Cusco

“ The succours thus earnestly solicited arrived in time, not to quell the Indian insurrection, but to aid him in a struggle quite as formidable with his own countrymen.
[Footnote 27: "E crea V. S *a sino somos socorridos se perdera el Cusco, ques la cosa mas senalada e de mas importancia que se puede descubrir, e luego nos perderemos todos: porque somos pocos e tenemos pocas armas, e los Indios estan atrevidos." Carta de Francisco Pizarro a D. Pedro de Alvarado, desde la Ciudad le los Reyes. 29 de julio, 1536, Ms.] ”

“ Every subject of the Inca looked toward Cuzco with pride and reverence, glorying in its palaces and temples and bringing tribute to its sovereigns from the remotest provinces, in adoration of the royal grandeur and power. Gold, silver, precious stones, and fine textiles were constantly added to the storehouse of treasure which the sacred city guarded as the divine right of its princes. No wealth was ever permitted to leave its precincts. It is no wonder that the Spaniards were amazed at the magnificence of its temples and the abundance of its treasure. ”

“ In the prayers to the creator, and in other portions of Inca rite, we read such expressions as "Let a man be," "Let a woman be," and "The creative word," which go to prove that the Peruvian consciousness had fully grasped the idea of a creator capable of evolving matter out of nothingness. Occasionally we find the sun acting as a kind of demiurge or sub-creator. He it is who in later legend founds the city of Cuzco, and sends thither three eggs composed of gold, silver, and copper, from which spring the three classes of Peruvians, kings, priests, and slaves. ”

“ In the great square of Cuzco was the stone of war, in the shape of a sugar loaf, well enclosed, and full of gold. The king came forth, with his councillors and favourites, to a place where the chiefs of provinces were assembled, to learn from them who were most valiant among their people, and best fitted to be leaders and captains. One Indian had charge of ten men, another received authority over fifty, another over a hundred, another over five hundred, another over a thousand, another over five thousand, and another over ten thousand. ”

“ Cuzco, on Lake Titicaca, became the capital city of a great and flourishing monarchy, and possessed many splendid buildings in spacious squares and streets. It also became the Holy City and great temple of the Sun, to which pilgrims came from all parts of the country. It was defended by a fortress and walls built of stone, some blocks of which were above thirty feet long by eighteen broad and six thick. Many towns sprang up in the land. Under good government the people flourished and became rich. ”

“ The legend most widely accepted taught that the Incas, who in the person of Manco Ccapac and his wife and sister Mama Ocllo came out of the cave of Paccari-tampu, were children of the Sun. He himself placed them on the Island of Titicaca and told them to wander until they should reach a place where their wedge of gold would be swallowed up by the ground at a touch. There they should build the capital of their empire. At the foot of the fortress of Sachsahuaman it disappeared, and so the city of Cuzco, the Navel of the World, was founded. ”

“ There was no "empire" of Peru. The Indians of the coast governed themselves, though they sometimes paid tribute to the Cuzco Indians. There was, however, no homogeneous nationality. In the valley of Cuzco there was a tribe known as the Inca, perhaps seventy thousand souls in all, who were locally divided into twelve clans, each having its own government, and dwelling in its own village or ward; for it was a combination of these twelve villages which made up the whole settlement collectively styled Cuzco. ”

“ The stream which flows through the city has its bridges for passing from one side to the other. In no part of this kingdom was there found a nobly adorned city, except at this Cuzco, which was (as I have already said many times) the capital of the empire of the Yncas, and their royal seat. In all the other parts of the kingdom the people live in houses scattered about, and if there are some villages, they are without plan or order, or anything worthy of praise. But Cuzco was grand and stately, and must have been founded by a people of great intelligence. ”

“ The Spanish conquerors heard that when, in discovering the provinces of the kingdom, they entered Cuzco, the figures of the deceased kings were there. This appears to have been true, for when Manco Inca Yupanqui, son of Huayna Capac, desired to assume the fringe, these figures were publicly brought out into the square of Cuzco, in the sight of all the Spaniards and Indians who were present on that occasion.
It is true that the Spaniards got possession of a great part of the treasure ”

“ After Manco Capac founded the temples on Titicaca Island he went north and founded the city of Cuzco. It is in a beautiful valley, elevated about eleven thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is said to have at the present time not far from fifty thousand inhabitants. It has a large square in the centre, and the streets cross each other at right angles. There are many fine buildings in Cuzco, but they are mostly of modern construction; the old dwellings of the people exist no longer, but some of the temples were converted into churches and convents. ”

“ It is possible to scramble up its face, but only by making more exertion than is desirable at this altitude, 11,900 feet. The easiest way to reach the famous “fortress” is by following the course of the little Tullumayu, “Feeble Stream,” the easternmost of the three canalized streams which divide Cuzco into four parts. On its banks one first passes a tannery and then, a short distance up a steep gorge, the remains of an old mill. The stone flume and the adjoining ruins are commonly ascribed by the people of Cuzco to-day to the Incas, Page 165but do not look to me like Inca stonework. ”

“ It is seldom one can visit a place where the people have more primitive habits than in the city of Cuzco. The streets, so wonderfully picturesque, were not fit to walk upon. The people threw into them all that can be thrown out of the houses, which possess no sanitary arrangements of any kind. Much of the pleasure of looking at the magnificent Inca walls—constructed of great blocks of stone so well fitted that no cement was necessary to hold them together—was really lost through being absolutely stifled by the suffocating odour which was everywhere prevalent in Cuzco. ”

“ Thus we have the anomaly of seeing that “picturesqueness,” so often closely allied to uncleanliness, which Americans travel to Cuzco to see, being constantly reduced by one of their own race. Yet the influence of a single individual, however energetic, is limited; hence one must still be circumspect in inspecting old walls and Inca ruins, and the wise man always boils his water on the banks of the stinking Huatenay.
Of the old Inca race there remain few traces. The vast majority of the 20,000 cuzqueños are “descendants of the Incas” only in the loose acceptance of that phrase. ”

“ They departed from Curampa, and arrived at the resting place of Cocha-cassa, and at the river Abancay, destroying everything they found. Thus they approached Cuzco, where the news of their coming had preceded them. When it was known to the aged Viracocha, he left the valley of Xaquixaguana, and went with his women and servants to the valley of Yucay. They also relate that Inca Urco merely laughed, making light of what was really a very serious matter. But the fate of Cuzco was guarded by Inca Yupanqui and his sons, who were destined to save the city from all its danger by their virtues. ”

“ The people of Cuzco were so exasperated, that they would have laid violent hands on them, but for their habitual reverence for the Inca, in whose name the Spaniards had come there. As it was, the Indians collected as much gold as was necessary to satisfy their unworthy visitors, and got rid of them as speedily as possible.20 It was a great mistake in Pizarro to send such men. There were persons, even in his company, who, as other occasions showed, had some sense of self- respect, if not respect for the natives. ”

“ The people round Cuzco beheld the good order in which the settlers lived, and how they brought people under their friendly influence more through love and benevolence than by recourse to severity and force. Some of the captains and principal men came to hold discourse with those of the city, and rejoiced to see the temple of Curi-cancha, and the good order that reigned around it. By this means treaties of friendship were made in many directions. They relate that, among those chiefs that I have mentioned, there came to Cuzco a captain of the town called Zañu, which is not very distant. ”

“ Cuzco is laid in ashes, and Pizarro, unable to coöperate with his brother Hernando, despatches ships to Panamá and Nicaragua for aid.
The chief point of dispute between the associates 40 is the partition line dividing their respective governments. Each claims the ancient capital of Cuzco as lying within his territory. Almagro, returning from a disastrous expedition into Chile, makes overtures to gain the friendship of Manco Capac; failing in this he defeats the inca in a pitched battle, takes possession of Cuzco, makes Hernando Pizarro his prisoner, and captures his army. ”

“ The allied tribes which had overrun Central Peru now threatened Cuzco, and had they advanced with promptitude the Inca dynasty would have been wiped out and the city reduced to ruins. A strong man was at hand, however, who was capable of dealing with the extremely dangerous situation which had arisen. This was Viracocha, a chieftain chosen by the vote of the assembled warriors of Cuzco. ”

“ The reader will judge for himself. "It is a well-authenticated report, and generally received, that there is a secret hall in the fortress of Cuzco, where an immense treasure is concealed, consisting of the statues of all the Incas, wrought in gold. A lady is still living, Dona Maria de Esquivel, the wife of the last Inca, who has visited this hall, and I have heard her relate the way in which she was carried to see it. ”

“ When one visits the chief places of interest in Cuzco, there is so much to be seen that it is customary to divide the time so as to make separate excursions to the Incaic ruins, the old colonial churches and palaces, and finally to the places where modern enterprise is to be seen. ”

“ This being settled, the Inca sent to all the provinces, to order the tucuricos to supply a large number of people for the work of the fortress. Having come, the workmen were divided into parties, each one having its duties and officers. Thus some brought stones, others worked them, others placed them. The diligence was such that in a few years, the great fortress of Cuzco was built, sumptuous, exceedingly strong, of rough stone, a thing most admirable to look upon. ”

“ Next another captain entered named Cusi Puma, with about 50 archers; who are Antis eating human flesh. Presently all these warriors took off their plumes of feathers and put down their lances. With their daggers of bronze and their shields of silver, or leather, or of feathers, each one came to do reverence to the Inca who was seated, and then returned to their places.
Presently he sent for me, and passing through that multitude of Indians, I took off my hat and made a speech to him. I said that I had come from Cuzco solely to know and serve him. ”

“ When autumn was come, and the heats of summer were passed, he descended to the coast with the largest army that he could collect. He sent ambassadors into the valleys, upbraiding the people for their weakness of purpose in presuming to rise against him, urging them to be firm in their friendship henceforward, for that if not, they would be visited by cruel war. When he reached the borders of the valley of Huarco, on the skirts of a mountain, he ordered a city to be founded, to which he gave the name of Cuzco, intending it to be his principal residence. ”

“ There is very little visiting among the ladies of Cuzco except on Sunday after church. They are seldom seen walking in the streets. On Saturday evenings they repair to the plaza to purchase a new pair of shoes, which is the time to see them at most advantage. On these occasions the priests appear with little silver images, standing on one side of a large silver plate; as the ladies pay the Indians for their shoes, the padre presents the image to be kissed, and the plate receives a donation or church-tax upon the price of shoe-leather. ”

“ The city of Cuzco is spread out like a map below, with its handsome church towers and domes rising above the other buildings. The great square is seen, crowded with Indian girls sitting under shades before their merchandise, or passing to and fro like a busy hive of bees. Beyond is the long plain, and far in the distance, rising above the lower ranges of mountains, towers Asungato, with its snowy peak standing out in strong relief against the cloudless sky. ”

“ The key to the entire gigantic system was the conception of a central immutable supreme power which directed all visible and invisible manifestations and which sent forth and re-absorbed all energy. In Cuzco and in the Inca Empire we have a minutely described instance of the application, to terrestrial government, of the laws of fixed order, harmony, periodicity and rotation learned by earnest and patient observers of the northern heaven, during countless centuries of time. The centre of Cuzco consisted of a great square whence four roads radiated to the cardinal points. ”