349 / 1060
BooK
VIII.
Royal Commentariet.
CH AP.
XVII.
Of their wild Cattel, and Vertltine.
B
Efore the time that the
Spaniards
came into
Peru,
the
Indi11ns
had no other di–
fiincl:ion or variety of tame Cattel , but onely of the
l'
aco
and
Huan4cu~
as
we have before fpecified.
Of
their wild Cattel they had much more variety,_
of which they made notwithfianding the fame benefit, and ufe, as they did of
the tame, according
as
we have fpecified , in the Chapter of their Huntings,
which they performed at their
c~rtain
feafons. One fort of this
~ild Ca~tel
was
called
Huanacu,
for
the likenefs it had to that of the greater
kmd,
which
was
tame· rhe Fle!h of which was very excellent and favoury, though not
fo
good
as cha'c
of the tame;
in
fuorr, they refemble each other very much, both
in
Co–
lour, Wool, Shape
1
and every thing elfe. The Males of thefe Creatures always
keep watch on hlgn
Hills,
whilft the emales are feeding in the lower Pafiures,
which
fo
foon as they efpie people coming towards them , they prefently make
· a
bleating, (which refembles the neighing of a Horfe) to give warning to them to
fly
and fave themfelves; and then the Males fray untill their Females come up,
which they
put
before them, and remain themfelves in the rere. The Wool of
this wild
Huanacm
is fhort and courfe ; howfoever the
Indians
made ufe of it
for
their clothing; and
in
my time the
Spaniards
ufed to take them with their Grey-
hounds.
'
The
Vicunna,
which
is
another fort of wild Cattel, refembles the
P1eco;
and
is
a
neat Creature, but very lean, and yields great abundance of fine Wool.
Acofta
writes of the many medicinal Virtues whlch belong to this Creature; and as he
defcribes the Beafis and Fowl ofall the new World,
fo
in
reading of
his
Writings
we ought to difiinguHh thofe of
Peru
from
other parts. The
f/ic11m1a
is
long leg–
ged~
and higher than the biggefi Goat; the colour of its Wool is of a light Chef:
nut, or as fome
call
it,
Lion-coloured ; they are fo nimble and
f
wift, that
no
Grey-hound can take them, and therefore they
kill
them with Guns, or take them
in
toils,
as
they praffifed in the times of the
lncM.
Thay feed commonly
.in
the
highefi: parts of the mountains near the Snows; the Flefh may be eaten, though
it
be not
Co
fc;tvoury
as
that of the
Huanacu;
and though it be lean and ·cough, is yet
efieerned by the
Indians.
They have Fallow Deer and
Stags
ill
Peru,
though they are much lefs than thofe
in
Spain,
the
Indians
call
them
Taruca;
they were in fuch numbers,
in
the times of
the
JncM,
that
th~y
were common
and
tame, and would come into the Villages;–
and from
all
thefe wild Beafi:s they now take out the Bezar-frone, though in
my
time it was. a thing not.imagined, or fought for. They have certain forts of wild
or mountam Cats, which they call
Ouollo,
being of two or three kinds.
Their Foxes are much lefs than thofe in
Spain,
which they call
Atoe;
they have
alfo
ocher little Animals, leffer than our Houfe-cats,
which
the
Indians
call
AnnM.,
and the
Spaniards
ZorrinM;
if
their
~~ell
were
f
~e~t,
as
it
is fiinking, it would
33
1
1
furpaiS
the
Musk
or Amber; but as
it IS
fetulenr,
It 1S
the
mo
ft
offenfive fmell
in
the World, and the fiink of
it
is
fo {hong, that it may be finelt at the dillance
?fa
hund~ed
paces,_
an~
though the Doors and Windows are fhut, yet the
funk
1s
fo fubtile, that it will find an entrance at the Crevices:
It is
well
that thefe
Creatures are not
in
great numbers,
for
if they were, they were able
to
poifon
...
and fiench up a whole Countrey. They have both tame and wild Conies diffe–
rent
from
each other, both in colour and tall:e; they call them
Coy;
fom~
tame
Comes have been
b~ought fro~n
Spain,
though the
Indians
will give little for them;
and yet b.ecal?fe their Countries do not abound
in
Flefh, they elleem them
for
great D_ehcac1es, and eat them with much delight. There
is
another
fore
of Co–
ney
w
h1~h
t?ey have called
Vi:uacha,
it hath a long
Tail
like a
Cat,
and
is
bred
in
the
Moun.tams
w~ere
the Snows lie.
In
the Reign of the
IncM,
and
many years
a
r, um1ll
the
tlffies
that I remember
they made great
u!e of
the Skins
of rhefe
V
v
'1.
Conies,
'
.
I
•