Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/23

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BETANZOS
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and printed in 1880 by Jimenez de la Espada. The complete manuscript which belonged to Garcia has not been found. Juan de Betanzos was probably from Galicia, and came to Peru with Hernando Pizarro. He became a citizen of Cuzco, and married a daughter of the Inca Atahualpa. Betanzos took great pains to learn the Quichua language, and was employed to negotiate with the Incas in Vilcapampa. He was appointed official interpreter to the Audiencia and to successive Viceroys. His principal work, entitled 'Suma y narracion de los Incas,' was composed by order of the Viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, and was finished in 1551, but was not published owing to the Viceroy's death. He also wrote a 'Doctrina,' and two vocabularies which are lost. The date of the death of Betanzos is unknown, but he certainly lived twenty years after he wrote the 'Suma y narracion.' Betanzos was imbued with the spirit of the natives, and he has portrayed native feeling and character as no other Spaniard could have done. He gives an excellent and almost dramatic account of the Chanca war with the Incas, and his versions of the early myths are important. He ranks next to Cieza de Leon as an authority.

Sarmiento, a militant sailor, is the highest authority as regards the historical events of the Inca period, though his work has only quite recently been brought to light. The beautiful manuscript, illustrated with coats of arms, found its way into the library of Gronovius, and was bought for the