PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF PERU. 10 



Plate I. contains the delineation of the costumes of the 

 Ynca, and of his Queen, as represented by the modern Indians 

 in their processions. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF PERU. 



The first objedl which presents itself to the contemplation 

 of the philosopher, in the history of the monuments of ancient 

 Peru, is the delineation of the various dispositions and organi- 

 zation of its vast territory. In tracing with his pen, amid the 

 spoils and ravages of time and of war, the degree of cultiva- ' 

 tion this famous nation had attained, when, without the 

 help either of the Egyptians, the Phoenicians or the Greeks, it 

 established wise laws, and made, in certain points of view, great 

 advances in the arts and sciences, he finds it indispensably ne- 

 cessary to examine the soil on which the ruins that are to guide 

 and dire6t him in his researches are placed. The grandeur of 

 the works ere6fed by the hand of man, is not to be estimated 

 solely by the sad remnants to which they are reduced : it is es- 

 sential that the proportions of the land which served them as a 

 support, should also enter into the calculation. The canal 

 which waters the most fertile valley, does not display the same 

 magnificence in itself, nor manifest an equal effort and skill on 

 the part of the artificer, as that which, running between for- 

 midable precipices, rises to the summit of the mountain, and 

 pierces the deep cleft, which in magnitude equals its arm, or 

 falls into the valley from between the brink and the declivity 

 of lofty hills. On the other hand, as the qualities and cir- 

 cumstances of regions influence the genius and character of 

 those by whom they are peopled, without the physical know- 



D 2 ledee 



