THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



THE NORTHERN ANDES. 



BEFORE taking into con- 

 sideration the tribes to the 

 south of the Rio de la Plata, 

 a few words must be said in 

 regard to those of the northern 

 portion of the chain of the 

 Andes, extending from 

 Colombia, through Ecuador, 

 Peru, and Bolivia, to Chili. 

 Since, however, our knowledge 

 of many of these tribes is 

 now solely supplied by his- 

 tory, the mention of them 

 will be very short. Through- 

 out this area the natives at 

 the time of the Spanish con- 

 quest had attained a high 

 degree of civilisation, which 

 was in some respects on a 

 level with that of Central 

 America at the same period, 

 although in others markedly 

 inferior. Hence the whole 

 area has been not inaptly 

 termed by Professor Keane 

 " the cultural zone." On the 

 plateau of Bogota, in Colom- 

 bia, the cultured peoples were 

 represented by the Muyscas, 

 or Chibchas, who had de- 

 veloped a well-organised 

 system of government and 

 other institutions. The cul- 

 tured area was, however, but 

 limited, as in the immediate 

 neighbourhood were other members of the Muyscan stock, commonly known as Panches, still 

 living in primitive barbarism, being without government, wearing no clothes, and practising, it is 

 eaid, cannibalism. The Muyscan Empire in which the high priest occupied a very prominent 

 position was a highly artificial and unstable state of society, which crumbled to pieces at the 

 first shock of invasion. 



Some distance to the south of the Muyscan Empire was the still more important Quechuan, 

 or Inca, dominion, which comprised nearly the whole of the Andes proper, extending from the 

 equator in the neighbourhood of Quito to the Rio Maule in Central Chili. The total 

 length of the territory was about 2,500 miles, and its average breadth some 400 miles; the 

 area thus being about 1,000,000 square miles, with a population of 10,000,000. The Quechuas, 

 or Incas, were the dominant race; and although their language has been superseded by 

 Spanish in the seaport and other large towns, it still maintains its hold in the country 

 districts. Nearly allied are the Quitus and the Chinchas; but the Bolivian Aymaras were 

 more distinct. These latter were the builders of the stupendous ruins of Tiahuanaco, on the 

 southern shore of Lake Titicaca, situated on the confines of Peru and Bolivia. Titicaca was 



By permission of t/ie South American Missionary Society. 

 CIVILISED ARAUCANIANS. 



