My opinion is that the conquerors and settlers of these parts should not pass their time in fighting battles and marching in chase of each other; but in planting and sowing, which would be more profitable. I have to mention a thing here, that there is in the mountains of Peru. I allude to certain foxes, not very large, which have the property of emitting so foul and pestiferous an odour, that there is nothing with which it can be compared. If one of these creatures, by any accident, comes in contact with a lance or anything else, the evil smell remains for many days, even when the lance is well washed.[527] I have not seen wolves, nor other mischievous animals, in any part, except the great tigers which I have mentioned as frequenting the forests of the port of Buenaventura, in the province of the city of Cali, which have killed some Spaniards, and many Indians. Ostriches[528] have been met with beyond Charcas, and the Indians value them very highly. There is another kind of animal called huis-cacha,[529] of the size and shape of a hare, except that the tail is like that of a fox. They breed in stony places, and amongst rocks, and many are killed with slings and arquebuzes. They are good to eat, and the Indians make mantles of their skins, which are as soft as silk, and very valuable. There are many falcons, which would be prized in Spain. I have already said that there are two kinds of partridges, one small, and the other the size of fowls.[530] There are the best ferrets in the world in this country. There are also certain very obscene birds, both in the coast valleys and in the mountains, called auras, which eat dead bodies, and other noisome substances.[531] Of the same kind are the enormous condors, which almost appear like griffins, and carry off the lambs and small huanacus in the fields.
CHAPTER CXIV.
How the native Indians of this kingdom were great masters of the arts of working in silver, and of building; and how they had excellent dyes for their fine cloths.
FROM the accounts given to us by the Indians, it appears that, in ancient times, they had not the same order in their affairs as they established after they were subdued by the Yncas. For verily things may be seen made by their hands with such skill, that they cause admiration to all who have any knowledge of them. And what is more curious is that they have few tools for making what they do make, and yet that they work with great skill. When this kingdom was gained by the Spaniards, they saw pieces of gold, silver, and clay welded together in such fashion that they appeared to have been born so. They also saw very curious figures and other things of silver which I do not describe, as I did not see them myself. It is sufficient to say that I have seen vases made of pieces of copper or stone, and jars, fountains, and other things richly ornamented by means of the tools they have. When they work, they make a small furnace of clay, where they put the charcoal, and they then blow the fire with small canes, instead of bellows. Besides their silver utensils, they make chains, stamped ornaments, and other things of gold. Even boys, who to look at them one would think were hardly old enough to talk, know how to make these things.[532] Few are the things they now make in comparison with the great and rich ornaments they made in the time of the Yncas. They, however, make the chaquiras,[533] so small and accurately worked, by which they show themselves still to be eminent workers in silver. Many of these silversmiths were stationed by the Yncas in the principal parts of the kingdom.
These Indians also built strong foundations and grand edifices with great skill; and now they build the houses of the Spaniards, make bricks and tiles, and put large stones one on the top of the other with such exactness that the point of junction is scarcely visible. In many parts they do these things with no other tools than stones, and their own wonderful skill. I do not believe that there is any people or nation in the world who could lead irrigation channels over such rugged and difficult places as do these Indians. They have small looms for weaving their cloth; and in ancient times, when the Kings Yncas ruled in this kingdom, the Mama-cunas, who were held to be sacred, and were dedicated to the service of the temples of the sun, had no other employment than to weave very fine cloth of vicuña wool, for the lords Yncas. This cloth was as fine as any they have in Spain. The dresses of the Yncas consisted of shirts of this cloth, some embroidered with gold and silver work, some with emeralds and other precious stones, some with feathers of birds, and some merely with the cloth. To make these clothes they had such perfect colours—crimson, blue, yellow, and black—that in this respect they have the advantage of Spain.[534]
In the government of Popayan there is an earth with which, and with the leaves of a tree, they make a perfect black dye; but it would be wearisome to repeat all the details connected with the way they make these dyes, and it seems sufficient, therefore, to mention the principal one.
CHAPTER CXV.
How there are great mines in most parts of this kingdom.
THE long chain of mountains, which we call Andes, commences at the strait of Magallanes, and traverses many regions and great provinces, and we know that on the side towards the South Sea (which is the west) great riches are found in the hills and rivers, while the provinces to the eastward are considered to be poor in metals, according to the account of those who extended their conquests to the river of La Plata, and came thence to Peru by way of Potosi, They said that they heard of a country no less fertile than populous, which was a few days’ journey beyond Charcas, and this proved to be no other than Peru. They saw little silver, and even that came from the district round the town of Plata; neither did those who went on an expedition of discovery with Diego de Rojas, Felipe Gutierrez, and Nicolas de Heredia find any riches. The Adelantado Don Francisco de Orellana, too, who went down the Marañon in a boat, at the time when the captain Gonzalo Pizarro was in search of the cinnamon country, although he passed many large villages, saw little or no gold or silver. Indeed, except in the province of Bogota, there is no wealth in these parts of the Cordillera of the Andes. But it is very different in the southern parts, where greater treasure has been found than had been seen before in the world during many ages. Yet if the gold in the provinces near the great river of Santa Martha, from the city of Popayan to the town of Mompox, had been in the power of a single lord, as it was in Peru, the wealth would have been greater than that of Cuzco. In the skirts of these cordilleras they have found great mines of gold and silver, both near Antiochia, at Cartago, in the government of Popayan, and throughout the whole kingdom of Peru.
If there were people to extract it, there would be gold and silver enough to last for ever; for in the mountains and plains, in the valleys and in all parts, they have found gold and silver. There is also a great quantity of copper, and some iron in the mountains which descend towards the plains. In fine, there is lead in this kingdom, and all the metals which God has created; and it seems to me that if there were men to work, there would not fail to be great riches in Peru. Already so much treasure has been extracted and sent to Spain, that men never thought there could be so much.