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Royal Commentaries.
BooK
IX.
fªPª,
there was a Turnip to be feen ~f thac prodi$ious bignefs; thac ·five Horfes
might be cied to the top branches of 1t, and that 1f he pleafed, th~y would carry
him to fee it;
Ga,fia
wil!ingly accepsed the ~rofer, and wenc tlmher purpofely
thac he might [ay he had feen füch a í1ghc, wh1ch when he faw, he found the re–
p0rc true for che Turnip was fo big, that a Man could frarce encompafs ic with
both bis 'Armes; and
fo
render, that befug broughc to
Don Ga,fia's
quarcers, ma–
ny people ate of it.
In
the valley which is calicJ the Vale of good Herbs, chere
are fome Herbs of cwo
Y
ards and a half lon_g,
for
I
keep che meafures of fome of
them and upon thac aífurance I give this Relation.
In'the
Y
ear 15'95'··and in the Month of
May,
being in che Cathedral Church
of
Cordova,
and chere difcourfing wich
Don Martín de Contrer.u,
and telling him,
thac being now to write thefe parriculars in my Hiíl:ory,
I
was
a
little fcrupulous
to
deliver che truth of the íl:range increafes of Corn, and the prodigious growth
of Herbs in my Countrey, leíl:
to
many, who had never gone ouc of their own,
ic íhould feein incredible, or chat
I
cook ihe prívilege of a Traveller, which
is
to
!ye; bue he defüed me not to forbear to give a true accounc on füch coníidera–
tions, leaving to them t9 believe what they pleafed; for my pare, I can cefüfie
chac
I
was an Eye-wimefs of che great Turnip in che Valley of
Cufapa,
where
I
was that <lay with
Don Garp_a de Mendo:ta,
and upon the Faich ofa Gentleman
I
faw the five Horfes tied to the tops of the Tumip, and that afcerwards I ate fome
of ic wich feveral ochers; and farther I can add, that the fame day I faw in che
Valley of
Yca
a Melon which weighed an hundred and rhree pounds weighr, che
truth of which was atteíl:ed before a publick Notary; .and in che Valley
ofYuca.J
I
ate of one Root of•Lettuce, which weighed feven .póunds and ·an.half. Many
other rhings of che like kind concerning Corn, Fruir .and Herbs, tbis Gentleman
related to me, which
I
omit to mencion, chat
I
may not feem tedious to che
R~~
'
Acofta,
ip
the 19th Chapter of his 4th Book, where he treats·orche Greens,
Herbs and Fruits of
Peru,
hach rhefe very Words, which
I
have extraél:ed
verba–
tim:
"
I
have never heard, faid he, rhac the
lndians
ever..had Gardens
for
Herbs,
" onefy thac rhey digged fome lirtle pieces of ground ró fow Herbs., Peafe; Beans
" and Fitches; nor have
I
learned, chat ever aoy kind of rhefe foveral forts of
" Pulfe which grow in
Eu,ope
were found in
Peru,
umill chey were firíl: imported
" by che
Spaniards,
which ftnce have grown and increafed
'in
a wonderfull mannet ;
" fo~· the fertility ofchofe Councries far exceeds the
foil
of
Spain,
as we have given
'' an example of che Melons which grow
in
the Valley
o[Yca
in
Pem,
which are
" riot fown every year like ours, bue cake a rooc which produces Melons
for
" many
Y
ears, and are
cut
and pruned ac che Seafons like a Tree, which is a thing
·" cha
e
never happened
.in
any pare of
Spain,
&c. Thus far are the Words of
Acofta,
upon whofe Authority I adventure wirh 1nuch confidence
to
reporc che
great fruitfolnefs of chis Countrey; and how wonderfully ac che beginning che
Fruits of
Spain
thrived and increafed roan incredible greacneís; ro which alfo
I
íhall add anocher Excellency which
Acofta
mentions, which is, that the Melons
did ali prove good, próvided that rime \vere given-tbem -co·ripen, which gives a
farther -,indication of rhe..fertility of rhis Soil.
And.inregard the
füíl:
Melons
wliich were feen in che parts adjacenc
to
los Reyes,
gáve occafion
to
·a pleafanc ílory
which·we>íhall nor omic in this place, becau'fe it is a farcher evidence of the an–
cient ftmplicity of the
Jndi4n1,
which
is
this: A certain ·Inhabitant ofche City of
/ps Rey~s,
who was one of the firíl:-Cónquerours, and a Perfon of Noble Bloud,
named
,Antonio Solar,
having a Plancation in
Pachac{Jmac,
abouc four Leagues di–
fianc
from the City,, maincained
a·Spaniardr(or
hls Baily, ro overfee and manure
his Iand, who fenc cwo
Indians,
ladeo wirh1five Meloos apiece ,· being ten in
ali,
to bis Maíler, thac1he :rnighr taíl:e the fruir of his ground; and rherewith fenr a
Lecter in one ofthe Baskecs, telling them,,thac in cafe they ate any
of
chem, chat
Pa–
per w9uld~ifcover ir-. With chis chauge _cbey deparcecl,..and being halfa days Jour–
ney on rheir way, th!r}l,{ate clown
to
reíl:, and r;epo_f.e themfelves; during which
íl:ay, one faid to che oéher,
Let
iu
t11fte
ef
thu Fruir, which, we carry to our l'dafter,
bue
the ocher made fome ,_fcruple, [aying,
r;rhe· Paper
wi/1
dtfcov~r t1ll, .as
0111·
Steward
to/J
m;
bue che ocher
ré(ilied;
rbac
1(
tbey chrew che l?aper belünd che Hedge,
it
could
noc fee
d:em,
nor"arife
up
in
w
~t_néísl~gainfl them;
1
hicrh comrivant!e pleafed
che
Comp.:m1on, and the,Raper be111~
1
la1d
aftde, chey cuc che Melon, and devoured
ir.
For
tklndians
ac
füfr
not uhdfrfianding theJy1yíl:ery of Letters, imagined
that