Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/238



coast of Peru was a late conquest of the Incas. It contained distinct civilisations, that to the north, especially, presenting historical and philological problems as yet unsolved. Its physical aspects are unique and extremely interesting. They demand attention before considering the little that is known of the ancient people inhabiting this wonderful region in ages long past.

A strip of land, averaging a width of from 20 to 60 miles, extends from 4° to 20° S. or upwards of 1500 miles between the maritime cordillera and the Pacific Ocean. It has been upraised from the sea at no very remote period. The same shells as exist in the present ocean are mingled with the remains of man. Corn-cobs and cotton twine were found by Darwin at a height of 85 feet above the sea. This upheaval must have taken place at a time not only when man was occupying the land, but when there already existed an agricultural community raising maize and cotton crops.

The Peruvian coast is practically a rainless region, and the reason for this phenomenon attracted the attention of most of the early writers.