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Royal
Com1nentarie1.
BooK
IX.
pipa,
there was a Turnip
to
be feen of rhac: prodig\ous bignefs, that five Horfes
might
be tied
to
tl}e top branches of it,
and
that
if he pleafed, they
v
ould car
him
t0
fee
it.
Garfia
willingly accep,ted the profer, and went thither
purpofe~
that he might
fay he had feen fuch
a
fight,
vvhich
when he
faw,
he found the
re–
port
tr~e,
for
the
Turnip was
fo
big,
th~t
a
Man could fcarce enc_?mpafs it
wich
both
h1s
Armes; and
fo
tender, that
Qemg
broughJ
to
Don
Garfi.?fs
quarters
ma–
ny people ate of
it. -
In
tpe valley which is called the Vale ofgood
Herbs, 'there
are fome Herbs of two Yards and a half long, for
I
keep the meafures of
fome
of
them,
and
upon that affurance
I
give this Relation.
In
the Year
159
5.
and in the Month of
May,
being in the Cath€dral Church
of
Cordova,
and there difcourfing with
Don
Martin
de
ContrerM,
and telling
him
that
being
now
to
''rite thefe particulars in my Hill:ory,
I
was
a
little
fcrupulo~
to
deliver
the
truth of the firaoge increafes of
Corn,
and the prodigious arowth
of Herbs in my Counrrey, left
to
many, who
had
ne-ver gone out of
thek
own
it
fhoutd feem incredmle, or that !look
the
privilege of
a
Traveller, which
is
t~
lye;
but
he defired me not to
forbear to
give
a
true account on
fuch
confidera–
tions, leaving
to
chem to believe
what
chey pleafed
'.>
for my
part,
I
can tefilfie
that
I
was an Eye<-witnefs of the great Turnip in
the
Valley of
Cup:tpa,
where I
was that day with
Don
Garria de
Mendoz,a,
and upon the Faith of a Gentleman
I
faw
the five Hor[es tied to the tops of
the
Turnip, and that afterwards
I
ate
fome
of
it
with feveral others; and farther
I
can add, that the fame day
I
faw
in
the
Valley of
Yea
a
Melon which weighed an hundred and three pounds weight,
the
truth of whlch
was
attefted befdre a
publick
Notary; and
in
the Valley
of
Lie~
I
ate of one
Root
of Lettuce,
which
weighe& feven
.pounds and
<an
half.
Many
other
things
of
the
like
kind
concerning Corn, Fruit and Herbs,
this
Gentleman
r~lated
co
me,, which
I
omit
to
mention , that
I
may not feem tedious to
the
Reader.
.
Acofta,
in
the 19th
Chapt-er of
his
4th
Book, where
he treats of the Greens,
Herbs
and Fruits of
Peru,
hath thefe
v~ry
W
0rds,
which I
have extraeted
verba–
tim:
"
I
have never heard,
faid
he~
that the
Indians
ever had
Gardens for Herbs,
'' onely that they digged fame litcle pieces
of
ground to fow Herbs, Peafe,
Beans
cc:
and Fitches; nor have
I
learned,
that
ever aoy
kind
of thefe feveral
forts
of
'' Pulfe which
grow
in
Europe
were found
in
Peru~
um.HIthey were
firft
imported
" by the
Spa111-'ardt,
which fince have grown and increafed in
a
wonderfull
m:znoer;
'' for
the fertility of thofe Countries
far
exceeds the
foil
of
Spain,
as we have given
'' an example of the Melons
which
grow in the Valley of
Yea
in
Peru~
which
are
" not fawn every year like ours, but
take
a root
which
produces
M.elons for
'' many Years, and are
tut
and pruned at the Seafons
like a
Tree, which
is
a
thing
" that never ·happened in any part of
Spain,
&c. Thus far are the Words
of
Acofta,
upon whofe Authority
I
adventure
with
much confidence to report
the
great,
fruitfuloefs of this Councrey; and how wonderfully at the beginning the
Fruits of
Spain
thrived and iqcreafed to an incredible greatnefs; to which
alfo
I
fhall add another Excellency which
Acofta
mentions, which is, that the
Melons
did all prove good, provided that time were given them
to
ripen, \ hich gives a
farther indication of the fertility of this Soil. And in regard the
firfi Melons
hich
\ll:;ere
feen in the parts adjacent ro
lot
Reye.1,
gave occafion
to
a pleafant fl:ory
which \ e fhall not omit in this place, becaufe it is a farther evidence of the an–
cient fimplicity of the
Indi1tn1,
which is this: A certain Inhabitant of the
City
of
lot
Reyes,
who was one of the
firfl:
Conquerours, and a Perfon of Noble Blood,
named
Antonio Solar,
having a Plantation in
Pachacam11c,
about four
Leagues di·
fiant from the City, maintained a
Spaniard
for his Baily,
to
overfee and manure
his land; who fent two
l/Jdians,
laden with five Melons apiece, being ten
in
all,
to his Mafier, that he might tafie the fruit of his ground; and therewith
feot
a
Letter in one ofthe Baskets, telling them, that in cafe they ate any of chem,
that
Pa..
per would difcover
it.
With this charge they departed, and being halfa day
Jour·
ney on their way, they fate down to reft, and repofe themfelves; during
which
fiay, one faid to the other,
Let
r-u
t11fte of
thu
Fruit
which
we
carry
t o our
Jkl:tjler,
bat
the other made fame fcruple, faying,
The Paper
will
difcover
All,
a&
our Steward ro/J
U4;
but the other replied, that if they threw the Paper behind the Hedge ir could
not fee them, nor arife up in
w
itnefs again
fl:
them; '' hich contrivance pleafed chede
Companion, and the Paper being laid afide, they cut the Melon. and
~~vo~ed
ir. For the
Indians
at
firft
not underfranding the yfiery of
Lene~
nnaginh
t
at