Yet The Industry And Courage Of The
Spaniards Would Have Overcome All These Obstacles, If There Were Any Hope
Of Finding A Rich Country Beyond.
As the Peruvians were ignorant of writing they knew nothing respecting the
history of the creation and deluge or of their own origin.
They had
however some tradition among them, which had been altered from age to age
according to the fancies of the reciters. They said that there came
anciently from the north, a man who had no bones or joints, and who was
able to shorten or lengthen the way before him as he thought fit, and to
elevate or depress the mountains at his pleasure. By this man the ancient
Indians were created; and as those of the plain had given him some cause
of displeasure, he rendered their country sterile and sandy as it now is,
and commanded that it should never rain in that district; yet sent them
the rivers and torrents which run through it, that they might have
wherewithal to quench their thirst. This person, named _Con_, who they
allege was son of the sun and moon, they esteemed and adored as a god,
pretending that he had given the herbs and wild fruits as food for the
people whom he had created. After him came another man from the south,
named _Pachacamac_, or the creator, who was likewise the son of the sun
and moon, but more powerful than _Con_, who disappeared on his arrival,
leaving the men whom he had created without chiefs or laws, and Pachacamac
transformed them all into various animals, as birds, cats, bears, lions,
and the like, giving origin in this manner to all the beasts and birds
which are now found in the country. After this Pachacamac created the
present race of Indians, teaching them the art of labouring the ground for
the cultivation of plants of various kinds for food. Pachacamac is
considered as a god, and all the principal persons among the Peruvians are
desirous of being buried in the province named from him Pachacamac, as he
resided there, which is about four leagues from the city of Lima[29].
They pretended that their god Pachacamac continued several ages among them,
even to the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, since when he has
disappeared. Hence we may presume that he was some demon by whom they were
miserably abused and misled, and who filled their minds with so many
extravagant absurd fables.
The Indians believe likewise, that even before Con and Pachacamac, there
was a great deluge, during which mankind saved themselves in great caves
in the high mountains, into which they carried a store of food, shutting
up the entries, and carefully filling up all the crevices, to keep out the
water. After a long while, they sent out some dogs, who returned to them
all wet but not dirtied with mud, from which circumstance they concluded
that the waters still remained very high, and they did not venture to
leave their caverns till the dogs came back a second time all covered with
mud.
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