r insurrection would
ever occur. It seems, however, that their government was as much subject
to such trials as any. Mr. Forbes tells us that "the Aymaras never
submitted tamely to their Peruvian masters, but from time to time gave
them much trouble by attempting to recover their independence." And M.
Reville tells us of the Incas that, "more than once they had to
suppress terrible insurrections." And we shall see, further on, that
the probabilities are that the various tribes composing this so-called
empire were not more compact and united than were the tribes composing
the Mexican Empire.

Shortly before the conquest, the Incas had reached their zenith of
power. Huayna Capac, who died about 1525, was in reality the last of the
Inca chiefs. Under his management the tribes as far north as Quito were
reduced to tribute. The story goes that shortly before his death he
divided the empire between two of his sons. One, Huascar, the rightful
heir to the throne; the other, Atahualpa, half-brother to Huascar. His
mother was daughter of the last king (?) of Quito. Her father had been
forced to submit to the victorious Huayna Capac. This division of the
Incarial Empire, was not at all to the liking of either Huascar or
Atahualpa. They both wished to be sole Inca. Civil war was the result.
Atahualpa, by treachery, had taken his brother prisoner, and would
doubtless have achieved his ambition, but just then Pizarro invaded the
country, and the reign of the Incas was over.

Thus far, the story. We very much doubt whether this expresses the facts
of the case. There is no question, of course, that civil war was in
progress when the Spaniards arrived, which war, by the way, was a very
fortunate thing for the Spaniards; but we do not know enough about the
government of the Incas to know whether Huayna Capac could bequeath any
powers to his sons. About all we are justified in saying is, that on his
death, two persons (they were very likely brothers, and sons of Huayna
Capac) aspired to the chieftaincy of the Incas, and, failing to agree,
resorted to war to settle the matter.

The question is, how far back in the unrecorded past can we follow
tradition? Huayna Capac is thought to have been chief for about fifty
years. His predecessor is said to have been one Tupac Yupanqui.
Velasco, an early writer on the Peruvians, thinks he was chief for about
thirty-six years. As this would carry us back nearly one hundred
years, it must be evident