PERU, 
750 
the walls was carried an immenfe mafs of gold in the form 
of a garland, or. crown, not lefs than an ell deep. 
Near the temple ftood a cioifter or gallery of four fides, 
the roof of which was furmounted by a large golden 
crown, fimilar to that which furrounded the temple. 
Surrounding this building were five large fquare tents, 
or tabernacles, furmounted with roofs of a pyramidal 
form. The firft of thefe, which was neared; to the great 
temple, had its gates and walls covered with plates of 
filver; and here the Moon, “the wife and fifter of the 
fun,” under the name of Mama Quilla, was worlhipped. 
Her figure was fimilar to that of the Sun, except that it 
was made of filver, and had the face of a woman, inftead 
of a man. As, in the temple of the fun, the embalmed 
incas occupied the fpaces to the right and left of the 
father, fo here the wives of the incas occupied each fide 
of “ Mother Moon,” excepting only Mama Ocollo, who 
fate oppofite the Moon, as her fon did oppofite the Sun ; 
an honour conferred on this female in confideration of 
her being the mother of Huana Capac. 
The next apartment was for the worlhip of C/iafca, or 
Venus, alfo called the Page of the Sun, becaufe file was 
faid to appear fometimes before and fometimes after him; 
alfo for that of the Pleiades, and of the other ftars, who 
were all called the “ Servants of the Moon.” This apart¬ 
ment and its portal were covered with filver, like that 
of the Moon ; and its roof refembled the heavens, fome 
with ftars of various magnitudes. 
The third apartment was for the reception of Thunder 
and Lightning; and, as thefe w'ere called the “Servants 
of the Sun,” their habitation was decorated in the man¬ 
ner of his temple; that is to fay, with plates of gold. 
They could not of courfe paint or carve any figure of 
thefe phenomena ; but they worfliipped them under the 
name of Yllapa, the meaning of tvhich is not known. 
The fourth apartment they dedicated to the Rainbow. 
As they found the Sup produced this appearance, they 
clothed its habitation in the folar fplendour of gold ; but 
they farther adorned it with an image of the rainbow it- 
felf, painted with various hues, and extending from one 
end of the wall to the other. The Peruvians always ftiut 
their mouth when the rainbow appeared, becaufe they 
believed that, if they did not, their teeth would prefently 
decay, and become rotten. 
The fifth apartment was for the ufe of the high prieft 
and the other priefts, who were all to be of the royal 
blood of the incas. Here the facrifices and othpf con¬ 
cerns of the temple were arranged; and here alfo audience 
was given by the inca; but it never was ufed to eat, 
drink, or fleep, in. 
One remarkable circumftance remains to be noticed ; 
which is, that the gods of Quito, and of all the other 
nations which had been fubdued by the incas of Peru, 
were lodged in this grand temple at Cufco. Thefe gods 
might be worfliipped even in the prefence of the Sun ; but 
upon certain conditions. It was required that the vo¬ 
tary ftiould firft worfhip the Sun as the Supreme Being; 
and afterwards he might pray to his own peculiar divinity. 
Such was the politic toleration of the incas. They were 
of opinion, that, if not perfecuted, the vanquilhed nations 
would infenfibly withdraw from their abfurd worfhip, and 
conform to the eftablifhed religion. In faft, the worfhip 
of the Sun had increafed, and would have foon annihi¬ 
lated that of the foreign idols, had not the invafion cf 
tlie Spaniards involved all in one common ruin. And 
we are of opinion, that fome of the figures in the procef- 
fion, which we cannot otberwife explain, might reprefent, 
either ferioufly or ludicroufly, the fymbols of the ancient 
worfhip of the barbarous nations, then faft decaying, 
fince all thefe went to worfhip in one grand temple. 
After the conqueft of Peru by the Spaniards, thefe pro- 
ceffions, as it may be fuppofed, were firft difcouraged, and 
afterwards prohibited ; for the Spaniards would naturally 
with to obliterate all remembrance of the former cuftoms 
and religion. Add to this, the decline of the numbers 
of native Peruvians by perfecution, and the forced con- 
verfion of many more to Spanifk Chriftianity. Still they 
cherifhed a love for thefe proceffions, and were fometimes 
indulged in the renewal of them, though at length they 
may be faid to have loft their objeft ; for there are now 
very few worlhippers of the Sun at Lima or at Cuzco; 
and indeed the native unmixed Indians are reduced 
from eight millions, of which they confifted in 1551, to 
little more than half a million. (Prefent State of Peru, 
1805.) 
However, as the kings of Spain ftill call themfelves 
Incas of Peru, it is upon the acceffion of a monarch to 
the crown of Spain and of the Indies, that the Peruvians 
are more particularly indulged with the permiffion to ce¬ 
lebrate the inca-king’s acceffion by a revival of fome of 
their ancient ceremonies. The laft of thefe was in the 
year 1789, upon the coronation of the late Charles IV. 
Willing to preferve fome traces of coitumes highly beau¬ 
tiful, but which will foon be unheard of, we have felefted 
fome of the moft pi&urefque figures difplayed in that 
proceffion for feparate engravings. 
Plate II. reprefents the Inca and his Queen. 
Plate III. A Virgin or Prieftefs of the Sun ; together 
with an Amazon or Female Warrior of the Yurimagua 
tribe, who formed part of a Proceffion at the Entry of a 
new Viceroy into Lima, July 14, 1544; and a female 
Indian habited as the Minerva of Peru, introduced in 
the feftival of 1789. 
Other drawings we have feen of perfonages who have 
figured in the recent-proceffions, particularly that of 
1789 ; but we are obliged to confefs, that in them 
(as indeed in the lalt-mentioned figure on our Plate) the 
Spanilh coftume is fo mixed with the Peruvian, that the 
reader would not admit them as reprefentations of what 
they profefs to be. This is not to be wondered at; for 
the Peruvian drefs is now rarely feen ; and we therefore 
refrain from giving any more figures of Spanilh Peruvians 
or Peruvian Spaniards. 
After the abolition of the Peruvian government, and 
that long reign.of anarchy, or of military defpotifm, 
which fucceeded, the Spanilh government was fettled in 
the following form. The fovereign power was delegated 
to a viceroy; he enjoyed all the privileges of royalty, 
appointed his own officers, and gave audiences like a 
king. He refided ufually at Lima, (which fee.) The 
viceroy was alfo prefident of the royal audience. This 
was a court formed on the model of the court of chancery 
in Spain. We have already alluded to its eftablilhment 
by the emperor in 1543. To the cognizance of this 
court, both civil and criminal caufes were fubje&ed ; and 
for each peculiaV judges were fet apart. The Spanilh 
viceroys have often attempted to intrude themfelves into 
this feat of juftice, and, with an ambition which their 
diftance from the control of a fuperior rendered bold, 
have afpired at a power which their malter did not 
venture to afl'ume. In order to check an ufurpation 
which muft have annihilated juftice and fecurity in the 
Spanilh c'olonies, by fubje&fttg the lives and property of 
all to the will of a fingle man, the viceroys have been 
prohibited; in the molt explicit terms, by repeated laws, 
from interfering in the judicial proceedings of the courts 
of audience, or from delivering an opinion, or giving a 
voice, with refpefl to any point litigated before them. 
In fome particular cafes, in which any queftion of civil 
right is involved, even the political regulations of the 
viceroy might be brought under the review of the court 
of audience, which, in thofe inftances, might be deemed 
an intermediate power placed between him and the 
people, as a conftitutional barrier to circumlcribe his 
jurifdidtion. But, as legal reftraints on a perfon who 
reprefented the fovereign, and was clothed with his 
authority, were little luited to the genius of Spanilh 
policy, the hefitation and referve with which it conferred 
this power on the courts of audience are remarkable. 
They might advife, they might remonftrate ; but, in the 
2 event 
