Untitled Page 573

CUZCO.

571

tlie small river Guatanay ; the same being nearly
dry, save in the months of January, February,
and March ; though the little water found in it
just serves to irrigate the neighbouring plains.
The grandeur and magnificence of the edifices,
of the fortress, and of the temple of the sun, struck
the Spaniards with astonishment, when, at the con-
quest, they first beiield them, and upon their en-
tering the city.j in 1534, when the same was taken
possession of by Don Francisco Pizarrro, for
Charles V^. It was then the capital of the whole
empire of Peru, and the residence of the empe-
rors. Its streets were large, wide, and straight ;
though at the present day Lima stands in compe-
tition with it in regard to grandeur. The houses
are almost all builtofstone, and of fine proportions.
The cathedral, which has the title of La Asun-
cion, is large, beautiful, rich, and of very good
architecture, and some even prefer it to the cathe-
dral of Lima. Here are three curacies in the
chapel of the Sagrario, two for the Spaniards, and
another for the Indians and Negroes ; and the pa-
rishes are Nuestra Senora de Belen, San Christo-
yal, Santa Ana, San Bias, S:intiago, and the hos-
pital ; besides two others, which are without the
city, called San Geronirno and San Sebastian.
Here are nine convents of the following religious
orders ; one of St. Dominic, founded on the spot
where the Indians had their celebrat^sd temple of
the sun ; two of St. Francis, one of the Observers,
and another of the Recoletans, one of St. Au-
gustiti, one of La Merced, two colleges which
belonged to the regulars of the extinguished com-
pany of Jesuits, the principal, in the part lying
towards the c. being destined, at the present time,
for an armoury ; and the other at the back of the
same, in which was the house for noviciates and
students, serving now as barracks for the troops ;
add to these the chapel of ease to the cathedral.
Here are four hospitals ; the first and most ancient
is that of the Espiritu Santo, in which are received
Indians of both sexes, subject to the patronage
of the secular cabildo, and governed by a junta of
S3 persons, the president of whom, the alcalde,
has the first vote, and after him the administrator
or first brother. It has two chaplains and very
ample revenues ; one of the sources being the du-
ties paid upon all effects passing over the bridge
of Yipuriraac, the which droits belonged to the
royal exchequer until the year 1763, at which
time, at the instance of the king’s ensign, Don
Gabriel de Ugarte, they were conceded by the
king to the hospital, together with the right and
property of the bridge, in redemption of some
crown grants which were left to the hospital by

Rodrigo de Leon, in Seville ; and it was by this
means that the hospital, having become so well
endowed, has now no less than 250 beds. A jubi-
lee has been granted by the apostolical see to its
chapel; and this is celebrated at the octave of
Pentecost with much solemnity, and by an unusu-
ally great concourse of people, and was once the best
observed jubilee of any in America. The se-
cond hospital, being of the religious order of San
Juan de Dios, is for the men, and has 50 beds;
the third, called. Of Nuestra Senora de la Almu-
dena, is for all descriptions of individuals, and
has also 50 beds ; the tburih, called San rlndres,
has 30 beds for Spanish women. Here are three
monasteries of nuns ; the first of Santa Catalina dc
Sena, founded where the Incas kept the virgins
dedicated to the sun ; and the others are of Santa
Clara and the bare-tboted Carmelites. Here are
also four other religious houses, which are that^of
the Nazarenes, thatof Nuestra Senora del Carmen,
that of Santiago, and that of San Bias ; three col-
leges, which are, that of San Bernardo, wherein
are taught grammar, philosophy, and theology,
and was founded by a Aizcayan for the sons of the
conquerors, having been formerly under the
charge of the regulars of the company of Jesuits,
and at present under an ecclesiastical rector ; that
of San Borja, for the sons of the Indian caciques,
where they are initiated in their letters, and in the
rudiments of music, at least as many of them as
show any disposition to this science, (this accom-
plishment having been formerly taught by the
same regulars of the company) ; and that of San
Antonio Abad, which is a seminary and univer-
sity, and is a very sumptuous piece of architec-
ture. This city preserves many monuments of its
ancient grandeur ; and amongst the rest, the
great fortress built for its defence, which, although
injured by time, bears testimony to the powers of
the Incas, and excites astonishment in the mind
of every beholder, since the stones, so vast and
shapeless, and of so irregular a superficies, are
knit together, and laid one to fit into the other with
such nicety as to want no mortar or other material
whereby to fill up the interstices ; and it is indeed
difficult to imagine how they could work them in
this manner, when it is considered that they knew
not the use of iron, steel, or machinery for the
purpose. The other notable things are the baths ;
the one of warm and the other of cold water ; the
ruins of a large stone-way, which was built by or-
der of the Incas, and which reached as far as
where Lima now stands ; the vestiges of some sub-
terraneous passages which led to the fortress from
the houses or palaces of the Inca, and in which pass-
4 n ?