224 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
Mr. George Turner (a) says that among the South Sea Islanders ty- 
ing a number of knots in a piece of cord was a common way of noting 
and remembering things in the absence of a written language. 
A peculiar and ingenious mode of expressing thoughts without pro- 
nouncing or writing them in language is still met with among the In- 
dian shepherds in the Peruvian Cordilleras, though it is practiced 
merely in the accounts of the flocks. This system consists of a peculiar 
intertwining of various strings into a net-like braidwork, and the di- 
verse modes of tying these strings form the record, the knots and loops 
signifying definite ideas and their combination the connection of these 
ideas. Thissystem of mnemonic device, which was practiced by the an- 
cient Peruvians, was called quipu, and, though a similar knot-writing 
is found in China, Tartary, eastern Asia, on many islands of the Pacific, 
and even in some parts of Africa, yet in Peru, at the time of the Incas, 
it was so elaborately developed as to permit its employment for offi- 
cial statistics of the government. Of course, as this writing gave no 
picture of a word and did not suggest sounds, but, like the notched 
stick, merely recalled ideas already existing, the writing could be 
understood by those only who possessed the key to it; but it is note- 
worthy that when the Jesuit missions began their work in Peru they 
were able to use the quipus for the purpose of making the Indians 
learn Latin prayers by heart. 
A more detailed account of the ancient quipu is extracted from Dr. 
von Tschudi’s Travels in Peru (a) with condensation as follows: 
This method consisted in the dexterous intertwining of knots on strings, so as to 
render them auxiliaries to the memory. The instrument 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, or 
pendent strings, were fastened to the top ones by a single loop; the knots were 
made in the pendent strings and were either single or manifold. The length of the 
strings was various. The transverse or top string often measures several yards, 
and sometimes only a foot; the branches are seldom more than 2 feet long, and in 
general they are much shorter. 
The strings were often of different colors, each having its own particular signifi- 
cation. The color for soldiers was red; for gold, yellow; for silver, white; for corn, 
green, ete. The quipu 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, ete.; two single knots standing together made twenty ; 
and two double knots, two hundred. 
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, etc. 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 quipucamayocuna (literally, - 
ofticers of the knots.) The appointed officers required 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, ete. This method of caleu- 
