﻿790 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN" 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  B. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  ing, 
  and 
  certainly 
  the 
  best 
  available 
  for 
  this 
  early 
  period. 
  In 
  his 
  

   " 
  Parte 
  Primera 
  de 
  la 
  Cr6nica 
  del 
  Peru" 
  he 
  lists 
  names 
  of 
  the 
  settle- 
  

   ments 
  occupied 
  by 
  each 
  group 
  and 
  presents 
  a 
  summary 
  of 
  its 
  culture. 
  

   His 
  sensitivity 
  to 
  cultural 
  variation 
  within 
  a 
  fairly 
  small 
  area 
  places 
  

   him 
  in 
  the 
  forefront 
  of 
  Conquest 
  chroniclers. 
  The 
  detailed 
  treatment 
  

   of 
  the 
  various 
  groups 
  given 
  below 
  relies 
  heavily 
  on 
  his 
  data. 
  

  

  An 
  additional 
  source 
  of 
  considerable 
  value 
  is 
  the 
  "Relaciones 
  

   geograficas 
  de 
  Indias" 
  (1881-97), 
  a 
  compilation 
  of 
  archival 
  materials 
  

   containing 
  data 
  gathered 
  about 
  1580 
  by 
  direct 
  orders 
  of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  

   Crown. 
  Local 
  authorities 
  throughout 
  the 
  Indies 
  received 
  lengthy 
  

   questionnaires, 
  some 
  with 
  200 
  questions. 
  Frequently, 
  several 
  wit- 
  

   nesses 
  discussed 
  matters 
  dealing 
  with 
  geographic 
  location, 
  climate, 
  

   natural 
  resources, 
  native 
  peoples, 
  local 
  government, 
  taxation, 
  religious 
  

   indoctrination, 
  and 
  so 
  on. 
  Although 
  these 
  questions 
  were 
  answered 
  

   more 
  than 
  40 
  years 
  after 
  the 
  Conquest 
  when 
  much 
  of 
  native 
  life 
  was 
  

   already 
  seriously 
  disturbed, 
  they 
  are 
  of 
  considerable 
  value 
  for 
  students 
  

   of 
  aboriginal 
  life, 
  particularly 
  those 
  interested 
  in 
  acculturation. 
  The 
  

   third 
  volume 
  in 
  the 
  series 
  is 
  devoted 
  to 
  Ecuador, 
  and 
  heavily 
  empha- 
  

   sizes 
  Highland 
  data. 
  

  

  A 
  similarly 
  useful 
  source 
  is 
  the 
  early 
  documents 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  

   cabildos 
  or 
  municipal 
  councils, 
  which 
  are 
  being 
  published 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  

   time 
  in 
  recent 
  years 
  (Rumazo 
  Gonzalez, 
  1934 
  a, 
  1934 
  b; 
  Garc6s, 
  J. 
  A., 
  

   1934-37, 
  1937 
  a, 
  1937 
  b, 
  1938). 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  much 
  information 
  on 
  

   early 
  Colonial 
  life, 
  they 
  contain 
  rules 
  governing 
  White-Indian 
  relations, 
  

   land 
  tenure, 
  and 
  native 
  self 
  government. 
  

  

  A 
  source 
  which 
  deals 
  in 
  detail 
  with 
  the 
  pre-Inca 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  Cara 
  

   people, 
  "Historia 
  del 
  Reino 
  de 
  Quito, 
  " 
  by 
  the 
  Jesuit 
  Juan 
  de 
  Velasco 
  

   (1841-44), 
  has 
  in 
  recent 
  decades 
  been 
  heavily 
  attacked. 
  The 
  evidence 
  

   seems 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  it 
  contains 
  data 
  of 
  a 
  legendary, 
  mythological 
  

   nature 
  that 
  were 
  prevalent 
  in 
  the 
  18th 
  century 
  about 
  alleged 
  events 
  

   dating 
  many 
  centuries 
  back. 
  It 
  should 
  be 
  utilized 
  only 
  with 
  the 
  

   greatest 
  caution. 
  

  

  Some 
  of 
  the 
  conquistadors 
  who 
  accompanied 
  Ruiz 
  and 
  Pizarro 
  on 
  

   their 
  first 
  and 
  second 
  trips 
  to 
  Peru 
  have 
  left 
  descriptions 
  of 
  life 
  in 
  the 
  

   Coastal 
  area. 
  They 
  were 
  explorers 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  land, 
  and 
  the 
  new 
  people 
  

   interested 
  them 
  keenly. 
  This 
  interest 
  waned 
  later 
  with 
  the 
  discovery 
  

   of 
  Inca 
  magnificence, 
  but 
  Samanos 
  (1884), 
  Jerez 
  (1918), 
  and 
  Oviedo 
  

   (1851-55) 
  remembered 
  enough 
  to 
  give 
  us 
  interesting 
  and 
  reasonably 
  

   trustworthy 
  accounts. 
  

  

  Jij6n 
  y 
  Caamaiio 
  has 
  recently 
  printed 
  (1941) 
  excerpts 
  of 
  an 
  un- 
  

   published 
  manuscript 
  by 
  Miguel 
  Cabello 
  Balboa 
  dealing 
  with 
  the 
  

   natives 
  of 
  Esmeraldas 
  Province, 
  through 
  which 
  Cabello 
  took 
  several 
  

   trips 
  some 
  30 
  years 
  after 
  the 
  Conquest. 
  

  

  Many 
  of 
  the 
  16th- 
  and 
  17th-century 
  chroniclers 
  who 
  wrote 
  his- 
  

   tories 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  Empire 
  dealt 
  in 
  greater 
  or 
  lesser 
  detail 
  with 
  the 
  

  

  