Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/47

Rh exactly the same, consisting of three joints, each with a billet, and ending in a bird's head. Above the hands the sceptres differ. The one on the right consists of five joints with billets and the appearance of a small bird. The one on the left is divided into two, ending with heads of birds.  Below the belt there is a band, whence hangs a fringe of six human heads. The central figure terminates at the knees, just above an elaborately carved ornament which is supposed to have represented a throne. It consists of bands ending in twelve birds' heads, and at the sides the composition terminates in a large beast's head, with a peculiar ornament in front of the mouth. There are three squares, the two outer ones having inner squares, and issuing from them another square, with short bands, ending in a circle and inner circle, on either side.

On either side of the central figure there are forty-eight figures kneeling to it, sixteen with the heads of birds and thirty-two with human heads. All are winged, all are crowned, and all hold sceptres. The bird-headed worshippers have sceptres like the one in the central figure's left hand, while the sceptres of the human-headed worshippers are the same as those in the central figure's right hand. The bird-headed figures have ornamental bands with terminals of fish heads, and the human-headed figures throughout have bands ending in birds' heads.

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the 