116 / 1060
.I
Royal
Commentaries.
IOO .
BooKIV
.
.
they 'Yere feletled apart
and
chofen .
it~
ref
pelt
to. their lineage
an~
beauty ; and
that for aifurance, that they were
V
irgms at the time of fuch admiffion into
the
Monafrery, they were received into that Order at eight years of age, or under.
And b€caufe thefe Virgins who belonged
to
th€ Monafiery at
Cov:o
wen~
dedi..
cated,_
and
a
it
wsFe
ef~ufc
d
to
t}le
un,
it
was
e~ee
ed neceffiity that
they
fbetild
be
of
his
Li
age
and Bloud, t at
is,
Daughter of he
JncaJ,
of his
Uri–
cles, and fuch
who·
were defcended by Father and Mother of the
f~me
Lineage
and not Bafrardized by mixture of humane bloud with divine race, but pure
and
unfpotted
>
for fince their opinion was, that they were efpoufed unto the Sun, and
that he was to have Children by them, 'cwas reafon that they fhould be without
fpot or blernilb, and their bloud pure and undefiled.
Thefe Monks, or Nuns , were commonly about
1
5
oo
in Number, governed
by grave Matrons, admitted to the fame prefidlion who had lived and grown
old under the
fame
rules and obfervance of che1r V
aw :
o thefe were properly
committed the care and government of the younger fort , and from this Office
they took the Name of
Mamacuna,
or Mother
of
the Maids, the word
.LMama
fig..
iiifying a Mother; and
Cuna
in
compofirion, care or watchfulnefs. With
thls
Title their Offices were very agreeable, for fome were Abpeff es, ochers Mifireif es
to infirutt the Novitiates, not onely
in
their Religious Vforfhips, but likewife
in
Spinning, Weaving, Sowing, and t[re like etnployments ; fome alfo were Por- _
ters belonging
to
the Gates, others took care of the
Huf
wifery, and Management,
of the domeft.ick affairs, and to make a provifion of Neceffaries, with whlch they
were fWf1ciently fupplied out of the Efiate of the Sun ; for they being
his
Wives,
could not
be
denied a maintenance out of his Revenue.
·
P.
IL
Of the Rules and Statutes,
and
EJJiployment
of
thefo Seletl
Virgins.
.
.
)
T
Hey were Reclufes, and for evet
fhut
up, during the whole term of their
lives, and obliged to perpetual
Virginity ;
tliey.
Ead
fio Locutoty,, or place
allowed them at which they might fee or converfe \"\'ith Man ot Woman; nor
had they other fociety than one with another; for they held, that the Wives of
· the Sun were to have no communication V\ith other, than with himfelf; and
this
their Seclufion was
fo
firitt and rigorous, that though the
Inca
might perfonally
have claimed this privilege•,
yet
becaufe no other fhould dare or advenmre on
this
attempt by his example, he alfo denied himfelf
this
liberty ; onely the
COJa,
or Qy_een, with her D aughters, had the freedom tp enter in, and
Hit
this Mo–
nafiery ; and by them the
Inca
prefented his Salutes, demanding of their health,
and what their occafions and necef
fities required.
I once
faw
thls Houfe fianding
alone, without any other Building befo.te
it;
for onely that, and the Temple of
the.Sun, which made up_two Street's,
and
four ocher great Coun,
~
hicli
had.
Been the Palaces of their Kings, remained entire ; having been fpared b\( the
In–
dians,
out of ref
pell:
to their God the Sun, and the
Incas
tl
eir Kings, when in a
general Inftrrre6Hon againfr the
Spaniard1
they fet fire, and confurned all the refi of
the
City.
Among{} other rarities of this Building, there was a narrow Gallery,
in which two onely could go a-breafi,
that
ran through the· whole Houfe;
and this was the -paffage
to
feveral
ha.mbers and Apartments on each hand, where
the Offices of the Houfe were kept, and where the Women V\ orked
:
At every
one of thefe Doors was a Portrefs ; and
in
the farthefr Chamber, at the end of
the Gallery, was the Apartment for the Wives of the Sun, where none entred
bdides themfelves. This Houfe had i ts common Gate,
·hich we call the Great
Gate ;