393 / 1070
Royal ·
CommerJt~ries.
e
H A P. - ,XI
n.
-Of the two
jamo10
añd great Roads i~
Peru.
I
T
were but juftice to the
Life
and Memoty of
lfuayna Capac,
if
we mention
. thofe two great Roads wbich run Nerrhs2nd South through the·whc;>le Kihg.
dom of
Peru,
bec:aufe die making of them is amibuted unto liim: One of them
pafies along by the Sea-coaíl: , ano che other over the Mouótains to ·the foland
· Countries, which Hiíl:qrians defcribe wich high Enl~rgements, though,
in
r-eality;
· the work exceeqs the common fame: And in regard
I
cannot prenend to lay them
down wich fuch exaétnefs as fome have done,
I
íhall therefore refer my felf'ro
their Refati'ons, and begiu wi~b
A,,guftin Carate,
who in the
1
3th Chaprer of his
firíl: Book fpeaking of the Original of ·the
Incas,
hath cheíe words:
'
In
a due
, '' and orderly foccefliom of tmefe
InciN,
there wás one called
Guaynaca'va
'(
which
" fignifies.a rich yo1mg Man) who carne to the Governmenc, and encreafed., and
" greatly enlarged bis Dominions; his bufineís being chiefly to advance
Juíl:iae
·
','.and Reafon, he·
fo
far prevail~d on the uncultivated underfiandings ofthat bar–
"· batotJs people, ,ithac he feemed ro have worked Miracles in pólitical converfa–
" rion, having reduced chern wichout che help of letters co.Obedience and Rule,
" and gained
fo
far on the affeétion of his
Vaffals, t'hat for his fervire chey reádily
" applied their hands, and their hearts, to ma.ke and open a large Road in'
Peru,
" which was
fo
farnous, that we cannot in jufürn omit to mention, and deícribe '
'' it, in regaré! that amongíl: the feveh Wonders of.the World, there was none
" made a,t greater expence·and labour·than this. When this
Guaynacava
marched
" with,h1s Army from
Co,:,co
to conquer che Province of
!2Pitu
1
which are aboi:Jt
" ·five htindre9 Leagues diíl:aQt one from
1
the other; he fufíered rnany difficuities·
" in his paílage, by reafon ·of the inacceffible ways over Rocks and Mounrains,
«
which he was
to
overcome : Howfoever, háving paífed and fubdued that
r
'
"
Counrrey, and be\ng now to 1:eturn again·viél:brious and triumphanc, the
In-
, "
qians
brbke a conveqient way chrough che Mountains, which 'they made
borh
" plain and wid~, .breaking thé Rocks, and levelling tbe Gr,ound which was
ruff
· '' and uneven ;
fo
thac fomeümes chey were fo
rced to raiíe it fifteen or twenty
fa–
" thom in height, and in other places
to
.fink
it.as,far ; and in chis manner they
" .cominued their work for five hundred Leagues in length. .And
it
is réporied,
<'
that
\WJen
chis work was finifhe
d, the way was
fo
pL1in,
that a Cart
ór
" Coach might be driven over it; y.et afren•mds, in die time of the Wars, ali
" chis workmaflfhip anó labour was dernoliíhed by the
Indians,
to rnake the ways
ce
ánd paífes more difficulc
tO¡
che Chriíl:ians. Now if we compare chis work
" with che (hort cut
onely
of cwo Leagues of Mountain, which is between
Ef
ce
pinar, Segovia,
and
Guadarrama
in
Spain;
and corifidet what charge and laboúr
" ·Jmh
been
chere employed, onely to make that way tolerably paífable for the
t;
Kiilgs of
Ca.fl:i!e,
when ac any time chey paífed with cheir Equipage and Col!lrt
" from
Andalu:,;,i,1,
or
Toledo,
aod craveUed into parts beyond thofe Mountains ;,
" which, as
I
fay, if ir were coBíidered, whac ari immenfe and incredibJe work·
" mufl chis feem
co
have
?
Nay Jarcher, the
lnc,:u
were not content with
, " chis,
for
chis
Gua)'nacáv
tending again·
to
vifü the Province of
f2!!.itu,
for
" variecy in hi, Travels, he refolved
to
cake his paífage through the Piafas, which
'-' che
Jndians,
chough wid1 no lefs difficulty, made as conveni~nt as that of the
" Mounrains;
for
in al\ chofe Vallies which were ,~
1
atered widi Rivers and Foun.
" tains; and were pbnced wich Trees, which ( as we have íaid elfewhere) did
" commonly contimie
for
a
ful!
League, rhey made a
way
almoíl: forty foot wide,
"- with tliick Mnci-\\'alls
on
each fide, being four
or,
five Frames, or Pannels,
of
" chis
Mud
in heighr. And then entring out of thefe Plains into. che fa,ndy
" \vays,
they
drove
in
greJt
Srakes
inco che groúna
on
one fide and
the
orher ,
·
. ·
B b b
·
thac
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