d
in that of Tanavan which was said to be of silver. Governor Don Fausto
Cruzat y Gongora sent ministers and officials in order to find out
about it and to assay it. These men made their efforts, but the mine
only said, Argentum et aurum non est mihi. [163] But the devil willed
to have some rogue at this time to sow this deceit, namely, that the
ministers [164] said that the mine would yield no silver until all
the old women of Cometan had been caught, and their eyes plucked out
and mixed with other ingredients, in order to anoint the vein of the
mine with that mixture. This was believed, so that all was confusion
and lamentation, and the old women hid in the fields; and it took
a long time to quiet them, and cost the ministers great difficulty,
as the Indians would not believe them because they were Castilians,
until time itself undeceived them. [165]

38. May God deliver us from any one of those Indians whom they consider
as sages, who says any bit of nonsense, even though it be against the
faith, [166] and they only respond, Vica nong maronong, "Thus say
the sages," and it is labor lost to persuade them to the contrary;
for the authority that these scholars have over them is incredible.

39. They are extremely arrogant, and hence the son will not obey his
father, or the headman, or captain of the village. [167] They are
only bound in this by fear, and when they have no fear they will
not obey. They only recognize the Spaniard to be more than they;
[168] and this they say only because of an interior impulse, which
forces them against their will and without their knowing why. This
is the providence of God, so that they can be governed.

40. They are very fond if imitating the Spaniard [169] in all his
bad traits, such as variety of clothes, cursing, gambling, and the
rest that they see the coxcombs [170] do. They shun the imitation of
the good things in the dealings and civilization of the Spaniards,
and in the proper rearing of their children. For in all the rest
that treats of trickery, drunken revelries, and ceremonies in their
marriages, burials, and tyrannies one against another, they observe
exactly what they learned from their ancestors. Thus they unite in
one the vices of the Indians and the Spaniards. [171]

41. Just as the poor are arrogant, so also are the old ones ignorant,
and they are not to be distinguished from the youths. Consequently,
in their weddings, banquets, and revelries one will see old men