HUAYNA CAPAC,

SON of Tupac Yupanaqui, was the twelfth Inca of Peru. On his accession to the throne, he set out on a tour to visit his dominions, and was everywhere honored with triumphal arches and ways strewed with flowers. While thus prosecuting his journey, the birth of a son was announced to him, on which he instantly returned to Cuzco. Twenty days were spent in festivity; and the Inca, wishing to signalize the day on which his first-born son was to receive his name, by an act of uncommon magnificence, ordered the construction of the famous golden chain, seven hundred feet in length, and as thick as a man's wrist. In two years the chain was finished, and the festival commenced. The dancers, who consisted of all the royal princes and chief personages at court, instead of joining hands, as was customary, took hold of this chain, and executed a solemn measure, singing a hymn which had been composed for the occasion. This chain was the richest piece of jewelry of which the history of Peru gives any account. It probably exists at this day in some undiscovered spot, as the Indians secreted it when the Spaniards began their system of plunder, and those who knew the place probably all fell in the massacres which followed.

Huayna Capac extended the empire beyond the limits of his father's victories. He conquered Tumbez, and erected in that city a strong fortress, a temple of the sun, and a house for the chosen virgins.

Marching against the kingdom of Quito, he found his progress impeded by the roughness of the country. When he had conquered that territory, a road was constructed, uniting the two capitals, which deserves to be considered one of the wonders of the world. It was fifteen hundred miles in length, passing over mountains, and across valleys, and through every variety of country. Rocks were levelled, valleys filled up, and storehouses and buildings of various sorts erected along the whole extent. During the wars with the Spaniards, this road was in a great measure destroyed, in order to render the passes as difficult as possible. "We found," says Humboldt, "at heights surpassing that of the Peak of Teneriffe, the magnificent remains of the road constructed by the Incas. This road, paved with freestone, may be compared with the finest Roman roads I have seen. in Italy, France, or Spain." On the Inca's second visit to Quito, another road was constructed through the level country, marked out by posts, over the sands and other tracts levelled for that purpose. When the Inca travelled, these highways were strewed with branches and flowers.

Huayna Capac carried on many wars with the barbarous tribes that surrounded the Peruvian em

pire, generally with full success. While he was reposing himself in one of his magnificent palaces at Tumipampa, a messenger brought intelligence that some extraordinary men, such as had never before been seen, had landed on the coast. The Inca was much alarmed at this account, as an ancient oracle had foretold the destruction of the empire by a nation of strangers of this description. The Peruvian his

tories also inform us that many other strange and portentous tokens, about this time, announced the approaching calamities. Three years before the arrival of the Spaniards, during the celebration of the feast of the sun, at Cuzco, a large eagle had been pursued by a number of smaller birds, and wounded by them so severely that he fell in the great square of Cuzco, where he died. The augurs declared that this was a presage of the ruin of the state, and the extinction of their religion. This prodigy was followed by earthquakes, which threw down high mountains, and forced the sea out of its usual limits. Appalling stories were circulated of blazing stars seen in the sky, and the moon appearing as if surrounded with bloody rings. The Inca was so terrified by these portents, that he suspended his hostile expeditions, and placed his army in garrisons in different parts of the empire.

Being on a visit to Quito, he indulged himself in bathing in the lake; but he had scarcely come out of the water, when he was seized with a violent fit of shivering, which was followed by a burning fever. He was at this time in an unusual degree of alarm from two occurrences, in addition to the above-mentioned prognostics. A comet, of a green color, had made its appearance, and his house had been struck by lightning. Overwhelmed with superstitious terror, he adopted the conviction that his disease would prove mortal. Such a belief usually fulfils its own prediction; and, accordingly, he expired at Quito, after a short illness, in the year 1529, and in the forty-second year of his reign.

HUASCAR CAPAC.

ATAHUALPA.

ATAHUALPA, Sometimes called Atabalipa, the Inca of Peru at the period of the invasion of that country by the Spaniards, has gained a place in history, less by his heroic qualities than by his calamitous fate. The government of Peru was mild and paternal in its administration, but absolute in form. In no part of the world was despotism more complete. The Incas, as we have stated, were supposed to be the offspring of the sun, the chief object of worship among the Peruvians,—and in consequence were not only obeyed as sovereigns, but reverenced as divinities. Their authority was unlimited and absolute; their persons were held to be sacred, and their blood was never allowed to be contaminated by intermarriage with the people. The royal family, thus separated from the rest of the nation, were farther distinguished by peculiarities of dress and ornaments which it was unlawful for others to assume. Yet the last of this illustrious line was doomed to die like a common malefactor.

The Inca, Huayna Capac, was a prince equally distinguished by the civil virtues peculiar to his race, and by his martial talents. He subjected by his arms the kingdom of Quito, thereby nearly doubling the extent of the Peruvian empire. Two sons were born to him, Huascar and Atahualpa. Either from considerations of policy, or from a wish to gratify equally