The government of Peru was a pure but a mild despotism. The inca, as the repre sentative of the sun, was the head of the priesthood, and presided at the great religious festivals. Be imposed taxes, made laws, and was the source of all dignity and power. He wore a peculiar head-dress, of which the tasseled-fringe, with two ft milers placed upright in it, were the proper insignia of royalty. Of the nobility, all those descended by the male line from the founder of the monarchy, shared, in common with the ruling monarch, the sacred name of inca. They wore a peculiar dress, enjoyed special privi leges, and lived at court; but none of-them could enter the presence of the inca except with bare feet, and tearing a burden on the shoulders, in token of allegiance and homage. They formed, however, the real strength of the empire, and, being superipr to the other rims in intellectual power, they were the fountain whence flowed that civilization and social organization which gave Peru a position above every other state of South Arm rica. Pr:or to the arrival of the Spaniards, Peru contained a pop. of 30,000,000—twelve times greater than it is at the present day. The empire was divided into four parts, into each of which one of the great roads branched from Cuzco. Each of the four provinces was administered by a viceroy or governor. The nation was further subdivided into depart ments of 10,000 inhabitants, each also administered by a governor; and there were other subdivisions into various numbers, the lowest of which was 10, and every one of which was ruled by head-men, who were responsible for offenders, and were required to see that those under them enjoyed the rights to which they were entitled. The governors and chief rulers 'were selected from the Inca aristocracy. The laws related almost wholly to criminal matters, and were few, and remarkably severe. Theft, adultery, murder, blasphemy against the sun, and burning of bridges, were all capital crimes. The territory of the empire was divided into three portions, and from these portions were derived the IVVVIIIIC that supported the sun, the inca, and the pcople respectively. The numerous priesthood, and the costly ceremonial of the national worship, were sup ported by the first; the royal household and the government expenditure were defrayed out of the second; and the people, at so much per bead, divided the third of these por tions. There was a new division of the soil every year, and the extent of land appor tioned to each householder was regulated by the numbers in his family. It might be supposed that this arrangement would be fatal to improvement of the soil, and to the pride in and love of home; but this was not the case; and it is probable that at each partition of the soil, the tenant was, as a rule, confirmed in his occupation. The three divisions were cultivated by the people, the territory apportioned to the sun hieing attended to first, that to the people themselves next, and lastly, the division belonging to the inca. The labor on the Inca's share of the land was engaged in by the whole population at the same time, and the work was lightened by the national songs and ballads, and the scene made picturesque by the holiday attire of the workers. The manufactures of die country were managed in the same way, the people laboring first in making clothes for themselves, and afterwards giving their work to the inca. 1 he mines were worked by the people, but no one gave more than a certain amount of time to the government service (during which time lie was maintained at the government expense) and after discharging the stipulated amount of duty lie was succeeded by another.
Money was unknown among the Peruvians. They were a nation of workers, but they wrought as the members of one family, labor being enforced on all for the benefit of all.
The national policy of the Peruvians had its imperfections and drawbacks, and though capable of unlimited extension, it was not capable of advancement. It was in
the last degree conservative, and was of such a nature that the introduction of reform in any vital particular must have overturned the whole constitution. Nevertheless, the wants of the people were few, and these were satisfied. Their labor was not more than they could easily perform, and it was pleasantly diversified with frequent holidays and festivals. They lived contentedly and securely under a government strong enough to protect them; and a sufficiency of the necessaries of life was obtained by every individ ual. Still, in the valleys of the Cordilleras and on the plain of Cuzco, may be heard numberless songs, in which the Peruvian mourns the happy clays of peace, security, and comfort enjoyed by his ancestors. Further, they revered and loved their monarch, and considered it a pleasure to serve him. With subjects of such a temper and inclination, the incas might direct the entire energies of the nation as they chose; and it is thus that they were able to construct those gigantic public works which would have been wonder ful even had they been performed with the assistance of European machinery and appli ances. , The Peruvian system of agriculture was brought to irs highest perfection only by the prodigious labor of several centuries. Not only was the fertile soil cultivated with the utinos; care, but the sandy wastes of the coast, unvisited by any rains, and but scantily watered by brooks, were rendered productive by means of an artificial system of irriga tion, the most stupendous, perhaps, that the world has ever seen. Water was collected in lakes among the mountains, led down the slopes and through the sands of the coast, apparently doomed to sterility, by canals and subterranean passages constructed on a vast scale, and the ruins of which, to be seen at the present day, attest the industry, ingenuity, mid admirable patience of the Peruvians. The aqueducts, which were sometimes be tween 400 and 500 m. in length, were in some cases tunneled through massive rocks, and carried across rivers and marshes. They were constructed of large slabs of freestone,lit ting so closely as to require no cement, and answering perfectly the purpose for which they were intended, for the sandy wastes were converted into productive fields and rich pasture-lands, and the coast teemed with industrious inhabitants. In the valley of Santa, there were once 700,000 inhabitants; there are now only 12;000; in that of Alienllama, there were 30,000 individuals; there are now 425. The fields on the coast were also enriched with the manure of sea-fowls, which has since come to be known as guano. Fragments of the aqueducts still remain, and are surveyed with astonishment by the traveler, who wonders that such works could have been constructed by a people who appear to have employed no machinery, had no beasts of burden, who did not know the secret of the true arch, and who did not use tools or instruments of iron. Bat the tri umphs of industry were not more decided on the coast than they were in the Sierra. Here, at elevations visited now only by the eagle and the condor, the rocky heights, riven by innumerable chasms and deeply-cut precipices, were crowned with waving crops of :wheat and maize. Where the mountain-slopes were too steep to admit of cultivation, terraces were cut, soil was accumulated on them, and the level surfaces converted into 1 species of hanging-gardens. Large flocks of llamas were grazed on the plateaux; while the more hardy vicunas and alpacas roamed the upper heights in freedom, to be driven together, however, at stated periods, to be shorn or killed. The wool yielded by these animals, and the cotton grown in the plains and valleys, were woven into fabrics equally remarkable for fineness of texture and brilliaeey of color.