[475] “Ubá, a canoe made simply of a hollow trunk, and stretched to the form of a boat by putting fire under it and cross pieces of wood within it. Casca, a bark canoe.
[476] “This is the yúca of Peru, and is a distinct species from the mandiocea (Manihot utilissima Pohl.), which is the staple article of food throughout Brazil.
[477] “In June 1851, I took six days to go from the Barra only half way to Manacapurú, but the river was then at the height of flood, and my large boat was manned by only three men.
[478] “I should suppose the Uainamarís to be a tribe of the savage Chunchos. Many of the large Indian nations spoken of by old authors are now much subdivided; thus of the Jibaros, on the eastern side of the Quitenian Andes, have been constituted in modern times the tribes Achuales, Pindus, Huambisas, etc.
“The Cucamas are a section of the great Tupi nation, and speak a very euphonious dialect of Tupi. They are now found scattered in most of the villages on the Marañon (or upper Amazon) in Peru, and formerly existed in much greater numbers than at present in the village of La Laguna, within the Huallaga. It is curious to find a remnant of them so far separated from the bulk of their nation as at the head of the Purús, but it is explicable enough when we come to trace the migrations of the Tupís and Cucamas, as narrated by Acuña and other writers.”
[479] See my chapter on coca cultivation in Travels in Peru and India, chap. xiv, p. 232.
[480] Cieza de Leon now conducts the reader up the beautiful valley of Vilca-mayu, or Yucay.
[481] Canas was conquered by Lloque Yupanqui, the third Ynca. G. de la Vega, i, lib. ii, cap. 18.
[482] The country inhabited by the Indian tribes of Canas and Canches was, in Spanish times, included within the Corrigimiento of Tinta, one of the divisions of the Presidency of Cuzco. It now comprises the two provinces of Canas and Canches. It consists of lofty plateaux or punas of the Andes, intersected by the deep and fertile ravine through which flows the river Vilcamayu or Yucay; and is bounded on the south by the equally lofty plains of the Collao. The punas are covered with flocks of llamas; and the more inaccessible fastnesses are the haunts of huanacus, vicuñas, deer, and viscachas (a kind of rabbit).
In the most remote times the tribe of Canas inhabited one side of the Vilcamayu ravine, and that of Canches the other. The former were proud, cautious, and melancholy, their clothing was usually of a sombre colour, and their music was plaintive and sad. The latter were joyous, light hearted, and sociable, but very poor, their clothing consisting of skins. They made wars upon each other, and built their villages in strong fortified positions called pucaras. These tribes were brought under the yoke of the Yncas by Sinchi Rocca, the second of his dynasty. He permitted the ancient chiefs to retain their power, but insisted upon their children being educated at Cuzco. The Canas, however, were constantly in a state of revolt, until the Ynca Huayna Ccapac gave one of his daughters in marriage to their chief.