Astronomic Virtues of Quito.--Flora and Fauna of the Valley of
Quito.--Primeval Inhabitants of the Andes.--Quichua Indians.
Quito, with a position unparalleled for astronomical purposes, has no
observatory. The largest telescope in the city is about five feet long,
but the astute professor of natural philosophy in the Jesuit College who
has charge of it had not the most distant idea that an eclipse of the
sun would occur on the 29th of August, and an eclipse of the moon
fifteen days later. In ancient days this "holy city" had within it the
Pillar of the Sun, which cast no shadow at noon, and a temple was built
for the god of light. The title of the sovereign Inca was the Child of
the Sun; but there was very little knowledge of astronomy, for, being
the national religion, it was beyond the reach of scientific
speculation.
The atmosphere of Quito is of transparent clearness. Humboldt saw the
poncho of a horseman with the naked eye at a horizontal distance of
ninety thousand feet. The sky is of a dark indigo color; the azure is
less blended with white because of the extreme dryness of the air. The
stars stand out with uncommon brilliancy, and the dark openings between
them the great German compared to "tubes through which we look into the
remotest depths of space." It is true at Quito, as Humboldt noticed at
Cumana, that the stars do not twinkle when they are more than fifteen
degrees high; "the soft planetary light" of the stars overhead is not
mere rhetoric.
Living under the equatorial line, Quitonians enjoy the peculiar
privilege of beholding the stars of both hemispheres, the guiding stars
of Ursa Major as well as the Magellanic Clouds and Southern Cross, not
omitting that black spot near the latter, "the unappropriated region in
the skies reserved by Manager Bingham for deposed American presidents."
The zodiacal light here appears in all its glory. This strange
phenomenon has long puzzled philosophers, and they are still divided. It
is generally considered to be produced by a continuous zone of
infinitesimal asteroids. The majority place this zone beyond the orbit
of the earth, and concentric with the sun. But Rev. George Jones, of
Philadelphia, who has spent several years in observing this light,
including eight months in Quito, considers it geocentric, and possibly
situated between the earth and its satellite. At New York only a short
pyramidal light, and this only at certain seasons, is to be seen; but
here, an arch twenty degrees wide, and of considerable intensity, shoots
up to the zenith, and Mr. Jones affirms that a complete arch is visible
at midnight when the ecliptic is at right angles to the spectator's
horizon. We have not been so fortunate as to see it pass the zenith; and
Professor Barnard contends that it never does pass. We may remark that
the main part of the zodiacal light shifts to the south side of the
celestial equator as we cross the line. To us the most magnificent sight
in the tropical heavens is the "Milky Way," especially near Sobieski's
Shield, where it is very luminous. We observed that this starry tract
divided at [Greek: a] Centauri, as Herschel says, and not at [Greek: b],
as many maps and globes have it. The brightest stars in the southern
hemisphere follow the direction of a great circle passing through
[Greek: e] Orionis and [Greek: a] Crucis.
Another thing which arrests the attention of the traveler is the
comparatively well-defined boundary-line between day and night. The
twilight at Quito lasts only an hour and a half; on the coast it is
still shorter. Nor is there any "harvest moon," the satellite rising
with nearly equal intervals of forty-eight minutes.
From the stars we step down to the floral kingdom on the Andes, using as
our ladder of descent the following sentence from Humboldt, at the age
of seventy-five: "If I might be allowed to abandon myself to the
recollections of my own distant travels, I would instance among the most
striking scenes of nature the calm sublimity of a tropical night, when
the stars--not sparkling, as in our Northern skies--shed their soft and
planetary light over the gently heaving ocean; or I would recall the
deep valleys of the Cordilleras, where the tall and slender palms pierce
the leafy veil around them, and wave on high their feathery and
arrow-like branches."
Father Velasco praises Ecuador as "the noblest portion of the New
World." Nature has doubtless gifted it with capabilities unsurpassed by
those of any other country. Situated on the equinoctial line, and
embracing within its limits some of the highest as well as lowest dry
land on the globe, it presents every grade of climate, from the
perpetual summer on the coast and in the Orient to the everlasting
winter of the Andean summits, while the high plateau between the
Cordilleras enjoys an eternal spring. The vegetable productions are
consequently most varied and prolific. Tropical, temperate, and arctic
fruits and flowers are here found in profusion, or could be successfully
cultivated. As the Ecuadorian sees all the constellations of the
firmament, so Nature surrounds him with representatives of every family
of plants. There are places where the eye may embrace an entire zone,
for it may look up to a barley-field and potato-patch, and down to the
sugar-cane and pine-apple.
Confining our attention to the Quito Valley, we remark that the whole
region from Pichincha to Chimborazo is as treeless as Palestine. The
densest forest is near Baños. The most common tree is the "Aliso"
(_Betula acuminata_). Walnut is the best timber. There are no pines or
oaks.[37] The slopes of the mountains, between twelve and fifteen
thousand feet, are clothed with a shrub peculiar to the high altitudes
of the Andes, called _Chuquiragua_. This is a very valuable shrub; the
twigs are used for fuel, and the yellow buds as a febrifuge. The
castor-oil-tree grows naturally by the road side, sometimes to the
height of twelve feet.
[Footnote 37: On the Himalayas are oaks, birches, pines, chestnuts,
maples, junipers, and willows; no tree-ferns, bamboos, or palms.]
A very useful as well as the most ordinary plant in the valley is the
American aloe, or "Century Plant."[38] It is the largest of all herbs.
Not naturally social, it imparts a melancholy character to the landscape
as it rises solitary out of the arid plain. Most of the roads are fenced
with aloe hedges. While the majority of tropical trees have naked stems
with a crown of leaves on the top, the aloe reverses this, and looks
like a great chandelier as its tall peduncle, bearing greenish-yellow
flowers, rises out of a graceful cluster of long, thick, fleshy leaves.
When cultivated, the aloe flowers in much less time than a century; but,
exhausted by the efflorescence, it soon dies. Nearly every part serves
some purpose; the broad leaves are used by the poorer class instead of
paper in writing, or for thatching their huts; sirup flows out of the
leaves when tapped, and, as they contain much alkali, a soap (which
lathers with salt water as well as fresh) is also manufactured from
them; the flowers make excellent pickles; the flower-stalk is used in
building; the pith of the stem is used by barbers for sharpening razors;
the fibres of the leaves and the roots are woven into sandals and sacks;
and the sharp spines are used as needles. A species of yucca, resembling
the aloe, but with more slender leaves and of a lighter green, yields
the hemp of Ecuador.
[Footnote 38: The _Agava Americana_ of botanists, _cabulla_ of
Ecuadorians, _maguey_ of Venezuelans, and _metl_ of Mexicans. It is an
interesting fact, brought to light by the researches of Carl Neuman,
that the Chinese in the fifth century passed over to America by way of
the Aleutian Islands, and penetrated as far south as Mexico, which they
called the land of _fusung_, that being the celestial name of the aloe.
Terzozomoc, the high-priest of the ancient Mexicans, gave aloe leaves,
inscribed with sacred characters, to persons who had to journey among
the volcanoes, to protect them from injury.]
The "crack fruit" of Quito, and, in fact, of South America, is the
chirimoya.[39] Its taste is a happy mixture of sweetness and acidity.
Hanke calls it "a masterwork of Nature," and Markham pronounces it "a
spiritualized strawberry." It grows on a tree about fifteen feet high,
having a broad, flat top, and very fragrant flowers. The ripe fruit,
often attaining in Peru the weight of sixteen pounds, has a thick green
skin, and a snow-white pulp containing about seventy black seeds. Other
pomological productions are alligator pears, guavas, guayavas,
granadillas, cherries (a small black variety), peaches (very poor),
pears (equally bad), plums, quinces, lemons, oranges (not native),
blackberries, and strawberries (large, but flavorless).[40] The
cultivation of the grape has just commenced. Of vegetables there are
onions (in cookery, "the first, and last, and midst, and without end"),
beets, carrots, asparagus, lettuce, cabbages, turnips, tomatoes
(indigenous, but inferior to ours), potatoes (also indigenous, but much
smaller than their descendants),[41] red peppers, peas (always picked
ripe, while green ones are imported from France!), beans, melons,
squashes, and mushrooms. The last are eaten to a limited extent; Terra
del Fuego, says Darwin, is the only country in the world where a
cryptogamic plant affords a staple article of food.
[Footnote 39: Bollaert derives the name from _chiri_ (cold) and _muhu_
(seed).]
[Footnote 40: Dr. Jameson has found the following species of _Rubus_ in
the valley of Quito: _macrocarpus_, _stipularis_, _glabratus_,
_compactus_, _glaucus_, _rosæflorus_, _loxensis_, _urticæfolius_,
_floribundus_, and _nubigenus_. The common strawberry, _Fragaria
vesca_, grows in the valley, as also the _Chilensis_.]
[Footnote 41: Lieutenant Gilliss praises the potatoes of Peru, but we
saw no specimens in Ecuador worthy of note. The "Irish potato" is a
native of the Andes. It was unknown to the early Mexicans. It grows as
far south on this continent as lat. 50°. The Spaniards carried the
potato to Europe from Quito early in the sixteenth century. From Spain
it traveled to Italy, Belgium, and Germany. Sir Walter Raleigh imported
some from Virginia in 1586, and planted them on his estate near Cork,
Ireland. It is raised in Asiatic countries only where Europeans have
settled, and for their consumption. It is successfully grown in
Australia and New Zealand, where there is no native esculent farinaceous
root. Von Tschudi says there is no word in Quichua for potato. It is
called _papa_ by the Napos.]
The most important grains are barley, red wheat, and corn, with short
ears, and elongated kernels of divers colors. Near the coast three crops
of corn a year are obtained; at Quito it is of slower growth, but
fuller. The sugar-cane is grown sparingly in the valley, but chiefly on
the Pacific coast. Its home is Polynesia. Quito consumes about one
hundred and fifty barrels of flour daily. The best sells for four
dollars a quintal. The common fodder for cattle is alfalfa, an imported
lucerne. There is no clover except a wild, worthless, three-leaved
species (_Trifolium amabile_). Nearly all in the above list are
cultivated for home consumption only, and many valuable fruits and
vegetables which would grow well are unknown to Quitonians. As Bates
says of the Brazilians, the incorrigible nonchalance and laziness of the
people alone prevent them from surrounding themselves with all the
luxuries of a temperate as well as tropical country.
It would be an endless task to speak of the flowers. It must suffice to
state that a _Synopsis Plantarum Æquatoriensium_, the life-work of the
venerable Professor Jameson, of the University of Quito, has just been
published by the tardy government. Botanists will find in these two
small volumes many new species unknown to American science, and others
more correctly described by one who has dwelt forty years among the
Andes. The last zone of vegetation nearest the snow-line consists
chiefly of yellow-flowering _Compositæ_. In fact, this family includes
one fourth of the plants in the immediate vicinity of Quito. The next
most numerous family is the _Labiatæ_, and then follow _Leguminosæ_ and
_Gentians_. Although the _Rosaceæ_ is represented, there is not one
species of the genus _Rosa_ not even in the whole southern hemisphere.
The magnificent _Befaria_, found in the lower part of the valley, is
called "the Rose of the Andes." Fuchsias may be considered
characteristic of South America, since they are so numerous; only one or
two kinds occur in any other part of the world. Flowers are found in
Quito all the year round, but the most favorable months are December and
May. Yellow is the predominating color. The higher the altitude, the
brighter the hues of any given species. Thus the _Gentiana sedifolia_ is
a small, light blue flower in the lowlands, but on the Assuay it has
bright blue petals three times as large and sensitive. This accords with
Herschel's statement: "The chemical rays of the spectrum are powerfully
absorbed in passing through the atmosphere, and the effect of their
greater abundance aloft is shown in the superior brilliancy of color in
the flowers of Alpine regions."
America is plainly the continent of vegetation; and wherever the
vegetable element predominates, the animal is subordinated. We must not
look, therefore, for a large amount or variety of animal life in the
Ecuadorian forests. Time was when colossal megatheroids, mastodons, and
glyptodons browsed on the foliage of the Andes and the Amazon; but now
the terrestrial mammals of this tropical region are few and diminutive.
They are likewise old-fashioned, inferior in type as well as bulk to
those of the eastern hemisphere, for America was a finished continent
long before Europe. "It seems most probable (says Darwin) that the North
American elephants, mastodons, horse, and hollow-horned ruminants
migrated, on land since submerged near Behring's Straits, from Siberia
into North America, and thence, on land since submerged in the West
Indies, into South America, where for a time they mingled with the forms
characteristic of that southern continent, and have since become
extinct."[42] The rise of the Mexican table-land split up the New World
into two well-defined zoological provinces. A few species, as the puma,
peccari, and opossum, have crossed the barrier; but South America is
characterized by possessing a family of monkeys, the llama, tapir, many
peculiar rodents, and several genera of edentates.
[Footnote 42: _Journal of Researches_, p. 132.]
The tapir, the largest native quadruped, is sometimes found on the
mountains, but never descends into the Quito Valley. A link between the
elephant and hog, its true home is in the lowlands. The tapir and
peccari (also found on the Andean slopes) are the only indigenous
pachyderms in South America, while the llama[43] and deer (both
abounding in the valley) are the only native ruminants; there is not one
native hollow-horned ruminant on the continent. The llama is the only
native domesticated animal; indeed, South America never furnished any
other animal serviceable to man: the horse, ox, hog, and sheep (two,
four, and six-horned), are importations. Of these animals, which
rendered such important aid in the early civilization of Asia and
Europe, the genera even were unknown in South America four centuries
ago; and to-day pure Indians with difficulty acquire a taste for beef,
mutton, and pork. The llama is still used as a beast of burden; but it
seldom carries a quintal more than twelve miles a day. The black bear of
the Andes ascends as high as Mont Blanc, and is rarely found below three
thousand five hundred feet. The puma, or maneless American lion, has an
immense range, both in latitude and altitude, being found from Oregon to
the Straits of Magellan, and nearly up to the limit of eternal snow. It
is as cowardly as the jaguar of the lowlands is ferocious. It is a very
silent animal, uttering no cry even when wounded. Its flesh, which is
very white, and remarkably like veal in taste, is eaten in Patagonia.
Squirrels, hares, bats (a small species), opossums, and a large
guinea-pig (_Cuye del Monte_), are found in the neighborhood of Quito.
[Footnote 43: The llama, or "mountain-camel" is a beautiful animal, with
long, slender neck and fine legs, a graceful carriage, pointed ears,
soft, restless eyes, and quivering lips. It has a gentle disposition;
but when angry it will spit, and when hurt will shed tears. We have seen
specimens entirely white; but it is generally dark brown, with patches
of white. It requires very little food and drink. Since the introduction
of horses, asses, and mules, the rearing of llamas has decreased. They
are more common in Peru. The llama, guánaco, alpaca, and vicuña were
"the four sheep of the Incas:" the first clothing the common people, the
second the nobles, the third the royal governors, the fourth the Incas.
The price of sheep's wool in Quito was formerly four cents a pound; it
is now twelve.]
As only about sixty species of birds are common to North and South
America, the traveler from the United States recognizes few ornithic
forms in the Valley of Quito. Save the hummers, beautiful plumage is
rare, as well as fine songsters. But the moment we descend the Eastern
Cordillera into the interior of the continent, we find the feathered
race in robes of richest colors. The exact cause of this brilliant
coloring in the tropics is still a problem. It can not be owing to
greater light and heat, for the birds of the Galápagos Islands, directly
under the equator, are dull.[44]
[Footnote 44: Mr. Gould, however, holds that the difference of
coloration is due to the different degrees of exposure to the sun's
rays, the brilliantly-colored species being inhabitants of the edges of
the forest. Birds from Ucayali, in the centre of the continent, are far
more splendid than those which represent them in countries nearer the
sea, owing to the clearer atmosphere inland. But it is a fact, at least
exceptional to this theory, that the "Cock of the Rock" (Rupicola) on
the western side of the Andes (Esmeraldas) is of a richer, deeper color
than the same species on the eastern slope (Napo). In keeping with Mr.
Gould's theory is the statement by Mr. Bates, that the most gaudy
butterflies (the males) flutter in the sunshine.]
The males, both of birds and butterflies, are the most gaudily dressed.
In the highlands the most prominent birds are the condor and the
humming-bird. These two extremes in size are found side by side on the
summit of Pichincha. The condor appears in its glory among the mountains
of Quito. Its ordinary haunt is at the height of Etna. No other living
creature can remove at pleasure to so great a distance from the earth;
and it seems to fly and respire as easily under the low barometric
pressure of thirteen inches as at the sea-shore. It can dart in an
instant from the dome of Chimborazo to the sultry coast of the Pacific.
It has not the kingly port of the eagle, and is a cowardly robber: a
true vulture, it prefers the relish of putrescence and the flavor of
death. It makes no nest, but lays two eggs on a jutting ledge of some
precipice, and fiercely defends them. The usual spread of wings is nine
feet. It does not live in pairs like the eagle, but feeds in flocks like
its loathsome relative, the buzzard. It is said to live forty days
without food in captivity, but at liberty it is very voracious. The
usual method of capture is to kill an old mare (better than horse, the
natives say), and allow the bird to gorge himself, when he becomes so
sluggish as to be easily lassoed. It is such a heavy sleeper, it is
possible to take it from its roost. The evidences in favor of and
against its acute smelling powers are singularly balanced. For reasons
unknown, the condor does not range north of Darien, though it extends
its empire through clouds and storms to the Straits of Magellan. In the
Inca language it was called _cuntur_, and was anciently an object of
worship. The condor, gallinazo, turkey-buzzard, and caracara eagle (says
Darwin) "in their habits well supply the place of our carrion crows,
magpies, and ravens--a tribe of birds widely distributed over the rest
of the world, but entirely absent in South America." The condor appears
on the gold coins of New Granada and Chile. Of _Trochilidæ_ there are
hosts. The valley swarms with these "winged jewels" of varied hues, from
the emerald green of Pichincha to the white of Chimborazo. They build
long, purse-like nests by weaving together fine vegetable fibres and
lichens, and thickly lining them with silk-cotton. In this delicate
cradle, suspended from a branch, the female lays two eggs, which are
hatched in about twelve days. The eggs are invariably white, with one
exception, those of a species on the Upper Amazon, which are spotted.
The young have much shorter bills than their parents. The humming-bird
is exclusively American: the nearest form in the Old World is the
nectarinia, or sunbird. Other birds most commonly seen in the valley
are: _Cyanocitta turcosa_ (Jay), _Poecilothraupis atrierissa_,
_Pheuticus chrysogaster_, _Chlorospingus superciliaris_, _Buthraupis
chloronata_, _Tanagra Darwini_, _Dubusia selysia_, _Buarremon
latinuchus_, and _B. assimilis_. The only geese in the valley are a few
imported from Europe by Señor Aguirre, of Chillo, and these refuse to
propagate.
Reptiles are so rare in the highlands the class can hardly be said to be
represented. During a residence of nearly three months in the Quito
Valley we saw but one snake.[45] Nevertheless, we find the following
sentence in such a respectable book as Bohn's Hand-book of Modern
Geography: "The inhabitants of Quito are dreadfully tormented by
reptiles, which it is scarcely possible to keep out of the beds!" Of
frogs there are not enough to get up a choir, and of fishes there is
but one solitary species, about a finger long.[46] The entomology of
Quito is also brief, much to the satisfaction of travelers from the
insectiferous coast. Musquitoes and bedbugs do not seem to enjoy life at
such an altitude, and jiggers[47] and flies are rare. Fleas, however,
have the hardihood to exist and bite in the summer months, and if you
attend an Indian fair you will be likely to feel something "gently o'er
you creeping." But fleas and lice are the only blood-thirsty animals, so
that the great Valley of Quito is an almost painless paradise. Of
beetles and butterflies there are a few species, the latter belonging
for the most part to the familiar North American genera _Pyrameis_ and
_Colias_. At Vinces, on the coast, we found the pretty brown butterfly,
_Anartia Jatrophæ_, which ranges from Texas to Brazil. A light-colored
coleopter is eaten roasted by the inhabitants. The cochineal is raised
in the southern part of the valley, particularly in Guananda, at the
foot of Tunguragua, where the small, flat-leaved cactus (_Opuntia
tuna_), on which, the insect feeds, is extensively cultivated. The male
is winged, but the female is stationary, fixed to the cactus, and is of
a dark brown color. It takes seventy thousand to make a pound, which is
sold in the valley for from sixty cents to $3. The best cochineal comes
from Teneriffe, where it was introduced from Honduras in 1835. The
silk-worm is destined to work a revolution in the finances of Ecuador;
Quito silk gained a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition. No bees are
hived in the republic; the people seem to be content with treacle. The
Italian species would undoubtedly thrive here. The bees of Ecuador, like
all the bees of the New World, are inferior to those of the Old World.
Their cells are not perfectly hexagonal, and their stings are
undeveloped. They are seldom seen feeding on flowers. Mollusca in the
Quito Valley are not great in number or variety. They belong principally
to the genera _Bulimus_, _Cyclostoma_, and _Helix_. The first is as
characteristic of the Southern Continent as _Helix_ of the North and
_Achatina_ of Africa.
[Footnote 45: _Herpetodryas carinatus_, which we observed also at
Guayaquil and on the Marañon. We procured two or three species from the
natives, and several new forms from Pallatanga, on the west slope.]
[Footnote 46: _Antelopus lævis_ at Ambato, and _A. longirostris_, a new
species from Antisana Hacienda, were the only frogs noticed. The little
fish is _Pimelodes cyclopum_ (preñadilla of the Spaniards, _imba_ of the
Indians), the same that was thrown out in the eruptions of Imbabura and
Caraguairazo.]
[Footnote 47: The jigger, chigoe, or nigua (_Pulex penetrans_ of
science) is a microscopic flea, that buries itself under the skin and
lays a myriad eggs; the result is a painful tumor. Jiggers are almost
confined to sandy places.]
From the animal creation we mount by a short step to the imbruted
Indian. When and by whom the Andes were first peopled is a period of
darkness that lies beyond the domain of history. But geology and
archæology are combining to prove that Sorata and Chimborazo have looked
down upon a civilization far more ancient than that of the Incas, and
perhaps coeval with the flint-flakes of Cornwall, and the shell-mounds
of Denmark. On the shores of Lake Titicaca are extensive ruins which
antedate the advent of Manco Capac, and may be as venerable as the
lake-dwellings of Geneva. Wilson has traced six terraces in going up
from the sea through the province of Esmeraldas toward Quito; and
underneath the living forest, which is older than the Spanish invasion,
many gold, copper, and stone vestiges of a lost population were found.
In all cases these relics are situated below high-tide mark, in a bed of
marine sediment, from which he infers that this part of the country
formerly stood higher above the sea. If this be true, vast must be the
antiquity of these remains, for the upheaval and subsidence of the coast
is exceedingly slow.
Philology can aid us little in determining the relations of the primeval
Quitonians, for their language is nearly obscured by changes introduced
by the Caras, and afterward by the Incas, who decreed that the Quichua,
the language of elegance and fashion three hundred years ago, should be
the universal tongue throughout the empire.[48] Quichua is to-day spoken
from the equator to 28° S. (except by the Aymará people), or by nearly a
million and a half. We found it used, corrupted, however, by Spanish, at
the month of the Napo. There are five dialects, of which the purest is
spoken in Cuzco, and the most impure in Quito. The Indians of the
northern valley are descendants of the ancient Quitus, modified by Cara
and Peruvian blood. They have changed little since the invasion of
Pizarro. They remember their glory under the Incas, and when they steal
any thing from a white man, they say they are not guilty of theft, as
they are only taking what originally belonged to them. Some see in their
sacred care of Incarial relics a lingering hope to regain their
political life. We noticed that the pure mountaineers, without a trace
of Spanish adulteration, wore a black poncho underneath, and we were
informed by one well acquainted with their customs that this was in
mourning for the Inca. We attended an Indian masquerade dance at
Machachi, which seemed to have an historical meaning. It was performed
in full view of that romantic mountain which bears the name of the last
captain of Atahuallpa. There is a tradition that after the death of his
chief, Rumiñagui burned the capital, and, retiring with his followers to
this cordillera, threw himself from the precipice. The masquerade at
Machachi was evidently intended to keep alive the memory of the Incas.
Three Indians, fantastically adorned with embroidered garments, plumed
head-dresses, and gold and silver tinsel, representing Atahuallpa and
his generals, danced to music of the rudest kind, one individual
pounding on a drum and blowing on a pipe at the same time. Before them
went three clowns, or _diablos_, with masks, fit caricatures of the
Spaniards. Like all other Indian feasts, this ended in getting gradually
and completely drunk. During the ceremony a troop of horsemen, gayly
dressed, and headed by one in regimentals with a cocked hat, galloped
twice around the Plaza, throwing oranges at the people; after which
there was a bull-bait.
[Footnote 48: "History (says Prescott) furnishes few examples of more
absolute authority than such a revolution in the language of an empire
at the bidding of a master." The pronunciation of Quichua requires a
harsh, explosive utterance. Gibbon says the sound of it to him resembled
Welsh or Irish; that of Aymará, English. The letters _b_, _d_, _f_, _g_,
and _o_ are wanting in the ancient tongue of Quito; _p_ was afterward
changed to _b_, _t_ to _d_, _v_ to _f_, _c_ to _g_, and _u_ to _o_: thus
Chim-pu-razu is now Chimborazo. A few words bear a striking analogy to
corresponding Sanscrit words; as _Ynti_, the Inca for sun, and _Indra_,
the Hindoo god of the heavens.]
The features of the Quichuans have a peculiar cast, which resembles, in
D'Orbigny's opinion, no other American but the Mexican, and some
ethnologists trace a striking similarity to the natives of Van Diemen's
Land. They have an oblong head (longitudinally), somewhat compressed at
the sides and occiput; short and very slightly arched forehead;
prominent, long, aquiline nose, with large nostrils; large mouth, but
not thick lips; beautiful enduring teeth; short chin, but not receding;
cheek-bones not prominent; eyes horizontal, and never large; eyebrows
long; thick, straight, coarse, yet soft jet black hair; little or no
beard; a long, broad, deep, highly-arched chest; small hands and feet;
short stature, seldom reaching five feet, and the women still shorter; a
mulatto color (olive-brown says D'Orbigny, bronze says Humboldt), and a
sad, serious expression. Their broad chests and square shoulders remind
one of the gorilla; but we find that, unlike the anthropoid ape, they
have very weak arms; their strength lies in their backs and legs. They
have shrewdness and penetration, but lack independence and force. We
never heard one sing.[49] Always submissive to your face, taking off
his hat as he passes, and muttering, "Blessed be the altar of God," he
is nevertheless very slow to perform. Soured by long ill treatment, he
will hardly do any thing unless he is compelled. And he will do nothing
well unless he is treated as a slave. Treat him kindly, and you make him
a thief; whip him, and he will rise up to thank you and he your humble
servant. A certain curate could never trust his Indian to carry
important letters until he had given him twenty-five lashes. Servile and
timid, superstitious and indolent, the Quichuans have not half the
spirit of our North American Indians. It has passed into a proverb that
"the Indian lives without shame, eats without repugnance, and dies
without fear." Abject as they are, however, they are not wholly without
wit. By a secret telegraph system, they will communicate between Quito
and Riobamba in one hour. When there was a battle in Pasto, the Indians
of Riobamba knew of it two hours after, though eighty leagues distant.
[Footnote 49: Their favorite musical instrument is the _rondador_, a
number of reeds of different lengths tied in a row. The "plaintive
national songs" which Markham heard at Cuzco are not sung in Ecuador.]
The civilization of South America three centuries ago was nearly
confined to this Andean family, though they had attained only to the
bronze period. In the milder character of their ancient religion and
gentleness of disposition they are strongly distinguished from the
nations that encircled the vale of Anahuac, the centre of civilization
on the northern continent. But little of this former glory is now
apparent. The Incas reached an astronomical knowledge which astonished
the Spaniards, but the Quichuans of to-day count vaguely by moons and
rains. Great is the contrast between the architecture of this century
and that in the days of Huayna-Capac. There are few Incarial relics,
however, in the Valley of Quito, for the Incas ruled there only half a
century. The chief monuments are the tolas or mounds (mostly at
Cuenca), containing earthen vessels and bronze hatchets and earrings;
the _Inga-pirrca_, or oval fortress, and the _Intihuaicu_, or temple of
the sun, near Cañar; the _Inga-chungana_, a massive stone resembling a
sofa, where the Inca reposed to enjoy the delightful prospect over the
Valley of Gulán; and remnants of causeways and roads.