Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/201

Rh It also led to the increased well-being and comfort of the whole people, by the exchange of products. Mitimaes in the coast valleys sent up cotton, aji, and fruits to their former homes, and received maize, potatoes, or wool in exchange. The mitimaes in the eastern forests sent up supplies of coca, and of bamboos and chonta wood for making weapons, and received provisions of all kinds. This system of exchanges was carried on by means of chasquis or couriers, constantly running over excellent roads. A third important end secured by the system of mitimaes was the introduction of one language to be used throughout the whole empire, a result which followed slowly and surely. The Runa-simi, or one general language, was an immense help in facilitating the efficient working of a rather complicated system of government.

The Inca organisation was not a creation by a succession of able princes. Such a result would be impossible in the course of only a few generations. The Incas found the system of village communities prevailing among the tribes they conquered, and made as little alteration as was compatible with the requirements of a great empire. Their merit as statesmen is that they saw the wisdom of avoiding great changes, and of adapting existing institutions to the new requirements. They did this with a skill and ability which has seldom been approached, and with a success which has never