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painting and drawing certain bridges and showing how they should look and how
they were to be built; and he had also drawn certain trails that went out from a town
to those bridges and rivers. As this was beyond the understanding of those gentlemen
they asked him what he was drawing. He answered them What is it that you ask me?
When the time comes I shall tell you and send you to do it this way ...
(Juan de Betanzos, 1551)
there departed four royal trails: the one that was called Chichasuyo led to the land of the
plains with all of the mountain ranges, all the way to the provinces of Quito and Pasto. By the
second trail, which they called Condesuyo, one came to the provinces that are subject to this city
and to Arequipa. By the third royal trail, which goes by the name of Andesuyo, one goes to the
provinces that lie at the foot of the Andes and to some towns beyond the mountains. The last of
these trails, which they call Collasuyo, goes to the provinces that extend to Chile. Thus, as the an-
cients in Spain divided everything up into provinces, here these Indians, in order to take account
of everything that existed in this great land, made sense of them by their trails ...
Topa Inca Yupanqui marked out the region in memory of the bloody wars they had
engaged in with the Collas, and ordered the placement of two pots of gold and silver
in Vilcanota.
Tambin haba y hay al presente unos indios de guerra los cuales comen
carne cruda y humana; llmanse Chiriguanaes y Caribes, los cuales tienen
muy perversas costumbres y fealdades, y siempre en tiempo del Inga las
tuvieron; y cuando alguno dellos enferma, aunque sea de los ms familia-
res y amigos y parientes ms cercanos, los matan, y muchas veces los co-
men, porque dicen que no conviene que con la enfermedad se corrompan
las carnes; y lo mismo hacen con sus propias mujeres e hijos o hijas
(Martn de Mura, 1615)
Also there were and still are some warrior Indians who eat raw meat and human esh;
they go by the name of Chiriguanaes and Caribes, and they have many depraved and
ugly customs, and they have had them since the time of the Inga [Inca]; and when one
of them becomes ill, even an immediate family member, friend or close relative, they kill
them, and very often eat them, because they say it is better not to let the disease corrupt
the meat; and they do the same with their own women and sons or daughters
(Martn de Mura, 1615)
He received word about the province of the Zures and sent his troops, which, upon arriv-
ing, engaged them in battle twice, nally defeating them and subjugating them () This
great province is a land of high mountains and is populated by many ostriches, and the
clothing of the people there consists of little more than the feathers of those ostriches.
(Juan de Betanzos, 1551)
y tomando la mano derecha ansi como iba pas los puertos y cordilleras
de nieve y montaas altas sujetando y conquistando todo lo que ansi por
delante hallaba e ansi lleg a la provincia de Chile y hall en ella gente
muy belicosa y muy rica y prspera de oro e habido con ellos su reencuen-
tro sujetlos y como ya los tuviese paccos pregunt que de dnde haba
habido tanta riqueza de oro
(Juan de Betanzos, 1551)
and turning to the right, he went up through the mountain passes, the snowy ranges
and the high peaks, taking control of and conquering everything he encountered on his
way, and thus arrived in the province of Chile, and found there a warrior people, very rich
and prosperous, with much gold, and after ghting and overcoming them asked where
they had obtained such a wealth of gold
(Juan de Betanzos, 1551)
haba mucho tiempo que haban salido de la ciudad del Cusco y que ya
haban visto lo que hasta all haba, que le pareca que de all se deban
devolver.
(Juan de Betanzos, 1551)
El valle del ro Maipo sera, nalmente, la fronte-
ra sur del Tawantinsuyu. Y como toda frontera de
importancia, deba legitimarse y revestirse de sa-
cralidad. Es as como encontramos, en pleno valle
central de Chile, la frontera simblica elegida por
los incas. El cronista espaol Gernimo de Vivar
describe con cierta prolijidad los lmites del terri-
torio conquistado, donde la naturaleza y quienes
la habitaban establecan, una vez ms, los lmites
de la cartografa incaica. Hacia el sur de la llamada
Angostura de Paine se iniciaba la provincia de los
purun auca:
a lot of time had passed since they had left the city of Cusco and since they had already
seen what there was there, it seemed best to return home.
(Juan de Betanzos, 1551)
is the province of the poromocaes [purun auca] which begins seven leagues from the
city of Santiago, which is an angostura, as the Spanish call it and the Incas arrived
here when they came to conquer these lands. And they got no further. And on a moun-
tain within the pass they came to an opening and cave, which is still there today and
always will be. And from it the wind blows very strongly. And the Incas saw this place and
were very happy, because they said they had discovered guayra huasi which means the
house of the wind. And there they established a town
... they knew that in the direction of Atacama was a great uninhabited region and sandy
wastelands and a lack of water and as in the uninhabited lands there were some pools
with very little water () and as he had these news, because of this he sent the natives of
those provinces to depart, with as many people as there were there, for the province of
Atacama, because he was told that they were a warlike people, and [he ordered them to]
take their weapons and open up the pools to make large bodies of water there to allow
his people to pass through
(Juan de Betanzos, 1551)
Se inauguraba as una nueva ruta del Inca por
uno de los territorios ms difciles de todo
el Tawantinsuyu, el Gran Despoblado.
In this way, Tupac Inca Yupanqui opened a new
route through one of the harshest territories of all
of Tawantinsuyu, El Gran Despoblado.
and on the way they passed by great works and challenges in those deserts, leaving
signs where they passed to prevent them from losing their way on their return. And also
so that those who followed would know where they went. Thus, they moved back and
forth like ants, bringing tales of their discoveries and carrying supplies, which was what
they most needed. Through their eorts and labor they penetrated eighty leagues of the
unpopulated lands, between Atacama and Copayapu ...
Los relatos incaicos y posteriores sobre esta gran
ruta del Despoblado ilustran un itinerario marcado
por acontecimientos o situaciones excepcionales.
Las descripciones sobre sus escasos manantiales,
aguadas o arroyos adquieren ribetes a veces mgi-
cos, o incluso milagrosos. Podemos explorar el ca-
mino Inca del Despoblado desde nuestras propias
percepciones de ese paisaje aparentemente vaco,
pero tambin conocer su derrotero recuperando
fragmentos de memorias andinas y espaolas so-
bre este inmenso y temible territorio.
The stories from Inca times and later describing
the opening of the great route through the
Unpopulated Lands describe a time marked by
exceptional events. In these accounts, the regions
few freshwater springs, pools and streams acquire a
magical, sometimes even miraculous, quality. While
we can explore the Inca Trail through our own
perceptions of this apparently empty landscape,
it is also possible to explore it by recovering the
fragments of indigenous and Spanish reports about
this immense and formidable territory.
(Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, 1604)
En este vallecito tenan poblados los ingas, seores del Cusco y del Per,
cuando eran seores de estas provincias de Chile, y los que estaban en este
valle registraban el tributo que por all pasaba, oro y turquesas y otras cosas
que traan de estas provincias de Chile, y vivan aqu solo para este efecto.
In this little valley, the Incas, the lords of Cusco and Peru, had settlements, when they
were the rulers of the provinces of Chile, and those who lived in this valley recorded
the tribute that passed through there, gold and turquoise and other things that they
brought from the provinces of Chile, and they lived there only for that purpose.
Los que pasan en este tiempo de invierno, espaoles o indios, que de fro
o de hambre o de sed mueren.
(Vivar, 1558)
Those who came through here in winter, Spaniards or Indians, die from cold, or hunger or thirst.
(Vivar, 1558)
The Finca Chaaral ravine. Excavations on the wall in the
lower portion of the photograph showed evidence of Inca
occupation.
La quebrada de Finca Chaaral. Abajo se aprecia un muro
donde las excavaciones arrojaron evidencia de ocupacin
inca.
collasuyu. Voices from the Road
collasuyu. Voces en el Camino
117
voices from the road
voces en el camino
118
Son tan speros y fros los vientos de los mas lugares deste despoblado,
que acontece arrimarse el caminante a una pea y quedarse helado y yer-
to en pi por muchos aos, que parece estar vivo
The winds are so harsh and cold in most of this uninhabited land that the traveler could
end up standing against a rock, rigid and frozen for many years, and appear to be alive
It was a route through the deep desert, dotted with pools of thick water, salty or boggy
water, and those with stinking, viscous or dirty water. It was a punishment, a sentence
handed down by Divine Providence
... further on, they arrived at another small river, although the descent was rough and
the valley a half league wide () The water was transparent, owing down from the
snow () The land is barren, extremely dry and salty. It is incredible that while the water
is running, it is clear as I have said, but removing it from the current and scooping it into
a silver or clay cup, it thickens and turns white as paper
When we arrived at this river, having crossed so far over land without water, we all went
down to take a refreshing drink. And as the horses came down also wishing to drink,
they put their snouts in the water, and seeing that the taste was salty, they took them
out. And all of those drops of water that remained on the hairs of their snouts at that
time, before falling to the ground, solidied and turned to salt and the Spaniards saw
that the water that was brought to them for drinking solidied in the pitcher before
they could drink it, they lamented the lack of water here, and all the days they had been
without it, and all the days of marching still ahead of them.
I cannot but mention that, with the army fully stopped and on the verge of perishing for
lack of water, a woman accompanying the general, called Doa Ines Juarez, from Pla-
cencia and married in Mlaga, a very Christian woman and an example to our soldiers,
sent a native to dig into the ground underneath where she had been sitting, and after
making a hole one vara deep in the ground, water emerged in such abundance that
the entire army had enough to drink, giving thanks to God for his great mercy. And His
magnicence did not end there, for that spring still ows today so that all can drink and
testify that the pool of Doa Ins is the best water they have ever tasted, and that is how
it got its name.
Estn en este valle los mojones altos y grandes que dividan las provincias
de Chile de las del Per en tiempo de los Ingas, y en medio de l un arroyo
pequeo que se dice Auchillulca, que quiere decir muy mentiroso, por-
que a ciertas horas del da llega el agua del al camino real del Inga, a causa
de que se hiela en su nacimiento y solo corre cuando hay sol.
There are in this valley large, high markers that divided the provinces of Chile from those
of Peru during Inca times, and in the middle of it, a small stream that is called Auchillul-
ca, which means big liar, because the water only reaches the Royal Inca Trail at certain
times of the day, because it freezes at its source and only ows when the sun shines.
[Tupac Inca Yupanqui] dio orden cmo por todos estos caminos hubiese
chasques para saber con brevedad todo lo que pasase y hubiese, y sabalo
con toda brevedad, que en quince das, y menos, venan desde Chile y desde
Quito a esta gran ciudad.
[Tupac Inca Yupanqui] gave an order that chasques should run all of these trails so as to
nd out quickly what was happening and what there was there, and report back to him
immediately, and so in fteen days, even less, they arrived from Chile and from Quito to
that great city.
There were these chasquis placed at every topo, which is a league and a half, in two small
houses, where there were four Indians. These lived and moved around for months, from
region to region, and ran with the message given them at lightning speed, until they
passed it on to another chasqui who was always waiting to run, they ran day and night
50 leagues, over the roughest ground.
y ans camin por sus jornadas y vino a dar a una provincia que llaman
Llipi, en la cual provincia hall que la gente della era pobre de comidas y
los mantenimientos della eran qunoa tostada e algunas papas y los edi-
cios de sus casas eran cubiertos con unos palos fofos que son corazones
de unas espinas de madera muy liviana y muy ruin y las casas pequeas y
bajas y gente muy ruin
and thus he walked many days and nally came to a province they call Llipi, where he
discovered that the people there had little food and lived mainly o toasted quinoa
and some potatoes, and their dwellings were covered with some meager sticks that are
the inner part of very light spiny wood, and very wretched and the houses were small
and low-ceilinged, and the people were very wretched