A lady is still living, Dona Maria de
Esquivel, the wife of the last Inca, who has visited this hall,
and I have heard her relate the way in which she was carried to
see it.
"Don Carlos, the lady's husband, did not maintain a style of
living becoming his high rank. Dona Maria sometimes reproached
him, declaring that she had been deceived into marrying a poor
Indian under the lofty title of Lord or Inca. She said this so
frequently, that Don Carlos one night exclaimed, 'Lady! do you
wish to know whether I am rich or poor? You shall see that no
lord nor king in the world has a larger treasure than I have.'
Then covering her eyes with a handkerchief he made her turn round
two or three times, and, taking her by the hand, led her a short
distance before he removed the bandage. On opening her eyes,
what was her amazement! She had gone not more than two hundred
paces, and descended a short flight of steps, and she now found
herself in a large quadrangular hall, where, ranged on benches
round the walls, she beheld the statues of the Incas, each of the
size of a boy twelve years old, all of massive gold! She saw
also many vessels of gold and silver. 'In fact,' she said, 'it
was one of the most magnificent treasures in the whole world!'"]
I cannot close this analysis of the Peruvian institutions without
a few reflections on their general character and tendency, which,
if they involve some repetition of previous remarks, may, I
trust, be excused, from my desire to leave a correct and
consistent impression on the reader.
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