203 / 1060
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BooK
V.J.
Royal
Commentaries.
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A -P.
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How all the
Orna11ients
and Curio/hies, which "fjeautified the
Royal
Pa/aces, were
111ade
of Gold and Silver.
A
LL
the Royal Palaces had
t~eir
Gar9ens, and qrcha!ds,
~nd
places of Plea..:
fure wherein the
Inca
might delight, and d1verafe hunfeif; and thefo
Gardens
w~re
planted with
Frui~-
trees of the greacefi beauty, with Flowers, and
Odoriferous Herbs, of all forts and kinds which that Climare did produce.
In
refemblance of thefe they made Trees, and Flowers of Gold and Silver, and ·fo
imitated
them to the life, that they feemed
to
be natural : fome Trees appeared
with their Fruit
in
the bloffom, others full-grown, others ripe according to the
feveral feafons of the
year;
they counterfeited a1fo the Mayz, or Stalk, of the
Indian
Wheat, with
all
its Grane and Spikes: Alfo rhe Flax with
its
Leaves and
Roots
as
it
grows in the Fields ; and every Herb and Flower was
~
Copy to them,
. to frame the like
in
Gold
and
Silver.
,
•
They fafhioned likewife
all
forts ofBeafis and Birds in Gold al?d Silver ; natne–
ly,
Conies, Rats,
L~rds,
Ser-pents, Burcerflyes,
~oxes,
Mountam Cats, for they
had
no tame Cats
in
their
Houfes ; and then they made Sparrows, and
all forts
of
leffer
Birds,
fome flying, others perching on the Trees;
in
!hort, no Creature,
that was either Wild, or Domefiick, but was made aqd reprefented by them ac·
cording
to
its exact
and
natural fhape.
_
In
many Houfes they had great Cifierns of Gola in
whic~
they bathed them–
felves, with Cocks
and
Pipes of the fame Mecal
for
conveyance of the
Water-..
And amongfl: many other pieces of Stare and Magnificence, t\ley had heaps, or
fiacks, of Faggots and Billets made of Gold and Silver, piled up
in
their Srore..
houfes,
as
ifthey had been there laid
for
fervice of the
Inca.
The greatefi part of thefe Riches,
V\
hen the
Spaniar.fis
came in, were thrown
into Wells,
and
deep wacers, by the
Jndianr,
who obfervipg their Enemies to be
covetous,
and
thirfiy of Gold , our
ot
Malice
ro
them, concealed, Qr defiroyed
them
in
Cuch unrecoverable places, '' here they could never be again retrieved ,
that
fo
the Memory and Tradition of the
h~~en
trea[ures might be delignedly lofi:
to their pofieriry, becaufe they thought ic
a
Prophanation to have that Wealth
and
Subfiances which was Dedicated
to
their Kings,
~o
be converted to the com–
mon benefit and ufe of Strangers. Whatfoever we have .related concerning the
Riches of the
lncM,
is
confirmed by
aU
the Hifi:orians who write
o£Peru,
with
a
more enlarged report of the prodigious Treafures. Thofe Writers who treat of
thefe matters rnofi fully, are
Pedro
d'C Ciera
de Leon,
and
Auguftin
de
Carate,
who
was
Accountant-General in thofe parts; which latter,
in
the
14th
Chapter of
his
firft
Book, hath thefe words
:
'· Gold was
a
Metal of great efieem amongll
" them,
becau[e the principal Ve!fels for fervice of their Kmgs were made there–
,, of, and the Jewels of
his
Dignity and State
~
ere
fer
in
it :
Likewife they
" made Offerings of it in their Temples: And the King
1tgaya
made
" a
Chair of Gold,
in
which he fate weighing twenty five
O!!_ilats,
and which ·
:: was
:vorth twenty five th?ufand
D~tats,
and was. the fame which
Don Francifco
de
Pzy.arro
challenged
for
his own prize ; becaufe
1t
was agreed, at the time
o
'' the Conquefr, that
betides
his
m
·n
fhare
and proportiQn with the refi
he
might
:: claim
that Jewel
w~ich
he
~ould
chufe and
~fieem
of the
grea~efi
value.
GHtpnacava,
at
the
Birth
of
hIS Eldefl: Son, made
a Chain
of
Gold fo big and
: weighty, that
100
Indians
~avi.ngfeized the Links of it
co the R.ingS'
in
their
<c
Ears!
we~e
fcarce able to. ra
1fe it from
the ground
:
And
in
rnemo.ryof this joy
, at
~
.Bir
ch, and of
th~s
great Chain,
they
gave him t
he Nameof
GHa[c11,
which
IS
-as
much.asCham, or Cable, with the Addition of
Inca
which was
' he
Title o
f all belonging to the Royal Family. The.
which
particular
I
pu~
..
.
B
b
2.
pofe ~y
•
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