dly, and you make him
a thief; whip him, and he will rise up to thank you and he your humble
servant. A certain curate could never trust his Indian to carry
important letters until he had given him twenty-five lashes. Servile and
timid, superstitious and indolent, the Quichuans have not half the
spirit of our North American Indians. It has passed into a proverb that
"the Indian lives without shame, eats without repugnance, and dies
without fear." Abject as they are, however, they are not wholly without
wit. By a secret telegraph system, they will communicate between Quito
and Riobamba in one hour. When there was a battle in Pasto, the Indians
of Riobamba knew of it two hours after, though eighty leagues distant.

[Footnote 49: Their favorite musical instrument is the _rondador_, a
number of reeds of different lengths tied in a row. The "plaintive
national songs" which Markham heard at Cuzco are not sung in Ecuador.]

The civilization of South America three centuries ago was nearly
confined to this Andean family, though they had attained only to the
bronze period. In the milder character of their ancient religion and
gentleness of disposition they are strongly distinguished from the
nations that encircled the vale of Anahuac, the centre of civilization
on the northern continent. But little of this former glory is now
apparent. The Incas reached an astronomical knowledge which astonished
the Spaniards, but the Quichuans of to-day count vaguely by moons and
rains. Great is the contrast between the architecture of this century
and that in the days of Huayna-Capac. There are few Incarial relics,
however, in the Valley of Quito, for the Incas ruled there only half a
century. The chief monuments are the tolas or mounds (mostly at
Cuenca), containing earthen vessels and bronze hatchets and earrings;
the _Inga-pirrca_, or oval fortress, and the _Intihuaicu_, or temple of
the sun, near Canar; the _Inga-chungana_, a massive stone resembling a
sofa, where the Inca reposed to enjoy the delightful prospect over the
Valley of Gulan; and remnants of causeways and roads.

CHAPTER VII.

Geological History of South America.--Rise of the Andes.--Creation
of the Amazon.--Characteristic Features of the Continent.--Andean
Chain.--The Equatorial Volcanoes.

Three cycles ago an island rose from the sea where now expands the vast
continent of South America. It was the culminating point of the
highlands of Guiana. For