Before the time of their acquaintance with the quipus, the Peruvians used in the same way pebbles or maize-beans of various colors. The same practice was known in Europe in the prehistoric period. The habit of many persons in civilized countries to tie a knot in the handkerchief to recall an idea or fact to mind is a familiar example to show how naturally the action would suggest itself for the purpose, and perhaps indicates the inheritance of the practice.
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XVI
PERUVIAN QUIPU AND BIRCH BARK DRAWING.
Dr. Andree (b) gives an illustration of a quipu (here reproduced as part of Pl. XVI), which he represents as taken from Perez, and states that the drawing was made soon after the exhuming of the object from an ancient Peruvian grave.
Capt. Bourke (a) gives descriptions and illustrations of varieties of the izze-kloth or medicine cord of the Apache. A condensed extract of his remarks is as follows:
These cords, in their perfection, are decorated with beads and shells strung along at intervals, with pieces of the sacred green chalchihuitl, which has had such a mysterious ascendancy over the minds of the American Indians—Aztec, Peruvian, Quiche, as well as the more savage tribes like the Apache and Navajo; with petrified wood, rock crystal, eagle down, claws of the hawk or eaglet, claws of the bear, rattle of the rattlesnake, buckskin bags of hoddentin, circles of buckskin in which are inclosed pieces of twigs and branches of trees which have been struck by lightning, small fragments of the abalone shell from the Pacific coast, and much other sacred paraphernalia of a similar kind.
That the use of these cords was reserved for the most sacred and important occasions I soon learned. They were not to be seen on occasions of no moment, but the dances for war, medicine, and summoning the spirits at once brought them out, and every medicine man of any consequence would appear with one hanging from his right shoulder over his left hip.
These cords will protect a man while on the warpath, and many of the Apache believe firmly that a bullet will have no effect upon the warrior wearing one of them. This is not their only virtue by any means; the wearer can tell who has stolen ponies or other property from him or from his friends, can help the crops, and cure the sick. If the circle attached to one of these cords is placed upon the head it will at once relieve any ache, while the cross attached to another prevents the wearer from going astray, no matter where he may be; in other words, it has some connection with cross-trails and the four cardinal points, to which the Apache pay the strictest attention.
I was at first inclined to associate these cords with the quipus of the Peruvians and also with the wampum of the aborigines of the Atlantic coast, and investigation only confirms this first suspicion.
The praying beads of the Buddhists and of many Oriental peoples, who have used them from high antiquity, are closely allied to the quipu. They are more familiar now in the shape of the rosaries of Roman Catholics. In the absence of manufactured articles, arranged on wires, the necessary materials were easily procured. Berries, nuts, pease, or beans strung in any manner answered the purpose. The abacus of the Chinese and Greeks was connected in origin with the same device.