The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-04-01

N-Pio Noisls DStDS supposed 10 DreSlCe IN s.
particular manner over the destiuies Of
man by giving light and warmth 70 the
nations as well as life to the vegetable
world, besides icing the founder OF their
empire and the father Of their royal dy-
nasty, they also acknowledged various other
objects of worship as in some wsy
connected with the sun. There were
the moon, his sister-wife. and the
stars, believed to serve as part of
her heavenly train, except Venus, fairest of
them all. whom they called Chesca, the
youth with curling locks" and adored as
the suns page. because he attends so closely
70 the rising aud setting of that luminary
In thunder and lightning they recognized
the suns dread ministers of vengeance. and
the rainbow they worshiped as his APPROX
ing smile. A hundred objects in nature
also served for inferior gods. The mighty
sea, breaking with ceaseless thun-
pressed the dweller Of the desert with rev.
erence and awe. while the elements, the
wind, the rain, the earth, the air, noun
talns, rivers everything which impressed
them with ideas of sublimitv and power, or
which exercised marked influence for the
veal or woe of man, came i'll for a share of
worship. They also adopted a notion not
unlike that professed by some of the schools
OF ancient philosophy, that everything on
earth had its architype-its mother" as
they expressed (which must be held
sacred, as being in some sort its spiritual
essence. And besides all these, their sys-
tenn embraced the countless deities of all
the conquered nations, whose images were
transferred to Cuzco.
THE MOON IN SOLID SILVER,
In the temple consecrated to the moon
the deity considered second in importance
as being the mother of the lncas-her efigy
was represented in the same manner as that
of the sun, on vast plate that covered
nearly one side of the building But this
plate and all the other decorations OF her
temple were Of silver instead of gold, as
being better suited to the paler effulgence of
that beautiful planet. One of the three
other temples was dedicated to the
host of stars that formed her
bright court. another to thunder and
lightning, and another to the rainbow.
There are several smaller edifices and in
sulated apartments within the temple walls
for the accommodation OF numerous priests
who oficiated in the various services. All
the plates, ornaments and utensils of every
description appropriated to the uses of reli-
gion were of solid gold or silver. Twelve
immense vases of the latter metal stood on
the floor OF the great salon filled with grains
of Indian corn grown in the temple gardens
and on the Sacred Islands of Lake Titicaca,
and Spanish historian who saw these vases
asserts that leach was as high as a good
lance, and so large that two men with out
spread arms could hardly encompass Them"
ALL APPOINTMENTS OF SILVER AND GOLD.
The censers for the perfumes. the ewers
which held the water for the sacrifices, the
pipes which conducted it through subter-
raneous channels into the buildings, the
reservoirs that received it-even the agri-
cultural implements used in the gardens of
the temples where the sacred corn was cul-
tivated, were all Of silver and gold. The
gardens, like those belonging to the royal
palaces, sparkled with silver and gold and
various jeweled limitations of the vegetable
kingdom. There are also statues in
gold and silver, mainly those of animals,
among which the llama, with golden fleece,
was conspicuous. All this we have on the
word of such renowned historians es Sar-
miento, Pedro Pizarro, Garcilasso, Herrera
and others. Prescott adds: "If the reader
sees in this fairy picture only the romantic
coloring of some fabulous Ell Dorado, he
must recall what has been written about
tho palaces of the Incas and consider that
these houses of the sum were the common
reservoirs into which flowed all the streams
of public and private benefaction through
out the empire"
CARRIED AWAY BY THE CoNQUERORS.
Many of these costly articles were buried
by the natives to keep them from the
cupidity Of their conquerorS, but enough
remained to excite the Spaniards' pro-
foundest admiration, and to stimulate their
greed to the highest pitch. They speedily
removed everything portable. and even
tore away the golden frieze and cornices.
On the very ground once occupied by
the gorgeous Coricancha now stands the
stately church of Saint Dominic, one
of the handsomest structures in the
three Americas. Fields of corn and
alfalfa now ripen in the temple gar
dens which once glowed with golden statu-
airy, and where the children Of the sun cele-
brated their religious rites bare-footed friars
chant Ave Marias. Inside the court yard
Of the st. Dominic monastery is still pre-
served an ancient fountain of Inca days,
which has been consecrated by the Romish
church for baptismal purposes. 1t stands
in the center of an extensive patio, sur
rounded by long lines of arched and COL
umned corridors, one story above another.
1t is of solid stone, a long oval in shape,
rising above ground about four feet and
sunk into it six feet or more.
EVERYTHING HAD ITS TRADITION.
Besides the great Sun Temple and its ad-
juncts, there was large number of inferior
temples and religious edifices scattered all
over Cuzco and its environs, to the number
of three or four hundred. An ancient
writer says that every pathway, hail. or
fountain of the sanctified city had its ira
dition and was regarded as holy mystery.
Unfortunate, indeed, was the Indian noble,
in whatever remote corner of the kingdom
he resided, who could not at some period Of
his life make pilgrimage to the Peruvian
Mecca. At "Coricancha" alone the sacor-
dotal order numbered more than 1900.
There were many other temples and religious
houses in various parts of Incaland, some
of them constructed on a scale of magnifi-
cence that almost rivaled those of Cuzco,
and their attendants composed vast army.
muTT mn UuTmu uATnu EFT