ÉriflnMl wwlw®'^ Mtomm/0M$m m ,$$ $ Life p' / y wfifi 3Í v; A •¡•. , . ■;■, : •■ ,•• •:• .', ;< . ^mmsmim «ÍM ¡ttSSÉÉP ;¡¿v> »»>, « W4* iWA illil ^»iit liliiili MMWl wMwMmmwMMi Mili P ~2- n/ ‘6 Lo WORKS ISSUED BY W\)t l?aftlugt j5>ocictg. THE ROYAL COMMENTARIES OF THE YNCAS. VOL. I. M.DCCC.T.XIX. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/firstpartofroyal01vega FIRST PART OF THE ROYAL COMMENTARIES OF THE YNCAS BY THE YNCA GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA. TRANSLATED AND EDITED, 0otcs ani) an íntroimctíon, BY CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM. VOLUME I. (CONTAINING BOOKS I, II, III, AND IV.) LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY. M.DCCC.LXIX. THOMAS RICHARDS, 37, GREAT QUEEN STREET. COUNCIL THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY. SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, Bart., K.C.B., G.C.St.S., F.R.S., D.C.I-., Corr Mem. Inst. F., Hon. Mem. Imp. Acad. Sc. Petersburg, etc., etc., President. Admiral C. R. DRINKWATER BETHUNE, C.B. The Rt. Hon. Sir DAVID DUNDAS. The Right Hon. H. U. ADDINGTON. Rev. G. P. BADGER, F.R.G.S. J. BARROW, Esq., F.R.S. Rear-Admiral R. COLLINSON, C.B. Sir HENRY ELLIS, K.H., F.R.S. General C. FOX. W. E. FRF, RE, EsQ. R. W. GREY, Esq. JOHN WINTER JONES, Esq., F.S.A. R. H. MAJOR, Esq., F.S.A. Sir CHARLES NICHOLSON, Bart., D.C.L., LL.D. Captain SHERARD OSBORN, R.N.,C.B. Major-General Sir HENRY C. RAWLINSON, K.C.B. Hon. H. STANLEY. The Bishop of ST. DAVID’S. Colonel YULE, C.B. CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, Esq., F.S.A., Honorary Secretary. INTRODUCTION. The first part of the Royal Commentaries of Peru describes the manners and customs of one of the two great civilised communities of the New World, and was written by an author who had known the country from his childhood, and had peculiar qualifications for his task. The writer was not one of those travellers or explorers who set out from Europe in search of ad- ventures in the New World. He had even greater advantages as a describer of a distant and little known land ; for he was the son of such an adventurer by a native mother, and thus began to acquire the know- ledge which enabled him afterwards to write this in- valuable work, in his very cradle. So that his travels over all parts of Peru were not commenced until he had learnt the traditions and customs of his mother’s people, and had become intimately acquainted with their language. The young Ynca had a wonderful start of all other contemporary travellers, for he was born, as it were, in the midst of his work, and began to store his material as soon as he could speak. Our author’s father, Garcilasso de la Vega,* was a * The Spaniards in those days had very uncertain rales in the adoption of surnames. One brother would take his father’s, another his mother’s, .and a third his grand mother’s. Garcilasso b 11 INTRODUCTION. son of Don Alonzo de Hinestrosa de Vargas and ins wife Doña Blanca Suarez de Figueroa. His paternal ancestry, the lords of Sierrabrava, descended from that gallant warrior who fought by the side of St. Ferdi- nand at the capture of Seville from the Moors — Garci Perez de Vargas, in 1348. In an old popular song the famous city is made to say : — Hercules built me Julius Caesar encircled me With towers and long walls The sainted King conquered me With Garci Perez de Vargas A The head of his mother’s family was her cousin the Duke of Feria, one of the Spanish courtiers who ac- companied Philip to England, and the only one who gained an English wife. He married Miss Jane Dor- mer, daughter of Sir William Dormer by Mary Syd- ney. The famous poet Garcilasso de la Vega was of the same family, and a first cousin once removed of our author’s father. So that the ancestry of Garcilasso de la Vega the father was sufficiently distinguished and noble, as will be more clearly seen by an examination of the pedi- gree on the following page. He was born in the city de la Vega was a Vargas on liis father’s side, and a Suarez de Figueroa on his mother’s. His own name, adopted also by the poet and others of his relations, was that of a maternal ancestor. * Hercules me edificó Julio Cesar me cercó De torres y cercas largas El Rey sancto me ganó Con Glarci Perez de Vargas. VI be c3 be a l> oá t> Scc page 295 (note). INTRODUCTION. IX teaching out of kindness, and at the request of the hoys themselves ; for as many as four previous school- masters had forsaken their scholars after a few months, thinking to make more money in other ways. Men were unsettled and restless in those early days of the discovery of the New World. But the good canon read Latin with his pupils, about eighteen in number, for nearly two years, amidst all the turmoil of the civil wars. Among the young Ynca’s schoolfellows were Diego de Aleobasa, his adopted brother, whose father was guardian to our author when his warlike sire was absent in the wars;* Pedro Altamirano, whose eye for beauty once caused him to lose a race ;f a son of the gunner Pedro de Candia, one of the famous thirteen who stood by Pizarro on the isle of Gallo; sons of Juan Serra de Leguisano,^ Juan Balsa, and Pizarro by Ynca princesses, and the children of Pedro del Barco. There was also a young Indian of full blood at the school, named Felipe Ynca, who was an excellent scholar ; and indeed the schoolmaster was so pleased with them all that he used to say : — “ 0 sons ! what a pity it is that a dozen of you should not be in the university of Salamanca.” During these early days, while our author was learn- ing some of the lore of the old World at school, his mind was stored with the history and traditions of his native land at home. Almost every week, he tells us, some of the relations of his Indian mother came to visit her ; and on these occasions their usual conversa- tion was on the subject of the former grandeur of their * See p. 211. f See p. 104. J See p. 272 ( nute ). X INTRODUCTION. fallen dynasty, of its greatness, of the mode of govern- ment in peace and war, and of the laws ordained by the Yncas for the good of their subjects. The half-caste boy listened eagerly to these conversations ; and at last, when he was about sixteen or seventeen years old, he began to put questions to an old Ynca nobleman, who was his mother’s brother, and received from him the story of the origin of the Ynca dynasty.'* As the lad grew up, his father employed him in various ways, such as superintending and visiting his estates, and the young Ynca appears to have travelled over most parts of Peru, scaling the snowy passes, crossing the rapid streams in balsas, j* and traversing the arid deserts. At last, after a long illness, his father died in the year 1550, and he was left an orphan. Ynca Garcilasso de la Yega was just twenty years of age when he found himself alone in the world, and he resolved to seek his fortune in the land of his father, leaving Cuzco and Peru for ever in the same year that he became an orphan. He tells us that on his voyage he was becalmed for three days on the equator, off Cape Passaos ;% and, when at last he landed in Spain, lie received patronage and kindness from his father’s relations, for which he afterwards expressed exagge- rated gratitude. He became a captain in the army of Philip II, and served in the campaign against the Moriscos, under Don John of Austria. When he re- tired from active service the Ynca took up his abode in hired lodgings (“ esta pobre casa de alquiler,” as he Scc p. 62. t P. 259. I NTRODUCTION. XI calls them) at Cordova, and devoted himself to literary pursuits. He was both poor and in debt when he left the army, and his father’s implication in the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro cast a cloud over the fortunes of the Yuca. His first literary production was a translation from the Italian of the Dialogues of Love, by a Jew named Abarbanel, who wrote under the name of “ El Leon Ebreo.” The Ynca’s translation was published in 1590. His next work was a narrative of the expedition of Hernando de Soto to Florida, which he completed in 1591. He is said to have got his information chiefly from the accounts of an old soldier who served with de Soto, and Mr. Bancroft characterises the work as “ an extravagant romance, yet founded upon facts — a history not without its value, but which must be con- sulted with extreme caution.” It was first published at Lisbon in 1605, with the following title: La Florida del Ynca. Historia del Adelantado Hernando de Soto, Gobernador y capitan general del reyno de la Florida, y de otros heroicos cavalier os Españoles é Indios. It was reprinted several times, the best edition being that of 1723, uniform with the Boyal Commentaries ; and was translated into French by Pierre Kichelet, and published at Leyden in 1731. A very curious manuscript fragment, in the hand- writing of Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega, is in the pos- session of Don Pascual de Gayangos. It appears to have been intended for a dedicatory epistle to be placed at the beginning of the Ynca’s work on Florida, and INTRODUCTION. xii to have been addressed to the head of the Vargas family. It consists of a geneological account of the house of Vargas, followed by an abstract of the contents of the work, and an explanation of the system adopted by the author in its division into six books. As years rolled on, the Ynca began to think more and more of the land of his birth. The memory of his boyish days, of his long evening chats with his Indian relations, and of the stirring times of the civil wars at Cuzco, came back to him in his old age. He was equally proud of his maternal descent from the mighty Yncas of Peru, as of the noble Castilian con- nection on his father’s side. So when at last he resolved to write the story of his native land, his plan was to divide the work into two parts, one to contain a history of the Yncas and their civilisation — his maternal an- cestry ; and the other to be a record of the mighty deeds of the conquerors, amongst whom his gallant father was one of the foremost. It was a great under- taking, and when he began it he was full of apprehen- sion lest he should not be spared to bring it to a con- clusion. Fortunately for posterity the Ynca lived to a good old age, and completed both parts of his Royal Commentaries of Peru. As soon as he had resolved to compose a history of Peru he wrote to all his surviving schoolfellows for assistance,*' and received from them many traditions which enabled him to compile a connected history of the deeds of the different Yncas. He then carefully collated his own account with those given by Spanish * P. 77. INTRODUCTION. XI 1 1 historians, such as Ciera de Leon, Zarate, Gomara, and Acosta. He was also fortunate in getting possession of the papers of a missionary named Bias Valera, who had been in Peru during the first years of the conquest, and had taken great trouble in collecting all the tradi- tions of the Indians, and in observing their laws and customs, at a time when the generation which had seen the Yuca empire in its glory was still living. Bias Valera was evidently a man of learning and a keen observer, and it is much to be regretted that more than half his papers were destroyed when the English sacked Cadiz in 1596.* The rest were given to the Ynca, after their author’s death, and the information which had been so carefully collected was preserved in the pages of the Royal Commentaries. The Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega is, without any doubt, the first authority on the civilisation of the Yncas and on the conquest of Peru.f His intimate knowledge of the Quichua language, his recollections of discourses with his mother’s relations, and the corre- spondence he kept up with Peruvian friends in after * P. 33. t Mr. Prescott, in liis Conquest of Peru, quotes — Garcilasso de la Vega no less than 89 times Polo de Ondegardo (MS.) - 41 „ Sarmiento (MS.) - - - 25 „ Cieza de Leon - Acosta 20 „ 19 „ 14 „ 8 „ 7 „ Pedro Pizarro (MS.) Montesinos Zarate Herrera - Gomara - 2 T NTRODUCTTOX. xiv life, gives his testimony a weight and authority such as no Spaniard could lay claim to. The conversations he had heard at his father’s house, where the old soldiers of Pizarro fought their battles over again, and his own personal recollections, also give his version of the con- quest and of the subsequent civil wars a peculiar value. The first part of the Royal Commentaries of Peru, divided into nine books, which has been selected by the Council of the Hakluyt Society for translation, contains a detailed history of the origin of Ynca civi- lisation in Peru, of the deeds and conquests of the successive sovereigns, and of the religion, institutions, and customs of the people. The story of the origin of the Yncas, as given by their descendant, was un- doubtedly the one generally received by his mother’s relations ; and although both it and the reigns of the earlier Yncas are fabulous, yet they contain some foundation in fact, and are beyond dispute more au- thentic, as traditions, than the versions given by any of the Spanish historians. I have already, in the In- troduction to my translation of Cieza de Leon,* given my reasons for believing that the historical period of Ynca history commences with Uira-ccocha (or Huira- ccocha), the eighth Ynca in our author’s list. From his time the succession of sovereigns given by Cieza de Leon agrees with the more detailed narrative of Gar- cilasso de la Vega. The Ynca will be found a pleasant though rather a garrulous companion. His long his- torical narratives of the battles and conquests of the early Yncas often become tedious, and of this the * P. 1. INTRODUCTION. XV author is himself well aware. He, therefore, inter- sperses them with more entertaining chapters on the religious ceremonies, the domestic habits and customs of the Peruvian Indians, and on the advances they had made in medicine, poetry, music, astronomy, and other arts. He also frequently inserts an anecdote from the storehouse of his memory, or some personal reminis- cence called forth by the subject on which he happens to be writing. He prided himself on being a strict Catholic, but at the same time he zealously and boldly defends his people, and shows a loving and tender regard for the reputation of his gentle mother’s kindred, and their subjects, which does him honour, and cannot fail to enlist the sympathy of the reader. The first part of the Royal Commentaries of Peru received the approbation and license of the Inquisition in 1604, and was published at Lisbon in 160.9, dedi- cated to the Duchess of Braganza. The second part was first published at Cordova in 1617, “by the widow of Andres Barrera, and at her cost.’’ Our author, the Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega, died and was buried at Cordova,* in the year 1616, at the age of seventy-six, having just lived long enough to accomplish his most cherished wish, and complete the work at which he had steadily and lovingly laboured for so many years. Without it our knowledge of the civilisation of the Yncas, the most interesting and im- portant feature in the history of the New World, would indeed be limited. * He was buried in the cathedral at Cordova, in a chapel called Garcilasso, where a monument was erected to his memory. XVI INTRODUCTION. A second edition of the Royal Commentaries was published at Madrid in 1723 ; and a third (the two parts in four volumes 1 2mo.) appeared in Madrid in 1 829. The present translation has been made from the original Lisbon edition of 1 6 09, collated with that of 1 723. An abridged English version of the Royal Commen- taries appeared in London in 1688, having been “ren- dered into English ” by Sir Paul Rycaut, Kt.,* and dedicated to James II. The worthy knight had a very slight knowledge of the Spanish language, and he did not scruple to make wild guesses at the meaning of sentences, and to omit whole chapters. Thus he only gives fourteen out of the twenty-six chapters in the first book, and sixteen out of the twenty-six in the second. Besides this very imperfect abridgment, there is no previous translation of the Royal Commentaries in English, though they have been published in French, German, and Italian. The French edition was trans- lated by M. J. Bardouin, and was published at Amster- dam in 1737. The German version, by G. C. Bottger, is in two volumes 8vo. It was published at Nord- liausen in 1798. It has been thought that the work of the Ynca, furnishiug as it does the best account of the most civilised of the aboriginal American races, will form an acceptable additon to the Hakluyt Society’s series. * Sir Paui Rycaut was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and eighteen years consul at Smyrna. After dedicating his mutilated version of the Royal Commentaries to James II, he was appointed Resident at Hamburg. He also wrote a continuation of Knolles’s Turkish History down to the peace of Carlowitz in 1699, which was published in 1700, and dedicated to William III. FIRST PART OF THE ROYAL COMMENTARIES, Which treats of the Origin of the Yncas, Kings of Peru in former times, of their idolatries, laws, and government in peace and war, of their lives and conquefts, and of all things relating to that Empire and its affairs, before the Spaniards arrived there. Written by THE YNCA GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA, A Native of Cuzco, and Captain in His Majeity’s Service. Dedicated to The Moil Serene Princefs, the Lady Catharine of Portugal, Duchefs of Braganza, etc. With Licenfe from the Holy Inquifition. IN LISBON In the Office of Peter Crasbeeck. In the Year 1609. TO THE MOST SERENE PRINCESS THE LADY CATHARINE OF PORTUGAL, DUCHESS OF BRAGANZA,* ETC. The usual custom of ancient and modern writers is always to dedicate their works, the fruits of their genius, to gener- ous monarchs and powerful kings and princes, that, owing to their countenance and protection, they may be more * This lady was the daughter of the Portuguese Infant Dom Duarte, and grand-daughter of Manuel King of Portugal, who died in 1557. She was married to John Duke of Braganza. After the terrible rout at Alcazar, and the death of Dom Sebastian (grandson of King John III, and great grandson of King Manuel) in 1578, that unfortunate youth’s uncle, the old Cardinal Henry, succeeded to the throne of Portugal. During his short reign of two years the various claimants to the Portu- guese throne were heard. The one who had the best right was young Ranuccio of Parma, whose mother was the eldest sister of the lady Catharine, Duchess of Braganza. Next came the Duchess herself, next the King of Spain, who claimed by right of his mother the Infanta Isa- bella, a sister of the Infant Dom Duarte. The Duke of Savoy claimed through his mother Beatrice, a sister of the Infanta Isabella ; and Antonio, Prior of Crato, had the worst claim of all. He was an illegitimate son of Dom Luis, a brother of Dom Duarte. The claim of Catharine de Medicis was absurd. When the old Cardinal King Henry died in 1580, Portugal fell to the strongest claimant, and was seized by Philip II. The Duchess of Braganza, instead of being Queen, had to be satisfied with a private station, and the patronage of authors. When the Tnca dedicated his Commentaries to her in 1609, she must have been about fifty years of age. Her son Theodore, Duke of Braganza, had a son John, who, when the Portuguese threw off the yoke of Spain in 1641, became their king, and founded the dynasty of Braganza. Mariana says that when Philip II came to take possession of Portugal, he was received with great splendour at Yelves by the Duke of Braganza, and that the king afterwards visited his cousin the Duchess Catharine. Historia de España, x, lib. viii, cap. 6. IV favoured by the virtuous, and more free from the calumnies oí evil speakers. I am minded, 0 most serene Princess, in imitation of the example of other writers, to dedicate these Commentaries to your Highness, that they may find shelter under your royal protection. Your Highness is known, not only in Europe, but even in the most remote parts of the east, the west, the north, and the south, wherever the glori- ous princes, your Highness’s ancestors, have planted the standard of our well-being and of their glory, at so great a cost of blood and of lives, as is notorious. It is also known to all how great is the generosity of your Highness, for this generosity is the child and descendant of the distinguished kings and princes of Portugal; and although your Highness may not think much of this virtue, yet when over the gold of such lofty rank the enamel of so heroic a virtue is cast, it should be valued very highly. When we behold the grace with which God our Lord has enriched the soul of your Highness, we find it to be even greater than the natural qualities, the piety, and the virtue, of which the whole world speaks with admiration ; and I would say somewhat more without any sign of flattery, if your Highness did not hate these praises as much as you desire silence concerning your virtues. Those who have been or may be favoured by your royal countenance in the whole of these kingdoms, and in those abroad, are proclaimed in so many languages that neither they nor the favours of your royal hand can be numbered. Judging from this experience, I hope to re- ceive favour and countenance for these my books, in pro- portion to my necessity. I confess that my audacity is great, and my whole service very small, though my wish to serve is sincere. This I also offer, protesting that if I should be deemed worthy, I am most ready to serve your High- ness, whose royal person and house may our Lord watch over and bless. Amen. Amen. i he Ynca Garcilasso de la Vega. PREFACE TO THE READER. Although there have been curious Spaniards who have written accounts of the commonwealths of the New World, such as that of Mexico, that of Peru, and those of other kingdoms of heathendom, yet these accounts have not been so complete as they might have been. I have remarked this particularly in the accounts which I have seen written of affairs in Peru, concerning which, as a native of the city of Cuzco, the Rome of that empire, I have a fuller and clearer knowledge than has hitherto been supplied by any writer. It' is true that former writers touch upon many of the great events which occurred in the empire of Peru, but they write them so briefly that (owing to the manner in which they are told) I am scarcely able to understand them. For this reason, and influenced by a natural love of my country, I undertook the task of writing these Commen- taries, in which the events that happened in that land, before the arrival of the Spaniards, are clearly and distinctly set forth, as well touching the rites of their vain religion, as the government of their kings during peace and war, and all other things that relate to those Indians, from the lowest affairs of the vassals to the highest matters touching the royal crown. I only write concerning the events of the empire of the Yncas, without entering upon those of other monarchies, respecting which I have no knowledge. In the VI text of the history I protest concerning its truth, and that I affirm no important circumstance that is not authorised by the Spanish historians, either in part or altogether. My in- tention is not to contradict them, but to supply a commen- tary and gloss, and to interpret many Indian words which they, as strangers in that land, gave a mistaken meaning to, as will be seen fully in the course of the history, which I offer to the piety of those who may read it, with no other desire than that it may be of service to Christendom; giving thanks to our Lord Jesu Christ and to the Virgin Mary his mother, for their merits and intercession, through which the eternal majesty was pleased to draw so many great nations out of the abyss of idolatry, and to bring them under the yoke of his Roman Catholic church, our mother and mis- tress. I trust that it will be received in the same spirit as I offer it, for it is the return which my intention deserves, although the work may not merit it. I am still writing two other books touching the events which took place in that land of mine, among the Spaniards, down to the year 1560, when I left it; and I desire to see them finished, that I may make the same offering of them as I do of this. NOTES TOUCHING THE GENERAL LANGUAGE OF THE INDIANS OF PERU. In order that the subject which, with the Divine blessing, we are about to treat of in this history may be better under- stood (for we shall have to use many words in the general language of the Indians of Peru), it will be well to give some account of the language of the Indians. The first thing worthy of remark is that their language has three different ways of pronouncing certain syllables, very differ- ent from the way in which Spanish is pronounced ; and in this difference of pronunciation lie the differences in the meaning of a single word.* They pronounce some syllables with the lips, others on the palate, others in the throat, and we shall point out examples of this, as they occur. In accentuating their words, it must be known that they almost always place the emphasis on the penultimate syllable, seldom on the antepenultimate, and scarcely ever on the final syllable. I say this in spite of those who de- clare that barbarous words should have the accent on the last syllable, for they make this assertion because they do not understand the language. In the general language of * Thus Tanta is a crowd, Tlianta (with the t and h sounded separ- ately) means ragged, and Ttanta (a double sound) is bread. Again, Ppacha means time, Paccha a fountain, Pacha the earth, and Pachha cloth. VIH Cuzco (for it is respecting this that I desire to speak, and not concerning the dialects of each province, which are in- numerable) the following letters, B, D, F, G, J, and L single are wanting, but they have the double sound LI. On the other hand they have no sound like the double B,r, either at the beginning or in the middle of a word, but that letter is always pronounced singly. Nor have they the letter X, so that altogether they want six letters of the Spanish a b c ; indeed it may be said that they are without eight, counting the single L and the double Hr. When the Spaniards add these letters, they corrupt the language, and, as the Indians do not use them, they themselves do not pronounce properly the Spanish words which contain them. I, being an Indian, may properly avoid this corruption, and write this history as an Indian, and, in writing Indian words, may use the letters with which they ought to be written. Those who may read this history should not take it in bad part that I have adopted this novelty, in opposition to the incorrect system previously introduced, but should rather rejoice at being able to read these words written correctly and with purity. As I shall have to quote many things from the Spanish historians, to illustrate what I my- self shall say, and as I shall have to write out their words with their corruptions just as they have written them, I de- sire to give notice that it cannot be considered a contradic- tion that I should, in these instances, write the letters which do not exist in that language, because I only do so in order to quote faithfully what the Spaniards have written. It is also worthy of remark that there is no plural number in this general language of the Indians, although there are particles which denote plurality.* If I place any Indian * The Ynca of course means that the plural is not formed in the same way as it is in the European languages with which he was ac- quainted, namely Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Latin. The ordi- nary form of the plural in the general language of the Yncas (or word in the plural, it will be a Spanish corruption, and will be done because it would not sound well to place the Indian words in the singular, and the Spanish adjectives or relative pronouns in the plural. There are many other things in this language which are very different from Spanish, Italian, and Latin. They have been noted by learned Creoles and Mestizos, and I now point some of them out that the language may be preserved in its purity, for it is assuredly a pity that so elegant a lan- guage should be lost or corrupted, especially as it is one in which the Fathers of the Holy Society of Jesus have worked (as well as other Fathers), that they may be able to speak it well: and by their good examples (which is of more con- sequence) the Indians have benefited much in the faith.* Quichua), for nouns and participles, is the particle cuna added to the word ; as runa (a man), runa-cuna (men). But ñaui-cuna means the eyes of several people, not those of one. A pair of eyes would be formed by pura (both), as purap ñauiy (my eyes). When the number is given, it is not necessary to use the particle cuna, as chunca-punchau (ten days), not chunca-punchau-cuna, although the use of cuna is admissible. Chac, chaquen is a comparative plural, as Anac-chac (harder things), Llallac-chac (more timid people). Chicachac is a plural particle solely referring to size, chica meaning “as,” or “as large as.” Ntin is a termi- nation for forming plurals when two or more persons or things are spoken of collectively, as Aylluntin (those of one family), Cosantin (husband and wife). Another form of plural is the repetition of the noun itself, as runa (a man), runa-runa (a crowd), hacha (a tree), hacha-hacha (a forest). Markham’s Quichua Grammar, p. 22. * The Dominican Friar Don Domingo de Santo Tomas, who laboured for many years among the Peruvian Indians, published the first gram- mar of the Quichua language. It was printed at Valladolid in 1569, with a vocabulary. This friar was the first doctor who graduated in the university in Lima. He supplied Cieza de Leon with much information respecting the Peruvian coast valleys, and that excellent author com- mends him as a notable searcher into the secrets of the Indians. He founded a Dominican monastery in the coast valley of Chacama. (See my translation of Cieza de Leon, printed for the Hakluyt Society.) Another Quichua grammar and vocabulary by Antonio Ricardo was printed at Lima in 1586, another by Diego de Torres Rubio at Seville X It must also be noted that the word vecino is understood in Peru to apply to those Spaniards who have repartimientos* of Indians, and in that sense it will always be used, when- ever it occurs in this history. in 1603, a vocabulary by the Friar Juan Martinez at Lima in 1604, and another by the Jesuit Diego Gonzalez Holguin in 1608, also at Lima. All these appeared before the Ynca published the first part of his Commentaries. Torres Rubio went through a second edition in 1619, a third in 1700, and a fourth in 1754. Holguin published a grammar in 1614, of which a second edition appeared at Lima in 1842. Don Alonzo de Huerta published a Quichua grammar at Lima in 1616; Diego de Olmos at Lima in 1633; Don Juan Roxo Mexia y Ocon, a native of Cuzco, at Lima in 1648 ; Estevan Sancho de Melgar at Lima in 1691; and another Quichua grammar was published by Juan de Vega, the physician who effected the first recorded cure by the use of Chin- chona bark, which he administered to the Countess of Chinchón, Vice Queen of Peru, in about 1637. Von Tschudi published his Kechua Sprache at Vienna in 1853, being a Quichua grammar and dictionary, with specimens of the language. A missionary friar named Honorio Mossi published a Quichua grammar and dictionary at Sucre, in Bolivia. He gives no date, but dedicates it to Don José Maria Linares, who was President from 1858 to 1861. Finally, the present editor contributed something towards the study of the rich and copious language of the Yncas in 1864. (Contributions towards a Grammar and Dictionary of Quichua , the Language of the Yncas of Peru, by Clements R. Markham. Triibner, 1864.) * Vecino means a neighbour, inhabitant, or citizen. In Peru, accord- ing to the Ynca, the word was applied to Spaniards who received grants of land and of Indians. Pizarro, in 1529, was empowered to grant encomiendas of land and repartimientos of Indians to his fellow con- querors, the Indians being bound to pay tribute or personal service to these holders of grants. In 1536 these grants were extended to two lives. In consequence of the intolerable exactions and cruelties of the Spaniards, Las Casas, and other friends of the Indians, induced Charles V to enact the code known as the “Hew Laws” in 1542, by which the grants were to pass to the crown on the deaths of the actual holders ; those who had been engaged in the civil wars, and all Government offi- cials being deprived at once. A fixed sum was settled to be paid as tribute by the Indians, and all forced labour was absolutely prohibited. But the “Hew Laws” were of course so unpopular among the conquerors that they were revoked in 1545. The President Gasea redistributed the encomiendas and repartimientos in 1550, and they were granted for three lives in 1629. XI It must also be understood that in my time, which lasted down to the year 15G0, and for twenty years afterwards, there was no coined money in my country. In place of it the Spaniards, in buying and selling, weighed the gold or silver by the marc or the ounce. And as in Spain they speak of ducats, so in Peru they speak of pesos or Castel- lanas . * Each peso of silver or of gold, reduced according to the correct rule, would be worth 450 maravedís ; so that in reducing the pesos into ducats of Spain, every five pesos is worth six ducats. Thus the system of counting by pesos in this history will cause no confusion. The system of counting the quantity of pesos of silver in a peso of gold varies much, as it does in Spain ; but the value is always the same. In exchanging gold for silver they give interest at so much per cent. There is also interest charged in ex- changing assayed silver for silver which they call current, being that which is to be assayed. The word galpón is not in the general language of Peru, but in that of the windward islands. The Spaniards have adopted it, with many others which will be pointed out in the history. It means a large hall. The kings Yncas had halls of this description, which were so large that festivals were held in them when the weather was rainy, and they could not be held in the open squares. f And this will suf- fice for preliminary notices. * A castellano or 'peso de oro was worth £2 : 12 : 6 of our money. t These vast halls are to be seen in the great adobe ruins at Hervay and Pachacamac on the coast, as well as at and near Cuzco. The Spaniards called them galpones. Hence the villages of slaves on modem haciendas , which are enclosed by high walls, are also called galpones. THE FIRST BOOK OF THE ROYAL COMMENTARIES OF THE YNCAS, WHICH TREATS OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD, THE DERIVATION OF THE WORD PERU, THE IDOLATRY AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIANS IN FORMER TIMES, THEIR ORIGIN, THE LIFE OF THE FIRST YNCA, WHAT HE DID WITH HIS FIRST VASSALS, AND THE MEANING OF THE ROYAL TITLES. IT CONTAINS TWENTY-SIX CHAPTERS. It THE FIRST BOOK. CHAPTER I. WHETHER THERE ARE MANY WORLDS I ALSO TREATING OF THE FIVE ZONES. Having to treat of the New World, or of the best and most important parts of it, which are the kingdoms and provinces of the empire called Peru, of whose antiquities and of the origin of whose kings we intend to write ; it seems proper, and in conformity with the usual custom of authors, to treat here, at the beginning, of the question whether there is one world or many, if it. is flat or round, and also whether heaven is flat or round, whether the whole earth is habit- able or only the temperate zones, whether there is a way from one temperate zone to the other, whether there are antipodes, and other like matters. The ancient philosophers treated very largely and curiously on these subjects, and the moderns do not fail to argue and write on them, each following the opinion which best pleases him. But as this is not my chief subject, as the powers of an Indian cannot enable him to presume so far, and as experience, since the discovery of what they call the New World, has undeceived us touching most of these doubts, we will pass over them briefly, in order to go on to the other part of my subject, the conclusion of which I am fearful lest I should not reach. I may affirm, however, trusting in the infinite mercy, that, in the first place, there is only one world ; and though we speak of the Old World and the New World, this is because the latter was lately discovered by us, and not because 16 FIRST BOOK OF THE there are two, but one only. And to those who still ima- gine that there are many worlds, there is no answer to be given except that they can remain in their heretical persua- sions until they are undeceived in hell. Those who doubt, if there be any such, whether the world is flat or round, may be convinced by the testimony of men who have gone round it, or round the greater part, as those belonging to the ship Victoria ,* and others. Respecting the heavens, * The Victoria of 90 tons and 45 men was one of the five vessels which formed the squadron commanded by Magalhanes. She sailed, with her consorts, from San Lucar, on September 20th, 1519, on the memorable expedition to discover a way to the Spice Islands by the South Sea. The Victoria returned to San Lucar on the 6th of Septem- ber, 1522, and was thus the first ship that ever circumnavigated the globe. She brought home a cargo of 533 quintals of cloves, cinnamon, nutmegs, and sandal wood. Magalhanes had been killed, in the pre- vious year, at Zebu; but Sebastian del Cano, the pilot who brought home the Victoria , received from Charles V a pension of 500 ducats ; a coat of arms charged with branches of clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg trees; a globe for a crest; and the motto Primus circumdediste me. The Victoria afterwards made a voyage to Santo Domingo, in the West Indies; returned safely; made a second voyage to the West Indies; sailed on her return to Spain, but never arrived, “so that it is not known what became of her, or of those who went in her.” The men who formed the crew of the Victoria , and to whose testi- mony, that the world is round, our author appeals in the text, were : — 1. Juan Sebastian del Cano (Capt u .) 2. Miguel de Rodas (Master) 3. Martin de Insaurraga (Pilot) 4. Miguel de Rodas (Mariner) 5. Nicolas Griego „ 6. Juan Rodriguez „ 7. Basco Gallego „ 8. Martin de J udicibus „ 9. Juan de Santander „ 10. Hernando de Bustamante „ 11. Antonio Pigafetta „ 12. Francisco Rodriguez „ 13. Antonio Fernandez „ 14. Diego Gallego „ 15. Juan de Arratia „ 16. Juan de Acurio (Mariner) 18. Lorenzo de Yruña „ 19. Juan de Ortega „ 20. Pedro de Indarchi „ 21. Ruger Carpintete „ 22. Pedro Gaseo „ 23. Alfonso Domingo „ 24. Diego Garcia „ 25. Pedro de Balpuesta „ 26. Ximeno de Burgos ,, 27. Juan Martin „ 28. Martin de Magallanes „ 29. Francisco Alvo „ 30. Roldan de Argote „ 31. Juan de Apega „ ROYA E COMM EN TA RI ES. IT whether they be flat or round, a reply may be given in the words of the Royal Prophet — Extendens ccelum sicut pellem, in which he desires us to see the form and method of the work, giving one as a similitude of the other, and saying: — that the heavens should be spread out like a skin ; that is, that they should cover this great body of the four elements, even as a skin should cover the body of an animal, not only the main body but all its parts, how small soever they may be. As to those who affirm that the five parts of the world, which they call zones, are uninhabitable excepting the two that are temperate : that the central one, from its extreme heat, and the two end ones, from the great cold, are unin- habitable ; and that it is impossible to pass from one tem- perate zone to the other, owing to the extreme heat between them ; I am able to assure such persons that I was born in the torrid zone, that is in Cuzco, and was brought up in it until my twentieth year, and that I have been myself in the other temperate zone, on the other side of the tropic of Ca- pricorn, to the south, at the extreme end of Charcas, where the Chichas live. I also passed through the torrid zone to come to this other temperate zone where I am now writing, and was three complete days under the equinoctial line, near the Cape of Pasan.* I therefore affirm that the torrid zone is habitable, as well as the temperate zones. I wish I could speak of the cold zones as an eye-witness, as I can of the other three ; but I must hand them over to those who know more about them than I do. I would reply to those who say that, owing to their extreme cold they are uninhabitable, that they also may be lived in, like the rest. For it cannot reasonably be imagined that God should have made so large In 1847 the Council of the Hakluyt Society approved of the drawing of the ship Victoria taken from Hulsius, and compared with that given by Amoretti in his edition of Pigafetta’s voyage of Magalhanes, as a vignette ; and this famous ship has ever since embellished the covers of all the volumes printed for the Hakluyt Society. * Cape Passaos is in latitude 0° 20' S. B 18 FIRST BOOK OF THE a part of the world useless, after creating all to be inhabited by man ; and it may be supposed that the ancients were de- ceived in what they said about the cold zones, as they were about the torrid zone. It ought rather to be believed that the Lord, as a wise and powerful Father, and Nature, as a pious and universal Mother, have remedied the extreme cold by temperate warmth, just as they have tempered the heat of the torrid zone with so much snow, and so many fountains, rivers, and lakes as are found in Peru. That country is varied by many changes of temperature, some parts become hotter and hotter until those regions are reached which are so low and so hot as to be almost uninhabitable, as the ancients said. Other regions get colder and colder until such a height is reached that that land also becomes unin- habitable, owing to the cold of perpetual snow. This is contrary to what the philosophers said of the torrid zone, for they never imagined that it was possible to have per- petual snow under the equinoctial line, without melting at all, at least on the great Cordillera, whatever it may do on the slopes and ravines. It must, therefore, be understood, that in the torrid zone, within the region over which Peru extends, heat and cold does not consist in proximity to, or distance from, the equinoctial ; but in the height or lowness of the land, and the difference is seen on a very short dis- tance, as I shall relate more at length, presently. I say, then, that this would lead to the belief that the cold zones are temperate and habitable, as many grave authors hold, though not from personal knowledge or experience. But it is sufficient that God himself has given us to understand as much ; for when he created man he said, “ Increase and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it.”* From this we may know that it is habitable ; for if it were not, it could not be subdued, nor filled with inhabitants. I trust in His Omnipotence that, in His own time, He will disclose * Genesis i, 27. ROYAL COMMENTARIES. ] 9 these secrets (as He disclosed the New World)* for the great confusion and dismay of those audacious ones who, with their natural philosophies and human understanding, desire to measure the power and wisdom of God, as if He could not perform His works in a way which they cannot imagine, there being as much disparity between one intelli- gence and the other, as there is between the finite and the infinite. CHAPTER II. WHETHER THERE ARE ANTIPODES. To the question whether there are Antipodes or not, it may be replied that, the world being round (as is notorious), it is certain that there are. But for my part I hold that, the lower part of this world not having been completely dis- covered, it cannot certainly be known what provinces are the antipodes of those on this side, as some affirm. This may be said more truly of the heavens than of the earth ; for the poles are opposite each other, and so are the east and west, at any point on the equinoctial. t Nor can it be cer- * This advocacy of an expedition to explore the unknown Polar re- gions does infinite credit to the Ynca. t Most of the old writers on America considered it de ricjueur to com- mence their books, on what subject soever they might treat, with a disser- tation on the shape of the earth, on the question whether there be anti- podes, or on the peopling of the different continents. Father Acosta de- votes two chapters to the antipodes, one to disprove the idea of Lactantius that there are no antipodes, and the other to explain away a similar heresy on the part of St. Augustine. Lactantius derided the idea of men being able to stand on their heads ; while the objection of St. Augustine merely rested on the vastness of the ocean, and on the very natural belief that it could not be crossed, a belief which he shared with Gregory Nazianzen, and other writers. Historia natural y moral de las Indias compuesta por el Padre Joseph de Acosta, lib. i, cap. 7 and 8, Madrid, 1608. 20 FIRST BOOK OF THK tainly known whence so many tribes of such different lan- guages and customs, as are found in the New World, can have come from. For if it be said that they came by the sea in ships, there arise difficulties touching the animals that are found in the New World, for how and in what manner could they have been embarked, some of them being more noxious than useful. If it be supposed that they came by land, still greater difficulties arise ; for if the domesticated animals of the Old World were brought that way, how is it that others were not brought which have since been conveyed to the New World? If it be that they could not bring so many, how is it that they did not leave behind some of those that are met with ? The same may be said of the corn, pulses, and fruit, which are so different from those of the Old World, that with reason they named this a New World. For it is so in all things, as well as regards the tame and wild animals and the food, as the men, who are gene- rally beardless. Therefore, in a matter of such uncertainty, the trouble that is taken to solve it is wasted; so I will leave it alone, especially as I possess less competence than another to inquire into it. I shall only treat of the origin of the Kings Yncas, and of their succession, conquests, laws, and govern- ment in peace and war ; but before we enter upon these subjects, it will be well that we should say how this New World was discovered, and presently we will discourse more particularly of Peru. CHAPTER III. HOW THE NEW WORLD WAS DISCOVERED. Near the year 1484, one year more or less, a pilot, native of the town of Huelva,* in the county of Niebla, f named * A seaport of Andalusia, close to Palos, whence Columbus sailed on his first voyage to America. It will be remembered that when Columbus, on his arrival in Spain, asked for charity at the door of the convent of ROYAL COMMENTARIES. 2L Alonzo Sanchez de Huelva, had a small ship, with which he traded on the sea, and brought certain merchandise from Spain to the Canaries, where he sold it profitably. And in the Canaries he loaded his ship with the fruits of those islands, and took them to the island of Madeira, and thence he returned to Spain, laden with sugar and conserves. While he was engaged in this triangular voyage, on the passage from the Canaries to Madeira, he encountered so heavy a squall that he was obliged to run before it for twenty-eight or twenty-nine days, during the whole of which time he could not take an altitude, either for his latitude or his course. The crew of the ship suffered the greatest hard- ships in the storm ; for they could neither eat nor sleep. At the end of this long time the wind went down, and they found themselves near an island. It is not known for cer- tain what island it was, though it is supposed to have been the island which is now called St. Domingo. It is very worthy of note that the wind which drove that ship with so much fury and violence could not have been other than the Solano, as the east wind is called ; for the island of St. Domingo is to the westward of the Canaries, and the wind in that quarter usually appeases rather than raises a storm. But the Almighty Lord, when he wishes to show his mercy, takes the most mysterious things for their opposites : thus he took water from a rock, and sight for the blind from the mud placed in his eyes, in order that these works might the more evidently show the Divine mercy and goodness. He also displayed his piety in sending his Evangelist and true light over the whole of the New World, which was in so much need of it. For the people were living, or rather Rabida, near Palos, he was on his way to the neighbouring town of Huelva, to seek his brother-in-law. + Niebla is a town of Andalusia, on the river Tinto, not far from Huelva. Don Juan Alonzo de Guzman was created Count of Niebla by Henry II in 1371 ; and this title was always assumed by the eldest sons of his descendants the Dukes of Medina Sidonia. FIRST BOOK OF THE OO