Photograph by O. F. Cook 



COCA-DRYING YARD AT SANTA ANA 



The leaves are spread out on the stone pavement and! dry rapidly in sunny weather. 

 Rainy weather interferes seriously with the drying operation, for the leaves may have to be 

 spread out and carried in several times. If a sudden rain wets the coca before it can be 

 taken under cover, the leaves are discolored and their commercial value is reduced. 



ing their accounts to convey a special im- 

 pression, but no literary bias can be sus- 

 pected in Serra. He tells us only a few 

 facts, but in a way that proves his com- 

 petence to speak. His testimony is not 

 in conflict with the best historians, but 

 more vital and convincing". 



If Serra had charged the destruction 

 of the native civilization to Pizarro or to 

 any of those afterward in authority in 

 Peru, it would be possible to suppose that 

 his view of the Inca organization was 

 colored by revenge or lasting resentment 

 against some of his own people ; but of 

 this there is no indication. He includes 

 himself with the others, blames nobody, 

 and suggests no remedies. Telling the 

 truth to the king is all that he under- 

 takes ; but in doing that he lifts the cur- 

 tain of the past and lets us see for one 

 moment through his eyes, not the moun- 

 tains or the monuments or the crops of 

 Peru, but the living Inca people and their 

 relations to each other, the most essen- 

 tial condition of the development of the 

 ancient civilization. 



The; incas had The most complete 



social organization op which 



we have record 



We see that the Inca agricultural sys- 

 tem was not only the most complete form 

 of social organization of which we have 

 any record, but also gave the most ade- 

 quate adjustment of the human relations 

 that lead to continual conflict and confu- 

 sion in other forms of society. 



This is not saying that the Inca system 

 was the best possible, or that it was cal- 

 culated to lead to the highest development 

 of humanity, or that Ave should adopt it; 

 but the system is interesting and worthy 

 of being understood, since social organi- 

 zation undoubtedly was a very important 

 factor in enabling the Incas and their 

 predecessors to accomplish what they did 

 in agriculture and the attendant arts. 

 Certainly no unorganized people could 

 have executed the ancient reclamation 

 projects or established themselves under 

 so wide a range of natural conditions or 

 domesticated such a varied series of 

 crop-plants. In domesticating these plants 



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