The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-05-19

Inc town is one of two and three
story houses with walls OF bright
colors and roofs OF red tiles. 1t has
piazas and gardens, a great market
and many comfortable homes.
It's population is made up of In
oians and whites and a mixture. the
offspring Of the two races. 1t lis a
Latin American city, with many
catholic churches and with a civili-
zation much like that Of Spain some |
generations G. 1t is nothing like |
the Cuzco Of the past, and you will |
nave TO put on the thinking can OF
your imagination to realize the differ
ence etween the capitals of the In
cas- and the town Of today. In the
nrst place, the present Cuzco does not
cover one-tenth of the area Of the
ancient Inca city. The latter con-
tanned several hundred thousand in
habltants, and at the height of it's
fame 1T may ave been as large as the
city Of Washington.
They are still finding ruins Of the
ancient buildings far out in the val
ley, and the remains Of some Of the
structures in Cuzco upon which build
ings now stand are OF enormO ex-
tent. Take the Temple of the Sun,
which / visited this afternoon.
covered the whole square now occu-
pied by the church and convent Of
Santo Domingo. The foundation Of
the church is the old walls of that
temple. In places it extends twenty
or thirty feet from the ground. l vas
taken through the buildings by one
of the fathers and shown how the
great blocks had been laid by the
Incas, one upon the other, fitted %
gether so closely, and that withou
: mortar or cement, or union Of any
description, that I could not push
the point of a needle into the cracks.
4 This temple must have covered more
: than an acre. The western wall of it
was cOncaVe and the curves are as
regular as those of a circle. A great
: part of this building was plated with
e gold. There was a great golden plate
of oval form which represented the
. sun, making one think Of the silver
: mirrors OF the Shinto religion that are
still to be seen in Japan. In the tenn
e pie burnt also the the sacred fame
r that was supposed to never go out.
e reminding one of the fire worship
n ers of Persia, who do that to this day
e This flame was tended b ythe virgins
of the sun who had their Isl con
n vent not far away. When the Span
e bed this temple OF its gold. They
melted up the images and vessels used
for worship. and tor from the walls
the gold plates. From some Of those
q plates was made the custodia, a grea'
.. golden box which is now preserved in
k4AC FdOl VI Xix SAACO LII =.
IL There is no doubt about the religi
T, Gus nature of these people Of the higl
IS Andes. The Quichas, who are tn
a descendants Of h subjects Of tn
= Incas, are the chief churchgoers o
IS Peru. They are largely the supper
4 of the priesthood, and although in tn
70 direct poverty, they give a large pro
W portion of what they make to tn
" support Of the church In travelling
= through the country one sees a littl
p wooden cross rising above h thatch
ed roof of every Indian hut, and Il
the services at the cathedral her
~ - there are more Indians than whites
Mixed with their worship Of Chris
IA and the Madonna, they have sti
much Of the ancient ceremonies an
beliefs Of the Incas. They pray fac
ii ing the sun, n they cross them
selves when they approach CuzcO, tn
~ sacred city Of their ancestors.
=. I am told that there were temple
of the sun at many other places j
~ Peru, and that in certain centers tn
virgins Of the sun had their convent
"a These people had ar idea OF a ST
preme being, who wa; represented b
ne the sun. 1t was this being who creai
" ed the world, and who in the futui
- would reward or punish them. The
!" had a Lords prayer, which W.
somewhat as follows:
ct Cu..r ~, 1ybo oa vast life ar
~ strength to mankind. saying let tn
icy be a man, and let this be a woman
use thou who gavest life and who vouc}
on; safest tina ,nan shall live in healt
ca and peace. Thou who dNellest in t
heights. in the storm clouds and
as ~ thunder hear ZIG and have ,S
nd IT, Eoan;n~ Tho, who art witho,
eH- equal unto the ends of the cart
tn grant US eternal life and keep us fir
20 - -
IA Leaving the Temple Of the Sun,
~strolled UP the mario" street TO whe
the Virgins Of the Sun had their e
70 ia blishment. These young women
uie addition to their religious duties d
"a supposed to have formed a XII
harem for the 1lCas. They lived
x:SL I.aa a.