Much curious information respecting the laws and customs of the Incas and the beliefs of the people is to be found in ordinances and decrees of the Spanish authorities, both civil and ecclesiastical. These ordinances are contained in the _Ordenanzas del Peru_, of the Licentiate Tomas de Ballesteros, in the _Politica Indiana_ of Juan de Solorzano (Madrid, 1649),[1271] in the _Concilium Limense_ of Acosta, and in the _Constituciones Synodales_ of Dr. Lobo Guerrero, Archbishop of Lima, printed in that city in 1614, and again in 1754. The kingdom of Quito received attention from several early writers, but most of their manuscripts are lost to us. Quito was fortunate, however, in finding a later historian to devote himself to the work of chronicling the story of his native land. Juan de Velasco was a native of Riobamba. He resided for forty years in the kingdom of Quito as a Jesuit priest, he taught and preached in the native language of the people, and he diligently studied all the works on the subject that were accessible to him. He spent six years in travelling over the country, twenty years in collecting books and manuscripts; and when the Jesuits were banished he took refuge in Italy, where he wrote his _Historia del Reino de Quito_. Velasco used several authorities which are now lost. One of these was the _Conquista de la Provincia del Quito_, by Fray Marco de Niza, a companion of Pizarro. Another was the _Historia de las guerras civiles del Inca Atahualpa_, by Jacinto Collahuaso. He also refers to the _Antigüedades del Peru_ by Bravo de Saravia. As a native of Quito, Velasco is a strong partisan of Atahualpa; and he is the only historian who gives an account of the traditions respecting the early kings of Quito. The work was completed in 1789, brought from Europe, and printed at Quito in 1844, and M. Ternaux Compans brought out a French edition in 1840.[1272] Recent authors have written introductory essays on Peruvian civilization to precede the story of the Spanish conquest, have described the ruins in various parts of the country after personal inspection, or have devoted their labors to editing the early authorities, or to bringing previously unknown manuscripts to light, and thus widening and strengthening the foundation on which future histories may be raised. [Illustration: WILLIAM ROBERTSON. [After a print in the _European Mag._ (1802), vol. xli.—ED.]]