By a wise regulation, any
deficiency in the contributions of the Inca might be supplied
from the granaries of the Sun. *32 But such a necessity could
rarely have happened; and the providence of the government
usually left a large surplus in the royal depositories, which was
removed to a third class of magazines, whose design was to supply
the people in seasons of scarcity, and, occasionally, to furnish
relief to individuals, whom sickness or misfortune had reduced to
poverty; thus, in a manner, justifying the assertion of a
Castilian document, that a large portion of the revenues of the
Inca found its way back again, through one channel or another,
into the hands of the people. *33 These magazines were found by
the Spaniards, on their arrival, stored with all the various
products and manufactures of the country, - with maize, coca,
quinua, woollen and cotton stuffs of the finest quality, with
vases and utensils of gold, silver, and copper, in short, with
every article of luxury or use within the compass of Peruvian
skill. *34 The magazines of grain, in particular, would
frequently have sufficed for the consumption of the adjoining
district for several years. *35 An inventory of the various
products of the country, and the quarters whence they were
obtained, was every year taken by the royal officers, and
recorded by the quipucamayus on their registers, with surprising
regularity and precision. These registers were transmitted to the
capital, and submitted to the Inca, who could thus at a glance,
as it were, embrace the whole results of the national industry,
and see how far they corresponded with the requisitions of
government.
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