ULLOA's voyage to south AMERICA. 525 



thefe poor creatures dying for want of proper treatment and afTiftance ; as is evident 

 from the Creoles, who are alfo attacked by the diflempers of the country. Some of 

 the latter indeed die as well as of the former ; but many more recover, having atten- 

 dance and a proper diet : whereas the Indians are in want of every thing. What their 

 houfes and apparel are, has already been feen. Their bed is the fame in health and 

 ficknefs ; and all the change in their food is in the manner of taking it, not in the 

 fpecies itfelf : for, however ill they may be, all they have" is a fmall draught of machca 

 difTolved in chicha ; fo that, if any one does get the better of a diftemper, it is more 

 owing to the happinefs of his conftitution, than any relief he receives. 



They are alfo fubjed to the bicho, or mal del valle ; but this is foon cured. Some- 

 times, though feldom, they are alfo feized with tabardillos, or fpotted fevers, for 

 which they have an expeditious but fmgular cure. They lay the patient near the fire, 

 on the two fheep-fkins which compofe his bed ; and clofe by him place a jug of chicha. 

 The heat of the fever, and that of the fire increafing the other, caufe in him fuch a 

 thirfl, that he is incelTantly drinking ; whereby the eruptions are augmented, and the 

 next morning he is either in a fair way of recovery, or fo bad as to be carried off in 

 a day or two. 



They who either efcape, or recover from, thefe diflempers, reach to an advanced 

 age ; and both fexes afford many inftances of remarkable longevity. I myfelf have 

 known feveral, who, at the age of a hundred, were flill robufl and aftive ; which 

 unqueftionably mufl, in fome meafure, be attributed to the conflant famenefs and 

 fimplicity of their food. But I muft obferve, that, befides the different kinds already 

 mentioned, they alfo eat a great deal of fait with agi, gathering the pods of it ; and 

 having put fome fait in the mouth, they bite the agi, and afterwards eat fome machca 

 or camcha : and thus they continue taking one after another, till they are fatisfied. 

 They are fo fond of fait in this manner of eating it, that they prefer a pod or two of agi 

 with fome fait to any other food. 



After this account of the genius, cuftoms, and qualities of the Indians, it will not 

 be improper to fpeak a word or two of their diverfions and occupations, premifing, 

 that this account does not extend to fuch Indians as live in cities and towns, or that 

 occupy any public ofHce or trade, they being looked upon as ufeful to the public, and 

 live independently. Others in the kingdom of Quito are employed in the manufaftories, 

 the plantations, or in breeding of cattle. In order to this, the villages are annually to 

 furnifh thofe places with a number of Indians, to whom their mafler pays wages as 

 fettled by the equity of the King : and at the end of the year they return to their 

 villages, and are replaced by others. This repartition is called Mita. And though 

 thefe alterations fhould by order take place in the manufadories, yet it is not fo : for 

 being occupations of which none are capable but fuch as have been properly trained 

 up, the Indian families, which are admitted, fettle there, and the fons are inftrufted 

 in weaving, from one generation to another. The earnings of thefe are larger than 

 thofe of the other Indians, as their trade requires greater fkill and capacity. Befides 

 the yearly wages paid them by thofe whom they ferve, they have alfo a quantity of 

 land, and cattle given them to improve. They live in cottages built near the manfion- 

 houfe, fo that every one of thefe forms a kind of village j fome of which confifl of above 

 an hundred and fifty families. 



CHAP. 



