"All the plate, ornaments, and utensils of every description appropriated to the uses of religion, were of gold or silver. Twelve immense vases of silver (said to be as high as a good lance, and so large that two men could barely encircle them with outstretched arms) stood on the floor of the great saloon, filled with Indian corn. The censers for the perfumes, the ewers which held the water for sacrifice, the pipes which conducted it through subterraneous channels into the buildings, the reservoir that received it, even the agricultural implements used in the gardens of the temple, were all of the same rich material. The gardens, like those belonging to the royal palaces, sparkled with gold and silver, and various imitations of the vegetable kingdom. Animals, also, were to be found there, amongst which the llama, with its golden fleece, was most conspicuous, executed in the same style, and with a degree of skill which, in this instance, probably did not surpass the excellence of the material" The reader of Prescott will find that he has not adopted this account without carefully estimating the value of his authorities, and I believe that he may be fairly trusted. The various reports, given by Spanish writers, of priests of the grand temple, seem also to have been carefully estimated by the historian, and the number which they amounted to is put down at four thousand at the least. The high priest was second in dignity only to the Inca, and he was generally closely related to this ruler. The monarch appointed this Peruvian pope, who held office for life. He had the appointment of inferior priests, but all must be from the sacred race of Incas. The high priests of the provinces were always of the blood royal. The hierarchy wore no peculiar badge or dress, nor was it the sole depositary of learning, and it had not to superintend education, or to do parochial work. These duties were performed by others of the Inca class, all of whom were holy, though not, so to speak, in "holy orders." The priest's business was to minister in the temple; his science was confined to a knowledge of the fasts and festivals to be observed in connection with religion, for these were very numerous, and demanded separate rituals. The four principal festivals were solar, i.e., at the equinoxes and solstices, that of Midsummer being the grandest, on which occasion every one who could find time and money enough to do so visited the capital city. The feast was preceded by a three days' fast, and no fires were to be lighted during that period.