4000003870

•

.•

BooK

VI.

•

KOyal Commentaries.

rightly underfiood them,

and

taken the words

perfettly, as to be guilty of no

Jniflake. .

If,

. d

· ·

there were any other Menages,

ey were

comm1~te

to wntmg,

not

word of mouth : Writing,

m!=an,

not

fuch

as we

deliver and expFeis

in Letters,

but

Knots made up

different threads of various colours,

which

ierved

for

cyphers, w

bich

were well underftood by

th~

Inca

and his Govemours.: For

thefe

Knots and Colours of

thread,

they fpec1fied what

number

of Sould1ers,

lvhat

Garments, what Provifions, and

wh~t.

other neceffaries were to be fnrni{hed,

. and

put

into

readinefs

for

the ferv1ce of the Almy.

Thefe

knotted threads

which

the

Indians

called

~ipn,

were the Cyphers which they ufed

all

their

Ad–

vices,

and the Figures in their Accounts: of

which

we fhall treat more at

large

the

followLtJg

Chapter.

But

thefe

Chafqui,

or Poft-boys, when

at·

any

time

any

extraordinary bufine!S was

aetion, .they encreated them

often~q

or rwd e

number at every Stage. And to

m~e

thefe Pofis rhe

r~ady

and quick ; if

any

time an extraordinary occa6on happened, they gave their

Signal in the day-time to them by making a finoak, and in_the night-time by

~he

flame of a Beaco1 ·;

which

being difcovered at a difiance,

ferve-0 as a warning

every

Stage to have their Pofis in

readineiS, and to

W(ttch

night

and

day

for

"the

coming of

this

Mefiage. But thefe Beacons

were

never fired

but

forpe

great

occafion of Rebellion, or Inforrell:ion of

Province , that

the news of

' might fp edily arrive at Court

the fpace of two or three hours, though

hap–

five or

fix

hundred Leagues from thence ; the

which

ferved

give an

Alla–

rum

untill fuch time as the particulars of the News tuTived 'with greater certainty.

And

this was

the

Office

and Ufe of the

Chafqui.

•

C H A P. .VIII.

That they made their Reck_onings and Accounts

Threads

and Knots

;

and that

the

Accountants

were

Men of

great

faith and integrity.

Vipu

fignifies as much as Knots, and fometimes Accounts ; in ordering of

which,

the

lndittns

Dyed their Threads with divers colours; fome were ofone

colour onely, fome of two, others of three; or more; which, with the mixed

co–

lours, were of divers and various fignifications. Thefe

firings

were twilled of

three or four Threads, and about three quarters of

Yard in length ;

all

which

they

filed on ·another firing

fafhion of

Fringe. And by thefe colours they

.u~derfiood

the number.

and

_meaning of every part_icular: By the yellow they

fig..

mfied

Gold, by the white Silver, by the red Sould1ers and Ann1es, and fo of other

things dillinguHhed by their colours.

~ut

as for

other t_hings which could not

dill:inguiilied by Colours, they de–

fcr1bed them

t?eir o:der and degrees ofquality and goodnefs: For as we in

Spain

take every thmg m their ·degrees of cornpanfon, fo they having occafion to men–

tion Corn, do firfr nominate Wheat, then Barly, .then Peafe and Pulfe,

&c.

when they gave an account of Arms; the

firfr

mentioned were the mofi Noble

fuch

as Lances,

Darts, then Bows -and Arrows, Pole-axes and Hatchets, and

forward. So

\vhen

they

had

occafion

number the people and feveral Fami- •

hes

The

firfl:

were Aged

Men

of fevemy

year3

and upwards, therr

N.Wn

fifty,

and

_fo

~eventy,

then of.forty

and

from ten to ten, uncill

they

came to

fucking

Children:

The

which.Order

alfo was kept in numbring -their Women.

Then

arnon_g~ ~hefe

groffer firings, there

we~hers

which

were µlore fhort,

and

flender

ad1ouung

to them;

and thefe were"Exceptions to the other more

ge-

neral

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