264 



NATURE 



\Fcb. 4, 1875 



with the latter " their doom is sealed," as Mr. Keller truly 

 says. He justly cries out upon the sentimentality which 

 laments the extinction of the "noble red race," a race which 

 exists only in the pages of the novelist. The red race of 

 North America must soon become extinct, and leave its 

 hunting-grounds in entire possession of the white man, 

 who will make a better use of them than ever did the 

 aboriginal possessors ; and we fear, if the red man of 

 South America proves himself no fitter to survive than 

 his northern brother, he must follow the latter to those 

 " happy hunting-grounds " where no white man is ever 

 likely to intrude. Looked at, as Mr. Keller says, in the 

 broad hght of what is the best for the race as a whole, 

 however sorry we may feel for the " poor Indian," and 

 still more so for the race or races that have left so many 

 astounding monuments of their advancement along the 

 west coast of South America 'and in some parts of North 

 America, it would be useless, if advisable, to attempt to 

 prevent it. There seem to exist evidences in America, as 

 elsewhere, that probably before the advent of any existing 

 people the earth had its human inhabitants, who were 

 compelled to melt away before others of a higher type, 

 who again had to succumb before still stronger brethren. 

 This process has been going on as far back as we can 

 trace, and when it will cease, if ever, who can tell? 



Among all the numerous tribes of the interior of the 

 South American continent, INlr. Keller discovers two 

 well-marked types. " One of them, the Guarani, of the 

 widely-spread Tupi tribe, showing the well-known eagle- 

 profile of the North American Indians, first-rate pedlars 

 and fishers, generally keep near the large rivers ; while 

 the others, the Cervados, or Ca-en-gangues (forest-men), 

 as they call themselves, mote warlike and high-handed, 

 carrying off and enslaving whomsoever they can, do not 

 use canoes at all, and prefer the wooded ravines of the 

 lateral valleys, or the grass-grown ridges of the Campos. 

 .... Their oblique eyes, short nose, and high cheek- 

 bones, strongly remind one of the Mongolian type, though 

 by this remark I would not imply their direct Asiatic 

 origin .... The Guarani, although their outward ap- 

 pearance and character recall the old Mexican tribes, 

 seem to have come in all probability from the south, 

 and to have spread thence all over the continent." As 

 these statements are given in Mr. Keller's introduction, 

 they may be regarded as not so much the direct results of 

 his own observation, but as to a great extent a statement 

 of the most approved theory of the native American 

 populations. It talhes to some extent with the theory 

 contained in Marcoy's work, and with the conclusions 

 reached on craniological grounds by some of the best 

 existing anthropologists. It seems to us, however, that 

 before any definite conclusion can be reached, much yet 

 remains to be done. Meantime we may say that we 

 consider Mr. Keller's work a valuable contribution to the 

 literature of South American Travel ; the illustrations are 

 delightful, and the engraver has done his part in a mas. 

 terly style. 



The chief value of Mr. Hutchinson's work, from our 

 point of view, consists in the detailed account he gives of 

 explorations among the still mysterious i-uins which litter 

 the maritime districts of Peru from south to north. But 

 this is not its only value. Mr. Hutchinson was two years 

 in Peru — 1871-73 — as her M.ajesty's Consul at Callao, 



and during that short period his work proves that not 

 only did he find time to explore nearly ever)' important 

 cluster of ruins in the country, but to make himself master 

 of the social, political, and industrial position of the 

 republic. His picture is a somewhat brighter one than 

 that given by M. Marcoy twenty-three years before, and 

 it would seem that the country has really advanced in 

 several respects during that period. By means of several 

 excellent steamship companies it is now in almost daily 

 communication with North America and Europe, and this 

 has led to a considerable development of its resources. 

 As we have already said, railways are in course of con- 

 struction all over the country, and it is even in contem- 

 plation to carry one right through the Andes to the 

 Ucayali, by which the problem of direct communication 

 between the east and west coasts would be solved. Edu- 

 cation seems to be claiming some attention, and a Society 

 of Arts has been founded, which we sincerely hope will 

 give early and energetic attention to the prehistoric ruins 

 which enrich Peru, from which so much has yet to be 

 learned concerning their history and their builders. The 

 people, however, have still much laziness to get rid of; 

 but we hope that under the intelligent and vigorous 

 administration of President Pardo, and the stimulus of 

 increased communication with other nations, they may 

 gradually be aroused to healthy exertion. 



It is unnecessary to enter into details concerning the 

 Peruvian ruins, the nature of which is known to most of 

 our readers. Colossal walls of adobes, or large sun-dried 

 bricks, the remains of immense buildings whose purpose 

 seems yet doubtful, terraced mounds or hills hundreds of 

 feet in height and covering an area of several acres, 

 aqueducts, huacas, or burial mounds, containing thou- 

 sands of carefully-buried skeletons, with the knees and 

 hip-joints bent, some of them with the hair and bits of 

 flesh still adhering, with their original wrappings and the 

 articles placed beside them when they were buried ; 

 abundant remains of pottery, many of them giving evi- 

 dence of considerable ingenuity, skill, and taste in the 

 makers ; masks, images, and other relics, all affording 

 evidence of a numerous population of great energy and 

 of a civilisation of no mean grade. 



The great question in connection with these remains is, 

 who were the original builders ? As our readers know, 

 the generally accepted story is that they were built by the 

 Incas, the name given to the race dominant in Peru for 

 some centuries previous to the advent of the Spaniards. 

 This, however, is not the opinion of Mr. Hutchinson, who 

 has no patience with the advocates of this theory, and 

 who has rather a contempt for the Incas as the destroyers 

 of a civilisation much higher than their own. He regards 

 Garcilasso's history as a mere piece of gasconading. His 

 own theory seems to be that the Incas found the buildings 

 whose remains still exist, when they made their advent in 

 Peru, and forced upon the people whom they conquered 

 the worship of their great deity the Sun. The real 

 builders were the Yuncas, who dispossessed the Chin- 

 chas, the latter themselves finding upon their arrival an 

 aboriginal race, some relics of whom Mr. Hutchinson 

 believes have been found sixty-two feet deep under the 

 guano deposit on the Chincha Islands. When we con- 

 sider the slowness with which these droppings of birds 

 must have accumulated, it carries back the first advent of 



