. The earth and its inhabitants ... he communications between Cuzco and Quito, and from the j^lateauxto the coast, and transmit the imperial orders from one end of the empire to theother more rapidly than could elsewhere be done by mounted messengers. As in some modern European republics, the subjects of the Inca were allconfined to their respective districts, from which they could not stir without aspecial permit. Now, however, the railways which are crecj)ing up theCordillenis mnj^ become disseminators of new ideas on the elevated jjlateaux. INHABITANTS OF PEfiU. 305 Their work may thus prov
. The earth and its inhabitants ... he communications between Cuzco and Quito, and from the j^lateauxto the coast, and transmit the imperial orders from one end of the empire to theother more rapidly than could elsewhere be done by mounted messengers. As in some modern European republics, the subjects of the Inca were allconfined to their respective districts, from which they could not stir without aspecial permit. Now, however, the railways which are crecj)ing up theCordillenis mnj^ become disseminators of new ideas on the elevated jjlateaux. INHABITANTS OF PEfiU. 305 Their work may thus prove more important than that of the Inca couriers, justas the steamers plying on the coast must tend to stimulate progress to an incom-parably greater extent than the otherwise really remarkable Peruvian craft. Theselarge balsas, or rafts, as the Spaniards called them, were strong enough to resistthe ocean waves, as we are assured by Pizarros pilot, Puiz de Estrada. They Fig. 117.—Ancient Highways of the 1 : 17,000, 310 MUea. were most solidly built, with double masts, carrying broad, square sails, and notonly navigated the waters near the coast, but even ventured on the high seas asfar as the Galapagos archipelago, 600 miles distant from the nearest land. Even science, in the strict sense, had made considerable progress, as is evidentfrom their decimal system, as accurate as that of modern times, their observation21 306 SOUTH AMERICA—THE ANDES EEGIONS- of eclipses and of the precession of the sun along the ecliptic, and their divisionof the year into 365 days. They were also able to transmit their ideas by certainsculptures, and the so-called written stones, representing animals, constella-tions, various symbolical objects, and probably also signs of notation, are seen inmany parts of the country, and especially on the cliffs in the rainless zone notexposed to weathering. According to Montesinos they were even acquainted with the art of writing;but one of th
Size: 1275px × 1960px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
