Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/317

Rh of Tiahuanacu. But Garcilasso mentions no others by name. The cruel edict of Toledo had banished and scattered his mestizo schoolfellows. It is difficult to avoid a suspicion that the narratives of historical events are based on the history of Blas Valera and unacknowledged, and not on communications from his schoolfellows. Garcilasso further says that his plan is to relate what he heard in his childhood from his mother and her relations respecting the origin of the Incas.

His work is divided into two parts, the first containing a history of the Incas and their civilisation, and the second being a record of the Spanish conquest and subsequent civil wars. The title is, 'The Royal Commentaries of Peru.' The first part received the approval and licence of the Inquisition in 1604, and was published at Lisbon in 1609, dedicated to the Duchess of Braganza. The second part appeared at Cordova in 1617, after the author's death, 'by the widow of Andres Barrera and at her cost.'

The work is, in fact, a commentary to a large extent. For events, and accounts of religious rites and customs, he quotes largely from other authors, sometimes adding criticisms of their statements. The authors he quotes are: Blas Valera, twenty-one times; Cieza de Leon, thirty times; Acosta, twenty-seven times; Gomara, eleven times; Zarate, nine times; Fernandez twice; and his friends Alcobasa and Figueroa seven times. His own personal reminiscences are by far the most interesting