They told me that, in this province, the Yncas had a royal chase, and the natives were forbidden to enter it for the purpose of killing the wild animals, on pain of death. It contained some lions, bears, and deer. When the Ynca desired to have a royal hunt, he ordered three thousand, four thousand, ten thousand, or twenty thousand Indians to surround a wide tract of country, and gradually to converge until they could join hands. The game was thus collected in the centre, and it is great fun to see the _guanacos_, how they jump up into the air with fright, and run from one side to the other, seeking for a way to get out. Another party of Indians then enters the enclosure, armed with clubs, and kills the number of animals that the lord requires, often ten thousand or fifteen thousand head, such was the abundance of these animals.[409] They made very precious cloth from the wool of the vicuñas, for the use of the Ynca, his wives, and children, and to ornament the temples. These Indians of Huamachuco are very docile, and have almost always been in close alliance with the Spaniards. In times past they had their religious superstitions, and worshipped certain stones as large as eggs, and others still larger, of different colours, which they kept in their _huacas_ in the snowy mountain heights. After they were conquered by the Yncas they worshipped the sun, and became more civilised, both in their government and in their personal habits. In their sacrifices they shed the blood of sheep and lambs, flaying them alive without cutting off their heads, and presently cutting out their hearts and entrails with great rapidity, to search in them for signs and omens; for some of them were sorcerers, who also watched the courses of comets, like other heathens. The devil came to the place where they had their oracles, with whom it is publicly known that they held converse. Now these things have come to an end, their idols are destroyed, and a cross has been raised in their stead, to strike terror and dismay into our adversary the devil. Some of the Indians, with their wives and children, have become Christians, and every day, by reason of the preaching of the holy gospel, more are converted, for in these buildings and edifices there are clergymen who teach the people. The royal road of the Yncas goes from the province of Huamachuco to the Conchucos, and in Bombon it joins another road equally large. One of these roads is said to have been made by order of Tupac Ynca Yupanqui, and the other by order of his son Huayna Ccapac.