80 PICTOGRAPHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 



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 called quipuvamayocuna (literally, offi- 

 cers of the knots). Imperfect as was this method, yet in the nourishing period of the 

 Inca government the appointed officers had acquired great dexterity in unriddling 

 tin- meaning of the knots. It, however, seldom happened that they had to nail a 

 quipu without some verbal commentary. Something was always required to bo 

 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 proved un- 

 satisfactory 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 

 seems 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. 



That the general idea or invention for mnemonic purposes appearing 

 in the quipus, was used pictorially is indicated in the illustrations 

 given by Dr. S. Habel in The Sculptures of Santa Lucia Cosumal- 

 whuapa in Guatemala, etc., Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 

 [No. 209], 1878, Vol. XXII, page 85. Upon these he remarks: 



It has been frequently affirmed that the aborigines of America bad nowhere arisen 

 high enough in civilization to have characters for writing and numeral signs; but 

 the sculptures of Santa Lucia exhibit signs which indicate a kind of cipher writing, 

 higher in form than mere hieroglyphics. From the mouth of most of the human beings, 

 living or dead, emanates a staff variously bent, to the sides of which nodes are at- 

 tached. These nodes are of different sizes and shapes, and variously distributed on 

 the sides of the stall', either singly or in twos and threes, — the last named either sepa- 

 rated or in shape of a trefoil. This manner of writing not only indicates that the person 

 is speaking, or praying, but also indicates the very words, the contents of the speech 

 or prayer. It is quite certain that each staff, as bent and ornamented, stood for a 

 well-known petition which the priest could read as easily as those acquainted with a 

 cipher dispatch can know its purport. Further, one maybe allowed to conjecture 

 that the various curves of the staves served the purpose of strength and rhythm, just- 

 as the poet chooses his various meters for the same purpose. 



In connection with the quipu, Dr. Hoffman reports a corresponding 

 device among the Indians formerly inhabiting the mountain valleys 

 north of Los Angeles, California, who frequently came to the settle- 



