16. Of the monasteries of religious that the devil possesses for his superstition

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS v
3. Introduction to José de Acosta’s Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias xvii
4. Maps xxx
5. Printing permission granted by King Philip II 1
6. Printing permission granted by Gonzalo Dávila, Society of Jesus 3
7. Content approval granted by Fray Luis de León 4
8. Dedication to the infanta Doña Isabel Clara Eugenia de Austria 5
9. Paper tax ordered by Christóbal de León 7
10. Prologue to the reader 8
11. BOOK I
12. 1. Of the opinion held by some authors that the heavens did not extend to the New World 13
13. 2. How the heavens are round everywhere and rotate around themselves 16
14. 3. How Holy Writ gives us to understand that the earth is in the midst of the universe 19
15. 4. In which a response is given to what is alleged in Scripture against the heavens being round 23
16. 5. Of the shape and appearance of the heavens in the New World 24
17. 6. How the world has both land and sea in the direction of both poles 26
18. 7. Which refutes the opinion of Lactantius, who said that there were no antipodes 29
19. 8. Of Saint Augustine’s motives in denying the antipodes 31
20. 9. Of Aristotle’s opinion of the New World and what it was that caused him to deny it 34
21. 10. How Pliny and most of the ancients believed the same as Aristotle 38
22. 11. How some mention of this New World is found in the ancients 39
23. 12. What Plato believed concerning these West Indies 43
24. 13. How some have believed that in Holy Scripture Ophir is this Peru of ours 44
25. 14. What Tarshish and Ophir mean in Scripture 47
26. 15. Of the prophecy of Abdias, which some say concerned these Indies 49
27. 16. How the first men could have come to the Indies and how they did not sail purposely to these parts 51
28. 17. Of the properties and remarkable virtue of the lodestone in navigation and how the ancients did not know of it 55
29. 18. Which answers those who believe that in ancient times the ocean was crossed as in our day 58
30. 19. How it may be believed that the first inhabitants of the Indies came there brought by storms and against their will 58
31. 20. How it is more reasonable to believe that the first dwellers in the Indies came by land 61
32. 21. How wild beasts and domestic animals crossed to the lands of the Indies 64
33. 22. How the race of Indians did not come by way of Atlantis, as some believe 67
34. 23. How the opinion of many, who believe that the Indians come from the race of the Jews, is false 69
35. 24. Why there is no sure way to establish the Indians’ origin 71
36. 25. What the Indians are wont to say about their origin 72
37. BOOK II
38. 1. Which will deal with the nature of the equinoctial line, or equator 75
39. 2. What caused the ancients to have no doubt that the Torrid Zone was uninhabitable 75
40. 3. How the Torrid Zone is very wet, and how in this the ancients were much mistaken 77
41. 4. How outside the Tropics there is more rain when the sun draws farther away, which is the reverse of the Torrid Zone 78
42. 5. How in the Tropics the rains come in summer, or time of heat, and the calculation of winter and summer 80
43. 6. How the Torrid Zone has a great abundance of water and vegetation, though Aristotle denies it 81
44. 7. Which deals with the reason why the sun, outside the Tropics, causes rain when it is most distant, and in the Tropics the reverse, when it is nearest 84
45. 8. How what is said of the Torrid Zone must be understood 87
46. 9. How the Torrid Zone is not excessively hot but only moderately so 88
47. 10. How the Torrid Zone’s heat is tempered by the abundance of rain and the brevity of the days 89
48. 11. How in addition to the causes mentioned there are other reasons why the Torrid Zone is temperate, especially the proximity of the Ocean Sea 91
49. 12. How the higher lands are colder and the reason for this 93
50. 13. How cool winds are the chief reason why the Torrid Zone is temperate 95
51. 14. How life in the equatorial region is very agreeable 97
52. BOOK III
53. 1. How the natural history of the Indies is pleasant and enjoyable 99
54. 2. Of winds and their differences and properties and causes in general 100
55. 3. Of some properties of the winds that blow in the New World 104
56. 4. How easterly winds always blow in the Torrid Zone and outside it both westerlies and easterlies 106
57. 5. Of the differences between easterlies and southwesterlies and other kinds of winds 109
58. 6. Why there is always an east wind for sailing in the Torrid Zone 112
59. 7. Why westerly winds are more usually found when leaving the Torrid Zone, at higher latitudes 115
60. 8. Of exceptions to be found in the rule just expressed and the winds and calms that exist on sea and land 116
61. 9. Of some wonderful effects of winds in parts of the Indies 117
62. 10. Of the ocean that surrounds the Indies and of the Northern and Southern Seas 122
63. 11. Of the Strait of Magellan and how it was crossed on its southern side 125
64. 12. Of the strait that some say exists in Florida 128
65. 13. Of the properties of the Strait of Magellan 129
66. 14. Of the ebb and flow of the Ocean Sea in the Indies 131
67. 15. Of the different fish and methods of fishing of the Indians 132
68. 16. Of the pools and lakes that are found in the Indies 136
69. 17. Of various fountains and springs 139
70. 18. Of rivers 141
71. 19. Of the general nature of the earth in the Indies 143
72. 20. Of the properties of the land of Peru 146
73. 21. Of the reasons given as to why it does not rain on the plains 148
74. 22. Of the properties of New Spain and the islands and the other lands 149
75. 23. Of undiscovered regions and the difference of a whole day between east and west 151
76. 24. Of volcanoes or vents of fire 154
77. 25. Why the fire and smoke of these volcanoes persists for so long 156
78. 26. Of earthquakes 157
79. 27. How earth and sea clasp one another 160
80. BOOK IV
81. 1. Of the three kinds of mixtures that will be dealt with in this history 161
82. 2. Of the abundance of metals that exist in the Indies 162
83. 3. Of the kind of land where metals are found, and how in the Indies all the metals are not worked, and how the Indians used metals 165
84. 4. Of the gold that is produced in the Indies 166
85. 5. Of the silver of the Indies 170
86. 6. Of the mountain of Potosí and its discovery 172
87. 7. Of the wealth that has been taken, and is still being taken daily, from the mountain of Potosí 175
88. 8. How the mines of Potosí are worked 179
89. 9. How silver ore is refined 182
90. 10. Of the wonderful properties of quicksilver 183
91. 11. Where quicksilver is found and how rich mines of it were discovered in Huancavelica 186
92. 12. How quicksilver is extracted and how silver is refined with its use 188
93. 13. Of the machinery for grinding ore and assaying silver 192
94. 14. Of emeralds 193
95. 15. Of pearls 195
96. 16. Of bread in the Indies, and maize 197
97. 17. Of yucca and cassava, and potatoes and chuño and rice 200
98. 18. Of different roots that grow in the Indies 202
99. 19. Of different kinds of greenstuffs and vegetables, and of those called cucumbers, and pineapples and Chilean strawberries, and plums 203
100. 20. Of ají, or Indies pepper 206
101. 21. Of the plantain 207
102. 22. Of cocoa and coca 209
103. 23. Of maguey, tunal, and cochineal and of indigo and cotton 211
104. 24. Of mameys and guavas and alligator pears 214
105. 25. Of chicozapote and anonas and capolíes 215
106. 26. Of different kinds of fruit trees, and of coconuts and Andes almonds, and Chachapoyas almonds 216
107. 27. Of various flowers, and some trees that bear only flowers, and how the Indians use them 218
108. 28. Of balsam 220
109. 29. Of liquidambar and other oils and gums and drugs that are brought from the Indies 222
110. 30. Of the great forests of the Indies and of cedars and ceibas and other large trees 224
111. 31. Of the plants and fruit trees that have been brought to the Indies from Spain 226
112. 32. Of grapes and vines and olives and mulberries and sugarcane 228
113. 33. Of sheep and cattle 230
114. 34. Of some European animals that the Spaniards found in the Indies and how they might have come 232
115. 35. Of birds that exist in Europe and how they came to the Indies 233
116. 36. How it can be possible that there are animals in the Indies not found in any other part of the world 235
117. 37. Of birds native to the Indies 236
118. 38. Of game animals 239
119. 39. Of micos, or the monkeys of the Indies 240
120. 40. Of the vicuñas and tarugas of Peru 242
121. 41. Of alpacas and guanacos and the sheep of Peru 244
122. 42. Of bezoar stones 246
123. Prologue to the subsequent books 250
124. BOOK V
125. 1. How the devil’s pride and envy have been the cause of idolatry 253
126. 2. Of the kinds of idolatries used by the Indians 255
127. 3. How there is some knowledge of God among the Indians 256
128. 4. Of the first sort of idolatry, that of natural and universal things 258
129. 5. Of the idolatry practiced by the Indians with particular things 261
130. 6. Of another kind of idolatry with the dead 264
131. 7. Of the superstitions that were employed with the dead 266
132. 8. Of the funeral rites that the Mexicans and other nations used 267
133. 9. Of the fourth and last kind of idolatry that the Indians, especially the Mexicans, used with images and statues 269
134. 10. Of a strange kind of idolatry that was practiced by the Mexicans 274
135. 11. How the devil has tried to copy God in methods of sacrifices and of religion and sacraments 275
136. 12. Of the temples that have been found in the Indies 276
137. 13. Of the splendid temples of Mexico 278
138. 14. Of the priests and the offices they performed 281
139. 15. Of the monasteries of virgins that the devil invented for his service 282
140. 16. Of the monasteries of religious that the devil possesses for his superstition 284
141. 17. Of the penances and austerities that the Indians practiced at the devil’s behest 287
142. 18. Of the sacrifices the Indians made to the devil, and of what they consisted 288
143. 19. Of the sacrifices of men that they made 291
144. 20. Of the horrible sacrifices of men that the Mexicans performed 293
145. 21. Of another kind of human sacrifice that the Mexicans performed 296
146. 22. How the Indians themselves were exhausted and could not endure the cruelties of their gods 298
147. 23. How the devil has tried to mimic the sacraments of Holy Church 300
148. 24. How the devil tried in Mexico to mimic the feast of Corpus Christi and the communion used by Holy Church 301
149. 25. Of the confession and confessors used by the Indians 304
150. 26. Of the abominable unction used by the Mexican priests and those of other nations and of their sorcerers 308
151. 27. Of other ceremonies and rites of the Indians that are similar to ours 312
152. 28. Of some festivals that the Indians of Cuzco had and how the devil also tried to imitate the mystery of the Holy Trinity 314
153. 29. Of the festival of rejoicing celebrated by the Mexicans 319
154. 30. Of the merchants’ festival performed by the Cholulans 324
155. 31. The benefit that can be drawn from an account of the Indians’ superstitions 327
156. BOOK VI
157. 1. How the opinion of those who believe that the Indians lack understanding is false 329
158. 2. Of the method of calculating time and the calendar that the Mexicans used 331
159. 3. Of the method of counting years and months used by the Incas 333
160. 4. How no nation of Indians has been found to have the use of letters 334
161. 5. Of the kinds of letters and books that the Chinese use 335
162. 6. Of universities and studies in China 338
163. 7. Of the kinds of letters and writing that the Mexicans used 339
164. 8. Of the memory aids and reckonings used by the Indians of Peru 342
165. 9. Of the order the Indians maintain in their writings 344
166. 10. How the Indians dispatched their messengers 345
167. 11. Of the government and monarchs that they had 345
168. 12. Of the government of the Inca kings of Peru 347
169. 13. Of the distribution that the Incas made of their vassals 349
170. 14. Of the buildings and construction methods of the Incas 350
171. 15. Of the Inca’s revenues and the order of tributes he imposed on the Indians 352
172. 16. Of the trades that the Indians learned 355
173. 17. Of the posts and chasquis that the Inca used 356
174. 18. Of the laws and justice and punishments that the Incas imposed and of their marriages 357
175. 18. Of the laws and justice and punishments that the Incas imposed and of their marriages 358
176. 19. Of the origin of the Incas, lords of Peru, and their conquests and victories 358
177. 20. Of the first Inca and his successors 361
178. 21. Of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and what happened up to the time of Huayna Capac 363
179. 22. Of the great Inca named Huayna Capac 365
180. 23. Of the last successors of the Incas 367
181. 24. Of the kind of commonwealth that the Mexicans had 368
182. 25. Of the different ranks and orders of the Mexicans 370
183. 26. Of the Mexicans’ way of fighting and the military orders that they had 371
184. 27. Of the Mexicans’ great care and diligence in bringing up their youth 372
185. 28. Of the Indians’ dances and festivities 374
186. BOOK VII 379
187. Commentary 451
188. Bibliography 519
189. Index 525