he distance each had to
perform was small, he ran over the ground with great swiftness, and
messages were carried along all the routes at the rate of a hundred and
fifty miles a day. The chasquis not only carried despatches, but
brought fish from the distant ocean, and fruits, game, and other
commodities, from the warm regions on the coast.

It is not our province to describe the gorgeous temples, palaces, and
convents, in which the Virgins of the Sun resided, and the numerous
other public buildings, extensive remains of which still exist scattered
throughout the region. The glory of the Incas has departed. But few of
their descendants remain, and their blood has generally mingled with
that of their conquerors.

THE NATIVE INDIANS.

The tribes over whom they ruled are still to be found, though in
diminished numbers, and debased by the cruel system of oppression under
which they long groaned. The native inhabitants of the central region
of the Andes are known as the Quichuas, and their chief characteristics
are common to the greater number of the tribes along the whole extent of
the range. Though the languages of the different tribes vary, they are
probably derived from the same source. The head of the Quichua is an
oblong longitudinal, somewhat compressed at the sides. He has a low and
very slightly arched forehead; a prominent, long, aquiline nose, with
large nostrils. The mouth is large, and the teeth very fine, while the
lips are not thick; the chin is short, but not receding; cheek-bones not
prominent, eyes horizontal and never large, eyebrows long, the hair
jet-black--and, though thick, straight and coarse, yet soft. He has
little or no beard. In stature they seldom reach five feet. The chest
is long, broad, deep, and highly arched. The hands and feet are small.
The colour is between olive, brown, and bronze,--somewhat like that of
the mulatto. Though their chests are broad, and their shoulders square,
their arms are weak--their chief strength existing in their backs and
legs. Mild, generous, and submissive, they have existed when a fiercer
race would have been exterminated; but, on several occasions, they have
shown that they can be goaded into revolt. About the year 1770, under
Tupac Amaru, they broke into rebellion, when, had they possessed better
arms and more discipline, they might, with the courage they exhibited,
have driven the Spaniards from the country. The rebellion was put down
with t