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It.
Royal Commentaries.
C
H·.· .A P."
Ill.
I
bf
the Crofs which the
Incas
preferved
in a
Confecrated
p~c~
~
I
N the Cicy of
Couo
tbe
IncM
had a certain qrofs
_of
wbice
Marble,
whic~
they
called a
Cryftaliine {afrar;
but from what arne
it
had been kept there,
IS
not
c;ertain.
In
the
year
1
5
60
I left
it
in
the V
efiry
of
~e Oit~edral
Church
of
that
Cicy ;
I remember
it
was hanged upon
~ N~
with
a
L1fr
of
blac~
Velvet;
which
when
it
was
in
the power of die
fndians,
it
was
hange~
by
a
~hain
ofGold
or
Silver, but afterwards changed
by
thofe who removed
1t4
~hlS
CroJS was
*
fquare, being as broad as
it
was long, and
about
~hree
fingers
w~de.
le
~ormer
ly remained
in
one of thofe Royal Apartments
1
which they
call
H11aca,
which
fig–
nifies a
Confecrated place
~
and though £he
Jn~ians
did not adore
it
yet tl;ey
held
~tin
great veneration, either f6r
the
Beauty
of
1t,
or fome
other
reafon,
which
they
knew not to affign
:
and
fo
was obferved amongfi: them, untill the MarquefS
DQt,J
Francifco Picarro
entred into the Valley of
T11mpk,
when
by
reafon of forne acci–
dents which befell
Pedro
de
Candia,
they
cdnceived a greater eijeem and venera-
tion for
it,
as we fhall declare
in
its
due place.
_
·
The
Staniard.J,_after
they had
taken
ilie
1?1perial
~ity,
they
ereeted
a Church
in it to
rhe
Alnughcy God, and hanged
this
CrolS m the Vefuy ( as we
ha~
faid) of
chat
Church, without other ornament or ceremony, whenas they ought
to have placed a Relique ef
that
nature upon
th~
High Altar, adorning
it
with
Gold
and
pretious Stones which abounded
in
that Countrey
:
by which ref
peet
co
a
thing
which.
t?e
JndianJ
efl:eemed Sacred,
an~
by
affimila~_g
the
Ordinances
of
our
Holy
Religion, as. near as was poffible,
with
thofe which
the Law
of Na
ture had caught to
this
People, preaching and recommending the Works of
Mercy
in fm:h
~yle,
as the DoClrine
of
thefe
Gentiles
did teacn and allow; the
Ieffons of
Chdilianity
wduld
thereby
have become more eafie and familiar, and
not feemed fo
far~nged
from the Principle5-of
their own
Gentilifm.
And becaµkwe hav · here mentioned
the
Crofs,
on which
it
is
ufual for us
to
f
weat
Ar(
our Courcs of Judicatory ; we fuall take
this
ec::rafion to fay, that
neiffief the
lncM
themfelves, nor
yet
any
of
the Nations under their Dominions
did ever know the meaning of an Oath, for Swearing was not a cull:ome, nor
in
ufe among({
th~m
For though the Names of
Pachacamttc
and the Sun were
ta–
ken fomttitnes
into
their mouths, yet
it
was always with reverence and adora–
tion :
For
when
they examined Wicneffes in the molt important
cafes
whatfoever
1
the Judge, infiead of an Oath, did onely ask the Witnefs ,
If
he promifed to fpenJt..
the Truth
to
the
Inca ? And then
his
Anfiver
was,
That
he
did promifa:
Then pro–
ceeded the Judge,
See that thou declare the Truth
without
any difguifa of
falfhood,
not
concealing
any
thin
hat
_eaffed,
or that
'Which
thou
ktzoweft.
This was all the formality
chey ufed
in
giving
tefl:imony ;
the
which
they fo religioufly obferved
that
with
fcrup1e
and
tenderne~
tf:ey
uttered
ir!-lth
in
~cs
nakeanefs. and
fimplidty:
And
m cafe
a~y perfo~
dtd give a falfe rellim?nY m matter of importance, his crime
was
pumllia?l~
wuh Dearh; not
o~ely
m conlideration of the damage he had
done
to
the 101ured perfon, but of
his
faHhood co che
lnclf,
who had made
it
one
of
the Royal Commands That
he
fhould
not lye ; and
it
was a common and
know~
principle,
tha~
whar a perfon declared to the Judge, he witneffed to che
Inca
h1mfelf, who belflg reverenced by them as a Gog,
they
believed
it
impoffi–
ble to conceal any
thing from his
fcrutiny
and knmvledge.
·
After
t~e
sraniards
had
conq~ered
this Empire, rhtre happened a remarkable
care of
~h1
kin? upon an enquiry abouc Murther in the Province
of
~echnM
The
h1ef
J
u!hce of
Co.uofenr an Officer
to
rake the tellimony of a ertain
C11-–
t'aca,
(which
is
as m
uch asa
~ord
over many Subjett ') and
in
performance
hereof the Officer
reached
to him the
top
of his
taff,
on which was a CrofS,
fa
yin~