The people of Guancavilcas (so they say) used to pull out three teeth in each jaw, the fathers doing it to their children when of very tender age, which they thought was no evil, but rather a service very acceptable to their gods. They marry in the same way as their neighbours. [The remainder of this paragraph is unfit for translation.]
The chiefship is inherited by the son (according to the account which they gave me), and, failing sons, then the next brother, and, failing brothers, the sons of the sisters. There are some women who are good looking. Among the Indians of whom I am now treating the best-flavoured maize bread is made in all the Indies. It is so good and well kneaded, that it is even better than some wheaten bread.
In some villages of these Indians they have a great quantity of skins of men full of ashes, the appearance of which is as frightful as those in the valley of Lile, near the city of Cali. [The rest of the paragraph is unfit for translation.]
They have heard the preaching of many clergymen and friars, and begin to understand that our faith is the perfect and true one, and that the teaching of the devil is false, so that his deceitful communications have ceased. In all parts where the holy evangel is preached, a cross is placed at which the devil is terrified and flies away. But it is true that the faith impresses itself more on the young than on the old; for as the latter are grown old in their vices, they do not cease to commit their former sins in secret, and in such sort that the Christians cannot detect them. The youths listen to our priests, and follow our Christian doctrine, so that in these districts there are good and bad, as in all other parts of the world.
CHAPTER L.
How in ancient times the Indians of Manta worshipped an emerald as their god; and of other things concerning these Indians.
IN many histories which I have seen, I have read, if I am not mistaken, that in some countries they worshipped God in the form of a bull, in others of a cock, in others of a lion, and that there have been a thousand superstitions of this kind, which seem to afford matter for laughter more than anything else. I will only remark, therefore, that the Greeks, among whom there were excellent worthies, whose memory will last as long as writing itself, fell into these errors, as also did the Egyptians, Bactrians, and Babylonians. Grave and learned doctors say that the Romans had many gods, and that they worshipped those from whom they had received benefits, such as Jupiter or Saturn; these gods, however, were men and not brutes. These Indians, too, notwithstanding that they worshipped the sun and moon, also adored trees and stones, and other things suggested by their imaginations. I was informed, at the same time, that their priests saw the devil, who communicated perdition to their souls. In the important temple of Pachacamac they held a she fox in great veneration, and worshipped it. In this province, also, the Lord of Manta had an emerald of great size and value, which the people and their ancestors held in great veneration. On certain days it was publicly displayed, and worshipped as if it contained some deity.[301] On these occasions if any man or woman was sick, they performed a sacrifice, and then came forward to pray to the stone. They affirm that the priest, who conversed with the devil, gave them to understand that the stone would bring health to them in requital for their offerings, after they and other ministers of the devil had applied to it. People who were afflicted with sickness came to Manta from all parts of the interior to offer gifts and perform sacrifices; and the Spaniards, who first discovered this kingdom, have told me that they found great riches in this town of Manta, and that it always yielded more than those which bordered on it to the encomienderos. They also say that, although threats and menaces have been resorted to to discover where this great and rich emerald is concealed, they have never been able to find it, nor will the natives betray the place if they are all killed, so great is the veneration in which it is held.
This town of Manta is on the coast. In the interior there are more villages and more people, and they differ in language from those on the coast, but they have the same food. The houses of those inland, called Serranos, are of wood and small, the roofs of straw or palm leaves. They have some flocks of Peruvian sheep, but not so many as there are in Quito or in the province of Cuzco.
The Serranos[302] were not such sorcerers and magicians as the natives of the coast, nor were they so wicked in practising the abominable sin. There is hope of some gold mines in some of the rivers of these mountains, and there is certainly a very rich emerald mine; but although many captains have tried to discover it, they have not succeeded, nor will the natives tell them where it is. It is true that Captain Olmos is said to have known where this mine was, but I think that surely he would have told his brothers or some other persons. Certainly the number of emeralds that have been brought to Puerto Viejo is very great, and they are the best in all the Indies; for though emeralds are more numerous in the new kingdom of Granada, they are not so good, so that the best there do not equal in value the most ordinary ones here.
The Caraques formed another tribe. They are not labourers, and are less intelligent than their neighbours, being a disorderly people, and making war for very slight causes. When a child was born they put its head between two boards, so that at the age of four or five, the head was long and broad, but flat behind. Not content with the heads that God gives them, they thus make them into the shapes that please them most. They themselves say that they force their heads into these shapes that they may be more healthy, and be able to do more work. Some of these people, especially those near the village of Colima, to the northward, go naked. They relate that Huayna Ccapac arrived here, after having put to death the chiefs as far as Colima, where he ordered a fort to be built. Seeing that the Indians went naked, he did not go any further, but returned, leaving orders to his captains to conquer and subjugate as far as the river Santiago.