[302-1] Each village of the Muyscas is
said to have had a beaten path to Lake Guatavita, so numerous were the
devotees who journeyed to the shrine there located.[302-2] In Peru the
temples of Pachacama, Rimac, and other famous gods, were repaired to by
countless numbers from all parts of the realm, and from other provinces
within a radius of three hundred leagues around. Houses of entertainment
were established on all the principal roads, and near the temples, for
their accommodation; and when they made known the object of their
journey, they were allowed a safe passage even through an enemy's
territory.[302-3]
* * * * *
The more carefully we study history, the more important in our eyes will
become the religious sense. It is almost the only faculty peculiar to
man. It concerns him nearer than aught else. It is the key to his origin
and destiny. As such it merits in all its developments the most earnest
attention, an attention we shall find well repaid in the clearer
conceptions we thus obtain of the forces which control the actions and
fates of individuals and nations.
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