LANGUAGE. 
381 
which were not ; on the next strings were the calves, accord- 
ing to their ages and sizes ; then came the sheep, &c. 
“ In this manner the ancient Peruvians kept the accounts 
of their army ; on one string were numbered the soldiers 
with slings ; on another the spear-men ; on a third those 
who carried clubs, &c. ; in every town some expert men 
were appointed to tie the knots of the quipu, and to explain 
them ; these men were called quipucamayocuna (literally 
officers of the knots) ; imperfect as was this method, yet in 
the flourishing period of the Inca government, the appointed 
officers had acquired great dexterity in unriddling the mean- 
ing of the knots. It, however, seldom happened that they 
had to read a quipu without some verbal commentary, 
something was always required to be added if the quipu 
came from a distant province, to explain whether it related 
to the numbering of the population, tributes, or war, &c. ; 
through long-continued practice, the officers who had charge 
of the quipu s became so perfect in their duties, that they 
could with facility communicate the laws and ordinances, 
and all the most important events of the kingdom by this 
medium. 
“ All attempts now made to decipher Peruvian quipus 
have been unsatisfactory^ the principal obstacle to decipher- 
ing those found on graves, being the want of oral communi- 
cation to point out the subjects to which they refer. 
(C Some Indians in the southern provinces of Peru are 
understood to possess a perfect knowledge of the ancient 
quipus, from information transmitted to them from their 
ancestors ; but they keep that knowledge profoundly secret 
from the whites. The ancient Peruvians also used a certain 
kind of hieroglyphics, which they engraved in stone, and 
preserved in their temples.”* There appears to be a great 
similarity between these Peruvian hieroglyphics and those 
found in Mexico and Brazil. 
When therefore it is remembered that Polynesia was 
destitute of letters, it seems remarkable that its inhabitants 
should have languages so well constructed and obedient to 
* Dr* Von Isohudi s Travels in Peru, page 491. 
