PAPERS OX GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 207 



tina, hunters whose activities were inuch like those of our 

 plains Indian; and (4) the Inca, on the high plateaus of 

 Peru and Bolivia, agriculturists whose progress far out- 

 stripped that of any others. 



If such a classification is legitimate from a geographic 

 point of view, then the geographer has a large field be- 

 fore him and some serious problems. Why was the evo- 

 lution so slow here even in the most progressive sections 

 when compared to Old "World development ? It seems in- 

 credible that the Indian lived here without much progress 

 while civilizations in the Old 'World rose and fell. The 

 natural environment of the western world, for the most 

 part, seems to be stimulative enough now. Climate and 

 topography were then much the same as now. The 

 available resources, of course, are immensely greater 

 now than then, and probably will continue to multiply as 

 methods are discovered to use the resources locked up 

 for the present. Were the migrants a dullard group, 

 driven from their old environment by the more progres- 

 sive and thus in their wanderings reached a new world? 

 The evolutionary trend has not been in that direction, for 

 many a full blooded Indian has shown great brilliancy 

 along certain lines. 



Whatever the geographer of the future will find, one 

 of the most striking facts is that the descendants of that 

 most advanced group, the Incas, are at present in the 

 most pitiable condition of any group in either continent. 

 Their poverty is great, with little or no possibility of 

 changing their status under present conditions. This is 

 not due to laziness or lack of energy, but largely due to 

 a vicious system in which they find themselves. Their 

 condition is well nigh hopeless and if they have a philos- 

 ophy it is one that accepts the inevitable. Their "chicha" 

 is their curse as it undermines their physical and moral 

 welfare. It is also a blessing in that it enables them to 

 forget a sordid world and to conjure up a new one with 

 hope. Their "coca" dulls their minds and sensibilities 

 and makes of them little else than a beast of burden. 

 However, it also dulls the gnawing pains and the recol- 

 lections, if there are any, of ancient splendor. The en- 

 vironment is powerless now to stimulate for there are 

 other forces which dominate. 



