560 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 102 



from the holocaust. Near the Virgins' Convent were the royal 

 palaces of Inca Yupangui, father of Tupac Inca. 



1510. On the W. side of the w^atercourse there were no royal 

 palaces, but it was all occupied by nobles and other citizens. The 

 plaza named Cusipata was in this quarter ; that means plaza for 

 festivals and celebrations ; the Mercedarian convent is built to the 

 S. of it, and the Franciscan convent near the Carmenga ward, toward 

 the S. There was much other magnificence and many other splendid 

 buildings in the imperial city of Cuzco, but I omit mention of them, 

 for I do not possess sufficient information, and shall proceed to tell 

 something of the glories of the Temple of the Sun, which was the 

 Holy of Holies of those heathen ; whoever desires to see and learn 

 more details should go to Inca Garcilaso, Father Joseph de Acosta, 

 and other historians who have described its grandeur. 



Chapter LXXV (74) 



Of the Temple of the Sun, Its Description and Magnificence. 



1511. It was Inca Mango Capac, the first king of that empire, who 

 commenced the conquest of those savage tribes and their conversion 

 to his false religion, giving them a civilized way of living and laying 

 the foundations of that imperial city, queen and mistress of so many 

 far-flung nationalities. He boasted and prided himself greatly, claim- 

 ing to be child of the Sun, who had sent him to uplift them out of 

 the blindness [illegible] and the brutish manner of life which were 

 theirs, and to teach them a more civilized way of living, like human 

 beings, by giving them laws for their conduct and government. 

 Accordingly he built and consecrated a house for his father the Sun 

 in the southern quarter of the settlement which he had begun ; and 

 the later kings, his sons and descendants, kept enriching and adorning 

 it with unbelievable treasures, like no other sanctuary the world has 

 ever known. The one among these rulers who most embellished 

 it with proud and sumptuous structures was the great Inca Yupangui, 

 father of Tupac Inca; besides erecting the edifice itself in hewn stone 

 accurately and admirably laid, he adorned it with gold plaques and 

 rosettes and with many precious stones of inestimable value. The 

 temple was very high ; its framework was of very valuable woods 

 artistically carved, with occasional sheets of gold leaf which produced 

 an excellent harmonious effect. It was thatched with icho, as is usual 

 with the Indians in that Kingdom ; this is the straw which grows 

 out on those cold heights which they call puna, like esparto grass. 

 At the top of the temple under the roof and running all around it 



