Chapter VI

_Indian tradition.--Manco Capac.--His reign.--Religion.--Property.--
Agriculture.--Buildings.--Public roads.--Manufactures.--
Domestic animals.--Results of the conquest of the country by
the Spaniards._

The Peruvians have a tradition that the city of Cuzco was founded in this manner. The early inhabitants of the country were ignorant, and brutal as the wild beasts of the forest, till a man and woman of majestic form, and clothed in decent garments, appeared among them. They declared themselves to be children of the sun, sent to instruct and to reclaim the human race. They persuaded the savages to conform to the laws they proposed, united them, the Indians, together in a society, and taught them to build the city.

Manco Capac was the name of this wonderful man; the woman was called Marna Ocollo. Though they were the children of the sun, it seems they had been brought up very industriously; for Manco Capac taught the Indians agriculture, and other useful arts; and Marna Ocollo taught the women to spin and weave, and make feather garments.

After the people had been taught to work, and had built houses and cultivated fields, and so on, Manco Capac introduced such laws and usages as were calculated to perpetuate the good habits of the people. And thus, according to the Indian tradition, was founded the empire of the Incas.

The territory was, at first, small; but it was gradually enlarged by conquering the neighboring tribes,--merely, however, to do good by extending the blessings of their laws and arts to the barbarians,--till the dominions of the Inca Atahualpa, the twelfth in succession, extended from north to south along the Pacific Ocean above 2000 miles; its breadth from east to west was from the ocean to the Andes. The empire had continued four hundred years.

The most singular and striking circumstance in the Peruvian government, was the influence of religion upon its genius and its laws. The whole civil policy was founded on religion. The Inca appeared not only as a legislator, but as the messenger of heaven. His precepts were received as the mandates of the Deity. Any violation of his laws was punished with death; but the people were so impressed with the power and sacred character of their ruler that they seldom ventured to disobey.

Manco Capac taught the Peruvians to worship the sun, as the great source of light, of joy, and fertility. The moon and stars were entitled to secondary honors. They offered to the sun a part of those productions which his genial warmth had called forth from the bosom of the earth, and his beams had ripened. They sacrificed some of the animals which were indebted to his influence for nourishment. They presented to him choice specimens of those works of ingenuity which his light had guided the hand of man in forming. But the Incas never stained the altar of the sun with human blood.

Thus the Peruvians were formed, by the spirit of the religion which they had adopted, till they possessed a national character more gentle than that of any other people in America.

The state of property in Peru was no less singular than that of religion, and contributed, likewise, towards giving a mild turn of character to the people. All the lands capable of cultivation, were divided into three shares. One was consecrated to the sun, and the product of it was applied to the erection of the temples, and furnishing what was requisite towards celebrating the public rites of religion.

The second share belonged to the Inca, or was set apart as the provision made by the community for the support of government. The third and largest share was reserved for the maintenance of the people, among whom it was parcelled out. All such lands were cultivated by the joint industry of the community.

A state thus constituted may be considered like one great family, in which the union of the members was so complete, and the exchange of good offices so perceptible, as to create stronger attachment between man and man than subsisted under any other form of society in the new world. The Peruvians were advanced far beyond any of the nations in America, both in the necessary arts of life, and in such as have some title to be called elegant.

Agriculture was carried on by the Peruvians with a good deal of skill. They had artificial canals to water their fields; and to this day the Spaniards have preserved and use some of the canals made in the days of the Incas. They had no plough, but turned up the earth with a kind of mattock of hard wood. The men labored in the fields with the women, thus showing the advance of civilization over the rude tribes which imposed all the drudgery upon females.

The superior ingenuity of the Peruvians was also obvious in their houses and public buildings. In the extensive plains along the Pacific Ocean, where the sky is always serene and the climate mild, the houses were, of course, very slight fabrics. But in the higher regions, where rain falls and the rigor of the changing seasons is felt, houses were constructed with great solidity. They were generally of a square form, the walls about eight feet high, built of bricks hardened in the sun, without any windows, and the door strait and low. Many of these houses are still to be seen in Peru.

But it was in the temples consecrated to the sun, and in the buildings intended for the residence of their monarchs, that the Peruvians displayed the utmost extent of their art. The temple of Pachacmac, together with a palace of the Inca and a fortress, were so connected together as to form one great structure, nearly two miles in circuit.

Still this wide structure was not a very lofty affair. The Indians, being unacquainted with the use of the pulley and other mechanical powers, could not elevate the large stones and bricks which they employed in building; and the walls of this, their grandest edifice, did not rise above twelve feet from the ground. There was not a single window in any part of the building. The light was only admitted by the doors; and the largest apartments must have been illuminated by some other means.

The noblest and most useful works of the Incas, were their public roads. They had two, from Cuzco to Quito, extending, uninterruptedly, above fifteen hundred miles. These roads were not, to be sure, equal to our modern turnpikes; but at the time Peru was discovered there were no public roads in any kingdom of Europe that could be compared to the great roads of the Incas.

The Peruvians had, likewise, made considerable advances in manufactures and the arts which may be called elegant. They made cloth, and they could refine silver and gold. They manufactured earthen ware; and they had some curious instruments formed of copper, which had been made so hard as to answer the purposes of iron. This metal they had not discovered. If they had only understood the working of iron and steel as well as they did that of gold and silver, they would have been a much richer and more civilized people.

The Peruvians had tamed the duck and the llama, and rendered them domestic animals. The llama is somewhat larger than the sheep, and in appearance resembles a camel. The Indians manufactured its wool into cloth; its flesh they used for food; moreover, the animal was employed as a beast of burden, and would carry a moderate load with much patience and docility. The aid of domestic animals is essential to the improvement and civilization of human society.

In short, the Peruvians, when contrasted with the naked, indolent, and ignorant inhabitants of the West Indian Islands, seem to have been a comfortable, ingenious, and respectable nation. The conquest of their country destroyed their system of government. They were made not merely to pay tribute to their new rulers, but, far worse, they were reduced to the condition of slaves. They were compelled to leave the pleasant fields they used to cultivate, and driven in crowds to the mountains in search of gold. They were forced to labor hard, and allowed only a scanty subsistence; till, heart-broken and despairing of any change for the better, they sunk under their calamities and died!

In a few years after Pizarro entered Cuzco, a great part of the ancient population of Peru had been swept away, destroyed by the avarice and cruelty of their conquerors.

The Alligator.

I am not about to recommend this creature to you on account of his beauty or amiable qualities. He has, in fact, too large a mouth, and too long a tail, to be handsome, and his reputation is not of the pleasantest kind. However, it is interesting to hear about all the works of nature, and as this is one of the most wonderful, I shall proceed to describe it.

Alligators live in warm climates, and spend the greater part of their time in the water. There are four or five kinds in America, but the most dangerous are found along the banks of the river Mississippi. These creatures are sometimes fifteen or even twenty feet in length; their mouths are two or three feet long and fourteen or fifteen inches wide. Their teeth are strong and sharp, and their claws are also very strong.

During the middle of the day the alligators are generally at rest--lying lazily upon the shore, or in the water. Toward evening, however, they begin to move about in search of prey, and then the roar of the larger ones is terrific. It is louder and deeper than the lowing of the bull, and it has all the savage wildness of the bittern’s cry. It would seem that this bellowing could not be agreeable to anything, for as soon as the birds and beasts hear it, they fly as if smitten with terror; but still, when an alligator wishes to speak something loving into the ear of another, he goes to bellowing with all his might, and this sound, so awful to other creatures, seems very pleasant and musical to the alligator which is thus addressed. This shows that there is a great difference in tastes.

The male alligators sometimes engage in ferocious battles. These usually take place in shallow water, where their feet can touch the ground. At first they only cudgel each other with their tails; but the blows given are tremendous, and soon rouse the anger of the parties. They then go at it with teeth and claws. The snapping, scratching, rending and thumping, are now tremendous; the water boils around with the struggle; streams of blood mingle with the waves; and at last one of the combatants is actually torn in pieces by his adversary.

The appetite of the alligator is voracious; I never heard of one that had the dyspepsia. Nothing of the animal kind comes amiss; mountain cat, monkey, vulture, parrot, snake-lizard, and even the electric eel, rattlesnake, and venomous bush-master, are alike swallowed down! Nor does it matter whether the creature be alive or dead, save only that it seems most admired when in a putrid state. It frequently happens that the creature will deposit an animal he has killed in the water till partly decayed, and when most offensive to us, it seems most delicious to the alligator.

In some of the rivers of North and South America, within the tropics, these creatures are very numerous. They also infest the lakes and lagoons all around the Gulf of Mexico; and it is here that the alligator’s paradise is found. When the spring rains come these creatures have a perfect carnival. Many fishes, birds, and animals, are killed during the freshets, and are borne along in the floods; upon their remains these creatures feast; and as the vulture is provided by providence to devour and remove offal from the land, which would otherwise infect the air and produce pestilence; so the alligators are the scavengers of the waters, and clear away putrescence that would otherwise render them poisonous and unapproachable to man. So, after all, the alligator has his part to play in the great economy of nature, and is actually very useful.

The alligator is nearly the same as the crocodile of the eastern continent. The females lay eggs, and one of them is said to produce a hundred in a season. They are of the size of geese eggs, and are often eaten, being esteemed tolerable food. The eggs, being deposited in the sand and covered up, are hatched by the heat.

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BRAHAM’S PARROT.--Parrots, like cuckoos, form their notes deep in the throat, and show great aptitude in imitating the human voice. A lady who admired the musical talents of Braham, the celebrated singer, gave him a parrot, which she had taught with much care. A person who saw it at Braham’s house, thus describes it:--“After dinner, during a pause in the conversation, I was startled by a voice from one corner of the room, calling out in a strong, hearty manner, ‘Come, Braham, give us a song!’ Nothing could exceed the surprise and admiration of the company. The request being repeated and not ananswered, the parrot struck up the first verse of _God save the King_, in a clear, warbling tone, aiming at the style of Braham, and sung it through. The ease with which the bird was taught was equally surprising with his performance. The same lady prepared him to accost Catalani, when dining with Mr. Braham, which so alarmed Madame that she nearly fell from her chair. Upon his commencing _Rule Brittania_, in a loud and intrepid tone, the chantress fell upon her knees before the bird, expressing, in terms of delight, her admiration of its talents.”

This parrot has only been exceeded by Lord Kelly’s, who, upon being asked to sing, replied, “I never sing on a Sunday.” “Never mind that, Poll; come, give us a song.” “No, excuse me. I’ve got a cold--don’t you hear how hoarse I am?” This extraordinary creature performed the three verses entire of _God save the King_, words and music, without hesitation, from beginning to end.

Mungo Park and the Frogs.

The tales of travellers often appear to us incredible, merely because they relate things different from our own observation and experience. You know that there are some countries so hot that they never have ice or snow there. Now it chanced that a man from some northern portion of the world, happening to be in one of those hot places, told the people, that, where he lived, the water sometimes became solid, in consequence of the cold, and almost as hard as a stone.

Now this was so different from the experience of the people, that they would not credit the traveller’s story. This shows us that a thing may be a reality, which is, at the same time, very different from our own observation and experience.

Mungo Park was a famous traveller in Africa. He went into countries where no white man had been before, and he saw places which no white man had seen. He tells us many curious things, but perhaps nothing is more amusing than what he says about the frogs. At a certain place that he visited, he went to a brook to let his horse drink; but what was his surprise to find it almost covered with frogs, who kept bobbing up and down, so that his horse was afraid to put his nose into the water. At last Mr. Park was obliged to take a bush and give the frogs a flogging, before he could make them get out of the way so as to let his poor beast quench his thirst.

A Child lost in the Woods.

The Bangor Whig of the 11th of June contains an affecting account of a search made at Linnæus, in the Aroostook country, for a little girl of nine years, the daughter of Mr. David W. Barbar, who, on the 4th, was sent through the woods to a neighbor’s, half a mile distant, to borrow a little flour for breakfast. Not returning that day, the next morning about forty of the neighbors set out to hunt for her, but spent the day without success. The next day sixty searched the woods, with no better fortune. The following morning between two and three hundred of the settlers assembled early, anxious and fearful for the safety of the lost child.

“The company set out,” says the Whig, “for a thorough and a last search. The child had been in the woods three days and nights, and many hearts were sunk in despondency at the utter hopelessness of finding it alive. But to learn its fate or restore it was the determined purpose of each. Half the day had been expended in advancing into the forest. It was time for returning; but who could think of doing so while an innocent child might be wandering but a few rods in advance? On the company pushed, still deeper into the dense wilds. The sun had reached the meridian, and was dipping down toward the west. It seemed vain to look farther, and slowly and heavily those stout-hearted men brushed a tear from their cheeks, gave up all as lost, and, as their hearts seemed to die within them, commenced their return. The line was stretched to include a survey of the greatest possible ground; not a bush or tree, where it was possible for a child to be concealed, within the limits of the line, was passed without diligent search. Those at the extremities of the lines tasked themselves to the utmost in examining the woods beyond the lines. They had travelled for some time, when, at the farthest point of vision, the man on one flank thought he saw a bush bend. He ran with swelling heart. He hesitated. Was it his imagination? He gazed a moment. The bush bent again, and the head of the little wanderer was seen! He rushed forward, and found the little girl seated upon a log, and breaking the twigs she had plucked from the bush which so providentially led to her discovery. She did not appear to be frightened; said she had lain in the woods three nights, and had not seen or heard any wild beasts, and that she thought she should get to Mr. Howard’s for the flour before night! At first she did not appear hungry or weak, but after eating a piece of bread her cries for more were very piteous. She was found about three miles from where she entered the woods. Her clothing was very thin, and the large shawl she had on when she left home she had carefully folded and placed in the pillowcase, not even putting it over her during the night, as she innocently said, ‘to keep from dirtying it, or her mother would whip her.’ Our informant states that she is now as well and happy as the other children.”

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THE SUN.--If the sun were inhabited as thickly as some parts of our earth, with human beings, it would contain 850,000 times as many as the earth.

AUTUMN.

WORDS AND MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MERRY’S MUSEUM; THE LATTER BY GEO. J. WEBB.

Andante.

The summer departed,
So gentle and brief--
Pale autumn is come,
With its sere yellow leaf.
Its breath in the vale,
Its voice in the breeze,
A many hued garment
Is over the trees.

In red and in purple
The leaves seem to bloom,--
The stern slayer comes--
It hath spoken their doom;
And those that may seem
With rubies to vie,--
They tell us that beauty
Blooms only to die.

Yet sad as the whispers
Of sorrow its breath,
And touching its hues
As the garment of death,--
Still autumn, though sad
And mournful it be,
Is sweetest and dearest
Of seasons to me.

MERRY’S MUSEUM.

VOLUME II.--No. 3.

Merry’s Life and Adventures.