How these Indians perform their annual ceremonies, and of the temples
they had in ancient times.
In the last chapter I have declared how these people made great ado when
they put their dead into the tombs. After the interment the women and
servants shaved their heads, put on their commonest clothing, and took
no care of their persons. Besides this, in order to show their grief,
they twisted ropes of sedge round their heads, and uttered continual
lamentations during a whole year if the deceased was a chief, and had no
light in the house for several days. These people, by the permission of
God, were, like all the others, deceived by the devil with the false and
delusive apparitions of some people who were dead, dressed and adorned
in the way their bodies had been put into the tombs. In order to show
more care for the dead they held annual festivals, when they brought
animals and killed them near the tombs, also emptying many vases of
liquor over the tombs, which completed this vain and foolish ceremony.
As this nation of the Collao was so numerous, they had, in former times,
great temples and superstitious rites, venerating those whom they set
apart as priests, and who conversed with the devil. They held their
festivals at the season when they got in their potatoes, which is their
principal food, and then they killed animals as sacrifices. At the
present time we do not know that they have any public temple, but, by
the will of our God and Lord, many Catholic churches have been founded,
where our priests preach the holy gospel, and teach the faith to all the
Indians who desire to receive the water of baptism. I verily believe
that if there had been no civil wars, and if we had sincerely and
earnestly endeavoured to convert these people, many would have been
saved, who have now been damned. At present there are priests and friars
in many parts of the Collao, appointed by those who hold _encomiendas_
over the Indians; and I pray to God that he will carry this work forward
without weighing our sins.
The natives of the Collao say the same as all the other people of the
_Sierra_, that the Creator of the world was called Huira-ccocha, and
they know that his principal abode is in heaven; but, deceived by the
devil, they adored various gods, like all the other gentiles. They have
certain romances or songs in which they preserve the memory of their
deeds, and prevent their being forgotten, although they have no letters.
Among the people of the Collao there are men of great intelligence, who
reply to what is asked from them; and they take account of time, and
know some of the movements both of the sun and the moon. They count
their years from ten months to ten months, and I learnt from them that
they called the year _Mari_, the moon or month _Alespaquexe_, and the
day _Auro_. When they submitted to the Yncas they made great temples by
their order, both on the island of Titicaca and at Hatun-colla, as well
as in other parts.