46 / 1060
Royal
Commentarie1J
BaoK
It
mend and praife the
JnctU
of
Per11
for difallowing the
S~crifices o~ ~umane
bloud;
and on the contrary, to blame and abhor thofe of
Mexico
f?r
(uffermg
~nd
making
lawfull fue:h
Diabolical
Vv
orfhips, and
Sacnfices,
both
w1chm
and without
their
City
a the Hifiory of the Conquefi of that Countrey doth
truly
aver; which
being'wrote by the Pen of the
G~neral
who made
~he
Conquefl:s,
w~s
rnofi cer–
tainly
auchentick
and
true, and
d1d
def~rve
t?
have been owned
by
h1Il1,
~hat
fo
th~
might have
carrie4
as
~reat
authority wlth them, as the
Commenranes
did
oCfulim Cefa;,
for
~a\7mg h~s
Name
affixed to then:.
. .
.
At the entrance mto their Temples,
or
at the nme of their being there, the
Chiefarnongfl: them clapped his hands to his
ey~-brows,
pulling
fome
of
the
hairs
from thence which he blew towards the ldol m token of reverence: And
this
fort of Ado;ation they never ufed towards their
JncM,
but onely to Idols, or Trees,
or other
things
into which the Devil entred and fpoke to them ; the
tame
was
practifed by
their
Pri~fis
and
Sor~er~rs, b~f?re
they entred inco co:ner and
fecret
places to
difcourfe
with the Devi!,
1mag~mg th~t.
by fuch
fubmiffion
and
refig.
nation
of
their Perfons,
they obliged their
Familiar
to
hear and an[wer
them
And of this Idolatry I
((10
give tefiimony,
becaufe
I have feen
it
with my own
eyes.
All the
Prie!ts
of
the Sun,
in
the City of
Coz.co,
were of the
J3loud-Royal;
though for the
inferiour
Officers of
it,
fuch oth
ers were affigned, as had gained
che
privilege
of being called
_IncM.
Their High Prielt was either to be
Erother
or
Uncle to their
King,
or ome other
of
nearefi Blond ; their Priefis ufed no Veft..
rnents different
from
others.
In
ocher
Provinces, rhofe which
were
Natives,
or
related to
the
Principal
men, \'\ ere ;nade Priefis, though the_
Chi~f
Priefi: amongft
them was an
Inca,
that ma ters might
bear fome coclorm1cy
1th
the Imperial
City ;
which rule was
alfo
obferved in all Offices relating to
ar and Peace, that
fo
the Natives might have their fhare
in
the Government, and not feem co be
flighted or negletled. They had
alfo
fome Houfes for Virgins, which profeifed a
perpetual
irginity, where they ever rfmained Reclufes:
of\\
hich,
and
of the
King's Concubines, we !hall have
occaGon
hereafrer to treat
more
at large.
All thefe Laws
in
Government,
and
Rites
in
Religion, they pretend for the
greater authority of them to
have
received from their firfi
Inca, Manco Caf1Ic
•
and
that
~here
Matters
wer~
irnperfett,
it
was
left
to his Succeffours
co
efiabJuh and
complete: For as they affirm that
thefe
Laws, both in Religion and Govern–
ment, were deri\ ed from the Sun, and in[pired
by
him into hls Children the
J?r
ctU
•
fo
it
is hard to affirm, to whom in
particular
fuch and fuch Laws
were
to
be ,
attributed.
. . .
CH AP.
v.
The Divifion of the Empire into f our P
a1·ts,
and
of the
Regi._
fters /zept
by
the Decurions,
and
what their
Office
was.
T
HE
l11cM
divided their Empire into four Part , which they called
Tavan?.
t rnfayu,
and fignifies rhe four Qlarters of the Heavens ,
vh.
Eaft, Weft,
North and outh. The
C ity
of
Couo
they efieemed the Point and Centre of all,
and in the
bdian
Language
is
a
much
as
the
avel of the Earth ,
for
the Coun–
~rey
of
P_ert1
bei~Jg
long and
narrow,
in fafhion of a Man,
s
body, and that City
m
the middle,
it
may aptly be termed the
avel of that En pire. To the
Eafi..
\ ard they called the
Countrey
Antifuyu,
from the Pro
1
ince
Ami
which extends
all
along
that gr at Mountain, which runs through the
fnowy
deferc Eafiward.
T
the W ell:ward they
called
the Counrrey
Cuntifuyu,
from that fmall Province
which is alled
Cunti
;
e
r hward lie the Pr vince
Chinchll,
and to the
outh..