Ch. XT. SOUTH AMERICA. 467 



After this account of the guacas of thele ido- 

 latrous nations, the cuftom which equally pre- 

 vailed among the fouthern nations of Peru, I pro- 

 ceed to their fuperb edifices, whether temples, pa- 

 laces, or fortrefles : and though thofe in the king- 

 dom of Quito are not the mod ftately and mag- 

 nificent, the court and refidence of the yncas hav- 

 ing been in the province of Cnico ; yet fome of 

 the former fufficientiy denote the grandeur of the In- 

 xlians who then inhabited it, and their fondnefs for 

 :fuch edifices ^ intending as it were to hide the rufticity 

 of their architeclure under richnefs and magnificence, 

 which they profufely beftowed on their edifices whe- 

 ther of brick or ilone. 



THE greateft part of one of thefe works is flill ex- 

 ifting, near the town of Cayambe, being a temple 

 built of unbaked bricks. It itands on an eminence 

 of fome height ; its figure is perfedly circular, and 

 its diameter eight toifes. Of this ftrudlure nothing 

 -BOW remains but the walls, which are in good con- 

 <lition ; and about two toifes and a half in height^ 

 and four or five feet in thicknefs. The cement 

 of the bricks is of the fame earth with that of which 

 chey are made : and the hardnefs of them may be 

 conceived, from remaining fo long in a good con- 

 dition expofed to the injuries of weather^ having 

 cover. 



Besides the ancient tradition that this flrudure 

 was one of the temples of thofe times, the manner of 

 its conflru6i:ion countenances £uch a conjedlure : for 

 its circular form, without any feparation in the infide, 

 fbews it to have been a place of public refort, and 

 not any habitation. The fmajlnefs of the door ren- 

 tiers it probable, that, though the yncas entered into 

 their palaces in the chairs in which they were carried, 

 as will be feen hereafter, this place they entered on 

 foot, in token of veneration ; the dimenfions of the 



H h 2 door 



