The only Spanish writer who really studied the ancient history of Peru
in the traditional and other records of the country was Fernando
Montesinos, who went there about a century after the Conquest. He was
sent from Spain on service which took him to every part of Peru, and
gave him the best possible opportunities for investigation. He was a
scholar and a worker, with a strong inclination to such studies, and,
during two periods of residence in the country, he devoted fifteen years
to these inquiries with unremitting industry and great success. He soon
learned to communicate freely with the Peruvians in their own language;
then he applied himself to collect the historical poems, narratives, and
traditions. He succeeded in getting assistance from many of the older
men who had learned of the _amautas_, and especially of those who were
trained to read the _quippus_. Nothing was omitted which could aid his
purpose. In this way Montesinos made a great collection of what may be
called the _old Peruvian documents_, and gained a vast amount of
information which no other writer had used or even sought to acquire.
The materials collected were more important than is at once understood
by those accustomed to depend wholly on writing and printing for the
preservation of literature, because they can not easily realize to what
extent the faculty of memory may be sharpened and developed by a class
of men devoted to this culture in communities where such mechanical aids
do not exist. It is known that long poems, stories, and historical
narratives have been preserved by unlettered peoples much below the
civilized condition of the Peruvians. Long poems, extending to three and
four hundred lines, were retained by memory, and transmitted from
generation to generation among the Sandwich Islanders. Many scholars
have believed that all the early literature of Greece, including the
Iliad, the Odyssey, and all other "poems of the Cycle," was preserved in
this way by the Rhapsodists for centuries, down to the time of
Peisistratus, and then for the first time reduced to writing. This shows
at least what they have believed was possible. In Max Mueller's "History
of Ancient Sanskrit Literature" it is argued strongly that the Vedas
were not written at first, but were transmitted orally, being learned by
heart in the great religious schools of the Indo-Aryans as an
indispensable part of education. This is likely to be true, whether we
assume that the Indo-Aryans had or had not the art of writing; for, in
the Vaidic age, the divine songs of the Veda were so intimately
associated with the mysteries of their religion that they may have been
held too sacred to be made common by written characters.
Therefore it is no wise incredible, nor even surprising, that a
considerable amount of literature existed in Peru without the aid of
writing. On the contrary, it would be surprising if they had failed to
do what has been done by every other people in like circumstances. The
schools of the _amautas_ were national institutions specially set apart
for the business of preserving and increasing knowledge, teaching, and
literary work of every kind. In a country where civilization was so much
advanced in many respects, they could not have been entirely barren.
Those who criticise Montesinos admit that "his advantages were great,"
that "no one equaled him in archaeological knowledge of Peru," and that
"he became acquainted with original instruments which he occasionally
transferred to his own pages, and which it would now be difficult to
meet elsewhere." The results of his investigation are embodied in a work
entitled "Memorias Antiguas Historiales del Peru." This, with another
work on the Conquest entitled "Annales," remained in manuscript at
Madrid until the "Memorias" was translated into French by M.
Ternaux-Compans, and printed in his collection of original documents
relating to the discovery and exploration of America.