by others--the former on account of their sorrow and grief; the latter
for their wages and profit, for they were hired for this purpose, as is
and has been the custom among other nations of greater reputation. To
the sound of this sad music they washed the body of the dead person,
perfuming it with the gum of the storax-tree and other aromatics which
they are wont to use, and clothing it in the best garments which the
dead man possessed; then, after having kept and mourned over it for
three days, they buried it. Others anointed the body with aromatic
balsams which prevent corruption, especially with the juice of a sort
of ivy which grows there abundantly, and is truly a very valuable
drug, which they call _buyo_. [92] It is very pungent, and for the
living is a notable stimulant, also strengthening the teeth, hardening
the gums, and sweetening the breath. Consequently both Spaniards and
Indians make much use of it, and always carry it in their mouth, as
they use the coca in Piru. With the juice of this plant, then, they
anointed the dead body, and so injected it through the mouth that it
penetrated the whole body. Thus prepared, many bodies have been found
uncorrupted after a lapse of many years; but they did not place the
corpses in the earth, but in their dwellings, enclosed in coffins of
the hardest wood, incorruptible, and with the cover so fitted that
it was impossible for the air to enter. Moreover, they placed gold
in the mouths of the corpses, and laid with them many articles of
value; and thus they buried them, under the house, richly adorned,
and with the corpse another chest, containing garments. Besides this,
they usually were careful to carry to the burial various viands,
which they left there for the dead person. In former times, they
would not let them depart to the other world alone, but gave male and
female slaves to accompany the dead. These slaves, having first eaten
a hearty meal, were then immediately killed, that they might go with
the dead man. It once happened that they buried with a chief a vessel