ordered their return designing after some time of repose to employ them on some more gratefull and more pleasing Conquests The Vice-King D. Francisco de Toledo who governed those Kingdoms in the year 1572 resolved to conquer those Chirihuanas as Acosta in the 28th Chapter of his 4th Book doth relate at large and in order thereunto having appointed a considerable force of Spaniards provided with all necessaries to undertake that enterprize he entred into that Province carrying with him great numbers of Horses and Cows to breed and increase but he had not marched far before he experienced the insuperable difficulties of that undertaking which he not believing by any former report not yet admonished by the ineffectual attempts which the Incas made upon it was forced at length to abandon his Design and fly shamefully out of the Countrey The ways were so bad that the Mules were not able to pass with his Litter so that he was carried on the Shoulders of Spaniards and Indians whilst the Chirihuanas cried after them with Curses and Reproaches saying Throw down that Old Woman from her Basket that we may eat her alive For the Chirihuanas as we have said are a sort of people greedy and ravenous after Flesh because they have none in their own Countrey either of tame or wild Cattel the Soil not producing Herbage or other nourishment for them being over-run with Briers and Bushes and not cultivated with the least Art or Industry Had they conserved the Cattel which the Vice-king left them ordering Cow-keepers or Herdsmen to attend them as was practised in the Islands of Hispaniola and Cuba they might have had an increase sufficient to have stocked their Countrey Howsoever that barbarous people even from that little Conversation and Learning which they had from the Spaniards during their short abode in their Countrey reaped some benefit as to their manners for they did never afterward eat the Flesh of their own dead onely they were thirsty after the Bloud of their Neighbours and so raving for the Flesh of their Enemies that they despised their own Lives to gain theirs being insensible of all Dangers at the sight of their Prey and so much did they long for humane Flesh that when they surprised at any time Shepherds keeping their flocks of Sheep or Herdsmen watching their Cattel they would forsake and neglect the Herds and Droves to take and devour the Flesh of the Shepherds This inhumane barbarity was so dreadfull to all sorts of people and their Neighbours round about that ten Chirihuanas would chase a thousand others to whom they were so terrible that they affrighted their Children with their very Name The Chirihuanas also learned from this short visit of the Spaniards to make Houses not for private Dwellings but for the publick reception of all comers the Fashion of which was one wide Gallery divided into as many Apartments as there were Persons the Room being no bigger than what was capable to receive one single person for they had no Houshold-stuff nor Garments to cover them going always naked And thus much shall serve for what we have to say of the condition and brutish Life of the Chirihuanas who are so bestial and inhumane that nothing less than a Miracle can reclaim them from this gross and irrational course of Life CHAP. XVIII Of the Preparations which were made for the Conquest of Chili THough the good King Yupanqui had had but ill success against the Chirihuanas yet it did not discourage his Design for the Conquest of Chili or for Atchievements of a more noble Nature For in regard the great Maxime of the Incan State was the increase of their Empire they were ever attempting and designing some thing towards the enlargement of it and indeed such was the Constitution of it in those days that they could not well subsist without War their people being numerous and without Employment and the Stores of Arms Cloths and Shoes which were the Tribute of the Provinces yearly increasing there would have been no consumption of them without a War but would have decayed and perished in the Magazines or Store-houses without use for as to Gold and Silver as we have said none was exacted nor were they in use as current Coin but onely were the voluntary Presents which the Vassals gave for adornment of the Royal Palaces and Temples belonging to the Sun for these Reasons and for the Love and Obedience which his Subjects bore towards him the King Yupanqui accounted himself to be in a proper and able condition for making a War upon the Kingdom of Chili to which end having advised with his Council concerning the way and manner of carrying on the War and having constituted and ordained Officers for administration of common Justice during his absence he proceeded on his way to Chili as far as Atacama which was the most remote Province that was peopled on that side between which and Chili were great Desarts without People or Provisions and there he intended to pitch his Camp to give heat and life to the design From Atacama the Inca sent his Spies and a party like a Forlorn-hope to discover and observe the ways and Difficulties of the passage and because the care was great and the true Discovery of vast importance the charge of it was committed to Incas onely the Kings not being willing to entrust the common safety to the faithfulness of any but such as were of the Royal Lineage These Incas took with them certain Indians from Atacama and Tucma for their Guides for as we have said before these had some knowledge of the way for the better assurance of which it was ordered that from two Leagues to two Leagues the Guides should go and return with a report of the way and difficulties which they encountred in it and should by such Advices accordingly contrive with most advantage to lodge and lay their Provisions for the Army in the most commodious places With this labour and diligence they penetrated eighty Leagues through this desart Countrey which is as far as from Atacama to Copayapu which is a little but a well peopled Province environed round with long and wide Desarts for to pass forward as far as to Cuquimpu are other eighty Leagues of desart-Countrey The Spies having made a Discovery as far as Copayapu and taken as much notice of every thing as could be done by a survey of their Eyes they returned with all diligence to render an account to the Inca of what they had seen and observed The Inca having received their Information ordered ten thousand Men to be made ready under the Command of General Sinchiruca and two other Major Generals whose Names are not known the which being dispatched marched in the best order that the way would permit having their Provisions carried on the backs of Sheep whose Flesh also served for Victuals This Army being dispeeded away the Inca Yupanqui commanded that they should be followed by ten thousand more for the
separated and lived apart one from the other howsoever in a short time having experienced the want of that comfort which mutual society procures their choler was appeased and so they returned to enjoy converse and the assistence which Friendship and Company afforded in which condition they passed four Years during all which time they saw many Ships sail near them yet none would be so charitable or curious as to be invited by their Smoak and Flame so that being now almost desperate they expected no other remedy besides Death to put an end to their Miseries Howsoever at length a Ship adventuring to pass nearer than ordinary espied the Smoak and rightly judging that it must be made by some Shipwrecked Persons escaped to those Sands hoisted out their Boat to take them in Serrano and his Companion readily ran to the place where they saw the Boat coming but so soon as the Mariners were approached so near as to distinguish the strange Figure and Looks of these two Men they were so affrighted that they began to row back but the poor men cryed out and that they might believe them too not to be Devils or evil Spirits they rehearsed the Creed and called aloud upon the Name of Jesus with which words the Mariners returned took them into the Boat and carried them to the Ship to the great wonder of all there present who with admiration beheld their hairy shapes not like Men but Beasts and with singular pleasure heard them relate the story of their past misfortunes The Companion dyed in his Voyage to Spain but Serrano lived to come thither from whence he travelled into Germany where the Emperour then resided all which time he nourished his Hair and Beard to serve as an Evidence and Proof of his past Life wheresoever he came the People pressed as a Sight to see him for Money Persons of Quality having also the same curiosity gave him sufficient to defray his charges and his Imperial Majesty having seen and heard his Discourses bestowed a Rent upon him of Four thousand Pieces of Eight a Year which make 4800 Ducats in Peru and going to the Possession of this Income he dyed at Panama without farther Enjoyment All this Story was related to me by a Gentleman called Garci Sanchez de Figueroa one who was acquainted with Serrano and heard it from his own Mouth and that after he had seen the Emperour he then cut his Hair and his Beard to some convenient length because that it was so long before that when he turned himself on his Bed he often lay upon it which incommoded him so much as to disturb his sleep CHAP. IV. Of the Idolatry and Gods which the Ancient Incas adored and Manner of their Sacrifices FOR better understanding of the Life Customs and Idolatry of the Indians of Peru it will be necessary to distinguish the times before the Incas from those wherein their Rule and Empire began their Gods and Sacrifices and Customs being much different according to the Ages for the Men themselves in the first times were at best but as tamed Beasts and others were worse than the fiercest Creatures To begin with their Gods we must know that they were agreeable to the quality of their own corrupt and abominable manners and every Nation Province Tribe and House had its particular God for their Opinion was that one God would have business sufficient to take care of one Province or Family and that their Power was so confined that it could have no virtue or extent within the Jurisdiction of another and because their Fancies were not so sublimated as to frame abstracted Notions of Deities such as Hope Victory Peace and the like as the Romans did in the time of Gentilism they adored whatsoever they saw such as Flowers Plants Herbs Trees especially Pines and Elmes Caves Stones Rivers and particularly in that Province which is called the Old Port they had a high Veneration for the Esmerald because it is the Pretious Stone of that Countrey and the Diamond and Ruby are in no esteem because they are not known to them they also worshipped the Lion Tyger and Bear for their fierceness and with that submission and humility that they would not fly from them but offer themselves to be devoured by them In fine they adored any thing wherein they observed an Excellency as the Fox and Monky for Craft the Hart for his Swiftness the Falcon for his Agility and Courage and the Eagle for the Acuteness of his Sight such was the vanity aud folly in the imagination of this savage People who had no Scriptures to teach and enlighten them nor Prince to govern and protect them Howsoever there were other Nations more considerate in choice of their Deities adoring none but such as afforded them benefit and advantage as Fountains and cool Springs which yielded them Drink Rivers that watered their Pastures the Earth they called their Mother and worshipped because it yielded them Food the Air because they breathed in it and was their Life the Fire because it warmed them and dressed their Meat some also made choice of Sheep and Corn and Cattel and every thing that abounded most in their Countrey and served for nourishment to be a God and worthy of Divine Honour The Inhabitants near the Cordillera worshipped that Mountain for its height those of the Coast made the Sea their God which in their language they call Mamachoca and is as much as to say the Mother Sea the Whale for its prodigious bigness was in no less Veneration than the rest and every sort of Fish which abounded amongst them was deified because they believe that the first Fish in the World above them takes always care to provide them with a number of the like sort or species sufficient to maintain and nourish them Besides these there are two Nations which are Chirihuanas and others living about the Cape of Passau which are the North and South Borders of Peru that have no thoughts or inclinations to Religion and worship nothing either above or below but giving themselves over to stupidity and sloth neither having fear nor love live with the same sensuality that Beasts do because they have not as yet had the happiness to receive the instructions doctrine and government of the Incas who are the Indian Kings The Sacrifices which they made to these Gods were as cruel and barbarous as the Gods were stupid and senseless to whom they offered them for besides Beasts and Fruits and Corn they sacrificed Men and Women of all ages which they had taken in the War And some Nations of these exceeded so far in their inhumanity that they offered not onely their Enemies but on some occasions their very Children to these Idols The manner of these Sacrifices were to rip open their breasts whilst they were alive and so tear out their Heart and Lungs with the Bloud of which whilst warm they sprinkled their Idols then they inspected the Lungs and Heart to
of their Parents In times of War the Generals and Captains assumed the same power over their Souldiery and took the same care of them as the Decurions did in the time of Peace whose Offices besides the matters before mentioned obliged them to take an account of the Births and Burials of all those that were born or died that year under their jurisdiction and of those who went to the War. Those people whom they conquered though subdued by force of Arms yet they did never plunder or take away their goods This word Decurion which is composed from the Latin Decem which is ten and cura care that is a care over ten answers directly to the Indian word Chunca camayu chunca signifying ten and camayu care and by information of these the Incas came to a knowledge of the number of their Subjects in every Province that so according thereunto they might proportion the Taxes and Impositions for publick Works such as the building of Bridges making and repairing High-ways erecting Forts and Royal Palaces with what number of Souldiers they ought to serve the Inca in his Wars By these computations also the Inca was better enabled to send Provisions into those Provinces which by reason of the sterility of the year occasioned by Flouds or unseasonable weather were become wanting of Corn or Cottons or Wool all which were administred and sent with such readiness and expedition that as Blas Valera often says the Incas took such care of their Subjects providing for them in all their necessities that they might rather be styled Fathers of their Countrey and Guardians of their Pupils than Kings over Subjects and to express this care in one word the Indians gave them the title of Lovers of the Poor And lest the Superiour Governours should be remiss or negligent in the execution of their Offices there was a Monitor or Remembrancer appointed called Tucuy-ricoc which is as much as a Supervisor or Informer and his duty it was to put the Officers in mind of the matters relating to their Government so that in case any of these should be found remiss in his charge or guilty of any crime his punishment was always proportioned to his quality rather than his fault it being an opinion amongst them that the least evil was not to be tolerated in a Minister of Justice who was chosen by the Sun and the Inca to eradicate Evils and therefore was obliged to be more upright and observant of the Laws than the other Subjects CHAP. VI. Of certain Laws Ordained by the Incas and of the Opinion That the Incas and those of the Royal Bloud can doe no wrong or offend contrary to Law. PEcuniary Mulcts or Confiscation of Goods were never imposed by the Incas in way of punishment for any offence they esteeming nothing satisfactory to Law but that which required the extirpation of the Evils rather than the Life of the Offendour for that all other remedies give but onely encouragement and liberty to transgress If a Curaca or Lord rebelled which was always punished with most severity by the Inca and that thereby he forfeited his life the Estate notwithstanding descended to his Son or to his Heir but with due admonition that by such example he should beware of the Treason and Rebellion of his Father so likewise if any Cacique or Officer was deprived of his place or his Seigniory for faults committed the next Heir succeeded in it whether he were a Son or a Brother the same rule also was observed amongst the Souldiery whose Commanders were Natives of the Countrey and their Generals or chief Commanders were Princes of the Bloud under whom the Captains and Superiour Officers esteemed it for a particular honour and favour to serve No Judge had power to moderate the Sentence of Law by any Rule of Equity but rather to exact the severity of it for being ordained by the Wisedom of the Incas and the concurrence of Wise men it ought neither to be controlled or rendred more equitable by the sense and practice of particular Judges who are capable of being corrupted or overcome by favour or affection to a party And though it may seem very barbarous and unreasonable that every offence should be punished with Death and that there should be no difference between the crimes of a higher and the faults of a lesser nature yet considering the benefit which the Publick received thereby and that the Evils rather than the Persons were taken away such a constitution ought not to be esteemed unjust or irrational For in regard that men naturally love life and fear and abhor death they studiously fled from the appearance of any thing which might bring them within the danger of it so that in all this great Empire which reaches 1300 Leagues in length consisting of divers Nations and Languages we scarce have heard in the space of a whole year so much as of the punishment of a single person and to this obedience and submission to Law the opinion of the Sanctity of it did much avail and the belief that it was delivered by the Sun who was their God and by revelation inspired into the minds of the Incas his children so encreased the veneration and honour they had for it that none could be esteemed a breaker of the Law but who also therewith was guilty of sacrilege or violation of the holy and divine Sanction Hence it was that many finding a remorse of conscience within themselves in sense of some secret faults they had committed have often without accusation presented themselves before the Tribunals of Justice confessing publickly their offences by reason of which diseases deaths and distresses had befallen their People and Nation and therefore desired that their lives might be offered to their God as an expiation and an attonement for their sin This sort of confession was the ground of the mistake of certain Spanish Historians who report that Auricular confession was practised amongst the Indians whereas I am certain that amongst those of Peru for I treat of no other it was never accustomary to make other Confessions than such as were publick No Appeals as we have said were allowable in any case whatsoever for every people having its proper Judge no Process was to continue longer than five days before it was finally determined onely in obscure and difficult cases the matter was brought before the Superiour Governour who resided in the capital City rather than before the common Judge of the Province The Inferiour Judges rendred every month an account to their Superiours of all the Law-suits which were brought before them and of the Sentences they gave in the determination thereof to the end that they might see and judge whether true Sentence were given and the Laws rightly administred This information from one to another came at length to the Inca and in regard they were not as yet arrived to the knowledge of Letters they gave these Informations to the Incas and his
supreme Council by way of Knots of divers colours tied in a silken twist the colours being as so many cyphers denoting the crimes they had punished and the bigness of them and manner of making them up signified that Law which was executed as we shall hereafter more particularly declare and in this manner by way of Knots they kept all their accounts so exactly and summed them up with such readiness that to the great admiration of the Spaniards their best Arithmeticians could not exceed them It is an opinion and held for a certain truth amongst them that there never was Inca of the Royal Bloud that was punished or that any of them did ever commit a crime which incurred the penalty of the Law For that the principles they received from their Parents the example of their Ancestours and the common belief of the World that they were the Progeny of the Sun born to instruct others to doe good and to refrain the people from Vice were considerations that made such impressions in them that they were rather the ornament than the scandal of Government disdaining to stoop to such base and mean actions as were transgressions of their Law The truth is they wanted the temptations which others had to offend for neither the desire of women or richness or revenge could be motives to them For in case any one of them entertained a passion for the Beauty of a Woman it was but to send for her and she could not be denied nay rather her Parents would receive the proposal with humble acknowledgments that the Inca would vouchsafe to cast his eye on his handmaid that was his Slave The like may be said as to the desire of Wealth they had no necessities but what were readily satisfied for being Children of the Sun all the Wealth and Riches of their Countrey was esteemed their inheritance and their occasions were satisfied by the Mandates sent to the Justices and the Governours of Provinces for a supply Nor were they liable to the unworthy passion of Revenge for none could provoke them to anger by injuries who sought all ways and means to please and oblige them for being adored as Gods it was esteemed blasphemy and sacrilege to disgrace them by Words or injure them in their Estates and therefore it may be said that never was Indian punished for disrespect or a malitious action against the Person of an Inca. Hence it is that the Spanish Historians have reported that an Inca was not capable of being punished for any Offence whatever which is a mistake and is as much as to say that the Incas were Libertines that they might be arbitrary and by Law act against it or that there were one Law for them and another for their People whenas an Inca was rather exposed to the greater severities than any other for he forfeited his Privileges was degraded of the Honours due to the Royal Bloud and esteemed for Aüca which is as much as a Traytor and a Tyrant Thus when the Spaniards commended and applauded the just and generous actions of the Incas the Indians would make answer that it was not strange in regard they were Incas and if they disapproved at any time their proceedings as in the case of Atahualpa who by Treason and Rebellion dispossessed Huascar his elder Brother and true Heir to the Monarchy as we shall relate in its due place their Reply was that no Inca could be guilty of such Enormities and if he were he was no true born Inca but some Bastard or Impostour of that Family In every Province according to the four Divisions the Inca constituted his different Councils of War of Justice and of his Treasury every one of which maintained their subordinate Officers one under the other even to the Decurions of Ten all which in their respective places rendred an account to their immediate Officers till the Report came to the supreme Council The chief Governour of every Division had the Title of a Vice-King and were always Incas of the true Bloud and Men approved for Prudence and good Conduct both in the time of War and Peace And so much shall suffice to have spoken concerning their Laws and Customs We shall now proceed to the History of their Lives and Actions relating those matters which are most famous and observable CHAP. VII Of the Life and Reign of Sinchi Roca second King of the Incas SInchi Roca succeeded his Father Manco Capac this name Roca is pronounced with some aspiration at the top of the Mouth and as Blas Valera says signifies a prudent and experienced Prince Sinchi signifies valiant for though he had no Wars with any yet because he was active in wrestling running vaulting throwing the stone and lance and excelled all others of that age in those Exercises he was surnamed the Valiant and Magnanimous This Prince having performed those Obsequies which were due to the solemnity of his Father's Interment took upon himself the Crown of his Kingdom which was no other than the coloured Wreath bound about his Temples determining in the first place to inlarge the Borders of his Dominions he assembled the principal Curacas and Counsellours which his Father had assigned him and in a grave and serious Oration amongst other things he told them that in performance of the Will of his Father which he declared to him at the time he was about to return to Heaven he resolved to go in Person and summon the neighbouring Nations to come in and be converted to the knowledge and adoration of the Sun and in regard they had the same Title of Incas as well as their King he conceived that the same Obligation lay upon them to serve the Sun who was the common Parent of them all and therefore required them to join with him in the same work and design that so they might reduce those People from their brutish and bestial course of living to a Life more regular and rational for that they seeing the improvements which the instructions of his Father the Inca had made in his own Subjects might be more easily allured to forsake their old barbarous Customs and embrace those which are more beneficial and refined Hereunto the Curacas gave this ready and chearfull Answer that they were not onely willing to obey his Commands in this particular but even to enter into the fire for his sake and so ending their Discourse they prefixed a day to begin their Journey and accordingly the Inca departed with a great Retinue of his Subjects taking his Journey by the way of Collasuyu which lies to the Southward from the City Cozco and as they travelled they persuaded the Indians with fair words to follow their Example and to become Subjects to the Inca and Devotaries to the Sun uniting with them in Religion towards their God and Allegiance to their Prince Those Indians which are of the Nations called Puchina and Canchi and are the next borderers being a People very simple and credulous as
of the Sun and after these two Offices were performed he departed from the City to see his Father who all this while conserved himself within the Straits of Muyna and in the same place where he had formerly left him The Inca Yahuar-Huacac received the Prince his Sun with all the expressions of joy and contentment imaginable congratulating his Success and victorious Archievements but yet his Countenance appeared so melancholy and reserved that he seemed thereby to testifie more of Emulation and Envy than of real Satisfaction for the shame and confusion he conceived in seeing his Son victorious seemed to upbraid his Cowardise nor can it well be determined whether the Envy of his Son's Honour or the sense he had for basely forsaking the Temple of the Sun or the fear of being deposed for his mean and pusillanimous Behaviour was most prevalent in his confused mind But certain it is that at this publick interview few words passed between them what afterwards happened in private is not certainly known but it is believed by the Indians that the whole Discourse was in reference to the Government which of the two should reign and which appeared by the sequel it being resolved between them that the Father having forsaken and abandoned the City was no more worthy to return unto it For Ambition and desire of Government is so prevalent in the minds of Princes that they are willing to take any pretext to cover their aspiring thoughts and indeed this imputation of Cowardise seemed the more plausible reason in that it was seconded by the suffrages of the people and the consent of the Court to which the Father condescended being constrained thereunto by force and by an abhorrence the naturally had to War especially to Civil Dissentions Upon which agreement the draught of a Palace was immediately designed and intended to be built between the Straits of Muyna and Quespicancha where was an excellent Air and pleasant Situation and easily improveable by Gardens and Orchards and all the Divertisements of Hunting Fishing and other Royal Pastimes being much advantaged therein by the benefit of the River Yucay into which many Streams and Brooks fall on the East-quarter of the House The Foundation of this House being laid some ruines of which do to this day remain the Prince returned to Cozco where he changed his yellow for the crimson Wreath and yet was contented that his Father should still conserve his Royalty in the colour of his Ribbon on condition that he renounced the substantial parts of Government for proud and ambitious Men can endure punctilio's and immaterial circumstances in others whilst Power and Greatness is reserved for themselves This Fabrick being completed it was furnished with all things necessary and such attendance allowed as was agreeable to the State and Magnificence of a King so that Yahuar-huacac found no difference in his living unless it were in being freed and eased from the Burthen of Government In this solitary manner this poor King passed the remainder of his unhappy days deposed from his Kingdom and confined to the Countrey having exchanged his condition with his Son who now lived and governed in the City whilst the Father lived an Exile in the fields having his Conversation with Beasts rather than Men. This unhappy Fortune as the Indians believe was the effect of that direfull Omen of weeping bloud but yet in their political reflexions on some passages they concluded that in case the Inca in the time of the obstinacy and perverseness of his Son had instead of a confinement to a Countrey Life given him a small Dose of that Poison which was in practice amongst the Tyrants and Magicians of that Empire he might easily have diverted that sad Fate which his Tears of Bloud portended But others better inclined to speak favourably of the Prince for though they could not wholly acquit him of Crime towards his Father yet they moderated it in some manner by alledging that his Father's Fate might have been worse in case his Enemies had prevailed for having forsaken the Protection of his City and Empire out of mere Cowardise it was some Happiness to have his Defaults repaired by the Valour of his Son under whom the Succession was secured and his own Life spared and defended Others speaking of the general Praise of their Kings said to this effect That this unhappy Inca had no thought or imagination of Poison for that all other his Predecessors having made it their business to prohibit the practice of it and destroy the use of it in the World he himself was ready to have checked any such motion within his own Mind in case either his Thoughts or persuasion of others had suggested such a remedy to him Others herein applauded the Religion and Generosity of the Incas who scorned to act that which their own Decrees had made unlawfull it being unseemly and beneath the Dignity of the Sun's Race to allow that in themselves which they had made illegal in their Subjects Many such Discourses and Reflexions passed on this matter according to every Man 's particular fancy and opinion with which we shall conclude our History of Yahuar-Huacac and not farther mention other particulars of his Life leaving him at his Countrey retirement to die with obscurity CHAP. XXI Of the word Viracocha and why they called the Spaniards by that Name BUT to return now to the Prince to whom they gave the Name of Viracocha by reason that the Vision which appeared to him in a Dream so called himself And in regard this Phantafm was described by the Prince to appear with a long Beard and Garments trailing on the ground which was a much different habit to the fashion of the Indians who naturally have little Hair in their Faces and by custome wear Coats not reaching farther than their knees so soon as they had a sight of the first Spaniards that invaded Peru and observed their long Beards and Garments which clothed all parts of their Bodies and that their first Action was to take and kill Atahualpa their Tyrant King who not long before had murthered Huascar the lawfull Heir and Successour and destroyed all those of the Royal Bloud which might endanger his Title to the Government without any regard to Age or Sex with many other Cruelties which we shall recount in their due place When I say they observed that the Spaniards revenged the Bloud of their Incas and punished the enormous Crimes they called to mind the Apparition Viracocha and comparing the punishment which he executed on the Chancas for their rebellion with the Justice which the Spaniards performed on Atahualpa in revenge of the Murthers he committed on the Royal Family they presently concluded that the God Viracocha was the Parent of the Spaniards for which reason they received and welcomed them to their Countrey and worshipped and adored them with the Name of Viracocha and hence it was that the Conquest of Peru became so easie that six Spaniards onely of
Of the Buildings Ornament and Furniture of the Royal Palaces THE Services and Ornaments of the Royal Palaces belonging to the Kings of Peru were agreeable to the Greatness Riches and Majesty of their Empire with which also corresponded the Magnificence of their Court and Attendance which if well considered might equal if not exceed the State and Grandeur of all the Kings and Emperours of the Universe As to their Houses and Temples Gardens and Baths they were all built of Free Stone rarely well polished and so well joined together and so close laid that they admitted no kind of Cement the truth is if any were used it was of that sort of coloured Mortar which in their Language they call Llancac Allpa which is a sort of slimy Cement made up like a Cream which so united and closed the Stones together that no seam or crevise appeared between them for which reason the Spaniards were of opinion that they worked without Mortar others said that they used Lime but both are mistakes for the Indians of Peru neither knew the manner or use of Lime Mortar Tile or Brick In many of the Royal Palaces and Temples of the Sun they closed up the Seams of their Building with melted Gold or Silver or Lead Pedro de Cieça a Spanish Historian saith That for greater Magnificence they filled the joints between the Stones with Gold or Silver which was afterwards the cause of the total destruction of those Buildings for the Spaniards having found these exteriour appearances of Gold and some other heaps of Metall within have for farther Discovery subverted the very Foundations of those Edifices in hopes of finding greater Treasure which otherwise were so firmly built as might have continued for many Ages Pedro de Cieça confirms the same at large and saith farther That the Temples of the Sun were plated with Gold as also all the Royal Apartments They also framed many Figures of Men and Women of Birds of the Air and Fishes of the Sea likewise of fierce Animals such as Tygers and Lions and Bears Foxes Dogs and Cats in short all Creatures whatsoever known amongst them they cast and moulded into true and natural Figures of the same shape and form of those Creatures which they represented placing them in corners or cones of the Walls purposely made and fitted for them They counterfeited the Plants and Wall-flowers so well that being on the Walls they seemed to be Natural The Creatures which were shaped on the Walls such as Lizards Butter-flyes Snakes and Serpents some crawling up and some down were so artificially done that they seemed Natural and wanted nothing but Motion The Inca commonly sate on a Stool of Massie Gold which they called Tiana being about three quarters of a Yard high without Armes or Back and the seat something hollow in the middle this was set on a large square Plate of Gold which served for a Pedestal to raise it All the Vessels which were for the service of the Inca both of the Kitchin and of the Buttery were all made of Gold or Silver and these were in such quantities that every House or Palace belonging to the Inca was furnished in that manner with them that there was no occasion when he Travelled to remove them from one place to the other In these Palaces also there were Magazines or Granaries made of Gold and Silver which were fit to receive Corn or Grane but they were rather places of State and Magnificence than of use The Inca had his Palace well furnished with Bedding and so many changes of Apparel that having worn a Suit twice he gave it to his Kindred or his Servants Their Bed-cloaths were Blankets like our Freezes made of Goats Wool and so soft and fine that amongst other curiosities of that Countrey they carried over some of the Blankets for the Beds of Philip the Second King of Spain these Blankets served them for Beds to lye on as well as Coverings But they would by no means be reconciled to Quilts or be persuaded to sleep upon them perhaps because that having seen them in the Chambers of the Spaniards they seemed too effeminate and soft for Men who made profession of a more hardy life and who had not created to themselves so many superfluous necessities as Men who ranged both Sea and Land for Riches and Treasure They had no occasion of Hangings for their Walls which as we have said they Adorned with Plates of Gold or Silver The Dishes of Meat provided for the Inca's Table were many because many Incas of his Kindred were his frequent Guests and his Servants were very numerous being all to be fed at the charge and care of the Inca. The usual hour of Eating for all sorts of people was from eight to nine in the Morning in the Evening they supped by Day-light making no more than these two Meals In Drinking they were more intemperate for though they did not Drink during the time of their Meal yet afterwards when they sate to it they drank commonly till Night But this was a custome amongst the Rich and Men of Estates and not amongst the Poor whose poverty obliged them to a necessity of being abstemious And the common custome and practice amongst all in general was to retire betimes to their repose and to rise early in the Morning to follow their Employments CHAP. II. How all the Ornaments and Curiosities which Beautified the Royal Palaces were made of Gold and Silver ALL the Royal Palaces had their Gardens and Orchards and places of Pleasure wherein the Inca might delight and divertise himself and these Gardens were planted with Fruit-trees of the greatest beauty with Flowers and Odoriferous Herbs of all sorts and kinds which that Climate did produce In resemblance of these they made Trees and Flowers of Gold and Silver and so imitated them to the life that they seemed to be natural some Trees appeared with their Fruit in the blossom others full-grown others ripe according to the several seasons of the year they counterfeited also the Mayz or Stalk of the Indian Wheat with all its Grane and Spikes Also the Flax with its Leaves and Roots as it grows in the Fields and every Herb and Flower was a Copy to them to frame the like in Gold and Silver They fashioned likewise all sorts of Beasts and Birds in Gold and Silver namely Conies Rats Lizards Serpents Butterflyes Foxes Mountain Cats for they had no tame Cats in their Houses and then they made Sparrows and all sorts of lesser Birds some flying others perching on the Trees in short no Creature that was either Wild or Domestick but was made and represented by them according to its exact and natural shape In many Houses they had great Cisterns of Gold in which they bathed themselves with Cocks and Pipes of the same Metal for conveyance of the Water And amongst many other pieces of State and Magnificence they had heaps or stacks of Faggots and Billets made of Gold and
that slays another like himself must necessarily dye for it and pay the punishment with his own life for which reason the Kings Our Royal Progenitors did ordain that whosoever killed another should pay the price of bloud with his own life Thieves are not upon any terms to be tolerated because they are a generation who would rather live upon prey and robbery than gain riches by honest labour or enjoy their possessions by a lawfull title Adulterers who take away the good reputation and honesty of another Family are disturbers of the common peace and quiet and are as bad as Thieves and Robbers and therefore to be condemned to the Gallows without mercy A truly noble and courageous spirit is best tried by that patience which he shews in the times of adversity Impatience is the character of a poor and degenerate spirit and of one that is ill taught and educated When Subjects are obedient their Kings and Governours ought to treat them with gentleness and clemency but the perverse and obstinate are to be ruled with a severity and rigour moderated by prudence Judges who are corrupted by Gifts clandestinely received from Plaintiff or Defendant are to be esteemed for Thieves and to be punished for such with capital punishment Governours ought to have a special eye unto two things first that they themselves observe and execute the Laws of their Prince and not suffer others to transgress them And next that they seriously consider and contrive all matters which may tend to the good and benefit of their respective Provinces That Indian who knows not how to govern his own Family will be much less capable to rule a Kingdom A Physician or Herbalist who knows the Names but is ignorant of the Virtues and Qualities of Herbs or he who knows few but is ignorant of most is a mere Quack and Mountebank in Physick and deserves not the name and repute of a Physician untill he is skilfull as well in the Noxious as the Salutiferous qualities of Herbs He that would pretend to count the number of the Stars is a Fool and worthy to be derided These are the Sayings and Sentences of the Inca Pachacutec which were conserved in memory by their Knots they having not attained to the more ready way of letters or cyphers Royal Commentaries BOOK VII CHAP. I. Of the Colonies planted by the Incas and of the two different Languages in Peru. IT was a custome amongst the Incas to transplant the people from one Province to another that is from barren Lands and Countries to more fruitfull and pleasant soils whereby both the government was secured from rebellion and the condition of the people advantaged by a happy and profitable exchange In performance of which design the Incas had always a respect to the condition and quality of the people and the temperature of the climate transplanting those who had been born and bred in hot or cold Regions into Countries of the same degree and equal temper of heat and cold Likewise in Provinces where the people multiplied greatly and were become too numerous to be contained within the limits and compass of it then did they subtract from thence such a number as might ease the Province and supply the wants of other places The like was practised in Collao which is a Province of 120 Leagues in length containing several other Nations under its jurisdiction This Countrey being very cold produced neither Mayz which is Indian Wheat nor Uchu which is Red Pepper and yet it abounds with Pulse and all sorts of lesser Grane such as that they call Papa and Quirua which do not grow in hot Countries and is also rich in Flocks and Herds of Cattel From all those cold Provinces they transplanted great numbers of Indians to the Eastward by the Mountains of Anits and to the Westward along the Sea-coast where lyes a vast Countrey containing many large and fruitfull Vallies which produced Mayz and Red Pepper in great abundance and which before the times of the Incas for want of the Art and Knowledge of making Aqueducts and Chanels for watring the Furrows of their Land lay wholly dispeopled and deserted The Incas Kings having well considered the benefit of these improvements did frequently transplant their people from the barren to more commodious and happy soils and for their refreshment in those Plantations furnished them with a quantity of Water sufficient for their Lands making it a Law that they should succour and help one the other and by bartering their commodities one for the other what one wanted was supplied by the other By these means also the Incas secured their own Revenue which was paid them in Mayz or Indian Wheat for as we have said before one third of their Fruits which their Lands produced did belong to the Sun and another third to the Inca. Moreover by this course the Incas were supplied with great quantities of Mayz for maintenance of their Armies in that cold and barren Countrey so that the Collas were able to carry great quantities of Quinua and Chinu and great slices of that which they called Charqui to their Kindred in other Plantations and in exchange and barter for them returned home laden with Mayz and red Pepper and other Fruits which those Countries yielded which commodious way of trade was of great benefit and consolation to the Indians Pedro Cieça de Leon in the 99th Chapter of his Book discoursing of this manner of mutual Commerce saith That in fruitfull Years the Inhabitants of Collao live with contentment and plenty but in dry years they suffer great wants and scarcity of all Provisions The truth is had not the Incan-King prescribed excellent Laws for the government of this People and ordered every thing with a provident and industrious regard certainly these Countries would have laboured under great penury and wants and perhaps have relapsed into the same bestial condition in which they once were before the times of the Incas And thus much I affirm because I know that the Climate under which the Collas inhabited is cold and therefore not so fruitfull as the warmer Regions of more happy Countries And in regard the mountains of Andes did border on all sides of those Colonies it was ordered that all parts should issue forth a certain number of Indians with their Wives and Children who being planted according to the direction of their Caciques in such places as were convenient might improve their Lands and by Industry and Art supply that which was wanting by nature which People were called Mitimaes and were so obedient and observant to their Lords and Captains that to this day they are Drudges to them their principal care and business being to manure and cultivate the Coca Plantations which are so pretious and profitable that though in all Collao they neither sow nor reap Mayz yet neither the Lords who are Natives nor the Common People who are industrious do want sufficient quantities of Mayz Honey and all
Countrey he should not have remained one moment without the Ensign of his Royal Dignity upon his Head and that as to the Division of the Kingdom they would treat more fully hereafter when matters were a little better settled in quietness for that at present the Indians had made Insurrections in divers places which were not yet appeased but as to the Services which the Indians were to perform towards the Spaniards and the modification of the Peace which was to be maintained he remitted all to the Disposition of the Inca to order and design that which should be most agreeable to his own Good-will and Pleasure which the Spaniards would embrace with a chearfull readiness but as to the Preachers which were intended to instruct his People in the Divine Law they had so few Priests amongst them that as yet they could not spare any but that when a new supply came which they did shortly expect they should be immediately dispeeded upon this Errant for that the chief Design of the Christians was to retract the Indians from the Errours of their ways and to shew unto them the folly of their Superstition and Idolatry With these Assurances the Indians were greatly satisfied and the Inca delayed not immediately to bind his Head with the coloured Wreath which Ceremony was attended with great Joy and Triumph though for want of those of the Bloud Royal and of many Curacas or Barons who were cut off by the Cruelty of Atahualpa the solemnity was nothing so splendid and magnificent as in the times of the ancient Incas when the great numbers of Nobility added Glory to the Court yet the young Gallants rejoiced to see that Festival how mean soever at which the old Men grieved who remembred the times of the Great Huayna Capac and had seen the splendour of his Court. CHAP. XIII How the two Governours marched in pursuit of Major General Quizquiz IN our former Discourse we left Don Pedro de Alvarado and Don Diego de Almagro with their brisk Souldiery on their march towards Cozco where the Governour Don Francisco de Piçarro kept his Court and as they were on their way News was brought them that the Major General Quizquiz had gathered great Forces and was encamped in the Province of Cannaris having with him much Gold and Silver and other pretious Commodities with great Flocks and Herds of Cattel The Fame hereof increased in the telling as is usual wherefore the Governours resolved to march that way to defeat that Army and destroy the Tyrant having understood from the Indians that there was no other Army besides that in all the Empire Though Quizquiz was strong in his numbers yet he was not willing or very ready to engage with the Spaniards for in regard that both he and the Inca Titu Atauchi had sent the Articles and Capitulations to the Governour which they had concluded and agreed with Francisco de Chaves and his Companions as we have before mentioned they remained in expectation to hear of a general Peace between the Indians and the Spaniards and little dreamed of any Forces which were marching to destroy them This security and confidence was much increased by the persuasion of the Inca Titu Atauchi on whose Words uttered at the hour of his Death they much relied for we must know that this poor Inca died a few days after he had dismissed Chaves and his Companions his end being hastned by the melancholy he conceived for the sad fate of his Brother Atahualpa and by the news of the bloudy Tragedy acted by that Traytor Rumminavi in Quitu on his Kindred Brothers Captains and on the innocent select Virgins All which Massacres and Villanies committed by a Vassal on the Bloud Royal and on the Life of his own Inca he esteemed to be forerunners of the entire subversion of the Empire and of the Majesty of his Family and being overwhelmed with the sense thereof he called for Quizquiz and his other Captains and told them plainly that they should endeavour to make a Peace with the Viracochas and should serve and adore them according as the Inca Huayna Capac had by his last Will and Testament ordered and commanded them who being the Oracle of that time his Ordinances and Rules were esteemed indispensible therefore they should endeavour to please the Viracochas who were the Off-spring descended from their Father the Sun and of the same Lineage with the Incas all which he farther enforced and confirmed by virtue of the Command and Charge committed unto him by his Father Huayna Capac With such Arguments as these and in hopes and expectations that the Capitulations would be maintained Quizquiz remained very secure in the matters of War and though he received intelligence that the Governours were marching towards him yet he apprehended no hurt nor received an Allarm onely he detached about an hundred Souldiers under a Centurion or Captain which is the smallest number that the Indians have in a Company this Centurion the Historians Gomara and Carate call Sctaurco which signifies six Mountains for C Octa signifies six and Orco a Mountain for he was born in a Valley between six lofty Mountains such as are common in that Countrey and they say that his Father and Mother were in his company which must be upon some extraordinary occasion for Women never go to the War with their Husbands perhaps it might be to keep up the story of his Birth and of his Life for the Indians by such like Names and by such Sayings or by Cyphers or Hieroglyphicks and by their Verses and Poetry have conserved the Traditions of their History and have therein comprehended the success of all their Matters in a compendious manner as for example the Embassies sent to their Incas and their Answer thereunto the Speeches made in Peace and War what such a King or Governour commanded with the punishments inflicted and in short whatsoever was transacted in the publick Affairs All which the Historians or Notaries taught unto their Children by Tradition instructing them in Cyphers and short Versicles and in such short Words as the Name of this Captain and in such other Brief Sayings as we have already declared by help of which and of their Knots an Indian would read or recount the passages of his Time as well or faster than a Spaniard could reade Books writ with Letters as Acosta testifies in the 8th Chapter of his 6th Book not that these Knots furnished him with Words but onely called things to his Memory which having studied day and night he became versed in every particular so as to be able to render an account of his Office. All which though we have formerly declared at large yet having so pertinent an Instance as this Name of Captain C Octaorco we have thought it not impertinent to repeat the same that we may verifie what we have formerly reported and to help the Memory of the Reader This Captain as we have said was sent by Quizquiz for a scout
to have hanged them all with the same Cords but such was the soft and generous Nature of this good Man that he not onely neglected all Examination and Enquiry into this daring and impudent Action but rather inclined to form Excuses for them saying that they were low unhappy and provoked thereunto by their Misfortunes which were a sufficient punishment and needed no other Revenge by the way of Justice When this tameness of the Marquis was published in Chili their Spirits were not mollified thereby but became farther outrageous and unsupportable till they proceeded to touch the Bloud and Life of the Marquis himself as we shall speedily see in what is to follow CHAP. VI. Of the Mutiny in which the People of Chili killed the Marquis and what occasion provoked them thereunto THough the Almagrians had by several open Actions evidenced a resolution to kill the Marquis yet they could not agree on the manner how that Villany was to be committed for sometimes they were of opinion that the best way was to expect the Imperial Warrant from His Majesty which could not long be wanting to put him to Death for that as we formerly intimated Diego de Alvarado was then actually in Spain accusing the Family of Piçarro and had so far proceeded in his Evidence as to procure a special Commission of Oyer and Terminer to be held at Cozco on this very matter but then they considered that this very Power which the Judge was bringing was limited and without other Authority than onely to examine the matter of Fact and to report it back again into Spain and that thereupon His Majesty would farther determine what other Proceedings should be made and sentenced against the guilty The Almagrians were not a little scandalized and troubled at this kind of Commission for they were onely for cutting off of Heads right or wrong and expected Judges who upon their Informations and suggestions should hang up the Bodies and confiscate the Estates of as many as they should in a black Roll proscribe But not being assured as yet how far the Commission of the Judge might extend they agreed to expect his Arrival and in case he immediately seized on the Person of the Marquis and performed other pieces of exemplary Justice agreeable to their own Expectations and Humours that then they would acquiesce and side with and assist him in his prosecution of Justice but if his Commission was short and faulty that then they themselves would become the Executioners and both revenge the Bloud of Almagro by the Death of the Marquis and the remisness of the Emperour especially in a Cause so black and so foul as this both which they secretly plotted to perform by a General Insurrection of all the Countrey as will more at large appear by the Sequel of this History This Plot was so publickly talked of over all the City of Los Reyes and that the people of Chili designed to kill the Marquis that his Friends gave him fair notice and warning of the Treason intended to whom as Carate reports he made this Answer That the Chief Heads of that place would guard his and so little did he seem to be concerned for his own safety that he would frequently walk abroad attended onely with a single Page to certain Mills which he had set up without the City And when he was asked why he took not his Guards with him he replied he would not have the World believe that he apprehended any fear or intended to secure himself from the Lawyer Vaca de Castro who was coming as was reported with Commission to sit in Judgment upon him for which reason and farther to amuse the Marquis the people of Chili gave out that Vaca de Castro was dead It happened one day that John de Rada with some few Attendants went and made a visit to the Marquis whom finding in a Garden he asked him the reason why his Lordship intended to put him and his Friends to Death Whereunto the Marquis made Answer with an Oath that he never had any such intention but that on the contrary it might rather he suspected that they designed to kill him since they had bought Arms to that purpose to which John de Rada made Answer That it was not strange that since his Lordship had bought Lances if they should provide themselves with Coats of Mail for their Defence To which bold Saying he was encouraged in confidence of fourty Men which he had then lying in wait not far from him and well armed And farther he added That in case his Lordship was jealous of their practices he desired onely leave for Don Diego de Almagro and his Companions to retire out of the Countrey The Marquis being far from taking those Words in the worst sense or conceiving suspicion thereby but compassionating their condition he assured him with mild and obliging Words that those Lances were not bought with design or bad intention against them With which gathering some Oranges he presented them to John de Rada which were esteemed for a curiosity at that time being the first and the most early fruit and with all told him in the publick hearing of those then present that he should consider and acquaint him with what he stood in need and it should be provided for him John de Rada kissing his Hands for the favour left the Marquis well assured of his true and honest meaning and without jealousie or the least suspicion of a Plot against his Life and so retired to his Lodging where he met with the principal Conspiratours and with them agreed that since they had missed of their Design to kill him on Midsummer Day that it should now be perpetrated on the Sunday following Thus far Carate the which is confirmed by Lopez de Gomara in this manner The good Marquis says he was as careless of his Safety and as little apprehensive of any Mischief from the people of Chili as they were intent and solicitous to commit the Act. Howsoever they thought fit to defer the Execution untill the coming of the Judge and had seen the manner whereby he intended to proceed This Delay of the Almagrians gave time to Antonio Picado Secretary to the Marquis to evidence his Resentment with rage and Indignation against those of Chili for the impudent affront offered to the Marquis and himself by the Ropes which they had fastened to the Pillory as we before mentioned but since this was rather a matter of Threatning and an Indication of what they designed to act had not their Fear and Cowardise restrained them the Secretary in scorn and contempt of what they were able to perform took out of his Cap a certain Medal of Gold richly enameled with a Finger scornfully pointing with this Motto Thus much for those of Chili With which these angry Souldiers were so far incensed that they resolved to precipitate the Design and to kill the Marquis before the arrival of the Judge so that now they acted more
there excepting some few who made their escape in a small vessel so that there remained not one Spaniard alive in all the Coast where the Pearl is taken So soon as Bartholomew de las Casas was informed of the death of his friends and the loss of the King's Treasury he entred himself a Frier amongst the Dominicans with which an end was put to all his great Actions so he neither advanced the King's revenue nor ennobled his Artisans nor sent his Pearls to the Flemins and Burgundians as he had promised And thus far are the words of Gomara This and much more to the prejudice and disparagement of Bartholomew de las Casas was reported by those who found themselves aggrieved by the late new regulations though Gomara endeavours to mince and disguise much the matter but those of Peru who speak more plainly of this matter report that he had turned Frier in discontent because he was fallen under his Majesties displeasure and feared lest he should be called to account for the false relations he had given of matters which he had never seen nor understood of the Countrey of Cumana and because he was conscious to himself that he had been a principal Contriver of the new Statutes upon the specious pretence of raising the King's revenue and out of a zeal he shewed to the good and benefit of the Indians but how real and sincere all this was may very well be judged by his actions of which people spake and talked more at large than can be expressed in this History Diego Fernandes reports that this Frier Bartholomew was by the Emperour created Bishop of Chiapa which is a Countrey in the Kingdom of Mexico but he durst not go to his See by reason of the many mischiefs which he had been the Authour of in the Indies In the year 1562. I met him at Madrid where he gave me his hand to kiss but when he understood that I was of Peru and not of Mexico he was a little more reserved in his behaviour towards me CHAP. IV. The Reasons which the Complainants gave against the new Regulations And the manner how they prepared to receive the Vice-king MUCH and many were the Reasons which the Complainants produced against the new Regulations as well those of the City of Los Reyes as of all Peru. And the better to clear this point we must observe that both at Mexico and in Peru the Spaniards had then a Custome amongst them which continued untill 1560 which was the year that I came from thence to make choice of four Gentlemen of principal quality in whom they could repose most confidence and trust to be Officers of the Royal revenue to collect the fifths of the King's gold and silver in what part soever it did arise and this was the first Tribute which the Catholick Kings imposed upon the new World. These Officers of the revenue were Treasurers Accountants Factours and Comptrollers and to them was committed the care besides the fifths to collect such Tribute from the Indians as became due by the death of the Inhabitants who all held their Estates of the King. Besides which Offices the Spaniards every year in all parts where they inhabited made choice of two chief Constables in ordinary one Judge and a deputy Judge with 6 8 or 10 Justices of the peace more or less according to the extent of the Countrey and to them several other Officers were adjoined to conserve the safety and welfare of the Commonwealth These Officers as also all Governours Presidents Judges and other Ministers of Justice and their Deputies were concerned in the third ordinance by virtue of which both they and such as had been employed in Offices were commanded to quit all claim interest and power in and over the Indians In opposition whereunto the Complainants made this Reply We said they at the hazard and expence of our Lives and Bloud have gained this large Empire which contains many Kingdoms and Dominions the which we annexed to the Crown of Castile In reward of these our services and adventures the Indians which we now possess and retain in our services were given and granted to us for two Lives the which dominion and jurisdiction ought to be as firm and valid as the Seigniories or Lordships are in Spain Now the reason why this privilege is taken from us is no other than because we are chosen to be Commissioners of his Majesties Royal revenue and employed in the Offices of Justices of the peace and Judges If we have administred these Offices faithfully and without the prejudice or aggrievance of any person what reason is there that we should be deprived of our Indians onely because we are in the service of his Majesty and bear our part in the Government of the people It had been better for us to have been Thieves Adulterers Homicides and Robbers rather than honest men since that the Law is in force against the latter and not against the former With like liberty and freedom of speech did those who were comprehended under the fourth Law vent their anger namely those who had taken party with the two Factions of the Piçarrists and Almagrians by virtue of which as Diego Fernandez observes no person in all Peru could be master of Indians or Estates What fault said they had we who obeyed the Governours and Magistrates which his Majesty had sent us as both those were and who acted by Commission from his Majesty And if there arose private quarrels and animosities amongst themselves by the instigation of the Devil to which men diversly adhered yet neither of these Parties acted against the Crown And if one Party was in the wrong and was guilty of Delinquency yet the other acted for the King's service and why then should they be equally punished by confiscation of their Goods and Estates with those who have offended which seems to be such a piece of Injustice as is not to be parallel'd by the tyranny of Nero and seems rather to proceed from an arbitrary Constitution to satisfie the lust and interest of certain persons than from a desire tending to the welfare and good of the Subject To all which they added a thousand curses upon those who had contrived these new Laws or counselled his Majesty to pass and sign them and to order the execution of them with such severity on pretence that it was for his service and advancement of his Royal Crown If they said they had been at the Conquest of Peru and sustained those labours and hazards which we have done they would have been of another mind than to make such Laws nay rather they would have been the first to oppose them In confirmation whereof they quoted several passages in History both ancient and modern which might be compared to the civil Wars between the Almagrians and the Piçarrists and particularly said they in the Wars of Spain between those two Kings Don Pedro the Cruel and his Brother Don Henrique to