152 / 1060
Royal
Commentaries.
BooK
V.
E
ery
lfiand
was
by order of the
Inca,
affigned to fuch and fuch Provinces,
and
if
the Hland \Vere very large, then two or three of them divided the foilage,
the
which they laid up
in
feparate heaps,
that
fo one Provrnce might not encroach
on the proportion allotted to the other; and when they came to make their
Di-
ifion to particular Perfon , and eighbours, they then weighed and
il1ared out
ro
ever}' an the quantity he
was
to receive; and
it
was
felony
for
any man
to
take more than
what
belonged to him, or to rob or fieal
it
from the ground of
bis
eighbour,
for
in regard that every man had as much
as was
neceffary
for
his
o
Yn
Lands, the taking
a
greater quantity than what belonged to him, wa judged
a
rime, and a
high
offence
3
for that this
fort
of
Birds
dung
was
elteemed pre–
cious being the befl: improvement and manure
for
Land in die World.
Howfoe er
in
other parts of that Coafl:, and in the
Lm
ountries of
Atica
A~iquipa,
Villacori, Malla
and
Chi~lca,
and o_ther Vallies, they dung their grounds
\V1th
the Head of
a
f
mall
fifh ,
like our Pilchards, and w1th
no
other foilage.
The
Natives of thefe Countries which we have named, and others under
the
fame
limate, live \
ith
great labour and toil, ' here they can neither
water
their
rounds with fireams from the Springs or Fountains, nor yet'
ith
the
Rain
or
ews from Heaven : For it is a certain truth, that for the
f
pace of feven hundred
eagues along that Coafi it did never
rain,
nor are there in all that rraet: of
Land
fireaffs, or places for water,
the
\~:hole
Countrey being exceedingly hot,
dry,
and
nothing almofr but fand ; for
\.V
hich reafon the atives endeavouring to moifien
their grounds,
fo
as
to
make them capable
to
yield
May~,
they approach
as near
to
the ea,
as
they are able, where they
turn
afide, and
cafr
away the
Sand
which
lies
upon the furface, and dig down as deep
as
a Man's Body is in length, and -
fometirnes twice as deep, untill, having pa!fed the Sand, they come to fuch a
fort of Earth as
is
able to bear the weight of Water, which places
tbe.Spaniardt
call
Hoy~u,
or
Vaults~
and being of different proportions, fome greater, and
fome
leffer ; fome are not capacious ehough to receive above half
a
meafure of Seed–
corn, ochers again are
fo
large as to receive three or our meafures of Seed
:
In
thefe places they neither plow, nor reap, becaufe they rather
fet
than fow,
plan–
ting their grane
of
Mayz.
at:
an equal difrance one from the other; and in.the holes
or furrows
v.
hich they make; they ca!l: three or four grains of
Mayz.,
with
a
few
Pilchard Heads;
which
being
all
the dung they ufe, and \vhich
is
onelYi
a
they
fay, profitable
in
that
foil,
they expeet their Harvefr at
its
due feafon.
And
to
fee hO\ Di
i
e Pro idence taked:i care of all Creatures, for that o
1
er .the
In–
aia,;1
may want that Manure,
'~Thich
onely makes their Land fruitfuU, nor the
Birds of the Hlands their food, there are
fuch
quantitles of
Pilchard .
aft up
by
the ea at thofe feafons) as are not onely fufficient
for
the Food of
Men,
and
Birds,
and for dunging the Earth, but even to lade
many
Ships,
if
occafion {houkI
re–
quire: It is Jaid, that
this
Fifu
is
chafed afi10re by fome Dolph·
~,
or greater
Fiib;
be it by what
m~s
it will, the advantage · great, and the Pmvidence
of
God is admirable in thefu
his
Bleffmgs towards
his
poor Creatures. Who
1
s the ·
full:
Inventer of this manner of planting
in
holes \Yith the Head of Pilchards,
is
uncertain; we may rather attribute it to eceffity, ' hich
is
the Mother
of
Inge–
nuity; for
in
regard, as \ e have faid, that there
is
great want of Bread
in
all pares
of
Peru,
the fame Underfianding which in fome par taught them to
lane
their
MllJ·z.
in
holes, the
fame alfo
inll:rueted them to make their Allies in the
parts
of
o~.co,
and
by this
means every one
fm,·ing for his
own maintenance,
and
not
to
fe
1,
all
eople enjoyed fufficient
for
their
fupport,
never
an
fcarcicy
0,.r
famine
a
·ing
been knm n
in
that Land.