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 The person to whom the keeper was sent had in his turn to make a knot in the red thread if he agreed to join the confederates; in the red and blue threads, on the contrary, if he refused." It was by means of these quipos that the Incas transmitted their instructions. On all the roads starting from the capital, at distances rarely exceeding five miles, rose tambos, or stations for the chasquis or couriers, who went from one post to another. The orders of the Inca thus became disseminated with great rapidity. Orders which emanated directly from the sovereign were marked with a red thread of the royal llantu (mantle), and nothing, as historians assure us, could equal the respect with which these messages were received.

The Incas as Craftsmen

The Incan Peruvians had made some progress in the metallurgic, ceramic, and textile arts. By washing the sands of the rivers of Caravaya they obtained large quantities of gold, and they extracted silver from the ore by means of blast-furnaces. Copper also was abundant, and was employed to manufacture bronze, of which most of their implements were made. Although it is difficult to know at what period their mining operations were carried on, it is evident that they could only have learned the art through long experience. Many proofs are to be found of their skill in jewellery, and amongst these are wonderful statuettes which they made from an amalgam of gold and mercury, afterwards exposed to great heat. A number of curious little ornaments made of various substances, with a little hole bored through them, were frequently found under the huacas—probably talismans. The finest handiwork of the Incas was undoubtedly in jewellery; but unfortunately most of the examples 279