Note 39 — Chapter VII

Rimac is the present participle of rimay, to speak, to prattle. The river and the valley were known by this name among all the ancient Indians. The oracle of a temple with an idol, which stood in the neighborhood of the present city of Lima, conferred the name. It is said that before the time of the Incas persons suspected of magic were banished to the valley of the Rimac, on which account it obtained the name of Rimac-malca, that is, the Witches-valley. This account, which is given by some early travellers, requires farther historical and philological inquiry, before its correctness can be admitted.