62 / 1060
Royal Commentaries.
Book
II.
C
.Jf
A
P~
XI Vo
Of
the
Geonietry, Geography, Arithnzetick._ anq
Mufic~
l{nown to the
Indians.
T
Hey
had attained
Co
much Geometry
as ierved them for to
meafure out
their Lands, and make out
limits
and bounds to their feveral partitions;
but this was not done in an artificial manner, but by their lines, anti finall
frones~
which they ufed
in
all their Accounts.
.
.,_
As to their Geography, they
knew
how to decypher
in
colours the Model of
every Nation,
with the
di!l:inet Provinces,
and
how they were bounded
I
have
feen an exaet Map of
Co~o,
with the parts adjac
tj
and the
four
principal ways
to it, perfectly defcribed in
a forr
of Mortar, compounded
with ftnall
frones and
flraw, .which delineated
all
the places, both great and
fmall,
with
the
btoad
Streets,
and narrow Lanes, and Houfes
V\
h·ch were ancient and
de~yed,
-a00
with
the
three fireams running through
it,
all which were defcrribed
with
great p.n-ioficy.
Moreover
in
thii
Draught the
H.
s
and Valleys,
the
turnings and windings
of
the Rivers were made to appear
fo
plain,
th~t
the bell: Cofmographer in the
World could hot have exceeded
it.
The ufe of
this
Model
was
co
·nform the
VHicors,
which
they
called
Damian,
of
the
extent
and
divHion of
the
Countries,
whenfoever they went
y
h
King,s
Commiffion to
furvey
the Province, and
number the people within the precin& of
Co~co,
and other
P,laces;
· this
Model
which
I
mention.,
'·as
made in
MUJna,
whicn the
Spaniards
call
now
Mahiria;
and
is
diHant
about
five Leagues from the
City
of
Co:tc()
to-v'\
1
ards the
Zur;
t
e
ich
I
had o portunity to obfer e, bein · then prefent
with
the Vilitors,
ho
·enc
to
number the
Jndiani
that inhabited
the
Divifion of
Garfilaf{o
de
Peg4,
My
Lord
and Mafier.
· ·
In Arithmetick
they
knew
much,
and were
skill~d
in
a
peculiar manner and
nature
in
that
cience;
for
by
certain knots ofdivers colours they
fummed up all
the accounts of
Tribute ,
and Contributions, belonging to the revenue
of the
Inca~
and thereby knew how to account,
and
difcount
to fubtraet ,
and
t0
mul–
tiply;
but
to
proportion the refpettive Taxes on every Nation by
1
ay
of
divilio.n,
they performed it in another manner by granes of
MA1:t,
or
Pebbles,
hkh
ferved
in the place of Counters. And becaufe it was nece!fary that Accm
nts
flwuld be
kept of all charges relating to
War
and Peace, that the People, and
the
locks
and
Herd of
Cattle
fuould be nurnbred, that the payment of
Tributes,
and~
like;
fhould be regiftred and noted, there were certain Perfons appointed for
that
work,
who made
it
their
ft
dy
and
bufinefs
to
be ready
and
skilfull
in Accounts;
and
becau[e perhap one Perfon
'~as
appointed to keep the reckonings of
three
or four
dillinCl:
things,
as
Accountant General,
hich feems
difficult
to be
rformed by
the \\
ay
of their threads afld
knots,
e fhall difcourfe it hereafter
more
at
large,
Yi
what manner they dillinguifhed their Accounts of divers bufineifes.
Of
their Mujick ..
In
Mufick they arrived
to
a
ertain Harmony, in \
hich
the
Indians
of
Colla
did
n ore
rtic larly excell, ha ing been the Inventors of a certain Pipe made of
ane
lued
together, every one of which ha ing a different
ore of higher
and
lower,
in
the manner of
rgans, made a pleafing Mulick
by
the diffonancy of
founds, the Treble, T enor and Baffe, exaet.y correfponding and anfo ering each
to other; with thefe Pipes they often plaid in confort, and made
t r
-rable Mufick,
though they wanted die
uavers,
emiqua ers, Aires , and many
oices ·which
perfec;