South America | Page 4

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.
[Illustration: SOUTH AMERICA
SHOWING THE DISTRICTS OF THE