THE COUNTRY OF THE SHEPHERDS 63 



tended; to it came tribute of grain, wool, and gold. To one ac- 

 customed to look at such great consequences as having at least 

 some ultimate connection with the earth, the situation of Cuzco 

 would be expected to have some unique features. With the glori- 

 ous past of that city in mind, no one can climb to the surround- 

 ing heights and look down upon the fertile mountain-rimmed plain 

 as at an ordinary sight (Fig. 37). The secret of those great con- 

 quests lies not only in mind but in matter. If the rise of the Incas 

 to power was not related to the topography and climate of the 

 Cuzco basin, at least it is certain that without so broad and noble 

 a stage the scenes would have been enacted on a far different 

 scale. 



The first Inca king and the Spanish after the Incas found here 

 no mobile nomadic tribes melting away at the first touch, no 

 savages hiding in forest fastnesses, but a well-rooted agricultural 

 race in whose center a large city had grown up. Without a city 

 and a fertile tributary plain no strong system of government could 

 be maintained or could even arise. It is a great advantage in rul- 

 ing to have subjects that cannot move. The agricultural Indians 

 of the Andean valleys and basins, in contrast to the mobile shep- 

 herd, are as fixed as the soil from which they draw their life. 



The full occupation of the pasture lands about the Cuzco basin 

 is in direct relation to the advantages we have already enumer- 

 ated. Every part of the region feels the pressure of population. 

 Nowhere else in the Peruvian Andes are the limits between cultiva- 

 tion and grazing more definitely drawn than here. Moreover, 

 there is today a marked difference between the types that inhabit 

 highland and basin. The basin Indian is either a debauched city 

 dweller or, as generally, a relatively alert farmer. The shepherds 

 are exceedingly ignorant and live for the most part in a manner 

 almost as primitive as at the time of the Conquest. They are shy 

 and suspicious. Many of them prefer a life of isolation and rarely 

 go down to the town. They live on the fringe of culture. The 

 new elements of their life have come to them solely by accident 

 and by what might be called a process of ethnic seepage. The 

 slight advances that have been made do not happen by design, they 



