diadem, which they call _puruchuco_.[81] On the halberd they fastened a girdle of gold which reached to the ground, and on his breast was placed a moon of gold. In this dress, and before all who were present, he killed a sheep, the body and blood being divided among all the principal people, to be eaten raw. The signification of the ceremony was that if they were not valiant their enemies would eat them, as they were eating the sheep that had been killed. At this place they took a solemn vow, according to their usage, in the name of the Sun, that they would maintain the order of knighthood, and would die in defence of Cuzco, if it should be necessary. Next their ears were opened, and the apertures were so large that they could hold a geme each one in circumference. This done, they put on the heads of fierce lions, and returned to the square of Cuzco with great noise. In the square there was a great chain of gold going all round, and supported on prongs of gold and silver. Here they danced, and there were marvellous great festivities, according to their fashion. Those who had been made knights had on the heads of lions, as a sign that they would be valiant and fierce. At the end of the dancing the knights remained armed, and were called Orejones. They had privileges and enjoyed great dignities, and are worthy, if selected, to assume the crown, which is the fringe. When this was given to the lord who was to be sovereign, greater festivities were held, a vast concourse of people assembled, and he who is about to be Emperor must first take his own sister for his wife, that no base lineage may succeed. He also performed the great _zaziy_, which is the fast. And during the intervals that these ceremonies occupied, the lord being engaged in the business of sacrifices and fasting, he could not attend to private or public concerns. It was, therefore, a law among the Incas that, when the sovereign died, or handed over the crown or fringe to another, one of the principal nobles was selected, who, with mature counsel and great authority, might govern the whole empire of the Incas, as if he were the lord himself, during these days, and he was allowed to have a guard and to be addressed with reverence. These ceremonies being completed, and the blessings having been given in the temple of Curicancha, the Inca received the fringe, which was large and descended from the _llautu_ that he had on his head, so as to fall over his eyes, and he was then held and reverenced as the sovereign.