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But this tradition is only one of several current among the Peruvian
Indians, and probably not the one most generally received. Another
legend speaks of certain white and bearded men, who, advancing from the
shores of Lake Titicaca, established an ascendancy over the natives, and
imparted to them the blessings of civilization. It may remind us of the
tradition existing among the Aztecs in respect to Quetzalcoatl, the good
deity, who with a similar garb and aspect came up the great plateau from
the east on a like benevolent mission to the natives. The analogy is the
more remarkable, as there is no trace of any communication with, or even
knowledge of, each other to be found in the two nations.11
The date usually assigned for these extraordinary events was about four
hundred years before the coming of the Spaniards, or early in the twelfth
century.12 But, however pleasing to the imagination, and however
popular, the legend of Manco Capac, it requires but little reflection to
show its improbability, even when divested of supernatural
accompaniments. On the shores of Lake Titicaca extensive ruins exist at
the present day, which the Peruvians themselves acknowledge to be of
older date than the pretended advent of the Incas, and to have furnished
them with the models of their architecture.
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