FOOTNOTES:[98]Seepage 189.[99]I allude here to individuals (and such cases are by no means singular) who have attained the great age of 130. Supposing these Indians to have begun to masticate coca at ten years old, and calculate their daily consumption as a minimum at one ounce, the result is the consumption of twenty-seven hundred weight, in 120 years.[100]The worthy Padre forgets the high price that would be charged for coca in Europe. In Tarma and Huenuco the aroba (twenty-five pounds) costs at an average six Spanish dollars; add to this the carriage to Lima, the freight to Europe, custom-house duties, &c., and this price would be nearly doubled.[101]The whole valley of Vitoc can furnish only two muskets, and these are in as useless a state as possible. As for powder, there is a constant want of it. During my residence in Vitoc I usually gave the Alcalde some of my powder when he went out with his Cholos, or when there was a firing on festival days. The want of a suitable number of muskets, and sufficient powder in the dangerous vicinity of the Chunchos, is characteristic of the improvidence of the inhabitants of Vitoc.
FOOTNOTES:
[98]Seepage 189.
[98]Seepage 189.
[99]I allude here to individuals (and such cases are by no means singular) who have attained the great age of 130. Supposing these Indians to have begun to masticate coca at ten years old, and calculate their daily consumption as a minimum at one ounce, the result is the consumption of twenty-seven hundred weight, in 120 years.
[99]I allude here to individuals (and such cases are by no means singular) who have attained the great age of 130. Supposing these Indians to have begun to masticate coca at ten years old, and calculate their daily consumption as a minimum at one ounce, the result is the consumption of twenty-seven hundred weight, in 120 years.
[100]The worthy Padre forgets the high price that would be charged for coca in Europe. In Tarma and Huenuco the aroba (twenty-five pounds) costs at an average six Spanish dollars; add to this the carriage to Lima, the freight to Europe, custom-house duties, &c., and this price would be nearly doubled.
[100]The worthy Padre forgets the high price that would be charged for coca in Europe. In Tarma and Huenuco the aroba (twenty-five pounds) costs at an average six Spanish dollars; add to this the carriage to Lima, the freight to Europe, custom-house duties, &c., and this price would be nearly doubled.
[101]The whole valley of Vitoc can furnish only two muskets, and these are in as useless a state as possible. As for powder, there is a constant want of it. During my residence in Vitoc I usually gave the Alcalde some of my powder when he went out with his Cholos, or when there was a firing on festival days. The want of a suitable number of muskets, and sufficient powder in the dangerous vicinity of the Chunchos, is characteristic of the improvidence of the inhabitants of Vitoc.
[101]The whole valley of Vitoc can furnish only two muskets, and these are in as useless a state as possible. As for powder, there is a constant want of it. During my residence in Vitoc I usually gave the Alcalde some of my powder when he went out with his Cholos, or when there was a firing on festival days. The want of a suitable number of muskets, and sufficient powder in the dangerous vicinity of the Chunchos, is characteristic of the improvidence of the inhabitants of Vitoc.
Oppressions exercised by the Spaniards upon the Peruvian Indians—The Repartimiento and the Mita—Indian Insurrections—Tupac Amaru—His Capture and Execution—War of Independence—Character of the Peruvian Indians—Music—Dress—Superstitions—Longevity—Diminished Population of Peru—Languages spoken by the Aboriginal Inhabitants—Specimen of Quichua Poetry—The Yaravies—The Quipu—Water Conduits—Ancient Buildings—Fortresses—Idols—Domestic Utensils—Ancient Peruvian Graves—Mode of Burying the Dead—Mummies.
A glance at the history of Peru serves to show that prior to the Spanish conquest the Indians were the subjects of a dynasty, to which they rendered willing obedience. We find, indeed, an uninterrupted series of revolutions and wars, arising out of the continued extension of the empire, to which nations differing one from another in language, religion, and manners, were gradually annexed. For some time after their subjugation these nations struggled to recover their independence, but the wise and mild government of the Incas gradually restored peace, and established unity. In course of time, the magnitude of the empire led to its downfall. Huayna Inca-Capac divided his dominions between his two sons. To the elder, Huascar, he gave the southern portion of the empire, and to the younger, Atahuallpa, he gave the northern division. Between the two brothers there arose disputes, which led to a sanguinary war; and in that fatal interval, Pizarro, with his invading forces, landed in Peru. With a degree of speed, which internal union among the people would have rendered impossible, the Spaniards made themselves masters of the country, massacred alike sovereigns and subjects, destroyed the sanctuaries, and established a new religion and new laws. The barbarous cruelties by which that religion and those laws were upheld are too well known to require repetition here. Of the many oppressive measures to which the Spaniardsenforced submission from the conquered people, I will briefly notice two: theRepartimientoand theMita. The Repartimiento was the distribution, among the natives, of articles of European production. These distributions were under the superintendence of the provincial authorities, the corregidores, and the sub-delegados. The law was doubtless intended, in its origin, for the advantage and convenience of the native Indians, by supplying them with necessaries at a reasonable price. But, subsequently, the Repartimiento became a source of oppression and fraud, in the hands of the provincial authorities. All the corregidores and sub-delegados became traders. They purchased consignments of manufactured goods from Europe, at a cheap rate, and sold them to the Indians at exorbitant prices. To add to the grievance, the articles thus forced upon the natives were, in many instances, not necessaries, but objects of luxury utterly useless to them. Even more oppressive and cruel than the Repartimiento, was the Mita, which consisted of the forced labor of the Indians in the mines and plantations. Every Spaniard who wished to work a mine, obtained from the corregidor a certain number of Indians, to each of whom he gave daily four reals as wages, with the agreement of paying to the government a yearly tax of eight dollars. The condition of the Indians who were distributed to the plantation owners was even worse than that of the mine laborers; they received only two reals per day, and were required to work in the fields from three in the morning until after sunset. The Indians employed in this compulsory labor, whether in the mines or the plantations, were calledMitas. But there was another sort of forced labor, for which no wages were paid. It was indeed less toilsome than working in the mines and plantations, yet the Indians employed in it were frequently subject to much ill-treatment. I allude to domestic service in the houses of the corregidores, sub-delegados, and priests. The Indians thus employed were calledPongos, and they were required to continue in their places for the space of a year, after which they were discharged. A corregidor frequently had half a dozen of these pongos, whom he provided with miserable food and wretched clothing.[102]
In the mines and plantations countless numbers of Indians were annually swept away by the excessive labor consequent on the mita. Some writers estimate at nine millions the number of Indians sacrificed in the mines in the course of three centuries. This estimate is certainly too high; but three millions more may be added for the number of victims of the mita in the plantations.
That the government in Spain should have tolerated this barbarous system, so obviously calculated to bring ruin on the nation, may naturally be matter of surprise. But a glance at the Indian laws (Leyes de Indias) suffices to show the distinction between the intentions of the Spanish government and the corrupt legislation of the country. The laws are, with some few exceptions, conceived in a mild spirit, and show that their framers had in view the well-being of the colonies. The execution of these laws was consigned to the superintendence of what was termed the Indian council (Consejo de Indias). This council consisted of a certain number of men who resided in Spain, and who either were only in part acquainted with the real state of things in South America, or were bribed by Indian gold to wink at the abuses committed there. From this council were chosen the viceroys and high authorities of the colonies, who, whilst in the exercise of their official functions, amassed enormous wealth by unjust exactions from the Indians. One of the latest viceroys of Peru was a man who arrived in Lima in a state of utter poverty, and who, in the short space of three years, amassed the immense sum of five millions of dollars.
Could it be matter of surprise if at length the Indians rose against their oppressors, and made an effort to shake off the heavy yoke of their tyrants? For two hundred years they had borne it silently, without a single attempt to emancipate themselves. Juan Santos Atahuallpa was the first who stirred up revolt against the Spaniards. The insurrection which he had headed, though deemed too insignificant to fix the attention of the short-sighted government of Lima, nevertheless, convinced the Indians thatthey were strong enough to make a stand against their oppressors. Several partial risings in Southern Peru were speedily put down; a leader was wanted to organize the disconnected plans and movements of the insurgents. This want was at length supplied in the person of the ill-fated Tupac Amaru, cacique of Tungasuca, a descendant of the last Inca.
The event which caused Tupac Amaru to attempt a movement against the Spaniards occurred in 1780. In that year, the corregidor of Tinta, Don Antonio Ariaga, made repartimientos to the amount of 340,000 dollars, and with the most cruel rigor enforced payment of the useless articles distributed. The cacique of Tungasuca assembled the irritated Indians, who seized the corregidor and hanged him. This was the signal for a general rising in all the neighboring districts. The forces of Tupac Amaru augmented daily. He was invested with the title of Inca, and treated with the honors due to sovereignty. For several months an active war was maintained in the Puna, where several towns and villages were taken by the insurgents. Tupac Amaru had made himself master of the village of Chucuito, and was preparing to advance upon Cuzco, when, about the end of April, 1781, he, and all his family, were made prisoners by the Spaniards. He was tried and condemned to death, together with his wife, two sons, his brother-in-law, and several other individuals of note among the Indians.
But the execution of Tupac Amaru, which was marked by circumstances of monstrous barbarity, far from stemming the tide of revolution, served only to stimulate the vengeance of the insurgents. They once more mustered their warlike bands, under the command of Casimiro Tupac Amaru, the brother of the late cacique, his son Andres, and an intrepid Indian chief, named Nicacatari. The latter, assisted by Andres, burned several villages of Upper Peru, and murdered all the whites. They next advanced upon the strongly fortified town of Sorrata, whither the Spaniards of the surrounding districts had fled for protection. The town was taken by the insurgents, and the inhabitants, 22,000 in number, inhumanly put to death, with the exception of eighty-seven priests and monks. The Indians then advanced westwards, defeating several Spanish corps, and spreading terrorand dismay through the country. But, that which neither the arms nor the executions of the Spaniards could accomplish, was effected by their gold. A treacherous Indian, bribed by the promise of a large reward, conducted a division of Spanish soldiers to the spot where the chiefs were accustomed to meet, unattended by any guard, to hold their council. They were surprised, captured, and condemned to death. Once more deprived of leaders, the Indians disbanded and withdrew, some to their homes, and others into the forests. Numberless victims paid the debt of retribution to the Spanish government, which now adopted every measure that could tend to annihilate the nationality of the native Indians. Their dances, their music, their dress—all that could revive the remembrance of their progenitors, was condemned to rigorous prohibition; they were even forbidden the use of their mother tongue, the Quichua language. The only beneficial result of these wars, in which upwards of a hundred thousand lives were sacrificed, was the abolition of the Repartimientos, which had been the cause of the insurrections.
Peace was now, at least to appearance, restored; and if, occasionally, symptoms of disturbance arose, they were immediately repressed. This state of things continued until the Creoles themselves gave the signal of revolt, and the War of Independence broke out in all the Spanish colonies of South America. In this enterprise the Indians readily took part. But it is a great mistake to suppose that the Indian natives made common cause with the Creoles against the Spaniards for the purpose of bringing about the present form of government. They wished to emancipate themselves in order to establish their own dynasty and a government modelled after that of their forefathers. They wanted not a republic, but a monarchy, and a sovereign chosen from the sacred race of the Incas. Having no clear comprehension of the real object of the War of Independence, the Indians, when they saw whites fighting against whites, directed their hostility against allPucacuncas(pale faces) without distinction, killing loyalists or patriots, just as they happened to fall in their way. This hatred was so bitterly manifested, that in some provinces all the whites and mestizos were obliged to fly, even though they were the most decided enemies of the Spanish loyalists.In Jauja the Indians vowed not to leave even a white dog or a white fowl alive, and they even scraped the whitewash from the walls of the houses.
The provisional government ordered levies of troops to be made in the provinces which had fallen into the hands of the patriots; and then, for the first time, Indians were enrolled in the army as regular troops. But it was only in a very few districts that they voluntarily took part in the conflict for independence: they performed the forced service of conscripts, and whenever an opportunity enabled them to retire from it, they did so. The Spanish dominion being overthrown, the war terminated, and a republican constitution was established. The Indians then clearly perceived that they had been made the tools of the leaders of the revolution. Upon the whole, their condition was but little improved; for if they were relieved from some oppressive laws, other hardships weighed heavily on them, and they found that they still were slaves in the land of their fathers. The creoles, like the Spaniards, will draw the string of despotism till it snaps. Then will arise another Indian insurrection like that headed by Tupac Amaru, but with a more successful result. After a fearful struggle, they may reconquer their fatherland, and re-establish their ancient constitution; and can it be matter of surprise if they wreak cruel vengeance on the enemies of their race?
Since the War of Independence, the Indians have made immense progress. During the civil war, which was kept up uninterruptedly for the space of twenty years, they were taught military manœuvres and the use of fire-arms. After every lost battle the retreating Indians carried with them in their flight their muskets, which they still keep carefully concealed. They are also acquainted with the manufacture of gunpowder, of which in all their festivals they use great quantities for squibs and rockets. The materials for the preparation of gunpowder are found in abundance in the valleys of the Sierra.
In the year 1841, when I was passing through a miserable village on the confines of one of the Montañas of Central Peru, I took up my abode for some days in the hut of an Indian, and whilst there I accidentally saw eighteen muskets which were deposited in a place of concealment. I, quite unsuspectingly,inquired of the Indian, why he thought it requisite to keep so many weapons of defence? He replied, with a sinister frown, that the time would come when he should find them useful. I could easily perceive that my accidental discovery was by no means agreeable to him; and from the very marked change which I observed in his manner. I deemed it prudent to withdraw from the village and its vicinity. Whilst my horse was being saddled, I noticed my host and some of his confidential friends engaged in very earnest conversation, and I could easily perceive that I was the subject of it. On my departure the Indian asked me, with apparent friendliness of manner, which way I was going? When I was beyond the sphere of his observation, I deemed it prudent to proceed quite in an opposite direction from the route which I told him I intended to take.
The character of the Peruvian Indian is essentially gloomy. It was not always so, if we may give credit to the animated pictures drawn by early travellers in Peru; but three hundred years of oppression and suffering have impressed their melancholy stamp on the feelings and manners of the people. This gloominess is strikingly manifested in their songs, their dances, their dress, and their whole domestic economy. The favorite musical instruments of the Indians are those called thePututoand theJaina. The former is a large conch, on which they perform mournful music, as the accompaniment of their funeral dances. In early times this conch was employed in the solemnities of royal interments; now its use is exclusively reserved for the anniversaries held in commemoration of certain events connected with the fallen Inca dynasty. TheJainaappears to be of more modern origin; it is a rude kind of clarionet, made from a reed. Its tone is indescribably melancholy, and it produces an extraordinary impression on the natives. If a group of Indians are rioting and drinking, or engaged in furious conflict with each other, and the sound of theJainais suddenly heard, the tumult ceases, as if by a stroke of magic. A dead stillness prevails, and all listen devoutly to the magic tones of the simple reed; tones which frequently draw tears from the eyes of the apathetic Indian.
Their garments are all of dark and sombre hues. Dark blue is a favorite color, and appears to be generally adopted for mourning;for whenever the Indians follow a corpse to the grave, they always wear dark blue ponchos. The dress of the men usually consists of short trowsers, of coarse brown cloth, fastened round the waist by a girdle, and a woollen or cotton shirt. They seldom wear a jacket, the ponchos of Alpaca wool being always the outer garment. On their feet they wear sandals of untanned leather, which merely cover the toes, and are fastened round the ancle.
The dress of the women consists of a loose under garment, without sleeves, and made of coarse blue woollen cloth. It is confined round the waist by a broad girdle, called thehuccau. Over the arms are drawn black sleeves, reaching from the wrist to about the middle of the upper arm. A sort of robe or tunic, called theanacu, descends from the shoulders to the knees. It is fastened, not in front, but on one side. This garment is made of a thin sort of woollen stuff. It is always black, being worn in token of mourning for the Incas. On the occasion of certain festivals, the Indian women wear a particolored dress, called afaldillin. This garment frequently exhibits the most glaring contrasts of color, one half being bright red, and the other yellow, in addition to which it is sometimes adorned with flowers of brilliant hues, and tasteless, gold embroidery. Amantilla, consisting of a narrow piece of woollen cloth, passed over the shoulders, and fastened under the chin, either with a long silver pin, or a cactus-thorn, completes the costume. In this mantilla, or in a poncho, mothers are accustomed to wrap their infants, and fastening them to their backs, they carry them about in this manner for a whole day, whilst engaged in their work.
In their domestic relations, the Indians are unsocial and gloomy. Husband, wife, and children live together with but little appearance of affection. The children seem to approach their parents timidly, and whole days sometimes elapse without the interchange of a word of kindness between them. When the Indian is not engaged in out-door work, he sits gloomily in his hut, chewing coca, and brooding silently over his own thoughts. To his friend he is more communicative than to his wife. With the former, he will often discourse, apparently on some secret topic, for the space of half a night; nevertheless, he cannot be accused of treating his wife with any degree of cruelty, or of regardingher merely in the light of his slave, as is customary among many uncivilized races of people.
Besides the official authorities, to which the Government exacts obedience, the Peruvian Indian acknowledges other authorities, whose functions and power are similar to those which existed under the Inca dynasty. In like manner, though they have embraced the Christian faith, yet they obstinately adhere to certain religious ceremonies, which have been transmitted to them by their idolatrous progenitors. Thus their religion is a singular combination of Christian principles and heathenish forms. Hitherto the most patient and intelligent of their religious instructors have failed to outroot this attachment to old forms. The Christian religion has been spread among the Indians by force; and for centuries past, they have regarded the priests only in the light of tyrants, who make religion a cloak for the most scandalous pecuniary extortions, and whose conduct is in direct opposition to the doctrines they profess. If they render to them unconditional obedience, accompanied by a sort of timid reverence, it is to be attributed less to the operation of the Christian principle, than to a lingering attachment to the theocratic government of the Incas, which has impressed the Peruvians with a sacred awe of religion.
The superstition with which the Indians are so deeply imbued is adverse to the inculcation of pure religious faith; it is the more difficult to be eradicated, inasmuch as it has its origin in early tradition, and has in later times been singularly blended with the Catholic form of worship. Of this superstition I may here adduce some examples. As soon as a dying person draws his last breath, the relatives, or persons in attendance, put coca leaves into the mouth of the corpse, and light a wax candle. They then collect together the household goods and clothes of the deceased and wash them in the nearest river. They put on the dead clothes, which are made after the pattern of a monk's habit, and they hang round the neck of the corpse a little bag, containing seeds of coca, maize, barley, quinua, &c., for his plantations in the next world. In the evening ashes are strewed on the floor of the room, and the door is securely fastened. Next morning the ashes are carefully examined to ascertain whether they show any impression of footsteps; and imagination readily tracesmarks, which are alleged to have been produced by the feet of birds, dogs, cats, oxen, or llamas. The destiny of the dead person is construed by the foot-marks which are supposed to be discernible. The worst marks are those of hens' claws, which are believed to denote that the soul of the deceased is doomed to irrevocable perdition. The marks of the hoofs of llamas are considered favorable, and are believed to indicate that the soul, after a short purgatory, will be transferred to the joys of paradise. The funeral is conducted according to Christian forms, and under the superintendence of a priest. But as soon as the priest takes his departure food is put into the grave along with the dead body, which is interred without a coffin. I have sometimes seen one of the nearest relatives leap into the grave and strike the body with his foot, but the meaning of this strange proceeding I never could clearly understand. Some curious ceremonies are observed on All Souls' Day. In every house in which a member of the family has died in the course of the year, a table is laid out with brandy, coca, tobacco, together with some of the favorite dishes of the deceased person, and the chamber is kept closed the whole day. The family firmly believe that the spirit of their departed relative on that day revisits his earthly abode, and partakes of the repast that is spread out on the table. A widow usually wears mourning for the space of twelve months. In some provinces, on the anniversary of her husband's death, the widow puts on a bridal dress, and over it her ordinary garments. All her relatives visit her in her dwelling, where, to the accompaniment of doleful music, she takes the lead in a funeral dance. As the hour approaches at which the husband died in the previous year, the dancing and the music become more and more mournful; but whenever the hour is past one of the female friends approaches the widow and removes her black mantilla. The other females then strip off the rest of her mourning garments, and adorn her head with flowers. At length she appears in a complete bridal dress. The musicians strike up a lively strain, to which the whole party dance, and the evening is passed in drinking and merry-making.
Among the Peruvian Indians there are marked varieties of form and complexion. These differences are most distinctlyobservable between the inhabitants of the coast and those of the mountain and forest regions. In general, the Peruvian Indian is of middle height, rather slender, and not very robust. The coast Indians are more plump than the inhabitants of other districts, because they lead a less laborious life, and are less exposed to privations. It is scarcely possible to trace any particular national physiognomy among the Indians. In each province a distinct character is observable in the features of the inhabitants. The varieties of feature are less distinctly marked than the differences of complexion. The peculiar tints of the skin are decidedly defined, and indicate respectively the inhabitants of the three principal regions. The colder the climate, the fairer is the skin. For example, the color of the Puna Indian is a dark red-brown; that of the native of the Sierra is considerably lighter; it is a rusty red, but still darker than that of the coast Indians; and the natives of the forests are yellow, nearly approaching to maize color. These differences are singularly striking, when one has an opportunity of seeing the inhabitants of the different regions in juxtaposition. It is curious that the Cholos of the Puna, when they settle in the forests, become only a very little clearer; and that, on the other hand, the yellow Indians of the Montaña, after being several years in the Puna, still retain their characteristic tint. The women are, on the whole, extremely ugly, with round, inexpressive faces. Their hands and feet are very small.
The Indians are, on the average, remarkable for longevity, though they frequently shorten their lives by the intemperate use of strong drinks. 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 space of ninety years tasted a drop of water, having drunk nothing but chicha. Since he waseleven 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 space 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 assemble 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 documents 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 frequentlyand 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 massacres 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, theQuichuais spoken. It was the dialect of the court, and that which was most generally diffused, and the Spaniards therefore called itla 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 theYunga. TheKauquiwas 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 theLamalanguage,[103]and the natives of the highland regions of Quito spoke theQuiteña.[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 ofunderstanding 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 pronouns with substantives. Nevertheless, the poetic art was zealously cultivated under the Incas. They paid certain poets (called theHaravicus), for writing festival dramas in verse, and also for composing love-songs and heroic poems. Few of these heroic poems have been preserved, a circumstance the more to be regretted, as many of them would doubtless have been important historical documents; but for that very reason, the Spaniards spared no pains to obliterate every trace of them. Some of thelove-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 byGarcilaso 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 (ñusta) 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.
There were, however, instances of versification which may properly be called poetry. Of this theYaravies, 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 theseYaraviessung, 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 thedoninais as an instrument, theyaravieis in singing; both convey the expression of a deeply troubled heart. Theyaraviehas 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. TheSpanish 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 manuscript 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 theQuipu. 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 classed 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 quantity 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 calledquipucamayocuna(literally, officers of the knots). Imperfect as was this method, yet in the flourishing 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 principal 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 passes 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 canals 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 grass, and are not fit for cultivation. They are what were calledTapulands, 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 space 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 provinceof Jauja, stones are kept together by their own weight and the precision of the workmanship. 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 circumstance 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 pass there were ample spaces for soldiers, whomight 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 ofHuichay, 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 passages 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 ranin 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 deadwere 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 fishing 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 shells. 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 ofHuaqueros, 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, passing round the body, and fastening the rushes or sticks which support it in a sitting position. Underthis 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, theHuallquiwith 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, calledHuinchas. 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 passed 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 Francisco Barrero, keeper of the Museum of Natural History in Lima, mentions, in theMemorial 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 loseson 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 hisAntiguedades 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 circumstances. 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 sufficientlyprove 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!