Apparition Thus did the Indians judge of those Spaniards who were cruel and ill natured to them calling them Cupay which is the Name they give to the Devil but on the contrary such as were gentle kind and compassionate towards them they not onely confirmed their former Titles which they had given them but added thereunto such other compellations as they attributed to their Kings as Yntipchurin Child of the Sun Hanc-chacuay a Lover of the poor and when they would higher exalt the Goodness and Vertue of those Spaniards who treated them kindly they called them the Sons of God which when they would express in Spanish for the Name of God which is Dios they would pronounce it Tius because the Letter D. is not in the Indian Language So Tiuspachurin is with them the Son of God though in these times by learning the Spanish Tongue they are come to a better pronunciation Such Honour and Veneration did these poor Indians shew at the beginning to those Spaniards who were compassionate and good natured towards them and the like respect do they still bear towards the Clergy as well as to the Seculars in whom they observe the brightness of Vertue to shine with Humility and Gentleness without Avarice or Luxury for the Indians are naturally of a good disposition very meek and humble cordial to their Benefactours and gratefull for the least favour or good they receive The which natural proneness to make acknowledgments for good Offices done they derived from the ancient Customs of their Kings whose Studies were for the publick wellfare of their People by which they merited all those Names and Surnames of Renown which were attributed by their People to them CHAP. XLI Of the Faithfulness which the Indians of Peru shewed unto the Spaniards when taken by them in the War. THE Indians of Peru held this Maxime or Principle That if any yielded himself or having been taken by a Spaniard in the War he was thereby become his absolute Slave and esteemed him by whom he was taken to be his Idol and his God and that he ought to honour and revere him for such and to obey serve and be faithfull to him unto the death and not to deny him either for the sake of his Countrey Parents Wife or Children Upon this Principle they preferred the Wellfare of a Spaniard who was their Master before all other considerations whatsoever and would sell or betray their own Family if their Master required it and that it were necessary or conducing to his Service by which means the Spaniards never wanted Spies nor Intelligence of whatsoever passed amongst the Indians which was of great use to them in the Subjection and Conquest of that Countrey for they believed it to be a real duty in them to be obedient unto those to whom they had yielded themselves Captives and therefore would engage in fight on their Masters side against their own Countreymen and Relations as if they were their mortal Enemies When some Spanish Troops in their March had taken some Indian Captives and that the Commanders would share them amongst the Souldiers according as every Man wanted a Servant the Indian would refuse to acknowledge any other for his Master than him onely to whom he had yielded himself and when they were told that it was the Rule of War to divide equal shares to every Souldier and that he who was already provided was to permit his Companion to be equally accommodated The Indian answered that he would obey on condition that when the Christian to whom he was allotted had taken another Captive that he might have the liberty to return to his Master to whom he had first submitted the like Fidelity the Women also professed Three Indians taken in this manner I left in the House of my Father and Lord Garçilasso de la Vega one of which was called Alli which is as much as to say Good he was taken in a Battel of which there were many in Collao after the Indians had made their general Insurrection in one of which this Alli fought like a very stout Souldier and having engaged far with some few Persons he took no care to save himself untill he saw all his Companions put to flight and hardly pursued by the Spaniards and having then little hopes of safety or refuge he laid himself amongst the dead to which posture he had opportunity to compose himself by the darkness of the night and casting away his Shirt he wallowed in the bloud of the slain that so he might seem to be one of them The Spaniards returning from the pursuit unto their Camp in several Companies three or four of them happened to pass that way where this Indian lay counterfeiting the dead Man and whilst they vvere vievving the dead my Lord and Master Garçilasso de la Vega observed one of them to pant and dravv his Breath vvhereupon he vvent near him and touched him vvith the point of his Spear to try if he had sense and vvere living so soon as the Indian felt the prick he immediately started up and cried for quarter fearing that there vvas nothing less than Death for him After vvhich he remained in the Service of my Father vvith that Fidelity and Subjection vvhich vve have already expressed being desirous to evidence the same on all occasions He vvas aftervvards baptized calling himself John and his Wife Isabel. Royal Commentaries BOOK II. CHAP. I. Don Pedro de Alvarado goes to the Conquest of Peru. THE Fame of the great Atchievements in Peru and the Riches thereof was now spread in all parts with such Renown that as Lopez de Gomara in the 26th Chapter of his Book reports the Spaniards crowded in such numbers to take a share of the Gold that Panama Nicaragua Quahutemallan Cartagena and other Plantations and Islands were almost dispeopled and left desolate Amongst the rest Admiral Don Pedro de Alvarado one of the most famous and renowned Captains of that age being not contented with the Glory and Riches he had acquired by the Conquest of the Empire of Mexico Utlatlan and Quahutemallan resolved to augment his Greatness by his attempts upon Peru. To which end he obtained a Commission from the Emperour Charles the fifth to conquer plant and govern all that Countrey which he should gain at such a number of Leagues distant from the Jurisdiction and Conquests of Francisco de Piçarro For this Enterprise he made Levies of many stout Fellows and moreover many Gentlemen of Quality from all parts of Spain offered their Services especially those of Estremennos because Don Pedro himself was a Native of Badajoz This noble Person amongst his many other Excellencies of Nature was endued with such nimbleness and activity of Body that thereby he saved his own Life when the Marquiss del Valle was forced to make a retreat from Mexico for the Indians having broken the Bridge over which the Spaniards were to pass This Don Pedro with the help of a Lance which he carried
all his Council and Officers pursued the design of putting the new Statutes into practice that for want of due consideration of what might conduce to his Majesties service he put the whole wellfare of the Empire into danger We have formerly mentioned how that the two Fleets bound for Peru and Mexico separated each from the other in the Gulf or Bay of Las Damas and steering thence a different course the Vice-king with a prosperous Wind arrived at Nombre de Dios on the 10th of January 1544. from whence he travailed to Panama where he manumitted or set at liberty great numbers of Indians and freed them from their duty and servitude to the Spaniards who had brought them from Peru and caused them again to return thither the which action was displeasing and ill resented on all sides for that the Spaniards were highly troubled to be deprived of the Vassalage of their Indian Servants whom they had instructed and taught to be industrious and they themselves being turned Christians and inured to the service of the Spaniards and domesticated in their families were unwilling to quit their Masters And though it was often insinuated to the Vice-king that this action would prove to the disservice both of God and the King to exempt the Indians from their servitude to the Spaniards in regard that such of them as had declared and professed themselves Christians could not long continue in that state but so soon as they returned to the power of their Caciques would renounce Christianity and revert to their old principles and Sacrifices to the Devil Moreover they represented unto him that though his Majesty ordained that the Indians should be set at liberty yet he commanded that they should be free to reside where they pleased and not be forced against their own wills to return unto Peru and with so little Provision and ill accommodation that it was almost impossible for them to be sustained but that most of them must perish in the voyage thither To all which the Vice-king made no other reply than that such was the express command and pleasure of his Majesty from which he was resolved not to deviate in the least tittle and accordingly he sent his Orders to all Masters of Indians that they should immediately set their Indians at liberty and furnish them with provisions for their voyage in pursuance of which Command 300 Indians were embarked and dispatched away but so ill accommodated and provided in the Ship that many of them were starved with hunger and others being landed and left to shift for themselves on the coast perished with famine and the hardship they sustained in that desolate Countrey Such persons as undertook to dissuade the Vice-king from putting the new Laws into practice offered many Reasons to the contrary representing unto him the many late unhappy Civil Wars which would easily be renewed by a People whose humours were already in a fermentation and disposed to make insurrections These Discourses being displeasing and ungratefull to the Vice-king moved him to unhansome expressions and to tell them that such Motions as those were punishable and that were he in a place within his own jurisdiction he would advance the Promoters thereof unto the Gallows the which angry and rude Answer gave a check to all Addresses intended to be made to the Vice-king of this matter Blasco Nunnez remained twenty days in Panama during which time the Sheriffs and Justices of the City received several advices of the state of Peru in which two things were very considerable One was that upon the advice of the coming of the new Rules the Conquerours of Peru were all in a Mutiny and in great Discontent And the other that it was impossible to put the same in execution without great danger of subverting the whole Government For that it being but lately since the Battel was fought wherein Vaca de Castro overthrew Diego de Almagro the younger with the Slaughter of 350 men and that those who survived esteemed that the dangers they had sustained by the suppression of this Rebellion was a piece of such service to his Majesty as deserved a high reward rather than the least diminution of their Estates and Privileges Howsoever the Justices and Officers being acquainted with the humour and disposition of the Vice-king did not think fit to inform or press him farther supposing that upon his arrival in Peru having seen and observed the nature and constitution of those Countreys he would be more easily convinced and more apt to receive the impressions of better Councils but the Vice-king being of a froward and petulant disposition easily moved with the least occasion resolved not to suffer the Judges to associate or go in company with him swearing that before they came thither he would effect and compass all matters according to the Rules and Laws which were prescribed Carate who was then Governour of Panama being at that time sick and in his Bed the Vice-king made him the Complement of a Visit before his departure when Carate told him that since he was resolved to depart without the attendance and company of the Judges he earnestly desired and heartily admonished him to enter into the Countrey in a mild and gentle manner and not to propose or attempt to put any of the new Laws into execution or practice untill the Courts of Justice were erected and setled in the City of Los Reyes and till he was fully possessed of the Power and Authority of the Countrey for before that time such an enterprize would not be feasible nor prove honourable for his Majesty nor conduce to the welfare of the People or conservation of the Government And in regard that several of those new Laws which he designed to put in execution were very rigorous and oppressive on the People he advised him to suspend them untill he had given his advice thereupon unto his Majesty with his opinion of the mischiefs which might accrue thereby and that if after all this his Majesty should continue his Pleasure to have them executed it might then be more seasonable to promulge and put them in practice for that by that time he might be able to get into Power and establish himself in the Government All which and many other things were declared to him by Carate but he not relishing them being contrary to his humour served onely to move his Choler and cause him in a passion to swear that he would without other preamble or address to the King for other Instructions immediately execute the new Laws without the help or assistence of the Judges who upon their arrival in Peru should find that he had no need of their help to enforce those Laws In this manner without other attendance than his own private Family he embarked and on the 4th of May he arrived in the Port of Tumbez from whence he travailed over Land and all the way he went he published the new Orders and caused them to be executed and
this shall serve to discover the errour of those who alledge that anciently the Mother and Sons and Daughters paid their Tribute the same being a mistake by not rightly distinguishing that from right and duty which was onely performed by a voluntary assistence which the Wives and Children and Servants yielded to their Fathers and Masters for in case the Husband of the Family were pleased to labour singly and without other assistence his Wife or Children could not be forced to work nor had the Judges or Decurions any other power than to correct and punish their idleness in case they were negligent and remiss in their own Affairs So that in the time of the Incas those persons were onely accounted rich who had a numerous Family of Children able to work and to be assistent to him by whose help a quick riddance was made of his task whilst others moiling and toiling singly for a long time at their work untill their Tribute was accomplished often fell sick and fainted under their burthen Wherefore for ease and remedy herein a Law was made that the rich Family having performed their own task were to bestow the labour of a day or two on their fellows which was very acceptable and pleasing to all the Indians CHAP. XVI The Order they used in imposing and proportioning their Tribute and how the Inca requited the Curacas in return of those pretious things they gave him for Presents THE Eighth Law ordained and prescribed the manner and rule how every person was to be taxed for his proportion of Tribute for equality and just proportion was observed in all matters by them and the manner was this Upon a certain day appointed the principal People of every Province such as their Judges Tax-gatherers Accountants and Keepers of their Knots in threads assembled together by help of which and of their Pebles which were in number as many as the Inhabitants of the Province were they made their Accounts so exact that I know not who are more to be commended either those who without figures of Arithmetick were able by a quicker way than our Accountants to make a speedy or just reckoning or the Governour and Ministers who easily apprehended the method and reason of their Accounts by such obscure and unintelligible ways to us By these Knots they were informed of the work done by every Indian what Offices he had acted what journies he had undertaken by order of his Curaca or Superiour what Trade he had exercised all which was placed to his Account in discharge of his Tribute Then they readily made appear to the Judges and Governours every thing distinctly by it self as how much Provision was laid up in the Stores and what was the quality of them as Pepper Cloths Shoes Arms and other things which were matters of Tribute together with the Gold Silver pretious Stones and Copper and what thereof appertained to the Inca and what proportion unto the Sun. They also accounted for the Stores of every Province and farther the Law ordained that every Inca Governour of a Province should keep a Copy of the Accounts or Tally in his own possession as a means to avoid and prevent all fraud and cheats in the Ministers A Ninth Law was that what overplus remained of Tribute after the occasions of the Inca were supplied were to be transported to the common Magazines of the Countrey and there lodged for common support and maintenance of the Natives in the times of scarcity and famine As to Jewels and pretious Stones Gold and Silver Feathers of Birds with various Colours for Painting and Miniature with divers other Curiosities which the Curacas every year presented to the Inca they were all taken and disposed of for adornment of the King and his near Relations and then afterwards in case any overplus remained or that there was more than the occasions of the Royal Family required they were in grace and favour to the Captains and Lords who presented them returned again to them for though they were the goods and product of their own Countrey and that they could not make use of them yet being restored with such obliging circumstances from the Inca the favour and honour was highly esteemed from all which it is evident that the Incas enjoyed the smallest part of all the Tribute and that the Taxes and Impositions were more for the benefit of the People than of the King. The Tenth Law enumerated and particularized the several Works and Employments which were to be performed by way of Tribute for service of the King and Countrey as making and plaining the High-ways building or repairing the Temples of the Sun and other Idolatrous Sanctuaries erecting publick Houses as Store-houses and places for the Tribunals of Justice and seats for the Governours making Bridges or taking the Employment of Messengers whom they called Chasqui tilling the Grounds and inclosing Orchards feeding Flocks and Herds of Cattel watching the Possessions and sowed Lands building Inns and places of Hospitality for Strangers and Travellers and giving their attendance there for succour and help of such as were in their journey Moreover they had some farther charge and duty laid upon them for the common good and benefit and which had relation to the service of the King and of the Curacas but in regard there were at that time great numbers of Indians which were obliged to take their turns in that Office the which was observed without partiality or favour to any the time of the trouble was so short that no person could be sensible of the inconvenience It was also farther provided by this Law that care should be taken for the amendment of the High-ways and that the Overseers should repair the Bridges and clear the Aqueducts and Chanels by which the Lands were watered all which being for the common good and advantage was to be performed without any charge or expence whatsoever These were the principal Laws which had any relation to the Tribute there were other Orders of less consideration which for brevity sake we omit thus far being the words of Blas Valera And now I should gladly demand of a certain Historian this one question Wherein did the severity of those Laws relating to Tribute consist which he charges on the Incas and indeed I would the more willingly be resolved herein because I find that the Kings of Spain of glorious memory did afterwards confirm the same which they would never have done had they been blameable and severe to that high degree which he pretends and in this opinion Blas Valera concurs with me And thus let us now return to the Prince Viracocha whom we left embroiled in a thousand difficulties to defend his own Reputation and the Honour of his Ancestours CHAP. XVII The Inca Viracocha receives intelligence of the approach of the Enemy and of the Recruits and Succours coming to him THE noble Actions of the Inca Viracocha do now call upon us to omit other Relations and return to the
discourse with the Devil imagining that by such submission and resignation of their Persons they obliged their Familiar to hear and answer them And of this Idolatry I can give testimony because I have seen it with my own eyes All the Priests of the Sun in the City of Cozco were of the Bloud-Royal though for the inferiour Officers of it such others were assigned as had gained the privilege of being called Incas Their High Priest was either to be Brother or Uncle to their King or some other of nearest Bloud their Priests used no Vestments different from others In other Provinces those which were Natives or related to the Principal men were made Priests though the Chief Priest amongst them was an Inca that matters might bear some conformity with the Imperial City which rule was also observed in all Offices relating to War and Peace that so the Natives might have their share in the Government and not seem to be slighted or neglected They had also some Houses for Virgins which professed a perpetual Virginity where they ever remained Recluses of which and of the King's Concubines we shall have occasion hereafter to treat more at large All these Laws in Government and Rites in Religion they pretend for the greater authority of them to have received from their first Inca Manco Capac and that where Matters were imperfect it was left to his Successours to establish and complete For as they affirm that these Laws both in Religion and Government were derived from the Sun and inspired by him into his Children the Incas so it is hard to affirm to whom in particular such and such Laws were to be attributed CHAP. V. The Division of the Empire into four Parts and of the Registers kept by the Decurions and what their Office was THE Incas divided their Empire into four Parts which they called Tavantinsuyu and signifies the four Quarters of the Heavens viz. East West North and South The City of Cozco they esteemed the Point and Centre of all and in the Indian Language is as much as the Navel of the Earth for the Countrey of Peru being long and narrow in fashion of a Man's body and that City in the middle it may aptly be termed the Navel of that Empire To the Eastward they called the Countrey Antisuyu from the Province Anti which extends all along that great Mountain which runs through the snowy desert Eastward To the Westward they called the Countrey Cuntisuyu from that small Province which is called Cunti to the Northward lies the Province Chincha and to the Southward the Countrey Colla which extends it self to the Zur In these four Provinces are comprehended many great Countries and amongst the rest the Kingdom of Chile which contains about 600 Leagues in length towards the Zur and is within the Province of Colla and the Kingdom of Quita which is within the Division of Colla runs 400 Leagues to the Northward So that to name those Quarters is as much as to say East and West c. according to which the principal ways leading to the City were so called The Incas laid one method and rule in their Government as the best means to prevent all mischiefs and disorders which was this That of all the people in every place whether more or less a Register should be kept and a Division made of ten and ten over which one of the ten whom they called the Decurion was made Superiour over the other nine then every five Divisions of this nature had a Decurion over them to whom was committed the charge and care of fifty then over the two Divisions of fifty a Superiour Decurion was constituted to supervise a hundred so five Divisions of a hundred had their Captain which commanded five hundred and lastly ten Divisions had their General over a thousand for no Decurion had a greater number to govern or account for the charge of one thousand being esteemed a sufficient care for any that by his Under-Officers would undertake to account for his people and rule them well The Decurions of ten had a double duty incumbent on them one was with diligence and care to succour and sustain those which were under their Division giving an account to his Superiour Officer in case any of them should be in want or necessity of any thing as of Corn to sow or eat or Wool to cloath them or Materials to re-build their houses destroyed by fire or any other accident or should fall into any extremity whatsoever His other duty was to be Censor Morum or Monitor of their actions taking notice and giving information of the faults and irregularities of those under him which he was to report to his Superiour Officer who according to the nature of the Misdemeanour had the power of punishment howsoever the lower Officers had power to chastise the lesser defaults that so for every petty Misdemeanour they needed not to have recourse to the Superiour or General of them all whereby delays in Law-suits were avoided and long processes which tire and consume the people were speedily ended and litigious Causes and vexatious Actions determined without Appeals from one Judge to another and in case of publick differences between two Provinces they were always decided by the definitive sentence of one Justice which the Inca constituted by a special Commission What Officer soever either of higher or lower degree that was negligent or remiss in his duty incurred a penalty agreeable to the nature of his default If he administred not the assistence required or neglected to Indict an Offender though it were but the omission of one day without a lawfull excuse he was not onely liable to answer for his own default but to receive the punishment due to the crime of the Offendour And in regard every one of these Decurions had a Superiour over him who eyed and watched his actions they were all diligent in their duties and impartial in their justice no vagabonds or idle persons durst appear or trespasses were committed for the Accusation was readily brought in and the punishment was rigorous which in many small cases was even capital not so much for the sin it self as for the aggravation thereof being committed against the Word and Command of the Inca whom they respected as a God and though the Plaintiff or the injured person were willing to let fall his Suit and remit the penalty to the Offendour yet the course of the Law will still proceed imposing a punishment agreeable to the quality of the crime either death or stripes or banishment or the like In Families strict severity was observed to keep their Children within the rules of modesty and decent behaviour for there were Laws even against the ill manners of Children for whose miscarriages the Decurion as well as the Father was responsible So that the Children of the Indians who are naturally of a gentle and complying temper are educated in great awe and made modest by the correction and example
and understand what were the ancient Laws Customs and Statutes of the Indians of Peru and how and in what manner they lived and that by the same accustomed Methods of Gentleness we may believe that these People may be best and most easily reduced unto the Christian Religion CHAP. XIII How and in what manner they instituted and invested Officers in their respective Employments BLas Valera in the process of this Discourse hath one Chapter under this title and also how the Overseers of the labours of the People distributed to every one his respective task How also they dispensed the Estate belonging to the publick and to particular Persons and how also they proportioned and laid their Tributes The Inca having subdued any new Province and carried the Idol God captive to Cozco he then endeavoured to satisfie and appease the minds of the Lords of the Countrey and gain the good-will of the People commanding that all Indians in common as also their Priests and Sorcerers should worship and adore the God Ticci Viracocha under the title and denomination of Pachacamac which is as much as the Almighty or supreme God of Gods ... The next command laid on them was That they should acknowledge the Inca for their sovereign Lord and King and that the Caciques should by their turns appear and present their Persons at the Court once every year or every two years according as the distance of the Province was remote from Cozco by which means so great was the concourse of people to that City that it became the most populous part and place of the New World. Moreover it was ordained that the Natives and Strangers which came to sojourn in any Province should be numbred and registred according to their Age Lineage Offices Estates and Qualities all which being performed by help of their Threads of various colours served afterwards for a rule whereby they regulated and proportioned their Tribute and measured every thing which had relation to the publick Interest The next thing the Inca did after such Conquest was to nominate his Generals and several Officers of the Army such as Colonels Captains Ensigns Serjeants and Corporals Some of which commanded ten some fifty Souldiers but a Captain of the most inferiour degree was set over at least an hundred others commanded five hundred others a thousand but the Major-Generals commanded four or five thousand Men a General was not called so unless he were at the Head of ten thousand Men and then his Title was Hatun Apu which was as much as Great Captain Those whom they called Curacas were sovereign Lords such as our Dukes and Earls and Marquesses who being the Natural Lords of their People ruled and presided over them both in the times of War and Peace These had power to make Laws and tax the people for payment of their Tribute and it was their duty also to provide and to take care for their Subjects in hard times of want and necessity The Captains of the highest as well as those of inferiour rank though they were not capacitated to make Laws did yet by right of Inheritance succeed into the Offices of their Parents their military Employments privileged and exempted them from the payment of Tribute being freed of all Taxes and Impositions and in case of want were to be supplied out of the Royal and not out of the common Stores Howsoever the Officers of inferiour rank such as were the Chiefs of ten or fifty Men were not freed of their Tribute because they were not of Noble Descent The Generals of the Armies had power to make and commissionate Officers and constitute them in their Employments but being once so setled and established they could not take away their Commissions or devest them of their Offices The diligent and carefull discharge which the Decurions performed in their duty such as surveying the fields overseeing the true and lawfull disposal of Inheritances the Royal Houses and dispensing Food and Rayment to the Commonalty was accepted in the place of their Tribute and no other charge required at their hands Under the great Ministers other subordinate Officers were substituted in all matters relating either to Government or to the Tribute it being esteemed the best and most certain way to prevent cheats and frauds in Accounts They had also Chief Shepherds and servants that were under them to whose care the Flocks were committed which belonged both to the King and to the Community which they conserved with that fidelity that not a Lamb was missing nor Pastor Fido more faithfull to his charge than these trusty Shepherds whose chief dread and fear was of Wild-beasts which they watchfully chased away but as for Thieves there being none they passed their time with the less fear They had Guardians and Surveyors of the Fields and Possessions they had also Stewards Administrators Judges and Visitors whose chief care and incumbency was to see that nothing should be wanting either to the People in common or to any private person whatsoever for in case any one did signifie his necessities to the Decurions they were obliged immediately to make their needs known to the Curacas and they to the Inca who readily supplied their occasions it being his greatest Glory to be esteemed the Father of his Countrey and the Guardian of his People It was the Office of the Judges and Visitors to see that the Men employed themselves in their respective duties and that the Women were good Housewives taking care of their Houses keeping their Rooms clean and nursing and educating their Children and in short that every one busied him or herself in spinning and weaving That the young Women obeyed their Mothers and Mistresses and were diligent about the Affairs of their Houses and other works appertaining to their Sex. The aged and infirm were excused from all laborious works and had no injunctions laid on them but such as tended to their own benefit such as gathering sticks and straws and lousing themselves being afterwards obliged to carry their Lice to the Chief of their Squadron and so they took a discharge for their Tribute The Employment for blind men was to cleanse the Cottons of the Seeds and foulness and rub out the Mayz from the stalks or Ears in which it grew And besides these principal Officers which respected the orderly Government of the Commonwealth there were Heads or Master-workmen set over the Silver-Smiths and Goldsmiths Carpenters and Masons and Jewellers which Order and Rule had it been continued and confirmed by the Acts and Patents of the Emperour Charles the Fifth with the same care and policy as it was first established by the Incas that People would at this day have been more flourishing and considerable and all things both for eating and clothing would have been more plentifull and this happiness of affairs would have been a good preparation to the preaching and admission of the Gospel But now our negligence and want of due care hath been the cause of the decay
whom Hernando de Soto and Pedro de Barco were two adventured to travell from Cassamarca to Cozco which is a Journey of two hundred and thirty Leagues by which they made a discovery of the Riches of that City and other places and to shew their great kindness and civility they carried them over the Countries in Chairs or Sedans giving them the Title of Incas and Children of the Sun in the same manner as they did their own Kings Now had the Spaniards taken the advantage of this credulity of the Indians persuading them that the true God had sent them for their deliverance from the tyrannical Usurpations of the Divel which enslaved them more than all the Cruelties of Atahualpa and had preached the Holy Gospel with that sanctity and good example which the innocence of that Doctrine requires they had certainly made great Progresses in the advancement of Religion But the Spanish Histories report things in a different way of proceedings to which for the truth thereof I refer the Reader lest being an Indian my self I should seem partial in the relation But this truth we may confidently aver that though many were blameable yet the greater number discharged the Office and Duty of good Christians howsoever amongst a people so ignorant and simple as these poor Gentiles one ill man is able to doe more mischief than the endeavours of a hundred good Men are able to repair The Spanish Historians farther say that the Indians gave this Name to the Spaniards because they came over the Sea deriving Viracocha from the composition of two words namely Vira which is vast immense and Cocha which signifies the Sea or Ocean But the Spaniards are much mistaken in this composition for though Cocha is truly the Name for the Sea yet Vira signifies fatness and is no other than the proper Name which that Apparition gave to it self the which I more confidently aver because that Language being natural to me and that which I sucked in and learned with my Mother's Milk I may more reasonably be allowed to be a Judge of the true Idioms of that Tongue rather than Spaniards who are Strangers and Aliens to that Countrey But besides what we have already mentioned there may yet be another reason for it which is that the Indians gave them that Name from the Cannon and Guns they used which they taking to be Lightning and Thunder believed them Gods by whose hands they were used Blas Valera interpreting this word says that it signifies a Deity which comprehends the Will and Power of a God not that the word doth properly signifie so much but that it is a Name which the Indians found out to give to this Apparition which they Worshipped in the second place to the Sun and after that they Adored their Kings and Incas as if they had been Gods. It is disputable whether the Inca Viracocha was more admired for his Victory or for his Dream but certain it is that he was so reverenced for both that they esteemed him for a God and adored him as one expresly sent from the Sun to save his Family and the Divine Off-spring from utter ruine and because that by him the Imperial City the Temple of the Sun and the Convent of the Select Virgins were preserved he was afterwards Worshipped with greater ostentation and honour than any other of his Ancient Progenitors And though this Inca endeavoured to persuade his Subjects to transfer the Honour which they gave to him unto his Uncle the Vision which appeared to him yet so far was this devotion infixed in their minds that they could not be diverted from performing Divine Honours towards him untill at length they compounded for their superstition and agreed to impart and divide their Worship equally between them and whereas they had both the same Name they should Adore them together under the same Title and Notion And for this reason the Inca Viracocha as we shall hereafter mention erected a Temple in Honour and Memory of his Uncle Viracocha in which also his own Fame was celebrated We may believe that the Devil who is a cunning Sophister did appear to the Prince either sleeping or waking in that Figure though the Indians confidently report that the Prince was waking and that this Apparition presented it self to him as he lay reposing himself under the shadow of a Rock We may imagine also that this Enemy of Mankind played this trick to delude the World and confirm the Authority of that Idolatrous superstition which he had already planted in the minds of this people the which seemed the most plausible way that he could proceed for that in regard a foundation was already laid of the Indian Empire and that by the Constitutions of it the Incas were to be the Lawgivers and the Oracles of their Religion and that they were to be believed and esteemed and obeyed for Gods whatsoever contributed to this end and to augment the reputation and sanctity of the Incas was a point gained towards the advancement of this Gentilism of which though there go many Stories yet none is recounted by them with that admiration as this Apparition of Viracocha who coming with the popular character of an Allye to the Sun and Brother to the Incas And having the good fortune to have his Dream confirmed with the success of a Victory carried so much force of belief with it that on all occasions afterwards of their distress they had recourse to his Temple where the Oracle was consulted and directions taken for the management of their affairs This is that imaginary God Viracocha of which some Writers report that the Indians esteemed him for their principal God to whom they were more devoted than to the Sun But this is certainly a mistake and served onely for a piece of flattery to the Spaniards that they might believe they gave them the same Title and Name as they did to their chiefest God but in reality they Adored no God with such devotion as they did the Sun unless it were the Pachacamac which they called the unknown God For as to the Spaniards they gave them at first the Title of Children to the Sun in such manner as they did to the Apparition Viracocha CHAP. XXII The Inca Viracocha gives Order for Building a Temple in Memory of his Uncle who appeared to him in a Vision THE Inca Viracocha that he might the better perpetuate the Memory of his Dream and keep the Honour of it up in the esteem of the people commanded that a Temple should be erected in Honour of his Uncle who appeared to him and placed in the Countrey called Cacha which is about sixteen Leagues distant from the City to the Southward He ordered that the Fabrick and Model of it should as near as could be possible imitate or resemble the place where the Vision presented it self which was like the open Field without covering joining unto which there was to be a little Chapel with the
so straitened them that they could receive no sustenance unless it were some small quantities of the Seeds of Herbs and Leaves of Turnips which some few were fain to fight for and gain with the point of the Launce In one of these Sieges of this City they broke the Images of Christ and our Lady and other Saints to the great dishonour of God which none but his infinite Mercy and Patience could have suffered In the last Siege which the Indians laid to this place they surprised the Spaniards and killed the Centinels and without any opposition entred and possessed themselves of the Town exercising such cruelty as was agreeable to the barbarity of their Natures for they butchered the Children and chained the Women and Nuns intending to carry them away into Slavery but whilst they were thus busily employed in packing up and disposing their Booty and plundering every where without order the Spaniards took courage and with that opportunity fell upon them and God assisting their endeavours they rescued their Wives and Nuns from their violent hands and with the loss of some few forced them to fly and quit both their Prey and their City The last Victory which the Indians obtained was when they took Villarrica with great effusion of Spanish bloud they set fire to the four Quarters of the Town and killed all the Friars of St. Dominick St. Francis and the Merceds with all the Clergy that were there carrying all the Women away Captives many of which were Ladies of Quality and Condition And this was the Fate of that City which was once of Fame and great Renown and illustrious amongst the neighbouring Cities of that new World. Thus far proceeds the Relation of Chili in the Year 1604. To all which nothing can be farther said than that these were Judgments of God which his secret Providence permits for the chastisement of Mankind And herewith let us return to the good Inca Yupanqui to conclude the remaining Actions of his Reign CHAP. XXVI Of the quiet Life of the Inca Yupanqui and of the Actions wherein he employed himself untill the time of his Death THE King Yupanqui having established and confirmed the Conquests which his Captains had made under the security of good Laws and settled Religion in all parts having also made provision for his own Royal Revenue and separated a maintainance for the Priesthood of the Sun he determined to put an end to his farther Conquests which are now far extended reaching no less than a thousand Leagues in length so that he resolved to spend the remainder of his Days in erecting Monuments and Trophies of his greatness which might ever conserve his Memory in great Renown To which end he built new Fortresses and many Temples dedicated to the Sun with Houses for the Select Virgins Royal Palaces and made many Aqueducts Walks and Gardens He also endowed the Temple of the Sun in Cozco with greater Riches of which though it stood in no need yet he thought it a duty to contribute some thing towards the glory of him whom he honoured and esteemed for his Father and more especially he busied himself in building and completing the Fortress at Cozco for which his Father had made provision of all materials and gathered great quantities of Stones and Rocks of which we shall hereafter have occasion to discourse more at large He also personally visited all the parts of his Empire that so he might with his own Eyes see the State of things hear the Complaints and Aggrievances of his people and provide a Remedy and Relief for his Subjects to all which he attended with so much care and compassion that he worthily deserved to be surnamed The Pious In these Employments this Prince with great Peace and Tranquillity spent his time for several Years being greatly beloved and obeyed by his Subjects at the end of which falling sick and finding within himself his end to be near he called the Prince who was his Heir and his other Sons together recommending to them by way of Testament the strict observance of their Laws and religious Rites of their Idolatrous Worship and above all encharged them to perform and administer Justice to their Subjects in the most equal balance and therewith he gave them his Blessing of Peace for that now his time was come to depart this Life and rest with his Father the Sun who called and summoned him to his Mansions of Felicity Thus dyed Yupanqui full of Glory and Triumph having enlarged his Empire above five hundred Leagues in length to the Southward being as far as from Atacama to the River Maulli and to the Northward one hundred and forty Leagues along the Coast from Chincha to Chimu He was lamented with great grief and having ranked him in the tenth Order of their Gods who were Children of the Sun because he was the tenth King they celebrated his Obsequies with great solemnity which according to their Custome continued for the space of a whole Year offering unto him many Sacrifices He left Tupac Inca Yupanqui his Heir and eldest Son which he begot of his Wife and Sister called Coya Chimpu Occlo to succeed him in all his Dominions The proper Name of this Queen was Chimpu but the word Occlo was a sacred Title amongst them he left many legitimate Sons and Daughters of the true Bloud besides many other natural Children to the number of about two hundred and fifty which was no great matter amongst them considering the many Women which those Kings maintained in every Province of their Dominions And because this Inca laid the Foundation of this great Work it is requisite that we should treat of it immediately after the Life of its first Founder because it is the most excellent Trophy of the Incan Magnificence and that which may serve for a matter of Ostentation and Glory not onely to the Authour himself and the preceding Kings but sufficient to derive Honour to all their Posterity in future Ages CHAP. XXVII Of the Fortress of Cozco and the greatness of the Stones with which it was built THE Incas who were Kings of Peru erected many wonderfull and stately Edifices their Castles Temples and Royal Palaces their Gardens Store-houses and other Fabricks were Buildings of great Magnificence as is apparent by the ruines of them though very obscure conjectures are to be gathered from such remains The work of greatest ostentation and which evidences most the Power and Majesty of the Incas was the Fortress of Cozco whose greatness is incredible to any who hath not seen it and such as have viewed it with great attention cannot but admire it and believe that such a work was erected by Enchantment or the help of Spirits being that which surpasses the Art and power of Man. For the Stones are so many and so great which were laid in the three first rounds being rather Rocks than Stones as passes all understanding how and in what manner they were hewen from the Quarry or
in his hand the point of which having fixed in the Bodies of the dead he took a running leap of twenty five Foot clear over the Bridge at which the Indians were so much astonished and wondred that they called him a Son of God. This Passage Lopez de Gomara touches in the 107th Chapter of his Book where treating of the Conquest of Mexico and of Hernando de Cortes he hath these Words which we have delivered verbatim When he returned to them though some fought very stoutly yet he found many killed He lost his Gold his Baggage and Prisoners In fine his Men were routed and his Camp dispersed and nothing remained in that posture in which he had left it howsoever he rallied as many as he could put them in the front and he himself brought up the rere And Pedro de Alvarado was ordered to rally what Forces he could and to make head against the Enemy but they charged him so home that he was not able to withstand them when seeing his Men slain round about him and that if he staid there was no possibility to escape he followed Cortes with the Lance in his hand and passing over the dead bodies and such as were wounded and groaning he came to the Bridge Cabrera and leaped over it with his Lance at which not onely the Indians but the Spaniards were astonished for that no other was able to doe the like some indeed there were who attempted it but falling short they were drowned Thus far are the Words of Gomara I remember when I was a Boy that I have heard the Spaniards discourse much of the great activity of this Gentleman and that the second time after Mexico was subdued how he had set two Marble Pillars at each end of the Arch of the Bridge for marks of the leap which he had taken to which for the truth of what I have said I refer my self in case they be still remaining though it is a wonder if envy and emulation of this Age hath not destroyed them The first time that this Don Pedro de Alvarado was at Seville with design to embark for the Indies he with some other young Sparks his Companions ascended to the top of the Steeple of the Great Church to enjoy the Air and take a view of that most pleasant prospect where seeing a Beam thrust out from the Tower of about ten or twelve Foot long and had been there placed some few days before for a Scaffold to mend some part of the Steeple One of those Gentlemen that was with him I do not well remember his Name but he was a Native of Cordova knowing how much Don Pedro did boast and avail himself of his activity he on a sudden laid aside his Sword and Cloak and without speaking a word went out of the Tower upon the Beam measuring of it foot by foot untill he came to the end of it and then turning about walked back again with the same even steadiness as before Don Pedro observing this bold action and believing that it was onely to dare him scorned to be out done and therefore keeping on both his Sword and Cloak threw one end of his Cloak over his left shoulder and the other part holding close under his right arme and his Sword with his left he in that posture marched forth upon the Timber and coming to the end thereof gave a sudden turn round measuring it with the same footing back untill he came to the Tower. Certainly it was a very bold and daring action both of one and the other Another time it happened that this Don Pedro with some other of his youthfull Companions going to Hunt met some Countrey fellows who to out-vye each other were jumping over a certain Well that was very broad some of which leaped over it but some would not adventure At length came Don Pedro and he placing his feet together just at the brink of the Well Now said he this were a good standing jump if I durst adventure it With that he gave a leap and reached the other side onely with the fore-part of his feet and gave again on a sudden a jerk back to the very place where he had taken his leap forwards These and such-like feats of activity are recounted of this Gentleman and others who were employed in the Conquest of this new World as if God who had that great Work for them to doe had endued them with abilities of body and mind proportioned to so great an enterprize for if the very Journey it self through those unknown parts with peace and quietness were a matter of labour and hardship how much more difficult must it be to pass those Straits and craggy Mountains by force of Arms But in reality it was the Divine Assistence which co-operated with the Prowess of these Heroes for without such a miraculous concurrence humane power could never have attained to such mighty Atchievements Thus we have mentioned something of the Activity of Alvarado but his Acts and Monuments of his Valour are recorded in the Histories which write of Mexico Nicaragua and Peru though not so fully as his great Worthiness deserved Moreover he was so comely a Person both Walking and on Horse-back that returning one time from Mexico into Spain to clear himself of some Aspersions which his envious Adversaries had charged upon him and coming as his duty was to kiss the Emperour's hands and render him an account of his Services His Majesty being then at Aranjuez in one of the Walks of that Garden and seeing Don Pedro with a manly gate and handsome Air coming towards him asked who he was and being told that it was Alvarado This Man said the Emperour hath not the fashion and meen of a person that can be guilty of such actions as are charged upon him And so acquitting him of all the calumnies with which he was slaundered he gave him his hand to kiss and received him to favour It was upon this Voyage when he returned a Married Man into New Spain and carried with him several young Ladies for Wives to those who had conquered that Countrey and were setled there in good Houses with riches and prosperity Alvarado being arrived at Huahutimallan was there received with great joy of the people and in his own House with Balls and Dances which continued for many Days and Nights It happened that one day when all the Conquerours were sate in the great Hall to behold the Dancing and that the Ladies were also looking out of the Jealousies or Latices where after the modest fashion of Spain they remained unseen One of them said to the others What are these the Conquerours with whom we are to Marry What said another with these Old rotten fellows Let those Marry with them that will for my part I will have none of them the Devil take them for they look as if they had been come from Hell for some of them are Cripples others Lame and Maimed some without Ears others with
dangerously wounded three of the Russians But in regard there were so many to one and that he was above the Age of sixty five Years he began to grow faint so that one of the Villains making a Pass at him ran him through the Throat with which falling to the Ground he cried out with a loud voice for a Confessour but time not being given for Confession he made a Cross with his Right Hand which clapping to his mouth he kissed it and so expired his last Breath so dyed that famous Don Francisco Piçarro the most renowned amongst the Worthies who hath so much enriched and made great and still by the Riches and Treasure he hath acquired continues greatness and Riches to the Crown of Spain and to all the World as appears by what hath been already declared and what is manifested by the effects in these our days And yet not withstanding all this vast Treasure and Greatness he died poor and forsaken having no Friend so much as to wind him in a sheet or lay him in his Grave by which it may appear that all the favour and prosperity which Fortune had been bestowing on him during the whole course of his Life was snatched away on a sudden in less than the space of one hour To confirm which Carate in the 8th Chapter of his 4th Book hath these Words In this manner he resigned his Soul unto God and with the Marquis two of his Pages were killed of the Faction of Chili four were killed besides others that were dangerously wounded So soon as this news was spread through the Town above two hundred Men appeared in favour of Don Diego de Almagro which though armed and in a readiness yet durst not declare themselves untill they saw how the matter succeeded and then they dispersed themselves over all parts of the City seizing and disarming those whom they believed to be well affected to the party of Piçarro The Assassinates having done their work came out of the House with their Swords drawn and bloudy and John de Rada causing Almagro to mount on Horse-black conducted him through the City proclaiming him Governour over all Peru and sole King thereof Then they plundered the Houses of the Marquis and his Brother and of Antonio Picado and caused the Corporation of the City to receive Don Diego for Governour by virtue of that Capitulation and Charter signed by his Majesty at the time of the first Discovery of these Countries whereby the Government of the new Toledo was granted to Almagro and his Heirs or to such Person of Persons as he should assign After which they put several to Death whom they knew to be Servants and Dependants on the Marquis which caused great Cries through the whole City the Women weeping and wailing to see their Husbands murthered and their Houses plundered All which time none durst touch the Body of the Marquis to bestow decent Burial thereupon unless some few Negroes who rather dragged than carried it to the Church untill John de Barbaran and his Wife who were inhabitants of Truxillo and had been Servants to the Marquis having first obtained leave of Almagro buried him and his Brother in such decent manner as they were able The which they were forced to perform with such haste that they had scarce time to cloth his Body with the Habit of St. Jago of which Order he was a Knight and to put on his Spurs before they were told that those of Chili were coming in great haste to cut off his Head and to place it on the Gallows So that Barbaran was forced to slubber over the Funeral and Offices for the dead with great haste defraying the Charges of the Torches and other Duties at his own Expence And having laid the Body in the Grave they immediately endeavoured to secure his Sons who lay privately concealed for the party of Chili were now become Masters of the whole City Hence we may learn the variety of Fortune in this World if we consider in how short a time a Gentleman was brought to nothing who had discovered and governed and possessed such a vast Extent and Tract of Land and Kingdoms and had bestowed a greater Revenue and Riches on others than the most powerfull Prince in the World was able to have done and how in a moment he was made to perish without time given him to confess and prepare for his Soul or settle his Estate and that he should be assassinated by the Hands of twelve Men onely at Noon-day and in the midst of his City where the Inhabitants were all his Servants and Creatures Kinsmen and Souldiers and all had eaten of his Bread and subsisted by his Bounty and after this that none should dare to come unto his Succour but rather fly from him and abandon his House And moreover that his Burial should be so obscure that of all the Riches and Greatness he possessed there should not be left so much as to defray the Charge of the Wax-Candles and other Expences of his Funeral the which and other Circumstances preceding his Death by which as we have specified he would take no warning are so strange as can be attributed to no other cause than to the unsearchable Judgments of Almighty God. Thus far are the Words of Carate In which place he makes a comparison between the Death and Burial of Almagro and this of Piçarro the circumstances of whose Life and Death were in all things agreeable They were companions and had sworn Friendship and entred into Articles to gain and conquer that Empire and it is strange to consider with what equality Fortune balanced the course of their Lives and the circumstances of their Deaths As the same Carate reports in the Chapter following Many Years after saith he that the Wars were ceased in that Kingdom the Bones of this brave and worthy Gentleman were taken up out of the Grave and with such decent Solemnity as became them were put into a Coffin and interred in a Vault of the Cathedral Church on the Right-hand of the High Altar Where it remained in the Year 1560. when I came for Spain The Death of the Marquis happened on the 26th of June in the Year 1541. Carate who was a good Historian imitated the method of the great Plutarch comparing the Lives of these two famous Heroes who were unhappy Spaniards and ill rewarded by the World. Howsoever he judges them so worthy that he could never express sufficient wherewith to exalt their Praises and comparing their Lives Customs and Death together fills a whole Chapter with that Subject which is the 9th of the 4th Book which being transferred into these our Commentaries shall serve for the 8th Chapter of the 3d Book of our Second Part the Words whereof verbatim are these CHAP. VIII Of the Actions and Qualities of the Marquis Don Francisco Piçarro and the Lord Deputy Don Diego de Almagro IN regard that the Discovery and Conquest of this Province which is the Subject
having heard and examined all the matter brought Vosso to Piçarro to tell the story himself who having repeated all as is before related and particularly that Centeno offered to be his Advocate and Intercessour Piçarro turned away in a rage and said that he scorned to receive favours from him who had been so much obliged to his Brothers and himself and understanding that the Letter contained little more than that he refused to reade it and like a furious and desperate man he ordered the Letter to be publickly burned to shew that he would enter into no Treaty with him And not to discourage his Souldiers he ordered Vosso to report that Centeno had not above seven hundred men though in reality he was above twelve hundred men strong Vosso having thus related all this matter and delivered his Message by means of a Friend of his to whom he did not communicate the Secret he bought a good Mule which cost eight hundred pieces of Eight and the next night he mounted thereon and by break of day had travelled twelve leagues from the Camp on his way toward the President passing by Arequepa where his Wife and Children were When Piçarro received the news of the flight or Vosso he wondred much at it and whispered it to Carvajal and told him that he did not now think it strange that many of those who had great obligations should desert him since Vosso who was his Servant and tied to him in duty and with all the bonds of humanity had denied him Carvajal answered that it was no strange thing to him for that he looked on Vosso to be in the number of those faint-hearted men who being afraid resolved to secure themselves by a Pardon which was the condition of most of those who had followed his Party and on the contrary it plainly appeared that such as were courageous and had been the least obliged were still fixed and constant to their Party And that it was one of the miseries of this world that no man respects or honours another but for his own interest and that so soon as he finds he hath no farther need of his assistence and favour he presently forgets all former ties of benefits received And now the falsity and treachery of Vosso being clear and apparent and the agreement between him and Centeno being discovered Piçarro complained of his misfortune in conferring his favours on those who had proved most ungratefull and being full of anger and despair he resolved since there was no place left for Treaty to venture all upon the success of a Battel and either overcome or dye The President whom we left on his way from Truxillo to Los Reyes had by this time received news of all matters which Gonçalo Piçarro had acted in that City and how his people had deserted and fled from him And whereas he understood from those very persons who were come in to him that Piçarro was marched along the Coast towards Arequepa he sent Orders to the Captains who were quartered in Cassamarca to march with their Troops in good order to the Valley of Sausa because he understood that that was a good Countrey and a good quarter for plenty of Provisions and a convenient situation for people to come in and for receiving such who fled from Piçarro Having given these Orders he marched forwards and as he travelled intelligence was brought him of the ruinous condition of Gonçalo Piçarro that of all his Army he had not two hundred men remaining who also expected an opportunity to escape that Acosta was in no better a condition for that of the three hundred men with which he marched out of Los Reyes above two hundred had deserted him with their Captains and Officers that the City of Los Reyes had declared for the King and that Lorenço de Aldana was possessed of the Government and lay in the Port with his Ships The President being much encouraged with this good news dispatched fresh advices thereof to his Captain-General Pedro de Hinojosa ordering him to march with all possible speed to Sausa which he accordingly did and not to lose time he passed by Los Reyes and took the shortest cut by way of the Mountains and came to Sausa where meeting with his former Captains they all rejoyced to see and meet each other And here the President remained some days during which time he set up Smiths Forges for making and repairing Arms and appointed several Officers and in short did all that became an able and a diligent Captain and to forward him in this work his Officers and Ministers were as diligent and as active as he omitting nothing which might tend to the destruction of their Enemy lest they should fall again into his power whom they had denied These good successes and prosperous proceedings were increased by the happy news which Vosso brought declaring the low and mean condition of Piçarro's Army and the welfare and numerous increase of that of Centeno's of which Vosso assured the President having seen both Armies and been an eye-witness of the state and condition of both Vosso delivered his Letters together with the Grant which Centeno had given him of a certain Plantation which the President readily confirmed and indeed it was his misfortune that the Gift was of no greater value for had it been one of the best Baronies in Peru there would have been no scruple in the conveyance of it in reward of the good news he brought which was so considerable and so well regarded that Orders were thereupon issued to several Captains to give a stop to their farther Leavies of men since that Diego Centeno had force sufficient without other assistances to subdue and destroy Piçarro And here we will leave them in their consultations and rejoycings at Arequepa to recount the cruel Battel of Huarina which happened in those days CHAP. XVIII Piçarro resolves to give them Battel Acosta is sent to alarm the Enemy in the night Diego Centeno draws out his Men and Piçarro doth the like GOnçalo Piçarro and his Captains being enraged with anger and disdain to find whilst they were treating of peace and accommodation that the Enemy had corrupted their Messenger and seduced him from the faith and duty he owed to his Lord and Master whereupon blinded with madness and rage they resolved to pursue their march and forcibly make their way through the midst of their Enemies and either to dye or conquer This resolution was taken at a consultation held by Piçarro and his Officers on occasion of the flight of Francisco Vosso and accordingly now to put it in execution they forbished and prepared their Arms to march towards Huarina but first they gave out a report that they intended by some other way to divert Centeno from giving them any interruption in the Pass they designed and to make this report the more credible they sent a message to Francisco de Espinosa to provide them with Indians and provisions on their way by
was a dishonour and shame for Gentlemen of their Quality to buy and sell like Merchants and tho' the Steward acquainted them that the most noble Spaniards in that Country were used to trade with the Natives of the Country and to buy up their Commodities such as the Herb Cuca and Mayz and send them to the Mines of Plate at Potocsi for provisions to support the People which laboured there Which was no dishonour for the best Men to do and was not of the same nature and esteem with those who sate in Shops and measured out Cloth and Silks by the yard And if they thought it too mean also to deal like other persons of Quality they might act by their Indian Servants whose Industry and Faithfulness they might entrust with all confidence But they answered That they would upon no Terms whatsoever so far abase and degrade themselves for being Gentlemen they more esteemed their Gentility than all the Gold and Silver in Peru. The which Answer the Steward making known to his Master and how much the young Gentlemen stood on the Punctilio's of their Noble Blood their good Kinsman Lorenço de Aldana with much calmness made answer If these are such Gentlemen how come they so poor And if they are so poor how come they such Gentlemen So Aldana never troubled his Kinsmen nor himself farther to put them in a way of livelyhood but suffered them to pass meanly and in necessity as I have seen them tho' not so much as to want Diet or Cloathing For when they came from Arequepa to Cozco they lodged in the House of my Lord Garçilasso where they were provided with all things necessary and when they passed to other Cities the Houses of their Country-men of Estremadura were always open to them for in those days the very name of a Country-men was sufficient to make them as welcome as if they had been Sons or the nearest relation to a Family These four Gentlemen whom we have mentioned in this place were all of the Ancient Conquerours of Peru who dyed in their Beds of a natural Death the which we specifie as a thing rare and strange for as appears by the preceding History there is not an Example of any who have dyed in this manner but all have come to their Ends by violent deaths Wherefore these worthy Persons having been Conquerours and Planters of this Empire and dying in a Happy and Blessed manner were greatly lamented by the People for the singular Vertue Honour and Goodness with which they were endued Tho' there were no express Law of God which should command us to honour our Parents yet the Law of Nature teaches it to the most barbarous People of the World and inclines them to omit no occasion whereby to express the Duty and Respect they owe to them The which consideration incited by Divine and Humane Laws and even enstamped on the Hearts of Heathens obliges me to publish the Vertues of my Father after his Death which I had not opportunity to do during the time of his Life And that the Praises and Commendations which I attribute to my Father may not seem partial and proceeding from Affection I will here repeat an Elogium made by a Fryer of a devout and religious Life which he delivered after his death for the Comfort and Consolation of his Children and Friends and as an Example for other persons to imitate I should here name the good Man who wrote this Oration but he engaged me not to do it but to conceal him when I published the Writing and I wish I were not under that Engagement that by his Authority the praises of my Father might appear the more Authentick I shall omit the Exordium and the many Oratorical Flights and Colours he uses And as becomes an Historian I shall be very short in this pious Digression A Funeral Oration made by a Religious Person in Honour of Garçilasso de la Vega my Lord after his Death Reader THis Speech or Oration is filled with such Doxologies and Rodomontadoes after the Spanish manner as neither agree with the style of an Historian nor with the English humour unless I intended to expose my Spaniard and render him as fantastical as the vainest of his Country-men I have therefore thought fit to pass it by lest in straining our English above its key it should bear no harmony in consort with the Spanish Language and so we shall proceed unto CHAP. XIII Wherein is treated of those who for demanding a reward for their Services were banished into Spain and what Favour and Grace his Majesty bestowed upon them Don Garcia de Mendoça is sent Governour unto Chile and of the Skirmish he had there with the Indians BUT to return now to the Petitioners who for demanding a Reward in Lands for their past Services were as we have said banish'd into Spain they at length arrived there poor naked and almost famished And in this guise they presented themselves in the Court before the King Don Philip the Second which moved great Compassion in all those who were acquainted with their Story and how they had been banished and ill treated for doing their Duty and demanding a Reward of their Services But his Majesty was more gracious to them giving a Pension to as many of them as would return to the Indies out of his Royal Exchequer that they might have nothing to do with the Vice-King nor need to make Addresses or Petitions to him And as many of them as desired to remain in Spain he gratified with Allowances agreeable to their Condition that is with more or less according to their Services and so I found them provided for when I came into Spain which was some short time after these matters were transacted Their Money was assigned them upon the Custom-house at Sevile the least that any of them had was 480 Ducats of yearly Pension and as their Merits were so were their Allowances to 6 800 and a thousand to 1200 Ducats to remain Annuities to them for all the days of their Lives A while afterwards his Majesty being acquainted with the Discourses which were commonly made in the City of Los Reyes touching the hard usage of the banished Souldiers to prevent farther Mutinies there and other Disorders which might arise by reason of the Severity and Rigour of the Vice-King his Majesty was pleased to provide himself with another Governour for Peru named Don Diego de Azeuedo a Gentleman endued with all qualities of Vertue and Goodness from whom the Counts of Fuentes are descended But whilst he was preparing for his Voyage he died of a natural death to the great grief of all those of Peru who upon the news thereof much lamented themselves saying that they had not deserved a Vice-King so good and so qualified and therefore God had snatched him away from them into Heaven And this was the common saying as I have heard amongst the Grave and Wise Men of that Country But in regard