On great festival days the great public squares in the cities were thronged with the people who came in from the country to take part in the celebration. And there were many festival days during the year, and so the Peruvians had a great deal of pleasure, for on a holiday no one ever thought of working. The reason of this was that most of the festivals were of a religious nature, and it would have been considered a sin not to observe them. The most splendid festival of all the year was the Feast of the Sun. This was always held at Cuzco, and from every part of the empire the people came flocking to the capital, and for days and days before, the roads were filled with travellers on their way to the great feast. The celebration began with the dawn, and as soon as it became light the inhabitants began to pour into the great central square, or to throng the balconies and housetops which overlooked it. All the city was gorgeously decorated, flags and banners floated from the columns and roofs of the temples and palaces, and rich cloths of dazzling hues, embroidered in gold and silver and precious stones, hung from the windows and balconies, while everywhere were great urns of gold and silver and stone, filled with flowers, and rare shrubs and plants brought from the surrounding country. On this day the Inca appeared in his greatest glory and state. Clad in a robe of the softest and most beautiful material, embroidered with leaves and flowers of gold, and with a collar of emeralds around his neck, wearing on his head a glittering diadem from which floated the gorgeous plumes of some rare tropical bird, he appeared in the midst of his people seated on a throne of solid gold, and surrounded by all his great nobles, whose magnificent appearance added still more glory to his own. His litter was borne by courtiers wearing coronets of gold and silver, and near him sat the principal men of his kingdom, whose litters were carried by soldiers dressed in rich and showy uniforms. Behind the Inca and his nobles came the soldiers, wearing helmets of skin studded with jewels, and clothed in white or blue tunics, the officers bearing the royal standards of the country, which were embroidered with gold and silver, and close beside the Inca walked a standard-bearer holding the imperial banner, upon which was wrought a rainbow, the symbol of royalty; and as the great procession advanced into the square amid waving of banners and nodding plumes and to the sound of warlike music, the people all fell on their knees and bowed their heads and paid homage to the Inca, the child of the sun. And then all was silent, for they awaited the coming of the god whose day they celebrated, but as soon as his first rays touched the snowy heights of the lofty Cordilleras, a great shout of joy went up from the multitude, who welcomed with hymns of praise the coming of the mighty god. Then the Inca would rise from his throne, and raising high