The Cimlization of tlie Incas. 11 



married couple received a stated portion which was increased 

 as the family increased. 



Their only means of writing was by a cord, called quippus, 

 about two feet long, composed of threads of different colors 

 twisted together, from which a quantity of smaller threads hung 

 like a knotted fringe. The colors denoted sensible objects or 

 sometimes abstract ideas, though the principal use of the quippus 

 was for arithmetical purposes. 



The civilization of the Incas appears to have been of a higher 

 order than that of the Mexicans. It is not probable that 

 hieroglyphics were in use among any of the South American 

 Indians, though it is said that traces of a pictorial alphabet have 

 been found. The people were contented and happy, although 

 they were deprived of personal liberty, although their daily life 

 was supervised by their rulers, and although they held only 

 communal rights of property. They had neither ambition nor 

 strong love of country. 



When Pizarro landed in Peru there were two Incas, one at 

 Cuzco and the other at Quito, and the bitter conflict which was 

 raging between them made the conquest of both easy. Pizarro 

 had only 180 followers, but they were Spanish cavaliers, carrying 

 fire-arms ; and with this small force he overturned the Incas and 

 enslaved the people. The descendants of the Quichuas, or the 

 people of the Incas, still inhabit the land — a mild, apathetic, 

 servile and dejected race. It is said that after the conquest the 

 women put on a black mantle, which they have worn ever since, 

 as perpetual mourning for the last of the Incas. 



There are a few descendants of Spaniards in Peru, but the 

 population consists chiefly of the descendants of the Quichuas 

 and mixed Spaniards and Quichuas. The Peruvians of to-day 

 are less civilized than those who lived 400 years ago ; they have 

 less liberty and are poorer. 



Discovery of the Amazon. 



Great rivers have usually been discovered and explored by 

 ascending them from the ocean to their sources; the Congo and 

 the Amazon were explored downward from their sources to the 

 ocean. 



Three hundred and fifty years ago, Gonzalo Pizarro, then 

 governor of Upper Peru, heard of a land of silver and gold, 

 spices and precious stones ; a land where spring reigned and all 

 tropical fruits abounded. He determined to follow the little 



