INDIAN CORN. 19 



" ground, the chief and principal, is that grain which 

 " the people of Mexico and Barlovento call Mayz, and 

 " those of Peru, Cam, being the only bread they use. 

 " And this is of two sorts, one called Murughu, which 

 " is hard, and the other Capia, which is tender and 

 " fine, and is eaten as bread, either boiled, baked, or 

 " parched, over the fire. The hard kind is that which 

 "has been brought to Spain, but not the fine and tender 

 "sort." The corn of the Incas, he says, was ground by 

 women, between two broad stones in the form of a half 

 moon, from the flour of which, they made a kind of 

 hasty-pudding, called Api, a great dish among them, 

 esteemed as high feeding, but was not common at every 

 meal. He mentions another kind of bread, made of 

 maize, called Cara, upon which he was nourished for 

 nine or ten years. This consisted of three sorts, 

 namely, Cancu, used only for sacrifice ; Huminta, for 

 feasts and great entertainments ; and Tanta or bread 

 of common use. Boiled cara they called Muti? which 

 is also the name of boiled corn. The virgins or wives 

 of the Sun, were employed in the evening in kneading 

 great quantities of dough, which they formed into 

 small round cakes that were eaten by the Indians only 

 at the feasts of Ray mi and Citua ; for, at other times, 

 they never eat their maize kneaded into bread, nor did 

 they eat it at their meals, with the exception of two or 

 three mouthfuls at the beginning. Their physicians 

 prescribed no other diet to their sick than what was 

 made of maize. They also made plasters or poultices 

 of it, which they applied for the relief of aches, colics, 

 and other pains. Of the flour of maize, mixed with 

 water, the Indians brewed their common beverage, 

 which, by a certain process, they were able to convert 

 into an excellent vinegar. Of the stalks, before the 

 maize was ripe, they made a kind of honey, and some, 

 who loved to be drunk, lay their corn steeping in 

 water, until germination took place, and then, after 

 grinding, boiled it in the same water, drawed it off, and 

 kept it until stale. This was the strongest drink the 

 Peruvians had, which was called, in their language, 



