Chapter IV: Introduction (2)

The ancient works of irrigation in these valleys, now in ruins, excite the admiration of civil engineers who come to Peru to draw up schemes for imitating them.[76] Every square foot of land was under cultivation, none was wasted even for the sites of villages and temples, which were always built on the verge of the desert, or on the rocky spurs of the maritime cordillera, overlooking the algoroba woods, the groves of fruit trees, and the rising crops.[77] The fields were carefully manured, as well as watered by means of irrigating channels. In the valley of the Chilca they raised crops of Indian corn by putting two sardine heads into each hole with the grain, and thus the fish served for manuring the crops as well as for food.[78] The guano on the islands off the coast was also utilised as manure.[79] The houses were built of huge _adobes_, or bricks baked in the sun, with flat roofs of reed, plastered with mud; and the people were clothed in cotton dresses, which were very skilfully woven.[80] Their pottery was quite equal to that of the Quichuas, but at the same time clearly original in design; the vessels being made to imitate shells, fruit, fish, and other objects, which were familiar to the natives of the coast.

The great ruins at Caxamarquilla, at Pachacamac,[81] and of the Gran Chimu near Truxillo,[82] still afford evidence of the civilisation of the Yunca Indians, and of the wealth and power of their chiefs. The people were warlike, and the tribe inhabiting the Chincha valley is even said to have made incursions far into the heart of the Andes.[83] In the valley of the Rimac there are mounds or artificial hills of immense size, which appear to have been intended to afford protection against their enemies to the feudal lords; and to serve as a place of retreat for their retainers. A collection of ruins is almost always found at their feet, which formed the village of the tribe. Cieza de Leon gives a detailed account of the manners and customs of these Yunca chiefs, and of their subjects.[84] Nearly every valley had its independent chief and separate tribe; although some of the more powerful chiefs, such as the Grand Chimu, the Chuqui-mancu of the Rimac, and the Lord of Chincha, had extended their dominion over several valleys. The language of the coast was quite distinct from Quichua.[85]

In many parts of the coast the aboriginal Indians have been exterminated by Spanish cruelty, in others they have disappeared through frequent crosses with negroes, in others they have entirely lost, with their native language, all traces of the distinctive character which once marked their ancestors. It is exceedingly important, therefore, to obtain authentic information concerning any of the coast tribes which have retained their language and national characteristics; and the memoranda collected by Mr. Spruce at Piura, on this subject, which will be found in the accompanying note, contain some particulars of great interest.[86]

It will be natural to inquire whether a race, which had for centuries inhabited the valleys on the Pacific coast, had habitually navigated the ocean which was always in sight; and we find that they occasionally did venture to sea for fish, and that they undertook coasting voyages. The crooked algorobas, the willows, and fruit trees, afforded no suitable timber for boat-building; but the Yuncas supplied the place of timber by going afloat on inflated sealskins.[87] In this way they passed to and fro from the shore to the Guano islands, and, according to Acosta, they even went on long voyages to the westward.[88]

The kingdom of Quito, which eventually formed the most northern province of the empire of the Yncas, consists of a series of lofty plateaux from which rise the towering peaks of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Chanduy; while both to the east and west a rich tropical vegetation fills the ravines which gradually subside on one side into the valley of the Amazon, and on the other into the Pacific coast. This region was inhabited by several aboriginal tribes, the most important of which were the CAÑARIS, the PURUAES, and the CARAS. Velasco relates that the Caras, after having been settled for about two hundred years on the coast of Esmeraldas, marched up the Andes and established themselves at Quito, where they were ruled by a succession of sovereigns called _Scyris_, until the country was conquered by the Yncas. These Caras are said to have been little advanced in architecture, but to have been dexterous in weaving fabrics of cotton and llama wool, and to have excelled as lapidaries. A great emerald in the head-dress was the distinguishing mark of the reigning Scyri.

But all this information respecting the early inhabitants of Quito, and more of the same sort, is derived from Velasco, who wrote only in the end of the last century. In truth, there are scarcely any reliable facts in the history of the people of Quito, previous to their subjugation by the Yncas, and all the remains of roads and buildings confessedly date from the times of Ynca domination.[89] Cieza de Leon gives some account of the inhabitants of the Quitenian Andes.[90]

The principal aboriginal nations which inhabited the great empire of the Yncas have now been passed in review. In the temperate valleys of central Peru were the QUICHUAS, the most powerful and civilised of all. To the eastward of them were the savage ANTIS and CHUNCHOS in the great tropical forests. To the south were the wild shepherd tribes of CANAS, CANCHES, and others; and still further south were the more civilised AYMARAS, struggling against the difficulties of a rigorous climate. To the westward of Cuzco were the warlike CHANCAS, POCRAS, HUANCAS, and other tribes; and on the coast were numerous tribes known to the Yncas by the collective name of YUNCAS. Finally, in the kingdom of Quito, among others of less note, were the nations of CARAS, PURUAES, and CAÑARIS.

About three centuries before the arrival of Pizarro in Peru, the civilised and populous nation of Quichuas, feeling their superiority, began to make permanent and rapid conquests over the surrounding tribes in every direction. The date of the first commencement of these conquests cannot now be ascertained. Many centuries must have elapsed, and a long succession of Yncas must have reigned at Cuzco before an aggressive policy became the leading feature of their government; and there can be little doubt that their civilisation was indigenous, and not derived from any foreign source. The traditional Manco Ccapac may or may not have been the first Ynca, but there is no good reason for supposing that he was a foreigner; and I am decidedly of opinion that the Quichua civilisation is more likely to have required a period represented by the hundred Yncas of Montesinos, than by the dozen of Garcilasso de la Vega, for its full development.[91] But all the early traditions are probably fictitious, and the first really historical personage we meet with is the great conqueror Huiraccocha Ynca. This prince is frequently mentioned by Cieza de Leon,[92] and from his time the narrative of Ynca rule is clear and I think trustworthy. It was gathered, by our author and others, from the mouths of the old Ynca statesmen and generals, who told what they had themselves seen, and what they had heard from their sires and grandsires. It would appear, however, that, even before the time of Huiraccocha, the Quichuas had already extended their sway into some of the tropical valleys inhabited by the Antis and Chunchos, had subjugated the Canas and Canches, and, taking advantage of the civil wars of the Aymaras, had annexed the wide plains of the Collao and of Charcas, and the campiña of Arequipa.

The reigns of the last five Yncas were very long, and when the mummy of Huira-ccocha was discovered by the Corregidor Ondegardo,[93] it was found to be that of a very old man. We are justified, therefore, in placing his reign in the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth century, contemporary with Edward I. of England.

Huira-ccocha organised an army, and, after having defeated the united forces of the Chancas, Pocras and Huancas, in the great battle of Yahuar-pampa, annexed the whole of the central part of the Peruvian Andes to his dominions.[94] The generals of his son and successor Pachacutec conquered the rich valleys of Xauxa and Caxamarca,[95] and the coast districts inhabited by the Yuncas.[96] Pachacutec’s son, the Ynca Yupanqui, made extensive conquests in the rich forest-covered tropical plains to the eastward of Cuzco, which were completed by his son Tupac Ynca Yupanqui.[97] The latter monarch extended his dominions as far as Tucuman and Chile on the south, and to the extreme limit of the kingdom of Quito on the north. Lastly, the famous Huayna Ccapac, during a long reign, consolidated and brought into subjection this vast empire.[98]

These conquests, extending over a period of about two centuries and a half or more, were not achieved without much hard fighting and stubborn resistance on the part of the invaded nations. This was especially the case with the Yuncas of the Pacific coast. The Yncas, however, succeeded in permanently establishing their power more by conciliation than by force of arms; and though their disciplined troops, wielding battle-axes, clubs and spears,[99] did good execution on the day of battle; yet the liberal treatment of the vanquished, and their experience of the benefits of Ynca rule, were far more efficacious agents in giving security to the new government.[100] At the same time, in cases of treachery or revolt, the Yncas were capable of terrible severity, as in the case of the slaughter at Yahuar-ccocha, described by Cieza de Leon, which was perpetrated under orders from Huayna Ccapac.[101]

During this period of conquest the Quichuas probably made more rapid progress in civilisation than they had done during many previous centuries. By becoming the dominant race over a vast region, their views became enlarged, their wants increased, and they learnt many things from communication with their conquered neighbours. Instead of being confined to the products of their native valleys, the Quichuas now obtained gold[102] and their beloved coca leaf[103] from the eastern forests; increased supplies of silver and copper from the country of the Aymaras; emeralds from Quito; fish from the Pacific Ocean; aji pepper, cotton fabrics, and an improved system of irrigation from the coast valleys. They also learnt from the vanquished the use of many medicinal herbs and vegetable dyes.

They had become an imperial race, and Cuzco was henceforward an imperial city,[104] to which the chiefs and retainers of a hundred tribes, all distinguished by peculiar head-dresses,[105] flocked to do homage to their common sovereign. Then it was that great palaces were erected. Then the famous fortress, with its Cyclopean stones, rose on the Sacsahuaman hill.[106] Then the Ccuri-cancha blazed forth in its almost fabulous splendour.[107] In short, all the works of the Yncas of imperial magnificence or importance date from this period of busy conquest, and some of them, such as the fortress of Ollantay-tambo, were in course of construction when the Spaniards arrived, and they remain unfinished. At this time, too, those wonderful lines of road were constructed, running from Cuzco east, west, north, and south, overcoming every natural obstacle, and affording the means of rapid communication from the capital to the extreme frontiers of the empire.[108] There were _tampus_ or lodgings at short intervals, and public buildings for officials, for storing tribute, and for collecting necessaries for an army, were erected in almost every valley along the line of the roads.

The organisation of every branch of the government of this great empire displays extraordinary administrative ability on the part of the Yncas. Perhaps their most remarkable institution was the system of _mitimaes_ or colonists, which is fully explained by Cieza de Leon.[109] Combined with their policy of superseding all local idioms by the rich and cultivated Quichua,[110] this system of _mitimaes_ would soon have cemented the numerous conquered nations and tribes into one people, speaking one language.

If good government consists in promoting the happiness and comfort of a people, and in securing them from oppression; if a civilising government is one which brings the means of communication and of irrigating land to the highest possible state of efficiency, and makes steady advances in all the arts,--then the government of the Yncas may fairly lay claim to those titles. The roads, irrigating channels, and other public works of the Yncas were superior to anything of the kind that then existed in Europe. Their architecture is grand and imposing. Their pottery and ornamental work is little inferior to that of Greeks and Etruscans. They were skilled workers in gold, silver, copper, bronze, and stone. Their language was rich, polished, and elegant. Their laws showed an earnest solicitude for the welfare of those who were to live under them. Above all, their enlightened toleration, for the existence of which there are the clearest proofs, is a feature in their rule which, in one point of view at least, and that a most important one, raises them above their contemporaries in every part of the world.[111]

Cieza de Leon bears testimony to the excellence of the government of the Yncas. The intelligent young soldier seems to have been astonished at the order and regularity, the beneficence and forethought which prevailed in the government of that empire which had just been shattered by his cruel countrymen. He says that the Yncas ruled with such wisdom that few in the world ever excelled them;[112] and, in another place, he comes to the conclusion that “if the ancient polity had been preserved, it would not have failed to bring the Indians nearer to the way of good living and conversation; for few nations in the world have had a better government than the Yncas.”[113]

But our author came to Peru fifteen years after the seizure of Atahualpa by Pizarro, and, short as the interval was, a terrible devastation had spread over the length and breadth of the land. Over and over again Cieza de Leon mentions the destruction of the people. In every valley he entered, they had been killed by the Spaniards by thousands, and their buildings reduced to ruins.[114] In many districts the whole population had been exterminated. In one place he says--“Nearly all these valleys are now almost deserted, having once been so densely peopled, as is well known to many persons.” He heard of misery and cruelty in every part of the land. He saw the palaces and store houses of the Yncas in ruins, the flocks slaughtered, the grand roads destroyed, and the posts for pointing the way in the deserts used for fire wood.[115] His barbarian countrymen pulled down the great works of irrigation,[116] and turned thousands of acres of fertile land into desert.

These sights excited the indignation of the humane and observant man at arms, who in this, as in many other respects, proved his superiority of head and heart over his brutal companions. Cieza de Leon felt warmly for the wrongs of the Indians, and devotes a chapter to show how God chastises those who are cruel to them.[117] But he was so steeped in the superstition of his age and country that all the simple rites of the Indians appeared to him to be the work of the devil, and in every harmless ceremony he saw the cloven feet. He tells us that the old men of every tribe in the Indies conversed with the enemy of mankind, and he mocks at their burying food with their dead for the journey to the other world, “as if hell was so very far off.”[118] The whole population of America was destined, according to our author, to eternal torments in the next world; yet it is unjust to blame him for asserting a belief which is held at the present day, and by the most tolerant church in Christendom.[119]

When uninfluenced by religious prejudices, he writes with an impartiality which does him the highest credit. He laments over the condition of the Indians, deplores the wanton destruction of their public works, and condemns the barbarity of the Spaniards. His superstitious folly is the result of his education, his merits are all his own. In arrangement, in trustworthiness, in accuracy, and in the value of his observations, the work of Cieza de Leon stands higher than that of any contemporary chronicler: and these qualities in his book are enhanced by the romantic life and noble disposition of its author. Cieza de Leon will, I think, be found an agreeable companion over a country of no common interest, at a most important period of its history; and so I consign him to the favourable attention of the members of the HAKLUYT SOCIETY.

FIRST PART

_OF THE_

CHRONICLE OF PERU:

_Which treats of the boundaries of provinces, their_
description, the founding of new cities, the rites and customs
of the Indians, and other strange things worthy to
be known.

_Written by_

PEDRO DE CIEZA DE LEON.

A NATIVE OF SEVILLE.

IN ANTWERP,
IN THE HOUSE OF _JEAN STEELTZ_.

M.D.LIIII.

_Con privilegio._

TO THE MOST HIGH AND MOST PUISSANT LORD DON PHILIP, PRINCE OF THE
SPAINS, OUR LORD.

_Most high and most puissant Lord_,--

_As not only the notable deeds of many very brave men, but also numerous events worthy of perpetual memory in different provinces, have remained in the shades of oblivion for want of writers who will record them, and of historians who will narrate them; I, therefore, having crossed over to the New World, where I have passed the greater part of my time serving your Majesty in wars and discoveries, in which service I have always taken much delight, have determined to undertake the history of the events in the great and memorable kingdom of Peru. I went to it by land from the province of Carthagena, where, and in the province of Popayan, I was for many years. After I had been in your Majesty’s service in that last war, which ended in the overthrow of the rebels and tyrants, I thought over the great wealth of Peru, the wonderful things in its provinces, the stirring events of its early history and of more recent times, and how much there was both in the one and the other period which was worthy of note. Then it was that I resolved to take up my pen and accomplish the desire I had conceived to perform a signal service for your Highness, holding it to be certain that your Highness would receive it without noticing the weakness of my powers, but rather judging my intention, and, in your royal clemency, receiving the will with which I offer this book to your Highness. It treats of that great kingdom of Peru of which God has made you Lord. I do not fail to consider, O most serene and gracious Lord, that to describe the wonderful things of this great kingdom of Peru would require one who could write like Titus Livius, or Valerius, or some other of the great writers that have appeared in the world, and that even they would find some difficulty in the task. For who can enumerate the mighty things of Peru? the lofty mountains and profound valleys over which we went conquering and discovering? the numerous rivers of such size and depth? the variety of provinces, with so many different things in each? the tribes, with all their strange customs, rites, and ceremonies? so many birds, animals, trees, fishes, all unknown? Besides all these things, who can worthily describe the unheard-of labours which a handful of Spaniards passed through in this vast country? Who can imagine the events of those wars and discoveries, extending over sixteen hundred leagues of country? the hunger, thirst, death, terrors, and fatigue which were suffered? Concerning all these things there is so much to relate, that any writer would be tired out in writing it. For this cause, most puissant Lord, I have collected the most important events which I myself saw or heard, into this history. I have not the audacity to place it before the judgment of an unkind world, but I entertain the hope that your Highness will protect and defend it as a thing belonging to yourself, so that I may freely dare to walk under your protection. For many writers, fearing the same thing, have sought for Princes of great note to whom they might dedicate their works, and some of these works have never been read by any one, being so fantastic and absurd. But what I have written here is concerning true and important things, both pleasant and useful, which have happened in our time; and I dedicate my work to the greatest and most powerful Prince in the world, who is your Highness. The attempt savours of temerity in so unlearned a man, but others of more learning are too much occupied in the wars to write. Oftentimes, when the other soldiers were reposing, I was tiring myself by writing. Neither fatigue nor the ruggedness of the country, nor the mountains and rivers, nor intolerable hunger and suffering, have ever been sufficient to obstruct my two duties, namely, writing and following my flag and my captain without fault. Having written this work under such difficulties, and it being dedicated to your Highness, it seems to me that my readers ought to pardon any faults which, in their judgments, they may find in it. If they refuse to pardon these faults, it must suffice for me that I have written the truth, for this is what I have most carefully sought after. Much that I have written I saw with my own eyes, and I travelled over many countries in order to learn more concerning them. Those things which I did not see, I took great pains to inform myself of, from persons of good repute, both Christians and Indians. I pray to Almighty God that, as He was served by giving to your Highness so great and rich a kingdom as Peru, He will leave you to live and reign for many happy years, with increase of many other kingdoms and lordships._