of the gymnasium, at Chichen (the tracings of these
paintings are in our power), and also in the traditions and customs
of their descendants, by comparing them with those of the Quichuas,
I cannot but believe that Manco's ancestors emigrated from Xibalba
or Mayapan, carrying with them the notions of the mother country,
which they inculcated to their sons and grandsons, and introduced
them among the tribes that submitted to their sway.
Let it be remembered that the Quichua was not the mother-tongue of
the Incas, who in court spoke a language unknown to the common
people. They, for political motives, and particularly to destroy
the feuds that existed between the inhabitants of the different
provinces of their vast dominions, ordered the Quichua to be taught
to and learned by everybody, and to be regarded as the tongue of
_Ttahuantinsuyu_. Their subjects, from however distant parts of the
empire could then also understand each other, and came with time to
consider themselves as members of the same family.
I have bestowed some attention upon the study of the Quichua. Not
being acquainted with the dialects of the Aryan nations previous
to their separation, I would not pretend to impugn the grand
discovery of Mr. Lopez. But I can positively assert that
expressions are not wanting in the Peruvian tongue that bear as
strong a family resemblance to the dialects spoken in the Sandwich
Islands and Tahiti, where I resided a few months, as the ruins of
Tiahuanaco to those of Easter Island, that are composed of stones
not to be found today in that place. When I visited it I was struck
with the perfect similitude of the structures found there and the
colossal statues, which forcibly recalled to my mind those said by
Pinelo to have existed in Tiahuanaco even at the time of the
Spanish conquest. This similarity in the buildings and language of
the people separated by such obstacles as the deep water of the
Pacific, hundreds of miles apart, cannot be attributed to a mere
casual coincidence. To my mind it plainly shows that communications
at some epoch or other have existed between these countries. On
this particular point I have a theory of my own, which I think I
can sustain by plausible facts, not speculative; but this is not
the place to indulge in theories. I
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