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44
Royal
Commentaries.
BooK
II.
may
fiill
be
feeh, unle!S the
Wars
and Alterations have demolHhed thofe dura-
ble reliques.
·
They had likewife obferved the Equinoetials ;
for
in the Month of
March
when they reaped cheir Mayz, or
Indian
Wheat, they celebrated tLeir Harvell: with
joy and feafiing, which at
Cot.cothey kept in the Walk of
Colcan,
otherwife ca1led
the Garden of the
un.
At the Equinoetial of
September,
they obferved one of
their
four
principal Feafis; which were dedicated to fhe Sun, which
1
they called
Cittia
Raymir
;
and then
to
denote the precife day of the Equinoetial, they had
reeted Pillars of the finell: Marble,
in
the open
Arca,
or place before the Tem–
ple
of
the un ; ' hich when tqe un came near
t~e
Line, the
riefis daily
wat–
ched and attended
to
obferve
v
hat fi1adow the Pillar cafi ; and to make
it
the
more exalt, they fixed on them a Gnornon, like the Pin of a Dial ;
f<
that
fo
foon
as the un at its rHing came
to
dart
a
direet iliadow by it, and that at its height
or mid-day the Pillar made no {bade, but was enlighmed on all
fides ;
they then
concluded that the un "as entred the Equinoctial Line , at which time they
adorned th fe
Pillars
with Garlands and odoriferou H erbs, and with the Saddle
they had dedicated
to
the
un ;
faying, That on that day he appeared
in
this
moll: glittering Throne
and
Majefiy, and therefore made their Offerings of Gold
and precious cones to
him,
with
all
the folemruties of fientation and
joy,
which
are ufual at
fuch
fefiivals. , Thus the
lnc111,
whQ were their
ings; and the
Am"g,..
e111,
who ' ere their Philofophers; having obforved, that when the un came
to
the Equinottial, thefe Pillars made little fhadow at noon-day, and that thofe in
the City o
.fl.!!.itn,
and thofe of the fame degree to the ea· coall: made none
at
all, becaufe the' un is then perpendicularly over them ; they concluded that the
ofition of thofe Countries
was
more agreeable and pleafing to the Sun, than
thofe on
hich in an oblique manner onely he darted the brightne.G of
his
rays
5
for
which reafon rhe Pillars of
~itu
were had inf< great veneration and efteem
amongft them, that they worfi1i ped and adored them; and therefore
Se/JajHan
de Bcla!cacar,
in abhorrence of the Idolatry which the
Indians
perforrnee towards
them, demolHhed them and broke them in pieces,
a
did the other
Sp__anifh
Cap-
ains, in thofe places of the fame
folary
degree,
here this fuperfiition pre-
vailed.
.
The Month
(as we have faid) they counted by Moons., and rherefore called
the Months
~.!!JllM
;
the
Weeks
they called the Quarter of the Moon, having
no names
for
the Days.
They cook great notice of the Eclipfes both of the
Sun and
of
the Moon, but knew them onely by their
ffe&,
and
not by their
Caufes; wherefore they were greatly affrighted when they obferved the Sun
to
hide his face from them, believing that for their fin he obfcured hi
ountenance,
und'
as angry, framing the
lik~
Prognofi:ications of Famine, efiilence and Wars,
as our Afirologers prediCl: from the influences of Eclipf
es.
When they obferved the Moon begin to grow dark in her Eclipft!, they
faid,
fhe was
fick ; and when fhe '
as
totally obfcured, that {he was dead ; ana
hen they feared,
lefi:
ibe ibould
fall
from Heaven,
and
overwhelm, and
klll
them,
and that the World !hould be entirely dHfolved. With thefe a prehenlions,
fo
foon
as
the Moon entred into
Edi
[e,
they founded their Trumpet and
Cor–
nets, beat their Kettles, ymbal , and all the Infiruments
,~,
hich
could make noifa
and
found ; they tied
thei·~
ogs in
trings, and beat them
till
they cried and
howled ; faying, That with their Voices they called upon the Moon ; who
ha–
ving received certain ervice from them, was very inclinable to hearken to their
call;
and that all thefe varieties of ounds together ferved to rowfe and avvaken
her, being fallen into a
dr
wzinefs and
£lumber, \ hich
her fickne.G had caufed.
and then they made their
hildren cry and call
.lvt11ma
~illa,
or Mother·
Moon,~
o
not d)
e; le!l:
we all
peri
.
Concerning the pots in the Moon, they conceived another able more ridicu-·
lous than the former, and may be compared with that, which the more refined
Ancients framed of
Diana,
and that the Moon\: as
a
Huntref
though
this feems
inore befHal and abfurd ;
f<
r they feigned that
a
certain ox feeing the Moon
fo
autifull,
fell
namoured of her ; and that
hi
Love gave him \ ing ,
with
which
he Clfc ode H eaven ; and .being ready to embrace the Moon, ilie clofed
and
clung
fc
clofe
to
the
x
that ver fince that time the pot have appeared
in
the brighm
G
of her Body.
fall
h. ch
articulars, concerning the Moon, I
m
felf
ha e
been
an
eye-w·
tneJS ;
he
a
they
call€d
J.)rmchttu,
the Night
T111a,
the