But before leaving the place,
he received further orders from his brother to continue his march to
Pachacamac, a town situated on the coast, at least a hundred leagues
distant from Caxamalca. It was consecrated at the seat of the great
temple of the deity of that name, whom the Peruvians worshipped as the
Creator of the world. It is said that they found there altars raised to this
god, on their first occupation of the country; and, such was the
veneration in which he was held by the natives, that the Incas, instead of
attempting to abolish his worship, deemed it more prudent to sanction it
conjointly with that of their own deity, the Sun. Side by side, the two
temples rose on the heights that overlooked the city of Pachacamac, and
prospered in the offerings of their respective votaries. "It was a cunning
arrangement," says an ancient writer, "by which the great enemy of man
secured to himself a double harvest of souls." 3
But the temple of Pachacamac continued to maintain its ascendency; and
the oracles, delivered from its dark and mysterious shrine, were held in
no less repute among the natives of Tavantinsuyu, (or "the four quarters
of the world," as Peru under the Incas was called,) than the oracles of
Delphi obtained among the Greeks. Pilgrimages were made to the
hallowed spot from the most distant regions, and the city of Pachacamac
became among the Peruvians what Mecca was among the Mahometans,
or Cholula with the people of Anahuac.
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