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BooK
IV.
Royal
C~mmentaries.
and during rheir Vilics, not ro loofe time, or be idle, they fpun and worked as
·rhey difcourfed ; their Spindles were 'made of Canes, as we in
Spafn
have them of
Iron, they were crooked, bue not hollow ac che point, as ours are: with their
thread they rnade a kind of Filleting, which they wound in upon their Spindles,
cwiíl:ing it wich che fingers of their left hand; their Diíl:affthey carried in their
Jefe hand, and not at their girdle; being aboue a quarter of a yard long, and held
becween two of rheir Fingers, and then with bodi hands chey, forrned the finenefs
oftheir thread, and cleared it of foulnefs, bue <lid not wet it at their rnouths, be–
caufe in my time rhey fpun nothing there beíides Wool and Cottons; nor do·they
make any greac riddance of cheir work, becaufe cheir lníl:rumencs and
T
ools are
bad, as we have already declared.
CH A P.
XIV.
-
How
the
Women made their Viftts
>
how _they wor~ed;
and
that common Who,:es were permitted amongft them.
W
Hen any Woman, rhat was not a
Palla,
chough fhe were che Wife ofa
Curaca,
who is· a Lord chat hach command over
his
Subjeéts, carne to
make a Vifit
co
a
Palla,
who was a Lady of che Bloud Royal;
fo
foon as che
fir{l
Salucacions and Complements were ended, fhe prefently asked whecher íhe had
any Work far her, or Service
to
cornmand her; far fhe carrying noc her Work
wirh her, <lid feem to inrimace, that íhe pretended not to fo much familiaricy as
to come onely for Converfe, bue as an inferiour, to demand wherein íhe mighc
be eíl:eemed ufefoll in her fervice. The
Palla,
co make a courceous recurn ro chis
humble proffer, would ufually give her fome of che farne work which íhe, or one
.:.
of her Daughters was then working; for to have put any rhing elfe inro her hand,
which her Maids were doing, would have equalled her Vifüanr wich chem, which
in chis manner was a Complement, and a courteous preferring her to fome degree
of equality wich her felf and her Daughters. Such was che courceíie and obliging
carriage of one to che ocher; far it was che deíign and ·fafhion in tbac íl:ace, for
the Sul)eriours to catTYthemfelves wich an affable and winni11g behaviour ro–
wards cheir inferiours, and for them wirh all Modeíl:y and Obfervance to honour
and refpeét their fuperiour Magiíl:rates and Rulers; wpich was che commG>n pra·
étice ofali, even from che
Inca,
who was King, to che meaneíl: Peafanr, or Shep–
herd, whom they called
Llamamichec.
The
Spanifh
Wornen, which carne afcerwards to live ac
Co-tco,
imicaced chis cu–
íl:ome, afcer the rnanner of the
Ir.dian
Women, •carrying always cheir Work wich
them, whenfoeverthey carne to make théir.Vifüs; and chis fafhion was in ufe
amongíl: chem to their greac commendacion, untill fuch time as
Francifco
Hernan–
dez:.
began his Civil War, which as it incroduced nothing bue Tyranny and Cru–
elcy,
fo
it abolifhed this laudable cuíl:ome, and difcouncenanced al! vertuous and
innocent praétices.
I forgoc to rnention che great cue they had in mending cheir
Cloches, in cafe they were broken by any accident, as torn by a Nail, or burnc
wich a coa! of fire, for chen chey prefenrly derned it up again with cheir needle
made of a Thorn, and wich thread of che fame colour ; and bringing ic again
to
che Loom, they
fo
neatly wove in che Thread, that ic could not be feen where
che rent was made; and in chis m:itcer chey choughc they had more wit than che
-spaniards,
and would)augh at che pacches rhey laid on their Clothes: The cruth
is, che Web which ch'e
lndians
wove, was different to che fabrick of Cloch which
che
Spaniards
made, and would noc bear che fame forc of mending.
le
is alfo ob–
fervable, tbac che Fire-hearchs which che
Jndians
ufed to drefs cheir meac in, were
a kind ofOve_ns, made of clay, bigger or lefs, according
to
che Wealch or Eíl:ace
Q
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