How these Indians were conquered by Huayna Ccapac, and how they
conversed with the devil, sacrificed to him, and buried women alive with
the bodies of their chiefs.
After the events which I have just alluded to as having occurred in the
provinces near the city of Puerto Viejo, many of the natives relate
that, in process of time, when the King named Huayna Ccapac was reigning
in Cuzco, he visited the provinces of Quito in person, and entirely
subjugated all these Indians. It must be understood that all these
occurrences in the history of the Indians are written from accounts
given by the Indians themselves, who, having no letters, made use of a
curious invention in order that their deeds and history might be
recorded.[300] Although these Indians were subject to Huayna Ccapac, and
paid tribute in rich emeralds and gold, yet there were no buildings, nor
depôts, as in the other provinces we have passed through. The reason of
this is that the country is poor and the villages small, so that the
_Orejones_ did not wish to live here, and held the country in small
estimation. The natives of these villages were great sorcerers, and it
is well known that no people in all Peru were so addicted to sacrifices
and religious rites. Their priests had charge of the temples, and of the
service to images which represented their false gods, before whom, at
stated times, they recited songs and performed ceremonies which they
learnt from their fathers, from whom they received the ancient customs.
The devil, in frightful shape, appeared to those appointed for this
accursed office, who were much respected by all the other Indians. Among
these one gave replies, and heard what the devil had to say, who, in
order to preserve his credit, appeared in a threatening form. Thus he
let them know future events, and no battle or other event has taken
place amongst ourselves, that the Indians throughout this kingdom have
not prophesied beforehand. At the same time they never really knew, for
it is clear, and must be believed, that God alone knows what will come
to pass. If, therefore, the devil is right in anything, it is because
his words are equivocal, and will bear many meanings. With his gift of
subtlety, and his great age, which has given him experience in affairs,
he speaks to the simple who will hear him; but many of the Gentiles know
the deceitfulness of his replies. Thus, many of these Indians hold it to
be certain that the devil is false and wicked, and they obey him more
from fear than from love. At one time, deceived by the devil himself, at
others by their own priest, they submit to his service by permission of
Almighty God. In the temples, or _huacas_, they gave presents to objects
which they held to be gods, and offered bloody sacrifices to them. And
in order to do them more honour, they sacrificed something still more
noble, namely, the blood of certain Indians, as many affirm. When they
took any of their neighbours prisoners, with whom they had war or
enmity, they assembled (as they themselves declare) and, after having
got drunk with their wine, and also having made the prisoner drunk, the
chief priest killed him with lancets of stone or copper. They then cut
off his head, and offered it, with the body, to the accursed devil, the
enemy of human nature. When any of them were sick, they bathed many
times, and offered up sacrifices, praying for health.
They mourned for their chiefs when they died, and put the bodies in
tombs, together with some women alive, and all their most precious
effects. They were not ignorant of the immortality of the soul, although
they did not fully understand it. There can be no doubt that, by an
illusion of the devil, the figures of persons who were dead, perhaps
fathers or relations, appeared to these Indians in the fields in the
dress they wore when living. By such false apparitions were these poor
people made to obey the will of the evil one, and for this reason they
buried people alive, together with the dead, that they may rise again
with more honour. They held that by so doing they observed the rules of
their religion, and obeyed their gods, and would go to a very delightful
and pleasant place surrounded by the food and drink they were accustomed
to when they were alive in the world.