4000003870

10'2

Royal

Commentaries.

BooK

IV.

C H A P.

.Ill.

the refpell

they

/hewed

tbe

Wor{s which thcfe SelefJ

Virgins made, and what Law there was again.fl thofe

who

attenipted on

their

hajtity.

LL tbefe Curiofities

~ere

the handy..work of thefe Virgins, made

great

quantity for their Spoufe the San ; but becaufe he was not capable to re–

ceive or wear thofe Ornaments on

his

own Perfon , they \.\ ere fent unto the

lnca

his

laV\ full and undoubted Son a_nd Heir, that

mig~t

ufe them

the

fi~d

and place of his Father ; the

which

were efieemed .by him as .Sacred, and

w~th

great reverence and devooon refpetted. by. the Su.b1eas of hfs

who!~

Empire.

And

the

Greek!

and ancient

Romans

did m the ttmes of their Gentili.fin aoore

{uno, PemJ4

and

Pall~

for

Godd

!fes, it ought

not to feem firan

thefe

poor

and fimple people, who were under the higheft circumfiances of

invinc1p~

ranee imaginable,

fhould

with a fuperfiitious zeaJ, and devout

affeltion,

adore

and woriliip whatfoever their Religion taught them to be Divine nd Sacred ;

for they apprehending that thefe Virgins were

CoyM,

or Qgeens and real Wives of

the

Sun,

could

not but {hew refpeet and

reverence

co whatfo

r roceeded from

their hands and labour ; for which reafon, the

Incas

themfelves could not beftow

their Works on any that was not an

Inca

of the true Bloud ; for that were a pro–

phanation of

fuch

holy things, and a direlt facrilege to employ divine producfi...

ons

co common

and humane fervices. And though, as we have formerly faid,

the King gave

efiments to

Curacas,

and other Governours, as

ignals ofhis grace

_ and favour ; yet thofe were of another fort , as we iliall hereafter make ap–

pear.

Moreover, the employment and office of thefe Virgins was co make the Bread,

called

Cancu,

which at the great Fefiivals of the Sun, named

Raymi

and

Cittna,

were offered

him

Saa·ifice : they alfo made the Liqueur hich the

Inca

and

bis Kindred drank on the Holy-days of thofe Feffivals called

Aca.

All the Veffels

which were ufed

this

Houfe, fuch as Kettles, Pots, Jars, and the like, were all

made of Gold and Silver,

being reafonable that the

Wives

of the Sun fhould

live

an equipage agreeable to

the

quality of fuch a Husband ;

that their

Garden alfo was adorned with Trees and Fruit all made of Go,ld and Silver, with

Plants, and Flowers, and

erbs, and Birds, and ocher Animals, all rarely coun–

terfeited after the

manner

of thofe

the Garden of the Sun.

Thefe ''ere the chief employments of thofe Nuns which

the Cicy- of

Couo

;

the other part of their Life and Aetions was agreeable to the profeffi6n

they

made of perpetual

Virginity,

and of Reclufes from the refi of the

World.

That Nun who violated her Chafiicy,

was

buried

alive,

and

her

Lover hanged:

But

regard that

~as

they faid) a

fimple

death onely feemed too mean a punifh–

ment for fo exorbitant an offence, which imported no

leis

than the vio tion of

a Wife dedicated to the Sun their God, and Father of their King ; hey ordai–

n~d, ~hat

with

~he

Delinquent

his

Wife and Children, Servants a d Kindred,

with

hIS

very

Ne1g~bours

and Herd of

Canel,

iliould

without any r

orfe,

com–

paffion

l~mentanons

any be put to death ; that all his Fields and Farms

!hould be laid defolate, and covered with heaps

fl:ones, that fo no Cartel might

ever feed

mC?re

t. 1er

on, or ever be more trod

uh humane feet, which had pro–

duced.or

mamtamed a wretch

vile and impious as this accurfed tranfgreflour.

This

was the Lav , but it was never put into execution becaufe none ver did

tranfgrefs againf1: it :

~or

as the

Indians

.of

Peru

(

as we

have

faid

befoi;e )

were

gre~t ob~eryers

of their Law, and efpecially devoted to that part which refpeeted

their

Relig1C?n,

and

t~e

awe

and

reverence

due

their

Princes,

they were

very

fevere m execuuon of thofe punilbments which the Law prefcribed.,

ad~e-

rmg