In these they were behind several of the semi-civilized
nations of the New World. They had some acquaintance with
geography, so far as related to their own empire, which was
indeed extensive; and they constructed maps with lines raised on
them to denote the boundaries and localities, on a similar
principle with those formerly used by the blind. In astronomy,
they appear to have made but moderate proficiency. They divided
the year into twelve lunar months, each of which, having its own
name, was distinguished by its appropriate festival. *11 They
had, also, weeks; but of what length, whether of seven, nine, or
ten days, is uncertain. As their lunar year would necessarily
fall short of the true time, they rectified their calendar by
solar observations made by means of a number of cylindrical
columns raised on the high lands round Cuzco, which served them
for taking azimuths; and, by measuring their shadows, they
ascertained the exact times of the solstices. The period of the
equinoxes they determined by the help of a solitary pillar, or
gnomon, placed in the centre of a circle, which was described in
the area of the great temple, and traversed by a diameter that
was drawn from east to west. When the shadows were scarcely
visible under the noontide rays of the sun, they said that "the
god sat with all his light upon the column." *12 Quito, which lay
immediately under the equator, where the vertical rays of the sun
threw no shadow at noon, was held in especial veneration as the
favored abode of the great deity.
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