64 . 



THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



prise was great, to have met with a 

 single female passenger pigeon and on 

 this extensive expanse of prairie. 



The Suspicion of A Quechua Literature. 



By W. E. Rotzell, M. D., Narberth, Pa. 



In the origin and development of 

 any special line of culture among any 

 people there are probably two impor- 

 tant factors or causes in suggesting 

 and developing that culture. These 

 are internally the mind itself, which 

 must be sufficiently developed to recog- 

 nize that it is possible to invent new 

 methods for the accomplishment of 

 particular purposes ; and externally 

 the environment which renders this 

 accomplishment necessary. 



Without either capable mind or 

 suitable environment culture cannot 

 develop, and, conversely, with capable 

 mind and suitable environment cul- 

 ture will inevitably result, and it is 

 not at all remarkable that it does so. 



This may be illustrated by the 

 methods of writing as practiced by 

 some of the American Indian tribes in 

 the curious and interesting manuscripts 

 which have been preserved showing 

 the literary capacity of these primi- 

 tive people. The Red, or American 

 race throughout North, Central, and 

 South America, from the Arctic Ocean 

 to Tierra del Fuego, presents such re- 

 markable uniformity of physical type 

 that the anthropologist m attempting 

 to classify the race, being unable to 

 find sufficient physical criteria, is 

 compelled to resort to linguistics. 

 Psychologically the various tribes of 

 American Indians seem to have been 

 on about the same plane of develop- 

 ment. 



The art of writing serves admirably 

 to illustrate the relationship existing 

 between the mind and the environ- 

 ment. 



All of the American Indians men- 

 tally were sufficiently developed to be 

 able to record their ideas to an extent 

 at least and the reason that writing was 

 not more generally cultivated outside 



of Mexico, Central America and Yuca- 

 tan was that environment did not ren- 

 der it necessary. 



The writing of the hunting tribes 

 of both Americas was limited mostly 

 to picture-writing or, as they are 

 termed, pictographs, which were 

 carved on stone, bone, shells and wood, 

 or made with colors from various 

 plants and painted quite frequently 

 upon skins. This primitive method 

 of writing was quite generally em- 

 ployed by the North American tribes. 



The historic Dighton rock along the 

 bank of the Taunton river in Bristol 

 Couuty, Massachusetts, which at one 

 time was supposed to have been in- 

 scribed by the Norsemen, but which 

 now is generally conceded to have 

 been done br the Algonkins, illustrates 

 this method of writing. The culture 

 of the Aztecs or Nahuas of Mexico is 

 well known and their literature was 

 preserved in manuscripts written upon 

 the fibrous leaves of the maguey plant. 

 The hieroglyphic characters in wliich 

 these manuscripts were written have 

 received much attention from students 

 of American archaeology and were far 

 beyond anything done in the way of 

 writing by any other of the North 

 American tribes. 



Among the Maya Indians of Yucatan 

 there was employed a method of writ- 

 ing even superior to that of the Aztecs 

 and which is generally considered to 

 be of quite a high order as may 

 readily be recognized by an examina- 

 tion of any of the existing Codices and 

 the books of the Chilan Balam which 

 escaped the destruction of the early 

 missionaries who in their zeal in 

 what they considered to be in their 

 line of duty destroyed nearly all 

 records that were known or suspected 

 as referring to native religions. 



The Aztecs and the Mayas devoted 

 their attention largely to agriculture 

 and the pursuits of peace, and the re- 

 sults accomplished by both peoples 

 were in many cases really quite re- 

 markable. The geographical distribu- 



