4000003870

Boo}{

Royal

Commentt1:ries.

readily,

lefl: they

iliould

doe him fome

hurt,

faid

Beru,

which

~as

his

own proper

name

and then added

Pelu

;

which was as much as co

fay,

you

_me my

name: I

called

JlerH

;

but if you ask fne of the place,

:ivher~

I was;

_it

Pela_

;

for that figoifies a River in the

Jndi.an

language:. from which. time, Which was m

the

year

5 ,

the

Spaniards

ve eve

~alled

this great

an~ n~h ~ountrey

by the

ame

of.Peru.

other Hiftorians corruptmg the letters, call it

~mt,

mfread of

Peru :

~nd

this place: where this

Indian

was furprized, we may

~er~y

denote as the ut–

mo~

border of that Dominion which was

und~r

the

unfd1thon and Conquell: of

thofe King ,

whic~ w~re

called

I~cM

;

an~

whICh was ever

~fter na~ed.

Peru

fro!?

that very place' hich is over-agamfr

~ta

CharcM,

and

the pr_mc1pal

po~1-

nion of the

JncM,

containing

700

Leagues in length ;

althoug~

dierr Empire

~rd

reach as far as

Chile,

which contains

500

Leagues more, and

another moft nch

and fertile Kingdom.

H A P.

III.

The Defcription

Peru,

with the

Story of

Peter

Serrano.

four limits

and

borders of that Empire which the

Inc~·

poffeffed before

the

Spaniards

invaded them , were thefe. To the North

was bounded

with the River

Ancarmay1t,

which runs between the Confines of

.fl.!!.it/if,

and

af{a1t>

and fignifies in the common language of

Peru,

the

A~urc

River, being fituated al–

mofi perpendicularly under the Equinottial line: to the South its limics are con–

fined

the River

Mauli,

which runs

Eaft

and Wefi through the Kingdom of

Chili,

before

comes to the

Araucos,

which is

degrees of South latitude from

the Equinottial. The diftance between thefe two Rivers they account little lefs

than

1300

Lea~es

by Land. That

which

properly called

Peru,

contains

7}0

Leagues in length, reaching from the River

Ancarmaya

to the

ChichM,

which

the

farthermofr Province of the

CharcM,

and lyes North and South, as alfo doth that

which is called the Kingdom of

Chilo,

which contains about

Leagues

length,

reckoning from the farthefi part of the Province

Chichas

to the River

Mauli.

To the Eafr

bordered

that Mountain which is inacceffible for men, beafu

fowls,

called the

Cordillera,

becaufe it

always covered with Snow, and runs

from St.

Marta

to the Straits of

Magellan,

which the

Indiail.~

call

Ritirgu,

and

much as the Countrey of Snow. To the Weft .it hath the Sea of

Zur

for

its

Confines, running all along the coaft to the Cape

af{au,

which

under the Equi–

nottial, and extends to the

M auli,

which

alfo

falls

into

the Sea of

Zur;

from the

Eaft to the Wefl: the Kingdom

efieemed but narrow, the broadeft place of it

being from the Province

Mugupap/if,

to the City

Trugillo,

which

fituated on the

Sea-coafr, and contains

1 20

Leagues in breadth , being

the narroweft place,

which

from the Port

Arica

to the Province called

Laricojfa,

about the fpace of

'70

Leagues. Thefe are the four bounds of that Dominion which the

Inca.s

poffeC.

fed, the Hiftory of which we intend, by divine affiftence, for to write. But be–

fore we proceed forward, it will be requifice to recount the

Story

Peter SerranoJ

for which

Wt=!

have place fufficient

thls fhort Chapter.

Peter.Serrano.

efca~ed

from fhipwreck by

wimrning to that defert Hland,

which

ttQm

him received its name, being, as he reported, about two Leagues

com..

pafs,

a~d

for

much

is l_aid down, in the Waggoner, which pricks three little

Iflands_m the Cart, with divers.

~allow

places about them ; fo that all Ships keep

at a d1ftance from them avo1d10g them with all poffible care and circum–

peilion.

. It was

_Pet:r Serrano's

misfortune to

loft upon thefe places, and

fave his

life

on _this d1fconfolate !fl.and, where was neither water, nor wood, nor grafs, nor

any

th~g

for

fupp~m·

hum~ne

life, at leafi: not for maintenance of him for

long a tune,

unttll

~ome

Ship paffing by might redeem him from perifhing by

hunger and

thirft,

which languifhing manner of death

much more miferable

than by a f

peedy

fuffocation

the waters. With the fad thoughts hereof