147 / 1060
Royal
C9mmeritaries.
•
•
I
v~
,
C H A P.
I~
How they
enlarged _
and. divided the Lands
a?liongfi
the
People.
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O foon
as
the
Inca
had conquered any Kingdom or Province, and that
he had fett1ed and efl:abliibed
his
Government and Religion amongfr
the Inhabitants, he ordered that thofe Lands which were capable of
improvement ( that is, foch as would bear
May;,:,)
fhould be drefled
and manured ;
arid
ip
0rder hereunto they drained
all
wet Moors and
Fens, for in that Art they were excellent,
as
is apparent by their Works
which
remain unto this day : And alfo they were very ingenious
in
making Aque–
dn&
for
carryir1g
Water into dry and fcorched Lands, fuch as the greatefi:
part
of that Countrey is, which
is
Gtuated under the Torrid Zone, being commonly
barren for want of Water to refrefh and make it
fruitfull ;
and {or that reafon,
wherefoever they intended to fow their
May;,:,
or
Indian
Wheat, they always made
contrivances and inventions to bring their
W
acer
for
them, nor lefs carefull were
they
to
water their Pafiures, which they drowned in cafe the Autumn proved dry,
that
fo
they might have Grafs fufficient to feed the numerous Flocks they main–
tained. Thefe Aqueduas, though they were ruined after the
Spaniards
came in,
yet feveral Reliques and Monuments of them remain unto this day.
After they had made a prQviGon of Water, the next thing was to dre!S, and
cultivate, and clear their Fields of Bullies and Trees; and that they might
with
moll: adv ,1tage receive the Water, they made them in a Qg_adrangular form;
thofe Lands which were good on the fide of
Hills,
they levellea them by certain
Allies,
or Walks, which they made,
as
is
to
be f'een in
Co~co,
and
all over
Per11
unto this day ; to make there Allies, they raifed three Walls of Freezed Stone,
one before, and one of each fide, fomewhat inclining inwards, (as are all the
Walls they make) fo that they may more fecurely bear and keep up the weight
of the Earth, whi...
1
is preifed and rammed down by them, untill it be raifed
to
the height of the
Vall :
Then, next to
this
Walk, they made another fomeching
fuorter and
l~fs,
kept up in the fame manner with
its
Wall
~
untill at length they
came
to
take m the whole
Hill,
levelling it by degrees in fafhion of a Ladaer, one
Ally
above the other, umill they came to take in all the
Hill
and inclofe
the
ground
which was capable
of irpprovement,
and
of receiving
W
arer ;
where the
~
ground