of earthenware. With a dead man were laid his
weapons and implements, with women their utensils and handiwork, with
children their playthings. To the dead, flowers and fruit were offered,
and llamas were sacrificed. Dead Incas were deposited in the temple of
the sun, and their wives in the hall of the moon.

The Festival of the Sun was held at the winter solstice, and on this
occasion the Inca himself officiated as High Priest in his capacity as
the "son of the sun." Then was lighted a fire on the altar of the sun,
which was kept in all the year by the virgins of the sun. These had a
convent near the temple, the royal palace and the house of nobles. It
was also their duty to make costly robes for the priests and princes, to
brew maize beer for the festivals of the gods, and after victories or a
change of Incas to offer themselves to the gods.

The earlier history of the Inca people is lost in tradition and the mist
of legends. We know more of their administration and social condition,
for the Spanish conquerors saw all with their own eyes. The constitution
was communistic. All the land, fields, and pastures was divided into
three parts, of which two belonged to the Inca and the priesthood, and
the third to the people. The cultivation of the land was supervised by a
commissioner of the government, who had to see that the produce was
equitably distributed, and that the ground was properly manured with
guano from the islands on the west coast. Clothes and domestic animals
were also distributed by the State to the people. All labour was
executed in common for the good of the State; roads and bridges were
made, mines worked, weapons forged, and all the men capable of bearing
arms had to join the ranks when the kingdom was threatened by hostile
tribes. The harvest was stored in government warehouses in the various
provinces. An extremely accurate account was kept of all goods belonging
to the State, such as provisions, clothes, and weapons. A register was
kept of births and deaths. No one might change his place of abode
without permission, and no one might engage in any other occupation than
that of his father. Military order was maintained everywhere, and
therefore the Inca people were able to subdue their neighbours.
Everything was noted down, and yet this remarkable people had no written
characters, but used cords instead, with knots and loops of various
colours having different meanings. If the Inca wished to send an orde