First, the people made merry, with their solemn drinking bouts, banquets, great taquis or musical entertainments, and other festivities, which are entirely different from ours. Then the Inca invited those around him, with great triumph; and at this feast there were great jars of gold and silver; for all the service of his kitchen, down to the pots and pans, was of that metal. The High Priest was also present at the festival with the same pomp and magnificence as the king, accompanied by the mama conas and priests who had come together for the occasion. Those who were appointed for the purpose were commanded to put the questions concerning future events to each of the idols; and the idols replied by the mouths of the priests who had charge of their images. These, having drunk deeply, answered in the way which seemed to be most to the taste of those who made the enquiries, finding out what to say from the devils who were in the statues. The enquiry being made of each idol, the priests, being so cunning in their wicked art, asked for some time to answer, that their nonsense might be listened to with more credit and respect. They said that they must offer up sacrifices that, their great gods being pleased, it might please them to answer as to what would happen. So many animals, such as sheep and lambs, cuis[144], and birds, exceeding the number of 2,000 sheep and lambs, were beheaded. Meanwhile the priests made their diabolical exorcisms and vain sacrifices, according to their custom. Presently they announced what they had dreamt or imagined, or perhaps what the devil had told them. Great attention was paid to what they said, and to the number which concurred in foretelling good or evil. The same thing was gone through with regard to the other replies, and care was taken to note who spoke truly, and ascertained what was about to come to pass in the coming year.

This being done, the almoners of the king came forth with the offerings which they call capacocha, and the general almsgiving having been gone through, the idols were taken back to their temples. If, before the year had passed, the saying of any one of those dreamers happened to come true, the Inca joyfully sent for him, to be one of his household.

The capacocha, as I have said, was an offering paid instead of a tithe to the temples. It consisted of many vases of gold and silver and precious stones, loads of rich mantles, and large flocks. In the following years no gifts were bestowed on those whose sayings proved to be false or uncertain, and they forfeited their reputations. At these ceremonies great things were done at Cuzco, much more than I have written. In these days, after the Royal Audience had been established, and Gasca had returned to Spain,[145] mention was made of this capacocha in certain lawsuits, and it is certain that the custom prevailed, as well as all else that we have written. We will now describe the great festival of Hatun Raymi.

CHAPTER XXX.

How they made great festivities and sacrifices at the grand and solemn feast called Hatun Raymi.

THE Incas held many festivals during the year, at which they offered great sacrifices according to their custom; but to notice them all would require a separate volume. It is also well not to dwell long on the sorceries and follies that were practised on these occasions; but only to describe the feast of Hatun Raymi, which is very famous. It was kept in many provinces, and was the principal ceremony of the whole year, and the occasion on which the greatest number of sacrifices was offered up.

This festival was celebrated in the end of August, when the maize harvest had been got in, as well as the potatoes, quinuas,[146] ocas,[147] and the other seeds that they sow. They call this feast Hatun Raymi, which in our language means “a very solemn festival”; and in it they had to offer up thanks and praise to God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, whom they called, as has often been mentioned before, Ticiviracocha, as well as to the Sun, to the Moon, and to their other gods, for having granted them a good harvest of food for their support. In order to celebrate this festival with greater devotion and solemnity, it is said that they fasted for ten or twelve days, abstaining from too much food, and from intercourse with women; drinking chicha only in the morning, which is the time when they eat, and at other times only water; abstaining from the use of aji and from carrying anything in the mouth, and practising other usages such as were observed on these occasions of fasting. This time of fasting being over, the people brought to Cuzco a great number of lambs, of sheep, of doves and cuys, and of other birds and beasts which were killed for the sacrifices. Having killed a vast number, they anointed the statues and figures of their gods, or rather devils, with the blood, as well as the doors of the temples and oracles. After an interval, the soothsayers and diviners looked for omens in the entrails, announcing what they prognosticated, to which the people gave great credit.

When the sacrifice was finished, the High Priest, with the other priests, went to the temple of the Sun; and, after reciting their accursed psalms, they ordered the mama conas, or virgins, to come forth richly dressed, with the great store of chicha they had prepared; and all those who were in the great city of Cuzco ate of the sheep and birds which had been killed for the vain sacrifices, and drank of that chicha which was held to be sacred. It was contained in jars of silver, out of the great numbers there were in the temple; and they drank it out of cups of gold.

Having eaten and drunk many times, and the Inca, High Priest, and all the rest being merry in consequence, it was still only a little after noon. They then formed in procession, and the men began to sing, with loud voices, the romances and chaunts which had been prepared for use at this festival by their ancestors. The purport of them all was to give thanks to the gods, promising to do them services for the blessings received. To accompany the songs they had many drums of gold, some of them encrusted with precious stones, which their women played upon, who, together with the sacred mama conas, joined in the song.

In the centre of the plaza it is said that a great theatre was placed, with steps, adorned with cloths and plumes richly embroidered with golden beads, very large mantles of their exceedingly fine cloth, also garnished with silver and gold work, and precious stones. On the summit of this throne was placed the figure of Ticiviracocha, large and richly adorned. As they held it to be the sovereign God, maker of all created things, they gave it the highest place; and all the priests were near it. The Inca and all the principal men and the people came to worship it, taking off their sandals with much humility, bending their shoulders, filling out their cheeks, and sighing towards it, thus performing mucha, which is their word for worship.