410 / 1060
Royal Co1nmentaries.
· BooK
IX.
CH AP.
XXVIII.
Of
other
Fruits
of
Spain,
and Sugar CaJZes.
I
is mofi certain, that anciently in
Peru
there vvere neither Figs nor Pomegra–
nates, nor Oranges, nor
[
weet or fower Lemons, nor
Apples,
nor Pears
nor
Qginces, nor Neltarines, nor Peaches, nor Apricocks, nor Plumbs of any'
forr
like thofe in
Spain;
onely they have one fort of Plumb different from ours,
which
the
Spaniards
call
Me!M,
and the
Indians Vjfun,
nor had they Melons, or
Cucum.
her , nor Goards, which we drefs and ftew
in
our Difhes. Of all thefe
Fruits
which I
have named, and many others which
I
cannot call
to
mind, there
was not
any
fort
found
in
Peru,
when the
Spaniards
at firfi entred the Counrrey,
·and
yet
now the abundance of them is
fo
great, that they are not efieemed; and
like the
Cattel, the number
is
fo
increafed, that the
Spaniards
thernfelves have
admired
the plenty.
When Pomegranates were firfr produced
in
the
City
of
Los
Reyes,
they
carried
one of them, of
a
prodigious greatnefs,
in
proceffion, laying it upon the
Pageant
of the moll: holy Sacrament, when that was carried in triumph on the Fefiival
day of
Corpm Chrifti.
I
dare not defcribe the bignefs of it, left
I
fhould be
thought
to tell a Traveller's Story, and offend the incredulity of ignorant People,
who
conceive the perfettion of all worldly things
to
be contained within the compalS
of their own Village. Howfoever it would feem
an
imprudent caution,
and coo
much nicety for a Man to forbear
to
i:elate the great
Wonder~
of Nature,
for
fear
of offending the ignorant
fort
ofMankind; and therefore
I
<hall take the boldnefS
to report with confidence, that the Pomegranate, of which
I
fpeak,
was as
big
as
the Veffel
in
which they ordinarily carried
Oil
from
Seville
into the
Indies;
aad
many bunches of Grapes have weighed eight or ten pound weight,
and Citrons
half
a
hundred, and Qµinces
as
big
as
a Man's Head. And thus much
for the
Fruit. Now as to other Trees and Plants, we
ffiall
deliver that which
is
as firange
and wonderfull
as
the former.
I
fhould gladly know the Names and Conditions of rhofe
Perfons
who
were
fo
curious and indufrrious as to import them
into
thefe parts, that
fo
I
might
f
pe..
cifie and record them in this Hill:ory,
as
worthy of due Praife and Honour.
In
the Year
158
o.
a
Spaniard
called
G afpar de Alcofer,
'
ho was a rich Merchant
in
the Ciry of
los Re)'es ,
and had there a very
fair
Plantation, was the
firft
that
brought Cherries, and Mazards, into that Coumrey, which, as they tell me,
are
all dead, by reafon of the over great care they had of them, and the
many
expe–
riments
they
tried
to
make them grow. Nor were there anciently Sugar.Canes
in
Pen~,
though now by the induil:ry of the
Spaniard.t,
and the fertility of the_
foil,
they are increafed
co
a loathfome plenty; that wherea formerly they were
highly
they efieemed, are now become of no value or efiimation.
The firfi Sugar Works of
Peru
~ere
made in
Huanacu
by
the contrivance of
a
Gentleman,
~
ith
whom
I
was
well acquainted; a
Servant
of hi
y~;ho
was
a
fub–
rile -and ingenious Perfon, obferving the great quantities of ugar '' hich
were
im–
ported from
Mexico,
by reafon
of
which the ugar of that
Cmmtrey wo_uld
not
fell
to any Account, advifed his Mafier
to
fend
one
Ship's
lading of
his
Sugar
into
New Spain
that they feeing thereby the plenty of
that
Commodity in
Peru,
might
forbear to fend any more thither; the project fucceeded according
to
expefution,
and now ugar-works are ereeted in many places of that
umrey.
I
have been told, that fame
Spaniard!,
who have been curious in
Husbandn'
have engrafced the
ruits
of
pain,
upon the wild
tocks of
Peru,
to
the great
ad–
miration of
the.J
ndians..
\Yho
ha\
e been afionifhed to fee one
of their
own Trees
co
bear
H\ 0
7
three, and four
fi
res of ruit in one year, v hich bei.ng a curiofity
~yond the fcantling of their Underfianding,
they
ha'
e
contented
themfel~es
\thtth
the
admiration of it, \ ·ichout
farther
fear
h into rhe
aufe.
I
am
of
opiruonli ac
0
ves