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I
Royal Commentaries.
BooK
III.
All which they did not eO:eem for Gods, but regarded them
as
S<:rvants of the
Sun,
a
the Ancients
did,
who
fanfied
the Thunderbolt
to
be the Arms of;
[upf–
ter;
and
f(
r that reafon they allotted them Lodgings in the Temple of t!le
Sun
the
bich
were
adorned all over with Gold: howfoever they formed no
Statu~
or Reprefentat: n oft
e1
1,
becau
re
they
knew not how
to
decyp. er any Simili–
tude or Hieroglyphick toe..
p1e1S
them:
This
triple fignilic tion
o [ Yltapa
chespa–
ni]h
Hill:orians have not underfiood, for
if
they had, they might have made a pro·
per ufe of
it,
in making our word Trinity more inteiligible to the capacity of the
l ndians,
than by fome other lefs fignificant terms
VI\
hich they have ufed and framed
but have not reached the I
agination or Gertius of that People. Thus much.f
write, and as I have often faid,
fo
I
frill
aver the fame to be true, becaufe I have
fucked it in with my milk, and have heard it from my Ancell:ours; and
as
to
other matter concerning the Thunder, we refer the Reader to what we have al–
ready declared.
The fourth Chamber they dediC3.ted to the Rain-bow, becaufe they apprehen-
ded it to be a Ray, or Emillion from the Sun, and for that reafon the
lnctU
placed
it
in their Arms, or Scutcheons, as a badge of their
Family
and Alliance ;
this
Chamber was alfo furnifhed \ ith Gold, and on the Walls a Rainbow was pain–
ted very
naturally,
ith all its colours, which reached from one fide to the oilier>
the
Indians
call
it
Cu
chu,
and have it in fuch Veneration ,
that when they fee
it
in
the Air> they {hut their Mouths, and clap their Hands before
it;
be–
caufe they have an opinion, that
if
the Rainbow lhould difcover their
Teeth,
his Influences would fpoil them, and caufe them to rot; the which was one
among!l: their vulgar Errour , which they held without any reafon, or founda–
tion
fo
it.
There was moreover a
fifth
and
la!l:
Cham er appr6priated to the Higl1-Prieft,
and other inferiour Priell:s under him,
ho attendea on 1ihe
f
ervice of the Temple,
who were all
lnctU,
defcended from the Royal 1oud. This Chamber was not
ordained for a room to fleep or eat in, but for a place of audience, or confultation,
in what manner to regulate the
acrifices, and all other matters appertaining co
the Services of the Temple? the \Vhi h
hamber, as all the others,
was
furnilhed
and adorned with Gold from the cop to the bottom.
CH AP.
XXII.
Of the
Na112e of the
High Priefl,
and of
other
parts
of
this
Houfe.
T
HE
Spaniard.I
call the High Prie!l:
Pilaoma,
bY' corruption of the rrue word
Pi/lac Vmu,
which is compounded of
Pilla,
which
fignifie~
as much as to
fpeak or utter, and
VmH,
which
is
to divine or foretell; as if we lhould
fay,
a
Soothfayer, or one skilfull in Divination; not that he
is
to
declare his own fenti–
men , but fuch as by his frequent intercourfe and communication
ith the Sun,
and by virtue and privilege of
his
Priefthood, he !hall have received from him,
namely, all thofe Fable which the Devils have uttered through the Organs of their
Idols, or by fecret voices, founding in their anetuaries, or by the Interpretation
of Dreams, or fuch kind of fuperfiitiotls Rites, have all been ell:eemed oraculous
and myfterious faying.5, conveyed to them by the Adminillrations of the High
Priefr.
.
Of