| Show THE SACRED ISLANDS I A Visit to the Birthplace of Inca Civilization A LOOK AT THE SUN CHILDREN Their Golden Temples According to Tradition Tradi-tion Then Adam and EveThe Old Monuments Puxo Peru Aug 313S90 Special correspondence cor-respondence of THE HERALD Through the courtesy of the Titicaca Navigation company one of the small steamers that ply the lake was placed at our disposal for a weeks time that we might visit the sacred islands and other objects of interest in and around this worldrenowned body of water The name of the lake is of Quichua origin Till signifying in tnat language the gate of the mountains and coca high rocks of lead so called probably because at a certain place on the old Inca highway the first glimpse of its dark blue waters may be seen BETWEEX TWO ENORMOUS ROCKS From about this point a little way below Puno we set sail one early morning and and after a few hours run found ourselves anchored in a little sheltered bay which indents in-dents the high and rocky shore of Titicaca island To this largest and most famous of the sacred group the Incas traced their divine di-vine origin and to this day it is held in profoundest oundest veneration by their descendants because tradition claims that MancoCapac and Mama Dello his sister who was also his wife both children of the Sun and directly commissioned by that luminary to found a dynasty on earth here made their first appearance That quaint writer Pedro de Teon of the island says It was called sacred because be-cause of a ridiculous story that there was no light in the world for many days when suddenly the sun arose resplendent out of Titicaca island and hence they built there a temple to its glory which was held in great reverance and had virgins and priests with mighty treasures belonging to it Garcilasso the most reliable of all the old chroniclers tells us that besides building build-ing temples on the sacred island the Indians In-dians sought to dignify it in every way as being the spot where THEIR ADAM AND EVE coming straight from heaven first planted their feet They leveled its asperities as far as possible removing rocks and building build-ing terraces The latter they covered with rich earth brought from afar in order that corn might be cultivated which otherwise could not be grown on account of the cold The yield was small but the ears were regarded re-garded as sacred and were distributed among the temples and convents of the empire em-pire one year to one temple or convent and the next year to another so that each might have the advantage of a portion of the grain which was brought as it were from heaven This was sown in the gardens gar-dens of the Temple of the Sun and the Convent of the Virgins and the yield was again distributed among the people of tho I various provinces Some few grains were scattered among tho stores of tho public granaries as holy things which would preserve pre-serve from corruption the food of the people peo-ple and it was believed that every Indian who had in his storehouse so much as one cram grown on the Sacred Islands could not lack food during his lifetime Titicaca island is only four miles long by six miles wide It is high and rugged in outline and deeply indented by many tiny bays There is a little village at one end where guides may be secured if needed to explain the little that is known about the various ruins From the landing place one SCRAMHLES UP A VERT STEEP ASCENT to this hamlet which in itself contains nothing of interest but just behind it is the first ruin where in the golden days of the Incas all visitors to the island were obliged to tarry awhile to go through certain cer-tain ceremonies of purification before permitted to enter any of the sacred edifices The walls of this structure are of limestone the huge blocks carefully cut and set in tough clay The upper part of it long since fell away but the lower portion is still tolerably well preserved The house was formerly divided into two parts measuring meas-uring thirtyfive feet one way and twenty seven the other with a brad platform in front of it Climbing with some difficulty half a mile farther up the stony acclivity one comes to The Palace of tho Inca which is situated on the brow of a cliff overlooking the lake with a terraced hill behind it Its walls are very much broken but enough remains to show the style of architecture the forms of the windows and doorways and the general gen-eral plan of tho whole Close behind this royal palace lies what is known as Tho Bath of the Inca a basin of solid stone measuring on its surface twentyfive feet by fortyfive with a depth of nearly six feet The smooth walls around this generous gener-ous tank are overgrown with vines and weeds and at one end three little streams of water each about two inches in diameter diam-eter still trickle into it Though frequently frequent-ly searched for the source of these streams cannot be found Coming through UNKNOWN SUBTERRAXEAX CffAXXELS they flow today after more than three centuries cen-turies and a half of disuse exactly as they must have done for the convenience of the Indian emperors Immediately beyond the tank rises tne terraced hill which served as one of the sacred gardens It was evidently constructed con-structed with greatlabor and expense the Trails being made of cut stone as regularly laid out as if by the most expert modern engineers There is also a convent for priests upon the island or rather the remains re-mains of one and many other vestiges of the ancient civilization Most interesting of all is the Sacred ROCK upon which fancoCapac and his consort arQ < said to > 1 JJ t have first placed their feet when descended to earth Itlies at the far extremity of the island abd the pathless walk theretoover rough stones with a bitter wind sweeping across tho lake from every side and threatening threat-ening to take away what little breath remains re-mains in ones body is not to be envied but of course it would never do when so near to miss seeing the real birthplace of the most interesting race on the hemisphere hemis-phere After all our toil there is littlo to be seen when arrived at the rock except a high wall built around a natural dome of red sandstone It was formerly believed that no bird could alight upon that holy of holies ho-lies and live and that beast reptile or insect in-sect would never dare come near it The presence of mortal man was alsojreligi ously prohibited and to this day the natives approach with GREATEST AWE AXD REVERENCE For many years none but the high priests were permitted to come within sight of the rock which was plated with gold and silver and covered with a veil the latter being removed only on occasions of tho most solemn festivals The sloping sides of the hill uponwhich this lump of red sandstone reposes were terraced from top to bottom and walled off into platforms These platforms uphold the remains of many small structures which are supposed to have been the residences resi-dences of the priests and others who attended at-tended upon the worship of MancoCapac There was formerly a garden on the terrace ter-race where much of the sacred corn was grown and all the earth for its construction construc-tion is said to have been brought on the backs of men a distance of 400 miles 1 Tho works of the Incas were no doubt accomplished under the same system as that of the rulers or ancient Egypt who built the pyramids by the unpaid labor of the people but the oppression of those days could not have been greater than that heaped by the Spaniard upon the conquered race and scarcely more than the degenerate degener-ate descendants of tho Incas are compelled to endure in the full blaze ol nineteenth century civilization As already mentioned Titicaca island was expressly CONSECRATED TO THE SUN Only about six miles distant is Coati island which was dedicated to the moon and the worship of Mama Dello Between the two Sacred islands lies a smaller one now known as the Sugar Loaf A narrow strait 700 yards long separates the San island from a peninsula projecting out from the Peruvian mainland in front of which lies the Sugar Loaf with Coati to the right of it The latter is about half as large as Titicaca island and is completely covered wjth ruins Besides the great Temple of the Moon and Palace of the Virgins are other edifices supposed to have been used for houses of purification and residences of the priestesses and their attendants The moon temple occupies exactly the centre of thevisland and a beautiful structure it must have been judging by what remains of its walls and terraces whose original character and extent ex-tent can be distinctly traced The lower story is yet standing and its spacious inner court yard is utilized by the few Indians as an inclosure for their flocks at night Though the whole of Coati is arable land tne island is now used merely as a sheep fold ACCORDING TO TRADITION this splendid patio was the corral cor-ral within which the Incas in their days of imperial splendor keep the sacred Hams and vicunas From tho wool of these the royal garments and the hangings of the temples were made the work being done by the Virgins who were cloistered in the nearby palace Professor Orton affirms that the llama guanaco alpaca and vicuna 7hich all belong be-long to the same family were the four sheep of the early Peruvians1 the first clothing the common pebole the second nobles the third the royal governors and tao fourth the Imperial family So the vicuna a timid gentle gazellelike creature crea-ture whose long silky fawncolored hair changes its hues in different lights and has a peculiar gloss resembling that on changeable silks furnished the royal ermine of the Inca kings and none below nobles of a certain rank were permitted to wear it The animal was protected by law as well as by sacred traditions and allowed to roam unharmed in the hills and forests where it accumulated accumu-lated in great numbers The Spanish invaders in-vaders first began to slaughter it for food and it is said that the conquered Indians expected some dreadful penalty to be visited vis-ited on Ihe invaders for destroying and eating the sacred beast but lost faith in the old traditions when the slayers escaped divine retribution THE MOON TEMPLE is elevated some distance above the lake and between it and the waters edge is a succession of terraces all neatly built of cut stones Each terrace has a wall around its outer edge about four feet high so that if any member of the priesthood or the royal household committed the modern indiscretion in-discretion of imbibing too much chtclia they were in no danger of tumbling down the declivity A series of stone steps leads from one terrace to another so that even now despite its ruined condition the ascent is not difficult If you want to know all about the Palace Pal-ace of the Virgins read Professor Squiers Peru which describes it far better than I could hope to do It was built in two parts around two shrines dedicated respectively res-pectively to the Sun and the Moon This remarkable edifice is still well preserved and is one of the most beautiful specimens of aboriginal architectureextant An adjacent ad-jacent island now called Sota is supposed to have been the ancient Isla do los Peni tenties or Isle of Penitents to which representatives rep-resentatives of tho ruling race were expected ex-pected to retire at least once a year for a season of fasting and humiliation HOW OLD THESE MONUMENTS MAT BE cannot be accurately determined as the ancient an-cient Peruvians had no system writing and therefore left no records as did the ancient Egyptians by which we may learn the dates of their history Their antiquity can only be guessed by traditions that have come down to us and by the effect of time upon their structures The guesses of those archaeologists who have civen the subject most careful study are very wide apart concerning the date of Capacs an pearan and tho building of these temples 1 Tho government of the Incas which the I IJ Spaniards found and destroyedhad certainly certain-ly existed not less than five hundred years I and some insist that it must have been a thousand years old or more at the time of I I I the conquest This great discrepancy of I opinion no doubt arises in part from the fact that semicivilized races older than the Incas have left many monuments scattered throughout the country and the remains of the two distinct epochs are sometimes confounded Those earlier tribes whoever they may have been wera by no means barbarians when the Sun Children set up their dynasty Indeed some of the nations which tho leas conquered con-quered appeared to have been farther advanced ad-vanced in the useful arts and occupations than they themselves ever became STARTING FROM THE SACRED ROCK on Titicara islaud the Children of the Sun proceeded on their beneficial errand to I unite under one government all the tribes I that occupied the country and to instruct I them in a new religion MancoCapnc carded car-ded a golden staff which his father the Sun had given to him with the instructions I hat he was to continue his travels until 11 I he proper place was reached for founding his capital and seat of government whereas I II where-as a token the rod would sink into the ground J I He obeyed the divine behest traveling 1 I night and day along the western border of j 1 the lake through the broad level puna lands that lead up to the valley of Pucura I continuing on to the end of the great Titi1 j caca basin and following tho river VilI canote on its course from tho little lake La Raya to swell the waters oi tin Amazon i Advancing down the valley of that river he I finally reached the spot in central Peru 1 where the city of Cuzco now standswhen lo the golden staff immediately dissap peared So there ho founded the splendid City of the Sun the capital ef the Inca empire i In Cuzco which we hope to visit by and by stood the magnificent temple known as Coricancha the Place of Gold History tells us that on its western wall was fastened fas-tened a colossal representation of the human hu-man face made of pure gold from which golden rays darted in all directions In n other parts of the building were golden images vessels and figures of all descrip tions so that when the sun whom they adored shed his golden beams upon the1 edifice the whole place was one mass of light and splendor Underneath tho great golden face chairs were ranged also made 01 solid gold in which were seated the embalmed bodies of the Inca emperors as they died in succession In its outer court were smaller templesone to the moon ONE TO VENUS ONE TO TilE RAINBOW one to the pleiades one to thunder and lightning all of which were richly decorated deco-rated with gold and silver And so MancoCapac became a priest and ruler in the land He made laws and taught the people the arts of peace and war while his wife and sister Mama Della instructed the women in weaving I and spinning and the care of their children Tradition goes on to state that after forty years of lite on earth during which time the heavenly pair did not grow a day older they returned to the sun and were seen no more Beginning with Cuzco and the country immediately surrounding it Capacs descendants de-scendants gradually enlarged their territory terri-tory until at the time of the coming of Pizarro and his gang it embraced forty degrees de-grees of latitude and included more than ten millions of inhabitants Since the Spanish conquest however the native population pop-ulation has been steadily diminishing and today there are hardly more than ten millions mil-lions of people in the whole Inca domain FANNIE B WARD |
