children. Tradition goes on to state
which time the heavenly pair did not grow a
| seen no more.
Beginning with Cuzco and the country i'm
mediately surrounding it, Capac's descendants
gradually enlarged their territory, until, at the
time OF the coming of PiZarro and his gang, ii
embraced forty degrees Of latitude and in
cluded moro than ten millions of inhabitants.
Since tho Spanish conquest however, the ma
tive population has been steadily diminishing
and today there are hardly moro than ten mil
lion OF people in the whole Inca domain.