42 THE GROUP OF THE CROSS. 



preserved at his time in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca empire. I extract (in part) 

 the passages rehxting to that cross from Sir Paul Rycaut's quaint translation, the 

 original Spanish work not being at my disposition : — " In the City of Cozco the 

 Incas had a certain Cross of white Marble, which they called a Crystalline Jaspar ; 

 but from what time it had been kept there, is not certain. In the year 1560 I 

 left it in the Vestry of the Cathedral Church of that City ; I remember it was 

 hanged upon a Nail with a List of black Velvet ; which when it was in the power 

 of the Indians, it was hanged by a Chain of Gold or Silver, but afterwards changed 

 by those who removed it. This Cross was square, being as broad as it was long, 

 and about three fingei's wide. It formerly remained in one of those Royal 

 Apartments, which they call Huaca, Avhich signifies a Consecrated place ; and 

 though the Indians did not adore it, yet they held it in great veneration, either 

 for the Beauty of it, or some other reason, which they knew not to assign."* 



It has been shown by the preceding examples, which could be considerably 

 multiplied, if it were deemed necessary, that the cross was recognized as a symbol 

 among the more advanced nations of America. I will now briefly quote the 

 opinions of some authors treating of the subject in question, beginning with Dr. J. 

 G. Miiller, .Avho has written a volume of 706 pages on the aboriginal religions of 

 America. Being a professor of theology, his calling must exempt him from the 

 imputation of any particular tendency to indulge in theories which are at variance 

 with the moral sentiments now obtaining among civilized nations. Having 

 mentioned the Cozumel cross as a god of rain, and alluded to the occurrence of 

 crosses in other parts of America, he continues : — 



" The cross is also met as a nature-symbol {Natursymhol) among the ancient 

 nations of our hemisphere, a fact which, in view of its simple shape, can hardly 

 cause any surprise. It was employed as such by the Hindoos, Egyptians, 

 Syrians, and Phoenicians, and it decorated the head of the Ephesian goddess. 

 But it is just the simpleness of its form which renders an interpretation difficult, 

 because it admits of too many possibilities. All attempts thus far made to 

 interpret it as a Nile-key, phallus, or sign of the seasons, unite in the conception 

 of the fructifying energy of nature. Hence it appears in connection with sun- 

 gods and the Ephesian goddess, and it is also the fitting symbol of the rain-god 

 of tropical lands, whom it represents, as stated by the natives. In China, too, 

 the rain signifies conception, and the Greek myth of the golden rain which the 

 cloud-gathering Jupiter showers upon Danae has no other sense. Wherever, 

 therefore, mention is made of a veneration of the cross in Central America (and the 

 adjacent regions), it appears least hazardous to connect its worship with the 

 fertilizing rain-god, crossing the receiving maternal earth. . . . Stephens's 



* Garcilasso de la Vega : The Royal Commentaries of Peru etc.; translated from the Spanish by Sir Paul 

 Kycaut, Kt.; London, 1G88, hook ii, chap, iii, p. 30. 



