The natives of the country round Loxa are of middle height, and dress in shirts and mantles, both men and women. Within the forests, it is affirmed by the natives that there are numerous tribes rich in gold, and some large rivers. These tribes go naked, both men and women, for the country is hotter than Peru, and was never subjugated by the Yncas. The captain Alonzo de Mercadillo, with a force of Spaniards, set out in the year 1550 to verify these reports.[319]
The situation of the city of Loxa is the best and most convenient that could be found within the province. The repartimientos of Indians held by the citizens were first obtained in encomienda by those who were in Quito and San Miguel. As the Spaniards who travelled by the royal road, to go to Quito and other parts, ran risks from the Indians of Carrochamba and Chaparra, this city was founded; and, notwithstanding that Gonzalo Pizarro had ordered it to be peopled while he was engaged in his rebellion, still the president Pedro de la Gasca, considering that it would be for the service of his Majesty that it should not be abandoned, approved of its being founded, and after the judgment on Gonzalo Pizarro, he gave Indians to the settlers. It appears to me that I have now said enough concerning this city, so I shall pass on, and treat of the other cities in this kingdom.
CHAPTER LVIII.
Concerning the provinces between Tamboblanco and the city of San Miguel, the first city founded by the Christian Spaniards in Peru; and what there is to be said of the natives.
AS I have undertaken in this work to satisfy the reader on all points worthy of note concerning the kingdom of Peru, although it will be great trouble to me to stop at one place and return to another, still I shall not fail to do so when it is necessary. In this place I shall treat of the foundation of San Miguel,[320] the first city founded by Christian Spaniards in Peru, and of the valleys and sandy deserts in this great kingdom, leaving the grand road over the mountains once more. I shall fully describe these provinces and valleys on the coast, along which runs another grand road made by the Kings Yncas, of the same magnitude as that in the mountains. I shall give an account of the Yuncas,[321] and of their great edifices, as well as of the information I obtained concerning the secret of its never raining in these valleys and sandy deserts, and of the great abundance of things necessary for the support of man. Having done all this, I shall return to my mountain road, and follow it until I come to the end of this first part. But, before descending to the coast, travelling along the same royal mountain road, we come to the provinces of Calva and Ayavaca, which have the forests of Bracamoros on the east, and the city of San Miguel, of which I shall treat presently, on the west.
In the province of Caxas there are great buildings, erected by the orders of the Yncas, and formerly occupied by a governor and a number of Mitimaes, who had charge of the collection of tribute. Beyond Caxas is the province of Huancabamba, where there were still larger buildings than in Caxas, for here the Yncas had their forces, and amongst the buildings there is a great fortress which I saw, but it was then in ruins. In Huancabamba there was a temple of the sun, with a number of women. The people of the surrounding districts came to worship and offer gifts at this temple, and the virgins and priests were held in great reverence and esteem. The tribute of the chiefs of all these provinces was brought here, and was forwarded to Cuzco when orders came to that effect. Beyond Huancabamba there are other buildings and villages, some of them under the jurisdiction of Loxa, while the natives of others have been granted in encomienda to the citizens of San Miguel. In times past these Indians had wars amongst themselves, and for very slight causes they killed each other and seized the women. It is even said that they went naked, and that some of them ate human flesh, like the natives of the province of Popayan. When the Yncas conquered and subjugated them, they lost many of these customs, and adopted the polity which they now have. Thus their villages were ordered after a different fashion to that which had formerly prevailed. They wear clothes made of fine wool from their flocks, and now instead of eating human flesh, they detest the practice and hold it to be a great sin. Although they are so near the tribes of Puerto Viejo and Guayaquil, they do not commit the abominable sin. They declare that, before they were subjugated by the Ynca Yupanqui and by Tupac Ynca his son, who was father of Huayna Ccapac, and grandfather of Atahualpa, they defended their liberties so resolutely, that many thousands were killed, and as many of the Orejones of Cuzco; but they were so closely pressed that, to escape destruction, certain of their chiefs, in the name of the rest, gave in their submission to the Lords Yncas. The men of these districts are dark, and good looking, and both they and the women clothe themselves in the way they learnt from the Yncas, their ancient lords. In some parts they wear the hair very long, and in others short and plaited in very small plaits. If any hairs grow on the chin, they pull them out, and, strange to say, this is done wherever Indians are met with in these lands. They all understand the general language of Cuzco, but they also have their own particular languages, as I have already said. There used to be great flocks of llamas, the sheep of Peru, but now there are very few, owing to the way the Spaniards have destroyed them. The clothes of these Indians are of llama wool, and also of vicuña wool, which is better and finer. There are also some guanacos, which frequent the desert heights. Those who cannot get clothes made of wool, use cotton. In the valleys and inhabited meadows there are many rivers and small brooks, and some fountains with good and wholesome water. In all parts there is herbage for flocks and plenty of provisions for man. There are priests in most of these districts, who, if they live well and abstain from evil, as their religion requires, will reap great fruits. By the will of God, this is done in the greater part of the kingdom, and many Indian lads have become Christians, who, by their example, attract others.
The ancient temples, which are generally called huacas, are now ruined and desecrated, the idols are broken, and the devil is thus badly wounded in these places. Where he was once, for the sins of men, so reverenced and esteemed, the cross is now planted. Truly we Spaniards should ever give infinite praise to our Lord God for this.
CHAPTER LIX.
In which the narrative is continued down to the foundation of the city of San Miguel, and who was the founder. Also of the difference of the seasons in this kingdom of Peru, which is a notable thing; and how it does not rain along the whole length of these plains, which are on the coast of the South Sea.
THE city of San Miguel is the first that was founded in this kingdom, by the marquis Don Francisco Pizarro; and here the first temple was raised in honour of God our Lord. To describe the coast valleys, I must begin with the valley of Tumbez, through which flows a river which rises (as I have before said) in the province of Paltas, and falls into the South Sea. The land of this valley of Tumbez is naturally very dry and sterile, but it sometimes rains, and showers even extend to near the city of San Miguel. But these showers take place in the parts nearest to the mountains, and it never rains in the vicinity of the sea coast. The valley of Tumbez was formerly thickly peopled and well cultivated, full of beautiful fresh watercourses drawn from the river to irrigate the land, and yielded maize and other things necessary for the support of man, besides plenty of delicious fruit. The ancient chiefs of the valley, before they were subjugated by the Yncas, were dreaded and obeyed by their subjects in a greater degree than any other chiefs of whom I have yet written, as is notorious to all, and they were served with much ceremony. They dressed in mantles and shirts, and wore an ornament on their heads, consisting of a circlet of wool adorned with pieces of gold and silver, and very small beads, called chaquira. These Indians were addicted to their religion, and were great sacrificers, as is stated at large in my account of the founding of the cities of Puerto Viejo and Guayaquil. They are very industrious labourers in the fields; and carry heavy burdens. They till the ground in concert, with beautiful regularity, and raise maize and many kinds of well-tasted roots. The maize yields a harvest twice in the year, and the beans and peas also come up abundantly when they are sown. Their clothes are made of cotton, which they grow in the valley, according to the quantity they require. These natives of Tumbez also have a great fishery, from which they derive no small profit, for with it, and their trade to the mountains, they have always been rich. From this valley of Tumbez a journey of two days brings the traveller to the valley of Solana, which was thickly peopled in former days, and contained edifices and store-houses. The royal road of the Yncas passes through these valleys, with pleasant shady trees on either side. Leaving Solana, the road next comes to Pocheos, on a river also called Pocheos, though some call it the Maycahuilca, because there is a chief or lord of that name in the valley. This valley was once very thickly populated indeed, as we are led to suppose from the numerous remains of great buildings. These buildings, though now in ruins, prove that the valley was as populous as the natives describe, and they also show the great estimation in which the Kings Yncas held this place, for here there were royal palaces and other buildings. Time and wars have so entirely obliterated them that nothing can be seen now but vast numbers of great tombs of those dead who once cultivated all the fields in this valley. Two more days’ journey beyond Pocheos bring us to the great and wide valley of Piura, where two or three rivers unite, which is the reason why this valley is so broad. In it is built the city of San Miguel. Although this city is now held in little estimation, the repartimientos being small and poor, it is just to remember that it deserves privileges and honour, because it was the beginning of all the cities that have since been built, and is on the site selected by the brave Spaniards, before the great lord Atahualpa was seized by them. At first the city was founded on the site called Tangarara, which was abandoned on account of its unhealthiness. It is now built between two very pleasant level valleys, full of trees. It is said to be rather unhealthy, and the people suffer in their eyes from the wind and dust of summer and the dampness of winter. They say that it never rains in this district, but some dew falls from heaven, and, at intervals of a few years, a heavy shower of rain comes down. The valley is like that of Tumbez, and there are many vines, figs, and other trees of Spain growing in it. This city of San Miguel was founded by the Adelantado Don Francisco Pizarro, governor of Peru, then called New Castile, in the name of his Majesty, and in the year of our Lord 1531.