to rank or the different districts of the country;
some wearing a tuft of wool, others a single cord,
and others several cords of different colours.
All the Indians of the plain are distributed into
three orders; the first named
Yungas, the second
Tallanes, and the third
Mochicas.
Every province has its own peculiar language or dialect,
different from all the rest. But all the caciques
or principal people and nobles of the country, besides
the language peculiar to their respective countries
or districts, were obliged to understand and speak
the language of Cuzco. One of the Peruvian kings,
named Huana Capac, the father of Atahualpa or Atabalipa,
was much displeased that the caciques and principal
people of his empire should be under the necessity
of employing interpreters when they had occasion to
speak to him; and gave orders that all the caciques
and their relatives should send their children to
reside at court, to be instructed in the language
of Cuzco which was spoken by the Incas. This was
the ostensible reason of the measure; but in reality
he wished to have these children in his power, to
serve as hostages for the loyalty of their parents.
By this means, all the nobles of the land came to
understand the peculiar language of Cuzco which was
spoken at court; just as in Flanders all the nobles
and persons of any rank speak French. Owing to
this circumstance, as the Spaniards have learnt the
language of the Incas, or of Cuzco, they are able
to converse with all the principal natives of Peru,
both those of the mountain and of the plain.
It may appear difficult to some of my readers to comprehend
why no rain should fall in the plain of Peru, considering
that the country is bounded along the whole of one
side by the sea, where many vapours are constantly
ascending, and on the other side by a vast range of
mountain which is always enveloped in rain or snow.
Those who have carefully considered this singular
phenomenon, allege that it is occasioned by the continual
prevalence of a strong south-west wind all along the
coast and over the whole plain of Peru, which carries
off all the vapours which rise from the sea and the
land, without allowing them to rise sufficiently high
in the air to gather and fall down again in rain.
From the tops of the high mountains, these vapours
are often seen far beneath on the plain in thick clouds,
while all is quite clear and serene on the mountain.
By the perpetual blowing of the same wind, the waters
of the South-sea have a constant current along the
coast to the northward. Others allege a different
reason for this current; saying, that the water of
the South-sea having only a narrow outlet at the straits
of Magellan, which are only two leagues broad, and
being there opposed by the Atlantic Ocean, they are
forced to return to the northward along the coast of
Chili and Peru. This constant wind and current
render the navigation exceedingly difficult, from
Panama to Peru for the greater part of the year; so
that vessels are obliged always to tack to windward
against wind and current.