" Sarmiento, Relacion, Ms., cap. 24]
The interior of the temple was the most worthy of admiration. It
was literally a mine of gold. On the western wall was emblazoned
a representation of the deity, consisting of a human countenance,
looking forth from amidst innumerable rays of light, which
emanated from it in every direction, in the same manner as the
sun is often personified with us. The figure was engraved on a
massive plate of gold of enormous dimensions, thickly powdered
with emeralds and precious stones. *16 It was so situated in
front of the great eastern portal, that the rays of the morning
sun fell directly upon it at its rising, lighting up the whole
apartment with an effulgence that seemed more than natural, and
which was reflected back from the golden ornaments with which the
walls and ceiling were everywhere incrusted. Gold, in the
figurative language of the people, was "the tears wept by the
sun," *17 and every part of the interior of the temple glowed
with burnished plates and studs of the precious metal. The
cornices, which surrounded the walls of the sanctuary, were of
the same costly material; and a broad belt or frieze of gold, let
into the stonework, encompassed the whole exterior of the
edifice. *18
[Footnote 16: Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms - Cieza de Leon, Cronica,
cap. 44, 92.
"La figura del Sol, muy grande, hecha de oro obrada muy
primamente engastonada en muchas piedras ricas." Sarmiento,
Relacion, Ms.
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