The contemporary progress of civilization is shown by the fact that the textile arts were quite as fully developed in America when the existence of another continent was revealed to the Europeans as in Europe itself. Spinning and weaving had been practiced among the ancient people of Peru and Mexico for a period of time which can not be limited by any knowledge we possess, and by practically the same methods which obtained in the nations whose records came within the ken of history centuries earlier.
The Mexicans spun and wove cotton, and the Peruvians both cotton and wool, into fabrics which the Spaniards found in every way equal to anything they had known at home. The Peruvians, in particular, were adepts in the art. When Pizarro made the conquest of their country in 1533, he found in the empire of the Iricas four species of animals little different from each other, which he called the sheep of the country (carneros de la terra), because of their general resemblance to the Spanish sheep, and the similar utilization of its fiber. Two of the species, the llama and alpaca, had been in a state of domestication from time immemorial, the remaining varieties, the vicuna and the guanaca, living in a wild state in the fastnesses of the Andes. From a variety of sources we are able to obtain minute details of the importance which the Government attached to these animals, and the large part which they played in the domestic economy of the country.
The Peruvian woolen fabrics were of three kinds—a coarse woolen cloth, which they called avasca, which formed the raiment of the common people; a finer variety, called compi, worn by the captains and officials; and still another, also called compi, but of much finer quality, reserved for the use of persons of royal blood. Specimens of this cloth, still preserved, reveal a fineness of texture and an exquisite finish which modern ingenuity rarely equals. Both sides of these cloths were woven alike. The delicacy of the texture gave it the luster of silk, while the brilliancy of the dyes employed excited the envy and admiration of the European artisan. The Peruvians made also shawls, robes, carpets, coverlets, and hangings in great varieties of patterns. They knew how to produce an article of great strength and durability, by mixing the hair of animals with the fleece of their llamas.
Garcilasso gives a very pretty picture of the domestic life of the Peruvians, which was largely occupied in this manufacture. There was little sewing to be done, according to his accounts, because the cloths worn both by men and women had few seams. All they wove was first twisted. All the cloths were taken from four selvages. They did not have the warp longer than was required for each woolen shirt. The vestments were not cut out,
