109 / 1060
BooK
III.
Royal Commentaries.
Atlength they came to find, that on
th~
Wefl:-fide of .the <;:onvent the Wa–
ter took its courfe under ground, and fell mto. the Brook, which
_Paffi
s through
the
City·
which
in
the times of the
IncM
had its banks kept up wnh fiones,
and
the botto'm well paved, that the.Earth
might
not
fall
in; the which. work
was
continued through the whole City, and for
a
quarter of a l.eague without; the
which now, by ihe carelefsnefs and fl?th of the
Spani':rd.r,
is
broken, and the
.pavement difplaced; for
t~o~gh
the
Sprmg
commonly yields not
w~ter ve~y pl~n
tifully, yec at fome times
1t
n[es on
a
fudden, _and makes fuch
an
mcred1ble
m–
Undation, that the force of the-current hath d1fordered the Chanel, and the bot-
tom.
Jn
the Year
1
558.
there happened a great eruption of Water from this Foun-
tain, which broke the main
Pipe,
and the Chanel, fo chat the fury of the Tor–
rent took apother courfe, and left the garden dry; and now by that abundance of
rubbifh and fullage which comes from the City, the chanel is filled
up,
and not
fo
much
as
any mark, or figna1 thereof remains.
'
The Friars, though
at
length they u[ed all the diligence imaginable, yet they
could
not find the ancient Chanel , and
to
trace it from the Fountain head
by
way of the Pipes_, it was an immenfe work,
for
they were to dig through Houf
es,
and deep
conveyances under ground, to come at
it,
for
the Head of the Spring
was
high: Nor could any
Indian
be found that could give any direltion herein,
which dik:ouraged them in their work, and
in
the recovery of the ochers which
anciently belonged to the Temple.
Hence we may obferve, the ignorance and inadvertifement of thofe
Jndiam
>
antl
how
little
the benefit of
Tradition
availed amongft them;
for
though
it
be
onely forty two Years
at
this day fince thofe Waters forfook their courfe; yet
riejcher the
lots
of
fo
nec~ffirry
a
provilion
as
Water, which was
the
refrefhment
of
their Lives,
nor ofthat fiream which fupplied the Temple ofthe Sun, their God,
could
by Nature,
or
Religton, conferve
in thetn
the memory of fo remarkable
a
particular. The
truth
is,-chat
it
is probable that the Undertakers, or Mafrer–
workmen, of nhofe Water-works, did communicate, or make known to the
Priefis
onelt
~he
fecret conveyances of thofe Waters, efieeming every thing which
belonged to the Honour and Service of the Temple to be
fo
facred, that
it
was
sot
to
be
revealed to comtnon ears ; and
for
this
reafoh, perhaps,
the
knowledge
of thefe waters might dye, and end with
the
order of Priefis. Had any thil1g re–
tml~d
which wast? _have been
~nquired ~to,
1
as matters of Tribute, or of things
relatJ:ng to the
ltegalitt:es,
or
Services, which are fecular and profane;
there
is
no
doub~
but
the
Me~ory
of
the People
or
Tradition would have given us
light
therem, as
~e
plainly fee m
the
H1fiory of
thefe
Countries, whidi were confer–
ved
by
appointed, and
apprO\:ed
Not~ries,
though
in
tbefe days they begin
to
fai1,
amd
wear
~ut
of
memory, hemg
f
wallowed
up by the
modern Hillories of
this
New Empire.
C HA P. ·