﻿Vol.2] 
  COLONIAL 
  QUECHUA 
  — 
  KUBLER 
  373 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  whole 
  crew, 
  only 
  a 
  fraction 
  returned 
  to 
  Chucuito 
  at 
  the 
  con- 
  

   clusion 
  of 
  their 
  turn. 
  Some 
  had 
  died, 
  and 
  others, 
  having 
  no 
  herds 
  or 
  

   food 
  left 
  for 
  the 
  return 
  trip, 
  stayed 
  in 
  Potosi, 
  coming 
  under 
  the 
  high 
  

   charges 
  levied 
  for 
  residence 
  there. 
  Many 
  others 
  preferred 
  not 
  to 
  

   return 
  home 
  to 
  the 
  local 
  mita 
  of 
  Chucuito, 
  which 
  was 
  additional 
  to 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  mines, 
  and 
  escaped 
  eastward 
  to 
  the 
  relative 
  freedom 
  of 
  the 
  

   lowland 
  valleys. 
  If, 
  however, 
  the 
  mitayo 
  returned 
  to 
  his 
  home, 
  he 
  

   had 
  spent 
  4 
  months 
  in 
  travel, 
  4 
  months 
  at 
  labor 
  in 
  the 
  mines, 
  and 
  2 
  

   months 
  in 
  compulsory 
  service 
  in 
  Potosi. 
  

  

  As 
  the 
  17th 
  century 
  progressed, 
  not 
  only 
  were 
  the 
  mines 
  themselves 
  

   becoming 
  exhausted 
  but 
  also 
  their 
  exploitation 
  had 
  depopulated 
  

   the 
  surrounding 
  provinces. 
  A 
  substantial 
  portion 
  of 
  each 
  mita 
  

   sent 
  to 
  the 
  mines 
  failed 
  to 
  return 
  to 
  the 
  home 
  province, 
  and 
  the 
  

   greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  losses 
  may 
  be 
  accounted 
  for 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  fugitives, 
  

   either 
  to 
  other 
  provinces 
  or 
  to 
  the 
  unconverted 
  areas 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   Andean 
  valleys. 
  (Vazquez 
  de 
  Espinosa, 
  1942, 
  p. 
  632; 
  Navarra 
  y 
  

   Eocaful, 
  1689, 
  in 
  Memorias, 
  1859, 
  2:239-45.) 
  About 
  1603 
  it 
  was 
  

   proposed 
  that 
  large, 
  permanent 
  Indian 
  towns 
  be 
  founded 
  near 
  the 
  

   mines. 
  Actually, 
  the 
  Indians 
  resisted 
  these 
  attempts 
  at 
  industrial 
  

   urbanization, 
  and 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  the 
  program 
  was 
  prohibitive 
  because 
  of 
  

   the 
  fact 
  that 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  near 
  the 
  mines 
  had 
  long 
  since 
  passed 
  

   into 
  private 
  Spanish 
  hands. 
  The 
  proposal 
  to 
  establish 
  a 
  permanent 
  

   settlement 
  for 
  37,800 
  Indians 
  near 
  Potosi 
  was 
  never 
  realized. 
  (Mes- 
  

   sia, 
  1603, 
  in 
  Lorente, 
  1867-72, 
  2: 
  357-58 
  ;Esquilache, 
  1620, 
  in 
  Mem- 
  

   orias, 
  1859, 
  vol. 
  1.) 
  In 
  1720, 
  moreover, 
  the 
  Crown 
  actually 
  com- 
  

   manded 
  the 
  cessation 
  of 
  the 
  mita 
  of 
  Potosi, 
  and 
  its 
  replacement 
  by 
  

   voluntary 
  labor. 
  The 
  decree 
  was 
  never 
  executed 
  (see 
  Whitaker, 
  

   1941, 
  pp. 
  21, 
  90), 
  and 
  the 
  mita 
  at 
  the 
  mines 
  continued 
  nearly 
  to 
  the 
  

   end 
  of 
  the 
  Colonial 
  era 
  (Armendariz, 
  1736, 
  in 
  Memorias, 
  1859, 
  3:152). 
  

  

  Money. 
  — 
  Before 
  1557, 
  the 
  money 
  economy 
  of 
  Peru 
  was 
  conducted 
  

   in 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  coinage 
  (Levillier, 
  1921-26, 
  1:260-61; 
  Montesinos, 
  

   1906, 
  1:245-46). 
  Later 
  on, 
  when 
  the 
  dies 
  for 
  Peruvian 
  coinage 
  had 
  

   been 
  widely 
  distributed, 
  they 
  were 
  forged 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  by 
  

   civilians 
  and 
  clergy 
  that 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  Colonial 
  money 
  remained 
  uncer- 
  

   tain 
  until 
  Viceroy 
  Toledo 
  reformed 
  and 
  enforced 
  the 
  mint 
  laws 
  (Anony- 
  

   mous, 
  1889, 
  p. 
  192) 
  . 
  Thus, 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  a 
  monetary 
  medium 
  of 
  exchange 
  

   was 
  attempted 
  in 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  valid 
  forms 
  of 
  metal 
  currency. 
  The 
  

   entire 
  early 
  Colonial 
  system 
  was 
  founded, 
  as 
  regarded 
  economic 
  life, 
  

   upon 
  the 
  assumption 
  that 
  all 
  values, 
  goods, 
  and 
  services 
  could 
  be 
  

   assessed 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  a 
  money 
  that 
  had 
  no 
  physical 
  reality. 
  The 
  pesos, 
  

   ducados, 
  castellanos, 
  and 
  tomines 
  of 
  Spanish 
  currency 
  were 
  fictional 
  

   in 
  Peru. 
  The 
  Indian 
  who 
  was 
  entitled 
  to 
  such 
  and 
  such 
  a 
  pay 
  never 
  

   saw 
  it, 
  but 
  if 
  he 
  were 
  remunerated, 
  it 
  was 
  in 
  bullion 
  or 
  in 
  goods. 
  The 
  

   confusions 
  arising 
  from 
  this 
  situation 
  were 
  multiple. 
  The 
  powerful 
  

  

  