South America. W. H. Koebel
masonry and of theoretical civilization left behind by a previous race whom the Children of the Sun had conquered and subdued. It is not improbable that this race was that of the Aymaras; in any case it is certain that the Empire of the Incas was not of old standing, and that they had not occupied the countries they held for more than a few hundred years before the advent of the Spaniards.
The Incas possessed a very definite theory concerning the origin of their tribe. Sun-worshippers, they loved to think that they themselves were descended from a chance fragment of that terrible and blazing luminary. Thus their religion had it that the first Inca was a child of the Sun who came down to earth in company with his sister-wife. The spot they chose was an island on Lake Titicaca. Here they alighted in all their brilliancy, and the Indians of the neighbourhood gathered about them and fell at their feet, receiving them as rulers with infinite gratitude. This first Inca, whatever may have been his real origin, was undoubtedly known as Manco-Capac, and his sister-wife was known as Mama-Oclle. Manco-Capac represented the first of a dynasty of thirteen Emperors, the last of whom suffered at the hands of Pizarro. Until the end of their race these Incas had retained a considerable degree of the sacred character with which tradition had invested the first of their line. The person of the Emperor was, indeed, worshipped as a demi-god. Justified by tradition, he had the privilege of marrying his sister. It is curious to remark here the resemblance in the customs of the Incas and the Pharaos.
An alternative theory of the origin of the Inca race, although not authoritative, is worthy of note. W.B. Stevenson, in a work published in 1825, states that a curious tradition was related to him by the Indians in various parts of Peru. According to this the progenitor of the royal Incas was an Englishman who was found stranded on the coast by a certain cacique of the name of Cocapac! The cacique took the stranger to his home, and the Englishman married the chieftain's daughter. From this union sprang a boy, Ingasman Cocapac, and a girl, Mama-Oclle. These were both of fair complexion and hair.
Shortly after the birth of these children their parents died, and the boy and girl were left in the care of their grandfather, Cocapac. The nature of this latter appears to have been extraordinarily calculating and astute. He saw in the children a phenomenal opportunity for the glorification of his family. First of all he instructed the youngsters for years in the playing of their parts; then, when adult, he took them to Cuzco and posted them on the side of a mountain of that important district. After this he went among the tribesmen, and announced that the Sun-god had sent two of his children to govern the race as a special mark of his favour. The Indians streamed out to the point he indicated as their resting-place, and, sure enough, they found the strangers at the spot.
To the chagrin of Cocapac, however, the tribesmen refused to accept them in the light of gods; on the contrary, they condemned the pair as a wizard and a witch, and banished them from the neighbourhood. Cocapac, undaunted by this failure, accompanied his grandchildren, and repeated his performance on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Here complete success marked the attempt: the young people were received by the Indians with enthusiasm as the children of their god, and, once established, the belief spread all round, until it included all the centre of the Inca Empire, not excepting the once sceptical Cuzco. To quote from Stevenson:
"Thus," said the Indians, "was the power of the Incas established, and many of them have said that, as I was an Englishman, I was of their family. When H.B.M. ship Breton was at Callao, some of the officers accompanied me one Sunday afternoon to the Alameda at Lima. On our way we were saluted by several Indians from the mountains, calling us their countrymen and their relations, begging at the same time that we would drink some chicha with them."
It is unnecessary to point out the dubiousness of this theory! For all the obvious difficulties in the way of credibility, the main story has a certain convincing ring, if for no other reason than the utterly prosaic attempt at an explanation of the alleged miraculous and mystical episode of the native mythology.
In the course of time the Inca Empire had sent its wave of influence and dominion to roll widely to the north and to the south. In the north its government extended beyond Quito; in the south its progress had been arrested by the warrior Indians of Southern Chile, the Araucanians on the banks of the River Maule.
On the whole, the rule of the Incas over the conquered races was beneficent, and these latter, sensible of the advantages offered them, were quite willing to weld themselves into the common Empire. Almost the sole respect in which they showed themselves merciless was in the manner in which their religious sacrifices were carried out. The Sun frequently proved himself greedy of human blood, and he was never stinted by his priests; human life, indeed, in the more populous centres was held rather more cheaply than is usual among people who had attained to the civilization of the Incas.
In the Civil Government every symptom of this kind was absent. Indeed, the methods of the Inca Government, on the whole, were of the benevolent order; at the same time laws applying to the conduct of the populace were in many respects stringent, and were wont to be carried out to the letter. A number of socialistic doctrines were embodied in these strange constitutions of the past. The work of the people was mapped out for them, and, although it may be said with justice that no poverty existed, this very admirable state of affairs was frequently brought about by the enforcing of labour on the would-be idle.
The lands of the Inca Kingdom from frontier to frontier were divided into three classes of territory. The first was the property of the Sun—that is to say, the proceeds of its harvests were applied to the temples, priests, and all the other requirements of religion. The land appertaining to the second category was the property of the Royal Family; and the third belonged to the people. It is interesting to note in connection with this system of land distribution that in the later centuries the Jesuits in Paraguay adopted a very similar procedure, and divided their lands into three sections which corresponded exactly with those of the Incas. Thus, according to these regulations, every inhabitant of the Inca Empire was a landowner. This, however, merely in a limited sense, for, although the land was his to work, he was not permitted to obtain any advantage from its possession other than that which he obtained by his own labour, and, as has been explained, the refraining from work was a heavily punishable offence. When the spirit in which these laws were framed is taken into consideration, it is not surprising that no man was allowed to sell his land, a procedure which would, of course, have rendered the general working of the community inoperative. The land, in fact, represented a loan from the State which lasted the lifetime of the agriculturist.
Perhaps the civilization of the Incas and of their predecessors is most of all evident in the industrial monuments which they have left behind them. In irrigation they had little or nothing to learn from the most advanced European experts of the time. Many of their aqueducts, indeed, showed an astonishing degree both of ingenuity and of labour. The nature of the country across which it was necessary to construct these was, of course, sufficiently mountainous to test the powers of the most capable engineer. The Inca roads, in many respects, rivalled their aqueducts. From the point of view of the modern highway, it is true that they may be considered as somewhat slender and unimportant affairs. Certainly in the absence of any wheeled traffic no surface of the kind as was necessary in Europe and Asia was to be met with here. Provided that the road stretched in an uninterrupted length along the peaks, valleys, and chasms of the rugged mountain country, no question of close and intricate pavement was concerned, since for the troops of pack-llamas anything of the kind was quite superfluous. Thus, as imposing structures, these highways impress the modern traveller but little. Nevertheless, they served their purpose efficiently, and extended themselves in triumph over one of the most difficult road-making countries in the world.
This road network of the Incas spread itself little by little from the central portion of the Empire to the far north and south; for during the comparatively short imperial status of the race their rule had extended itself steadily. They