ing would have been more reasonable than the construction
of the Temple of the Three Windows. As the Incas grew in power and
extended their rule over the ancient empire of the Cuzco Amautas from
whom they traced their descent, superstitious regard would have led
them to establish their chief temples and palaces in the city of Cuzco
itself. There was no longer any necessity to maintain the citadel of
Tampu-tocco. It was probably deserted, while Cuzco grew and the Inca
Empire flourished.

As the Incas increased in power they invented various myths to account
for their origin. One of these traced their ancestry to the islands of
Lake Titicaca. Finally the very location of Manco Ccapac's birthplace
was forgotten by the common people--although undoubtedly known to the
priests and those who preserved the most sacred secrets of the Incas.

Then came Pizarro and the bigoted conquistadores. The native chiefs
faced the necessity of saving whatever was possible of the ancient
religion. The Spaniards coveted gold and silver. The most precious
possessions of the Incas, however, were not images and utensils, but
the sacred Virgins of the Sun, who, like the Vestal Virgins of Rome,
were from their earliest childhood trained to the service of the great
Sun God. Looked at from the standpoint of an agricultural people who
needed the sun to bring their food crops to fruition and keep them from
hunger, it was of the utmost importance to placate him with sacrifices
and secure the good effects of his smiling face. If he delayed his
coming or kept himself hidden behind the clouds, the maize would mildew
and the ears would not properly ripen. If he did not shine with his
accustomed brightness after the harvest, the ears of corn could not be
properly dried and kept over to the next year. In short, any unusual
behavior on the part of the sun meant hunger and famine. Consequently
their most beautiful daughters were consecrated to his service, as
"Virgins" who lived in the temple and ministered to the wants of
priests and rulers. Human sacrifice had long since been given up in
Peru and its place taken by the consecration of these damsels. Some
of the Virgins of the Sun in Cuzco were captured. Others escaped and
accompanied Manco into the inaccessible canyons of Uilcapampa.

It will be remembered that Father Calancha relates the trials of the
first two missionaries in this region, who at the peril of their lives
urged the Inca to let them visit th