Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/321

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THE INCA'S CHAPEL AT CORDOVA
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an engraved helmet, a halberd, and spurs. A cage with five canary birds hung by the old man's chair. There were two bookcases and a stand for papers. On September 18, 1612, he had bought the chapel in the cathedral from the Bishop, and he left a number of other legal documents, including the will of his uncle and guardian, Alonzo de Vargas, dated 1570. The Inca was well supplied with linen sheets and pillow-cases for his beds, as well as mattresses and counterpanes.

The old Inca's household consisted of Diego de Vargas, whom he had brought up, Beatriz de Vega, a captive slave named Marina de Cordova, Maria de Prados, an orphan child brought up by him, and a lad named Francisco. By his will he emancipated Marina, and left them all small pensions, their beds and chests, and all the wheat, bacon, and wine in the house, to be divided equally.

Masses were to be said daily in his mortuary chapel, a lamp was to be kept burning in it, and there was to be a salary for the sacristan. Funds were provided of which the Dean and Chapter were appointed trustees.

The Inca Garcilasso de la Vega died in his house in the parish of Santa Maria in Cordova on April 22, 1616, just ten days after his seventy-seventh birthday. He was buried in the chapel he had purchased and restored, in the cathedral of Cordova. Visitors are fascinated by the wonderful beauty of the interior, with its forests of pillars, with its memories of the Beni Umeyyah, and the