Peru

A todos pareceo bẽ pouoarẽ aqlla terra por estar ẽ boa paragẽ: que se se pouoara todolos nauios da Noua Espanha e do Peru e Sancta Marta, e Terra firme, indo pera a Espanha lhes vinha bẽ fazer ali escala: porq he por alli seu caminho: e por ser boa terra e aparelhada pera fazer proveito. Ho gouernador como seu intẽto era buscar outro tesouro como ho d'Tabalipa senor do Peru, nã se quis cõtẽtar cõ boa terra nẽ cõ Perlas em caso q muitas dellas a peso de ouro valiã: e se se a terra repartira as que os indios depois pescaram valerã mais; porq as q tinham por as furarem cõ fogo lhe fazia perder sua cor.

Everyone thought it good to settle that land, because it lay in a good position. If it were settled, all the ships from New Spain, Peru, Santa Marta and Tierra Firme could put in there on the way to Spain, since their route passes that way. It was also good land, fit for making a profit. But the governor's aim was to find another treasure like that of Tabalipa, lord of Peru. He would not be content with good land or with pearls, though many of them were worth their weight in gold. If the land had been divided among settlers, the pearls the Indians fished later would have been worth more. The ones they had lost their color because the Indians bored the holes with fire.

En algunas partes deste libro he apuntado el gran poder que tuvieron los ingas reyes del Perú, y su mucho valor, y como en mas de mil y docientas leguas que mandaron de costa tenian sus delegados y gobernadores, y muchos aposentos y grandes depósitos llenos de las cosas necesarias; lo cual era para provision de la gente de guerra; porque en uno destos depósitos habia lanzas, y en otros dardos, y en otros ojotas, y en otros las demás armas que ellos tienen. Asimismo unos depósitos estaban proveidos de ropas ricas, y otros de mas bastas, y otros de comida y todo género de mantenimientos.

In several places in this book I have noted the great power of the Inca kings of Peru and their great worth. Along more than twelve hundred leagues of coast that they ruled, they had their deputies and governors, and many lodgings and great storehouses full of everything needed. All this was to supply the warriors. In one of these storehouses there were lances, in others darts, in others sandals, and in others the rest of the weapons they use. Some storehouses were also stocked with fine cloth, others with coarser cloth, and others with food and every kind of provisions.

De esta ceremonia se tomó aquel nombre tan celebrado del Dorado, que tantas vidas ha costado i haciendas. En el Perú fué donde sonó primero este nombre dorado; i fué el caso que habiendo ganado a Quito, donde Sebastian de Benalcázar, i andando en aquellas guerras o conquistas, topó con un indio de este Reino de los de Bogotá, el cual le dijo, que cuando querian en su tierra hacer su rei, lo llevaban a una laguna mui grande, i allí lo doraban todo, o le cubrian de oro, i con muchas fiestas lo hacian rei. De aquí vino a decir el Don Sebastian “vamos a buscar este indio dorado.” De aquí corrió la voz a Castilla i a las demas partes de Indias, i a Benalcázar le movió venirlo a buscar, como vino, i se halló en esta conquista i fundacion de esta ciudad, como mas largo lo cuenta el padre frai Pedro Simon en la quinta parte de sus noticias historiales, donde se podrá ver.

From this ceremony came that famous name, El Dorado, the Gilded One, which has cost so many lives and fortunes. It was in Peru that the name was first heard. After Quito had been won, Sebastián de Benalcázar, who was fighting in those wars and conquests, came upon an Indian from this kingdom, one of the people of Bogotá. The Indian told him how they made a king in his land. They took him to a very large lake and gilded him all over, or covered him with gold. Then they made him king with great festivities. That is why Don Sebastián said, “Let us go and look for this gilded Indian.” From there the word spread to Castile and the rest of the Indies. It moved Benalcázar to come looking for him, and so he did, and he took part in the conquest of this kingdom and the founding of this city. Father Fray Pedro Simón tells this at greater length in the fifth part of his Historical Notices, where it can be read.

Las viandas que acompañan este pan, y vino, son muchas, no solo de frutas, como Plántanos, Piñas, Guayabas, Auios, Castañas muy sabrosas, que llaman en el Perú Castañas de la Sierra, y á la verdad más parecen esto, que no aquello, si bien las llaman así por nacer en vnos cocos que se asemejan al herizo de la Castaña, Tienen Palmas de diuersos géneros, que producen vnos sazonados cocos, y otras sabrosos dátiles, que aunque siluestres, son de muy buen gusto, y otras muchas diferencias de frutas, propias todas de tierras calientes. Tienen también rayces de mucho sustento, como son batatas, yuca mansa, que llaman los Portugueses, Macachera, Caras, criadillas de tierra, y otras que asadas, ó cocidas, no solo son tan gustosas, sino sustanciales.

Many foods go with this bread and wine. There are fruits such as plantains, pineapples, guavas, auios, and very tasty chestnuts that in Peru they call "chestnuts of the Sierra." They do look more like chestnuts than anything else, though the name comes from the husks they grow in, which look like the burr of a chestnut. They have palms of many kinds. Some bear ripe coconuts and others tasty dates, which are very good even though they grow wild. There are many other kinds of fruit, all of them proper to hot countries. They also have very nourishing roots. There are sweet potatoes, sweet yuca, which the Portuguese call macachera, caras, and earth truffles. Others are not only tasty when roasted or boiled but filling.