Of what there is to be said concerning the country from Caxamarca to the valley of Xauxa; and of the district of Guamachuco, which borders on Caxamarca.

HAVING told all that I was able to gather touching the foundation of the cities of the frontier of Chachapoyas and of Leon de Huanuco, I shall now return to the royal road, and describe the provinces between Caxamarca and the beautiful valley of Xauxa, a distance of eighty leagues, a little more or less, all traversed by the royal road of the Yncas.

Eleven leagues beyond Caxamarca there is another large province called Huamachuco, which was once very populous, and half way on the road to it there is a very pleasant and delightful valley. It is surrounded by mountains and is therefore cold, but a beautiful river flows through it, on the banks of which grow wheat, vines, figs, oranges, lemons, and many other plants which have been brought from Spain. In ancient times there were buildings for the chiefs in the meadows and dales of this valley, and many cultivated fields for them and for the temple of the sun. The province of Huamachuco is like that of Caxamarca, and the Indians are of the same race, imitating each other in their religion and sacrifices, as well as in their clothes and head-dress. In times past there were great lords in this province of Huamachuco who were highly favoured by the Yncas. In the principal part of the province there is a great plain, where the tampus and royal palaces were built, amongst which there are two the thickness of which was twenty-two feet, and the length as much as a horse’s gallop, all made of stone, embellished with huge beams, over which the straw was laid with much skill. Owing to the late troubles the greater part of the population of this province has perished. The climate is good, more cold than hot, and the country abounds in all things necessary for the sustenance of man. Before the Spaniards arrived there were great flocks of sheep in the province of Huamachuco, and in the lofty and uninhabited mountains there were other wild kinds, called guanacos and vicuÑas, which resemble those which are domesticated.

They told me that, in this province, the Yncas had a royal chase, and the natives were forbidden to enter it for the purpose of killing the wild animals, on pain of death. It contained some lions, bears, and deer. When the Ynca desired to have a royal hunt, he ordered three thousand, four thousand, ten thousand, or twenty thousand Indians to surround a wide tract of country, and gradually to converge until they could join hands. The game was thus collected in the centre, and it is great fun to see the guanacos, how they jump up into the air with fright, and run from one side to the other, seeking for a way to get out. Another party of Indians then enters the enclosure, armed with clubs, and kills the number of animals that the lord requires, often ten thousand or fifteen thousand head, such was the abundance of these animals.[409] They made very precious cloth from the wool of the vicuÑas, for the use of the Ynca, his wives, and children, and to ornament the temples. These Indians of Huamachuco are very docile, and have almost always been in close alliance with the Spaniards. In times past they had their religious superstitions, and worshipped certain stones as large as eggs, and others still larger, of different colours, which they kept in their huacas in the snowy mountain heights. After they were conquered by the Yncas they worshipped the sun, and became more civilised, both in their government and in their personal habits. In their sacrifices they shed the blood of sheep and lambs, flaying them alive without cutting off their heads, and presently cutting out their hearts and entrails with great rapidity, to search in them for signs and omens; for some of them were sorcerers, who also watched the courses of comets, like other heathens. The devil came to the place where they had their oracles, with whom it is publicly known that they held converse. Now these things have come to an end, their idols are destroyed, and a cross has been raised in their stead, to strike terror and dismay into our adversary the devil. Some of the Indians, with their wives and children, have become Christians, and every day, by reason of the preaching of the holy gospel, more are converted, for in these buildings and edifices there are clergymen who teach the people. The royal road of the Yncas goes from the province of Huamachuco to the Conchucos, and in Bombon it joins another road equally large. One of these roads is said to have been made by order of Tupac Ynca Yupanqui, and the other by order of his son Huayna Ccapac.