Ans. They were maidens of noble birth who were dedicated to the service of the Sun. They were taken from their families at an early age, and placed under the care of elderly matrons, who instructed them in their religious duties, and in every branch of female industry. They spun garments, which they were taught to embroider with exquisite skill. They also wove, of the fine hair of the vicuña, the hangings of the temples and the garments worn by the Inca and his household. They were completely secluded, even from their own nearest relatives. The wives of the Inca, and they were numerous, were chosen from among the Virgins of the Sun. With this exception, they were forbidden to marry. The unhappy maiden who ventured to form in secret a less exalted alliance, was condemned to the cruel punishment decreed in like circumstances against the Roman Vestal. She was buried alive; her accomplice was strangled, and the village to which he belonged was razed to the ground and sowed with stones.

Ques. How did the Peruvians bury their dead?

Ans. The body was embalmed, not, as in Egypt, with gums and spices, but by simple exposure to the cold, dry and rarefied atmosphere of the mountains. The mummies are generally in a sitting posture. As the Peruvians imagined that the wants and occupations of men would be the same beyond the grave as in this life, costly apparel, arms, utensils and sometimes treasures were placed in the tomb of a deceased noble. That he might not lack attendance and society, his favorite wives and domestics were sacrificed on his tomb.

The Peruvians believed in an evil spirit whom they called Cupay, but they did not attempt to propitiate him by any form of worship. Cupay seems, in fact, to have been only a personification of sin.

SUPPLEMENT.
A BRIEF NOTICE OF AUTHORS, ETC., MENTIONED IN THIS VOLUME.

ÆSCHYLUS,

The earliest of the Greek dramatists, was born at Eleusis in Attica, 525 B. C. He distinguished himself in the battles of Marathon, Salamis and Platæa. Æschylus has been called the father of Grecian tragedy, as he was the first to give rules to the dialogue, and define the duties of the chorus; he also planned the dress of the actors, the scenery and the whole mechanism of the stage. Æschylus wrote sixty-six dramas, in thirteen of which he obtained the victory over all his competitors. He was at length defeated by a younger rival, Sophocles. He retired the same year to the court of Hiero, king of Syracuse, and some writers attribute this step to the mortification felt by the poet on this occasion. Others say that he was accused as guilty of profanity in exhibiting on the stage certain things connected with the Eleusinian mysteries. The people were about to stone him, when he was saved by the presence of mind of his brother Aminias. The latter had won much glory in the Persian war, and now, while interceding for his brother he dexterously dropped his mantle so as to expose the stump of the arm he had lost at Salamis. The silent appeal was not without its effect on the impulsive Athenians, and Æschylus was pardoned. He deemed it prudent, however, to retire to Sicily, where he was kindly entertained by Hiero. His death is said to have occurred in a very extraordinary manner.

As he slept in the fields, an eagle which was flying over him with a tortoise in his claws, mistook the bald head of the poet for a stone. The bird dropped the tortoise for the purpose of breaking the shell, and he was killed by the blow, thus verifying a prophecy that his death would come from on high.

Of the dramas written by Æschylus, but seven remain. Of these, the most admired is the “Prometheus Chained.” The subject is the punishment of Prometheus on Mount Caucasus; the scenery is grand and terrific, and all the persons of the drama are divinities.