This leads me to the etymology of the name. It is confessedly obscure. The translation which Herrera gives, is that generally offered by the Spanish writers, but it is not literal. The word _uira_ means fat, and _cocha_, lake, sea, or other large body of water; therefore, as the genitive must be prefixed in the Qquichua tongue, the translation must be "Lake or Sea of Fat." This was shown by Garcilasso de la Vega, in his _Royal Commentaries_, and as he could see no sense or propriety in applying such a term as "Lake of Grease" to the Supreme Divinity, he rejected this derivation, and contented himself by saying that the meaning of the name was totally unknown.[1] In this Mr. Clements R. Markham, who is an authority on Peruvian matters, coincides, though acknowledging that no other meaning suggests itself.[2] I shall not say anything about the derivations of this name from the Sanskrit,[3] or the ancient Egyptian;[4] these are etymological amusements with which serious studies have nothing to do. [Footnote 1: "Donde consta claro no ser nombre compuesto, sino proprio de aquella fantasma que dijó llamarse Viracocha y que era hijo del Sol." _Com, Reales_, Lib. v, cap. xxi.] [Footnote 2: Introduction to _Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the Incas_, p. xi.] [Footnote 3: "Le nom de Viracocha dont la physionomie sanskrite est si frappante," etc. Desjardins, _Le Perou avant la Conquête Espagnole_, p. 180 (Paris 1858).] [Footnote 4: Viracocha "is the Il or Ra of the Babylonian monuments, and thus the Ra of Egypt," etc. Professor John Campbell, _Compte-Rendu du Congrés International des Américanistes_, Vol. i, p. 362 (1875).] The first and accepted derivation has been ably and to my mind successfully defended by probably the most accomplished Qquichua scholar of our age, Señor Gavino Pacheco Zegarra, who, in the introduction to his most excellent edition of the Drama of _Ollantaï_, maintains that Viracocha, literally "Lake of Fat," was a simile applied to the frothing, foaming sea, and adds that as a personal name in this signification it is in entire conformity with the genius of the Qquichua tongue[1]. [Footnote 1: _Ollantai, Drame en vers Quechuas_, Introd., p. xxxvi (Paris, 1878). There was a class of diviners in Peru who foretold the future by inspecting the fat of animals; they were called Vira-piricuc. Molina, _Fables and Rites_, p. 13.] To quote his words:--"The tradition was that Viracocha's face was extremely white and bearded. From this his name was derived, which means, taken literally, 'Lake of Fat;' by extension, however, the word means 'Sea-Foam,' as in the Qquichua language the foam is called _fat_, no doubt on account of its whiteness."