These couriers traveled more quickly than the mail-carriers of Europe, and the means of communication were then, Squier tells us, far better than they are to-day. Many of these old tambos are still maintained. One in which Squier spent the night was 180 feet in length, with rooms forming three sides of a court.
The country of the Incas had every variety of climate, and the products were those of every part of the new world. On the coast, perpetual summer reigns, with all the variety and beauty of tropical vegetation. At a higher elevation, the trees are always green, and while one kind sheds its blossoms and ripens its fruit another is budding and unfolding its bloom. Meantime, on the top of the mountains is eternal winter. In some places, as at Potosi, the changes of temperature are frequent and extremes of heat and cold are experienced in a single day. The weather in the early morning is frosty; in the forenoon, mild and balmy; in the afternoon, scorching, and in the evening, cool and delicious.
On the Pacific slope of the Andes, reservoirs were constructed, from which irrigating canals watered the whole plain now lying desolate and barren.
The conquered tribes were incorporated into the nation and became the people of the Incas. If the conquered tribe was strong and warlike, some of its members were removed to distant parts of the country and were replaced by the inhabitants of those regions, to whom privileges and immunities were given as compensation for the change of home. The conquered tribes quickly realized the benefits of the rule of the Incas and became faithful and loyal subjects.
The government of the Incas was a paternal despotism controlling the most minute affairs of daily life. Knowledge, the Incas taught, "was not intended for the people, but for those of generous ability, for it would render persons of low degree vain and arrogant."
The Incas established a communal system similar to that of Russia. One-third of the land belonged to the Inca, one-third to the priests of the Sun, and the remainder to the people, who were required to cultivate the land of the Inca and of the priests, as well as their own. The land was divided among the families yearly, according to their number. Every newly married couple received a stated portion which was increased as the family increased.
Their only means of writing was by a cord, called quippus, about two feet long, composed of threads of different colors twisted together, from which a quantity of smaller threads hung like a knotted fringe. The colors denoted sensible objects or sometimes abstract ideas, though the principal use of the quippus was for arithmetical purposes.
The civilization of the Incas appears to have been of a higher order than that of the Mexicans. It is not probable that hieroglyphics were in use among any of the South American Indians, though it is said that traces of a pictorial alphabet have been found. The people were contented and happy, although they were deprived of personal liberty, although their daily life was supervised by their rulers, and although they held only communal rights of property. They had neither ambition nor strong love of country.
When Pizarro landed in Peru there were two Incas, one at Cuzco and the other at Quito, and the bitter conflict which was raging between them made the conquest of both easy. Pizarro had only 180 followers, but they were Spanish cavaliers, carrying fire-arms; and with this small force he overturned the Incas and enslaved the people. The descendants of the Quichuas, or the people of the Incas, still inhabit the land—a mild, apathetic, servile and dejected race. It is said that after the conquest the women put on a black mantle, which they have worn ever since, as perpetual mourning for the last of the Incas.
There are a few descendants of Spaniards in Peru, but the population consists chiefly of the descendants of the Quichuas and mixed Spaniards and Quichuas. The Peruvians of to-day are less civilized than those who lived 400 years ago; they have less liberty and are poorer.