If a lamb was born of a different colour from its parents, as soon as it was raised, it was removed to the flock of its own colour. In this way they kept an account of the flocks with great ease, by means of their knots, the threads being dyed of the same colours as the flocks to which they referred.

The droves, for carrying supplies and stores from one station to another, consisted of these llamas, which the Spaniards called sheep, but they were more like camels, without the hump, than sheep: and, although it was a common custom for Indians to carry loads, the Ynca did not permit it in his service, except in cases of necessity. He ordered that they should be exempted from all labour that could be performed in any other way, in order that they might be reserved for labour that could be executed in no other way; such as building fortresses and palaces, making bridges, roads, terraces, and aqueducts, and other useful works on which the Indians were constantly engaged.

We shall relate further on what use was made of the gold and silver that the vassals presented to the Ynca for adorning the temple of the Sun, the palaces, and convents.

The strange birds, wild beasts, serpents large and small, and other animals presented by the Curacas were kept in the provinces which still retain their names; and some were kept at court, as well to increase its grandeur as to let the vassals know that their offerings had been accepted, which was the greatest gratification they could receive.

There was some recollection left of the districts where these animals were kept, when I departed from Cuzco. The part of the city where the house of the Fathers of the Company of Jesus now stands was called Amaru-cancha, or the district of Amaru, which means a very large kind of serpent. The parts where they kept the lions, tigers, and bears was called Puma-curcu and Puma-chipana, giving the name of lion, which they call puma. One of these districts was at the foot of the hill on which the fortress stands, and the other was on one side of the monastery of San Domingo.

The birds, that they might breed more conveniently, were kept outside the city. Hence, an estate about a league to the south of Cuzco, is called Suri-hualla, or "the plain of ostriches." It belonged to my tutor Juan de Alcobaça, and his son Diego de Alcobaça the Presbyter, my school-fellow, inherited it from him.

The fierce animals, such as tigers, lions, serpents, toads, and lizards (besides those set apart for the splendour of the court) were kept to

punish criminals, as we shall relate in another place when we treat of the laws they made for the punishment of delinquents.

This is what there is to say, touching the tribute paid to the King's Yncas, and the way it was used. I have taken what follows from the papers in the handwriting of the curious and learned Father Blas Valera, that the agreement may be seen between his narrative and all that I have said touching the customs, laws, and administration of my country. His Paternity wrote with a better method, more briefly, and in a fine and pleasant style; which has induced me to copy what follows. It will add a charm to my history, supplement what is wanting in it, and corroborate the truth of the statements it contains.

LAWS AND ORDINANCES OF THE YNCAS, FOR THE GOOD OF THEIR VASSALS

Father Blas Valera says what follows touching the government of the Yncas, which I have translated literally from his most elegant Latin, because it corroborates what I have already said, and because of the great value of his authority.

The Indians of Peru began to have some kind of government from the time of Ynca Manco Ccapac, and of the King Ynca Rocca, who was another of their Kings. Previous to that time they had lived for many ages in a state of barbarism and torpidity, without any semblance of laws or polity. But from the time of those Kings they instructed their children, communicated one with another, clothed themselves, not only with regard to decency, but with some attempt at elegance, cultivated the fields with industry and in company with each other, and appointed judges. They began to converse courteously, to build houses, as well private as public, and to make many things which deserve praise. They very cheerfully adopted the laws that their Princes taught them from the light of nature, and observed them very carefully. In all this I hold, for my part, that these Yncas of Peru ought to be preferred, not only to the Chinese, Japanese, and Eastern Indians, but also to the heathen nations of Asia and Greece. Because, when properly considered, the labours of Numa Pompilius in making laws for the Romans, of Solon in doing the same for the Athenians, and of Lycurgus for the Lacedæmonians, are not such admirable works; seeing that they were acquainted with letters and human sciences. Thus they had, by this means, learned to draw up codes of laws and good customs, which they left written down for the men of their own time, and for posterity. But the wonder is that the Indians, being entirely deprived of these aids, should succeed in framing their laws (not including those appertaining to their idolatry) so well and in such numbers; which are still observed by the

faithful Indians, all based on reason, and in conformity with those of the most lettered lawgivers. They wrote them down distinctly by means of knots and threads of different colours which they kept for these purposes, and so taught them to their sons and descendants. Thus the laws that were established by their first kings, six hundred years ago, are now as well preserved in the memories of the people as if they had just been promulgated afresh. They had a municipal law, treating of all matters bearing on the administration of the different tribes and villages, and an agrarian law regulating the division and measurement of the land amongst the inhabitants of each village, which were arranged with extreme care and exactness. The measurers lined out the land with their cords by fanegas,1 which they called tupu, and handed it over to the people, assigning to each man his portion. They called the "common law" that which obliged the Indians (except old men, sick, and children) to work on public undertakings, such as the building of temples and palaces, tilling royal grounds, making bridges, repairing roads, and other labour of a like nature. They called the "brotherly law" that which compelled the inhabitants of every village to help each other in getting in the harvest, building houses, and similar work, without any pay. There was a law which they called mitachanacuy, which means to take turns according to families. By this law it was ordered that in all public works there should be a regular turn for each village, family, and individual, each doing his share and no more, so that every man should have his turn of work and turn of rest. They had a law touching ordinary expenses, which decreed that there should be no extravagance in dress, or in the use of precious things, such as gold and silver, and gems, and totally prohibited all superfluity in eating. This law also ordained that three or four times a month all the inhabitants of each village should feast together, before their Curacas, and exercise themselves in military or popular games, that they might preserve constant friendship among themselves, and that the shepherds and husbandmen might have times for rejoicing and relaxation. The law in favour of those who were called poor decreed that the blind, lame, aged, and infirm, who could not till their own lands so as to clothe and feed themselves, should receive sustenance from the public stores. Another law ordained that strangers and travellers should be treated as guests, and public houses were provided for them, called corpa huasi, where they were supplied with all they required. The same law decreed that all the poor should be invited to the public banquets two or three times a month, that, in the universal rejoicing, they might forget their own misery. Another law was called Casera, and contained two provisions. The first was that no one should be idle, and even children of five years old were employed at very light work, suitable to their age. Even the blind and lame, if they had no other infirmity, were provided with certain kinds of work. The rest of the people, while they were healthy, were occupied each at his own labour, and it was a most infamous and degrading thing among these people to be chastised in public for idleness. The same law provided that the Indians should dine and sup with open doors, that the judges might

1 The author means rather fanegadas; i.e. fanegas de tierra.

be able to enter freely to visit them. For there were certain judges whose duty it was to visit the temples and public buildings, as well as the private houses. They were called Llacta-comayu. These officials, or their deputies, minutely inspected the houses, to see that the man, as well as his wife, kept the household in proper order, and preserved a due state of discipline among their children. These officials had to see that everything in the house was kept clean and in order, as well the clothes as the furniture and utensils. Those who were orderly received the reward of public commendation, while the disorderly were flogged on the arms and legs, or received such other chastisement as the law ordained. These were the reasons that all things necessary for human life were so abundant that they were almost given away for nothing. The other laws and moral ordinances, which all observed, may be gathered from what we shall say touching their lives and customs. We shall also relate at large how it is that these laws, or the greater part of them, have been lost with the government of the Yncas, which was so excellent and so worthy of praise, and how it is that the Indians now want the habits of good citizens, and are deficient in the necessaries of life, when in those times they possessed all these blessings.

2. THE FEAST OF THE Situa

[1570-1584. Christoval de Molina, An Account of the Fables and Rites of the Yncas. Translated by Clements R. Markham. Published by the Hakluyt Society as Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the Yncas, XLVIII (1872), 20–34. Reprinted by permission of the Council of the Hakluyt Society of London.]

Cristóbal de Molina was a priest of the parish of Our Lady of Healing of the hospitals for natives in the city of Cuzco. He made a study of the religious theories and practices of the Peruvian Indians. The result of this was the work from which the following excerpts are taken. It was addressed to Sebastián de Artaun, bishop of Cuzco. The original, in manuscript, is in the National Library at Madrid, in the collection marked 135 B. Molina was a master of the Quichua language, and gave a "minute and detailed account of the ceremonies performed in the different months throughout the Ynca year, with the prayers used by the priests on each occasion in Quichua and Spanish, the sacrifices, and festivities." The usual names of the god of the Incas and those which occur in their prayers were Pachayachachic Aticsi-Uiracocha. Pachayachachic was the name of the "teacher of the universe," Tesci-viracocha, the "incomprehensible one." Aticsi refers to the conquering Uiracocha.

Garcilaso de la Vega held that besides the Sun, the Incas worshiped the true supreme God and Creator; that they called him Pachacamac, a name meaning "He who gives animation to the universe," or "He who does to the universe what the soul does to the body"; that they held him in much greater inward veneration than the Sun; but that they did not build temples to him, nor offer him sacrifices.1 "The sun, moon, and thunder appear to have been deities," declared Markham, "next in importance to Pachayachachic; sacrifices were made to them at all the periodical festivals, and several of the prayers given by Molina are addressed to them. Another image, called Huanacauri, which is said to have been the most sacred of the ancestral gods of the Yncas, received equal honours. In all this we may discern the popular religion of the Andean people, which consisted in the belief that all things in nature had an ideal or soul which ruled and guided them, and to which men might pray for help. This worship of nature was combined with the worship of ancestors; the nature gods being called huaca, and the ancestral deities pacarina or pacarisca. The universal tradition pointed to a place called Paccari-tampu, as the cradle or point of origin of the Yncas. It was, from Cuzco, the nearest point to the sun-rising; and as the sun was chosen as the pacarisca of the Yncas, the place of their origin was first assigned to Paccari-tampu. But when their conquests were extended to the Collao, they could approach nearer to the sun, until they beheld it rising out of lake Titicaca, and hence the inland sea became a second traditional place of royal origin." The following excerpts describe in some detail the feast of the Situa.

AUGUST

The month of August was called Coya-raymi; and in it they celebrated the Situa. In order to perform the ceremonies of this festival, they brought the figures of their huacas from all parts of the land, from

1 The Commentaries of the Yncas . . ., I, 106.

2 Sir Clements R. Markham, Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the Yncas, XLVIII, xi-xii. Hakluyt Society Publications.