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BooK V. Roya! Commentaries.
.c H A P. .XX Ill.
Of a famous Piflure ; and of the Reward which was given
to thofe who af!ifled thBA Prince.
I N lhis our difcourfe concerning Piracocha, we m~ not omit to ad_d ho": much
joyed and pleafed he was ~ith the .new Adoratton. and Worfh1p _which the
Indittns gave him ; fo that he did not thmk fit to termmate the Magnificence of
his Royal Mind with the fiately StruCture of this Temple onely, btit to extend
his Aets and Monuments with greater ~ory to pofierity ; and to this purpofe he
caufed an Emblem to be drawn, reprdenring the low and inean fpirit of his Fa–
ther, and the generofity of his own mind , ordering it to be painted on one of
thofe many Rocks, amongfi which his Father abfconded himfelf, when for fear
of the ChancM, he abandoned and forfook his City. The Emblem was of cwd
Birds, which the Indians call Cuntur, which are Fowl of fuch large fpreading
Wings, that they meafure five Yards from the end of one Pinion, to die tip of
the other : they are Birds of prey, and fo very fierce, that Nature denied them
Talons to their feet, giving them onely Claws, like thofe of a Hen; but their
Beak is fo flrong and iliarp, that with one nip they are able to tear out the Skin
of a Bullock ; and two of them are f ufficient to kill an Ox, as if they were ·
Wolves. They are of a brownifh colour, with white Spots, like Py<:s. Two
Birds of this fort he ordered to be painted , one of them with his Wings clofe
clapped tog~ther, his Head ilirung in, and drooping, like an affiighted Hen, which
hides it felf, with its Beak turned towards Coltafayu, and its Tail towards Coz:.co :
the other Bird was on the contrary painted in a Rampant manner, with irs Wings
e~ended,, hovering on the \Ving , and ready to fioop at its Prey. The In;dians
fay, that the firft of thefe reprefenred the Fadier in his timorous and dejelted con–
dition; and the other was the Emblem ofViracocha, under the coverirg ofwhofe
Wings the City and Empire was fecured and defended.
Tliis Pilture, in the Year 1 >8 o, was in being, and very perfeet; and in t
1595', I asked a certain Priefr which was born there, and who came from ~
to Spain, if he had feen it, and in what condition it was? and he told me,
was fo defaced by Rain, and the weather, none taking care to preferve ir, that it
was fcarce difcernible what it was; the which was the fate and rnisfonune alfo
of divers other ~ tiquities in that Countrey.
The Inca Viracocha having in this manner obtained a fuprerne and abfolute Do-·
minion over all his Subjelts, being infinitely beloved, and reverenced, and adored
by them as a God; his greatWark at the beginning of his Reign, was to Eft:ablifh
his Dominions in perfeet peace and tranquillity for the good and benefi of all his
Subje&.
.In order unto which, the full: thing he did was to gratifie and reward all fuch
!Viti: Fa\l@urs and ~ono~rs who ~ad ferved him in the late War, and taken Arms
1!1 his al gamfi his Rebellious Subjeets ; and herein a more particular no–
tice was the ~ech11M,- who belonged to the Countries of Cotapampd, and
Cotanera ; eg~rd that they had been ery altive in promoting the intereft
ofthe Inca, and unammoufly arofe in Arms for his Aid and Defence · he befiowed
on them the privilege of wearing their Hair iliorn and their Heads bound with
theWreath) and of having their Ears boared after the manner of the JncM, though
the holes of the Ears were not to be fo wide as theirs, but proportioned co fuch a
fo~e as the firfi Inca, Manca> C11pac, had ordained.
To other Nac~ons he befiowed Privileges of different Natures, as were moll:
agr~eable ~o the1t Counrrey, and Co_nditions ; and in fine, ·every one remaining
~ntirely fatisfie9 an~ contented , he_ vdited his feveral Kingdoms, affording to his
~eople the fausfachon of behokhng his Perfon, which their eyes fo much
onged to fee ; and of whom fo many Wonders and Miracles were recounted 1
Z 2 that
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