180.—COYA CAHUANA, EMPRESS OF THE INCAS.
An ancient vase has been found on which is a painting of an Inca, who is in every way so entirely like those of the present day as to prove that during four or five centuries the lineaments of these people have not undergone any perceptible alteration.
The Aymaras bear a close resemblance, so far as physical characteristics are concerned, to the Quichuas, from whom, however, they are completely separated by language.
They formed a numerous nation, spread over a wide expanse of country, and appear to have been civilized in very remote times. We may consider the Aymaras as the descendants of that ancient race which, in far-off ages, inhabited the lofty plains now covered by the singular monuments of Tiagnanaco, the oldest city of South America, and which peopled the borders of Lake Titicaca.
The Aymaras resemble the Quichuas in the most remarkable feature of their organization, namely the length and breadth of the chest, which, by allowing the lungs to attain a great development, renders these tribes particularly suited for living on high mountains. In the shape of the head and the intellectual faculties, as well as in manners, customs, and industry, both peoples may be compared, but the architecture of the monuments and tombs of the former race diverges widely from that of the Incas.
Two nations inferior in numbers to those of which we have just spoken, may be mentioned here; they are the Atacamas, occupying the western declivities of the Peruvian Andes, and the Changos, dwelling on the slopes next the Pacific. Both one and the other are like the Incas in physical characteristics, but the colour of the skin of the Changos is of a slightly darker hue, being a blackish bistre.