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.
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