428 [Assembly 



grain of this maize, to throw into his he?p, was possessed with the 

 belief that he should never be in want for bread in the course of his 

 life. 



During the high feast, Capacrayni, held in the first month, Raymi, 

 agreeing with our December, no stranger was suffered to lodge in 

 Cuzco, to which they again all assembled as soon as the fetival was 

 over, to receive cakes made of maize and the warm blood of a white 

 alpaca, by the Mamacunas, (select virgins,) and distributed by cer- 

 tain priests, who in carrying them about in dishes of gold, gave each 

 of the Indians one, saying as they delivered it, " If you do not re- 

 verence the Sun and Inca, this food will bear witness against you to 

 your ruin; but, if you worship them, then their bodies, by this 

 pledge, will be united to yours." After which, those that had eaten 

 of the- cakes, promised obedience, and thanked the Sun and Inca for 

 their food. 



In the beginning of the month Hafuncuzqui, which corresponds to 

 our May, the Peruvians gathered their maize, and kept the feast 

 Aymorai. They returned home, singing from the fields, carrying 

 with them a large heap of maize, which they called Perua, wrap- 

 ping it up in rich garments. They continued their ceremonies for 

 three nights, imploring the perua to preserve their harvest of maize 

 from any damage that might chance to befall it, and also to cause 

 that to grow prosperously, which they should next plant. Lastly, 

 their sorcerers consulted their gods whether the perua could last till 

 the next year; and if they did not answer in the affirmative, they 

 carried it into the fields and burned, or parched it, with the view of 

 making a new perua, which they bore to their granaries in great 

 triumph, &nd mingled it with other corn. 



The corn plant, or its fruit, also entered into the forms, the cere- 

 monies, and the mythology of many other tribes, w'hich, from the 

 limited length of this memoir, and the want of accurate information 

 on the subject, are necessarily omitted. The following allegory, 

 however, which was related to Mr. Schoolcraft by the Odjibwas, will 

 be read with interest by all who have a fondness for this branch of 

 literature. 



" A young man went out into the woods to fast at that period of 

 life when youth is exchanged for manhood. He built a lodge of 

 boughs in a secluded place, and painted his lace of a sombre hue. 

 By day he amused himself in walking about, looking at the various 



