67 / 1060
iBooK
11.
Royal
Commentaries.
'
.Metal
5
is dangerous and prejudicial·
to
Mah
s
health ; and
for
that
reafQn
7
they
founded
all their
Metals in the 0pen Air, and not under
Covercs.
But
above
all~
their
Carpenters feemea
t-0
be worft provided with Tools ;
for
tM\lgh ours ufe
many
Ioftruments mace of Iron, thofe of
Peru
had no other
than a
Hatcher,
and
· a
Pick-axe made of Copper ; they neither had
Saw.,
nor Augre, nor Planer, •nor
any
other'Tool
for
the Carpenter's work ,
fo
tha~ th~y
could
not
m~e Ar~hes <D~
Po rals
for
doors; onely they hewed and .cut their T1_mber, .and wh1ten{=jd
it,
.and
then it was prepared
for
their Building : And
for
ma~mg the~r
Hatchets
an~
1ck–
axes, and fame
f
e\ Rakes, they made ufe of the S1lverfm!ths , for as yet they
r~d
not attained to the Art of Working in
Iron.
Nor did they know how
co
m!ike Nails or ufe them, but tied all their Timber with Cords of He1111_p. N©t
were their Hewers ofScone more artificial, for
in
cutting and
ilia
ping therr
Stones,
~hey
had
no other Tool, than one made with fome
iliarp Flin
s and
Pebbl~s;
hich
they called
Hihuana,
with
.w~ich
they
ra~her
wore
~:mt
the Stone by contmual rub–
bing
than cutting. For
lift10g
or carrymg up
their
Stones,
they
had no
ngmes,
~but
did
all
by the firengrh and force
of
their
~es;
and
.n~twith~anding
.all
this defecr, they raifed fuch mighty and fiately Edifices, as
1s
mcr~dible,
h1ch
appears
by the Writings of the
Spani(h
Hiftoria_l)S',
a~d
by the
Rumes
of
t
em
:1
which
frill
remain. Tliey knew not how
to
malte Sciifars, nor Needles of
Me–
.ta}
but
in
place thereof they ufed
a
certain long Thorn,
which
grows in thofe
p~;
for
which reafon they Cowed very little, but rather patched or cabled,
as
we fhall hereafter declare. With this fort ofThorns they made alfo their Combs
for the
head,
which
they
fixed within
a
Cane, which ferved for the back of the
Comb and the Thorns on each fide for the Teeth. The Looking-glaifes which
the Ladies of Qialiry ufed, were made of BurnHhed Copper ; but the Men ne–
ver
nfed any,
for
that being efieemed a part of effeminacy, was alfo
a
difgrace~
if
not ignominy,
to
them.
In
this
manner they palled,
as well
as they could, in
(!roviding thofe matters which were onely neceffary for humane life;
and
though
thefe people were endued with no great capacity of invention, yet, when the
.Spaniards
taught them, they learned with great facility, and imitated
fo
ell the
patterns given them, that
in
time they excelled their Mafiers
in
their
Artificial
workmanfhip and contrivances. This ingenuity and apmef to attain Sciences,
was evidenced by a genius they had in Perfonating and
A&ing
Comedie ,
which
the
J
efuits and !OmeFriars, and other Religious had compofed
for
them.
I
remem–
ber
the argument of one to have been the Myfiery of Man, redemption, and re–
~refented
by
the
Jndian1
with gracefull and proper aClion; nor were
they altoge–
ther {hangers to this divertifement, becaufe in the times of the
JnctU
they
ufually
reprefented their own Stories in Dialogues) and therefore more eafily improved.
in
that
Art
towhich they were formerly inclined
by
a natural aptitude. It is obfervable
how well they Atted a Comedy, made by a Jefuit,
in
praife of the Bleifed Virgin
Mary,
which he wrote
in
the Tongue
Aymara,
which is different from
the
Language
of
Peru:
the Argument
was
on thofe words in the
3d
Chapter of
Geneji1,
where it
is
faid,
I will put Enmity between thee and the Woman, and that fhe fhall break._
thj
Head,
&c.
This was ACled by Children and Young men in the Countrey, called
Sullt.
And
at
Potow
they rehearfed
a
Dialogue, which contained
all
the Particulars of our
Faith,
at
which about
I 2 000
lndian.r
were prefent. At
Couo
another Dialogue
w~
recited of the Child Jefus, at which were
all
the Nobles and People of
the
City
~!fembled.
Another was recited in the
City,
which
is
called the City
of
the
.K1':1gs,
w~ere
the Lord Chancellour and
all
the Nob.ility were prefent,
tog~ther
wuh an
innumerable company of
lndian1 :
the Argument of which was,
tha
M_c.:fi
Holy Sacrament, cornpofed in
Spanijh,
and the General Tongue of
Peru
•
which
was
repeat~d
by the
Indian
Youth in Dialogues, and pronounced with fuch
gr?ce and
emphatICal expreffion, with fuch
air
and handfome gelhires, intermixed
with Songs fet to pleafant Tunes, that the
Spaniard.>
were much contented, and
pleafe9
t~ b~hold
them; and fome fhed tears
for
joy, to fee the ingenuity
and
g?od mclinat1on of
tho~e
poor
Jndiam,
that ever after they conceived a better opi–
nion of them, confidenng them not to be blockifh rude and
filthy
but docible
gentle and capable of improvement.
'
'
'
. When
t~efe J_n~ian
Youths defire to corr)tnit
any
thihg to memory, which
is
give~
them
m
wmrng,
they got<? thofe
Spaniard.r
who are acquainted
with
letters,
definng them to reade the
firft
Imes to them four or five times over,
uocill
they
have learned them
by
heart ; and to
fi»
them better
in
their memories, they re-
peae
53