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•
Royal
Commentarie;.
BooK
llf.
he was recalled from thence to ferve his Majefiy in the
late
War with his Men
who \\'ere very good and experienced Souldiers.
'
Diego de
ROJ.u,
NickolM
de
Eredia,
an9
Philip
Gutierr_e~
(a
Native of
Madrid)
were fem to the Provmce
of
MHJ[u,
called by the
Spamard1
los Moxos;
with
them
were lifted a Company of brave Men, who had fu!l:ained many great difficulties
· before they arrived at the River of Plate, of which we !hall hereafrer give a
Re–
lation.
Gon~alo
de Monrroy
was fent to the Kingdom of
Chili
to recruit and
a{ftft
the Forces of the Governour
Pedro de
J7atdivia,
who chen was employed in the
Conquefr of che Provinces and Nations belonging to chat Kingdom. To another
Province called
M11/ll1pampa
he fent Captain
'fohn
Pere~
de
Guevara,
who had made·
a late difcovery thereof, and had there received intelligence and intimation of
other new Countries, and large Territories, which lhecch themfelves Eall:ward
between the Rivers called
Orellana,
Marannon,
and the River of PJace: But that
rhofi were Couno·ies very Mountainous, and full of Moors, Fens and Bogs, aad
inhabited by few
Indi11m,
who lived in a befl:ial manner, like brute Bea!l:s wich–
out Religion, Laws or Civility, and were Cuch as ate one·che ocher; and fhat the
Climate being hot, they needed no cloathing, but
went
naked.
·
Thus che Governour
Vaca
de
Cafaro
having ridded his hands of the Souldiers,
and cleared the Kingdom of
Peru
of the burthen of nev. Levies, having fenc chem
from
f2..uiru
to the
CharcM,
which are feven hundred Leagues di!l:ant each from
rhe other, he remained much at eafe, and freed from ·che daily importunities
\\ hich difl:urbed him; fo that he attended to
his
Government in peace and
qui–
ecnefs to the general fatisfaetion of all people. And that he might form and
efiabliil1 Laws moll: agreeable
to
the nature and confiicucion
of
thofe Countries,
he informed himfelf of
the
C1tr11.ca1,
and ancient Captains; of the Order and
Rules which their
lncan
Kings obferved in their Adminillration of Jufiice, out
of
which he chofe and culled fuch as he efteemed mofl: proper and agreeable
co
the conflitutiOflS
of
both Nations, whereby the
Spaniards
might be conferved,
and the
Indians
increafed. Then he fent Letters to
Gon~alo
Piptrro,
who fiill re–
mained in
~itu
to
come to
him;
and having in the Name of
his
Majefiy,
and
in lus
O\\
n behalf, thanked him for all the Services he had performed
co
the
Crown, and applauded the dangers and
ad
encures
he
had run, which
his Ma–
jefiy would
in
due time reward ; he gave him leave
to
return to his own habita–
tion, and
to
his.Dominion in the
Charca1
o er che
Indians
there,
advifing him co
cake care of his health, and attend
to
che
i
provemenc of his Efiace. The
lndi–
an1
finding themfelves freed from the calamities and miferies they had fufiained
by
the
lace intefiine Wars, which had been carried on at the expence of their
Li
es
and Ellates ; of which, as
Gomara
faith, rhe
Spaniards
had been fo prodi–
gal, that a ov a Million and a half of chem were defiroyed ; at length being
·
more at
ea[e,
they returned to their· Countrey affairs, and to tillage and culriva–
tion of their Land ,
Vi
hich by the induHry and knowledge of the
Spaniardt
in
Agriculture yielded great plenty and abundance of all Provifions ; and both fides
ac ~ending
co
their own quiet and eafe, the
Indians
difcovered feveral rich Mines
f
Gold in many part of
Peru;
the richefr of which \Yere ficuated Eafiward from
ouo
in
the
Province of
Co/111buaya,
called by the
Sp.miard1
Caravaytt,
from whence
they digged great quantities of che finefi Gold of t\\'enty four Quilates; which
Mines
alfo
yield
fame
Gold
to
this day, though not i fuch abundance
as
former–
ly. To the Wefhvard of
Couo,
in
the Province of
~cch1111,
which
is
well
peo–
pled wich divers Nations fo named ; and on
rhac fide
thereof \
hich
is
called
HHallaripa,
other Mines
of
Gold ' ·ere difcovered; \' hich though they yielded
nor
th
ir Gold fo fine as that of
o!lahtuiya,
yet it amounted to twenty
Qiilats
more or lefs in goodnefs ; howfoever the quantity thereof
was
fo
great, that about
nine or ten years after rhe Mine was opened,
I
remember co have feen fome
In–
di
~n1
bring home
co
their Mafier every Saturday night
cw
o thoufand Pefos of
Gold Sand for his fingle part or fhare in rhofe Mines. We call chat Gold Sand,
or Dufi, which they gather like the Filings of Iron ; there is alfo another fore
fomething thicker, like Bran after it
is
lifted from the Flour, amongft which they
find now and then fame granes as
big
as the Seeds of Melons or Pornpions, co
the value of fix or eight Ducats each grane.
From fuch confiderable quantities
of Gold as were daily brought to the Mint, or Melting-houfe, the fifth part there·
of which appertained to his Majelly, am unced
to
a vaft Treafure; for of every
five