ny 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 deg. S. (except by the Aymara 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, Ruminagui 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