orship is
allowed to undergo its natural evolution, certain elements of phallic
worship had made their appearance. These I will discuss later on.

[28] Prescott: _The Conquest of Peru_, vol. i, p. 101.

The great temple of the sun was at Cuzco, "where, under the munificence
of successive sovereigns, it had become so rich that it received the
name of Coricancha, or 'the Place of Gold.'"[29] According to the
_relacion_ of Sarmiento, and the commentaries of Garcilasso and other
Spanish writers, this building, which was surrounded by chapels and
smaller edifices, and which stood in the heart of the city, must have
been truly magnificent with its lavish adornments of virgin gold!

[29] Prescott: _The Conquest of Peru_, vol. i, p. 95.

Unlike the Aztecs, a kindred race of people, the Peruvians rarely
sacrificed human beings to their divinities, but, like the religion of
the former, the religion of the latter had become greatly developed
along ceremonial lines, as we will see later on in this essay.

It is a far cry from Peru to Japan, from the Incas to the Ainus, yet
these widely separated races practiced religions that were almost
identical in point of fundamental principles. Both worshiped nature, but
the Peruvians were far ahead of the Ainus in civilization, and their
religion, as far as ritual and ceremony are concerned, far surpassed
that of the "Hairy Men" when viewed from an aesthetic standpoint.
Ethically, I am inclined to believe the religion of the Ainus is just as
high as was that of the Incas.

Literature is indebted to the Rev. John Batchelor for that which is,
probably, the most readable book that has ever been published about
these interesting people; from a scientific standpoint, however, this
work is greatly lacking. Many ethnologists and anthropologists
considered the Ainu autochthonic to Japan; I am forced to conclude from
the evidence, however, that he is an emigrant, and that he came
originally from North China or East Siberia. Be he emigrant or indigene,
one thing is certain, namely, that he has been an inhabitant of the
Japanese Archipelago for thousands of years. The oldest book in the
Japanese language has this in it anent the Ainus: "When our august
ancestors descended from heaven in a boat, they found upon this island
several barbarous races, the most fierce of whom were the Ainu."[G]

[G] Batchelor: _The Ainu of Japan_, p. 13.

The Ainu is probably the purest type of primitiv