THE INDIANS OF PERU. 309 



tbe Quichuas and Aymaras, and the other as the Amtisian. The latter, 

 more especially, embrace those living to the eastward of the Cordil- 

 leras, whose home is among the lowlands, which, I suppose, include 

 what is known as the "Montaiia" of Peru. This MontaSa embraces a 

 district from an elevation of 4,000 feet down to the level of the Ucayali 

 basin, whose average level above the sea varies from 200 to 500 feet, 

 and is continuous with the lowlands of the Brazilian portion of the 

 Amazon Valley. There are three platforms, differing greatly in height, 

 which form the basins of the Ucayali, the Huallaga, and the proper 

 main current of the Maraiion itself; and the tribes who inhabit the low 

 countries of Eastern Peru have traded for centuries among the broad 

 currents of the first two river bottoms. The Ucayali Eiver, which seems 

 for some reasons worthy of being more properly considered the contin- 

 uation of the Peruvian part of the Amazon, has a length of 885 miles 

 from its debouchment into the Maraiion to the point where the two 

 streams Urabamba and Tambo unite to form it. On the old charts of 

 the priests it was called the Apo-Paro, and the term Ucayali only applied 

 to the more northern half, from about the Pachitea to the Maraiiou. A 

 fine stream like this, which by recent surveys has been shown to be 

 navigable for steamers its whole length, and with its comparatively 

 moderate current of 2.65 miles per hour, must have naturally attracted 

 the natives to its borders, where abundance of fish, turtle, and water- 

 fowl offered so easy a liveliliood. We accordingly find that the manu- 

 script records of the friars of the order of Saint Francis, which show 

 the ardent spirit of these enthusiasts during two centuries, mention 

 numerous peoples dwelling along the whole length of this noble river; 

 and the present deserted spectacle of its borders gives us no index of 

 the population which once dwelt here. Another attraction for the 

 native was the comparatively moderate heat which is to be encountered 

 here, as in all parts of the Montaiia of Peru, not rising above an annual 

 averageof 24° Cand it must have attracted migration now and then from 

 the more desolate or cold heights of the sierras to the westward. The 

 great drawback to the basin of this river Ucayali, and also to the whole 

 of the river country of the lower part known as the ''Pampa del Sacra- 

 mento," would have been, probably, the inundations of the rainy season, 

 and the comparatively few points suitable for permanent settlement. 

 The simplicity of house structure, and the very few articles to be trans- 

 ported, would have counteracted this objection, and the generosity of 

 the climate as to vegetable production would offer them a relief from 

 the toil of a hardy agriculture and the preparation for cold, which they 

 found so necessary among the mountains. 



Of the origin of the tribes living in the lower portion of the Montaiia 

 of Peru, we have little or no reliable information. What relation the 

 present rejDresentatives bore to the Inca population is uncertain. 



In some recent surveys, undertaken under the auspices of Peru, of the 

 tributaries of the Amazon, which waters the territory of that republic, 



