form of
civilization, the most numerous being found, as would naturally be
expected when the nature of the country is considered, in the valleys
and the coasts. These relics take the forms of food substances and
kitchen utensils, and are known as "kitchen-middens," and beyond these
rude fireplaces have been found.

In 1874 the skeleton of a tall man was discovered in a volcanic layer
which is supposed to have belonged to a later period. The dwelling in
which it was found showed a distinct advance in civilization. It was
constructed of rocks joined together by means of clay, and roofed with
plaited straw. One of the most notable objects found by the side of this
man was a well-fashioned cotton purse, filled with wheat and other
grain. In various neighbourhoods remnants of pottery and cloth gave
evidence of these later stages. After this it is supposed that a great
invasion of Peru occurred, and that the race which preceded the Incas
took possession of the land.

It will be most fitting to deal first of all with the Incas, the most
highly civilized race of the Continent. The head-quarters of this nation
were to be found in Peru and Bolivia. The capital of the whole Empire
was Cuzco, a town situated at some distance to the north of Lake
Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is generally held to have been the cradle of the
race, and it is in this neighbourhood and on the shores of the lake that
some of the most notable of the Inca ruins are to be met with.

There is no doubt that the great majority of these stupendous monuments
of a former age were not the actual handiwork of the Incas. It is now
considered practically certain that these Incas, themselves enlightened
and progressive, were merely using the immense structures both of
material masonry and of theoretical civilization left behind by a
previous race whom the Children of the Sun had conquered and subdued. It
is not improbable that this race was that of the Aymaras; in any case it
is certain that the Empire of the Incas was not of old standing, and
that they had not occupied the countries they held for more than a few
hundred years before the advent of the Spaniards.

[Illustration: MANCO CAPAC, THE LEGENDARY FOUNDER OF THE INCA EMPIRE,
COLLECTING HIS PEOPLE FOR THE WORK OF BUILDING THE CITY OF CUZCO.]

The Incas possessed a very definite theory concerning the origin of
their tribe. Sun-worshippers, they loved to think that they themselves
were descended from a chance fragm