382 / 1060
,
R.oyal
Commentaries.
BooK
IX.
" cers ; they had no Be-ards ; fome of them were doathed
with
the
Skins of
'' Beafis,
others
were
naked,
and without other covering
man
long
hair
which
'c
nature
had
given them.
They
brought no
Women
with them, but being ar–
" rived at
this
Point,
they
Ianded
1
and feated themfelves
in
the manner ofpeople
" under Government:, of
which
mere remain fome Raines
t-0
this
day :
But
in
re..
" gard rhey found no water,
they
fet themfehtes to make Wells, which they dig ..
'' ged out of(the hard
living
Kock,
fo
that
they
may
continue fOr many
Ages.
~
and
which
fpeak the great and
mighty
firength of thofe robuftioos Men.
and
'' being very deep,
they
yield a mofl: fweet and pleafant: water, very coo'
and
" wholfome to drink.
" Thefe great Giants, or over-grown Men, having
f
eated themfelves, and pro.–
" vided Cifterns for their Drink , the next thing was to make a
f
ufficient
provi–
" fion for their Vi&lals ; for they had already almofi confutned the whole Conn-–
cc
ttey ; for one of
ch~fe
great Men
was
able to eat as much as
fifcy
of thofe ordi·
'' nary people, that were Natives
of
the place
~
fo
tnat food beclnning to wanr:
c'
they fupplied themfelves from the great quantities of
Fifh,
whicfi they
took from
c'
the
Sea, .
which
yielded
to
them
in
great
abundance. They lived with
greac
cc
abhotrence,
and
in
ill
correfpondence with the people of
the
Countrey ; for
'c
their Women, they could not ufe without killing them ; and the Natives, for
cc
that
and other caufes, as
much
detefted thetn ;
but
bemg weaker than
they,
the
''
Indians
dutfi not attempt, or affault them, though they often entertained Con-
' fultacions in what manner to take advantages upon them. Some years
being
" pafled, fince thefe Giants reftded in
thofe
pares,
and having no Women fir for
'c
them, with whom co couple for propagation of their race, their numbers be–
cc
gan
to
diminifh ; and wanting the natural ufe of Women,
by
the motion and
cc
infiigation of che
D~vil,
they burned in Lufi: one ·towards the other, and ufed
cc
Sod.Omy publickly
in
the face of God, and the Sun, without fhame or
refpeet
~'
one to the other. Th€ which abomination being detell:able
in
the
fight
of
<c
God, as the Natives report, it pleafed his Divine and pure Majefiy to 'punilh
€C
this unnatural Sin,
widi
a Judgment extraordinary, and agreeable co the enor–
,, miry ofit: For being one day all together conjoined in this derefiable
Aet,
there
~'
Hfued
a dreadfull Fire from Heaven, with great noife and thunder ; and imme–
" diarely an Angel proceeded from tbis flame with a glittering and flaming S"' ord,
" with
which,
at one blow, he killed them all; and then the Fire confumed them,
'c
leaving no more than their bones and skulls, which
it
pleafed God to fuffer
as
'' reliques
to
remain for an everlafHng Memorial of this
J
udgmenr. Thus much
is the Relation of the Giants; the which we have ground to believe, becaufe
the
bones of Men are found there of an incredible bignefs; and I have heard
Spani·
ard.r
fay,
that they have feen the piece of one hollow Tooth
to
weigh above half
a pound of the Butcher's weight ; and that they had feen one of the Shank-bones
of an incredible length and
bigne{S :
befides which evidences,
their Wells
and
Ci–
fierns
are
dear tefl:imonies of
the
places of their habitation. But
as
to the parts
from
whence
they
came_, I am not able to render any
account.
In the year
I) 50,
being
in
the City
de
lo.r
Rtryes;
when
Don .Antdnio de Mendofa
\ a
ice-king, and Governour of New
Spain,
there were certain bones of
Men
digged up, which were of Giants, or Men of an extraordinary proportion; and
I have heard alfo
that
at
Mexico
there were bones digged out of a Sepulchre,
\ hich for being of an extraordinary fize, might be the bones of Giants :
By
which teffonony of fo many perfons, it plainly ap_pears, that there were Giants,
and thofe bones tnight
be
the reliques of thofe mighcy
1
Men, of
which
we have al–
ready fpoken.
At this
Cape
of St.
Helena,
(which as I have faid
is
npon the
Coafl:
of
Per11,
~md
bordering near to
Puerto
Pi.ejo)
there is one thing very conftderable, and
that
i
a Mine, or Spring of Tar, of
fuch
excellent quality, and which
Hfues
in that
plenty, as may ferve to Tar a whole
Fleet
of Ships. Thus far are rhe Words of
Pedro de Ciep:t,
which we have
faithfully
tranfcribed out of
bis
Hifiory,
to
!hew
the Tradition which the
lndiam
have of thefe Giants; and the Spring of Tar
\'hi
h
Hluesout
about that place,
which
is
a
matter alfo very
obfervab]e.
CH AP.