363 / 1060
BooK
VIJ1.
Royal
Commentarie!.
345 _
-
-
ni~rd1
found out the ufe of
~ick-filver
; and refer the Reader, to
fatisfi~
his curio–
ficy
to
that Hi!l:ory of
Acofta,
in which he
w~it<:S
of
all
thefe Metals,
a~d
particu–
Jarly
of
the Nature of
Quic~-filver,
at
large.
_T1s
o?fervable that the
Mines
of the
Mountain
Potoji
were
firfi:
d1fcovered by certam
Indians,
who wereSe!"ants_to
Spa–
niards
called in their Language
Yanacuna;
who under the feal of fr1endfb1p, and
promlfe of fecrecy, kept it concealed _for fome _rime? enjoying
to
th~1nfelves
the
benefit of the
firfi
difcovery ; bat finding the RKhes immenfe, and difficult to be
hidden
they could not, or would not, conceal the intimation thereof from their
Mafier~,
who opening the fuft vein
~f
Ore, found paffage to a greater Treafure.
Amongfi thofe
Spaniards,
to whom this boocy and fortunate lot happened, there
was one called
Gonralo Bernal,
w~o
was
afterw~rds
Steward
~o P~dro
de !Iinujo_(it
5
this
Mao
difcourfing fome fuort time after the d1foovery of thlS Mine, with
Diego
Centeno,
a
Gentleman
of~aliry,
and other Noble
perfons,
concerning the rich and
f
preading veins of this Mountain , declared
it
to
oe
his
opinion, that
in
cafe
this
Mine were digged, and the Silver melted, which
it
would produce, that Silver
wouldbecome m
ore common, and lefs valuable than Iron. The wh·ch affertion•
I have feen made
good.inthe years
I5)4,
and55, when in the War
of
Franci(co
Hernande~
Gfron,
a
n IronHorfe·fuoe wasworth five Pieces of Eight, or fix Ducats,
and a Shoe for a Mule rated at four Pieces ofEight, and two Nails for
fi10ing
va-
lued at
a.
Tomin,
or *fifty five
Mar11,vedi5.
I have feen a pair ofBuskins, or Spatter- •
Aboett
te6
lafues,
fold
at
thirty
foe
Ducats;
a Q!!ire
ofPaper
for four
Ducats; an Ell of
Palen-
penee.
tia
Cloth, dyed
in
grane, at ftxty Ducats; and according co this rate,
all
the fine
Cloths made of
Si_govia
Wool, their Silks, Linen,
~nd
odier Merchandif
es
of
Spain,
.
were efiimated
:
but
the
War
was
the caufe of
this
dearnefs, becaufe
10
the
fpace
of two years,
that
it
continued, there arrived no Ships in
Peru
with the
Commo-
dities of
Spain.
Moreover, the great abundance of Silver which thofe Mines
yiel-
ded, caufed
it
to be cheat>, and of no
efi~;
that a Basket
of
Cuca
came to be
worth
thirty
fuc
Ducats, and a Bulhel of Wheat valued at twenty four .or twenty
bve
Ducats ;
a~
like rates they fold theirMayz, and
all
their commodities for Shoes
and Cloaching ; and their Wine
alfo
was
fo1d
at exceffive _li)rizes, untill
fuch
time
as
it
came
to_
be il!?P.orted in greater quantities: And though
this
Countrey be rich,
and abounding-With Gold, Silver, and pretious Stones, yet the Natives are the
moft poor and miferable people
in
all
the World•
·.
C
·H
A
P..
Of
Qz±ick.,-jilver
;
.and
how they nielted their
Ore
before.
the;
difcovered
that
Mineral.
·
.
W
E have
in
th~
foregoing Pa:t of this Hifl:ory
fignified, chat
the
Incan
Kings
had a
~nowledge
of Quick-filver, but were unacquainted with the Na–
ture, or lJfe of it,· and onely admired the
lively
and quick motions ofit ... howfo–
ever,
havm~
obferved forne certain.noxious qualities and effe&
it
produ~d,
fuch
as fl:upefachons,
pa1fi~,
and tremblmgs
?f
the Nerves,
the
Kings, whofe chief care
was
the
fa~ety
of therr people, (for which reafon one of
their Titles was
Lovers
of
the.
Poor)
did
abfo!utely forbid
their
Subjelts to ufe or meddle
with it;'
and
they
~emg
poifeifed with an apprehenfion of its noxious qualities abhorred
it
to that
egree, as n<?t to think it worthy of their thought or word;
'fo
that they had no
name for
QQ_ick-filve~,
unlefs
they
have coined one for
it
fince the
Spaniards
in the
~ear
1
5
6!'
made
a d1fcovery of
1t ;
and if
they
had any before, they had certain–
.J
torgoh~\
as Men are liable to doe, who have no knowledge or prattice ofletters.
at
w
IC
~~e
lnctU
ufed and permitted co their Subjects, was a fort ofEarth of
a pure Vermihon-colour beyond expreffion , found in duft with· n the
Mines
o
Qlick~