those deities who presided over the motley nations of the empire. It was
the city beloved of the Sun; where his worship was maintained in its
splendor; "where every fountain, pathway, and wall," says an ancient
chronicler, "was regarded as a holy mystery." 24 And unfortunate was
the Indian noble who, at some period or other of his life, had not made
his pilgrimage to the Peruvian Mecca.

Other temples and religious dwellings were scattered over the provinces;
and some of them constructed on a scale of magnificence, that almost
rivalled that of the metropolis. The attendants on these composed an
army of themselves. The whole number of functionaries, including those
of the sacerdotal order, who officiated at the Coricancha alone, was no
less than four thousand.25

At the head of all, both here and throughout the land, stood the great
High-Priest, or Villac Vmu, as he was called. He was second only to the
Inca in dignity, and was usually chosen from his brothers or nearest
kindred. He was appointed by the monarch, and held his office for life;
and he, in turn, appointed to all the subordinate stations of his own order.
This order was very numerous. Those members of it who officiated in
the House of the Sun, in Cuzco, were taken exclusively from the sacred
race of the Incas. The ministers in the provincial temples were drawn
from the families of the curacas; but the office of high-priest in each
district was reserved for one of the blood royal. It was designed by this
regulation to preserve the faith in its purity, and to guard against any
departure from the stately ceremonial which it punctiliously
prescribed.26

The sacerdotal order, though numerous, was not distinguished by any
peculiar badge or costume from the rest of the nation. Neither was it the