y and aptitude for
the service. If the appointment did not please the Inca he, without more
ado, dismissed him and appointed another, so that no Curaca, high or
low, felt secure in his appointment. To these Curacas were given
servants, women and estates, submitting an account of them, for, though
they were Curacas, they could not take a thing of their own authority,
without express leave from the Inca.

In each province all those of the province made a great sowing of every
kind of edible vegetable for the Inca, his overseers coming to the
harvest. Above all there was a _Tucurico Apu_, who was the
governor-lieutenant of the Inca in that province. It is true that the
first Inca who obliged the Indians of this land to pay tribute of
everything, and in quantity, was Inca Yupanqui. But Tupac Inca imposed
rules and fixed the tribute they must pay, and divided it according to
what each province was to contribute as well for the general tax as
those for _Huacas_, and Houses of the Sun. [_In this way the people were
so loaded with tributes and taxes, that they had to work perpetually
night and day to pay them, and even then they could not comply, and had
no time for sufficient labour to suffice for their own maintenance_.]

Tupac Inca divided the estates throughout the whole empire, according to
the measure which they call _tupu_.

He divided the months of the year, with reference to labour in the
fields, as follows. Three months in the year were allotted to the
Indians for the work of their own fields, and the rest must be given up
to the work of the Sun, of _huacas_, and of the Inca. In the three
months that were given to themselves, one was for ploughing and sowing,
one for reaping, and another in the summer for festivals, and for make
and mend clothes days. The rest of their time was demanded for the
service of the Sun and the Incas.

This Inca ordered that there should be merchants who might profit by
their industry in this manner. When any merchant brought gold, silver,
precious stones, or other valuable things for sale, they were to be
asked where they got them, and in this way they gave information
respecting the mines and places whence the valuables had been taken.
Thus a very great many mines of gold and silver, and of very fine
colours, were discovered.

This Inca had two Governors-General in the whole empire, called Suyuyoc
Apu[110]; one resided at Xauxa and the other at Tiahuanacu in
Colla-suyu.

[Note 110: