161 / 1060
Royal
Commeritaries.
·,( in
hardfhip and toil , contributed much to the
affifien~ce
of their Husbands
iq
'' all
their labours. But thofe Profeflions and
A~ts
which were not common,
'' and which did not
fo
properly belong to the Becdlity ofHu.mane Life, (uch as
" Silverfmiths, Painters, Potters,
Bo~tmen,
Aceou1"tants and Pipers,
had
therr
par...
'' ticular Mafl:ers and Profetfours ; ..but the ordina_ry_ and. necdfary Works. were
" taught and praCt:ifed
in
every Family, every one domg his own bufiµefs, did not
'' hire or
pay
another
for ir,
but made
his.
ovyn Clootbs
anGi Shees,
fowed
his
''
ow~
Fields
and gathered in
his
own Hatveft : ,
And tliis, as.
it
was the ancient
" cufl:ome ar:iongfl: them,
fo
it hath continued.. eyen to this
day; .
wherein they.
''
f~m
co have imitated the Lives of the Ancient Monks>.
as the
Fathers of. the
" Church have delivered them
to
us. The truth
iS;
they _are
a
people neither
"' covetous, nor luxurious by nature; that,
in
reality, were the.life they lead
" a.
point of free..
will,
rlther than neceffity,
or ·chote1?
for
the
fake
?f
Mortifica–
" tion
~
ceroioly thefe·people would bti! rarely
~ell
difpofed
to
receive the
Doc–
" trine
of the Gofpel , which
is
an
enemy
tb
pride,
and.covetoufuefs; and
lmru:..
(' rious living, though tbe Preachers ap of thefe Graces unto
the
Indians
do
not
" always
live acc:drding to thofe Precepts which they
~eliver
in
their Prllpits.
And
then foon aftet he adds;
''That:
it
Was an
Efiabliilied Law amon_gft
:them,
" that no
Man
fhould
change
the Habit and Ea£hion
of
his Corlntrey, though
he
a
altered his Habitatioh out of one Provio<i:e
into
another
~
. the obfervance of
'' which Rule, the
Inca
enjoined with great fevericy as a matter of importance
iri
~'
relation to the Government. Thus fat ar.e the words of
Acofta:
To which
I
{hall
add, that the
IndianJ
wonder much to
f
~
the
Spaniards
fo frequently change
their
Habits,
and
attribute
it
to
their
pride; prefumption,
and
wamonnefs of l'heir
humour.
.
_ . _
.
In
the
Year
t )
60,
when
I
departed
from
Perte,
it
was not the
CU:fiorne for
any
to
beg,
or ask Alms; for
where-ever
I
travelled
in that Countrey,
I
never obfer...
ved
any
Man or VVoman
to
be~
unle!S.
it
were
ail
Old
W
ornah which
I
knew
af
Ctt,eo,.
called
lfabet
;
and
file
neither had
..rto
great neceffity;, oriely .
!he
was deligh–
ted to Gbffip from houfe to houfe, and, like
a
Gypfie; w,ith her Jefis and Tricks,
· perfuaded the Neighbours to be kind to
her~
Howfoever, the
Jndian.r
detefted
her
way
of
living, and in token of
cheir
abhorrence thereof ·would reprove her
with words) and rHen fpit on the ground, which was a kind of reproach; and for
that reafon this Woman would never beg
of
the
Indians,
but
on~ly .
Qf
th~
Spani-
4n:ls;
and becaufe
at
that time, in my Cootltrey, there was no Money
coined~
they
~ve
her Mayz, which was the chief thing ilie qefired ; and if the found
th~
come
freely,
fue wo\lld beg a little Flefh, and then fome of their.Drink; arid then
with her Tricks and Jells
fhe
would get fome of their
Cuca,
which is that preti..
ous Plant fo
much
in
efi:eem arrtongft the
Indians,
and which they commonly carry.
in their Mouths ; and thus fue paifed a tnerry and wanton life, but deteftable to
her Neighbours. Nor were the
·Jnca1,
amongll: their other Charities, forgetfull
of the conveni,encies for
Travellers~but
in
all the great Roads built Houfes, or
Inns~
for them, which
they
called
CorpahuAd,
where tliey were provided with
Vicruals
and other nece!faries, for their Journies, out of the Royal Stores; which were laid
up in
every
Province; and in cafe any Traveller fell fick
in
the-way,
he
was there
attended, and care taken ofhim, in a better manner perhaps
th~n
at
his
own home:
But the truth
IS,
no perfon Travelled
for
his
curiofity,
or
pleafure., or bufinelS, but
for
t?e
fervice, and by order of the K!ng, or
his
C11raca1,
when tpey had occafion
to
~1fpatch
Meifengers, fuch as -Captams for the War, or other Officers for coofer–
Vat1on
of the Peace; and then rhefe were well provided for, and treated with
all
~onveniencies;
whereas others who had not the pretence and pa!S-port
for
thetr Travels,
w~re
taken
up for Vagabonds, and
punifhed
accordingly
o
I
-
u
CH AP.