Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests Part 22

Instances are not rare of Indians living to be 120 or 130 years of age, and retaining full possession of their bodily and mental powers.

Stevenson mentions that on examining the church registers of Barranca, he found that within an interval of seven years, eleven Indians had been interred, whose united ages amounted to 1207, being an average of 109 years to each. In the year 1839 there was living in the valley of Jauja an Indian who, according to the baptismal register shown to me by the priest, was born in the year 1697. He himself declared that he had not for the s.p.a.ce of ninety years tasted a drop of water, having drunk nothing but chicha. Since he was eleven years of age, he alleged that he had masticated coca, at least three times every day, and that he had eaten animal food only on Sundays; on all the other days of the week he had lived on maize, quinua, and barley. The Indians retain their teeth and hair in extreme old age; and it is remarkable that their hair never becomes white, and very seldom even grey. Those individuals whose advanced ages have been mentioned above, had all fine black hair.

Since the Spanish conquest, the population of Peru has diminished in an almost incredible degree. When we read the accounts given by the old historiographers of the vast armies which the Incas had at their command; when we behold the ruins of the gigantic buildings, and of the numerous towns and villages scattered over Peru, it is difficult to conceive how the land could have been so depopulated in the lapse of three centuries. At the time of the conquest it was easy, in a short s.p.a.ce of time, to raise an army of 300,000 men, and, moreover, to form an important reserved force; whilst now, the Government, even with the utmost efforts, can scarcely a.s.semble 10,000 or 12,000 men. According to the census drawn up in 1836, Peru did not contain more than 1,400,000 men, being not quite so many as were contained at an earlier period in the department of Cuzco alone. Unfortunately there is no possibility of obtaining anything approaching to accurate estimates of the population of early periods; and even if such doc.u.ments existed, it would be difficult to deduce from them a comparison between Peru as it now is, and Peru at the period when Bolivia, a part of Buenos Ayres, and Columbia, belonged to the mighty empire. I will here quote only one example of the immense diminution of the population. Father Melendez mentions that shortly after the conquest, the parish of Ancallama, in the province of Chancay, contained 30,000 Indians fit for service (that is to say, between the ages of eighteen and fifty); now, the same parish contains at most 140 individuals, of whom one-third are Mestizos. The whole coast of Peru, now almost totally depopulated, was once so thickly inhabited, that to subdue King Chimu, in North Peru alone, an army of 80,000 men was requisite. The causes of the diminished Indian population of Peru have been so frequently and fully detailed by previous writers, that I need not here do more than briefly advert to them. They are found in the extensive and reckless ma.s.sacres committed by the Spaniards during the struggle of the conquest; in the suicides and voluntary deaths resorted to by the natives to escape from the power of their oppressors; in the mita, the small-pox, the scarlet fever, and the introduction of brandy. The mita alone, especially the labor in the mines, has swept away four times as many Indians as all the other causes combined. Since the abolition of the mita, the Indian population has been on the increase, though there has not yet been time for any marked result to become manifest; the more especially, considering the numbers of lives sacrificed during the frequent civil wars. Nevertheless, it is easy to foresee that a decided augmentation of the Indian inhabitants of the western parts of South America will, ere long, be apparent.

Among the aboriginal inhabitants of Peru a variety of languages are in use. In the southern parts of the country, particularly about Cuzco, the _Quichua_ is spoken. It was the dialect of the court, and that which was most generally diffused, and the Spaniards therefore called it _la lengua general_. In the highlands of Central Peru, the Chinchaysuyo language prevailed. The Indians of the coast, who belonged to the race of the Chunchos, spoke the _Yunga_. The _Kauqui_ was the language of that part of Central Peru which corresponds with the present province of Yauyos. The inhabitants of the north-eastern parts of Peru, as far as the Huallaga, spoke the _Lama_ language,[103] and the natives of the highland regions of Quito spoke the _Quitena_.[104] These different languages, which, with the exception of the Lama, proceed all from one source, differ so considerably, that the inhabitants of the several districts were reciprocally incapable of understanding each other, and the Incas found it necessary to introduce the Quichua among all the nations they subdued. The other dialects were thereby much corrupted, and at the time of the Spanish invasion, they were seldom correctly spoken. This corruption was naturally increased more and more after the arrival of the Spaniards, by the introduction of a new language. Only for a few of the new articles brought by the Spaniards to Peru did the Indians form new names, taking the roots of the words from their own language: for most things they adopted the Spanish names. By this means, but still more by the future intercourse of the people with the invaders, the purity of the natural language rapidly disappeared in proportion to the influence which the Spaniards obtained by their increase in numbers and moral superiority. At present the Quichua is a compound of all the dialects and the Spanish; it is spoken in the greatest purity in the southern provinces, though even there it is much intermixed with Aymara words. In Central Peru the Chinchaysuyo prevails, and on the coast the Spanish and the Yunga. The present Indians and people of mixed blood, who of necessity must speak the ever-changing Quichua, and also the Spanish, speak both in so corrupt a manner, that it is frequently almost impossible to understand them.

The family of the Incas had a secret language of their own, which was not learned by subjects. This language is now almost totally lost, not more than two dozen words of it being preserved. In early times, the Quichua language was much cultivated. It was used officially in public speaking, and professors were sent by the Inca family into the provinces to teach it correctly. For poetry, the Quichua language was not very well adapted, owing to the difficult conjugation of the verbs, and the awkward blending of p.r.o.nouns with substantives. Nevertheless, the poetic art was zealously cultivated under the Incas. They paid certain poets (called the _Haravicus_), for writing festival dramas in verse, and also for composing love-songs and heroic poems. Few of these heroic poems have been preserved, a circ.u.mstance the more to be regretted, as many of them would doubtless have been important historical doc.u.ments; but for that very reason, the Spaniards spared no pains to obliterate every trace of them. Some of the love-songs have, however, been preserved. In Quichua poetry, the lines are short, and seldom thoroughly rhythmical.

Rhymes were only exceptional, and were never sought for. The poetry was, therefore, merely a sort of broken prose.

A specimen of one of the best of the Quichua love-songs is given by _Garcilaso de la Vega_, in his "Commentaries and Poems." It is copied from papers left by a monk named Blas Valera; and some lines of it are here subjoined. The subject is an old Peruvian tradition:--A maiden of royal blood (_nusta_) is appointed by the Creator of the world (_Pacchacamac_) in heaven, to pour water and snow on the earth out of a pitcher; her brother breaks the pitcher, whereupon thunder and lightning arise.

c.u.mac nusta Beautiful Princess, Turallayquim Thy Pitcher Puynuyquita Thy brother hath broken Paquicayan Here in Pieces; Hina mantara For that blow Cunununun It thunders; and lightning Yllapantac Flashes all around.

There were, however, instances of versification which may properly be called poetry. Of this the _Yaravies_, or elegies, afford some fair examples. These poems have for their subjects unfortunate love, or sorrow for the dead. They were recited or sung by one or more voices, with an accompaniment of melancholy music, and made a great impression on the hearers. A foreigner, who for the first time hears one of these _Yaravies_ sung, even though he may not understand the Quichua words, is nevertheless deeply moved by the melody. The strain is sad and sweet. No other music is at once so dismal and so tender. What the _donina_ is as an instrument, the _yaravie_ is in singing; both convey the expression of a deeply troubled heart. The _yaravie_ has been imitated by the Spaniards in their own language, and some of the imitations are very beautiful; but they have not been able to reach the deep melancholy of the Quichua elegy. The modern poetry of the Indians is inferior to the old; the words are a mixture of Quichua and Spanish, and are scarcely intelligible. The Spanish words have often Quichua terminations affixed to them; on the other hand, sometimes the Quichua words are inflected after the Spanish manner, making altogether a barbarous compound.

The ancient Peruvians had no ma.n.u.script characters for single sounds; but they had a method by which they composed words and incorporated ideas. This method consisted in the dexterous intertwining of knots on strings, so as to render them auxiliaries to the memory. The instrument consisting of these strings and knots was called the QUIPU. It was composed of one thick head or top string, to which, at certain distances, thinner ones were fastened. The top string was much thicker than these pendent strings, and consisted of two doubly twisted threads, over which two single threads were wound. The branches, if I may apply the term to these pendent strings, were fastened to the top ones by a simple loop; the knots were made in the pendent strings, and were either single or manifold. The lengths of the strings used in making the quipu were various. The transverse or top string often measures several yards, and sometimes only a foot long; the branches are seldom more than two feet long, and in general they are much shorter.

The strings were often of different colors; each having its own particular signification. The color for soldiers was red; for gold, yellow; for silver, white; for corn, green, &c. This writing by knots was especially employed for numerical and statistical tables; each single knot representing ten; each double knot stood for one hundred; each triple knot for one thousand, &c.; two single knots standing together made twenty; and two double knots, two hundred.

This method of calculation is still practised by the shepherds of the Puna. They explained it to me, and I could, with very little trouble, construe their quipus. On the first branch or string they usually placed the numbers of the bulls; on the second, that of the cows; the latter being cla.s.sed into those which were milked, and those which were not milked; on the next string were numbered the calves, according to their ages and sizes. Then came the sheep, in several subdivisions. Next followed the number of foxes killed, the quant.i.ty of salt consumed, and, finally, the cattle that had been slaughtered. Other quipus showed the produce of the herds in milk, cheese, wool, &c. Each list was distinguished by a particular color, or by some peculiarity in the twisting of the string.

In this manner the ancient Peruvians kept the accounts of their army. On one string were numbered the soldiers armed with slings; on another, the spearmen; on a third, those who carried clubs, &c. In the same manner the military reports were prepared. In every town some expert men were appointed to tie the knots of the quipu, and to explain them. These men were called _quipucamayocuna_ (literally, officers of the knots).

Imperfect as was this method, yet in the flouris.h.i.+ng period of the Inca government the appointed officers had acquired great dexterity in unriddling the meaning of the knots. It, however, seldom happened that they had to read a quipu without some verbal commentary. Something was always required to be added if the quipu came from a distant province, to explain whether it related to the numbering of the population, to tributes, or to war, &c. Through long-continued practice, the officers who had charge of the quipus became so perfect in their duties, that they could with facility communicate the laws and ordinances, and all the most important events of the kingdom, by their knots.

All attempts made in modern times to decipher Peruvian quipus have been unsatisfactory in their results. The princ.i.p.al obstacle to deciphering those found in graves, consists in the want of the oral communication requisite for pointing out the subjects to which they refer. Such communication was necessary, even in former times, to the most learned quipucamayocuna. Most of the quipus here alluded to seem to be accounts of the population of particular towns or provinces, tax-lists, and information relating to the property of the deceased.

Some Indians in the southern provinces of Peru are understood to possess a perfect knowledge of some of the ancient quipus, from information transmitted to them from their ancestors. But they keep that knowledge profoundly secret, particularly from the whites. The ancient Peruvians also used a certain kind of hieroglyphics, which they engraved in stone, and preserved in their temples. Notices of these hieroglyphics are given by some of the early writers. There appears to be a great similarity between these Peruvian hieroglyphics and those found in Mexico and Brazil.

I have already mentioned one of the largest and most wonderful works of Peruvian antiquity, namely, the great military road which pa.s.ses through the whole empire leading from Cuzco to Quitu, and which has many highly important lateral branches. The magnificent water-conduits, by which barren sand wastes and sterile hills were converted into fruitful plantations, are monuments of equivalent greatness. Traces of these water-conduits are to be seen throughout the whole of Peru, and even where the ca.n.a.ls themselves no longer exist, the divisional boundaries of the fields they watered are still discernible. In many districts where the valleys of the Sierra run into the Puna--(I allude here only to the declivities above Tarmatambo, on the road towards Jauja)--there may be seen many square fields of uniform size, each of which is surrounded by a low stone wall; these fields are at present overgrown with Puna gra.s.s, and are not fit for cultivation. They are what were called _Tapu_ lands, which were distributed to every subject of the Inca empire, so that each family enjoyed the produce arising from the cultivation of a certain portion of ground. These Tapu lands were watered by skilfully constructed aqueducts, whereby they were rendered suitable for agriculture. The Spaniards having destroyed the conduits, the reservoirs dried up, and the soil became barren. Many of these conduits were subterraneous, and it is now no longer possible to find them; in some parts they were constructed with pipes of gold, which the Spaniards eagerly seized as valuable booty.

There still exist vast remains of well-constructed colossal buildings, as palaces, fortresses, and temples. The walls of these edifices were built of square stones, so finely cut, and joined so closely together, that between any two there is not s.p.a.ce sufficient to insert the edge of the thinnest paper. In the royal palace of Cuzco, and in the Temple of the Sun, a fusion of gold or silver was used for cement between the stones. This was, however, only employed as a luxury; for in other great edifices, for example, in the baths of Huamalies in the province of Jauja, stones are kept together by their own weight and the precision of the workmans.h.i.+p. These stones are of very considerable magnitude; some being from twelve to sixteen feet long, from eight to ten feet high, and equally broad. They are not all square; some are polygonal, and some spherical, but they were all joined one to another with the same exactness: of this a remarkable example is presented in the highly interesting ruins of the palace of Limatambo. A question which naturally suggests itself is,--how did the ancient Peruvians, without iron tools, hew these vast stones, and afterwards work the different fragments so skilfully? The first point is to me quite inexplicable; the second may possibly be accounted for by friction; the softest of two stones which was to be brought into a particular shape being rubbed by a harder, and afterwards polished by pyritous plants. The removal of the block from the quarry where it was excavated to the place of its destination, and the raising of fragments of stone to considerable heights, could only have been effected by the co-operation of thousands of men, for no kind of elevating machinery or lever was then known.

The fortresses give a high idea of the progress made by the ancient Peruvians in architectural art. These structures were surrounded by ramparts and trenches. The larger ones were protected by the solidity of the walls, and the smaller ones by difficulty of access. The approaches to them were chiefly subterraneous; and thereby, they were enabled to maintain secret communication with the palaces and temples in their neighborhood. The subterraneous communications were carefully constructed; they were of the height of a man, and in general from three to four feet broad. In some parts they contract suddenly in width, and the walls on each side are built with sharp pointed stones, so that there is no getting between them, except by a lateral movement. In other parts they occasionally become so low, that it is impossible to advance, except by creeping on all fours. Every circ.u.mstance had been made a subject of strict calculation; it had been well considered how treasures might be removed from the palaces and temples to the fortresses, and placed securely beyond the reach of an enemy, for in the rear of every narrow pa.s.s there were ample s.p.a.ces for soldiers, who might dispute the advance of a whole army. Besides the remains of the fortress of Cuzco, which are gradually disappearing every year, the most important are those of Calcahilares and Huillcahuaman. Less interesting, though still very curious, are the ruins of Chimu-canchu in Manische, near Truxillo, which are not of stone but of brick. The architecture of the small fortress of _Huichay_, two leagues from Tarma, which defended the entrance to that valley, is very remarkable. The front is built of small but firmly united stones, and covers a large cavity, in which there are numerous divisions, intended for the preservation of warlike stores, and for quartering soldiers. On the steep declivity of the hill there had been a deep trench, between which there was a wall fourteen feet higher, flanked by three bastions. Around this fortress nitre is found in great abundance. It is now collected by the Huancas (the inhabitants of the valley of Jauja), for making gunpowder. The diggings for nitre have almost obliterated the entrance to the cavity, and the fortress is already so much injured that possibly in another century scarcely a trace of the edifice will remain. Notwithstanding a search of several days, I did not succeed in discovering the mouth of the cavity, though an old Indian, who, years ago, had often visited it, pointed out to me what he supposed to be its precise situation. The walls of perpendicular rock in the neighborhood of Huichay are often 60 to 80 feet high, and the clefts or fissures in them are filled up with small stones. It would be incomprehensible how the Indians ascended to perform this labor, were it not perceived that they have hollowed pa.s.sages in the mountain. It would appear they must have had dwellings, or stores for provisions, on the higher part of the hill, for small windows are often perceptible in walls of masonry.

The old Indian villages of the Sierra are for the most part situated on heights, or sharp ridges, which are now completely barren, as they no longer receive the artificial watering with which they were formerly supplied. All lie open to the east, so that the inhabitants could behold their Deity the moment he appeared on the horizon. All large towns had a square in their centre, where the religious dances were performed. From the square a certain number of regular roads or streets always ran in the direction of the four quarters of the firmament. There are great varieties in the construction of the houses. Small insignificant huts often stand close to a palace having twenty or twenty-five windows in one front. Private dwellings in the mountainous parts are built of unhewn stone, cemented with a very strong calcareous mortar. On the coast the walls are of brick. In the departments of Junin and Ayacucho, I met with the ruins of great villages, consisting of dwellings of a peculiar construction, in the form of a tower. Each house is quadrangular, with a diameter of about six feet, and seventeen or eighteen feet high. The walls are from one to one and a half feet thick.

The doors, which open to the east or south, are only a foot and a half high, and two feet wide. After creeping in (which is a work of some difficulty) the explorer finds himself in an apartment about five and a half feet in height, and of equal breadth, without any windows. In the walls there are closets or cupboards, which served to contain domestic utensils, food, &c. Earthen pots with maize, coca, and other things, are still often found in these closets. The ceiling of the room is overlaid with flat plates of stone, and in the centre an aperture, two feet wide, is left, forming a communication with the second floor, which is precisely like the first, but has two small windows. The roof of this apartment has also an aperture, affording access to the third floor, the ceiling of which forms the roof of the house, and consists of rather thick plates of stone. The upper room is usually less lofty than the two rooms below it, and seems to have been used as a provision store-room. I found in one of these upper rooms the mummy of a child very well embalmed. The family appear to have lived chiefly on the ground-floors. The place for cooking is often plainly perceptible.

The second floor was probably the sleeping apartment. In the course of my travels, when overtaken by storms, I often retreated for shelter into one of these ruined dwellings.

The ancient Peruvians frequently buried their dead in their own houses, and then removed from them. This custom appears to have been very general about the time of the Spanish conquest, when a great number of Indians committed suicide in despair. Household utensils were placed in the graves, when the dead were buried in the houses, as well as when they were interred in other places. In many houses in which I made diggings I regularly found the following arrangement. Under a stratum of earth two feet deep lay the body, in a state of good preservation, and generally, but not always, in a sitting posture. On clearing away another stratum of earth equally deep there is found a variety of household vessels for cooking, together with water-pots of clay, gourds, hunting and fis.h.i.+ng implements, &c. There is frequently a third layer of earth, beneath which the gold and silver vessels and the household deities are deposited. The idols are of clay, stone, and copper, or of the precious metals. Those of clay are hollow, flat, compressed, and in most instances the faces are painted. Those of stone are of granite, porphyry, or sand-stone. These stone images are solid, and often several feet high. The golden idols are always hollow; but they exhibit no distinct trace of the soldering. They are of various sizes; some of them weigh three quarters of a pound. Those of silver are always solid. All these images of deities have the same physiognomy, and disproportionately large head. In most instances the head is covered by a peculiar kind of cap.

The vessels used for holding water or other liquids are very various in color and form. Most of them exhibit ludicrous caricatures of human figures; others are unrecognisable representations of animals or fancy figures. These vessels have in general two apertures, one by which they were filled, and the other by which the liquid was poured out. On filling them a feeble flute-like sound is heard. It is occasioned by the air escaping through the other aperture. Most of these vessels are made of red or black clay, well glazed. Those for holding chicha were very capacious. Some of them, which have been found hermetically closed, have contained chicha upwards of three hundred years old, and remarkable for a very smoky flavor. On the vessels made of gourds fanciful figures are generally carved. Gold drinking cups have been found, adorned with well executed embossed ornaments, and like the images, showing no trace of soldering. Among the warlike weapons, the stone battle-axes are very remarkable; they have at both ends a tube, in which the handle was fixed by ligatures. Articles for personal adornment, such as nose and lip rings, neck chains, pins, bracelets, and ancle bands, are usually of gold, and set with small colored sh.e.l.ls. The sceptres of the Incas are of gold, and exquisitely wrought; those of the Curacas of silver; and those of the Caciques of copper, sometimes gilt.

Idols and utensils made of wood are very rarely found. It would appear that the ancient Peruvians found more difficulty in the working of wood than that of metal and stone. The Peruvians give to all objects dug up from the old graves, the name of _Huaqueros_, from Huaca, the word for grave in the Quichua language.

The huacas or graves vary in form or magnitude. When destined for single individuals they were made small; but when for families, they were of considerable extent. On the sandy soil of the coast, no elevation marks the spot where the bodies are interred; but further inland (though still in the coast region), the graves are for the most part elevated and arched, and are built of bricks. In the Sierra the tombs are of stone, quadrangular, oval, or of an obelisk form.

In the huacas, the bodies are found in a sitting position, and supported by stones or reeds: the face turned towards the east. In front of the body it was customary to place two rows of pots containing quinua, maize, potatoes, dried llama flesh, and other kinds of provisions, and these pots were all covered with small lids. On each side of the body were ranged cooking utensils, and vessels containing water and chicha.

The body and all the objects deposited in the grave were covered with a layer of sand, above which were spread various articles of clothing.

Over these was placed another layer of sand, and then the tomb was built above the whole.

The bodies are found wrapped in several coverings; and when first taken out of the graves, they have the appearance of unfinished statues; the position of the head, knees, and feet being alone recognisable. A strong net-work, composed of twisted straw or bast incloses a thick rush mat, in which the body is wrapped. These coverings being removed, there is found a broad, woollen bandage, pa.s.sing round the body, and fastening the rushes or sticks which support it in a sitting position. Under this bandage is a red or party-colored covering which goes over the whole body; and beneath this are one or two yellowish-white coverings, strongly sewed up. On removing these coverings, there are found some pots or drinking cups, a few ornaments, the _Huallqui_ with coca, and in most instances a silver or gold idol suspended from the neck of the body. The undermost wrapper consists of a cloth of rather fine texture.

Probably it was originally white, but time has changed it to a reddish-yellow. This covering being unsewed, the naked corpse appears; the head alone being encircled with two or three bandages, called _Huinchas_. The body is always in a sitting posture; the knees being drawn up towards the face, and the arms crossed over the breast, in such a manner that the chin rests between the two clenched hands. The wrists are tied together, and the ligature with which they are fastened is pa.s.sed round the neck. This, which was evidently done only to keep the hands fixed in the required position, has led some commentators on Peruvian antiquities to suppose that the bodies found with strings round the necks were those of hanged persons. In the mouth there is a thin piece of gold, silver or copper; most of the bodies are in a good state of preservation, though the features are not discernible. The hair is always found perfectly free from decay; and that of the females is beautifully plaited.

The question has arisen, whether these bodies were embalmed, or whether their preservation is merely the result of the mummifying nature of the climate. Both conjectures have found zealous supporters. Don Francis...o...b..rrero, keeper of the Museum of Natural History in Lima, mentions, in the _Memorial de Ciencias Naturales_,[105] that among the ancient Peruvians certain men were appointed as embalmers, and he describes the process they adopted as follows:--They first extracted the brain through the nose, then took out the eyes, and stopped up the sockets with cotton. The bowels, lungs, and even the tongue, were removed, after which the body and skull were filled with a kind of powder, which immediately after it is taken out of the mummies, diffuses a slight odor of turpentine; this odor, however, it soon loses on being exposed to the action of the air. The face, hands, and feet, were rubbed over with an oily substance, after which the body was incased in the envelopes above described. I am disposed to believe that this process never had any existence, save in the imagination of Barrera: it indeed resembles the manner in which the Egyptians prepared their mummies; but no such method was practised among the Indians. The mummies collected in the museum of Lima present not the slightest trace of this powder, or indeed of any kind of preservative material--a fact which is mentioned by the director of that establishment, Don E. Mariano de Rivero, in his _Antiguedades Peruanas_.[106]

On those parts of the coast where it never rains, the combined heat of the sun and the sand has dried up the bodies; in the mountain districts, the pure atmosphere and the peculiarly drying nature of the wind have produced the same effect. Similar appearances may be traced to different circ.u.mstances. Of this fact the burial ground of Huacho, and the mummified animals seen on the level heights, furnish the most convincing proofs. In districts exposed to frequent rain, mummies are found in very bad preservation, most of them being mere skeletons. All are in sitting postures. In those parts of the Sierra where the soil is impregnated with nitre, bodies, which must have lain in the ground for several centuries, are found in a very fresh condition, notwithstanding the humidity.

Garcilaso de la Vega and the Padre Acosta state that the ancient Peruvians were acquainted with the art of embalming, but that they employed it only for the bodies of their kings. In the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco, there were found excellently preserved mummies of the Incas, each seated on a throne. Several years after the Spanish conquest, these mummies were conveyed to Lima, and were buried in the court of the hospital of San Andres. It is deeply to be deplored that the fanaticism of the Spanish conquerors should have destroyed these interesting remains of the ancient sovereigns of Peru.

The facts adduced in the course of this volume, relative to the barbarous colonization system of the Spaniards, must sufficiently prove how adverse was Spanish dominion to the improvement of the natives, and to the prosperity of the country. For Peru, Nature's bounteously favored land, let us hope that there is reserved a future, happier than either the past or the present!

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 102: Even to this day the custom of forced domestic service is kept up in some parts of the Sierra, where the priest is allowed the services of a female cook, who is called a _Mita_, and a man servant, for whom the name of _Pongo_ is reserved. These servants are kept for the s.p.a.ce of a week.]

[Footnote 103: Adelung, in his "Review of all Languages," considers the Calchaqui (still spoken in Tuc.u.man) to be a dialect of the Quichua. It is, however, a dialect of the Aymara. Adelung makes another mistake when he observes, that the Lama language is spoken in the neighborhood of Truxillo.]

[Footnote 104: Of the _Quichua_, _Quitena_, and _Lama_ languages several grammars and dictionaries exist. Of the _Kauqui_ only single words have been preserved. There is a very imperfect dictionary of the _Chinchaysuyo_ by Figueredo. Of the _Yunga_ there is a grammar with a _Confesionario_ and Prayers by Fernando de Carrera--a very scarce work.]

[Footnote 105: Vol. II., p. 106.]

[Footnote 106: Published in 1846.]

THE END.