CHAPTER XCI

    Of what else happened to the captain Diego de Rojas.

ALL the natives of the regions near where the Spaniards were marching were in great terror. They thought that there must be some deity in the invaders and, though they did not number forty, all who even heard their name trem[321]bled with fear. They said to each other that the horses understood the Spaniards, and that they were such great and fierce animals that they would kill every one they met. As the Chief of those Indians who had come out on the war path was more alarmed than any one, he sought with a good will to make peace with Diego de Rojas, who granted it, saying that he did not come to make war unless he was forced into it. Taking counsel with the other Spaniards who were with him, he determined to return to Tucumá, as it was not prudent to advance further, they being so few and the natives so numerous. Speaking to those who were present, the captain Diego de Rojas said that he would return to where he had left many Spaniards and horses, so that all might go together to conquer those regions, and place them under the dominion of the king Don Carlos. Having said this, he set out on his return to Tucumá, where they found a large supply of provisions.

In order that the Indians might not think that the Spaniards fled from fear of them, Diego de Rojas resolved to send Francisco de Mendoza with six horsemen to return to Chiquana to make all those come, who had remained. Francisco de Mendoza having departed, Diego de Rojas ran a great risk with only thirty men, the six being taken off. But his watch was so careful, that it was not easy for the Indians to take him unawares. The supplies were so abundant, that they could get plenty without any trouble; there were more hens than in the land of Campos, and very plump ones; also a great quantity of ducks, and not a few guanacos in those provinces. The Indians would have been glad enough to kill the Spaniards, and to clear them out of their provinces, but seeing their enemies so watchful and well prepared they did not venture to make opposition. They agreed to wait and see what would come of the invaders' presence.

The natives of these provinces are well made. They[322] wear long cloaks of wool from below the arm, a strip from it passing over the shoulder, and the waist belt is arranged so that the private parts do not appear. In warm weather they have very graceful and handsome cloaks of ostrich[153] feathers. The women go naked, with no more than a small apron fastened round the waist, like the maures which, as we have written, are worn by the women of Anzerma and Antiochia [sic]. They wear their hair very long and well combed; they pride themselves on washing frequently, and use no bija[154] nor any other mixture on their faces. The food of these Indians is maize and the flesh of guanacos and their ewes. They are great sorcerers and the devil is always talking to them. They have no belief, and merely think that they have to live, and must die. When they die, the relatives make burial places in the hills where the bodies are placed, and they stick a tall stout post over the grave, on which is carved a figure of the devil as he was seen by the deceased when, in life, they talked to him. They do not eat human flesh, and detest the sin of sodomy. Their houses are large and round, and the villages not very close together. They have not so much fruit as in other parts. These customs and habits of Indians relate to those who dwell beyond the province of Tucumá, for those nearer[155] had been subjugated by the Incas, and many of them wore clothes. The reason why the Incas did not subjugate the natives farther on was that they received glowing reports of the provinces stretching towards Quito and of the vast quantity of gold in them, so they extended their conquests in that direction. To make their dominion secure, in the time of the Inca Yupanqui, who was father of Tupac Inca, and grandfather of Huayna[323] Capac, certain orejones[156] were sent by his order, not with any great company of people nor with an army, but with articles for barter, in order to learn the disposition of the natives and the character of the country. The greatness of the Incas was so well known, and the fame of their victories had made such an impression, that these orejones easily induced the natives to become vassals of the King Inca Yupanqui. The latter agreed that their friendship should be perpetual, but that they should not be required to do more than defend the frontier so that no enemy should invade the Inca's territory on that side; and so this peace was made. In Tucumá they believed the Sun to be God. All hold that things had a beginning and that there was one Creator, to whom they offered sacrifices, but all their beliefs were inspired by the devil because they were deceived by him in their illusions.