343 / 1060
BooKV.H!E
Royal
Cornmentarier.
of
thisPi*tntoja,
he asked him how he came
to
give himfelf the trouble ofcarrying
that burchen; to
,~,.hich
the perfon that was on foot replied, that he
\Va
poor, and
had
not money
to
hire an
Jndi;:t.7J
to
carry it:
In
this
difcourfe with
him
Pantoja
obferved that
his
mouth
was full
of the
Cuca;
and it being ac that time that the
Spaniardr
abhorred
all
things which the
Jndiam
did eat or drink, becaufe they
had
been
abufed
to
Idolatry, and particularly they hated the
Cuca,
as
a bafe
and
!link–
ing Weed, which gave caufe to
Pantoja.
to ask him farther, why he, being a
Spa–
niard,
did ufe thofe things which the
SpaniardJ
hated ;
for
his-
neceflities could ne–
ver be
fo
great as to compell him
to
Meats or Cufioms unlawfoll. To
which
the
Souldier replied, that though
he
abhorred
it
as much
as
the
Spaniards,
yet neceffi–
ty forced
him
to imitate the
Indians
therein ; for that without
it
he could never be
able
to
rravell and carry his Burchen, .for that holding it in
his
mourh, he
found
fuch refre{hrnent and
{hength, that
he was able
to
carry
his Load,
and
perform
his Journey
wich
chearfulnefS.
Pnntoja
wondring ac this
R~port,
relarnd
it
to
many others,
wlio
afterwards
making
the fame experiment thereof,
found
that the
lndians
made uie
of
it
rather
fur tbcin
r.efrelh:ment
and neceffity, than
for
any plea–
fure
in
the tafte, which
in
it
felf is not very pleafant or agreea_ble. Hereafter we
£hall
difcourfe in what manner they carry
it
to
Potoji,
and how they trade and
1
mak-e Mercbaad
ife
of
it.
Ai
to
that Plant-which
the
Sp.aniqds
call
Tobacco,
and the
Indians
Sayri,
we
have
already difcourfed
in
an other place. Dr.
Morutrdes
writes many wonderfull things
of
it.
As
to
9arfa Parilla,
we need not fpeak much, fince the Virtues and excellent
Operations of
it
are already known both
ill-
the new and the old World, efpecially
in
the cure of the Venereal Difeafe, and other acute Dill:empers: There are many
other
H~rbs
in
Peru
of thote medicinal QQ..alities, tbat as
BLM
Valera
faith, if they
were well known, and fearched
into
by
fome e:xgerienced Boranifi, there would
be no need of bringing any Herbs or Drugs thither from other parts of theWorld.
But our
Spanifo
Phyftcians do
fo
little addict themfelves
to
the
knowledge of Herbs
growing
in
thofe,Countries; that even the
Virtues
of thofe formerly known by
the
1nditmf
are forgo.tten; which are
fo
many, that the fiudy of them is difficult
and abftrufe: the
Indians
know not
their
Virtues
and Qllillities., but
dill:inguilh
them onely by bitter and fweet; fometimes eating them raw, as we do Lettuce
and
Radifhes,
and fometimes they make pottage of them, and fl:ew them , ith
other things; and which the poorer fort make the bell: part of their Diet, having
no frore or abundance of
Fiili,
or Flefh, to make their Food. The bitter Herbs,
fuch
as are the
Leav~
which they gather from the Bullies, called
Sunch11,
and rhe
like,
they
boil in two or three feveral Waters, and afterwards
dry
them in the
~un,
and keep them for the Winter provifions
~
for which alfo they gather all the
little Snags and Cockles they can find on the Banks of Rivers, or on the Sea–
Coaft.
• .!.
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