The royal commentaries of Peru : in two parts / written originally in spanish by the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega; rendred into english by sir Paul Rycaut.

BooK III. Royal Commentarief. CH A P. XXI. Of the Cloifiers of the Temple, and of the feveral Cha,,1~ bers of the Moon and Stars, Th'u~der ami Lightning 1 and of the Rain-bow. ' F Rot~ rhe Temple there is a paífag~ int? the Cloifl:er5, which .are erico'mpaf- fed with four Walls, one of whICb is the Wall ·of che Te,mple : rhe top of rhis·CloiJ{er is fpread ' !ll irh a Cieliog ,of Gold, of abouc a Yard in breadth, and was. che Ornament and Crown aloff; bue the Spaniards afcerwards defpoiled the Róof of che Gold, and in pl¡¡.ce and memory there9f laid a Cieliñg.of white Plaíl:er; tbe which,, "'.hfoI departed ·thence, was fül1 white and frefh, and the Wlllls fu.und and fianding as formerly. Tbe Provofr, or Mafrer ,of this Cloiíl:er, had five' Iarge'Chambers fquare allowed him, for his Lodgings; noc c;ontiguous, or ·¡oyning one co che 'ocher, bue f~parate a[)d apart, being covered in forro of a Pyramid; and which made che ocher chreé Walls of che Cloiíl:er. '. One of theíe fquare Chambei-s was dedicated co che Moon, whoín they fiyled che Wife of the Sun , and therefore \~as nearefr to the principal Chapel of che Temple; ali the fides wichin,. as alfo theDoors .w~rePlaced with Silver, fer the better correípond~nc~ ª!1d , !'efemb~rlc~ with fhe colour of che Moon, ~bofe lmage was alío €Feded·mSilver, w1th the.face of a Woman, and placed m che fame manner as that of che Sun. foto this Chamber they did ufually emer to make their v¡firs ' to the Moon,, and récommencf themfelve5 to her favour; for that íhe being the Sifier a~d. Wife '~f che Sun, was coqf¡:q~emly the Mother .of tpe Incas, and of ali cheir generat1on; where(qre tl:iey calleq her Mamaquil/a, which fignifies as much as Mother-Moon, to whom they offered Sacrifices as they did to the Sun. On each fide of this Image•they placed the Bodies of the dead Queens, according to their Order and Seniority. Onely M ama Oc/lo, who was the Mother of Hutl,Jna Capac, had che cl'iief pláce, being feated nearefi, a~ with her face jufr oppohte to the Moon ; in regard, that having been the Mother of a Son fo excellenc and famous, did feem to have merited the primary place of Honour. The Chamber next hereuntd' was dedicated to 'f{enm the Evening-Star, and the other feven Stars, and to al! the óther Stars in general. The Star Penm they called Chafca, which is as much as to fay, long and curled Locks; they named rhis Star the Page of rhe Suo, becau[e it always attended .on him, going fome- times before, and fometimes afrer him ; for the feV'en Stars they emert:litied a particular refpeél:, becaufe of the füangenefs of their po!ition , and their equal proportion : Thefe Stars they fanfied to be the Attend01 nts and Hand-maids to che Moon; and for that reafon they lodged them in the Lobby, or Chamber next to her, that fo they might be near and the place more commodious fer their fer· vice; for they were .of opinion, ~bat the Stars w~re Attendanés belol)ging to che Court of che Moon , and hot of the Sun , becaufe t'h~y appeared in che Night onely, and vanifhed fo foon as the Morning dawned, ahd tl:íe SQn aro(e.. This Chamber had its Walls and Doors' all plated with Silver like that of the Moon ; the Roof was painred like a Stairy Sky, ful! of Stars of che ·g1'eater and leffer Magnirude. 1 The next Chamber hereun'to was dedicated· to the Lightning, Thunder and Thunder-bolt, which three they comprehended under 'ene common Name of Y/lapa , and che diíl:inél:ion of them was denoted by the Adjunét Verb : As for e~ample; when they fay, Did you fee the Yltapa ? then they mean Lightning ~ or did you hear the Y/lapa ? then it is Thunder ; or did you fee where rhe Yllapr.1 fell, or rhe damage i,[ did .? then they underftand the Thunder·bolt. N All