" *3
[Footnote 3: "El demonio Pachacama alegre con este concierto,
afirman que mostraua en sus respuestas gran contento: pues con lo
vno y lo otro era el seruido, y quedauan las animas de los
simples malauenturados presas en su poder." Cieza de Leon,
Cronica, cap. 72.]
But the temple of Pachacamac continued to maintain its
ascendency; and the oracles delivered from its dark and
mysterious shrine, were held in no less repute among the natives
of Tavantinsuyu, (or "the four quarters of the world," as Peru
under the Incas was called,) than the oracles of Delphi obtained
among the Greeks. Pilgrimages were made to the hallowed spot
from the most distant regions, and the city of Pachacamac became
among the Peruvians what Mecca was among the Mahometans, or
Cholula with the people of Anahuac. The shrine of the deity,
enriched by the tributes of the pilgrims, gradually became one of
the most opulent in the land, and Atahuallpa, anxious to collect
his ransom as speedily as possible, urged Pizarro to send a
detachment in that direction, to secure the treasures before they
could be secreted by the priests of the temple.
It was a journey of considerable difficulty. Two thirds of the
route lay along the table-land of the Cordilleras, intersected
occasionally by crests of the mountain range, that imposed no
slight impediment to their progress. Fortunately, much of the
way, they had the benefit of the great road to Cuzco, and
"nothing in Christendom," exclaims Hernando Pizarro, "equals the
magnificence of this road across the sierra.
Pages:
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495