The historian of the
Incas admits that, though temperate in eating, they indulged
freely in their cups, frequently prolonging their revelry to a
late hour of the night. Ibid., Parte 1, lib. 6, cap. 1.]
But the most effectual means taken by the Incas for communicating
with their people were their progresses through the empire.
These were conducted, at intervals of several years, with great
state and magnificence. The sedan, or litter, in which they
travelled, richly emblazoned with gold and emeralds, was guarded
by a numerous escort. The men who bore it on their shoulders
were provided by two cities, specially appointed for the purpose.
It was a post to be coveted by no one, if, as is asserted, a fall
was punished with death. *37 They travelled with ease and
expedition, halting at the tambos, or inns, erected by government
along the route, and occasionally at the royal palaces, which in
the great towns afforded ample accommodations to the whole of the
monarch's retinue. The noble loads which traversed the
table-land were lined with people, who swept away the stones and
stubble from their surface, strewing them with sweet-scented
flowers, and vying with each other in carrying forward the
baggage from one village to another. The monarch halted from
time to time to listen to the grievances of his subjects, or to
settle some points which had been referred to his decision by the
regular tribunals. As the princely train wound its way along the
mountain passes, every place was thronged with spectators eager
to catch a glimpse of their sovereign; and, when he raised the
curtains of his litter, and showed himself to their eyes, the air
was rent with acclamations as they invoked blessings on his head.
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