order; at the same time laws applying to the conduct of the populace
were in many respects stringent, and were wont to be carried out to the
letter. A number of socialistic doctrines were embodied in these strange
constitutions of the past. The work of the people was mapped out for
them, and, although it may be said with justice that no poverty existed,
this very admirable state of affairs was frequently brought about by the
enforcing of labour on the would-be idle.

The lands of the Inca Kingdom from frontier to frontier were divided
into three classes of territory. The first was the property of the
Sun--that is to say, the proceeds of its harvests were applied to the
temples, priests, and all the other requirements of religion. The land
appertaining to the second category was the property of the Royal
Family; and the third belonged to the people. It is interesting to note
in connection with this system of land distribution that in the later
centuries the Jesuits in Paraguay adopted a very similar procedure, and
divided their lands into three sections which corresponded exactly with
those of the Incas. Thus, according to these regulations, every
inhabitant of the Inca Empire was a landowner. This, however, merely in
a limited sense, for, although the land was his to work, he was not
permitted to obtain any advantage from its possession other than that
which he obtained by his own labour, and, as has been explained, the
refraining from work was a heavily punishable offence. When the spirit
in which these laws were framed is taken into consideration, it is not
surprising that no man was allowed to sell his land, a procedure which
would, of course, have rendered the general working of the community
inoperative. The land, in fact, represented a loan from the State which
lasted the lifetime of the agriculturist.

[Illustration: SOUTH AMERICA

SHOWING THE DISTRICTS OF THE

ABORIGINAL TRIBES

AT THE TIME OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST.]

Perhaps the civilization of the Incas and of their predecessors is most
of all evident in the industrial monuments which they have left behind
them. In irrigation they had little or nothing to learn from the most
advanced European experts of the time. Many of their aqueducts, indeed,
showed an astonishing degree both of ingenuity and of labour. The
nature of the country across which it was necessary to construct these
was, of course, sufficiently mountainous to test the powers of the most
cap