are of an ordinary size neither so big nor so tall as a Goose nor yet so little as a Duck but something between both the Indians call them Nuuma deriving their Name from Nunu which is to suck because they draw in their meat as if they were sucking besides which they have no tame fowl in all that Countrey As to Birds of the Air and Water-fowl belonging to the Sea or Rivers they are of such variety as is not possible for us to declare one quarter part of them but we shall mention some of them which are most common There are Eagles of all sorts great and small though not so large as they are in Spain They have Hawks of divers kinds some like those in Spain and others not the general word which the Indians have for them is Huaman the lesser sort of Hawks have been brought thence into Spain and are much esteemed Those which in my Countrey are called Neblies are mettled Hawks and long winged with large talons and are of a blackish colour At Cozco in the year 1557 a certain Gentleman of Sevil who was a great Faulconer used all his Art to teach and train up some of this Countrey Hawks for his pastime in which he so far proceeded as to make them come to hand and to the lure readily at a far distance but could never teach them to prey upon any game so that he gave over his hopes of doing any good with those Hawks There are other Fowls which we may reckon with those of prey which are of a large size called Cuntur and by the Spaniards corruptedly Condor Many of these fowls having been killed by the Spaniards had their proportion taken and from one point of their Wing to the other measured fifteen or sixteen Foot which being reduced to Yards makes five Yards and a third Nature to temper and allay their fierceness denied them the talons which are given to the Eagle having their feet tipped with claws like a Hen howsoever their beak is strong enough to tear off the Hide and rip up the Bowels of an Oxe Two of them will attempt a Cow or Bull and devour him and it hath often happened that one of them alone hath assaulted Boys of ten or twelve years of Age and eaten them Their colour is black and white like a Magpye it is well that they are but few in number for if they were many they would very much destroy the cattel they have on the fore-part of their heads a comb not pointed like that of a Cock but rather even in the form of a Razor when they come to alight from the Air they make such a humming noise with the fluttering of their Wings as is enough to astonish or make a Man deaf Acosta treating in his fourth Book concerning the Birds of the New World speaks there particularly of the Cuntur to which I refer those who are desirous to reade and hear of strange and wonderfull things he there hath these words The Fowls which they call Cuntur are of a vast bigness and so strong that they are able to prey upon Sheep and Calves and do often devour them Acosta treating also of the little Birds which are in Peru which the Spaniards call Tomineios and the Indians Quenti which are of a golden azure colour finer and brighter than that about the Neck of a Peacock they feed like Bees piercing with their long sharp bill into the Flowers and suck from thence a sweetness and Honey with which they are nourished they are so little that Acosta speaks in this manner of them In Peru there is a sort of Birds so little called Tomineios that when I have seen them upon the Wing I have much doubted whether they were Bees or Butterflyes And now that we have given a report of two sorts of Birds so different in the extremes there is no person will wonder at what we shall say of those which are of a moderate proportion There is a sort of great Birds which are black called by the Indians Fuyuntu and by the Spaniards Gallinaza they are great devourers of Flesh and so revenous that if they find any carrion dead in the Fields they gorge themselves with it to such a degree that they are not able to fly and when they find themselves in that condition pursued by Men they run away on their legs helping their flight with the fluttering of their Wings vomiting up all their meat as they run that it is pleasant to observe how they spue up their prey with the same eagerness as that with which they devoured it Howsoever if they are hardly pursued they may be taken and killed but Men forbear to destroy them considering that they are not good for meat and being a silly Bird doth no hurt but onely serves to devour carrion and cleanse the streets and ways from filthiness Acosta is of an opinion that it is a sort of Crow There is a sort of Sea-Birds which resemble these such as the Spaniards call Alcatrazes in English Sea-Mews they are less than Bustards they live upon Fish and it is pleasant to see how they take them At certain hours of the Morning or Evening when the Fish usually play and rise upon the surface of the water which are the times also that these Birds are most hungry they raise themselves high upon the Wing from whence observing where the Fish move they clap their Wings close and fall with such a soop like a Hawk that they never miss of their prey and sometimes dive with such agility under water following the shoals of Fish that they arise again with their prey crossed in their beak and then mounting in the Air devour the Fish and then try for others It is very pleasant to see them stoop and give blows upon the water and dive into it others to be at the same time in the Air watching their opportunity others having missed their stroke to rise again In short to see at the same time 200 Hawks stooping and mounting like the Hammers of an Iron Mill. Besides these there are flocks of Sea-birds of a lesser sort howsoever some are greater and some are less but in such incredible numbers that they will sometimes cover the Sea of Zur for two or three Leagues in length and fly so close together that for such a compass they even darken the Sky And hereby we may admire the Providence of the Eternal Majesty who hath created such a multitude of Creatures and therewith a sufficient provision of Fish wherewith to support and maintain them And thus much for Sea-fowl Now as to Water-fowl which belong to Rivers and Lakes in Peru they are in great numbers such as Herons Wild-ducks and Bran-geese and those which we call Shovelers besides many others of a different kind which we cannot exactly describe by reason that we have not observed their variety with due attention They have also Swans which live upon Fish and are very white without any
and proportioned 157. Titles of Honour how conferred 229. Tobacco 327. Tumbiz surrenders to the Inca's 352. The Treasure which the Spaniards sound in Cozco 501. John de la Torre his Riches and how gained 753. His proceedings at Cozco 807. Alonso de Toro his death 769. New Troubles in Peru 866. Don Francisco de Toledo is chosen Vice-king of Peru 1008. He returns to Spain where he is severely reproved by his Catholick Majesty 1016. His Death 1017. V. OF Virgins dedicated to the Sun 99. and of their Rules and Emploiment 100 102 103 104. Of the Vicuna 195. Inca Viracocha appears to the eldest Son of Yahuarhuacac 125. Inca Viracocha receives intelligence of the Enemies March 158. And the bloudy Battel which followed 160. Viracocha bestows Gratuities on his Souldiers 163. Pursues his Conquest and returns to Cozco sees his Father takes on himself the Government which his Father resigns to him 164 165. Of the word Viracocha and why the Spaniards were called by that Name 167. The Inca Viracocha gives order for building a Temple in memory of his Uncle Viracocha who appeared to him 169. Viracocha gives a Name to his eldest Son and prophesies concerning the Invasion of the Spaniards p. 180. His Death 182. The Vallies of Pachacamac and Rimac and their Idols 234. Valdivia killed with his men by the Indians of Chili 288. Other ill Successes 289. Valdivia the City how destroyed 290. Of the Vine and who first planted the Grape 388. Vicente Valverde a Frier makes a Speech to Atahualpa 449 450 451. The difficulty to interpret the Speech 450. Vaca de Castro received for Governour by the People of Rimac 626. His good Government 645. He goes to Los Reyes 659. He is imprisoned 667. He makes his escape 707. He comes to Spain 709. Verdugo his Actions in Truxillo Nicaragua and Nombre de Dios 730. Vela Nunnez brother to the late Vice-king his death by John de la Torre and how 753. Pedro de Valdivia is made Governour of Chile 859. His own People prefer Articles against him 860. Vasco Godinez is set up by the Souldiers for their General after the Death of Don Sebastian de Castilla 900. He puts Don Garcia Tello de Guzman to death 902. Vasco Godinez and several of his Souldiers are imprisoned 906. and is put to death 908. W. WHoredom how punished and how permitted 114. Wild Beasts as Lions Bears Tigers Apes Monkies c. 332. Of their Wheat 387. Of Wine and the first man that made it in Cozco 389. W. CApac Yupanqui fifth Monarch 68. His Conquest designed 272. Ya-huarhuacac Prince his Name whence derived 117. He is the seventh King his Fears and Conquests and the Disgrace of his eldest Son 123. Yucay the Valley described 179. Yauqu his Conquests 210 212. Yupanqui Inca his Retirement and quiet Life untill his death 293. Yllen Suarez de Carvajal Agent is put to Death 689. The Jealousie the Vice-king conceived of him 688. THE END Royal Commentaries BOOK I. CHAP. I. How the New World was Discovered ABOUT the Year 1484 a certain Pilot Native of Helva in the County of Niebla called Alonso Sanchez usually Traded in a small Vessel from Spain to the Canaries and there Lading the Commodities of that Countrey sailed to the Maderas and thence freighted with Sugar and Conserves returned home into Spain this was his constant course and trafick when in one of these Voyages meeting with a most violent Tempest and not able to bear sail he was forced to put before the Wind for the space of 28 or 29 days not knowing where or whither he went for in all that time he was not able to take an observation of the height of the Sun and so grievous was the storm that the Mariners could with no convenience either eat or sleep At length after so many long and teadious days the Wind abating they found themselves near an Island which it was is not certainly known but it is believed to have been St. Domingo because that lyes just West from the Canaries whence a storm at East had driven the Ship which is the more strange because the Easterly Winds seldom blow hard in those Seas and rather make fair weather than tempestuous But God who is all-sufficient intending to bestow his mercies can make causes produce effects contrary to their nature as when he drew water from the Rock and cured the blind with Clay in like manner his immense goodness and compassion designing to transmit the light of the true Gospel into the new World made use of these unusual means to convert them from the Idolatry of Gentilism and from their foolish and dark superstitions as shall be related in the sequel of this History The Master landing on the shore observed the height of the Sun and so noted particularly in writing what he had seen and what had happened in this Voyage out and home and having supplied himself with fresh water and wood he put to Sea again but having not well observed his course thither his way to return was the more difficult and made his Voyage so long that he began to want both water and provisions which being added to their former sufferings the people fell sick and died in that manner that of 17 persons which came out of Spain there remained but five onely alive when they arrived at the Terceras of which the Master was one These came all to lodge at the House of that famous Genoese called Christopher Colon because they knew him to be a great Seaman and Cosmographer and one who made Sea-carts to sail by and for this reason he received them with much kindness and treated them with all things necessary that so he might learn from them the particulars which occurred and the discoveries they had made in this laborious Voyage but in regard they brought a languishing distemper with them caused by their Sufferings at Sea and of which they could not be recovered by the kind usage of Colon they all happened to dye in his house leaving their labours for his inheritance the which he improved with such readiness of mind that he underwent more and greater than they in regard that they lasted longer and at length he so well succeeded in his enterprize that he bestowed the New World with all its riches upon Spain and therefore deservedly obtained this Motto to be inscribed on his Armes To Castile and to Leon The New World was given by Colon. In this manner the New World was first discovered for which greatness Spain is beholding to that little Village of Helva which produced such a Son as gave Colon information of things not seen or known before the which secrets like a prudent person he concealed till under assurances of silence he first disclosed them to such persons of authority about the Catholick Kings as were to be assistant and usefull to him in his design which could never have been laid or chalked out by the art of Cosmography or
burnt it wholly the which accident confirmed the Indians in their opinion that places in such manner strucken with Thunder were accursed and therefore the Spaniards were in an Errour when they rebuilt those places for they ought to have remained void and neglected And whereas the Historians say that they esteemed Thunder and Lightning for Gods it is a mistake for they did indeed account those places for sacred saying that their Gods had by Thunder and Thunder-bolts and Lightning marked out those places for their Worship and therefore not being to be prophaned by common use they built their most famous Temples thereupon To these three they gave the common Name of Yllapa and for the similitude hereunto they called all Fire-arms by the same word And as to those Names which they give to Thunder and to the Sun in Trinity they are framed by the Spaniards themselves as they have in other things for no such words are compounded in the general language of Peru nor have they any such signification as the Spaniards fansie or would impose upon them CHAP. II. By what means the Incas came to the knowledge of the True God. BEsides the Sun whom they worshipped for the visible God to whom they offered Sacrifice and kept Festivals as we shall hereafter declare the Incas who were Kings and the Amantas who were Philosophers proceeded by the mere light of Nature to the knowledge of the True Almighty God our Lord Maker of Heaven and Earth as we shall hereafter prove by their own words and testimonies which some of them gave of the Divine Majesty which they called by the Name of Pachacamac and is a word compounded of Pacha which is the Universe and Camac which is the Soul and is as much as he that animates the World. Pedro de Cieca in his 62. Chapter says that they called the Devil by this Name but I who am an Indian born and therefore better acquainted with the Language than he know that they never took this name into their Mouths but seldom and when they did it was with great Veneration bowing their Heads and Bodies casting up their Eyes to Heaven and then down to the Earth lifting their hands open as high as their Shoulders and kissing the Air which were the common manifestations of Reverence and Adorations which were in use amongst the Incas and his People these and such like demonstrations of Honour they used when they were forced to pronounce the word Pachacamac but the Name of the Sun they took in their mouths more frequently as they did also of their Incas and with less ceremony and of their Curacas who were their Lords with a more indifferent respect And being asked who this Pachacamac was they answered that it was he who gave Life to the Universe sustained and nourished all things but because they did not see him they could not know him and for that reason they erected not Temples to him nor offered Sacrifice howsoever they worshipped in their Hearts and esteemed him for the unknown God. Augustin de Carate in his second Book and fifth Chapter reports that Father Vicente de Valverde telling the King Atahualpa that it was Christ our Lord who created the World he answered that he knew nothing of that but he was sure that there was no other Nourisher but the Sun whom they esteemed to be a God and the Earth their Mother and that Pachacamac had created all things c. whence it is evident that the Indians held our invisible God to be the Creatour of all things This Truth which the Indians had by the light of Nature discovered the Devil himself though the Father of Lyes had much against his Will confessed and confirmed for when he saw that our Holy Gospel was preached and that many Indians were baptized he told some of his Familiars in that Vale which is now called the Valley of Pachacamac so named from that famous Temple which is there dedicated to the Unknown God that the God which the Spaniards preached and he were the same as Pedro de Cieca and Geronimo Roman in their Writings of the West-Indies report Howsoever they are mistaken where they say that the Indians gave the name of Pachacamac to the Devil for whom they have another Word which is Cupay which when they utter they spit with other signs of Detestation Notwithstanding this Enemy so far insinuated himself amongst these Infidels that he caused himself to be worshipped by them by entering into all those things which they called sacred or Holy for he spake to them in their Oracles their Temples and the Corners of their Houses calling himself by the Name of Pachacamac and by this subtilty the Indians worshipped every thing through which the Devil spoke believing it to be a Deity but had they believed that it was the Cupay or Devil whom they heard they would certainly have burnt the things through which he spoke as they now by God's Mercy do who hath gratiously revealed and made himself known to them CHAP. III. Of the Cross which the Incas preserved in a Consecrated place IN the City of Cozco the Incas had a certain Cross of white Marble which they called a Crystalline Jaspar but from what time it had been kept there is not certain In the year 1560 I left it in the Vestry of the Cathedral Church of that City I remember it was hanged upon a Nail with a List of black Velvet which when it was in the power of the Indians it was hanged by a Chain of Gold or Silver but afterwards changed by those who removed it This Cross was square being as broad as it was long and about three fingers wide It formerly remained in one of those Royal Apartments which they call Huaca which signifies a Consecrated place and though the Indians did not adore it yet they held it in great veneration either for the Beauty of it or some other reason which they knew not to assign and so was observed amongst them untill the Marquess Don Francisco Picarro entred into the Valley of Tumpiz when by reason of some accidents which befell Pedro de Candia they conceived a greater esteem and veneration for it as we shall declare in its due place The Spaniards after they had taken the Imperial City they erected a Church in it to the Almighty God and hanged this Cross in the Vestry as we have said of that Church without other ornament or ceremony whenas they ought to have placed a Relique of that nature upon the High Altar adorning it with Gold and pretious Stones which abounded in that Countrey by which respect to a thing which the Indians esteemed Sacred and by assimilating the Ordinances of our Holy Religion as near as was possible with those which the Law of Nature had taught to this People preaching and recommending the Works of Mercy in such style as the Doctrine of these Gentiles did teach and allow the lessons of Christianity would thereby have
brought from thence for they had no instruments of Iron or Steel wherewith to cut or fashion them Nor less wonderfull is it to think how they could be carried to the Building for they had neither Carts nor Oxen to draw them with and if they had the weight was so vast as no Cart could bear or Oxen draw then to think that they drew them with great Ropes over Hills and Dales and difficult ways by the mere force of Mens Armes is alike incredible for many of them were brought ten twelve and fifteen Leagues off particularly that Stone or Rock rather which the Indians call Saycusca which signifies tired or weary because it lies in the way having never been brought so far as to the Building but it is certain that it came fifteen Leagues from the City and was transported over the River of Yucay which is almost as broad as the Guadalquiver which runs by Cordova The Stones brought from the nearest parts were from Muyna which is five Leagues distant from Cozco But to proceed farther in our imagination of this matter and consider how it was possible for this people to fit and join such vast Machins of Stones together and cement them so close that the point of a Knife can scarce pass between them is a thing above all admiration and some of them are so artificially joined that the crevices are scarce discernible between them Then to consider that to square and fit these Stones one to the other they were to be raised and lifted up and removed often until they were brought to their just size and proportion but how this was done by Men who had no use of the Rule and Square nor knew how to make Cranes or Pullies and Cramps and other Engines to raise and lowr them as they had occasion is beyond our imagination being of that bigness that Joseph Acosta saith was prodigious For the bigness and compass of these Stones I shall rather refer my self to the Authority of this Acosta than to the report of my School-fellows of whom I desiring to be informed of the just proportion of these Stones they sent me the measures of them by Fathoms and not by Yards and Inches which account not being so exact as I desired it seemed requisite in a work so wonderfull and in which the vastness of the Stones is the greatest matter of Admiration to take the more authentick testimony of Notaries Acosta in the 14th Chapter of his 6th Book saith That the Expences which the Incas made in building Forts Temples Houses of Pleasure and other Edifices was very great and the labour excessive as the Ruins which remain make to appear and are still to be seen in Cozco Tiaguanaco Tambo and other places where the Stones are of that vast proportion as passes understanding how they were hewen squared and carried to the places where they are now fixed It is certain that for erecting those vast Buildings of Forts and Temples in Cozco and other parts by direction of the Inca there was the assistence and concourse of great multitudes required from all Provinces for the forwarding of these Works the labour was certainly great and the fashion admirable and unusual for they used no Mortar nor had they Iron or Steel to cut and polish the Stones nor Instruments or Engines to carry and raise them and yet they were so curiously joined and fitted that the places where they joined were scarce discernible and yet the Stones were of that vast bigness as is incredible unless it be to those who have seen them In Tiaguanaco I measured one my self which was thirty foot in length and eighteen in breadth and six foot in thickness In the Wall of the Fortress built at Cozco there are Stones of a far greater bigness which were laid by hand and what is most admirable is that they were never cut by any Rule being rough cast and without equal proportion and yet are fitted and joined one within the other without any Mortar or Cement all which must be done by force of Men and great toil and labour for certainly to fit one Stone to the other which were at first unequal there must be often removes which could not be performed easily but by force and strength of the Armes All which are the Words of Acosta extracted verbatim whereby he manifests the difficulty of that labour to Men who had not the use of those Instruments and Engines which are common amongst us Perhaps the Incas in the height of their Glory were desirous to recommend the greatness of their power to the admiration of all Ages as also to shew the Art and ingenuity of their Master-builders not onely in polishing their freezed Stone which the Spaniards do much admire but also in laying their rough Stones called by the Italians a la rustica in which they did as much excell as in the former and herein they did not onely shew themselves Artists but Souldiers also in the contrivances of their Fortresses which they built in every advantageous Pass and place where such a Bulwark might be of defence or bar against the Incursions of an Enemy This Castle or Fortress they erected on the top of a high Hill on the North-side of the City called Sacsahuamam at the foot of which are the Dwelling-houses of Cozco which extend themselves at a great distance on all quarters the side of this Hill which is towards the City is exactly perpendicular so that it is impregnable and cannot be stormed on that part nor can it be battered with Cannon by any level or upper ground which commands it though the Indians before the coming of the Spaniards had no thoughts or imagination of Cannon nor provided any other defence than a thick Wall of Stone curiously polished on all quarters being about two hundred fathom in compass every row of Stones was of a different height and yet laid exactly by the line and so well fitted and enchased one within the other that they needed no Lime or other Mortar to cement them The truth is they used no Mortar mixed with Sand because they knew not how to burn Lime howsoever they had a kind of a red Earth of a bituminous matter which was very binding and such as served to fill up holes and nicks in the Building And in this first row they shewed both Industry and Art for the Wall was thick and the Workmanship rare on all sides CHAP. XXVIII Of the three Walls which are most to be admired of all this Work. ON the other side from the City the Hill hath an open prospect to the Plains and the ascent to the Fortress is so easie and wide that an Enemy may easily attack it in a formed and orderly Body Wherefore they fortified it on that side with three Walls one before the other each Wall being 200 fathom in length being made in the shape of a half Moon because they come to join with the single Wall which is towards the
besides those which we have mentioned in the third Book and fifteenth Chapter of our History of Florida which are found in many parts of that great Kingdom particularly in that rich Temple of the Province called Cofachiqui the 18 Mark weight of Pearl besides the two Chests which Acosta mentions to have been brought for the King's account were all choice Pearls and such as at several times were called out by the Indians and set apart for the King's use and service to whom a fifth part belonged of all the Pearls which were taken and accordingly delivered into the Royal Wardrobe from whence they were given out for adorning a Manto and Petticoat for the Image of our Lady of Guadalupe embroderying a whole Suit such as the dress of her Head Frontlers Surcoat hanging Sleeves and hem of her Garments all with the finest sort of Pearl set in Diamond-work the House or Chair of State made for this Image which were usually of a darkish colour were now covered with Rubies and Emeralds set in Gold by which it was apparent by whose command and at whose charge those Artists worked and to whose service the Catholick King did dedicate so great a Treasure which was immense and beyond the abilities and magnificence of any other than his onely who was Emperour of the Indies But to compute and rightly to calculate the Riches of this Monarch we ought to reade the fourth Book of Acosta wherein are such strange discoveries of things in the New World as are almost incredible Amongst which I have been an eye-witness my self at Sevil in the year 1579 where I saw a Pearl which a Gentleman called Don Diego de Temez brought from Panama and designed for King Philip the Second the Pearl was about the bigness of a Wallnut and roundness of a Pigeon's Egg it was valued in the Indies at twelve thousand Pieces of Eight which make fourteen thousand four hundred Ducats Jacomo de Treco of Milan an excellent Artist and Jeweler to his Catholick Majesty esteemed it at fourteen thirty fifty and sometimes at a hundred thousand Ducats that is that it had no price for in regard there was none like it in the World and that there was none with which it might be compared it was not capable of any estimation In Sevil many went to see it for a sight giving it the Name of the Foreigner A certain Italian Gentleman at that time went about that City and bought up all the choicest Pearls he could find for account of a Great Lord in Italy when having purchased a String or Chain of the best yet being compared and laid by the Foreigner they seemed like so many little pebles of the Brook. Those that knew and were acquainted with Pearls and pretious Stones did aver that it weighed 24 Quilats above any other that was ever known but what that means I am not skilfull enough to interpret The Proprietor of this Pearl said that a little Neger Boy which was not worth above a 100 Ryals fished the shell wherein it was contained out of the water which was so cragged and promised so little outwardly that they were going to cast it again into the Sea but yielding unexpectedly so great a profit to the Master he was pleased in reward for the benefit to give liberty to the Slave and in honour to the Master on whom fortune had bestowed so great a Treasure the Inhabitants of Panama were pleased to make him their High Constable the Pearl was never polished because the Master would never consent that it should be touched unless it were to bore a hole through it for they never attempt to alter the fashion or shapes of them but string them as they come from the shells so that some of them come out very round others long others flat others round of one side and flat on the other but those vvhich are in fashion of a Pear are most esteemed because they are not common When a Merchant hath got one of this shape he presently enquires and makes search for another vvhich is like it for being vvell matched they rise double in their price so that vvhen a Pearl being single is valued at a hundred Ducats being afterwards vvell matched vvith another doth presently double its price and both give a value to each other because they are made the more fit for Chains and Neck-laces for vvhich they are principally designed Pearl is of a nature vvhich vvill admit of no polishing being composed of a certain shell or tunicle vvhich covers it and vvhich decays vvith time losing much of its lustre and brightness vvhich it had at first hovvsoever vvhen they take off the upper coat or tunicle of the decayed part that vvhich is under appears as oriental as it did at first but yet vvith great damage to the Pearl being considerably lessened at least one third of its bigness Hovvsoever the best sort of Pearls do never decay and may be excepted from this general rule CHAP. XXIV Of Gold and Silver SPain it self is a sufficient witness of the Gold and Silver which comes from Peru considering that for the twenty five years last past besides what hath been formerly carried there hath been every year transported twelve or thirteen Millions according to Register besides that which hath passed without account There is Gold found in all the parts of Peru some more and some less generally in every Province It is found on the top or surface of the Earth carried by streams and currents and washed down by great flouds of Rain which the Indians gather and put into water separating it from the Earth as the Silver-smiths do the filings which fall in their shops That which is found in this manner is called Gold in dust because it is like filings some of which are indifferently big and about the fashion of a Mellon-seed some are round and others of an oval form all the Gold of Peru is about eighteen or twenty Quilats more or less in goodness onely that which comes from the Mines of Callauaya or Callahuaya is of the finest sort being twenty four Quilats and better as I have been informed by some Gold-smiths in Spain In the year 1556 there was digged out of the veins of a Rock in the Mines of Callahuaya a piece of Gold Ore of the bigness of a Man's head in colour like the Lungs of a living creature and indeed did something resemble it in the shape having certain Persorations through it from one end to the other in all which holes there appeared little kernels of Gold as if melted Gold had been dropped into them some of them being outwardly in knobs and others more inward Those that understood the nature of Mines were of opinion that had that piece of Ore been suffered to remain it would all with time have been turned into perfect Gold. In Cozco the Spaniards looked upon it as strange and unusual and the Indians called it Huaco as they did every thing which was
into the most remote parts of Chili No replied the High Priest there cannot certainly be any who dares to disobey you or refuse your commands even to death Then said the King if it be so there must be some other whom Our Father the Sun takes and esteems for a more supreme and more powerfull Lord than himself by whose Commands he every day measures the compass of the Heavens without any intermission or hour of repose for if he were absolute and at his own disposal he would certainly allot himself some time of cessation though it were onely to please his own humour and fancy without other consideration than that of liberty and change For this Speech and others of the like nature which the Indians reported of this Prince the Spaniards conceived so great an opinion of his judgment and understanding that they believed the subtilty of his wit would very easily have comprehended and given admission to the Doctrines of the Catholick Faith. A certain Spanish Captain who might have heard this Story of Huayna Capac for it was commonly discoursed in Peru did make himself the Authour of this Saying and recounted it to Acosta for his own This Acosta in the fifth Book of his History of the New World mentions this particular Saying which is attributed to Huayna Capac but names not the person by whom it was uttered but reports That there was a certain Inca a person of a subtile wit and refined understanding who observing how his Ancestours had always adored the Sun for a God seemed to wonder at it and said that it was impossible for the Sun to be God. For God was certainly a great Lord who formed and acted all his matters with quiet and settlement but that the Sun was a thing always in motion which was contrary to the unalterable Being of God His reason was admirably good and sound and such as being well explained to the Indians might effectually have convinced them of their errours and follies Thus far are the Words of Acosta with which he concludes that Chapter The Indians who were very superstitious and scrupulous in their Idolatry interpreted this unpractised liberty which Huayna Capac took in beholding the Sun to be an ill Omen of some unhappy success But this conceit concerning the Nature of the Sun was not as I hear primarily to be attributed to Huayna Capac but that he received it first from his Father Tupac Inca Yupanqui who uttered something of the like nature CHAP. XI Of the Rebellion of the Caranques and their Punishment for it THE Inca Huayna Capac taking his Circuit through the several Provinces of his Empire which was the last Journey he made news was brought him that the Province of Caranque which was one as we have said that was the latest conquered in the utmost Confines of Peru was risen into rebellion for being a sort of barbarous and cruel people such as offered the bloud and heads and hearts of Men whom they had killed in sacrifice to their Gods and ate Man's flesh for not being able to bear the Laws of reason and good manners which were given them especially that which forbad the eating of Humane flesh they had joined with the neighbouring Countries in Alliance and League intending to make a general Insurrection For this reason they held many secret Meetings and gathered people to surprize and kill the Governours and Ministers of the Inca together with the Souldiers and Garrisons which were set over them And whilst matters were thus preparing for execution of their design at the time appointed they dissembled their submission and treachery with the greatest demonstrations of fidelity and kindness imaginable that the Incas being thereby become more confident of their Loyalty they might with the more facility and less danger find an opportunity to cut their throats The Plot being laid and the time come for the execution of it they without any remorse killed all the Incas and others which presided over them offering their heads hearts and bloud to their Gods in sacrifice by way of acknowledgment for being freed from their subjection to the Incas They then devoured their flesh and drank their bloud with much greediness for being debarred for some time from that food they longed for it and partly in revenge and partly from a voracious appetite thereunto they ate with spight satisfying both their palate and their anger The advice of which being come to Huayna Capac he was greatly troubled and immediately dispeeded away his Captains with an Army to execute justice for this great offence whilst he in person kept at some distance observing the success of this affair The Captains accordingly invested the Caranques but first according to their usual custome they sent Propositions of Peace and Amnesty in case they would return to obedience and submission of the Inca. But these barbarous Rebels were so far from accepting these terms that they impudently rejected and scorned them and so ill treated the Messengers that they hardly escaped from their hands Of which Huayna Capac being informed he resolved personally to assail them with his whole Army putting all to fire and sword before him The Rebels fought with great obstinacy and the Incas honourably acquitted themselves to revenge the affront to their King so that on one side and the other many thousands were slain But whereas the power of the Inca was as to that people invincible they in a short time began to abate in their courage and hopes so that not daring to fight in the open Plains they betook themselves to the Woods and Mountains and to defend themselves in difficult passes But such was the Power and Military Discipline of the Incas that they entirely defeated the Enemy taking many thousands of them Prisoners the most culpable of which and the most active in this Rebellion to the number of two thousand part of which were Caranques and part Allies with them were put to death having their throats cut within a Lake and their bodies sunk into the deep the waters of which being stained with the bloud the Lake was for ever afterwards called Yahuarcocha or the bloudy Sea in a perpetual Memorial of this rebellious crime and the punishment of it Pedro de Cieça mentioning this particular reports that twenty thousand of them suffered this punishment perhaps he means that so many might be killed in this War on both sides The Inca Huayna Capac having executed this justice in the punishment of Rebels departed for Quitu being much troubled that during his Reign such enormous wickednesses should arise which should require his extreme severity and rigour in the just punishment being an action as much contrary to his natural inclination as it was to the custome and practice of his Ancestours who most availed themselves on the Titles of Pious and Mercifull He was moreover much concerned that these unhappy accidents should concur in his time and not in the Reign of his Predecessours having no example
Riches and replenished with Provisions that Pedro de Cieça in the 44th Chapter of his Book commends them above the Skies and fearing lest he should fall short in his commendations concludes that it was impossible for him to express the wonderfull Riches which were contained within these Royal Palaces of the Incas In memory of the aforesaid Festival Huayna Capac determined to style his Off-spring with the Name of Tumipampa that so that Solemnity might give a Name to his Off-spring of which there were no more remaining than twenty two And whereas Huayna Capac and his Father Tupac Inca Yupanqui were nearest allied in the Tree of the Royal Lineage Atahualpa was the more carefull and diligent to extirpate and destroy them than the others by which means very few of them escaped his malitious cruelty as appears by the List of such as survived all which being summed up together make the number of 567 persons and it is observable that they were all descended by the Male and not by the Female line for as we have said before the Incas made little esteem of the Female race unless they were ennobled by the Bloud of the Spaniards who had been the first Conquerours of that Countrey and esteemed Incas and such as were descended from their God the Sun. The Letter which they wrote to me was signed by eleven Incas according to the eleven descents the Chief of every one of which subscribed for himself and those of his Lineage by their Christian Names and Surnames of their Ancestours The Names of all the branches excepting the two last are unknown to me in their significations because they are Names proper to that Language which the Incas exercised amongst themselves and were not common to the whole Court. We have now onely farther to speak of Don Melchior Garlos Inca the Nephew of Paullu and Grand Nephew of Huayna Capac who as we have said came to Spain in the year 1602 in expectation of receiving great favours and rewards from the Court which accordingly succeeded in the year 1604 when after consideration had of his Worth and Merits it was determined that a Largess should be made him of 7500 Ducats of yearly Rent and setled for ever on him and his Heirs and to be raised out of his Majesty's Revenue issuing from the City of los Reyes and that an additional supply should be granted to him for bringing his Wife and Family into Spain Moreover he had the Honour of the Habit of Santiago conferred upon him with promises of Lodgings in the King's Court And that for the Indians of which he was Lord in Cozco by right of Inheritance from Father and Grandfather they were transferred to the possession of the Royal Crown he not being permitted to return to the Indies The which information was wrote me from Valladolid what hath passed since from the last of March I have not been advised And having said thus much we shall pass to our tenth Book which treats of the Heroick and incredible Actions of the Spaniards who gained that Empire The End of the First Tome THE SECOND PART OF THE General History OF PERU Wherein is Treated Of the Manner how that new World was discovered How it was conquered by the Spaniards Of the Civil Wars between the Piçarrists and the Almagrians occasioned by Quarrels arising about the Division of that Land. Of the Rise and Fall of Tyrants and other Particulars contained in that History Written in Spanish by Garçilasso de la Vega. Royal Commentaries BOOK I. CHAP. I. Of the three Spaniards of Noble Quality who undertook the Conquest of Peru. IN the 9th Book of the first part of these our Royal Commentaries we have shewed how the resolute Atahualpa pleased himself with the thoughts of having by Tyranny and Cruelty secured to himself the Empire little dreaming that a strange and an unknown Nation who were the Spaniards should in the most calm and prosperous time of his Enjoyments knock at his Gate and by the same methods of cruelty cast him from his Throne and deprive him of his Life and Empire That we may prosecute this History with the most even thread it is necessary for us to look some years back and take our matters from their first source and beginning The Spaniards therefore after they had discovered this new World were still desirous more and more of new and farther discoveries and though the Countries they had already possessed were rich and prosperous yet not being contented with their present Enjoyments nor wearied with their Labours and Travails nor discouraged with the sufferings of Hunger Dangers Wounds Sicknesses nor with the bad Days and worse Nights which they had endured both by Sea and Land yet still thirsting after new Conquests and great Enterprises they arrived at length to that pitch of greatness which hath for ever eternized their Fame and Memory For so it happened in the Conquest of Peru That Francis Piçarro a Native of Truxillo living at Panama one of a Noble Family and Diego de Almagro a Native of Malaga or as Carate will have it of the Town of Almagro which is most probable a Person as we may believe of like noble Extraction for though his Family be unknown yet if we may know the Tree by its Fruit the greatness of his Actions and the glory of his Enterprises have rendred his Birth and Family illustrious They were both indeed rich and famous for the bravery of their past actions especially Piçarro who had been a Captain and in the Year 1512. had been Lieutenant Governour of the City of Urava of which he was afterwards made Lieutenant General by the Governour Alonson Hojeda having been the first Spanish Captain which entred that Province where he performed many brave Actions labouring under many Difficulties and Dangers which Pedro de Cieça compendiously relates in these Words After says he that this had happened the Governour Hojeda planted a new Colony of Christians in that part which they call Urava of which he made Francis Piçarro his Lieutenant Governour and of which he was afterwards made Governour and Marquiss and living in the City of Urava with the Indians he endured much Famine and Sickness for which Services his memory will ever be esteemed Thus far are the Words of de Cieça He was also in company with the famous Captain Basco Nunnez when discovery was made of the South Sea and when Nombre de Dios and Panama were subdued he was then with the Governour Peâ—â— Arias de Avila as Gomara reports in his History of the Indies But neither Piçarro nor Almagro being satiated with their former Glories thirsted still after greater Actions and incited with the report they had received of the simple and mean condition of the People of Peru these two great Heroes made an agreement together for the Conquest of it joining with them Hernando de Luque a Schoolmaster in Panama who was Lord of Taboga These three solemnly swore in publick and
the Victory which the Cannarian had gained for had it been a Spaniard the Dishonour had been much less but to be overcome by one of their own Indian Vassals was an Affront and Disgrace which could portend nothing but ill fortune and being a People naturally superstitious and terrified with the apprehension of such Omens they never afterwards attempted any thing of Moment during the remainder of the Siege nor did any thing remarkable succeed unless the unfortunate Death of that worthy John Piçarro as we shall hereafter relate So often as I call to mind these Miracles and several others which God was pleased to work in favour of the Christians both at the Siege of Cozco and of los Reyes as we shall see hereafter I cannot but wonder that the Historians should be so silent therein especially since they were so clear and evident to all the World having in my youth heard them reported both by Indians and Spaniards with great admiration in memory of which after the Siege they dedicated unto our Lady that Gallery wherein the Spaniards were quartered and where now the Cathedral Church is built called by the Name of St. Mary of the Assumption and Advocation and the City it self they dedicated to St. James of Spain to both which Saints Anniversary Days of Feasts are appointed in thankfull remembrance for the gratious Benefits received the which Festivals begin in the morning with a solemn Procession and Sermon and then High Mass is celebrated and lastly the Day is concluded with the Sport of Bulls and other Recreations In the Porch of this Church which leads to the Market-place the Picture of St. James is painted mounted on a White Horse with his Buckler on his Arme and a Serpentine Sword in his Hand with many Indians dead and wounded under his Feet which Picture when the Indians beheld they said that a Viracocha like this was he that destroyed us in the Market-place In the Year 1560 when I departed from Cozco to go into Spain the Picture was then fresh the Insurrection of the Inca began in the Year 1535. and ended in 1536. and I was born in the Year 1539. so that I might well be acquainted both with Indians and Spaniards who had been actually in those Wars and Witnesses of those Apparitions which we have declared and I my self for five Years together have always been present at the Sports and Pastimes of those Festivals for which Reasons from plain demonstration I cannot but wonder why Historians have been silent in these particulars unless it be that they would attribute unto the valour of the Spaniards all the Honour of those Days without making due return of thankfull acknowledgment unto God for the Victories so miraculously obtained Many days after I had wrote this Chapter turning over the Leaves of the Book of Acosta I met with some thing to this purpose in confirmation of the Miracles which our Lord Jesus Christ and his Mother the Virgin Mary Queen of the Angels had wrought in the New World in favour of our holy Faith and Religion which when I had read and found my own Reports confirmed by his Authority I cannot express the Joy I conceived by this happy concurrence For since the Delivery of truth is my chief Aim and Design I cannot but be greatly delighted when I find my Relations confirmed either in part or in whole by the Authority of other Historians for I hate the Character of being either a Flatterer or a fabulous Writer which to avoid I have thought fit to produce the Words of Acosta in the 27th Chapter of his 7th Book which are as followeth When the Spaniards were besieged in the City of Cozco and so closely pressed and straitned that without the Assistence of Heaven it was impossible for them to escape I have heard from very credible Persons that the Indians threw Fire on the Roof of that House where the Spaniards were lodged and where now the Cathedral Church is built and though the Covering of the House was a sort of Thatch which they call Chicho or rather Ychu and that the Fire was made with a rasimy kind of burning Wood yet it took no hold on that combustible matter for our Lady appearing from above kept a constant Guard over that place and immediately extinguished the Fire all which the Indians visibly saw and remained with astonishment All the Relations and Histories which are wrote on this Subject report for a certain truth that in divers Battels which the Spaniards fought in New Spain and in Peru the Indians plainly discovered in the Air a Cavalier mounted on a white Horse with a Sword in his Hand fighting for the Spaniards whence it is that in all parts of the West-Indies great Devotion and Honour is paid to that glorious Apostle St. James and at other times in several difficult Encounters the Image of our Lady hath presented it self from which Christians have received inexpressible Benefits and were all these Apparitions and Wonders of Heaven particularly described they would swell a Volume too large for this History c. Thus far are the Words of Acosta who reports that almost fourty years after these matters were transacted he made a Voyage into Peru where he received Information of all these particulars And having said thus much we will return again to our Spaniards who remaining under such propitious circumstances of the Divine Providence were enabled to become the Masters of an hundred New Worlds CHAP. XXVI The Spaniards gain the Fortress with the Death of the worthy John Piçarro IN the 5th Chapter of the 8th Book of the first part we there mentioned the Loyalty which the Natives of the Cannaris bore towards their Kings the Incas and we then promised to declare how that on occasion of the great Love and Friendship which one of that Nation professed towards the Spaniards all the others withdrew their Obedience and renounced their Allegiance to the Incas In the 37th Chapter of the 9th Book of the first part we described the great Loyalty of that People towards their Princes we are now to give an account of the reason for which the same was afterwards denied The Cause was this When the Indians after the Victory observed the many Favours and Honours which the Spaniards bestowed on the Person of the Cannarian who fought the duel they became so entirely affectionated and devoted to the Spaniards that they denied all farther Service and Duty to their own Inca and from that time became Spies Informers and Betrayers of the other Indians and in the very civil Wars which the Spaniards had one with the other even to the time of Francisco Hernandes Giron the Cannarians which lived in Cozco under the Command of this Don Francisco the Cannarian and were then very numerous served for Spies and Informers against the Indians and in all the civil Wars which the Spaniards waged one against the other to that very War of Hernandez Giron the Cannarians who