In Some Places Indeed They Used An
Extraordinary Means For Preserving The Remembrance Of Important Events, By
Certain Cords Or
Strings of cotton called _Quippos_, on which they
represented _numbers_ by knots of different kinds, and at regulated
intervals, from
_Units_ up to _dozens_, and so forth; the cords being of
the same colours with those things which they were intended to represent.
In every province, there are persons who are entrusted with the care of
these _quippos_, who are named _Quippo camayos_, who register public
matters by means of these coloured strings and knots artificially disposed;
and it is wonderful with what readiness these men understand and explain
to others events that have happened several ages ago. There are public
buildings throughout the country which are used as magazines of these
quippos.
To the south of the equator, and near the coast, is the island of Puna[18],
about twelve leagues in circumference, containing abundance of game, and
having great quantities of fish on its shores. It has plenty of fresh
water, and was formerly very populous, its inhabitants being almost
continually engaged in war, especially with the people of Tumbez, which is
twelve leagues distant to the south. These people wore shirts, above which
they had a kind of woollen garments. They went to sea in a peculiar kind
of flats or rafts, made of long planks of a light wood fixed to two other
cross planks below them to hold them together. The upper planks are always
an uneven number, usually five, but sometimes seven or nine; that in the
middle, on which the conductor of the float sits and rows, being longer
than the others, which are shorter and shorter toward the sides, and they
are covered by a species of awning to keep those who sit upon them from
the weather. Some of these floats are large enough to carry fifty men and
three horses, and are navigated both by oars and sails, in the use of
which the Indians are very expert. Sometimes, when the Spaniards have
trusted themselves on these floats, the Indian rowers have contrived to
loosen the planks, leaving the christians to perish, and saving themselves
by swimming. The Indians of that island were armed with bows and slings,
and with maces and axes of silver and copper. They had likewise spears or
lances, having heads made of gold very much alloyed; and both men and
women wore rings and other ornaments of gold, and their most ordinary
utensils were made of gold and silver. The lord of this island was much
feared and respected by his subjects, and so extremely jealous of his
women, that those who had the care of them were not only eunuchs, but had
their noses cut off. In a small island near Puna, there was found in a
house the representation of a garden, having the figures of various trees
and plants artificially made of gold and silver.
Opposite to the island of Puna on the main land, there dwelt a nation or
tribe which had given so much offence to the king of Peru, that they were
obliged as a punishment to extirpate all their upper teeth; in consequence
of which, even now, the people of that district have no teeth in their
upper jaws. From Tumbez for five hundred leagues to the south along the
coast of the south sea, and for ten leagues in breadth, more or less
according to the distance between the sea and the mountains, it never
rains or thunders. But on the mountains which bound that maritime plain,
there are both rain and thunder, and the climate has the vicissitudes of
summer and winter nearly as in Spain. While it is winter in the mountain,
it is summer all along the coast; and on the contrary, during the summer
on the mountain the coast has what may be termed winter. The length of
Peru, from the city of _St Juan de Parto_ to the province of Chili lately
discovered, is above 1800[19] leagues of Castille. Along the whole of that
length, a vast chain of exceedingly high and desert mountains extends from
north to south, in some places fifteen or twenty leagues distant from the
sea, and less in others. The whole country is thus divided into two
portions, all the space between the mountains and the sea being
denominated _the plain_, and all beyond is called the mountain.
The whole plain of Peru is sandy and extremely arid, as it never has any
rain, and there are no springs or wells, nor any rivulets, except in four
or five places near the sea, where the water is brackish. The only water
used by the inhabitants is from torrents which come down from the mountain,
and which are there formed by rain and the melting of snow, as there are
even very few springs in the mountainous part of the country. In some
places, these torrents or mountain-streams are twelve fifteen or twenty
leagues distance from each other, but generally only seven or eight
leagues; and travellers for the most part are under the necessity of
regulating their days journies by these streams or rivers, that they may
have water for themselves and cattle. Along these rivers, for the breadth
of a league, more or less according to the nature of the soil, there are
some groves and fruit-trees, and maize fields cultivated by the Indians,
to which wheat has been added since the establishment of the Spaniards.
For the purpose of irrigating or watering these cultivated fields, small
canals are dug from the rivers, to conduct the water wherever it is
necessary and where that can be done; and in the construction of these the
natives are exceedingly ingenious and careful, having often to draw these
canals seven or eight leagues by various circuits to avoid intermediate
hollows, although perhaps the whole breadth of the vale may not exceed
half a league. In all these smaller vales along the streams and torrents,
from the mountain to the sea, the country is exceedingly fertile and
agreeable.
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