409 / 1070
BooK
IX.
Royal
Commentaries.
and upon che Deck, and in corners of che Ship,
fo
rnany of his Enemies ílain,
whích appeared upon account to be three hundred eighty, and odd, which he
fad killed wich bisSpit, befides ochers which had been wounded.
The ftck Man, eicher out
(i)f
fear, or joy of his viétory, recovered his health,
being much pleafed afterwards
to
recount che particulars of chis,fuccefs.
In
di–
vers places upon the Coaíl of
Peru,
and in divers years, umill
1
~72.,
and
73,
there.
were greac Deílruétions, and even Plagues, caufed by che incredible multitudes of
Raes and Mice; which fwarming over all the Land, ate up theSeeds which were
thrown into the ground, as alfo the Fruit-trees, which _they pilled of their bark
from the roots, to che very buds and fprouts; fo that che Trees dying, che Inha–
bitants were forced to make newPlamations in their places ~ and feared thac chey
fhould have been forced to abandon their Dwellings,had noc God in merey caufed
thac Plague to ceafe on a füdden, when ic was juíl: ac .che extremicy of deil:rufüon;
The particulars of which incredible darnages, we íhall, for brevicy fake, omit.
CH A, P.
XXIII.
""\/
Of
their Hens and
Pig;ons.
W
E
come
now, in ché nexc place, to [peak of FowlsJ of which
few
ochers
have been tranfported into
Peru,
unlefs Poulcry, fuch as Cocks, and
Hens,
and carne Pigeons; or Houfe-doves. As for Stock:cjoves, or Wood-Pige–
ohs,
I
know noc whether any have be,en as yec broughc chicher.
As
to Hens;
there
is
a
certain Authour, who writes,__ that they were found in
Peru,
before che
tim~
that
the
'Spaniards
conquered'ic ; a~d for_ptoof thereof he alle9ges_, chac the :
Jnd,ans
have a proper Name for
a
Hen·mtheir own Language, wh1ch 1s
Gualp_a;
an~ for an Egg, which is
Ronto
;
and ch~t che
Indjans
have che fame-pro_priecy
iri
their fpeech for aCo,ward, whom they call aHen, or Hen-heart~d; as che
Spaniárd1
have: To which Argument we íhall give this facisfaétory anfwer:
'.
We
fhall leave the Name of
Gu11.lpa
untill che end of chis Chapter, and íhall
begin with the word
Ronto,
or
Runtu ,
which fignifies an Egg, not of a Hen in
particular,
but
in general of any Fowl, vvhether carne dr vvild; and vvhen they
mencion an Egg, rhey add che Fovvl br Bird from vvhich it
is
produced, as of a
Hen, Parrriage, or Dove,
&c.
And
fo
much for
Runtu,
or che Egg.
. As
to
the expreffion of
Gualpa,
or Hen, to ftgnifie a Covvard, the
Indians
rnay
have,deduced, or taken it up, from che
Spaniards,
as is ordinary for people vvho
have encertaíned
a
familiarity and converfation vvith anocher to borrovv thei~
phrafes and proprieties of their Language ; as is commonly ·feen, hovv our
Spani–
ards,
that fravél into
ltaly, France, Flanders
and
Germanj,
do,frequently rnake
ufe
of
che Proverbs and Expreffions vvhich chey have learned from íl:ranger Nations
5
fo
alfo the
lndians
have caketi chis vvord from che
Spaniards
to
denote a Covvard ,
for
othervvife, in their ovvn Tongue, they vvant
not
vvords more fignificanc than
this
Spánijh
Saying ; for chey fornecime cal! him
Huarmi,
vvhich is Wornan ; and ,
"have che proper vvord
Campa,
vvhich fignifies a Man
0f a
pufillanirnous Spirit,
and one vvithout Heart or Courage, as alfo they have che vvord
Llanclla;
fo
that
the Mecaphoi:: of aHe.o is-borrovved from che
Spanidrds;
in vvhich
I
rnay be cre-
dited, confideri0g that
I
my. felf arn an
Indian,
,
..
The word'
Gua!pa
is corrupted by comrafüon
of
che Syllables, and is infiead
of
Atahua!pa,
which doth noc fignifie a Hen, but was che Narne of the laíl:
Inca
, thac reigned in
Peru,
whofe'Life was
[o
bloudy, as we fhall relace·in its due pl~cé,
th~.t he excee<:led in cruelcy all the .fierce and wild Beafl:s and Baftlisks
in
th_e
World ; for he being a Baílard by fubtile artífices and contrivances, Murthered h1s
Elder Brother
H,1afcar,
.:vho was lawfull Heir, and Ufürped bis Kingdom; and
fo
with
cruel t0rlnei1ts, never before known or irivented
>
he
deíl:royed che who1e
-
D d d
Bloud-