Looming up in the darkness, above the torches, the tall tower of the Franciscan church added a touch of solemnity to the scene. One afternoon we had an opportunity to visit the monastery and examine the beautiful wood-carvings in the choir. Like all the Franciscan establishments that we visited, the rule of the order is strictly enforced, the gardens are well kept, and although one can easily see that the Order has seen better days, there is little to criticise.
The Great Plaza of Cuzco, once much larger than it is now, and the scene of many Inca carnivals, is still very attractive. On its east side stands the massive cathedral and its chapels, said to have been built entirely of stones taken from Inca palaces near by.
On the south are the beautifully carved stone towers of what was formerly the Church of the Jesuits. Flanking these are picturesque two-story buildings with red-tiled roofs and overhanging wooden balconies supported by a row of columns and arches. In the arcades numerous small tradesmen display their wares. On the west and north of the plaza are more two-story houses with arcades filled with interesting little booths. Here, and on the stones of the Plaza, are cloth merchants who have gathered their wares from England and the Continent, North and South America; venders of pottery and Quichua toys, made in the neighborhood; market gardeners with corn and potatoes; and peddlers of every variety of article imaginable; some protected from the rain by cloth shelters that look as though they had been taken from the top of a prairie schooner in the “days of ’49”; others squatting on the rough pavement, their wares spread out on the skins of sheep or llamas, exposed to wind and weather.
The Plaza has had a varied history. Perhaps its most tragic day was when it witnessed the death of Tupac Amaru. It was on the morning of the 18th of May, 1781, that the Inca was brought forth to his execution from the old Jesuit church. In order to prevent a repetition of Indian uprisings, such as he had started, the Spanish authorities felt it necessary to practice the most diabolical cruelties on both him and his wife. She was placed on a lofty scaffold, her tongue was cut out, and an attempt was made to garrote her with an iron screw. When it was found that her neck was so small that she could not be strangled in this manner, the executioners placed a lasso around her neck and pulled and hauled until she was dead. After witnessing the death of his wife, the Inca was taken into the centre of the square, his tongue was cut out, and his body was drawn and quartered by four horses.
The immediate effect of his revolution was to cause laws to be promulgated prohibiting the use of the native language, ordering the Indians to give up their national customs and to destroy all their musical instruments. Fortunately, these laws were not carried out. In fact, the Quichua tongue is
still used to a large extent. It was supposed by Sir Clements Markham and other travellers fifty years ago that owing to the constantly increasing corruption of the ancient dialect and the introduction of Spanish modes of expression, the language of the Incas would soon be a thing of the past. We found, on the contrary, that nine out of ten Indians, even those who occupied stalls in the market-place of the largest cities, either could not or would not converse in Spanish. There was usually an Indian in the crowd who was willing to act as an interpreter, but the great majority of the people seem to have no acquaintance with Spanish. Furthermore, we found that the Spanish-speaking residents all recognize the necessity of learning Quichua.