700 AMERICA [PERUVIAN CIVILISATION. But beyond these limits the west winds prevail, and hence China, in point of facility of access, is nearer to Peru than the Society or Marquesas Islands. The Chinese have long exposed themselves to the casualties of a maritime life, in vessels of large size, provisioned for many months ; and at this day they perform voyages of 3000 or 4000 miles, to Ceylon and Polynesia. aruvian The Quichua language, or that of Peru, was spread, by nguage. the care O f the Incas, over all the countries which they conquered, so far at least as to be understood, if not spoken, by the great variety of tribes subject to their sway. It is understood at present as far as Santiago del Estero, 1200 miles of direct distance south-east from Cuzco. This single fact proves both the long duration of their power, and the efficiency of their internal adminis tration. It is said to be the most rich, polished, and har monious of the South American languages, abounding in vowel sounds, but wanting those corresponding to the Spanish consonants b, d, f, y, I, x, v. Like all the other American tongues, it wants terms for abstract and uni versal ideas, such as time, space, being, substance, matter, body, and even such as virtue, justice, liberty, gratitude. There are five dialects of the Quichua, which are spoken in Peru proper, and in Quito, New Granada, and a con siderable part of La Plata, and not only by the aborigines, but by many Spaniards of the higher classes. The Peru vians had no alphabetic writing. They possessed a very rade species of hieroglyphics, of which little use was made, and the quipus or knotted cords of various colours, which last were originally employed simply as aids to calculation, but latterly as records of facts, laws, &c. Each quipu required a verbal commentary. Aboiit ten years ago a copy of an old MS. was discovered, which contained an account of the Maya alphabet of Yucatan the only alphabet yet known to have existed in America. The Peruvians of the aboriginal Quichua race are of a ie people, copper colour, with a small forehead, the hair growing on each side from the extremities of the eye-brows ; they have small black eyes, a small nose, a moderately sized mouth, with beautiful teeth ; beardless chin (except in old age), and a round face. Their hair is black, coarse, and sleek, the body well proportioned, the feet small, the stature rather diminutive. Their intellectual qualities, according to M. Ulloa, are of the lowest order. The most prominent trait in their character is an imperturbable and incurable apathy. Though half-naked, they are as con-
- anners. tented as the Spaniard in his most splendid raiment.
Gold and silver have so little influence over them, that the greatest recompense will not induce them to perform the slightest service voluntarily. Neither power nor dignity moves them, and they receive with the same indifference the office of alcalde and that of executioner. They are habitually slow in their motions, and extremely indolent. When employed at any piece of labour, if che master with draws his eye for a moment, they cease to work. They are timid, shy, secretive, and always grave, even in the dances, which are their favourite pastime. The love of intoxicating liquors is deeply rooted in their nature. They prepare a fermented beverage called chicha from maize, by a process knDwn to them before the conquest, and at their festivals drink till their senses fail them, day after day. This vicious habit, however, is common to all the American nations, and is confined to the men, for the women are in general strictly sober. The Peruvians are a gentle and mild people ; they are fond of their dogs, and breed Tip hogs, geese, and chickens, for which they have so tender a regard, that they will often neither kill nor sell them. Their huts, says Mr Stevenson, consist of stones laid upon one another without any cement or mortar, thatched over with long grass or straw, affording no defence from either the wind or the rain. One small room contains the whole family ; their bed a sheep-skin or two ; their furniture one or two earthen pots. The principal food of the Peruvians is maize ; but they raise also potatoes, wheat, beans, tomatos, yucas, pumpkins, and other vegetables. Christianity, imposed upon them dogma tically, by priests who take no pains to enlighten them, has scarcely gained admission to their understandings, and has no hold on their affections. They attend divine service from the dread of chastisement, and give an out ward assent to whatever they are taught, but without any real religious impression being made upon their minds. They meet death with the same stupid indifference as the ordinary accidents of life, and rather decline than seek the assistance of a priest in their last hours. It ought not to be forgotten, however, that the intellectual torpor which the Peruvians display may be attributed in part to the deadening and debasing effects of three centuries of brutal oppression. They still cherish in secret a strong venera tion for their ancient faith and their native government, which displays itself even in the large towns. The story of Manco Capac (whom, since numbers of our countrymen appeared in Peru, they affect to call an Englishman) and Mama Ocello, the wealth, power, and beneficence of the Incas, are still fresh in their memories, and are handed down from father to son with a degree of fond admiration which three centuries of humiliation and misfortune seem only to have rendered more intense. The barbarous murder of the Inca Atahualpa by Pizarro is annually represented in the form of a tragedy. " In this performance, says Mr Stevenson, " the grief of the Indians is so natural, though excessive, their songs so plaintive, and the whole is such a scene of distress, that I never witnessed it without mingling my tears with theirs. The Spanish authorities have endeavoured to prevent this exhibition, but without effect. The Indians in the territory of Quito wear black clothes, and affirm that it is mourning for their Incas, of whom they never speak but in a doleful tone." The oppression of the mita, or forced labour in the Populat mines, with the introduction of the small-pox and the use of spirituous liquors, has destroyed prodigious multitudes of the Indians since the conquest. What their number was before that event it is impossible to tell ; but, judging from the extent of the Inca s dominions, he probably had not less than three or four millions of subjects. A pre tended Spanish account, assigning a population of eight millions to Peru shortly after the conquest, is known to be fictitious. An official estimate in 18G2 made the num ber of Indians in Peru amount to 1,000,000, being three- fourths of the entire population. 1 In Chili there were several tribes who possessed nearly Chili. all the arts known to the Peruvians, but were distin guished from them by a finer physical constitution and an unconquerable spirit. When the Spaniards arrived, Chili, according to Molina, was inhabited by fifteen tribes independent of each other, who were spread over the country on both sides of the Andes, from latitude 30 to the Strait of Magalhaens. They all spoke dialects of one language, which is described as rich, harmonious, abound ing in compound words, and having, like the other Ameri can tongues, very complicated grammatical forms. It has no affinity to the Quichua or Peruvian. The inhabitants of the plains are a stout people, of middle stature ; those 1 In this account of the Peruvians we have chiefly followed Garci- lasso, Acosta, Frezier, and Ulloa, of whose statements a copious digest is given by Prevost in the 13th volume of his llistoire (Jenerale dcs Voyar/es. We have also taken some facts from Ilumboldt s Researches, Balbi s Ethnographical Atlas, and W. B. Stevenson s Narrative of Twenty Years Residence in South America, a useful work, although the author has shown rather too great an anxiety to exalt the character
of the Indians.
