While so many soldiers and priests and lawyers did their best to preserve a knowledge of Inca civilization, the Spanish government itself was not idle. The kings of Spain and their official advisers showed an anxiety to prevent the destruction of monuments and to collect historical and topographical information which is worthy of all praise. In 1585, orders were given to all the local authorities in Spanish America to transmit such information, and a circular, containing a series of interrogatories, was issued for their guidance. The result of this measure was, that a great number of _Relaciones descriptivas_ were received in Spain, and stored up in the archives of the Indies. Herrera had these reports before him when he was writing his history, but it is certain that he did not make use of half the material they contain.[1268] Another very curious and valuable source of information consists of the reports on the origin of Inca sovereignty, which were prepared by order of the Viceroy Don Francisco de Toledo, and forwarded to the council of the Indies. They consist of twenty documents, forming a large volume, and preceded by an introductory letter. The viceroy’s object was to establish the fact that the Incas had originally been usurpers, in forcibly acquiring authority over the different provinces of the empire, and dispossessing the native chiefs. His inference was, that, as usurpers, they were rightfully dethroned by the Spaniards. He failed to see that such an argument was equally fatal to a Spanish claim, based on anything but the sword. Nevertheless, the traditions collected with this object, not only from the Incas at Cuzco, but also from the chiefs of several provinces, are very important and interesting.[1269] The Viceroy Toledo also sent home four cloths on which the pedigree of the Incas was represented. The figures of the successive sovereigns were depicted, with medallions of their wives, and their respective lineages. The events of each reign were recorded on the borders, the traditions of Paccari-tampu, and of the creation by Uira-cocha, occupying the first cloth. It is probable that the Inca portraits given by Herrera were copied from those on the cloths sent home by the viceroy. The head-dresses in Herrera are very like that of the high-priest in the _Relacion_ of the anonymous Jesuit. A map seems to have accompanied the pedigree, which was drawn under the superintendence of the distinguished sailor and cosmographer, Don Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa.[1270]