Page 137 - La Société canadienne d'histoire de l'Église catholique - Rapport 1961

ANNUAL ADDRESS. 133
apportioned and adjusted that every man should bear a just
share of the public burden. Manufacturing and mining for the
gavernment were carried on in the same manner. Every Peru-
vian, at a certain age, was required, by law, to marry, and a
portion of land was then set off to him, sufficient for the main-
tenance of himself and wife. For every child, an additional
quantity of land was granted, and a new apportionment was
made, every year, to adapt the system to the changing circum-
stances of families.
CASTE vas as rigidly adhered to as among the Hindoos. The
son invariably followed the condition and occupation of the
father. The heads of families were districted, by tens, fifties,
hundreds, five hundreds and thousands, and officers of corres-
ponding rank placed over each, charged with the execution of
the laws; and the officer who allowed a criminal to escape
punishment, was visited with the penalty due to the offender;
and, as might be expected, offences against the laws were rare.
Military roads extended through all quarters of the empire.
Streams and mountain chasms were bridged,-sometimes on the
suspension principle. Posts and couricrs were established for
transmitting the orders of the Inca and the despatches of sub-
ordinate officers.
The country was unfavorable to agriculture, on account of
its ruggedness and the absence of rain; but these natural defects
were overcome by terracing and an extensive system of canals
and aqueducts for purposes of irrigation, and a high state of
cultivation was maintained.
Their buildings were constructed mostly of stone, sometimes
nicely hewn, but their architecture was more remarkable for
solidity and strength than for architectural beauty, no order
having been observed, either in Mexico or Peru, and very little
in its style to indicate a foreign origin. Almost the only point
of resemblance is to the Egyptian, in the doors tapering from
bottom to top.
They knew nothing of the use of iron, but were skilled in the
use of gold, silver and copper. The manufacture of wool and