14 THE INCAS A&J) OTHER RULERS OF PERU. 



therefore probably prefer to listen to a brief resume of the 

 history of that wonderful country tlian to a further straining 

 after the meaning of the hieroglyphics, or further enquiring into 

 the early customs of Tarapaca, about the ancient conditions of 

 which district so little that is positive is known. 



It is a difficult matter to compress the history of Peru into 

 the compass of a short paper, and I must apologize for the 

 boldness of the attempt. Some of my hearers may have read 

 Prescott's work, which practically contains all that is worth 

 knowing upon the subject. I trust these will listen to my 

 remarks with indulgence. With the others my excuse will be 

 that my words may serve as an inducement to them to seek more 

 complete information in that book, which is most delightful 

 reading. 



Regarding the origin of the Peruvian race, nothing very 

 positive is known. All the Indian races of the American continent 

 are apparently of very remote antiquity. They have probably 

 descended from men of dissimilar types who immigrated in the 

 early stone age, some from Asia by North America, others from 

 Europe, with which continent it seems probable that means of 

 communication in the shape of islands or intermediate continents 

 may have then existed which have since disappeared. Certain 

 tribes present to this day features that do not admit of a purely 

 Asiatic origin. 



Be that as it may, we find that the Peruvian race was the 

 first to attain a comparatively high degree of civilisation. The 

 Aztecs, or Mexican Indians, seem to have come next. As for the 

 Caribbeans, who dwelt in Florida, the West Indian islands and 

 what is now Columbia and Yenezuela, the North American 

 Indians, and the Araucanians, who inhabited Chile and Patagonia, 

 all these tribes seem to have remained in a semi-barbarous 

 condition until the time of Columbus and even long after. 



In the Neolithic period, the early Peruvians distinguished 

 themselves by the construction of immense buildings consisting 

 of very large blocks of stone (also frequently covered with 

 hieroglyphics) of which remains are visible in Tiahuanaco, on the 

 shores and in the islands of Lake Titicaca, in Chavin, Huanuco 

 and other places. These buildings are clue to the Aymara race, 



