se at Pachacamac were especially skillful, and it is said, pilgrims
resorted to it from all parts of the coast. As a consequence, it became
very rich. The god that was worshiped here was a fish-god. The name of
this god, and the name of this old town are alike lost to us. When the
Incas conquered the coast people, they imposed the name of one of their
own divinities on this temple, and by that name the place is now known
to us.<39>
The ruins of the supposed temple are seen on the hill in the background
of the picture. A number of writers speak of this hill in such terms as
to imply that it was altogether artificial, like the famous pyramid at
Cholula.
Mr. Squier says that it is largely artificial, but that the central core
is a natural hill. He speaks of rocks cropping out on the highest part,
which seem to be conclusive of the matter. They built up great terraces
around this central core. These terrace walls are now in such a ruined
condition that they can with difficulty be made out. We introduce this
cut as a nearer view of the ruins of the temple.
Illustration of View of the Temple.--------------
Some writers assert that the Incas erected on the summit of this hill a
temple of the sun. There are, however, no good proofs of this assertion.
According to Mr. Squier the only ruin of the Inca type of architecture
is a mile and a half distant. Mr. Hutchinson noticed, on the very top of
the hill, evidence of the same mysterious proceedings to which we have
already referred--that is, great rooms all filled up with clay. He
propounds this query: "Whose hands carried up the enormous quantities of
earth that fill every space and allow no definition of rooms, halls, or,
indeed, of any thing but the clay itself, and the walls cropping up
from amongst them?" We are afraid this query can never be answered.
Mr. Hutchinson found graves to be very plentiful all over the field of
ruins. Quite a number of curiosities have been found in these graves. We
present in this cut some of the same. We call especial attention to the
duck-headed bowl. Compare, this with the cut given in Chapter X, and
we will be struck with the similarity. Another view of the ruins at
Pachacamac is given earlier in this chapter. As in the case of the ruins
of Grand Chimu, the whole field of ruins was encompassed by a wall,
portions of which Mr. Hutchinson observed on the north, stretching away
from the sea inland. Explorers have found here true arches.
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