Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/159

Rh Ccapac Situa was the third month, the season for sowing the land. The sign on the breast-plate indicates furrows on one side, and the act of pouring seed on a prepared plot of ground on the other. Another name for this month is Yapaquis, the word Yapa meaning an addition to land, or ploughed land, Yapuna being a plough. It was from August 22 to September 22.

Ccoya Raymi, from September 22 to October 22, was the fourth month, commencing with the vernal equinox. It was the month for the great nocturnal expiatory festival called. On the breastplate the signs represent the nocturnal character of the feast. The object of the festival was to pray to the Creator to be pleased to shield the people from sickness, and to drive all evils from the land.

A great number of men with lances, and fully armed for war, assembled in the Intip Pampa, or open space in front of the temple of the sun, where the High Priest proclaimed the feast. The armed men then shouted: 'O sickness, disaster and misfortune, go forth from the land!' Four hundred men assembled. They all belonged to ayllus, or clans, of the highest rank. Three ayllus of royal descent were represented, and four of those descending from the chosen followers of the Ayars. There