Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/169

Rh March 22 to April 22, at the autumnal equinox. In this month there was the fourth great annual festival called the Mosoc Nina, when the sacred fire in the temple, always kept burning, was solemnly renewed. The month is represented by the stone and the spark.

The Ayrihua, from April 22 to May 22, was the beginning of harvest. The new knights went to the foot of the fortress, to the farm called The tradition was that here the wife of the Ayar Manco Ccapac sowed the first maize. They returned with the maize in small baskets, singing the Yarahui.

The twelfth and last month of the year was called Aymuray, and was the month for gathering in the harvests and conveying the corn and other produce to the barns and store-houses. Huaman Poma gives a picture of the busy scene. The month is represented by the solstitial sign, because its last day is the solstice. Then followed the great harvest-home month of Intip Raymi.

Besides the great festivals which came round with the calendar, the Peruvians had their family rites and ceremonies. On the fourth day after the birth of a child, all the relations were invited to come and see it, in its Quirau or cradle. When it reached the age of one year, it was given a name, whether boy or girl, to last until it was of age. This was called the Rutuchicu. The child