Prescott, who had copies of Ondegardo’s narratives, affirms that while he gives his conclusions with an air of modesty, it is evident that he feels conscious of having derived his information through the most authentic channels. He rejects the fabulous with disdain; decides on the probability of such facts as he relates, and candidly exposes deficiency of evidence. Far from displaying the simple enthusiasm of the well-meaning but credulous missionary, he proceeds with the cool and cautious step of a lawyer, accustomed to the conflict of testimony and the uncertainty of oral tradition. This circumspect manner of proceeding and the temperate character of his judgments entitle Ondegardo to much higher consideration as an authority than most of his countrymen who have treated of Indian antiquities. But his part in the intellectual life of Peru was not limited to his inquiries into Indian antiquities; his considerable contribution to Toledo’s extensive legislation entitles him to a place among the writers on law and government, although no formal political treatise by him has appeared in print. These papers remained long in manuscript, but a translation of one of them was printed in the Hakluyt Society’s volume of narratives of the rites and laws of the Incas. The following brief extract is from Ondegardo’s account of the origin of the Inca kingdom: [Sidenote: Ondegardo quoted] “It is enough to understand that these Yncas at first extended their conquests by violence and war. There was no general opposition to their advance, for each province merely defended its land without aid from any other, so that the only difficulty encountered by the Yncas was in the annexation of the districts forming Cuzco. Afterwards the conquered people joined them, so that they always had a vastly superior force as well as more cunning in the art of war.”[44] A little farther on in his report, Ondegardo describes the organization of the districts within the limits of the Inca’s jurisdiction: “As soon as the Yncas had made themselves lords of a province, they caused the natives, who had previously been widely scattered, to live in communities, with an officer over ten, another over every hundred, another over every thousand, another over every ten thousand, and an Ynca governor over all, who reported upon the administration every year, recording the births and the deaths that had occurred among men and flocks, the yield of the crops, and all other details, with great minuteness. They left Cuzco every year, and returned in February to make their report, before the festival of Kaymi began, bringing with them the tribute of the whole empire. This system was advantageous and good, and it was most important in maintaining the authority of the Yncas. Every governor, how great lord soever he might be, entered Cuzco with a burden on his back. This was a ceremony that was never dispensed with, as it gave great authority to the Yncas.”[45] IV