442 PLATEAU OF CAXAMARCA. 



and that of the Peruvian theocracy or empire of the Incas, the Chil- 

 dren of the Sun, have so engrossed attention in Europe, that a third 

 point of comparative light and of dawning civilization, which existed 

 among the nations -inhabiting the mountains of New Granada, was 

 long almost entirely overlooked. I have touched on this subject in 

 some detail in the Viie des Cordilleres et Monumens des Peuplcs 

 Indigenes de l'Ame*rique (ed. in 8vo.) t. ii. p, 220-267. The form 

 of the government of the Muyscas of New Granada reminds us of 

 the constitution of Japan and the relation of the Secular Ruler 

 (Kubo or Seogun, at Jeddo) to the sacred personage, the Dairi, at 

 Miyako. When Gonzalo Ximenez de Quesada advanced to the high 

 table land of Bogota (Bacata, i. e. the extremity of the cultivated 

 fields, probably from the proximity of the mountain wall), he found 

 there three powers or authorities respecting whose reciprocal rela- 

 tions and subordination there remains some uncertainty. The spi- 

 ritual chief, who was appointed by election, was the high-priest of 

 Iraca or Sogamoso (Sugamuxi, the place of the disappearance of 

 Nemterequeteba) : the secular rulers or princes were the Zaks 

 (Zaque of Hunsa or Tunja), and the Zipa of Funza. In the feudal 

 constitution, the last-named prince appears to have been originally 

 subordinate to the Zake. 



The Muyscas had a regular mode of computing time, with inter- 

 calation for amending the lunar year : they used small circular plates 

 of gold, cast of equal diameter, as money (any traces of which among 

 the highly civilized ancient Egyptians have been sought in vain), 

 and they had temples of the Sun with stone columns, remains of 

 which have very recently been discovered in the Valley of Leiva. 

 (Joaquin Acosta, Compendio historico del Descubrimiento de la 

 Nueva Granada^ 1848, pp. 188, 196, 206, and 208; Bulletin de la 

 Socie'te' de Geographic de Paris, 1847, p. 114.) The tribe or race 

 of the Muyscas ought, properly speaking, to be always denoted by 

 the name of Chibchas; as Muysca, in the Chibcha language, signifies 

 merely "men," ."people." The origin and elements of the civiliza- 

 tion introduced are attributed to two mystical forms, Bochica (Bots- 

 chica) and Nemterequeteba, which are often confounded together. 

 The first of these is still more mythical than the second; for it was 

 only Botschica who was regarded as divine, and made almost equal 



