348 / 1060
I
I
·
Royal
Commen·taries,.
BooK
Vi'Ii.
Journey from
Co:uo
to
Potocchi
in
going and returning they are commonly four
months, befides the time
that
they are detained at the place
for
traffick, and
pack–
ing up
their Merchandize. One of this
fort
ofSheep, which
wa
of the befl
kind
was worth
in
Couo
eighteen
Ducat ,
and one of the more ordinary twelve
0 ;
thirteen. The chief Merchandize brought from that City was
CHca,
and
Gar–
ments for the
Indians.
All
chat
I
have before fpoken
I
have feen and obferved
ith
my
own Eyes, but how
things
have been ordered fmce my deparrure,
I
know
nor.
I
have
traded
with many of them for this commodity, as the Merchants
wen~
and came, and
I
am aifured that fome of thefe Travellers have fold
a
Basket
of
this
CHc
a for above
thircy
Pieces of Eight,
weighty
Money. And nocwirhfian-
ding
the
val.ueof
~he·
ommodities, and chat thefe Caravans,
~r
Droves ofSlieep,
rerurned wnh thu
orty,
fifcy,
and
an
hundred rhoufand Pieces of
Eight
yet
fuch was the fecurity of tho!e Countries, and the little danger they had of Thieves
or Robbers, that they lodged and flepc
in
the open Fields, without other
Guard~
or
Defence than their own. The like fecurity and confidence did Men
ufe
in
their
dealings
and Merchandize,
as alfo in
payment of their Rent , or Loans
of
Money, making no Conveyance, or
W
ricing,
or Obligation,
be
lides their
mere
Word;
which
they
kept and obferved fo punctually, that when
a
Spaniard
had
lofi Money by Play, he would fay to the Winner,
Tell
f
uch a one, that the Monty
'1Phich he o-PPs
me
he
fhould
pay
to you, in fatilfatlion
of
whtttyou won
<Jf
me at
Cards.
Thefe
Words were efieemed
as
fufficient
as a
Bill
of Exchange, for fuch was the Inno–
cence
and
the fimplicity
of
thofe Countries, chat no fcruple was made in
giving
all
belief
and
credence thereunto ; and
this
was
fo common,
that
vvherher the
Per–
fon
were
a
Merchant, or a Souldiert or
a
Lord of
Indians,
his
Word
would
pafs,
and
he was
credited
in
every thing
tnat
he
uttered~
and fuch was the fecuricy of
the
wa~,
that
it
feemed the golden Age, wherein was no
fraud
nor violence
amongR:
Mankind. And as I
underftand it continues
frill
to
in
rhofe Countries.
In times
of Peace, when
all
Wars
were ceafed, many Nobles and Gentlemen
having no employment, thought it no diminution to their
Horn~ur,
rather than to
remain idle, to travell frequently to
Potocchi,
and trade
in
Cuc
a,
and other
Indian
Com..
modities, but then it
was
not efl:eemed honourable to fell or buy them by parcels,
but by
the whole fale
~
nor yet to deal
in
Spanijh
Commodities , or to fell
by
the
yard,
or open a Shop. Howfoever many of them were pleafed co cravell
wich
their
Commodities, it not
being
efteemed ignoble for Men of
Qµaliry
to
be
Mer–
..chants; but rhen they did not go according to the pace of their Droves, buc often
went
out
of the
way,
and divertifed themfelves with their Hawks, and Spaniels,
Greyhounds,
and
Guns, hunting as their Cartel travelled ;
~nd
then at night when
they
came to the place of repofe,, they would entertain themfelves
with what
they bad killed, perhaps with
a
dozen of Partridges, wirh
a
Huanacu,
or
Picunntt
or fome other fort ofVenifon, for the Countrey being wide and large,
was
full
of
all
fores
of Game: And
in
this manner entertaining rhemfelves in going and
co–
ming1
their
Journies feemed rather defigned for Pleafure than
for
Merchaodife;
whicn
was an
employment fo
far
from dimini01ing the Honour of the Noble Soul–
diers, that
it was
an addition to their Fortune and Reputation.
{of eph Acofla
in
his
4th Book
[peaks
much
in
praife of
this
bigger fort of Cartel, and of
the
profit
which
they bring. But of the
leff er
forr, which
is
of the fame
fpecies
with
thefe,
called
Paco/lama,
there
is
not much co be
faid
~
for they are not ufefull
for
Bur–
thens, or
in
that manner ferviceable: howfoever their Flefh is almoft a favoury
and
as
good
as
that of the bigger
fort;
and
their
W
ooll
is
excellently good
and
long, with which they
make
three forts of StuffS for clothing, which the
Jndi11nf
die
with fuch excellent colours, that they never fade: But the
Jnd£ans
make no
ufe
of the
Milk
either of the bigger or leffer fort ofthis
Cattel
for
making
heefe,
01
eating
it
otherwife;
the truth is,
they yield
little Milk,
and no more
than fuffices
for the nourifhment of their Young.
In
my time they brought
beef
es from
Mt!Jorca
to
Peru,
which were
greatly
efl:eemed.
Milk,
and the
Dug,
and
ucking
are all called by the
fame
Word
Nunna.
The
Jndian.r
have no Dog , but
fuch
a
are Curs,
and not of that difference of Races,
and
Kind ,
as \'
e
have
in
EJJrope.
The
IntBan
Word for a
Dog
is
A lco.
•
·'"
HAP.