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Show 8 0 PICTOGRAPHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. that of the cows; the latter being classed into those which were milked, and those which were not milked; on the next string were numbered the calves, according to their ages and sizes. Then came the sheep, in Beveral subdivisions. Next followed the number of foxes killed, the quantity of salt consumed, and, finally, the cattle that had been slaughtered. Other qnipus showed the produce of the herds in milk, cheese, wool, & c. Each list was distinguished by a particular color, or by some peculiarity in the twisting of the string. In this manner the ancient Peruvians kept the accounts of their army. On one string were numbered the soldiers armed with slings; on another, the spearmen; on a third, those who carried clubs, & c. In the same manner the military reports were prepared. In every town some expert men were appointed to tie the knots of the quipu, and to explain them. These men were called quipucamayocuna ( literally, officers of the knots). Imperfect as was this method, yet in the flourishing period of the Inca government the appointed officers had acquired great dexterity in unriddling the meaning of the knots. It, however, seldom happened that they had to read a quipu without some verbal commentary. Something was always required to bo added if the quipu came from a distant province, to explain whether it related to the numbering of the population, to tributes, or to war, & c. Through long- continued practice, the officers who had charge of the qnipus became so perfect in their duties that they could with facility communicate the laws and ordinances, and all the most important events of the kingdom, by their knots. All attempts made in modern times to decipher Peruvian quipus have proved unsatisfactory in their results. The principal obstacle to deciphering those found in graves consists in the want of the oral communication requisite for pointing out the subjects to which they refer. Such communication was necessary, even in former times, to the most learned quipucamayocuna. Most of the quipus here alluded to seems to be accounts of the population of particular towns or provinces, tax- lists, and information relating to the property of the deceased. Some Indians in the southern provinces of Peru are understood to possess a perfect knowledge of some of the ancient quipus, from information transmitted to them from their ancestors. But they keep that knowledge profoundly secret, particularly from the whites. That the general idea or invention for mnemonic purposes appearing in the quipus, was used pictorially is indicated in the illustrations given by Dr. S. Habel in The Sculptures of Santa Lucia Cosuinal-whuapa in Guatemala, etc., Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, [ No. 269], 1878, Vol. XXII, page 86. Upon these he remarks: It has been frequently affirmed that the aborigines of America had nowhere arisen high enough in civilization to have characters for writing and nnmeral signs; but the sculptures of Santa Lucia exhibit signs which indicate a kind of cipher writing, higher in form than mere hieroglyphics. From the mouth of most of the human beings, living or dead, emanates a staff variously bent, to the sides of which nodes are attached. These nodes are of different sizes and shapes, and variously distributed on the sides of the staff, either singly or in twos and threes,- the last named either separated or in shape of a trefoil. This manner of writiug not only indicates that the person is speaking, or praying, but also indicates the very words, the contents of the speech or prayer. It is quite certain that each staff, as bent and ornamented, stood for a well- known petition which the priest could read as easily as those acquainted with a cipher dispatch can know its purport. Further, one may be allowed to conjecture that the various curves of the staves served the purpose of strength and rhythm, just as the poet chooses his various meters for the same purpose. In connection with the quipu, Dr. Hoffman reports a corresponding device among the Indians formerly inhabiting the mountain valleys north of. Los Angeles, California, who frequently came to the settle- |
