How these Yuncas were very superstitious, and how they were divided into nations and lineages.

BEFORE I proceed to describe the valleys of the coast, and the founding of the three cities, of the Kings, of Truxillo, and of Arequipa, I will here recount a few things, that I may not have to repeat them over again, both those I saw myself, and those which I learned from Fray Domingo de Santo Tomas. This friar is one of those who understand the language well, and he has been a long time among the Indians, teaching them the truths of our holy catholic faith. Thus, my account of these coast valleys will be founded on what I saw and learned when I travelled through them myself, and on the information given me by Fray Domingo.[324]

The native lords of these valleys were, in ancient times, feared and obeyed by their subjects, who served them with much ceremony, according to their usage. These lords were attended by buffoons and dancers, who were always jesting, while others played and sang. They had many wives, taking care that they should be the prettiest that could be found. Each lord had a great building in his valley, with many adobe pillars, extensive terraces, and doorways hung with matting. Round the building there was an open space where they had their dances. When the lord ate, a great concourse of people assembled, and drank their beverage made from maize or from roots.

In these buildings there were porters, whose duty it was to guard the doors and see who entered or came out. All were clothed in cotton shirts and long mantles, the women as well as the men, except that the dress of the women was large and broad like a morning gown, with openings at the sides for the arms. Some of the lords waged war upon each other, and in some parts the people were never able to learn the language of Cuzco. Although there were three or four tribes of these Yuncas, they all had the same rites and customs. They spent many days and nights at their banquets and drinking bouts; and certainly it is marvellous the quantity of chicha that these Indians drink, indeed the glass is scarcely ever out of their hands. They used to receive the Spaniards with great hospitality when they passed near their dwellings, and to treat them honourably. Now they do not do so, because, when the Spaniards broke the peace, and contended with each other in civil wars, they were detested by the Indians on account of the cruel way in which they treated them, and also because some of the governors have been guilty of such meanness, that the Indians no longer treat those well who pass near their dwellings, pretending to think that those are servants whom they used to treat as lords. The fault lies in those who have been sent here to govern, some of whom have considered that the old order of things was bad, and that it was wrong to keep the natives under their ancient polity, which, if it had been preserved, would neither have destroyed their liberties, nor failed to bring them nearer to the way of good living and conversion; for it appears to me that few nations in the world had a better government than these Yncas. I approve of nothing in the present rule, but rather deplore the extortion, cruel treatment, and violent deaths with which the Spaniards have visited these Indians, without considering the nobility and great virtue of their nation.

Nearly all the rest of these valleys are now almost deserted, having once been so densely peopled, as is well known to many persons.