XVI INTRODUCTION. 



Moral History is given in Harris s voyages, 1 and in 

 other similar collections, and the work is much relied 

 upon as an authority by Robertson, and by Prescott 

 in his histories of the conquests of Peru and Mexico. 

 Mr. Prescott quotes Acosta nineteen times in his Con 

 quest of Peru, and nine times in his Conquest of 

 Mexico. Adopting Mr. Prescott s Peru as a test, Acosta 

 takes the fourth place as an authority. Garcilasso de 

 la Vega is quoted eighty-nine, Cieza de Leon forty-five, 

 Polo de Ondegardo forty-one, and Acosta nineteen 

 times. Then follow Pedro Pizarro, Montesinos, Zarate, 

 Hcrrera, and Gomara. 



1 Harris s Voyages, vol. i, lib. v, cap. xiii, pages 751 to 799. 



