ments were diligently copied. He gave me an account of the reduction of the drama to writing, and of the existing copies.
It will be well to quote what Garcilasso de la Vega and others say on the subject before giving the information received from Dr. Justiniani: 'The Amautas composed both tragedies and comedies, which were represented before the Inca and his court on solemn occasions. The subject matter of the tragedy related to military deeds and the victories of former times; while the arguments of the comedies were on agricultural and familiar household subjects. They understood the composition of long and short verses, with the right number of syllables in each. They did not use rhymes in the verses.'[1] Salcamayhua also bears witness to the existence of the ancient drama, and gives the names for four different kinds of plays called Anay Sauca, a joyous representation, Hayachuca, Llama-llama, a farce, and Hanamsi, a tragedy. There is a clear proof that the memory of the old dramatic lore was preserved, and that the dramas were handed down by memory after the Spanish conquest. It is to be found in the sentence pronounced on the rebels at Cuzco, by the Judge Areche, in 1781. It prohibited 'the representation of dramas, as well as all other festivals which the Indians celebrated in memory of their Incas.'
There then can be no doubt that these Inca
- ↑ In this Garcilasso was mistaken. They occasionally used rhymes.
