the imagination of man had not Alonso de Sanchez given the first light and conjecture to this discovery which Colon so readily improved that in 78 days he made his Voyage to the Isle of Guanatianico though he was detained some days at Gomera to take in Provisions CHAP. II. The derivation of the word Peru and how the Countrey came to be so called SInce we are to treat of the Countrey of Peru it will be requisite to enquire how it came to be so called in regard the Indians have no such word in their language to which end we must know That a certain Gentleman Native of Xerez called Barco Nunnez having in the year 1513 been the first Spaniard who discovered the Sea of Zur or the Pacifick Sea in reward thereof the Kings of Spain honoured him with the title of Admiral of those Seas and with the government of those Kingdoms and Countries which he should farther discover and conquer During those few years he lived after these Honours for his Son-in-law Pedro Arias de Avila being Governour in recompence of all his services cut off his head his great care was to discover and know what that Countrey was called which from Panama runs all along the coast of the Sea of Zur to which purpose he built three or four Vessels and employed them in several quarters to make their discoveries every one of which did afterwards return with relations of great tracts of land running along that coast one of which Vessels stretching farther than the others to the very Equinoctial line and sailing by the shore they espied an Indian as he was fishing at the mouth of a River of which there are many which in that Countrey fall into the Sea so soon as the Spaniards saw him they landed four of their men with all privacy imaginable such as could run and swim well that so he might not be able to escape them either by land or water Having so done they passed with their Ship as near as was possible before the Indian that whilst he amused himself with the strangeness of the object he might more easily be taken by the ambush which was laid for him the Indian beholding so unusual a sight as a Ship swimming with all her Sails on the Sea which he had never before seen or heard of his eyes were so fixed and his imagination so taken up with looking and considering what thing that was which offered it self to his sight that he was not sensible of the snare laid for him untill he found himself taken in the Armes of the Spaniards who with great joy and sport brought him to their Vessel the poor man was so amazed with the surprizal and to see the Spaniards with Beards and in a different habit to his and to find himself in a Ship and under Sails that it is no wonder if he laboured under the greatest consternation imaginable but the Spaniards using all kind means to treat and caress him he in a short time recovered himself from the distraction of his fear and then they asked him by signs and words what Countrey that was and how it was called The Indian by their motion and gestures knew that they asked him some question but could not understand what they demanded but answering readily lest they should doe him some hurt said Beru which was his own proper name and then added Pelu which was as much as to say if you ask me my name I am called Beru but if you ask me of the place where I was it is Pelu for that signifies a River in the Indian language from which time which was in the year 1515 the Spaniards have ever called this great and rich Countrey by the name of Peru other Historians corrupting the letters call it Piru instead of Peru and this place where this Indian was surprized we may certainly denote as the utmost border of that Dominion which was under the Jurisdiction and Conquest of those Kings which were called Incas and which was ever after named Peru from that very place which is over-against Quita to Charcas and is the principal Dominion of the Incas containing 700 Leagues in length although their Empire did reach as far as Chile which contains 500 Leagues more and is another most rich and fertile Kingdom CHAP. III. The Description of Peru with the Story of Peter Serrano THE four limits and borders of that Empire which the Incas possessed before the Spaniards invaded them were these To the North it was bounded with the River Ancarmaya which runs between the Confines of Quita and Passau and signifies in the common language of Peru the Azure River being situated almost perpendicularly under the Equinoctial line to the South its limits are confined by the River Mauli which runs East and West through the Kingdom of Chili before it comes to the Araucos which is 40 degrees of South latitude from the Equinoctial The distance between these two Rivers they account little less than 1300 Leagues by Land. That which is properly called Peru contains 750 Leagues in length reaching from the River Ancarmaya to the Chichas which is the farthermost Province of the Charcas and lyes North and South as also doth that which is called the Kingdom of Chilo which contains about 550 Leagues in length reckoning from the farthest part of the Province Chichas to the River Mauli To the East it is bordered by that Mountain which is inaccessible for men beast or fowls called the Cordillera because it is always covered with Snow and runs from St. Marta to the Straits of Magellan which the Indians call Ritirgu and is as much as the Countrey of Snow To the West it hath the Sea of Zur for its Confines running all along the coast to the Cape Passau which is under the Equinoctial and extends to the Mauli which also falls into the Sea of Zur from the East to the West the Kingdom is esteemed but narrow the broadest place of it being from the Province Mugupapa to the City Trugillo which is situated on the Sea-coast and contains 120 Leagues in breadth being in the narrowest place which is from the Port Arica to the Province called Laricossa about the space of 70 Leagues These are the four bounds of that Dominion which the Incas possessed the History of which we intend by divine assistence for to write But before we proceed forward it will be requisite to recount the Story of Peter Serrano for which we have place sufficient in this short Chapter Peter Serrano escaped from shipwreck by swimming to that desert Island which from him received its name being as he reported about two Leagues in compass and for so much it is laid down in the Waggoner which pricks three little Islands in the Cart with divers shallow places about them so that all Ships keep at a distance from them avoiding them with all possible care and circumspection It was Serrano's misfortune to be lost upon these places and to save
warm the Earth as in those Regions where the Days are longer so that though the situation be nearer the Sun yet the Nights being long the Earth hath more time to become cool and to be refreshed But in regard the Heats are constant and admit of small remissions the Inhabitants being habituated or accustomed thereunto do invent and contrive preventions and remedies against the Heats both in the coolness of their Houses Garments and Bedding which they so cover and fence that the Flies and Gnats with which that Countrey is much infested can have no passage to hinder or disturb their repose either by day or night for in these low Grounds and Marshes the Gnats are extremely busie and troublesome as well by day as by night those which are busie at night make a buzzing and are of the same colour with such as we have here onely that they are much greater and sting so terribly that the Spaniards say that they will bite through a pair of Cordovan Boots perhaps indeed they may pass a knit Stockin with a Linen one under it but not if it were of Cloth or Kersy and indeed in some Countries they are much more keen and hungry than they are in others The Gnats which are troublesome by day are little and not much unlike those which are here bred in Shops and generated from Wine onely they are of a yellowish colour and so thirsty of bloud that as I have heard credibly reported many of them have been seen to burst at the same time that they have been sucking To try this experiment I have suffered some of them to suck of my bloud as much as they would and when they were full they would drop off and rowl but were not able to go or fly The stings of these Gnats are in some degree poisonous especially to some sorts of flesh in which they will make little wounds though not dangerous or of great moment By reason that the City of los Reyes is of a hot and moist Air Flesh will immediately corrupt in it and therefore when it is newly killed and bought it must be eaten the same day which are all qualities different to the Climate of Cozco that being hot and this cold or temperate The Cities and other Colonies of Spaniards which are situate along the Coast of Peru are all of the same temperament with the Town of los Reyes being under the same degree All the other Cities within the Land from Quitu as far as Chuquisaca which runs for the space of seven hundred Leagues North and South are of a pleasant Climate not being cold as Cozco nor hot like Rimac but of an equal and moderate temperature excepting onely the situation of Potosi where the Mines of Silver are is extremely cold and the Air penetrating The Indians call it Puna which is to say a Climate not habitable by reason of coldness howsoever the love and thirst of Silver hath invited such numbers of Spaniards and Indians to that place that at present it is the most populous and the best served with Provisions of any Countrey in all Peru. Acosta in the 6th Chapter of his 4th Book mentioning the Greatness of that Colony says that the Town that is the place inhabited is two Leagues which are six miles in compass Thus much shall be sufficient to have spoken in general of all the Cities and Plantations of Peru so as that we need not treat farther of any one in particular But to return to the City of los Reyes we say that the Governour Francisco Piçarro having founded this City and divided the Lands Fields and Inheritances together with the Indians amongst his Spaniards he descended to the Valley of Chimo about eighty Leagues Northward from los Reyes along the Sea-coast and there built another City which to this day is called Truxillo and was so named in remembrance of his own Countrey At which place also he made a division of Lands to the first Conquerours to whom he marked out the several Provinces Lands and possessions which belonged to every person in reward of the labours and hazards which every person had sustained The like he performed in the City and Countrey of los Reyes where he with great applause and satisfaction assigned to every Man his share and due proportion so that it appeared as if the Land began to be at peace and all things to dispose themselves towards quietness and enjoyment And having thus justly shared to the first Conquerours their dues it was not to be doubted but that he would deal with others who were to follow with the like equality And being thus well employed as this famous Cavalier ever was in all the course of his life we shall now leave him for a while to treat of other matters which at the same time passed amongst the Indians CHAP. XVIII How the General Quizquiz was slain by his own Souldiers THat we may omit nothing material of all those matters which occurred at that time in Peru it is necessary for us to give an account of what success befell the General Quizquiz the Captain Huaypallca and their Forces who being animated and encouraged by the advantages they had gained over Don Pedro de Alvarado and Almagro in three several Skirmishes began to presume themselves able to drive the Spaniards out of their Empire and especially Huaypallca was the more confident because in the absence of Quizquiz he had been the Chief Commander in those late Battels which so vainly puffed him up in his own imagination that he became presumptuous and secure in his strength and fortune Hereupon these two Commanders marched towards Quitu with design to make new Levies of Men and Provisions for a War against the Spaniards but they had not made many days march before they were disappointed of their hopes and expectations for the Curacas as well as the common Indians being affrighted and forewarned by the late treachery of Rumminavi and jealous lest they should act over the like practices that the others had done refused either to follow them to the War or obey their Commands which were for bringing in of Provisions for amongst all the Captains of their Army there was none of the Bloud-Royal that appeared nor any person with a Title to the Kingdom of Quitu either derived from Atahualpa or Manco Inca who being the onely Lawfull and Universal Heir of all that Empire might countenance the design With these difficulties and in straits of Provisions Quizquiz was labouring when his Purveyors fell into the hands of Sebastian de Belalcaçar by the Advices which his friends the Indians had given for they being generally desirous of a Peace were troubled at all acts and motions which tended to a War and in regard that there was no Army afoot against the Spaniards but this onely they were desirous to see it defeated so that upon this advice Belalcaçar surprized the Foragers and easily destroyed them and took many of them Prisoners such as
this Demand Hernando Piçarro made Answer that he did not command that City by virtue of his own Authority but by a Power derived from the Governour who was his Captain General to whom having made Oath never to surrender up that City into any other hands than his own he could neither perform the part of a Gentleman nor of a Souldier in case he should betray his Trust by such a base surrender which was an absolute Breach of his Oath but in case they would write to the Marquis and obtain his Order he would immediately yield all compliance to his Commands But waving that particular he insisted that the Imperial City belonged to his Brother and was comprehended within the Limits of his Jurisdiction for that the measures he propounded by Capes and Gulfs and Bays along the Sea-coast were mere fancies and fallacies and such as never were admitted amongst any rational Geographers for the turnings and windings of the Land will take up above half the extent of Ground as is manifest by experience of the doubling of the Lands onely from the Isle of Palmes to the Cape of St. Francis. Nor ought the Land to be measured by the High-ways which often turn and wind and are steep and oftentimes ascend three or four Leagues and then again descend as many more which upon a streight Line from one Hill to another will not make half a League But the Piçarros did not approve of this kind of Measure alledging that the Leagues were to be reckoned according to the Degrees of the Equinoctial as Mariners mete out by their Compasses the distances at Sea allowing to every Degree seventeen Leagues and an half in sailing plain North and South Now whereas there were not above eleven Degrees of South-latitude from the Equinoctial to the City of los Reyes which make not more than an hundred ninety two Leagues and an half and that to Cozco which stands in fourteen Degrees it will not make above two hundred forty five Leagues in all so that both Cities of los Reyes and Cozco were to be comprehended within the new Enlargement which His Majesty gave to Piçarro though the number of Leagues were not specified in that Grant. Hereunto the Party of Almagro replied that in case the distances were to be meted by the Heavens and not by the Land they were not to be taken North and South but East and West which gives Eighty Leagues to a Degree But in regard that neither side would agree to that Measure the matter as they said ought to be accommodated and forty nine Leagues allowed to a Degree and then the Jurisdiction of Piçarro would not reach farther than six Degrees from the Equinoctial yielding forty nine Leagues to every Degree now in case the Piçarros yielded to any of these three sorts of Measures neither Cozco nor los Reyes would be comprehended within his Jurisdiction In these Debates pro con many Days were spent which were oftentimes so warmly argued that had it not been for the Moderation and Discretion of Diego de Alvarado Uncle to the General Don Pedro de Alvarado and Gomez de Alvarado a Person of great worth they had proceeded to Arms and open violence he came in company with Almagro unto Chili and being sensible of the evil Consequences which a Breach or Misunderstanding of this nature between the Governours would produce he so laboured to beget a good correspondence between them that at length by consent of the major part it was agreed that Hernando should intimate to the Marquis his Brother the Demands and Pretensions of Almagro and that untill an Answer should be returned thereunto all matters should remain in suspence and Acts of Hostility should cease which accordingly was observed for some days but some Men of an unquiet humour who were desirous to disturb that Union and Friendship which was established between those two Companions suggested to Almagro that he had done ill and to the prejudice of his own right by referring the Title and Claim which he justly had by Grant from the Emperour to the Will and Pleasure of another That Hernando Piçarro had resolved what to doe before he wrote and that this pretence of Writing was onely to keep himself in his station so long as he could for it could not be expected that the Marquis should ever be contented to resign and quit the Imperial City of Cozco and that the Agreement which was made being without limitation of time might bind Almagro for ever in case Piçarro should not return an Answer thereunto Wherefore in regard his Claim to the Government of that City was clear and without dispute he was advised without farther Ceremonies or pause to take Possession thereof it not being probable that ever the contrary party should assent to the Surrender of a Jewel so rich and important as that City and therefore that he should look to his own Interest and not make delays in a matter which so much concerned him Almagro who had no need of Sparks to enflame the burning heat of Ambition which was smothered in his Mind immediately took Fire at these Incentives and embraced the Advices which were given him by his evil Companions for such Counsels as these are never projected by good Men Wherefore without farther Consultation with his wife and true Friends he rashly attempted the lodgings of Hernando and Gonçalo Piçarro and in a dark night and with armed Forces broke in upon them for the Guards were asleep and secure on confidence of the Truce which was so lately made howsoever the matter was not so covertly carried but that Intelligence was brought by one of Almagro's Men of the danger approaching the which Hernando Piçarro would not believe at first or conceive it possible that a Gentleman should so manifestly violate his Word and the Faith he had given but whilst Hernando was thus arguing a noise and combustion was heard without and then he that brought the News said Sir since you give no credit to what you hear with your Ears believe what you see with your Eyes for behold they are come Hereupon an Allarm was given to the Servants and People belonging to the Piçarros who instantly armed and ran to defend the Doors of the House which had been fortified and strongly barred as were all the Quarters of the City where the Spaniards lodged ever since the time that the Inca departed The Almagrians not finding a speedy Entrance set Fire to the House in several places Hereupon the Defendants giving themselves for lost opened the Doors and so Hernando and Gonçalo Piçarro with many of their Friends and Relations who were all of the Countrey of Estremenno or Estremadura vvere taken and put together into a strait Chamber of the Cassana which they made secure with bars and bolts of Iron Some evil Counsellours which loved to make and foment differences advised Almagro to kill Hernando Piçarro for that ever since the first time that he came from Spain they had
in the last Chapter of the first Book of this second Part where we speak of the Loyalty and Affection which the Indians taken in fight profess unto the Spaniards In this manner they marched forward fighting every other day more or less untill they came to a warlike People called Chuquisaca where they engaged with many thousands of Indians who straitned the Spaniards with want of Provisions and kept them always allarm'd with continual Skirmishes wherein many were killed and wounded which the Historians mention but with great brevity Gomara in the 143d Chapter and Carate in the 12th Chapter of his 3d. Book saith That Gonzalo Piçarro made a Discovery as far as the Province of the Charcas where he was surrounded with such numbers of Indians which assailed him on all sides that he was forced to desire succours from the Marquis who supplied him therewith both of Horse and Foot from Cozco and for better expedition the Marquis gave out that he himself would go in person and accordingly he marched out with them three or four days from the City This Siege as Authours write was so close and strait that the Spaniards being reduced at last to the utmost extremity sent advice thereof to the Marquis by the Indians whom they retained in their Service who as we have seen before had served for Messengers with all fidelity in the like dangers in confidence of whom they dispatched many of them by divers ways so that in case some should miscarry others might escape The Marquis being hereby made sensible of the great Distress to which his Brother Gonzalo Piçarro was reduced dispeeded a Captain with Succours and gave out for the more haste of the Supplies as Carate saith that he himself would go in Person but neither the diligence used in sending Relief which would have come too late nor yet the appearance which the Marquis made of going in Person would have availed toward the delivery of the Spaniards from the straits of that Siege had not God most wonderfully appeared for them and sent the Divine St. Jago the Patron of Spain visibly to fight on their side as he had done before at Cozco The Christians seeing themselves thus wonderfully favoured and that in this as in the like occasions they had been rescued by Miracle they fought with such Courage that before the Succours came they had gained the Victory In remembrance of which signal Favour which God had performed for them they determined to establish a Colony of Christian People in that place where now a Cathedral Church is built and the Royal Chancery is held which is ennobled and enriched to that degree in which we see it at present all which is arisen from the Mines of Potosi which are about eighteen Leagues distant from thence Blas Valera giving a Relation of all the memorable Battels which happened between the Spaniards and the Indians in Peru gives an Account of that which was fought in this Province and says that God by his Angel fought there for his Gospel CHAP. II. The Marquis makes a Division of the Kingdom and Province of the Charcas and Gonzalo Piçarro is sent to the Conquest of the Canela THE War being ended and the Indians setled in peace the Marquis made a Division of the Countrey amongst the principal Persons concerned in the Conquest To his Brother Hernando Piçarro he divided a very large share and another part to Gonzalo within whose Division some years after the Silver Mines of Potosi were discovered of which one part belonged to Hernando Piçarro as Inhabitant of that City and though he were then in Spain yet one Mine was resigned to his Officers to dig the Plate for his Benefit and Use the which was of so rich a vein that in something more than eight months they digged Silver of the finest sort from thence without any Allay and without other trouble than onely to melt down the Metal I have mentioned these Riches in this place having forgotten to specifie them when in the first part of these Commentaries we treated of that famous Hill. To my Lord Garçilasso de la Vega that part was given which is called Tapacâ—ri To Graviel de Rojas another very considerable Possession was given and the like to many other Cavaliers and all within the compass of one hundred Leagues of which also some part was given to the City called la Paz or the City of Peace But these Divisions then given were of little value though the Soil was fruitfull and abounding with all Provisions and very populous and well inhabited by Indians untill the Mines of Potosi were discovered in those parts for then the Rents were raised ten for one and those Possessions which yielded two or three or four thousand Pieces of Eight amounted afterwards to twenty thirty and forty thousand Crowns a year The Marquis Francisco Piçarro having given order to sound that City which is called the City of Plate and having divided the Indians under that Jurisdiction amongst the Conquerours and Adventurers all which happened in the Years 1538 and 1539. he had not rested and reposed in quietness from his civil War and late Conquests before he undertook some other more laborious and more dangerous Adventures than the former which shall hereafter be related By the death of Almagro the Marquis remained sole and supreme Governour of more than 700 Leagues of Land which reach North and South from the Charcas to Quitu and had enough to doe how and in what manner to secure those new Conquests which his Captains had made in divers parts and how to rule with Laws of Justice those People who were setled in a quiet and peaceable Condition yet since the desire of Rule and Government is never to be satisfied his Warlike Mind was incited to farther Enterprises being encouraged with the good Fortune of his past Successes For now the News arrived that besides the Limits of Quitu and other Countries over which the Incan Kings were supreme Commanders another Countrey was discovered both long and wide where Cinnamon was growing for which reason they called it the Countrey of Canela which signifies Cinnamon The Marquis had a desire to employ his Brother in that Conquest with intention to make the Extent of his Land as long and wide as his own and having consulted hereupon with those of his Cabinet Council he renounced his right to the Government of Quitu and transferred it to his said Brother so that in the Conquest of Canela which lies Eastward from Quitu he might have the benefit of supplies and succour from that City Having this Design in his Eye he sent for his Brother Gonzalo who was then in the Charcas employed in the settlement of a new Colony in the City of Plate and of that Division of Indian Subjects and rule over them as was faln to his lot and possession Gonzalo Piçarro at the Summons of his Brother repaired speedily to Cozco where the Marquis then resided and having there
indeed all the Indians are seeing the effects which the Inca had operated on his own Subjects which was the best argument to convince them they immediately submitted to his Government and thus by degrees during the whole course of this Inca's Reign without violence or force of arms in a gentle and peaceable manner he reduced all the People as far as Chuncara which is about twenty Leagues in length with the Inhabitants of the parts adjacent to his Subjection over all which he prevailed so far as to plow and cultivate their Lands to lead a moral Life according to the Rules of the light of nature and that forsaking their Idols and evil customs which they practised they should worship the Sun and observe those Laws and Precepts which by Revelation his Father Manco Cupac had delivered to them all which the Indians readily accepted and embraced being highly satisfied with that benefit and improvement which the Dominion and Rule of Sinchi Roca had brought unto them who after the example of his Father studied all ways and means to endear that People to himself Some Authours report that this King proceeded much beyond the Countrey of Chuncara and extended his Dominions over the Nations of Cancalla Ruruchachi Assillu Asancatu Huancani and others all which he gained with such gentle treatment that he needed not Wars or other Arms than persuasions to invite them using these new plantations as good Gardiners doe their Orchards pruning and digging about their Trees in hopes of plenty and abundance of Fruit. Sinchi Roca having thus lived in peace and quietness for the space of many years and as some will have it for about thirty finding himself at length decaying and aged he declared that now after the labours and cares he had taken to reduce men to the knowledge of his Father the Sun he was now going to take his rest and repose with him His lawfull Son by his legitimate Wife and Sister Mama Cora or as others will have it Mama Ocllo called Lloque Yupanqui he left to succeed him as Heir to all his Dominions Besides this Prince he had other Sons by his Wife and more Children by his Kinswomen who were his Concubines all which we may call legitimate Moreover he had many Bastard Children by Women of other Families all which was allowable according to the rule and saying that it was fit and requisite that the Generation and Family of the Sun should be many and numerous CHAP. VIII Of the Third King Lloque Yupanqui and the signification of his Name LLoque Yupanqui was the third King of Peru called Lloque because he was left-handed and Yupanqui serves to denote his Vertues and generous Actions The word Yupanqui signifies as much as an account or reckoning as we say a Man of Account which is a Cypher or Hieroglyphick in that language for a sum of Vertues as Clemency Piety Gentleness c. all which were qualities inherent in that Person and is as comprehensive as the word Capac which contains the Riches of Fortune and the Wealth of Vertues inherent in the mind which Apellations or rather Titles they gave to none of their chiefest Lords but to the King onely it being esteemed a kind of Sacrilege to attribute such sacred Titles to any other for as the Romans gave the name of Augustus to their Emperours in a particular distinction to all others so it would have been a diminution to their Majesty to have made this peculiar Name common to their Subjects Lloque Yupanqui having taken a survey of his Dominions resolved to extend his Jurisdiction farther than the Possessions of his Fathers and being now the Lord of an Empire which had been established and radicated for the space of seventy years he thought it a more expedite way by force of Arms to reduce that People than by the slow insinuations which arguments and persuasions made upon them To this end having raised an Army of about six or seven thousand men under the conduct of his two Uncles and of his other Kindred whom he made Captains and Commanders over them he took his march towards the Countrey of Orcosuyu leaving that of Llmasuyu which his Father had already conquered the several ways to which divide in the Province of Chuncara he passed through the division of Collasuyu which contains the great Lake of Titicaca The Inca having passed the frontiers of his own Dominions entered the Countrey called Cana and immediately dispatched Messengers to the natural Inhabitants thereof requiring them to leave their bestial Sacrifices and superstitious manners and with all readiness to submit unto the Obedience and Service of him who was descended from the Offspring of the Sun The People of Cana desired time to inform themselves of all the particulars which the Inca commanded them as what were his Laws and what were the Gods which he enjoined them to worship in all which when they had been well instructed they readily confessed that their Religion and Laws were better and more rational than their own and therefore with a general consent they yielded and submitted to them and so went forth to receive their King with Joy and acknowledge themselves his obedient Subjects The Inca leaving Persons with them to instruct them in his Idolatry and to teach them the way of manuring and cultivating their Land he proceeded forward to that Nation which is called Ayviri but these being a sturdy and stubborn sort of People were not to be wrought upon by persuasions and promises or by the example of others but obstinately persisted in a resolution to dye in the defence of their Liberties which was a new difficulty and opposition that the Incas had never as yet encountred Thus both sides preparing for War they came to an ingagement which lasted long there being many killed both on one side and the other and being at length as it were a drawn Battel and the Victory doubtfull both Armies retreated into fast places which they had fortified after their own manner sallying out every day to Skirmishes and single Combats The People of the Inca avoided fighting what they were able desiring rather to overcome them with reasons and persuasions than by force of Arms but the Ayviri interpreting this backwardness of the Inca to be an effect of Cowardise became more obstinate and encouraged to press harder upon him so as almost to enter his Royal Tents but their force was repelled with force and were always repulsed with loss and disadvantage The Inca considering well the shame and dishonour it would be to him to be foiled by this People for that others by their Example might take courage to rebell and resist him he dispatched immediate Orders for new recruits to be sent him but these he designed rather for terrour and ostentation than necessity and in the mean time he straitned the Enemy so that there being a great scarcity of all Provisions amongst them they were compelled at length to make their way by force of
a Divine Wisedom could contrive and accomplish onely a sort of people called Villilli made some weak resistence for having encompassed a small fortress at the dread of the approach of the Enemy they all crouded into it but the Inca begirting them round and sending his usual Summons and gratious Propositions of Peace in the space of twelve or thirteen days they all surrendred and were received to grace and pardon and having settled this Province in a peaceable condition he crossed the desolate part of Contisuyu containing about sixteen Leagues where he came to a Moor or Marish ground of about three Leagues broad which hindred the passage of his Army Here the Inca commanded a Cawse-way to be made of great and small Stones which they filled up with Earth and covered with Turf And for better expedition and encouragement of his people the Inca himself worked helping to raise and lay the greatest Stones which so animated the Souldiers to labour that in a few days they finished the Cawse-way which was six Yards broad and two Yards thick and which the Indians even to these times have in so great veneration both because part of it was the proper handy-work of the Inca as also for the convenience and benefit of it whereby the way is made shorter when formerly with much labour and travel they were forced to take a large compass to avoid the Moorish Countrey And for this reason they keep it still in good repair so that scarce a Stone decays or sinks from it but another is put into its place by the care and industry of the Surveyors who are appointed thereunto by the bordering people who having severally their distinct divisions and parcels allotted to them do endeavour to out-vy each the other in conservation of that common benefit and convenience the like rule is observed for maintenance of all other publick Works such as Bridges and Royal Palaces Fortresses and the like In making the Cawse-way the Turf they laid upon it was of great use for it did not onely make the way smooth soft and easie but also the Roots of the Grass extending themselves within the Stones did greatly bind and keep all close together CHAP. IX The Inca gains many other great Provinces and dies in Peace THE Causeway being in this manner finished the Inca Mayta Capac passed over it to the Province called Allca and here he encountred the Indians of that Countrey in a warlike posture who being encouraged by the advantage of the pass which they designed to defend being such as was asperous craggy and horrid to behold and even such as was difficult to Passengers to travell over how much more must it be when guarded and defended by armed Men and yet such was the prudence and good conduct of the Inca and his Military Art and Prowess that though People were killed both on one side and the other that still he gained ground and advantage on the Enemy which they with great admiration observing did unanimously conclude that the Inca was of the true Offspring of the Sun and therefore was invincible and on this vain belief with common consent resolved to submit and accordingly received him as their Lord and King promising him all Loyalty and Obedience The Inca passing in a triumphant manner through this People called Allca proceeded farther to other greater Provinces whose Names are Taurisma Cotahuaci Pumatampu Parihuana Cocha which signifies the Lake of Pinguins for in the part of that Countrey which remains unpeopled there is a great Lake which the Indians in their Language call Cocha or the Sea as they do all great Waters and Parihuana in that sort of Bird which abounding in that Province gives the denomination to it and is a Countrey rich fertile and pleasant and where great quantities of Gold arise the Spaniards by contraction call it Parina cocha Pumatampu signifies a Den of Lions Puma is a Lion and Tampu a Den because it is a Countrey where many Lions are found From Parihuina Cocha the Inca marched forward and crossed the desolate Countrey of Coropuna where is to be seen a most lofty and beautifull Pyramid of Snow which the Indians most properly call Huaca which amongst many other apt significations hath this of wonderfull and indeed it seemed so great to the simplicity of the ancient Indians that they adored and worshipped it for its Beauty and Eminence Thence the Inca proceeded to the Province called Aruni which runs along as far as to the Vale of Arequepa which as Blas Valera affirms signifies a sounding Trumpet All these Provinces and Nations Mayta Capac added to his Empire with much ease to himself and gentleness towards those he subdued for they having generally heard of the difficulties the Inca had overcome and the passages he forced through inaccessible places could not imagine that such Actions as these were possible to be performed by any other than one of Divine Extraction and descended from the Sun by which opinion they chearfully submitted and became proud of their subjection In every of which Provinces he continued so long as was requisite for the settlement of Affairs and peace of the Government and finding that the Vale of Arequepa was desolate and without inhabitants notwithstanding that it was a most fruitfull situation and an Air pure and serene he therefore resolved to cause the Inhabitants of other parts less agreeable which he had conquered to transplant themselves to this more commodious and happy soil and such effect had his persuasions on the people allured by the pleasures of that Climate and the commodiousness of the Habitation that not onely some Colonies of the conquered Countries but also several of the natural Subjects of the Inca transplanted themselves to the number of about three thousand Families into that pleasant Valley which became the Original of four or five distinct Nations one of which is called Chimpa and another Sucahuaya And having supplied all places with Governours and necessary Officers the Inca returned to Cozco having in this second expedition spent three years time during which and the former invasion he made an addition to his Empire in the Division of Contisuyu onely of almost ninety Leagues in length and ten or twelve in breadth one way and fifteen another way all which tract of Land was contiguous or adjoining to the other parts subjected to his power The Inca returning home was received at Cozco with all the Festivity Joy and Triumph imaginable and met with Songs and Musick chanting out the praises of his mighty and heroick Actions The Inca having rewarded his Souldiers with Presents agreeable to their merit disbanded his Army it seeming sufficient for the present time the atchievements already made and that now it was seasonable to give rest and repose from military actions and attend to the Execution of the Laws and to the Government of his Kingdom a great part of which he considered to be the care of making provisions for Widows and Orphans and
so far in this History Thus the Incas continued their progress in reducing the Countries both on one side and the other of this River Amancay which though they be many in number yet they are all contained under the common appellation of Quechua which abounds with Gold and Cattel CHAP. XIII Many Plains and Vallies by the Sea-coast are reduced and the Sin of Sodomy punished SUch Orders being given and established as were requisite for the better government and administration of affairs in the conquered places they proceeded into the desolate Countrey of Huallaripa which is a desart much famed for the great quantities of Gold extracted thence and where much more remains to be still digged and having crossed one side of the desart for about 35 Leagues they descended into those Plains which run along by the Sea-coast All this Countrey by the Sea-coast the Indians call Yunca which is as much as to say the Hot Countrey under which name are comprehended all the Vallies which border on the Sea and the Spaniards call the Low grounds Vallies which are watered by the streams that fall from the Mountains for in that Countrey that part is onely habitable which lyes towards the Sea all the rest being dry is nothing but dead and barren Sands where grows neither Grass nor Herb nor any thing for the sustenance of Mankind On that side by which the Incas passed into those Plains lyes the Vale of Hacari which is wide rich and well peopled and which in times past contained 20000 Indians all which with much willingness submitted to the obedience and service of the Inca. This Vale of Hacari led them into other Vales called Vuinna Camana Caravilli Picta Quellca and others which run for the space of 70 Leagues North and South along the Coast of the Sea of Zur All which Vales here named are each above 20 Leagues long from the desart to the Sea and all watered by streams on one side and the other some of which are so full and plentifull that after they have supplied the Lands with sufficient moisture the remainder empties it self into the Sea and others perhaps having refreshed the Lands for two or three Leagues from their Source or Fountain-head are afterwards absorpt or drank up by the driness of the Earth The General Aqui Titu and his Captains having reduced all these Vallies to obedience without fighting one stroke rendred an account to the Inca of their success and particularly that having made enquiry into the secret customs of those Natives and into their Rites and Ceremonies as also what Gods they worshipped They observed and found that their chief Deity was the Fish which they killed and eat and also that there were Sodomites amongst them but howsoever that this wickedness was not general or common to all the Vallies but to some few nor was it openly practised but in secret being that which nature and the light of humane reason did abhor They farther likewise acquainted the Inca that being arrived to the utmost bounds which are terminated by the Sea there remained on that side no other Land to subdue The Inca was much pleased with the Relation of these Conquests and much more that it had cost no bloud wherefore he sent to Command his Souldiers that having left and established such Orders as were necessary for the government and security of those Countries they should return to Cozco but first that they should make strict inquisition concerning those who were esteemed guilty of that unnatural sin of Sodomy and not onely burn those alive in a publick place who were evidently convicted of that crime but even those who were but so much as suspected thereof that they should also burn and destroy their Houses their Trees and Inheritance leaving them a sad spectacle to their neighbours and acquaintance And farther the Inca commanded that they should proclaim and publish this his Edict against Sodomy for the future to be That whosoever should be found guilty of this abomination that not onely he should be destroyed in particular but likewise his Relations his Neighbours and all the Inhabitants of the parts round should be punished with the same destruction ruine and desolation All which being performed exactly according to the pleasure and direction of the Inca this new Law was with great admiration and astonishment of the Natives put into execution on the Offendours for being a crime so shamefull and detestable to the Inca and his proper Subjects the mention and name thereof was not without some abhorrence taken into their mouths so that if any Indian who was a Native of Cozco should at any time in passion revile his neighbour with that word and opprobrious term he was presently looked upon as one defiled and for many days polluted untill his mouth were cleansed from a word so filthy and detestable The General and his Officers having in this manner executed all the Commands of the Inca they returned to Cozco where they were received in great triumph and rewarded with honours and favours agreeable to their merit But many years had not passed after these Conquests before the Inca Capac Yupanqui resolved to begin a new Expedition in person for enlargement of his Dominions on the side of Collasuyu for as yet in his late Marches he had not passed the Divisions of Contisuyu so that in order hereunto he commanded that twenty thousand select men should be put in a readiness against the following year And that in the mean time nothing should be omitted which might contribute to the due administration of his Government he appointed his Brother Aqui Titu to remain Deputy in his place and that the four Major-Generals which had accompanied him in the last Wars should be his Counsellours Into their places he chose four other Generals and both they and all the Captains and Officers of the Army were not of less degree or quality than that of an Inca for though the Forces which came from divers Provinces were conducted by their own Chief or Commander yet afterwards when they came to be united with the Imperial Army an Inca was given to preside over them so that the Chief became as it were his Lieutenant by which means the whole Army had Incas for their Officers and yet none seemed to be displaced or acquitted of his charge By which method and policy in government things were preserved in their just balance for unless it were in matters of Law and Justice which admitted of no dispensation it was a Maxim amongst the Incas never to disoblige their Curacas but in every thing to render their Yoke so easie and gentle that the Indians might be fond of it and that the love of the people might be the basis and foundation of their Government Moreover the Inca thought fit to take his Son who was his Heir to accompany him for though he were young yet his years were capable of education and practice in the War. CHAP. XIV Two Curacas
these dissenting Parties was to enjoin them to keep his Laws and Precepts the design and intent of which was to conserve Peace and Concord in the World and that since War produces nothing but Destruction a proof and evidence whereof they had by their own which had wasted each others force they should now at length be advised to Peace lest they both become a prey to some other who observing their enfeebled and consumed condition may take his opportunities to invade them in their weakness and destroy them both And as to the Limits of their respective Territories he appointed that heaps of Stones or Mounts should be cast up for Land-marks and Boundaries of their Frontiers which being passed and invaded in a hostile manner should be accounted a breach and violation of the Peace on the side of the first Aggressor Lastly he told them That this was the Sentence and final Determination of his Father the Sun for procuring Peace and ending all strife and variance between them and that since they had by mutual consent constituted him the Umpire and Arbitrator of their Differences he protested that he confirmed the Sentence of his Father and resolved to proceed severely against him who should give the first occasion to violate the same The Curacas replied That they would sincerely obey his Majesty and that out of a respect they bore to his Service they promised to be his true Friends and faithfull Allies Afterward these Caciques Cari and Chipana being in private together entred into Discourse concerning the Laws of the Inca the Government of his House and Court and the rare administration of Justice through his whole Kingdom where no Injury or Offence passed without punishment but more particularly they observed the gentle compulsion and soft violence he used in his War as also the sweetness of his temper and Impartial Behaviour towards them both all which being rare and admirable evidences of his Excellencies and Vertues they both resolved after some short conference together to yield themselves and Subjects to the Service and Devotion of the Inca. And hereunto they were more easily inclined because they perceived that the Inca began to approach near to them and to have his Confines contiguous with their Frontiers and therefore considered that it was good to make a Vertue of Necessity and seem to doe that out of Choice and free Will rather than by being compelled to what is irresistible loose all the merit of a voluntary Submission With this Resolution presenting themselves before the Inca they implored His Majesty's Protection vowing unto him all Homage and Obedience desiring also that he would be pleased to send Instructors to them who might direct them and their Subjects in the Laws of his Father the Sun and inform them of all particulars which may be requisite for his service In answer whereunto the Inca told them That he accepted their good Intentions and would watch all occasions to requite them then he commanded that such Vests should be given to the Caciques as he himself wore and to their Kindred and Attendance Garments of a courser Thread for which they made many acknowledgments of Duty and Obligation In this manner the Inca reduced those several People and Provinces to his Empire which within the Division of Collasuyu were subjected to the Dominion of those Caciques Moreover he added to these new Conquests the Countries of Poco Ata Muru Maccha Caracanâ—â— and all those other Provinces which run as far Eastward as the great Mountain of Antis together with all that waste and desart Countrey which reaches to the borders of that Province which is called Tapac-ri and now by the Spaniards Tapacari containing in breadth thirty Leagues and by reason of the coldness of it is much unpeopled howsoever it is fruitfull in pastures and abounds with all sort of Cattel and wild Beasts and is full of Fountains and particularly there is one Spring of Water issuing from Mines of Sulphur so hot that none can suffer his hand in it for a moments space and yet what is still more observable there are other Springs not far from thence of cold and pleasant Waters both which meeting afterwards together make that River which is called Cochapampa Having traversed this desart Countrey which abounds as we have said with Fountains and Pastures there appears a Mountain which descends for seven Leagues and leads to the plain of the Province Tapacri where my Master Garçilasso de la Vega had his first proportion allotted to him in the Lands of Peru It is a Countrey very fruitfull and populous stored with all sorts of Cattel for the space of twenty Leagues in length and about twelve in breadth About eight Leagues farther is that most pleasant Province of Cochapampa which is a Valley of thirty Leagues long and four broad all which is made fruitfull by a plentifull River that waters the whole Countrey These two pleasant Provinces with divers others were the inheritance of Cari and Chipana as before related and were now added to the Dominion and Empire of the Incas extending seventy Leagues in length In these parts because they were pleasant and fertile the Spaniards in the Year 1575. settled a Colony which they called St. Peter of Cardenna so named by the chief and first Planter thereof who was a Gentleman and a Native of Burgos called Captain Lewis Osorio The Matters of these two Caciques being in this manner ordered and disposed the Inca commanded two of his principal Officers to make a survey of their Countries and to take with them such Persons as were proper and able to govern those new Subjects and instruct and teach them in the Laws they were now to observe And thus the Inca having finished this work which he esteemed sufficient for that year and more than was expected he returned to Cozco accompanied with the two Caciques who were curious to see the splendor of the Indian Court where they were kindly received and treated with Banquets and Sports and because it was pleasing to the Inca the whole City endeavoured to honour and caress them with all the demonstrations imaginable of Civility and Respect After some days thus passed he gave them liberty to return into their own Dominions being greatly satisfied with the entertainment they had received and at their departure he gave them to understand that he intended speedily to visit their Countries again that so he might reduce those Indians which inhabited the parts beyond them and that therefore they should make such provisions as were necessary for the support and maintenance of his Army and Attendance CHAP. XV. Of the Bridge made with Straw Rushes and Flags and how Chayanta was reduced at that place where the Lake empties it self The Bridge being thus made and completed the Inca with his eldest Son and Heir departed from Cozco travelling by short journies untill they arrived at the remotest parts of those Provinces which belonged to Cari and Chipana being those Countries
down how much more laboursome must it be to ascend and descend those ways turning and winding in form of a Serpent CHAP. XVII Of the Idols which the Indians of Antis worshipped and of the Conquest made over the Charcas IN those Provinces of Antis they commonly worshipped Tygers for their Gods and great Serpents much thicker than a Man's Thigh and twenty five or thirty foot in length though some others might be less called Amaru they are a certain sort of a sluggish Serpent which are not venomous and as they say were charmed by a skilfull Sorceress that they should doe no harm having before been dangerous and very poisonous The Tiger they adored for his nimbleness and bravery saying that Serpents and Tygers were the true and natural Inhabitants and Lords of that Countrey and therefore did justly require reverence and respect from Men who were but Strangers and Aliens in it They worshipped also the Plant Cuca or Coca as the Spaniards call it Thus far the Prince Yahuar-Huacac having enlarged his Dominions being almost thirty Leagues in length and in a Countrey ill Inhabited he found himself stopped in his farther progress by the Mountains moorish Grounds and Bogs which interrupted him in his passage and which confine and give bounds to that Province properly named Anti whence all that side takes the Denomination of Antisuyu The Prince having finished this Conquest returned to Cozco where his Father for that present thought fit to repose and lay aside all farther designs of new Enterprises for on the side of Antisuyu which is to the Eastward there remained nothing more to conquer and to the Westward which they called Cuntisuyu there was nothing more to be reduced for they were come as far as to the Pacifick Sea or the Sea of Zur so that the Empire from East to West extended at least an hundred Leagues cross along by the way of Cozco and then from North to South it reached two hundred Leagues All which tract of Land the Incas laboured to manure and cultivate and adorn with Royal Palaces Gardens Baths and places of Pleasure for divertisement of the Inca and for better convenience of the Countrey they erected in all the great Roads Magazines and Granaries wherein to lodge their Ammunition Arms Corn Provisions and Clothing for the common Souldiery Some Years being passed in this manner with peace and quiet when the King Inca Roca resolved to add another famous Atchievement to the glory of his Reign that so in person he might put an end to the entire Conquest of those great Provinces which were called Charcas the beginning of which was commenced in the time of his Father in the Division of Collasuyu And in order hereunto he commanded thirty thousand Men to be levied which was an Army greater than any that his Ancestours had yet brought into the field to command this Army six Major Generals were appointed besides other inferiour Officers and the Prince Yahuar-Huacac was with four other Incas for his Counsellors ordained to remain at home for government of the Kingdom The Inca took his Journey from Cozco by way of the great Road towards Collasuyu and in his march all the forces came in to make up his Army And being come to the Confines of those Provinces of Chuncuri Pucuna and Muyumuyu which bordered on his Kingdom he sent his summons to them acquainting them that he was come to reduce those Nations and require them to live under those Laws which his Father the Sun had ordained and that leaving their Idols made of Stone and Wood they should worship him onely for their God and that forsaking their corrupt Customs and Manners they should learn and follow the light of Nature and the Instructions of his Wisdom which would direct them in ways more agreeable to humane Life The Natives of these Countries received the message with great anger and the young and hot Captains betook themselves to their Arms and answered with fury and rage That it was a hard case for them that they must be forced to renounce their own natural Gods and adore a stranger and a God unknown to them that they must reject their own Laws and Customs and receive new ones from the Inca who in recompense thereof would impose Tributes and Taxes and serve himself of their labour and services as of Slaves and Vassals which being conditions not to be endured by a People so free as they they resolved to defend themselves and dye in the Defence of their Gods their Countrey and their Liberty CHAP. XVIII Of the Argument and Debate which the Old Men held on this matter and in what manner they received the Inca. NOtwithstanding this huff of the young Souldiers the more ancient and considerate amongst them were of opinion that they should not so soon break forth into a War but first of all consider that for several years they have had a neighbourhood and converse with the Subjects of the Inca and that they could never hear otherwise from them but that their Laws were good and the Yoke of their Government gentle and easie that he treated his People rather like his Children than his Subjects that the Lands which they required were not those which the Indians had in their possession but such as lay waste and unmanured by them and that he required no other Tribute than the Fruit and Benefit which those Lands cultivated at his own cost and charge should produce and not exact any thing at the labour and cost of the Indians to whom he rather gave than diminished from their Estates and in proof and evidence hereof without other argument they desired them to enquire and consider seriously without passion how much the Subjects of the Incas were improved in their Estates and how quiet civil and prosperous they were become since their submission to his Government how all their Discords Animosities and Civil Dissentions which in former times had miserably torn and distracted them were now appeased how Estates were more secure and more protected from Thieves their Wives and Daughters from Rapes and Adulteries and in fine how quiet and well established was the publick Welfare where none durst offer injury nor none could receive it without redress That they should farther consider that many neighbouring Provinces being well satisfied and allured by the gentleness and happiness of this servitude did voluntarily and of their own accords offer themselves and beg the Protection of the Inca and his Laws And since these things were thus apparent it were better to submit readily and without constraint than defending themselves for the present from that which they know they must in a short time yield unto provoke the Inca to that degree of Anger and Displeasure as might divert him from those good Intentions and Favours which he designed towards them and that therefore it were more safe and secure both for their Lives and Estates their Wives and Children to make a Vertue of Necessity and submit with
commanded his Army without any delay to follow him intending there to place himself between the Enemy and the City not that he expected thereby to give a stop to their proceedings for that it could never be hoped that their inconsiderable number could make head against such Multitudes but that as valiant and desperate Men they might dye fighting against their Enemies rather than behold the Barbarians victorious in the Temple and City of their Father the Sun which was a matter that made the most sensible impression of all these disasters And because we must here set a period to the Reign of Yahuar-huacac whose Life we now write and as hereafter will appear we shall now put a full stop to the current of this History that so we may distinguish the Actions of this King from those of his Son Viracocha And for variety sake and to please the Reader we shall intermix other matters which are curious and divertising and then afterwards return to the Atchievements and Exploits of the Prince Viracocha which were famous and of great Renown Royal Commentaries BOOK V. CHAP. I. How they enlarged and divided the Lands amongst the People SO soon as the Inca had conquered any Kingdom or Province and that he had settled and established his Government and Religion amongst the Inhabitants he ordered that those Lands which were capable of improvement that is such as would bear Mayz should be dressed and manured and in order hereunto they drained all wet Moors and Fens for in that Art they were excellent as is apparent by their Works which remain unto this day And also they were very ingenious in making Aqueducts for carrying Water into dry and scorched Lands such as the greatest part of that Countrey is which is situated under the Torrid Zone being commonly barren for want of Water to refresh and make it fruitfull and for that reason wheresoever they intended to sow their Mayz or Indian Wheat they always made contrivances and inventions to bring their Water for them nor less carefull were they to water their Pastures which they drowned in case the Autumn proved dry that so they might have Grass sufficient to feed the numerous Flocks they maintained These Aqueducts though they were ruined after the Spaniards came in yet several Reliques and Monuments of them remain unto this day After they had made a provision of Water the next thing was to dress and cultivate and clear their Fields of Bushes and Trees and that they might with most advantage receive the Water they made them in a Quadrangular form those Lands which were good on the side of Hills they levelled them by certain Allies or Walks which they made as is to be seen in Cozco and all over Peru unto this day to make these Allies they raised three Walls of Freezed Stone one before and one of each side somewhat inclining inwards as are all the Walls they make so that they may more securely bear and keep up the weight of the Earth which is pressed and rammed down by them untill it be raised to the height of the Wall Then next to this Walk they made another something shorter and less kept up in the same manner with its Wall untill at length they came to take in the whole Hill levelling it by degrees in fashion of a Ladder one Ally above the other untill they came to take in all the Hill and inclose the ground which was capable of improvement and of receiving Water where the ground was stony they gathered up the Stones and covered the barren Soil with fresh Earth to make their Levels that so no part of the ground might be lost The first Allies were the largest and as spatious as the situation of the place could bear some being of that length and breadth as were capable to receive a hundred some two hundred or three hundred Bushells of Seed The second row of Allies were made narrower and shorter and so went lessening untill at last at the bottom and lowermost Ally they were contracted to so narrow a Compass as was not capable to produce more than two or three small measures of Mayz In some parts they husbanded their matter that they brought the Chanels of water from fifteen or twenty Leagues distance though it were onely to improve a slip of a few Acres of Land which was esteemed good Corn-ground Having in this manner as we have said improved and enlarged their Lands the next thing was to make a just Division of them in all Countries for performance of which they divided the grounds into three parts one was allotted to the Sun a second to the King and a third to the Inhabitants This Rule was observed with great exactness and in favour of the People that so the Natives might not want ground for tillage for in that case when the Countrey abounded with numbers of People they abated of the proportion allotted to the Sun and to the Inca for the sake and benefit of the Subjects so that in effect neither did the King in his own or in right of the Sun appropriate to himself any Lands but such as lay untilled unpossest and without a Proprietor Most of the Lands belonging to the Sun and the Inca were inclosed and laid in Allies being so manured and improved by special Command Besides these Lands which by reason of their convenient situation for receiving water produced Mayz they made a Division of other Land also that were in a dry soil without any convenience of water and yet because they were capable to produce some sorts of grane and pulse such as they called Papa and Oca and Annus which were very beneficial the Sun and the King had their shares allowed thereof This soil which for want of water was thus barren they did not sow above one or two years together and then broke up fresh ground leaving the other to lie fallow untill it had again recovered its former strength Their Mayz or Wheat fields which had the benefit of water they sowed every year dunging them after every crop as we do our Gardens which made them extremely fruitfull and with the Mayz they sowed a small seed like Rice which they call Quinua and grows much in cold Countries CHAP. II. Of the Order they observed in manuring their Lands and what Feast and Joy they made when they tilled the Grounds of the Inca and of the Sun. IN cultivating their Lands they observed this Rule and Method those of the Sun were preferred in the first place then those belonging to Orphans and Widows and Persons impotent by reason of age and sickness all which remaining under the notion of poor were by order of the Inca provided for and their Lands manured by special Command To perform which there were Deputies appointed in every Parish or Community of the People to take care that those Lands were tilled and dressed These Deputies were called Llactacamayu which is as much as Monitors of the People whose charge it
ploughing and sowing the Grounds dedicated to the Sun the which I saw and observed for two or three following years when I was a Child and by them we may guess at the form and manner of the Festivals solemnized in other parts of Peru on the same occasion though those Feasts which I saw as the Indians assured me were but faint representations of those in ancient times and were not to be esteemed comparable to them CHAP. III. Of the Proportion of Land which was allotted to every Indian and with what sort of Dung they improved it TO every Indian was given a Tupu of Land which was as much as he might sow with a Hanega which is as much as a Bushel and a half of Mayz or Indian Wheat though the Hanega of Peru is a Hanega and a half of Spain This word Tupu signifies also a League in travelling likewise all sorts of measures of Water or Wine or any other Liquour as also the great Pins with which Women tuck up their dressings The Measure of Seed-corn hath also another name which is Poccha One Tupu of Land was esteemed sufficient to maintain an ordinary Countrey-Fellow and his Wife provided he had not Children for then so soon as he had a Son they added another Tupu of Land to his Estate and if a Daughter half an one When the Son married so that he left his Father's House then he resigned over to the Son his Tupu of Land in which he had an Original Right and Propriety But this was differently observed as to Daughters for they were not to take their Lands with them in marriage it having been given them for their subsistence during their Minority onely but not to accrue to them by way of Portion for every Husband claiming his share of Land in his own Right was obliged to support his Wife the Law taking no farther cognizance of Women after their Marriage the Land remaining with the Father in case he had need of it and if not then it returned again to the Community for it was not lawfull either to sell or alienate it Proportionably to those Lands which they gave for bearing Mayz they also adjoined others which were dry Lands and did not require Water and yet produced Pulse and other seeds To Noble and great Families such as were those of the Curacas or Lords who had Subjects under them they allotted so much Land as was sufficient to maintain their Wives and Children Concubines and Servants To the Incas of the Bloud Royal the same advantage and benefit was allowed in any part wheresoever they were pleased to fix their aboad and their Lands were to be the best and richest of any And this they were to enjoy over and above the common share and right which they claimed in the Estates of the King and the Sun as Children of the one and Brothers of the other They used to dung their Lands that they might make them fruitfull and it is observable that in all the Valley about Cozco and in the hilly Countries where they sowed Mayz they esteemed the best manure to be Man's Dung and to that end they saved and gathered it with great care and drying it they cast it upon their Land before they sowed their Mayz But in the Countrey of Collao which is above an hundred and fifty Leagues long which by reason of the coldness of the Climate doth not produce Mayz though it bear other sort of Grane there they esteem the Dung of Cattle to be the best manure and improvement By the Sea-coast from below Arequepa as far as Tarapaca which is above two hundred Leagues they use no other Dung but such as comes from the Sea-birds of which there are great numbers and incredible flocks on the Coast of Peru they breed in little Islands which lie in the Sea and are unpeopled where they lay such heaps of Dung that at a distance they seem to be Hills of Snow In the times of the Incas who were Kings great care was taken of these Birds in the season of their Breeding for then on pain of Death no Man was to enter on those Islands left they should disturb the Birds or spoil their Nests nor was it lawfull to take or kill them at any time either off or upon the Island Every Island was by order of the Inca assigned to such and such Provinces and if the Island were very large then two or three of them divided the soilage the which they laid up in separate heaps that so one Province might not encroach on the proportion allotted to the other and when they came to make their Division to particular Persons and Neighbours they then weighed and shared out to every Man the quantity he was to receive and it was felony for any man to take more than what belonged to him or to rob or steal it from the ground of his Neighbour for in regard that every man had as much as was necessary for his own Lands the taking a greater quantity than what belonged to him was judged a Crime and a high offence for that this sort of Birds dung was esteemed pretious being the best improvement and manure for Land in the World. Howsoever in other parts of that Coast and in the Low Countries of Atica Atiquipa Villacori Malla and Chillca and other Vallies they dung their grounds with the Heads of a small fish like our Pilchards and with no other soilage The Natives of these Countries which we have named and others under the same Climate live with great labour and toil where they can neither water their Grounds with streams from the Springs or Fountains nor yet with the Rain or Dews from Heaven For it is a certain truth that for the space of seven hundred Leagues along that Coast it did never rain nor are there in all that tract of Land streams or places for water the whole Countrey being exceedingly hot dry and nothing almost but sand for which reason the Natives endeavouring to moisten their grounds so as to make them capable to yield Mayz they approach as near to the Sea as they are able where they turn aside and cast away the Sand which lies upon the surface and dig down as deep as a Man's Body is in length and sometimes twice as deep untill having passed the Sand they come to such a sort of Earth as is able to bear the weight of Water which places the Spaniards call Hoyas or Vaults and being of different proportions some greater and some lesser some are not capacious enough to receive above half a measure of Seed-corn others again are so large as to receive three or four measures of Seed In these places they neither plow nor reap because they rather set than sow planting their grane of Mayz at an equal distance one from the other and in the holes or furrows which they make they cast three or four grains of Mayz with a sew Pilchards Heads which being all the dung they use
much joyed and pleased he was with the new Adoration and Worship which the Indians gave him so that he did not think fit to terminate the Magnificence of his Royal Mind with the stately Structure of this Temple onely but to extend his Acts and Monuments with greater glory to posterity and to this purpose he caused an Emblem to be drawn representing the low and mean spirit of his Father and the generosity of his own mind ordering it to be painted on one of those many Rocks amongst which his Father absconded himself when for fear of the Chancas he abandoned and forsook his City The Emblem was of two Birds which the Indians call Cuntur which are Fowl of such large spreading Wings that they measure five Yards from the end of one Pinion to the tip of the other they are Birds of prey and so very fierce that Nature denied them Talons to their feet giving them onely Claws like those of a Hen but their Beak is so strong and sharp that with one nip they are able to tear out the Skin of a Bullock and two of them are sufficient to kill an Ox as if they were Wolves They are of a brownish colour with white Spots like Pyes Two Birds of this sort he ordered to be painted one of them with his Wings close clapped together his Head shrung in and drooping like an affrighted Hen which hides it self with its Beak turned towards Collasuyu and its Tail towards Cozco the other Bird was on the contrary painted in a Rampant manner with its Wings extended hovering on the Wing and ready to stoop at its Prey The Indians say that the first of these represented the Father in his timorous and dejected condition and the other was the Emblem of Viracocha under the coveâ—â—â—ng of whose Wings the City and Empire was secured and defended This Picture in the Year 1580 was in being and very perfect and in the Year 1595 I asked a certain Priest which was born there and who came from Peru into Spain if he had seen it and in what condition it was and he told me that it was so defaced by Rain and the weather none taking care to preserve it that it was scarce discernible what it was the which was the fate and misfortune also of divers other Antiquities in that Countrey The Inca Viracocha having in this manner obtained a supreme and absolute Dominion over all his Subjects being infinitely beloved and reverenced and adored by them as a God his great Work at the beginning of his Reign was to Establish his Dominions in perfect peace and tranquillity for the good and benefit of all his Subjects In order unto which the first thing he did was to gratifie and reward all such with Favours and Honours who had served him in the late War and taken Arms in his assistence against his Rebellious Subjects and herein a more particular notice was taken of the Quechuas who belonged to the Countries of Cotapampa and Cotanera for in regard that they had been very active in promoting the interest of the Inca and unanimously arose in Arms for his Aid and Defence he bestowed on them the privilege of wearing their Hair shorn and their Heads bound with the Wreath and of having their Ears boared after the manner of the Incas though the holes of the Ears were not to be so wide as theirs but proportioned to such a size as the first Inca Manco Capac had ordained To other Nations he bestowed Privileges of different Natures as were most agreeable to their Countrey and Conditions and in fine every one remaining entirely satisfied and contented he visited his several Kingdoms affording to his people the satisfaction of beholding his Person which their Eyes so much longed to see and of whom so many Wonders and Miracles were recounted that nothing could come more desirable and nothing more welcome than his Presence Having in this manner spent some Years he returned to Cozco where by advice of his Council he resolved to conquer those great Povinces which are called Caranca Ullaca Llipi and Chicha the Subjection of which was omitted by his Father who was diverted from that design by the jealousie and fear he conceived of this his Son as we have already mentioned but now in order to this Expedition the Inca Viracocha commanded that thirty thousand Souldiers should be raised in Collasuyu and Cuntisuyu and put in a readiness against the next Spring one of his Brothers called Pahuac Mayta Inca he made his General or Commander in Chief the Sirname of Pahuac which signifies flying was given him for his admirable swiftness being nimble and active beyond any Man in his time For the affistence of his Brother he ordained four Incas to be Counsellours and Major-Generals who departing from Cozco collected their numbers and increased their Army in the way as they marched At length they arrived at the aforesaid Provinces two of which called Chica and Ampara adored the lofty top of a snowy Mountain for their God for they admiring the Beauty and Height thereof from whence those Streams proceeded which refreshed their Lands and made their grounds fruitfull they were easily persuaded in natural gratitude to own that for their Deity from whence they received such benefit and blessing In these proceedings they encountred some light Skirmishes with the Enemy who rather designed to give a proof of their warlike Disposition than fight in hopes of prevailing against the Incas whose Reputation was exalted so high by the Valour and Atchievements of Viracocha that their power seemed invincible and not to be subdued by humane force For this reason these great Provinces submitted to the Dominion of the Incas yielding with more readiness and with less danger and loss of bloud than was expected from a people esteemed numerous and of a warlike Temper Howsoever three years past in this expedition before the Conquest was completed and the Nations reduced to an absolute and entire submission CHAP. XXIV Of the New Provinces subdued by the Inca and of the Chanels they made to water their Pastures THE Inca Pahuac Mayta and his Uncle having concluded this War and placed Governours and Officers to rule and instruct their new Subjects they returned to Cozco where they received from the Inca a hearty wellcome being rewarded by him with such Honours and Favours as their Services and Labours had deserved And now it seemed as if the Inca Viracocha had extended his Territories to the utmost limits of the Universe for to the Eastward they reached as far as the soot of the snowy Mountain to the Westward they were bounded by the Sea to the Southward they extended to the utmost parts of the Province of the Charcas which are above two hundred Leagues distant from the City so that on all these three Quarters there remained no farther Land to conquer for on one side the Sea bounded their proceedings and the Snows and inaccessible places of the Mountains of Antis on the
other and to the Southward the Desarts and Sands between Peru and the Kingdom of Chili made the way impassable for the march of an Army Howsoever the Desire of Rule and the unsatiable thirst of Dominion moved the mind of this Inca to bend his forces towards the Northern Countries which are in the Division of Chinchasuyu and having communicated his resolution to those of his Council he appointed that an Army should be raised intending himself in person to command it with the assistence of six others who were men of Valour and Experience During the absence of Viracocha the City was governed by his Brother Pahuac-Mayta whom he left Deputy in his place and all things being provided and in a readiness the Army marched towards the parts of Chincasuyu and came to the Province Antahuylla which belongs to the Chancas a people branded with the infamous Epithete of false and treacherous by reason of their Rebellion against the Inca which imputation hath so closely cleaved to them even to this day that scarce at any time are the Chancas mentioned without the addition of Auca which is as much as false or treacherous this word also signifies a Tyrant a breaker of his Faith and every thing which denotes Falseness and Treachery Moreover it may serve to express Contentions and Battels by which variety of significations we may observe how copious and full this Language of Peru is which comprehends such variety and diversity of senses in one word The poor Chancas conscious of their former crimes feared greatly the approach of the Inca Virococha lest he should now revenge their offence upon them but then finding contrary to all expectation nothing but Mercy and Gentleness in their Prince they presently quitted their Fears receiving him with all the Demonstrations of Joy and Festivity that an afflicted people was capable to express And to confirm them in this good humour he not onely treated them with gratious Words but conferred on them Presents of Garments and other curiosities He also visited the several Provinces taking care to provide what was wanting and to amend that which was amiss and then appointing a General rendezvous for the whole Army he marched forwards to those Countries which were not as yet reduced to Obedience The first and nearest Province rich and populous was Huaytara a people warlike and mutinous such as had shewed themselves in the Head and Van of the Rebels But how stout soever they had been so soon as the Inca Viracocha had sent them a summons by his Ambassadours they with readiness submitted and obeyed coming forth with all humility to receive and acknowledge him for their Lord for as yet the Battel of Yahuar-pampa was fresh in their memory and the success thereof confirmed them in a belief that the Inca was invincible this humble Submission met a like Generosity in the Inca who received them with a gratious acceptance agreeable to their Humility onely charging them to live quietly and in peace as being most for the common good and most acceptable to himself Thence he marched forwards to another Province called Pocra known sometimes by the name of Huamanca thence he proceeded to Asancaru Parco Picuy and Acos all which chearfully submitted esteeming it a great honour to remain under the Empire and Protection of the Inca whose mighty Actions had acquired him Renown in all Quarters of that new World. And having thus gained this people to his power he dispeeded his Army away lest they should be burthensome to the Countrey and then employed his Thoughts and Endeavours for securing his Government and performing those matters which might conduce to the common Good and Welfare of the people particularly he opened and made a Chanel of water of about twelve Foot in depth running for about one hundred and twenty Leagues in lengh the source or head of it arose from certain Springs on the top of a high Mountain between Parcu and Picuy which was so plentifull that at the very head of the Fountains they seemed to be Rivers This Current of Water had its course through all the Countrey of the Rucanas and served to water the Pasturage of those uninhabited Lands which are about eighteen Leagues in breadth watering almost the whole Countrey of Peru. There is another Aqueduct much like this which traverses the whole Province of Cuntisuyu running above one hundred and fifty Leagues from South to North its Head or Original is from the top of high Mountains the which Waters falling into the Plains of the Quechuas greatly refresh their Pasturage when the heats of the Summer and Autumn have dried and burnt up the moisture of the Earth There are many Streams of like nature which run through divers parts of the Empire which being conveyed by Aqueducts at the charge and expense of the Incas are works of Grandeur and Ostentation and which recommend the Magnificence of the Incas to all posterity For these Aqueducts may well be compared to the miraculous Fabricks which have been the works of mighty Princes who have left their prodigious Monuments of Ostentation to be admired by future Ages for indeed we ought to consider that those Waters had their source and beginning from vast high Mountains and were carried over craggy Rocks and inaccessible passages and to make these ways plain they had no help of Instruments forged of Steel or Iron such as Pick-axes or Sledges but served themselves onely of one stone to break another nor were they acquainted with the invention of Arches to convey their Water on the level from one precipice to the other but traced round the Mountain untill they found ways and passages at the same height and level with the Head of the Springs The Cisterns or Conservatories which they made for these Waters at the top of the Mountain were about twelve Foot deep the passage was broken through the Rocks and Chanels made of hewen Stone of about two yards long and about a yard high all which were well cemented together and rammed in with earth so hard that no Water could pass between to weaken or vent it self by the holes of the Chanel This Current of Water which passes through all the Division of Cuntisuyu I have seen in the Province of Quechua which is part of that Division and considered it as an extraordinary Work and indeed surpassing the Description and Report which hath been made of it But the Spaniards who were Aliens and Strangers little regarded the convenience of these works either to serve themselves of the use of them or keep them in repair nor yet to take so much notice of them as to mention them in their Histories but rather out of a scornfull and disdaining humour have suffered them to run unto ruine beyond all recovery The same fate hath befallen the Aqueducts which the Indians made for watering their Corn-lands of which two thirds at least are wholly destroyed and none kept in repair unless some few which are so usefull that
easily have overcome the Natives and planted themselves in their possessions yet they seemed as yet to have too near a Neighbourhood with the Empire of the Inca whose ambition might soon arrive them and bring them under the same subjection from which they fled and endeavoured to avoid For which reason they marched forward removing themselves as far as it was possible from the reach of the Inca at least to such a distance as during his life it was not probable that his Arms could extend With this intention they travelled bending on the right hand towards the great Mountains of Antis with design to inhabit there and people those places which were most commodious for Humane life Those of this Nation of the Chancas report that they removed 200 Leagues from their own Land but at what place they entred or what parts they peopled it is not certain onely that they entred by a great River and planted their Colonies by the banks of a great Lake where it is said they encreased in such Riches and performed such mighty Acts that they seem rather Romance than Reports fit for a true History And though we may believe or fansie nothing too great for the Courage and Wisedom of Hanco-huallu yet his Actions not falling withins the subject of our History we shall put a period to a Relation of them in this place as impertinent and foreign to our present discourse CHAP. XXVII Of the Colonies sent to inhabit the Lands of Hanco-huallu and the Description of the Valley of Yucay THE Inca Viracocha was much surprised with the News that Hanco-huallu was fled and had abandoned his Countrey which he would have prevented had he been pre-advised of his Intention but since now there was no remedy and that no cause was given to move or force his departure the Inca was the less concerned though the people were generally rejoyced at his Flight to whom the Humour and haughty Disposition of a Prince like him was never pleasant The News of the flight of Hanco-huallu with all the particulars of it being made known and confirmed the Inca commanded his Brother Pahuac Mayta whom he had left Governour at Cozco with two others of his Council to pass with a considerable number of Souldiers into the Countrey of the Chancas there to see and inform themselves of the true state of that remaining people whom they were to treat and caress with all gentleness giving them comfort and assurance of Protection for that though their Prince was fled yet they should not want the care of the Inca who was both more able to defend them as also more mild and loving than their fierce Hanco-huallu These Incas having visited all the Provinces belonging to the Chancas and disposed them to a quiet and satisfied condition they went to the two famous Fortresses of Hanco-huallu built by his Ancestours called Challcu marca and Sura marca Marca in that Language signifying a Castle or Fortress In these places Hanco-huallu passed some days before his departure which as the Indians report he was more troubled to leave than all the other possessions he enjoyed in his Dominions The disturbance which the flight of Hanco-huallu had caused and the consternation in the minds of the People being in some manner quieted and appeased and all other matters of the Empire being well ordered and established the Inca returned again to Cozco to enjoy the fruits of Peace and employ his time in the administration of Justice and performance of matters-beneficial to the wellfare of his Subjects hoping that with time the fears and jealousies which Hanco-huallu had raised would blow over and vanish The first thing therefore that he did was to publish certain Laws which in that conjuncture of Affairs were seasonable and convenient and which served to prevent insurrections of the like nature for the future Next he sent a Colony of about ten thousand Persons under the Command of Incas into the Countrey of the Chancas to supply the places of those who were slain in the Battel of Yahuar-pampu and of those who had deserted their Countrey in company with Hanco-huallu Then he appointed several sumptuous Houses to be built in all places of his Empire particularly in the valley of Yucay which is lower than Tampu For this Valley is the most pleasant and delightfull place in all Peru having for that reason been chosen by all the Kings since the time of Manco Capac for their Garden and place of Recreation to which they often retired to refresh and divertise themselves after the toils and labours which are incident to Government The situation of it is about four Leagues distant Northeast from the City in a most sweet and healthfull Air where the Climate is so temperate that neither cold or heat are in excess the Waters are excellent and cool nor are the Flies or Gnats troublesome or any other insect there poisonous or vexatious It is placed between two Mountains that to the East is the snowy Mountain an arme of which extends to the plain and supplies it with continued streams from which they draw several Branches and convey it by Chanels to water their Grounds Though the middle of this Mountain be lofty rugged and asperous yet at the foot and skirts of it are verdant Pastures and Lands abounding with Fruits where also are all sorts of Game such as Stags and Fallow-Deer the Huanacus and Vicunna which is a Mountain Goat from whence they have the Bezar-stone as also Partridges and all sorts of other Fowl and though the havock which the Spaniards have made hath destroyed all the Game in those parts yet in the place thereof they have planted Vines and Fruit-trees and Sugar-canes which is the improvement they have made in that quarter The other Mountain to the West is not so high or lofty being not above a League in the ascent At the foot thereof runs the plentifull River of Yucay deep and not rapid but passing with a smooth and gentle Current and therefore abounds with great quantities of excellent fish and is frequented with Hearns Wild-Ducks and all sorts of Water-fowl Those that were sick at Cozco which is a cold and sharp Air and therefore not so proper for infirm Bodies usually resorted thither to recover their healths so that there is now no Spaniard who lives at Cozco and esteemed a Man of an Estate but who hath a Country-house or some possession in that Valley This Inca Viracocha had a particular delight and affection for that place and therefore built several Houses there both for oftentation and for pleasure He enlarged the Temple of the Sun both in the Building and also in the number of Servants and Officers endowing it with a Revenue agreeable to the Enlargement And as all the Incas conceived a particular Veneration and Devotion for that Temple so Viracocha seemed more sensibly affected from his religious fervour to that Spirit which appeared to him CHAP. XXVIII The Name which Viracocha gave
prejudiced by Laws which were made for the good and not for the detriment of his People At a certain season of the Year after breeding-time was over the Inca appointed a place for Hunting where either his own pleasure directed or where was most convenient for his Affairs either of War or Peace and there he appointed 20 or 30000 Indians to encompass all that space of Land which was designed for the Hunt half of whom taking to the Right-hand and the other half to the Left were to beat twenty or thirty Leagues round by the sides of Rivers and Brooks and through woody and mountainous places wheresoever the limits and bounds of the chase did extend but by no means were they to touch or encroach on other Lands which were laid out for the Hunt of the following year Thus they went beating and peeping into every bush and when they saw or met any game they hooped and hollowed to give notice thereof to their Companions and so marched along till they came so to straiten the beasts on all sides with a narrow compass that they could come and take them up with their very hands What fierce Beasts they encountred as they beat the Woods and Mountains such as Lions Bears Foxes Mountain-Cats which they call Ozcollo as also Serpents and venomous Creatures they killed before they came within the Field or Circle of their Hunting We make no mention here of Tygers because there were none in those Countries but onely in the vast and horrid Mountains of Antis What number of Game they might kill at such a Hunting is uncertain that happening according to the Countrey and their fortune for sometimes they killed twenty thirty or forty thousand head of Beasts such as Stags Fallow Deer the Huanacu which yields a sort of course Wool and the Vicuna which is a Goat with very fine Wool with many other Creatures which afforded not onely profit but sport and pastime in the taking of them Such in those times was the abundance of their Game but now it is said that such havock hath been made by the Guns which the Spaniards use that there is scarce a Huanacus or Vicuna to be found but what are affrighted into the Mountains and inaccessible places where no path or way can be made All the Game being thus surrounded and encompassed they took up with their hands The Female Deer whether red or fallow they suffered to escape because they had no Wool but old and barren Does they killed they let go also as many Males as were thought necessary to serve the Females and all the rest they killed and divided their Flesh amongst the Commonalty likewise having shorn the Huanacus and the Vicuna they let them escape keeping an exact account of all these wild Cattel as if they had been tame Flocks noting them in their Quipus which is their Book of Register distinguishing the Males from their Females in exact and orderly manner They likewise noted the Number of the Beasts they killed as well such as were fierce and hurtfull as those that were tame and usefull that so knowing the direct Numbers that remained they might the better see at their next Hunting season how their stock was multiplied and increased The course Wool of the Huanacus was distributed amongst the common people and that of the Vicuna because it was very fine was reserved for the Inca who divided it also amongst the Incas of his Kindred For besides them no other upon pain of Death might presume to wear it unless in favour some part thereof was given to a particular Curaca who upon no other terms could pretend to that honour and privilege The Flesh of the Huanacus and Vicuna was distributed amongst the common people with whom the Curacas would vouchsafe to take some part as also of the Venison not that they wanted it but to shew their compliance and familiarity with the people and that they who laboured in the Hunting did not scorn to receive their share of the prey These general and solemn Huntings were appointed every fourth Year in the respective Divisions for the Indians were of opinion that in such time the Wool of the Vicuna would be at its full growth and that the wild Cattel would have time to increase and would be less affrighted at the approach of Men than if they were every year teased and hunted Howsoever they hunted in one place or other every year but with such method and order that the Provinces being divided into four parts each division took its turn but once in four years In this orderly manner and method the Incas appointed the times of Huntingâ— as well for the pleasure and delight as for the profit of his people it being an opinion amongst them that the Pachacamac or the God and Creatour of all things had commanded that the same care should be taken of the wild as of the tame Flocks and that they were to destroy the hurtfull and devouring Beasts as they were to cut and root out noxious Weeds or Herbs out of their Corn and Fields that were sown And since we observe the order which these Incas directed in their very Huntings which they called Chacu how can we doubt but that these people maintained the like in matters of Government and things of greater importance and were not so brutish and salvage as the World hath figured them It is farther to be noted that the Bezar-stone brought from that Countrey in the goodness whereof there is great difference was taken from some of those wild cattel which we have before mentioned According to the same form and method the Incas who were Vice-Kings practised and regulated their Huntings in their respective Provinces at which they were for the most part personally present not onely for pleasure and recreation but to inspect and oversee the just and due distribution of the Venison taken in Hunting amongst the common people and see that those also who were old or sick or infirm should have their share and just proportion Unless it were the Collas the Commonalty in general were so poor in Cattel that they seldom or never eat Flesh but what was dispensed to them by the Charity and Beneficence of their Curacas unless sometimes they killed a few tame Conies which they kept and sed in their Houses called by them Coy So that the Inca and the Curacas took great care that an equal division should be made amongst the Commonalty of all the Venison which was taken in Hunting the which Flesh they cut out into large slices called Charqui and then dried them in such manner that they were not subject to corrupt and being abstemious and frugal in their diet their provision served them for the whole year round untill the next season of Hunting returned again In dressing their Meat they used all sorts of Herbs whether sweet or bitter or sower or of any quality but such as were poisonous or hurtfull The bitter Herbs they did usually boil in
Pachacutec his legitimate Son and Heir succeeded in the Empire and having solemnly performed the funeral Rites of his Father he resided for three Years at his Court attending to the due administration of his Government Afterwards he took a progress into all parts of his Dominions passing orderly from one Province to another and though the presence of the Inca might seem of no moment in regard the Lords and Governours were so diligent and faithfull to their trust that the Inca in all the way he travelled received no complaints from the people of Aggrievances and Oppressions laid illegally on them by their Rulers for the frequent appearance of the Inca at certain times did so overawe the Ministers that they were fearfull to act any thing which was not permitted to them by Law or Equity Moreover the appearance of the Inca personally before his Subjects gave them the opportunity to prefer their Petitions and offer their Complaints by way of immediate Address which was much more beneficial to the Subjects than to have their Aggrievances made known by a third hand which by favour or friendship might disguise the laments and make Injustices appear less than they were to the prejudice of the Plaintiffs and herein such care was taken that never any people who lived by the mere Light of Nature and Law of Reason did ever surpass the equitable proceedings of the Incas which indifferency and unbiassed judgment gained them that love of their people that even to this day and to many future Ages will their Memory be sweet and pretious At the end of three Years this Inca returned again to his City and lest he should seem to spend all his time in Peace and Repose he judged it convenient to attend at length unto military Exercises and gain the Reputation of a Souldier by War as well as of a civil and just Governour in the time of Peace to this end he raised an Army of thirty thousand Men with which together with his Brother Capac Yupanqui a valiant Man and worthy of that name he marched through all the Division of Chinchasuyu untill he came to Villca which was the utmost extent on that side of their Conquests There he remained himself whilst he sent his Brother with an Army well furnished with all provisions of War into the Province called Sausa which the Spaniards corruptly call Xauxa which is a most pleasant Countrey containing about thirty thousand inhabitants all of the same Lineage and Name of Huanca They boasted themselves to be descended from one Man and one Woman which they say had their Original from a Fountain they were a sort of fierce and warlike people fleaing those whom they took in the Wars the Skins of which they filled with Ashes and hanged them up in their Temples for Trophies of their Victories with the Skins of some they made Drums being of opinion that the sound of them would terrifie and affright their Enemies These though they were a small people yet had well strengthened and fortified themselves for being all of one Nation they united their Interests to encroach on the Lands and Territories of their Neighbours and to make that good which they had acquired they fortified themselves in such places of Defence as were accustomary in those Countries In the times of their ancient Gentilism before they were reduced under the power of the Inca they worshipped the Image of a Dog in their Temples eating the Flesh of Dogs for the greatest rarity and delicacy in the World so that it is believed their Appetite to Dogs-flesh was the original of their Devotion which was so great to that Beast that the most solemn Feasts and Entertainments were served with many Dishes of Dogs-flesh and to demonstrate their great respect to Dogs they made a sort of Trumpet with their Heads which they sounded for their most pleasant Musick at times of their most solemn Festivals and Dancings and in their Wars they used the same to terrifie and affright their Enemies for said they our God causes these two different Effects by the same Instruments in us it raises Joy and Delight and in our Enemies Horrour and Consternation But all these Superstitions and Errours were quitted and rooted out by the better Instruction and Rudiments of the Inca howsoever to indulge their humour so far as was warrantable they permitted them in place of Dogs-heads to make their Trumpets with the Heads of Deer or Stags or any other Wild-beast as they pleased which afterwards they used at their Festivals and Balls and times of rejoicing and because the Flesh of Dogs was so extremely pleasing and savoury to them they gained the Sirname of Dog that whensoever Huanca was named they added Sir-reverence the Dog. They had likewise another Idol in figure and shape of a Man which was an Oracle through which the Devil spake and returned Answers to all Demands which uttering nothing that was in contradiction or disparagement to the Religion which the Incas professed was still conserved and left undemolished though the Idol of the Dog was broken down and confounded This considerable Nation and the most kindly affectionate to Dogs the Inca Capac Yupanqui subdued by fair terms and presents rather than by force for this was always the Masterpiece of the Incas who made it their Profession to take the Bodies of Men by captivating first and alluring their Souls and Minds All things passing in this manner smoothly with the Huancas and every thing being settled in peace and quietness the Inca divided their Nation into three Divisions the better to divide and supersede the old Feuds and Disputes amongst them arising about the Boundaries and Limits of their Land The first Division they called Sausa the second Marca villca and the third Llacsapallanca The attire of their Heads was ordered not to be altered in the form and manner of it but differenced onely for distinction sake by variety of colours This Province which anciently was called Huanca was by the Spaniards I know not for what reason named Huanca villca without considering that there is another Province called Huanca villca not far from Tumpiz and three hundred Leagues distant one from the other This latter is situate on the Sea-coast and the former far within the Land the which we here intimate to the Reader that so he may know in the perusal of this History to distinguish one from the other that when we shall come to relate many strange occurrences in the Countrey of Huancavillca he may not be confounded by mistaking it for Huanca CHAP. XI Of other Provinces which the Inca subdued of their Manners and Customs and the severity they used against those who were guilty of Sodomy BY the same good policy the Inca Capac Yupanqui allured and invited several other Provinces to submission and Obedience which extend themselves on both hands of the common road amongst which the Provinces of principal note and consideration were Tarma and Pumpu which the
out his brains putting an end to the parly which his Souldiers entertained with him and therewith turned towards them saying Are ye so foolish and credulous as to trust to the words of a vanquished and captivated slave What will not a Man in his condition promise and how little will he perform after he hath obtained his liberty But the circumstances of his Death were reported in another manner by a Spaniard who was a Native of Truxillo called Francisco de Rieros who was a Captain then in Chili and Master of some Indians in that Kingdom who coming to Peru sometime after that fatal disasture reported that the Indians passed the night after this Victory with Dances and Merriment and at the end of every Dance they cut off a piece of the flesh of Valdivia and another of the Priest's they being both tied together which they broiled before their faces and then eat it during which time Valdivia confessing his Sins to the Priest they both expired in that condition It is more probable that after the Captain had killed him with his club that the Indians might eat him not that this sort of Indians delighted in humane flesh but onely to vent their rage and spleen on him who had been the Authour and Original of all the slavery and misery they had endured From that time the Indians took up a custome of fighting with the Spaniards in several Squadrons or Divisions as D. Alonso de Erzilla in the first Canto of his Araucana reports and that after this rebellion they maintained the War 49 years untill the end of the year 1553 at which time D. Sebastian de Castilla began his rebellion in the Villa de la Plata and Potosi which are in the Kingdom of Peru and Francisco Hernandez Giron began his in Cozco Thus have I as clearly as I could related the particulars of the Fight and Death of the Governour D. Pedro de Valdivia as it was written and related in Peru by those who lived in Chili it being referred to every Man's judgment to believe that report which he esteems most probable the which Story I have anticipated and reported out of its due place and time in regard it is the most memorable and notorious passage that ever happened in the Indies which I would not omit to describe lest I should have had no other occasion which might lead me to a farther discourse of Chili or lest I might have had time or life to extend this History to that period of years in which the Spaniards became absolute Masters of that Kingdom CHAP. XXIX Of other unhappy Successes in the Kingdom of Chili THus far had I writ when fresh Advices came of other fatal and unfortunate Successes in Chili which happened there in the Year 1599. and in Peru in the Year 1600. Amongst other Calamities the Earthquake about Arequepa is recounted as one which at length ended in such a terrible irruption of fire from a certain Hill which for the space of twenty days continually threw up such quantities of Ashes and Sand as in the parts round about covered the Earth two yards thick and in places farther off at least a yard and where least a quarter of a yard deep for the space of thirty or fourty Leagues round in the Countrey of Arequepa whereby all their Vines and Corn Lands were spoiled their Trees and Fruits scorched and blasted and all their Cattel perished for want of pasture Their Cows and Oxen lay dead in Droves of five hundred in a place and their Flocks of Sheep and Goats and Hogs lay buried in these Ashes Many Houses were overwhelmed with the weight of the Earth and Sand which this irruption threw up such as remained were preserved by the diligence of those Masters who always cleared and threw them off as they came all which was accompanied with such dreadfull Flashes of Lightning and claps of Thunder as were heard and seen at thirty Leagues distance from the Confines of Arequepa and so thick were the Clouds of Sand and Ashes which were thrown up that for many days they so obscured the Sun that they were forced to light Candles for performance of their necessary occasions These and the like particulars were advised from that City and the adjacent parts the which we have succinctly touched referring our selves for a more full Relation thereof to the Historians of those times whose business it is to describe all the particulars hereof more at large Howsoever we shall relate the misfortunes of Chili as they were advised in writing from thence because they come pertinent to the foregoing story of the Indians of Arauca and are consequences of the Insurrection begun in the Year 1553. and which continued untill the beginning of 1603. nor is it known when there will be an end thereof in regard that after forty nine years since this Rebellion began during which time they have endured all the miseries of Fire and Sword yet still those troubles seem rather to increase than abate as plainly appears by the intelligences which we have extracted from a Letter written from an Inhabitant of the City of Sanctiago in Chili which came at the same time with the relation of the Calamities of Arequepa These Advices were delivered to me by a Gentleman who was my Friend and had lived in Peru and served in quality of a Captain against the Rebels in the Kingdom of Quitu when they mutined on occasion of the great Taxes which were laid upon them his Name was Martin Cuaço a person who hath done great Service to the Crown of Spain The title of these misfortunes of Chili runs thus Advices from Chili and presently adds So soon as an end was put to the writing of the foregoing Intelligence of Arequepa came other more dismal stories from Chili full of sorrow and greatly to be lamented The particulars were related in the manner following A Relation of the Loss and Destruction of the City of Valdivia in Chili which happened on Wednesday the 24th of November 1599. ABout break of day five thousand Indians belonging to the parts adjacent and to the Divisions of the Ymperial Pica and Purem whereof three thousand were Horse and the rest Foot having as was said seventy fire-Arms and above two hundred Men armed with Coats of Male assaulted the City surprising it without the least allarm by the guidance of treacherous Spies belonging to the same place They divided themselves into small Bodies of twenty four or twenty five in a Company for they knew that the Spaniards lay secure and sleeping in their Houses and that their Corps of Guard were but four Centinels and that two onely went the rounds They considered also that the Spaniards were elevated with the success they had had in the two Incursions lately made when in the space of twenty days they had the fortune to take and demolish a Fortress which the Indians had erected on the side of the marish Grounds of Paparlen with so great a
Catalnillas and such as are a size bigger and which speak best they name Loro and the biggest of all which are dull and never speak they call Guacamayas and are good for nothing but to look upon for the beauty of their Feathers Such as these they carry into Spain in Cages for the delight they have in hearing them talk but others which are not so beautifull nor diverting they think not worth the care and charge of transportting so far In the Year 1555 and 56 there was a Parrot at Potosi which was one of those called Loro which was so ready in its Tongue that it would call the Indians as they passed along the Streets by the names of their several Countries such as Colla Yunca Huayru Qucchua c. as if it had been acquainted with the several Sashes they wore on their Heads to distinguish their Countries Upon a certain day there was a beautifull Indian Woman passing the Streets very fine and accompanied with three or four Servant-Maids as if she had been some great Lady or Palla of the Bloud-Royal So soon as the Parrot saw her he fell into a great laughter crying out Huayru Huayru Huayru which is a Nation the most base and contemptible of all the Indians With which the Indian Woman was greatly ashamed being laughed at by the people who in great Numbers were always about the Parrot hearing him talk and when she came near he called her Cupay which is Devil the Indians which were by approved the Saying of the Parrot for they knew that she was an ordinary Woman disguised in the Habit of a Palla or great Lady Some few years past in Sevil there was another Parrot of this kind which did most horribly abuse a certain Physician though unworthy of that name being a mere Quack as he passed the Streets which he did so scurrilously and so much to the purpose that the Doctor took it ill and was really offended Whereupon the Justice commanded the Master not to set the Parrot any more in the Street upon penalty of forfeiting it to the next person offended at his prate The general word which the Indians have for Parrots is Uritu and when they hear a Man talk much and obstreperously with much noise they call him Uritu for the noise and chat which the Parrots make when they fly in great flocks is like the prate of a vain-talking fellow who as the Divine Ariosto says in his twenty fifth Canto Knows little and talks much These Parrots at the season of the year when the Corn is ripe fly out from the Antis to seek their food and being in great flocks they spoil the Mayz or Corn wheresoever they alight they are very strong upon the Wing and fly high but the Guacamacas being a dull and heavy sort of Bird go not out from the Antis And all these different sorts of Parrots keep to their own kind to make the Proverb true that Birds of a Feather flock together CHAP. XXII Of the four famous Rivers and of the Fish which is taken in those which belong to Peru. I Had almost forgot to give a Relation of the Fish which the Indians of Peru have in their fresh-water Rivers of Peru the which Rivers are many and very great of which for brevity sake we shall onely mention four The first is that great River which is now called the Madalena falling into the Sea between Cartagena and Santa Maria the mouth of which according to the Sea-charts is eight Leagues wide having its head or source from the high Mountains of Peru The fierce swiftness of the current with which it falls into the Sea is such that for ten or twelve Leagues the forcible streams are sensibly perceived to reach into the Seas the fury thereof contending with the Waves of the Ocean The River Orellana called so by us being distinct from the Madalena is according to the Sea-charts about fifty four Leagues wide at the mouth of it though some Authours onely reckon it for thirty others forty others seventy making their account with great variety howsoever for my part I shall rather adhere to the opinion of Seamen who are knowing and learned in Maritime affairs and those whose business it is to sail over and measure the Seas and have made Sea-charts and Draughts with great Art the diversity of the opinions in the measures is this because some measuring just at the mouth of the River from side to side make it fifty Leagues but such as draw their lines from the extreme points of Land which extend into the Sea may measure seventy Leagues as is well known to the Pilots The source or head of those Fountains which make this River arises in the division of Cuntisuyu being to the South-West of Cozco and distant about eleven Leagues Westward from thence This River at the very head of it is very deep and not fordable and is very swift and rapid the streams thereof being contracted between very high Mountains which from the bottom to the top where the Snow is lodged upon them measure thirteen fourteen and fifteen Leagues almost perpendicular This River is the greatest of any in all Peru wherefore the Indians call it Apurimac because Apu signifies Chief or Principal both in War and Peace they call it also Capac Mayu Capac signifying plentifull rich abundant and Mayu a River For as Capac was an Epither or Title given to their Kings so they attributed that Title or Dignity to the Chief and Prince of all their Rivers This River keeps its name whilst it passes through the Countrey of Peru but whether it loses its name afterwards or not or that the Nations who live in the Mountains give it any other name I am not able to say In the year 1555 by reason of the great Rains which fell that Winter a vast part of the Mountain tumbled into the River with such mighty and prodigious Rocks as gave a stop to the current of the water for three whole days and so remained till the water overflowing the ruinous Mountain which fell in came at last to take its naturale course at which detention or stoppage of the water the poor Inhabitants which lived below much admiring and not knowing the reason thereof concluded that the end of the World was come and this stoppage below caused the water to rise at fourteen Leagues distance above being sensibly elevated as far as the Bridge which is in the great and royal High-way leading from Cozco to Ciudad Real This River Apurimac runs North and South at least five hundred Leagues from the head and source of it to the Equinoctial thence taking a turn to the Eastward it runs under the Equinoctial six hundred and fifty Leagues measured on a strait line to the place where it falls into the Sea but being measured by the turnings and windings of it 't will make fifteen hundred Leagues as Francis de Orella reports who sailed down that River in a Voyage he made
ours but take a root which produces Melons for many Years and are cut and pruned at the Seasons like a Tree which is a thing that never happened in any part of Spain c. Thus far are the Words of Acosta upon whose Authority I adventure with much confidence to report the great fruitfulness of this Countrey and how wonderfully at the beginning the Fruits of Spain thrived and increased to an incredible greatness to which also I shall add another Excellency which Acosta mentions which is that the Melons did all prove good provided that time were given them to ripen which gives a farther indication of the fertility of this Soil And in regard the first Melons which were seen in the parts adjacent to los Reyes gave occasion to a pleasant story which we shall not omit in this place because it is a farther evidence of the ancient simplicity of the Indians which is this A certain Inhabitant of the City of los Reyes who was one of the first Conquerours and a Person of Noble Bloud named Antonio Solar having a Plantation in Pachacamac about four Leagues distant from the City maintained a Spaniard for his Baily to oversee and manure his land who sent two Indians laden with five Melons apiece being ten in all to his Master that he might taste the fruit of his ground and therewith sent a Letter in one of the Baskets telling them that in case they ate any of them that Paper would discover it With this charge they departed and being half a days Journey on their way they sate down to rest and repose themselves during which stay one said to the other Let us taste of this Fruit which we carry to our Master but the other made some scruple saying The Paper will discover all as our Steward told us but the other replied that if they threw the Paper behind the Hedge it could not see them nor arise up in witness against them which contrivance pleased the Companion and the Paper being laid aside they cut the Melon and devoured it For the Indians at first not understanding the Mystery of Letters imagined that Papers were Messengers to whom the Spaniards had declared their minds and spoken those words which were delivered to them and that they were as Spies to tell whatsoever they saw in the way where they travelled and therefore when they fell to their treat they laid the Paper behind a bank that it might not see them As they travelled on their Journey he that carried the five Melons said to him that had the four if we go with this odd number our Master will suspect that we have eaten one and therefore let us eat another to make them equal this witty Counsel pleased well and so by agreement they sate down and ate the other And being now come to their Master they presented him with eight Melons onely who reading the Letter asked them what was become of the other two Mellons for that the Letter specified ten No Sir said they the Steward gave us but eight Why do you lie said Antonio Solar for the Paper speaks of ten Wherewith the poor Fellows became so affrighted and confused that they knew not what to reply but onely to confess the truth saying that with great reason the Spaniards were called Viracocha since they were able to penetrate into such hidden Secrets A Story of the like nature Gomara relates to have happened in the Island of Cuba when it was at first possessed by the Spaniards and indeed it is no wonder that the same ignorance should be common in all parts of the new World for the simplicity of the Indians was such as that whatsoever was new and not seen to them before could never enter into their capacities and onely served to fill them with wonder and admiration for whatsoever they observed to be extraordinary in the Spaniards such as running on Horseback breaking Oxen to the Yoke and ploughing the ground with them making Mills and building Arches for Bridges shooting with Guns and killing at an hundred and two hundred paces and the like were all such miracles to them as could not be effected by other means than some Divine Power and for that reason they called the Spaniards Gods as they did in the evidence which the Paper gave against them CHAP. XXX Of Flax Asparagus Visnagas with which they cleanse Teeth and Anniseeds NOR was there Flax in Peru at first but Donna Catalina de Retes who was a Native of St. Lucar and Mother-in-law to Francis de Villafuerte a noble and religious Lady and one of the first Nuns of the Convent of St. Clare in Cozco expected in the Year 1560. to receive some Flax Seed from Spain to sow in that Countrey together with Looms and Instruments to spin and weave Linen for their Houses but in the Year that I departed from Peru I cannot say that those things were as yet brought but since I came from thence I have heard that considerable quantities of Linen are made there though I cannot avouch how great Spinsters the Spanish Women have been nor how good Huswives my Countrey Women are for I did never see them spin Linen though I have seen them sow and weave Cotton and fine Wool which the Indian Women span with great curiosity though they combed it with their Fingers for want of Cards wherewith to card it and therefore they may be excused if they be not as yet become such excellent Spinsters of Linen as our Spanish Houswives are But to return to our former Discourse relating to the great esteem which the Fruits and Commodities of Spain had gained in the Indies at first when the Spaniards had newly planted themselves in Peru I remember that in the Year 1555. or 56 Garçia de Melo who was then Treasurer for his Majesty in Cozco sent to my Lord Garçilasso de la Vega a present of three Asparagus where he had them or where they grew is not known onely he desired him to accept and eat that curiosity of Spanish Fruit the Asparagus were very fair ones two of which were as big as a middle Finger and the third of a yard long the other was thicker but shorter but all of them so tender that they were easily broken My Father that he might doe the greater honour to this Spanish Plant ordered that the Asparagus should be boiled on a Pan of Coals in his own Chamber in presence of seven or eight Gentlemen who were at Supper with him When the Asparagus were boiled and a sauce for them made with Oil and Vinegar Garçilasso divided the two largest among the Guests at his Table and the third he took wholly to himself desiring them to pardon him for that time if he carved himself the largest portion of the Spanish Fruits In this manner the Asparagus were eaten with great chear and mirth as if the Phenix had been to be divided amongst them and though I served then at the Table yet nothing thereof
acquainted at Cozco and who had there a Division of Lands planted with Indians Also Don Francis Piçarro did promise to renounce his Title of Lord Lieutenant to Don Diego and to beseech His Majesty that he vvould be pleased to confer that Honour upon him With vvhich Don Diego being appeased he gave almost a thousand Ducats in Gold to his Companion vvith all the Victuals Arms and Horses vvhich he had provided together vvith tvvo Ships to transport them CHAP. XV. Of the great Hardships the Spaniards endured in their Voyage from Panama to Tumpiz DOn Francisco Piçarro with his four Brothers together with his Men and Horse which were as many as his Ships could contain set Sail from Panama with intention not to touch any where untill they came to the Countrey of Tumpiz but the Southerly Winds always blowing in that Sea which were contrary to the course they steered they were forced to land a hundred Leagues short of Tumpiz so that sending their Ships back again to Panama they resolved to march all the way by Land esteeming it much easier than to turn to Windward for so many Leagues But in their Journey by Land they suffered much more than they would have done by the contrary Winds by Sea for entring into a barren Countrey void of all Victuals and Provisions they endured hunger and want of all things and the way being long and tedious over Mountains and Rocks and their passage stopped by wide Rivers they contrived to pass them with Floats which they made of Timber and Canes and Rushes which they fastned together and with large Goards which they bound one to the other The chief Guide and Pilot over these Ferries was Don Francisco himself who was well acquainted and experienced in matters of this nature the which he sustained with so much courage and patience that for better example to his Companions he would carry the sick and tired persons on his own shoulders over Brooks and Fords which might be waded over After all these difficulties they came at length to that Province which they call Coaqui where they found plenty of Provisions and many Emeralds of the finest sort of which they broke many for being not skilfull Jewellers they had an opinion that the true Emeralds would not break and therefore for a trial they proved them with Hammers upon the Anvil The like they afterwards did in Tumpiz where they broke many Emeralds of three or four thousand Ducats price But not onely these Spaniards fell into this errour but likewise others who afterwards came to this Countrey under the Command of the Lord Lieutenant Don Pedro de Alvarado who destroyed many Emeralds and Turquoises of an inestimable value But besides these disastures the people of Piçarro were afflicted with a loathsome disease which at first appeared with a swelling on their Heads and Faces like Warts and on several parts of their Body but afterwards when they came to a maturity they were of the colour of ripe Figs and about the bigness of them hanging down as it were by a string from whence great quantities of bloud issued the which were not onely loathsome but very sore and it was very ugly to behold such filthy Warts or Wens appearing on their Foreheads Eye-brows Noses and Ears for which they knew no remedy or cure But this disease was not so mortal but that many of them who were seized with this distemper recovered though several dyed and though the disease was Epidemical to the Natives of Peru yet it was not so to the Spaniards many of which escaped the Evil. Many years after that time I saw three or four Spaniards at Cozco who lay ill of that distemper but they recovered and it may be attributed to some bad influence which was transient for since that time that sickness hath not been known With all these Labours Diseases and Death of his Companions Don Francisco was not dismayed always shewing himself as forward to adventure himself first in dangers as he was carefull in the cure of his Friends and Souldiers To Panama he sent twenty four or twenty five thousand Ducats of Gold to supply Don Diego de Almagro with Money that so he might be enabled to furnish those necessary succours of which they had occasion part of which Gold he gained by War and part by the ransome of such whom he had taken Captives Thus proceeding forwards to Tumpiz he overtook another party of Spaniards who being moved with the report and fame of the mighty Riches of Peru came from Nicaragua to that Countrey their Captains or Leaders were Sebastian de Belalcacar and John Fernandez with which happy rencounter Piçarro was highly pleased by reason that his own numbers were esteemed insufficient for that Conquest Sebastian de Belalcaçar was by the Name of his Family properly called Moyano but he rather chose to take his Appellation from his Countrey he was a Twin of three that is two Sons and one Daughter born at the same Birth His Brother was called Favian Garcia Moyano and his Sister Anastasia they were both valiant and courageous as was their elder Brother and especially the Sister This Relation I received from a Friar of the Order of St. Francis who himself was a Native of Belalcaçar and was well acquainted with the whole Family of Sebastian de Belalcaçar The which Relation this Friar the more willingly gave me because he knew that I was Writing this History wherein I was glad to relate the extraordinary Birth of this famous Souldier CHAP. XVI The Spaniards make themselves Masters of Tumpiz and the Island of Puna DOn Francisco Piçarro being well recruited with Spanish Souldiers adventured on the Conquest of Puna where Fame would have it that there was much Gold and Silver and great Riches to this Island which was twelve Leagues within the Sea they passed over on Floats with great hazard and being arrived on the Land they had many Battels with the Natives who killed four Spaniards and wounded divers others amongst which was Hernando Piçarro who received a hurt on his Knee but the Spaniards prevailed with great slaughter on the Indians and with that Victory gained great spoils of Gold Silver and Cloths which they immediately divided amongst themselves before the people which Hernando de Soto brought from Nicaragua could come up to them for he had been dispatched from that place by Almagro to carry Succours of Men and Horse to Piçarro Of which booty Soto having received advice he made such haste that he arrived with them at the time when they were removing their Camp thence Piçarro being re-inforced with these supplies thought himself strong enough to adventure on Tumpiz and first to ingratiate himself with the Inhabitants he sent them by the hands of three Spaniards in quality of Ambassadours a Present of six hundred of their own Countreymen whom he had taken Captives in the Island of Puna in expectation by such an atonement and piece of generosity to gain peace and
Soul at that time and for several years afterwards I my self have been present at some which were said for him when I was there Whensoever any occasion was offered to make mention of him I have heard several Gentlemen remember him with great praise of his Goodness and Vertue and some of them specified and recounted the kindnesses and good offices he had shewn to them in particular And whereas he was very familiarly acquainted and conversant in my Father's house I have been an Ear-witness of divers passages relating to his good Nature and to the generosity of his great Soul One of which was this That in their Voyage to Peru his people suffered much for want of fresh Water so that when they came to Tumpiz they became very sickly and many of them were so weakned by the Calenture Fever by reason of the Thirst they had endured that they were not able to leave the Ship and Land on the shore Wherefore Alvarado himself landed from the Ship and provided them with Water and though he had suffered as much by Thirst as any of them yet he would not taste a drop of Water untill he was assured that the Sick had drank and all the Ships-company had been provided Many other generous Acts of this nature were related of this worthy Gentleman though Gomara in his Writings gives a different character of him which he must have received from some of those as there were many who were envious and emulous of his Vertues and Fortune And though it was impossible to suppress the fame of his Exploits and Adventures which were notorious to all the World yet at least they endeavoured to eclipse and disparage the glory of them Of which this Authour being sensible did in part excuse and clear himself of the falsity of those reports which were given and so concludes the 192d Chapter of his Book with these words He that doth well and is not praised lives amongst bad Neighbours c. And this he said because he knew that in all estates of Men there are some who are envious and slanderers and unworthy the society of good Men being inclined to speak a lye rather than to utter truth in commendations of another And now we shall return to the Affairs of Peru and to the Transactions therein since the departure of Don Pedro de Alvarado from thence CHAP. XVII Of the Foundation of the City de los Reyes and of the City of Truxillo SO soon as the Governour had dismissed Don Pedro de Alvarado he immediately gave notice thereof to his Partner Don Diego de Almagro then at Cozco and therewith sent a great number of those Gentlemen which came with Alvarado to be entertained in the Service of the Prince Manco Inca and his Brothers John and Gonçalo Piçarro desiring them to be serviceable to the Inca and kind to the Indians for in regard the Inca surrendred himself voluntarily and of his own accord he would not have him lose that confidence and affection which he had conceived of the Spaniards in the mean time the Governour remained in the Valley of Pachacamac with design to build a City near the Sea-coast for the better advantage of Trade and Commerce And having considered upon this matter with his friends he dispatched several persons experienced in Maritime affairs to discover on both sides where was the most convenient place for a Port or Harbour At length being informed that four Leagues to the North of Pachacamac there was a very safe Port right against the Valley of Rimac which when the Governour had viewed and surveyed he transplanted the people which had begun to settle a Colony in the Valley of Saussa which is thirty Leagues from Rimac within the Land unto that convenient place where he founded the City of los Reyes in the year 1534. But as to the precise year Authours differ very much for some make it sooner and others later and some will have it in the year 1530 leaving out the 4. But not to insist on these several opinions let us compare the times with the great and notable Actions which succeeded for it is most certain and therein all Authours agree that it was in the year 1525 when Piçarro Almagro and the School-master Hernando de Luca did first enter into Articles of their Triumvirate Three years afterwards were spent in the discovery before they arrived the first time at Tumpiz Two years farther passed before they could finish their Voyage into Spain to procure their commission to make a Conquest and before their return back to Panama with Ammunition and Provisions for such an undertaking In the year 1531 they invaded the Island Puna and also Tumpiz and in December of the same year they took Atahualpa Prisoner and in March following being the year 1532 he was put to Death in October following they entred into Cozco where the Governour resided untill April 1533 when news came of the Arrival of Alvarado and in September he departed from Cozco to meet him and pay him the Money according to agreement And about the beginning of the year 1534 being Twelfth-day or the Day of the Kings he laid the Foundation of that City and so called it la ciudad de los Reyes or the City of the Kings In remembrance of which he made the Arms of the City to be Three Crowns with a Star shining over them the Form or Model of it was very beautifull for the Market place was very wide and large unless perhaps it was too wide for the City the Streets also were wide and streight so that from every corner of them cross-ways the Fields may be seen on all sides On the North-side there is a River from which several Chanels are cut to water the Lands round about and to supply every House in the City with water This Town at a distance makes no good shew nor appears well because the Houses are not covered with Tile but thatched with a sort of Straw which that Countrey yields for in regard it never Rains in that Climate nor for many Leagues distant on either side along the Coast the coverings of the Houses are all made of a sort of Straw or Rushes which grow in that Countrey on which laying a kind of Mortar or Earth mixed with Straw two or three fingers thick it makes a good defence against the Heats of the Sun But as to the Buildings themselves both within and without they are good and commodious and they daily improve their Art in Architecture This Town is about two small Leagues distant from the Sea but as the report is the parts nearest to the Sea are best inhabited The Climate is hot and moist and much of the same temperament with that of Andaluzia the difference of which is onely that the Days there are not so long nor the Nights so short in July and August as they are here so that the Sun arising there more late and setting more early hath not time to heat and
for himself a Knighthood with the Habit of St. Jago with other favours and for Almagro he acquired the Title of Mareschal of Peru with the extent of Government reaching an hundred Leagues North and South distinct from the Jurisdiction of Marquis Piçarro the which second Government was called New Toledo as the other was New Castlle The Advices hereof being wrote from Spain Almagro received them at Cozco where he resided with Prince Manco Inca and with John and Gonçalo Piçarro Brothers of the Marquiss and being as is the nature of all ambitious Men impatient for Government and Command he never staid for Commission from His Majesty nor Confirmation of the News but immediately from that time took on him the Title of Governour And whereas it was reported that the Jurisdiction of the Marquiss Piçarro was to extend 200 Leagues in length from the Equinoctial Southward whether the same be measured along the Coast or within Land or by the degrees of latitude it would fall out that the City of Cozco would not be comprehended within his Lot but would belong to Almagro on confidence of which without other Considerations he laid aside the Deputation he had received from Almagro and in virtue of his own Right assumed to himself the Government of that City and shared the Vassalage of the Indians amongst his own Creatures by Authority from himself All which he acted by the Advice and Counsel of several Spaniards who being desirous of Novelty and Dissention moved and incited him thereunto On the other side John and Gonçalo Piçarro and other Gentlemen which came in with Alvarado made head and opposed him of which were Graviel de Rojas Garcilasso de la Vega Antonio Altiâ—â—rano Alonso de Alvarado and the greatest part of that Regiment and the Dissentions arose so high amongst them and to that Rage that many of them were often killed and wounded in the Scuffles Of which intelligence being brought to the Marquiss then at Truxillo he immediately departed thence being carried from one stage to another on the Shoulders of Indians for the space of two hundred Leagues which is the distance of that place from Cozco In this Journey the Marquiss travelled alone and trusted himself to the Faithfulness of the Indians on Confidence and Security of Manco Inca who remained as a Pawn in the Hands of his Brothers whom we call Prince and not King because he was never permitted to Reign though the Indians did strive and endeavour by all means possible to oblige the Spaniards in hopes that by such Compliances they might be induced to restore the Empire unto their Inca. The Marquiss being arrived the Discontents quickly vanished for these two great Men having sworn Friendship and ancient Brotherhood together were immediately reconciled and brought to a better understanding by removal of evil Counsellours and of such as designed to make a Benefit by their Differences And now Almagro was become sensible of his too hasty Declaration and that he had been too forward in carving out a Jurisdiction to himself upon a bare Information before he had been authorized to claim his Right thereunto by His Majesty's Commission on which acknowledgment the Marquiss pardoned him and both of them became as perfect Friends as if there had never passed any Difference between them And for better Security and Conservation of this Confederacy they renewed their Vows at the Holy Sacrament never more to violate their Faith each to the other and by mutual consent agreed between themselves and their parties respectively That Almagro should undertake the Conquest of the Kingdom of Chili which abounded with Gold and appertained to the Incas upon which conditions they agreed to join together in their Petition to His Majesty to grant unto him that Dominion and in case that could not be obtained that then they would make an equal Division of Peru between themselves On these Terms both Parties remained well satisfied though some malitious persons suggested that Almagro who had been so good a Companion and so necessary an Instrument in this Conquest had been unjustly treated and thrown out of all Right in the Division of Peru and that the Piçarros under the pretence of an hundred Leagues had engrossed and appropriated the whole Dominion thereof unto themselves And whereas upon the Fame and Noise which the Riches of that Empire had made in the World great numbers of Spaniards had flocked from all places and that the parts already conquered did scarce yield a Tract of Land sufficient to satisfie the Merits and Expectations of the first Conquerours it was therefore judged necessary to enlarge the extent of the Possessions by new Conquests and that as Almagro was to subdue the Kingdom of Chili so also Captain Alonso de Alvarado was designed for the Province of the Chachapuyas which though under the Command of the Inca yet trusting to the Security of the Mountains where Horse can doe little Service and to their own Skilfulness and Valour in War refused to yield any Obedience to the Spaniards Captain Garcilasso de la Vega was designed for the Province which the Spaniards by Irony or contraries call the Province of Good Fortune Captain John Porcel was sent into the Countrey called by the Spaniards Bracamoros and by the Indians Pacamuru And farther it was ordered That Recruits should be sent to Sebastian de Belalcaçar for his Assistance in the Conquest of Quitu by which means Provisions would not onely be made to satisfie the Desires and Expectations of all Persons but the Minds of the Adventurers employed and amused in new Acquisitions and Enterprises which remaining in Idleness and Sloth would be inclinable to Mutinies and Sedition These Articles being concluded and agreed between Almagro and the Marquiss Piçarro the foregoing Designs were published so that the Captains prepared themselves for their respective Enterprises and accordingly raised and enrolled their Men. Alonso de Alvarado listed three hundred Men for his Conquest Garcilasso de la Vega two hundred and fifty for his and he that was intended for the Pacamurus was provided with a like number and all three entred into their respective Divisions where they sustained great Labours and Hardships by reason of the high Mountains and Interruption of Rivers as we shall hereafter shew in their due places The Recruits sent to Sebastian de Belalcaçar consisted of one hundred and fifty Men. But Almagro made up a Force five hundred and fifty amongst which several of them had already Lands set out to them and commands over Indians yet in hopes of better Fortune in Chili of whose Riches there was great talk they left their Possessions and Estates about Cozco For in those beginnings every poor Spaniard in the condition of a common Souldier thought all Peru but a mean Share and Reward of his Labours Almagro lent thirty Thousand Pesos of Gold to his Souldiers to buy Horses and Arms and other necessaries so that they were all very well provided John de Saavedra a
is in the month of November which is Summer in that Climate when the Snows were not so deep nor the Colds so intense yet many Indians and some Spaniards were frozen to Death and those that escaped had perished with Hunger had they not been sustained by the Flesh of those Horses which were found dead in the way where having been frozen ever since the time that Almagro passed that way the flesh thereof was as fresh and good after five Months as if they had been killed that very day The Difficulties of this Journey being overcome which were greater than we are able to express they were received by their General with all imaginable Joy and Contentment and better was their wellcome when it was known that Herrada brought with him His Majesty's Commission which invested Almagro in the Government and Jurisdiction of an hundred Leagues of Land exempt and distinct from the Territories of Marquiss Piçarro This Commission was brought by Hernando Piçarro when he last returned from Spain unto Peru the which he sent from los Reyes to Herrada by the Post◠knowing that he was then upon his departure for Chili This particular is related by Gomara in the 135th Chapter of his Book the which Words we have extracted verbatim in this manner Almagro being employed in his Wars in Chili John de Herrada came to him with a Commission for his Government which was brought from Spain by Hernando Piçarro which though it cost him his Life yet he more rejoiced and triumphed than with all the Gold and Silver he had gained for he was more ambitious of Honour than covetous of Riches Hereupon he entred into consultation of the course he was to steer whether to remain in Chili or return to Cozco after some debate thereupon the latter was resolved namely to return unto Cozco to take possession thereof since the Government of that place fell to his Fortune It had been better for him if he had followed the Advice and Request of those who persuaded him to remain in Chili or in the Charcas which is a very rich and fruitfull Countrey and from thence to have sent and known the Will and Pleasure of Francisco Piçarro and his Assistants at Cozco before he attempted a matter which proved a breach of their Association The Persons who persuaded him to return were chiefly Gomez and Diego de Alvarado and Rodrigo Orgonnos his familiar and intimate Friend In fine Almagro resolved to return to Cozco and assume the Government thereof by force in case the Piçarros should not easily render and resign the same Thus far are the Words of Gomara The Motives which incited Almagro and his Captains to return unto Peru were not the bare Command and Jurisdiction over a hundred Leagues of Land for they possessed that and much more already in Chili where the People received and treated them with excesses of Kindness and Service and where their Dominions increased and were daily enlarged with new Conquests over Countries that abounded with Gold and other Riches but the ambition of being Prince over the Imperial City of Cozco over-balanced all other considerations and was that Bone of Dissention thrown in by the Devil between those two Governours from whence arose the Civil Wars which interrupted the propagation of the Gospel and occasioned the Death of many Christians and was the Cause that an innumerable company of others dyed without the Sacrament of Baptism but the passion which Almagro and his Companions had for the Imperial City transported them with a desire to return into Peru not by the way they came for the Difficulty thereof and their Sufferings were still fresh in their memory but taking their passage over a Sandy Desart in which they endured extremity of Heat with want of Water the Sufferings were as great as when they sustained the contraries of Snow Frost and craggy Mountains as we shall hereafter more particularly relate and in the mean time we cannot but take notice of the different manner that these Historians Carate and Gomara relate this Expedition of Almagro into Chili for they say that he returned by the same way and that he made several Lether Bottels or Jacks to carry Water which was much wanting in those dry Desarts in which there is a plain mistake for where there is abundance of Snow there can be no want of Water But these Authours confound the going with the return of Almagro which were two different ways subject to contrary inconveniencies And farther they say that the Gold which Paullu presented to Almagro in Chili was forced from the Indians of Charcas by Saavedra as they were carrying it for a Present to their King for that ever since the beginning of the War between the two Brothers Huascar and Atahualpa they had conserved their Gold and had stopped all intercourse and correspondences by that way Upon all which matter that ancient Conquerour of whom we have made mention in the former part taking notice in his Marginal Notes on the History of Gomara of the confused Relation of these passages in a kind of anger makes the Exceptions following to the Chapter 135. In the Relation which this Authour gives of Cozco and Chile there are many things that might be added and many things omitted for in writing his History he seems to have taken his information from such as were as ignorant of matters as himself the which appears in this particular passage the truth of which is this Almagro as is evident did not return from Chile by the way that he went thither which was by a passage over that Mountain on which they endured extremity of hunger and cold and by that entrance into Copayapu which is the first Valley of Chile on that side where fell so much Snow that many Indians Spaniards and Horses were frozen to death and many of those who escaped lost their Toes and Fingers benumbed by the Frost but by another way as we shall hereafter declare Five Months after which Ruy-dias and John de Herrada who were left in Peru for Agents to Almagro passed that way with their people and in like manner endured much extremity both by hunger and cold for the passage is long and of at least five or six days continuance with hard travel during which time they wanted Provisions very much because the Indians which carried them were frozen to death And yet they passed at a better season than did Almagro the Snows not being so deep nor the cold so intense howsoever they suffered much and many died Their chief relief and remedy against Hunger they received from the Flesh of those Horses which being frozen were conserved from corruption But Almagro as is said returned not by this way of the Mountain by which he came but by the Plains which run along by the Sea-coast where the Countrey is desart and uninhabited from Atacama which is the most remote people of Peru untill you come to Copayapu which is eighty Leagues distant from
better Scholars in reading and Writing and be more expert in all sorts of musical Instruments than the Spaniards had they onely the advantage of being taught nor would they prove ill Scholars in the Latin Tongue And moreover they are not more ignorant in our Books than we are in the knowledge of theirs for though we have now lived amongst them and have had Conversation with them for seventy Years yet have not attained to the knowledge of their Knots nor the nature of their Accounts when they in a short time have attained to the knowledge of our Letters and Ciphers which are evidences of their Ingenuity and good capacity And as to their Memory they generally exceed the Spaniards having by their Knots and Joints of their Fingers figured several Common places out of which they do extract particulars in their due Order for the help and benefit of the Memory And what is more strange the same Knots serve for divers Passages and Arguments of History and giving them onely the Subject they will run on with a History as currently as a Reader can his Book which is an Art unto which no Spaniard as yet hath been able to attain nor know in what manner it is performed and are all good Arguments of the acute Judgment and great Memory of the Indians As to their Art in Military Affairs take all things in their due Circumstances the People of Peru are more expert than those of Europe for shew me the most brave and famous Captains of Spain or France on Foot without Horses without Armour without Lance Sword Pistol or other Fire-arms let them appear in their Shirts without Cloths with a Sling instead of a Girdle and their Heads covered with a Cap of Feathers or Garland of Flowers instead of a Head-piece or Steel Bergandine let them march with their bare Feet over Briers or Thorns let their Diet be Herbs and Roots of the Field carrying a piece of a Mat in their Left hands instead of a Buckler and in this manner let them enter the Field to blunt the Edges of Swords and Halbards and Pikes with three Forks and let them stand the Stone-slings the poisoned Arrows and the skilfull Archer which will hit the Eye or the Heart or anything if in this naked and simple condition they become Conquerours I will then say that they deserve the Fame and Reputation of valiant Captains above the Indians but in regard it is impossible to put the Europeans in this state and condition or to persuade them to the use of such Arms Customs or Habit so humanely speaking they will never make trial or essay to gain Victories with such tools or instruments And on the contrary were the Indians armed as are the Europeans trained up with the same Military Discipline and instructed in the Art of War both by Sea and Land they would be more invincible than the Turks Of the Truth hereof Experience is the best proof for whensoever the Spaniards and Indians were equal in their Arms the Spaniards were slain in great numbers as for Example in Puno of Mexico and long before that in other places for the truth is when the Spaniards have been laden and encumbred with their Arms and the Indians free and light the Spaniards have been often defeated in open Battel as in Quitu in Chachapuaya in Chaquisaca in Tucma in Cunti in Sausa in Parcus in Chili and other parts Wherefore in comparing the Valour and Prowess of the Spaniards with that of the Indians both of Mexico and Peru there can be no measure or trial made by the Success or Conquests by reason of the great inequality in their Arms and above all the Invention of Fire-arms was more terrible to them than all the rest and seems something more than what is humane or natural and in reality the Victories which have been obtained in most parts of the new World and especially in Peru were wonderfull Effects of Divine Providence and rather to be attributed to the Power of God in favour of the Gospel than to the Valour of the Spaniards But though we may compare the Europeans and the Asitiaticks together in the point of Arms yet we cannot admit of any Comparison between the Spaniards and the Indians as to the Art of War in which no doubt but the Spaniards have much the advantage But to let pass this point and compare Indians with Indians there is no doubt but the Incas and the People of Peru were much the better Souldiers of which they have given us sufficient Testimonies by the many Conquests they made over the many Countries they reduced to their Obedience and enjoyed nor were they signalized for their Valour of late Years onely as some People vainly imagine but for above five or six hundred Years past amongst which many Kings of them have been very powerfull namely Manco Capac Inca Roca Viracocha Inca Pachacutec and those descended from that Line to the great Huayna Capac who was Emperour besides many other Captains of the same Bloud of whom we have treated at large in other places Thus far are the Words of Blas Valera after which short digression let us return again to our Spaniards CHAP. XXXI Of the differences which arose between the Almagro's and the Piçarro's and of the Imprisonment of Hernando Piçarro SO soon as Almagro and Piçarro saw that the Inca had disbanded his Army and was fled and had left unto them free possession of the Empire they began then openly to discover their Passions and turn their Arms each against the other one affected to rule and govern absolutely alone and the other prepared to prevent and disappoint him of the Possession of that supreme Power which neither admits a Superiour nor a Rival Thus Almagro required Hernando Piçarro to surrender the City to him and leave him in free possession thereof pretending that it was the Part and Division which belonged to him and not to his Brother as not being comprehended within the two hundred Leagues of Land belonging to the Marquis which were to be measured and set out from the Equinoctial Southward along the Sea-coast according to the Capes and Points and Bays running by the Sea-shore but certainly Land was never measured in that manner or by other Lines than by the High-ways Howsoever the party of Almagro insisted on this point and would understand no other Measures than by the Sea-coast which if Piçarro had granted and condescended unto though His Majesty should have enlarged his Jurisdiction an hundred Leagues farther yet his Dominion would not have reached so far as los Reyes much less could it have extended unto Cozco Howsoever these groundless Reasons and Fancies had so far possessed the Mind of Almagro and his Party that they would suffer no Contradiction or hearken to any Arguments to the contrary but violently resolved to abandon the Kingdom of Chili and return to Peru and Cozco from whence afterwards so many Ruines and Mischiefs did ensue To
the Life and Safety of them all depended on this Vessel Which being now in this manner finished they lanched it into the Water with great Joy and Triumph imagining that herewith they should quickly escape out of all their Dangers and be freed from all their Difficulties but it proved otherwise for a few days shewed the contrary and gave them cause to repent that they had ever made it as we shall speeedily see by what follows hereafter CHAP. IV. Francisco de Orellana goes aboard the Vessel which was built and sails into Spain to demand the Government of that Conquest and of his End and Death ALL the Gold which they had gathered which amounted to about the value of one hundred thousand Pieces of Eight with a great abundance of Emeralds some of which were of great value as also their Iron and Iron-work and whatsoever was of any esteem they laded on their Vessel and such as were weak and sick and not able to travel were also put aboard And now after a Journey of almost two hundred Leagues they departed from this place taking their course down the Stream some by Water and others by Land keeping such a convenient distance each from the other that at night they always joined and lodged together the which Journey was performed with great difficulty both of one and of the other for those on the Land were forced to open a great part of their way with Hatchet and Bill and those on the Water were put to hard Labour to stemm the Stream and keep the Vessel from being forcibly carried down by the current from the Company of their Associates When at any time their passage was interrupted by some Mountain so that they could not keep by the Shore of the River they then ferried to the other side by help of their Vessel and of sour Canoes which were with them but this gave a great let and stop to their proceedings for the space of three or four days which was very grievous to Men starving and perishing with Hunger Having in this manner travelled for the space of two Months they at length met with certain Indians who by Signs and by some Words which were understood by their Indian Servants gave them intelligence that about ten days Journey from thence they would find a Countrey well peopled plentifull of Provisions and abounding with Gold and other Riches of which they were in pursuit and farther signified to them by Signs that this Countrey was situate on the Banks of another great River which joined and fell into that wherein they now were The Spaniards being greatly comforted and encouraged with this news Gonzalo Piçarro made Francisco de Orellana Captain of his Brigantine or Vessel and thereon put fifty Souldiers aboard giving them orders to pass down the Stream to that place where the two Rivers met and that there leaving the Goods he had then aboard he should lade his Vessel with Provisions and return towards them with all the speed imaginable to succour and relieve them in that great Distress of Famine of which many Spaniards were already dead and especially Indians who of four thousand were reduced to half the number According to these Orders Francisco de Orellana entred on the Voyage and in the space of three days without Oars or Sail onely by force of the Current he was carried the eighty Leagues before mentioned though in the opinion of all they proved to be more than an hundred notwithstanding which being come thither no Provisions were found as the Indians had promised wherefore considering what was to be done in that Extremity they concluded that to return again to Gonzalo Piçarro with this ill news they were not able in the space of a Year to perform that Voyage back against the force of the Stream which they had already with the help thereof been carried in three days onely And not knowing in how long time Gonzalo Piçarro would be able to perform his Journey thither Orellana resolved to change his Design and set up for himself and with these thoughts he set sail and casting off all care and regard to Piçarro and his Companions then in distress he resolved to take a Voyage into Spain there to obtain the Government and Conquest of those Countries for himself But this cruel Resolution was opposed by many of those who were then aboard with him who suspecting his evil Intention told him plainly that he was not to exceed the Order of his Captain General nor was it humanity to forsake his Companions in their great Distress knowing how usefull and necessary that Brigantine was to them In this point none was more zealous and urgent than a good Friar called Gaspar Carvajal and a young Gentleman Native of Badajoz named Hernando Sanchez de Vargas whom those of the contrary opinion made their chief and were so warm in their Debates on this Subject that the Quarrel had come to Bloud had not Orellana with fair and gentle Words appeased the Tumult for that present Howsoever he so worked afterwards with those who had opposed his Intention that with great Promises he enticed them all to his party and then rudely treated the poor Friar whom he had exposed to the same famine and misery had it not been for respect to his Habit and Profession as he did Sanchez de Vargas for whom he thought Death too mean a punishment unless attended with the direfull circumstances of Cruelty and therefore left him in that Desart encompassed with high Mountains on the one side and with a great River on the other and imprisoned both with Sea and Land he was left there to perish by Famine After which Francisco de Orellana pursuing his Voyage renounced in a few days the Commission he had received from Gonzalo Piçarro disclaiming all subjection to him but pretended to act as a Captain immediately depending on His Majesty The which Enterprise may best deserve the term of the highest piece of Treachery that ever was acted though in reality other Captains who have been concerned in the Conquest of this new World have been guilty of Actions as infamous as this Captain Gonzalo Hernandez de Oviedo Valdes who was Historiographer to His Catholick Majesty the Emperour Charles the Fifth in the 17th Book and 20th Chapter of his General History of the Indies relates villanous Actions of Treachery which were repaid in a Coin of the like nature by those who came to succeed them in the same Offices and places of Trust to confirm which Truth there is a Proverb which says Kill and thou shalt be killed and they shall kill him that kills thee Were it to our purpose to enlarge on this Subject we were able to produce many Instances of the highest Perfidiousness and Treachery acted after the time of this Historiographer but 't is not our business to rake into such horrible Stories and therefore we shall rather pass them by in silence than repeat those direfull passages from which Men
Carvajal utter with much passion and vehemence and was as good as his word as well to Friars as others according to the report of all Historians for such as he took who had revolted from him he punished with the utmost cruelty and torment but those who were onely Prisoners of War and had kept their side he used well and with some kindness endeavouring to bring them over to his own Party And now we shall leave Carvajal in his pursuit of Diego Centeno and return to Gonçalo Piçarro who was also in the pursuit of the Vice-king at the same time and almost in the same days CHAP. XXX Gonçalo Piçarro pursues the Vice-king so close that at length he drove him out of Peru. Pedro de Hinojosa sails to Panama with a Fleet of Ships belonging to Piçarro WE have before mentioned how that the Vice-king marched into Quitu and that Piçarro pursued him at the heels though his Souldiers were not less weary nor wanting of provisions than the others but rather more because the Vice-king marching before carried away all the provisions of the Countrey wheresoever they came howsoever so eager was Piçarro and so much concerned to put an end to these labours that he continued his pursuit day and night as Carate reports in the twenty ninth Chapter of his fifth Book in these words Gonçalo Piçarro pursued the Vice-king from the City of St. Michael's which was the place from whence he made his retreat as far as the City of Quitu which are an hundred and fifty leagues distant from each other and so hotly did he carry on this work that there was scarce a day but they saw each other and the Scouts often discoursed together and to be in greater readiness their Horses remained always sadled but if either Party was more vigilant than the other it was the Vice-king's for his men slept always in their Clothes holding their Horses by the Halter without Tents or Horse-clothes to cover them but necessity made them ingenious and taught them a remedy in that sandy Countrey where were no Trees to shelter them which was this So soon as they came to the place where they intended to quarter that night they filled certain Baggs or Sacks which they carried with them with Sand and having made a great hole they threw them in and covered them with Sand which they troad and trampled on and made it very firm so that the Horses could lie thereupon with much ease But besides all this both Armies suffered much for want of provisions and especially Piçarro's men who came in the pursuit for the Vice-king wheresoever he passed raised all the Indians of the Countrey and the Caciques or Governours and took them with him that so the Enemy coming after might find all places dispeopled and unprovided and such was the great haste which the Vice-king made that he took with him eight or ten of the best Horse which could be procured in that Countrey which were led by Indians and in case any of his Horses happened to be tired on the way he maimed or disabled him in such manner that the Enemy could make no use of him And now in the way Captain Bachicao returned from the Voyage which we formerly mentioned and joyned with Gonçalo Piçarro bringing a recruit of three hundred and fifty Men twenty Ships and good store of Cannon and sailing along the coast which is nearest to Quitu he landed his Men in a place not far from the Forces of Piçarro with which additional auxiliaries Piçarro's Army amounted to eight hundred men of which many were principal persons of quality and note as well Inhabitants as Souldiers who came in with such frankness as no story can parallel under the Government of a Tyrant and an Usurper In that Province all Provisions were very plentifull and therein not long before they had discovered several rich Veins of Gold out of which the Spaniards whose lots fell there raised vast sums which they refused to yield to Piçarro and also denied the fifths to his Majesty or to be accountable for the Treasures of dead persons And here it was that Piçarro received intelligence that the Vice-king was advanced forty leagues from Quitu and was entred into a certain Town called Pasto within the Government of Benalcaçar And here he resolved to pursue him to that place which he accordingly did without delay or interruption for Gonçalo Piçarro staid but very little in Quitu and having overtaken the Enemy several skirmishes happened between parties on each side in that place which is called the Hot River And the Vice-king having advice that Piçarro was near at hand he quitted Pasto in great haste and marched up into the Countrey untill he came to the City of Popayan and Piçarro having still pursued him for twenty eight leagues farther where finding a desart and desolate Countrey and want of all provisions he resolved to return again to Quitu which he accordingly did after he had pursued the Vice-king for so long a time and through such a vast tract of Land as is before mentioned and we may confidently averr that from the City of Plate from which he first began his March to the City of Pasto are seven hundred leagues so long as may be computed to make a thousand of our ordinary leagues of Castile c. Thus far are the words of Carate to which other Historians add That the Vice-king having passed the River of Hot Waters did imagine that his Enemies would have remained satisfied therewith and desisted from all farther pursuit considering that they had driven him out of Peru and from the confines of their Jurisdiction and that now he should remain in peace and quiet untill some good opportunity should offer for his better advantage but he had not long pleased himself with these thoughts and scarce ended his discourse with his Captains concerning them before some Parties of Piçarro's Army appeared to them descending a Hill towards the River with the same haste and fury that they had formerly practised at which surprise the Vice-king lifted up his hands to Heaven and cried aloud and said Is it possible or will it ever be believed in Ages to come That men pretending to be Spaniards should pursue the Royal Standard of their King as they have done for the space of four hundred leagues as it is from the City of Los Reyes to this place and then raising his Camp with speed he proceeded forward that his Enemies might have no time to repose but Piçarro proceeded no farther but as we have said returned to Quitu where as Carate reports he became so elated with pride by reason of his many prosperous successes that his insolence became insupportable and then out of the fulness of his heart he would vent many bold sayings derogatory to the honour and Majesty of his King The King said he will be obliged whether he will or not to grant me the Government of Peru for he is sensible of
days after the wound is given and performs its effect in seven days afterwards in which time the Patient raves eats and gnaws his own flesh and beats his brains against the Wall and so dies The Spaniards were desirous to know a Remedy or Antidote against this Poison and persuaded the Indians both by promises and threats to give them the Receipt of it but could not prevail untill such time as they wounded one of those whom they had taken in the Thigh with this sort of poisoned Arrow and then giving him liberty to go abroad and seek his remedy they observed that he gathered two sorts of Herbs the which he stamped and pounded severally and then drank the juice of one of them and the other he injected into his Wound but first he opened the Wound with a Knife and drew out the Barbs of the Arrow which are very fine and thin and are left within the flesh after the Shaft is taken out for unless the wound be first cleared thereof the Herb can have no effect and in this manner the Indian cured himself The Spaniards having made this discovery cured themselves by application of the same Antidote though some of them died who had not the art to clear the Wound of the Barb which remained therein In the Islands of Barlovento and in all the Countrey of Brasil in Santa Marta and in the New Kingdom and in other Countries where a cruel sort of Indians inhabited they used another sort of poison and of a different nature to what we have before mentioned for they would take the Leg of an Indian whom they had killed and hang it up in the Air against the Sun and fill it with many Barbs of poisoned Arrows which were taken out of the flesh of an Indian which after some days they took out and without cleansing of them they dried them in the Air where the Sun did not come and then they headed their Arrows with them and that became the most malevolent poison and the most hard to be cured in the world I have seen the experiment thereof and as an eye-witness will relate the effect in its due place After the Spaniards came into that Countrey and waged War upon the Indians they then changed the nature of their poison for whereas before they compounded their poison with the flesh of Indians they then made it with the flesh of Spaniards whom they killed or took but more particularly they desired the flesh of some red-headed Spaniard whose hairs were of a deep Saffron colour for they were of opinion that there was more heat in that flesh and consequently more virulency in the poison which it produced but perhaps they may have heard it often said amongst the Spaniards themselves that red-headed men are fit to make a composition of poison But to return to those who had made their entrance into this Countrey they observed such animosities and quarrels which they maintained one against another that it was impossible to reconcile them so that many of them resolved to leave that Countrey and go into Peru for that whilst they were so divided there was no hopes to subdue those Indians who were a rugged and a martial sort of people But of the nature of this poison and of what else happened in this adventure and the great discords and differences amongst the Spaniards Diego Fernandez Palentino recounts a long story with many strange and various accidents which for brevity sake we omit and refer the Reader to his relation But besides these differences amongst themselves the Spaniards were inclined to travel into Peru upon the news which an Indian brought of commotions there without any other particulars than onely that the Spaniards waged Civil Wars amongst themselves Upon this news Graviel Bermudez was dispatched to the confines of Peru to inform himself of the state of matters and to certifie to them the truth of things after which they would resolve to take that side to which they were most inclined Graviel travelling on the way with this design happily met with Lope de Mendoça who gave him a relation at large of all that had passed in Peru since the time that Diego de Rojas departed thence and joyning his men with the party of Graviel Bermudez they by mutual consent dispatched Messengers to Nicholas de Eredia who was chief of another Band of Men and he immediately came to them with his Associates Lope de Mendoça reconciled them and made them Friends and all by common consent made him their Captain-General promising to obey and follow him They were in all about an hundred and fifty men in number almost all Horse men of great bravery and inured to Sufferings having for the space of three years together undergone incredible hardships both by Famine and long Travels during which time they made a discovery of six hundred leagues of Land scarce enjoying one day of repose the relation of which is not to be expressed by the Pen of Writers With this stout and brave Cavalry Lope de Mendoça descended from the Mountains either with intent to give a stop to the proceedings of Francisco de Carvajal or to join with some other Party which owned and declared for obedience and loyalty to the King. Accordingly he marched as far as the Province and People called Pucuna where he rested one day for the refreshment of his Men and Horses being much harassed with long marches and want of Provisions Francisco de Carvajal who omitted no point that concerned a good Commander received intelligence how that Lope de Mendoça with his Souldiers of the Invasion for they gave the name of Invaders to that Party were descended from the Mountains and that they were not well at unity and in friendship one with the other and therefore not to lose that advantage he resolved to engage them before they were better reconciled Lope de Mendoça having news of his coming fortified himself within Trenches but when he heard that Carvajal approached nearer he then changed his mind fearing a Siege for which having made no provision he concluded that he could not long hold out before he should be forced to a surrender besides he considered that his force consisting for the most part of Horse they would fight with more advantage in the open Field than within Trenches As to the opinion that Carvajal conceived of his People that they were discontented and would leave their Colours with the first occasion that presented it was believed that he would be as much mistaken in his imagination concerning Lope de Mendoça as he had oft-times been of Diego Centeno for on the contrary Mendoça boldly sallied forth to meet Carvajal who also marched against him with his Squadrons drawn forth in form of Battel and so soon as he perceived that Lope de Mendoça had abandoned the Fortification he then made as if he intended directly to give him Battel but his design was onely to entice them out of the Fort which
or New-spain to enter into this Countrey or to possess any part or share thereof to your prejudice or disadvantage And since I protest that all which I say is true and that I have not been able to doe more for your service and advantage than what I have already done I earnestly entreat you to follow the example of God himself herein that is to accept of the real endeavours and good-will of the person and on this consideration let every one satisfie himself with his lot which though not so large perhaps as he expected yet it is as great as the division and thing would bear and less than the Distributor desired and which he will increase when enabled by any fortunate opportunity And now after all my travels and labours both by Sea and Land which I have sustained in this last period of my life I pretend to no other reward than the satisfaction of having acted according to that Talent which God hath given me by which I have discharged my conscience towards God as a Christian towards the King as a faithfull Subject and towards your selves as became a good neighbour and a true servant And indeed if you take not things and understand them in the same manner you ill requite the love and affection I bear you and the care and labours I have sustained for your interest considering that on my part there hath been no failure or omission to advance the same And since for the better settlement of the Courts of Judicature and the Affairs of Lima it is necessary for me to be there present I have desired the most Reverend Father in God the Arch-bishop to supply my presence with you in the City and in my name to offer to you what I can doe at present and what I shall be able to doe for the future And having not farther to add I beseech God that I may live to see you all in great prosperity and plenty and employed in his holy service as fully and as happily as you your selves desire Given at Guaynarima on the 18th day of August 1548. Subscribed Your Servant the Licenciado Gasca Besides this Letter and Instructions given to the Archbishop he gave it in charge to the Father Provincial Frier Thomas de San Martin that he should make a Sermon on the day of the Publication and therein exhort the Pretenders to be contented every man with his portion allotted and to deal with them in private and persuade them thereunto All which Hernandez Palentino writes more at large which we have abbreviated to avoid prolixity and tediousness to the Reader and is as followeth When it was known in Cozco that the President was retired privately to avoid the troublesome importunities of the People one Captain Pardaue being in discourse with other Captains on my Conscience said he this Madalena de la Cruz is retired some where privately to put an Harana upon us for in Peru they call that Harana when a man who hath lost his money at gaming plays some Trick or Sham to avoid payment And amongst other Nick-names given the President they called him Madalena de la Cruz which was as much as Cheater or Sorcerer and was the name of that Woman who was punished by the Officers of the Inquisition in Cordoua And the truth is the President not to hear such insolent Speeches as these retired from Cozco that he might have liberty to make the Distributions and removed farther from it when they were published as Palentino saith in the second Part and Chapter the first of his History in these words It was well known that the President absented himself from Cozco that he might not be present at the time when the Distribution of Lands was published for he was prudent and subtile and understood by good experience the nature of the Countrey and feared much the Insolences of the Souldiers and to hear their Complaints Oaths and Curses And indeed herein he was not deceived for when the Arch-bishop was arrived at Cozco where almost all the Inhabitants and Souldiers were assembled expecting to receive great proportions of Lands and Government they appeared quiet and orderly but so soon as the publication was made on the 24th of August being the Festival of Saint Bartholomew whereby finding themselves much disappointed of their hopes they began to curse and swear and to utter many seditious expressions against the President and his Government to that high degree that all things seemed to tend to mutiny and a new rebellion Hereupon they began to enter into Cabals and secret Consultations how in the first place they might kill the Judge Andres de Cianca and the Arch-bishop whom they esteemed the Authours of the Distributions The cause and ground of their fury and rage they alledged to be the allotment made of principal Places and Lands to those who had been the Followers and Abettors of Gonçalo Piçarro and who had favoured that party which had been in Arms against the King but the relation of these matters is more fully made by Francisco Lopez de Gomara Chap. 188. in these words The President said he went to Apurima twelve leagues distant from Cozco where he consulted with the Archbishop of Los Reyes and his Secretary Pero Lopez about the division of Lands which were to be made and distributed amongst several persons to the value of a million and a half of yearly rent with a hundred and fifty thousand Ducats in Gold which he had raised from divers who were in present possession◠he married many rich Widows to such as had well served the King he increased the Revenue and Estate of others who were already possessed of Lands so than some had a yearly Revenue made up to them of a hundred thousand Ducats which was an Estate for a Prince if the Inheritance had been theirs but the Emperour would allow no other Estate but for life but he who had the greatest Estate assigned to him was Hinojosa Gasca himself went to Los Reyes to avoid the complaints curses and damning of the Souldiers and perhaps for fear of worse And to make publication of the Lands allotted and divided the Archbishop was sent to Cozco and to take those off to whom nothing was given a smooth Letter was wrote to nourish them with future hopes and expectations but the furious Souldiers were neither appeased with the air of smooth words nor the gentle exhortation of the Archbishop Some complained of Gasca for giving them nothing some because they had less alotted than what was expected and others because those who had dis-served the King had the greatest proportion swearing that they would accuse him before the Council of the Indies of which number were the Mareschal Alonso de Alvarado and Melchior de Verdugo who afterwards drew up a formal accusation against him and presented it to the chief Baron of the Exchequer In short their whole discourse tended to Mutiny and Sedition the Archbishop and Judge Cianca Hinojosa
a year with a great command over Indians what could others expect of less condition whereupon all the Citizens submitted to them esteeming their condition securest who were already fled and had made their escapes but the Assassinates grew more insolent and tyrannical than before CHAP. IV. Francisco Hernandez names and appoints a Lieutenant General and Captains for his Army Two Cities send Ambassadours to him The number of Citizens that were fled to Rimac HErnandez having by this time assembled about an hundred and fifty Souldiers belonging to the City and the parts adjacent he began to appoint Officers and Commanders and named Diego de Alvarado his Lawyer to be his Lieutenant General and Thomas Vazquez Francisco Nunnez and Rodrigo de Pineda to be Captains of Horse These two last being Citizens were much in favour and kindly treated by Hernandez ever since the beginning of the Rebellion and to oblige and engage them the more he conferred on them the Commands of Captains of Horse which they accepted rather out of Fear than out of affection to his cause or interest or expectation of benefit or honour from this preferment His Captains of Foot were John de Pedrahita Nunno Mendiola and Diego Gavilan Albertos de Ordunna was made Standard-bearer and Antonio Carillo Serjeant Major So every one respectively repaired to his Charge and Command to raise Souldiers for completing their Troops and Companies Their Ensigns and Colours were made very fine with Inscriptions and Mottoes on them all relating to Liberty so that their Army named themselves the Army of Liberty The report of this Insurrection being noised and bruted abroad in general without any particulars it was believed that all the City of Cozco had joined unanimously in the rebellion on which supposition the Cities of Huamanca and Arequepa sent their Ambassadours to Cozco desiring to be admitted into the League and Society with them and to be received into the protection of the Metropolis and Head-city of the Empire that so they might join together to represent their case to his Majesty which was very burthensome and oppressive by reason of those many grievous Ordinances which were daily sent them by the Judges The Ambassadour from Arequepa was called Valdecabras with whom I was acquainted though Palentino says he was a Frier called Andres de Talavera perhaps they might both be sent He that was sent from Huamanca was called Hernando del Tiemblo and both these Ambassadours were received by Hernandez Giron with much kindness and respect who began now to become proud of his cause and enterprise which appeared so popular that the whole Kingdom in a short time was ready to espouse and embrace it and farther to magnifie his Actions he published abroad that upon the News of what was acted at Cozco the people of the Charcas following the example thereof had killed the Marshal de Alvarado But so soon as the Cities of Huamanca and Arequepa were rightly informed that this Insurrection at Cozco was not raised by the Corporation or by and with the consent and counsel of the whole City but by the contrivance of a single person who being conscious of his past Crimes had raised this mutiny to secure himself from the punishment and how few and of what mean condition the Conspiratours were they altered their resolutions and opinions and with joynt consent prepared themselves to serve his Majesty as others had done in Cozco namely Garçilasso de la Vega Antonio de Quinnones Diego de los Rios Geronimo Costilla and Garci Sanchez de Figueroa my Father 's elder Brother who though he had no Estate given him was yet an old Souldier and one who well deserved of the Countrey these five Gentlemen escaped out of Cozco on the same night of the Rebellion the others which we shall name fled three four or five nights afterwards as opportunity presented so Basco de Guevara a Citizen and the two Eschalantes his Kinsmen escaped the second-night Alonso de Hinojosa and John de Pancorvo fled the fourth night and Alonso de Mesa the fifth night having stayed to conceal and secure his Silver which the Rebels afterwards discovered and converted to their own use as we shall relate hereafter My Master Garçilasso and his Companions proceeding on their journey met with Pero Lopez de Caçalla about nine leagues distant from the City where he lived upon his own Estate of whom we have made mention in the Ninth Book of the First Part of this History Chap. 26. and with him was his Brother Sebastian de Castilla who being informed how matters had passed at Cozco they resolved to accompany these other Gentlemen for the service of his Majesty The Wife of Pero de Lopez called Donna Francisca de Cunniga was of noble descent very handsome vertuous and discreet was unwilling to be left behind but desirous to accompany her Husband in that journey And though she was a tender Woman and of a weak constitution of Body yet she adventured to ride alone with a Side-saddle on a Mule and passed all the bad ways endured all the fatigues and held out as well as any one in the company And every night when they came to their Lodging she took care to provide Supper and Break-fast next morning with help of the Indians and directed the Indian Women in what manner to dress the Victuals all which I have heard those who kept her company discourse concerning this famous Lady These Gentlemen proceeding on their journey and being come to Curapampa about twenty leagues from the City they met Hernan Bravo de Laguna and Gasparo de Sotelo Citizens thereof who had some Lands and Indians in vassalage in those parts to whom having given a report of what had passed at Cozco they resolved to accompany with them as did many other Planters and Souldiers whom they met on the way untill they came to Huamanca the Inhabitants of which City did wonder much to see so many principal persons and men of quality there whose presence confirmed them in their first resolution to serve his Majesty in union with personages of so much honour as these so as many as could go at that time went and were followed by others as their conveniences served But to look a little backwards we forgot to say that when my Master Garçilasso and his Companions passed the Bridge at Apurimac they considered that many people out of Cozco and other parts were likely to follow them in service of his Majesty and therefore it would not be fit to hinder their passage by burning the Bridge for that were to deliver them into the hands of the Rebels wherefore they agreed to order two men to remain for Guards at the Bridge and to suffer all persons to pass who should come thither within the space of five or six days and then to set fire to it whereby they should travel more securely and free of fear from pursuits of the enemy which was accordingly performed so that those who came
de Alvarado continuing his March entered upon the Desarts of Parihuanacocha where by reason of the bad and craggy ways and tempestuous weather or the unhealthfulness of the Climate above sixty of their best Horse dyed though they were led by hand and well covered with Clothing without any reason given for the same the Grooms said that they were taken with a shortness of breath like Horses that are broken winded at which all people wondered but none knew the reason onely the Indians esteemed it ominous and to be a forerunner of ill success Diego Hernandez Chap. 42. speaking of this passage saith as follows When the Marshal was come unto Chumbibilcas and had there provided himself with all things necessary for his Camp he adventured to pass the desart of Parinacocha which is about 32 leagues over which was so full of boggs and morish places snow and rocky asperous passages and so many broken cliffs and water-galls that many Horses perished in that desolate Land which seemed at that time to be a corner of Hell where was nothing but misery and famine c. Thus far this Authour whose Authority we have brought to confirm the truth of what we have before alledged The Marshal left Captain Sancho Dugarte in Parihuanacocha sick of a Flux or Dissentery of which in a few days afterwards he dyed the Army still proceeding in their march the Scouts happened to take one of the Scouts belonging to Hernandez and to save his life they reported that he voluntarily was coming to serve his Majesty and from him the Marshal was informed that Francisco Hernandez was not above twenty leagues distant from that place for which reason he kept his people on the Watch not to be surprized or to have their quarters beaten up in the night When the Army was about two days march from Parihuanacocha a bold action was performed by a certain Negro which alarum'd the Army and was this Captain Diego de Almendras according to his usual Custome did often separate from the Army to shoot wild Beasts of which there were very many in those Desarts and being in this manner one day upon the ramble it was his fortune to meet amidst those rocks with a Negro belonging to Serjeant Major Villavicencio who had run away and whom Almendras would have bound and brought back to his Master The Neger stood still as if he would have submitted but so soon as Almendras came near him thinking to bind his hands with match the Negro stooped down and catched hold of the Ankles of his Leggs and running his Head against his Breast threw him backwards and then with his own Dagger and Sword he gave him so many Wounds that he left him dead After which the Negro fled to the rest of his Kindred and Relations who were with Hernandez and having recounted to them this brave exploit by which he made his escape they all rejoyced and gloried in the action every one boasting of it as if it had been done by himself A young man of mongrel race half Spaniard and half Indian being with Almendras and seeing his Master on the ground and ill treated in that manner took the Negro by the Shoulders to free his Master from him but Almendras being sensible that he was mortally wounded called to the youth to fly before he was killed by the Negro and such was the Cry and Groans he made as gave an allaarum to all the Army he was afterwards carried to Parihuana to be there cured but he dyed in his way thither such was the end of this poor Gentleman who lost his Life in hunting after another man's Negro the which unhappy accident both Indians and Spaniards interpreted as an ill omen of their future Successes CHAP. XVI The Marshal receives intelligence of the Enemy He sends some Forces against them A Skirmish happens between the two Parties The general opinion of the Officers to decline fighting with the Rebels THE day following after this unhappy misfortune befallen Captain Almendras the Marshal receiving advice that the Enemy was not far distant he marched eight leagues farther with his Army and then made a strong detachment which was required to hasten with all expedition and to carry no other baggage or incumbrance than onely Provisions for three days and in this manner as Palentino saith they passed a desart Countrey full of marshes and boggs and deep with Snows and that night they lodged in the open Air without Tents or other covering and having travelled eight leagues farther the next day they came very weary to a People called Guallaripa where they received News that Francisco Hernandez had departed thence three days before and was then at Chuquinga about four leagues distant from them where he staid to refresh his Army which was greatly tyred and discomposed by the Fatigues of a long march over mountainous and desolate Countries At this time the Commissary Romero and Garica de Melo came to the Marshal with a thousand Indians that were Souldiers bringing Provisions and Ammunition to him from the Province of Andaguaylas from them he received a relation of all matters concerning Hernandez and how he had strangled Diego Orihuel a Native of Salamanca having taken him as he was coming to the Marshal's Camp to serve his Majesty Thus far Palentino The Marshal having certain intelligence that the Enemy was near he greatly desired to engage with them and therefore resolved to detach two Captains with a hundred and fifty choice Musquetiers who early in the Morning were to give the Enemy an Allarum and receive such as would pass over to his Majesty's service But the Captains and other persons of quality and interest who were well informed of the strength of the place wherein Hernandez was encamped would have disâ—uaded the Marshal from the design giving him very good reasons why it was not fit or safe to attempt the Enemy within their Fortifications or to hazard the loss of an hundred and fifty of the choicest Musquetiers in the whole Army on whose success the fortune of the day depended but the Marshal replyed that he himself would follow them in the rere and succour them with the whole Army and second them so warmly with his Troops that the Enemy should be able to prevail little on them and so he instantly desired licence of the Captains to draw out from their Companies a hundred and fifty choice Musquetiers which he committed to the command and charge of his Lieutenant General and of Captain John Ramon with Directions to approach as near to the Enemy as was possible The Captains accordingly about midnight marched out with this detachment and about three hours afterwards the Marshal followed them with the whole Army Hernandez who was well advised of the near approach of a severe and incensed Enemy was vigilant not to be surprized unawares and having his forces always in a posture of defence he kept Guards on the Avenues which were but two where it was possible to be attacked
Vice-king began to reflect with reason upon what he had done in his passion it is most certain that he repented of this rash act and bewailed it with tears from his eyes Howsoever so soon as the death of the Agent was made publick in the Town the Vice-king sent to call the principal Citizens to him telling them in excuse for what he had done that the insolent words of the Agent had drawn his death upon himself adding that none ought to take offence thereat for whether he had done well or ill he was accountable to none but God and the King which words more angred and displeased the people that before so that after the revolt of the several men before-mentioned which was followed by this bloudy Tragedy which cannot be excused from the imputation of arbitrary Tyranny without any ground or foundation for it a resolution was taken to imprison the Vice-king though it is most certain that he much lamented this unhappy fate saying that the remembrance of the death of Yllen Suarez made him often distracted and therefore cursed his Brother Vela Nunnez calling him fool and beast for that knowing his choler and passion he had yet brought him to his presence at a time when he knew that he was raving and inflamed therewith for had he been said he a man of discretion he would have deferred the execution of those commands and not have suffered Suarez to appear untill he had seen his anger pacified Thus far Diego Fernandez to which Gomara adds and says That the Agent going to justifie himself the Vice-king stabb'd him twice crying out with a loud voice kill him kill him upon which his Servants came in and dispatched him though some of them threw Clothes upon him to keep off the blows which are the words of Gomara in Chap. 159. with which he concludes and says that the death of the Agent who was a principal person and of great esteem caused great commotions and heart-burnings in those parts and such fear and apprehensions that the Citizens of Lima were afraid to lie in their Houses at night and Blasco Nunnez himself confessed to the Judges that he had committed a great errour in that Fact and that he believed it would be an occasion of his ruine c. And so indeed it proved to be the down-fall of the Vice-king for his very Friends and such as were really of his Party did hereby conceive such fear and dread of his passionate and violent humour that they fled and hid themselves not daring to appear in his presence at which his Enemies took great advantage and courage to maintain their cause against him CHAP. XIV The various resolutions which the Vice-king took upon the news he received of the march of Gonçalo Piçarro towards Los Reyes and how the Judges openly opposed the Vice-king GOnçalo Piçarro being thus reinforced by the coming in of Pedro de Puelles and others who were revolted to him from the Vice-king procceded forward with greater assurances than formerly though very slowly and with short marches by reason of the great incumbrance of the Cannon which being carried on the shoulders of the Indians and over rocky and sharp ways it was not possible to make greater haste The Vice-King in the mean time being alarm'd by the nearer approach daily of his Enemy and considering how much his own people were dissatisfied and that those who outwardly seemed most affected to him proceeded faintly and coldly in his service and that the general dissarisfaction of the people was now plain and evident and that his condition every day became worse than other he resolved though too late to change his Counsels and to publish at length a suspension of the new Laws untill his Majesty's pleasure should be farther known thereupon hoping that upon such a Declaration the minds of the people would be quieted and that Gonçalo Piçarro having no farther subject of complaint his Army would consequently disband and every one return peaceably to his own home Now let us hear what Gomara says Chap. 158. Blasco Nunnez says he was much troubled to understand that Piçarro was so well provided with Arms Cannon and Souldiers so well affected to his cause and interest wherefore seeing no other remedy he declared that he would suspend the execution of the new Laws for two years untill they should receive other Orders from the Emperour though at the same time he made his Protest against it and noted it in his Table-book that he was compelled to that suspension by force and that so soon as the Countrey was again in quietness he would reassume the old pretensions and put them in practice as before all which served to inflame that hatred which the people conceived against him He also proclaimed Piçarro a Traitour and those also who were with him and of his Party promising to those that should kill him or them to bestow their Houses Lands Riches and Estates on them for a reward at which Declaration those of Cozco took great offence as did also those of Lima and in the mean time he actually confiscated the Estates of those who had revolted to Piçarro Thus far Gomara Though this suspension of the Laws came late howsoever it would have had some good effect towards pacifying and quieting the minds of the people and have opened such overtures towards an accommodation but that unluckily at same time that the Suspension was published the News was that the Vice-king had made his Protest against it as an Act to which he was compelled and that he would again return to the execution of the new Laws so soon as the Countrey was appeased and the disturbances allayed which more incensed the minds of the people than ever and confirmed them in a belief that the Vice-king was obstinate and a person inexorable and not to be treated with whence so much mischief ensued as by the sequel will appear and which served to confirm the people in their pretensions and resolutions either to dye or obtain their desires The Vice-king seeing that the means he used to pacifie the people inflamed them the more and that his own people became greatly discouraged and many of them inclined to favour Gonçalo Piçarro for the Gallantry they observed in him who had so freely sacrificed himself for the publick good he thereby measuring the weakness of his force thought it not safe to meet Piçarro in the field but to defend himself within the Walls of the City In pursuance of this design he fortified the City set up Posts and Chains in every Street made loop-holes on the Walls for small shot and laid in provisions for a siege but News coming daily of the great force with which Piçarro marched against them and the resolved mind of his Souldiers the Vice-king thought it not safe to confine himself within the Walls of Los Reyes but to retreat to Truxillo which is about eighty Leagues distant from thence And contriving how to dispose of
the Inhabitants he designed to transport the Citizens Wives by Sea in such Ships as were then in Port and the Souldiers were to march by Land along the Sea coast And for the City it self he resolved to dismantle it and demolish the Walls break down the Mills and carry all things away which might be for subsistence of the Enemy and drive the Indians from the Sea-coast into the in-land Countries supposing that Piçarro coming thither with his Army and finding no subsistence must either disband or his men perish The Vice-king having communicated these his Intentions to the Judges they boldly and openly opposed him telling him plainly that the Royal Courts of Judicature could not remove out of the City for that their Commissions from his Majesty obliged them to act in that place and therefore they desired to be excused if they refused to accompany his Lordship or to suffer their houses to be demolished Herewith an open quarrel arose between the Judges and the Vice-king declaring a different interest to each other the Inhabitants inclined to the side of the Judges in opposition to the Vice-king positively refusing to commit their Wives and Daughters into the hands of Seamen and Souldiers Hereupon the Vice-king arose from the conference he held with the Judges without any determination Howsoever as to his own person he resolved to embark himself and to go by Sea and that his Brother Vela Nunnez should march away by Land and in order thereunto he commanded Diego Alvarez Cuero as Carate reports in the eleventh Chapter of his fifth Book to guard the Children of Marquis Don Francisco Piâ—arro with a Party of Horse to the Sea-side and there to put them on board a ship together with Vaca de Castro after which he was to remain Admiral of the Fleet and to take charge of them as his Prisoners for he was jealous that Antonio de Ribera and his Wife who had the Guardian-ship of Don Gonçalo and his Brothers would convey them away But this matter created a new disturbance amongst the people and the Judges much disliked it especially Doctour Carate who made it his particular request to the Vice-king in behalf of the Lady Francisca that he would be pleased to cause her to be again returned ashoar for that being a young Maid marriageable beautifull and rich it was not decent and agreeable to her modesty to commit her into the hands of Seamen and Souldiers but nothing could avail with the Vice-king to dissuade him from his purpose for being ever obstinate in all his Resolutions he declared his Intentions were to retire and begon contrary to the opinion of all others Thus far Carate And now to abbreviate and sum up all that hath been said by the aforesaid Authours it is most certain that the Judges gave command to Martin de Robles though one of the Vice-king's Captains to make the Vice-king a Prisoner but he desiring to be excused by reason of the ill consequences which might ensue they assured him that it was for the Service of his Majesty and quiet of that whole Empire and a means to suppress all those Mutinies and Troubles which the ill Government of the Vice-king had caused Hereupon Martin de Robles proffered to doe it howsoever he required a Warrant under the hands and seals of the Judges for his security and discharge the which they readily granted and gave order to have it drawn up and kept as a Secret untill the design was ready to be put in execution And farther they forbad the Citizens and Inhabitants to obey the Vice-king in any of his Commands or to deliver up their Wives and Children to be transported or to leave and abandon their Houses requiring all persons of what quality or condition soever to be aiding and assisting to Martin de Robles in seizing the person of the Vice-king and deteining him prisoner for so his Majesty's service required it and the common good and welfare of the publick But whilst these Matters were contriving the people were distracted and in confusion not knowing which side or what course to take the duty and obedience which they owed to their Sovereign Lord the King inclined to take part with the Vice-king but when they considered their Interests and Estates of which they should be deprived in case the Vice-king should prevail they then resolved to adhere unto the Judges who opposed Blasco Nunnez in execution of the new Laws Thus did the people remain a whole day in suspence and the Vice-king to secure himself against the attempts which the Judges might make against him ordered his Captains and Souldiers to put themselves in a posture of defence in which they remained untill mid-night The Judges on the other side understanding that the Vice-king had ordered his Souldiers to stand to their Arms and that he had above four hundred men with him and fearing that it was with intention to seize and secure them they called many of their particular friends to their assistence but so few appeared that they esteemed their force unable to avail against the Vice-king and therefore they fortified themselves as well as they could in the House of Judge Cepeda with intention to defend themselves if they were assaulted Amidst this fear and consternation a certain person whom Gomara calls Francisco de Escobar a Native of Sahagun made a Speech to them and said What make we here Let us goe out in a body into the open Streets where we may dye fighting like men and not cooped up like hens c. To this bold Proposal they all agreed and the Judges in a desperate manner sallyed forth into the Market-place rather with design to deliver up themselves than with hopes to prevail howsoever matters succeeded much contrary to their expectation For the Vice-king who had for a long time untill the night came on remained in the Market-place was persuaded by his Friends and Captains to retire to his Lodgings which he had no sooner done but the Souldiers and Captains finding themselves freed from that awe and respect which his presence obliged them unto revolted with their Companies to take part with the Judges the first of which who led the way were Martin de Robles and Pedro de Vergara who were followed by others and so by others untill there was not one person remaining to keep guard at the gate of the Vice-king unless about a hundred Souldiers who remained within the house and of whom he had made choice for the Guard of his person CHAP. XV. The Imprisonment of the Vice-king and the various Successes which happened thereupon both by Sea and Land. THough the Judges had the good fortune to have the people revolt to their side and that every hour more came in to join with them yet howsoever they were somewhat wary how they made seizure of the person of the Vice-king for it was told them that he was actually in the Market-place with a good force and that he resolved to