Of the numerous nations that occupied the great American continent at the time of its discovery by the Europeans, the two most advanced in power and refinement were undoubtedly those of Mexico and Peru.  But, though resembling one another in extent of civilization, they differed widely as to the nature of it; and the philosophical student of his species may feel a natural curiosity to trace the different steps by which these two nations strove to emerge from the state of barbarism, and place themselves on a higher point in the scale of humanity.  

The empire of Peru, at the period of the Spanish invasion, stretched along the Pacific encompassing the modern republics of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile.  

The topographical aspect of the Incan empire is very remarkable.  A strip of land, rarely exceeding five miles in width, runs along the coast, and is hemmed in through its whole extent by a colossal range of mountains, which, advancing from the Straits of Magellan reaches its highest elevation  (the highest on the American continent) and gradually subsides into hills as it enters the Isthmus of Panama. 

The face of the country would appear to be peculiarly unfavorable to the purposes both of agriculture and of internal communication.  Only a few scanty streams that furnish a remarkable contrast to the vast volumes of water, which roll down the eastern sides of the Cordilleras into the Atlantic, feed the sandy strip along the coast, where rain never falls.  The precipitous steeps of the sierra, with its splintered sides of porphyry and granite, and its higher regions wrapped in snows that never melt under the fierce sun of the equator, unless it be from the desolating action of its own volcanic fires, might seem equally unpropitious to the labors of the husbandman.  And the savage character of the region might preclude all communication between the parts of the long- extended territory, yet the industry of the Indian was sufficient to overcome all these impediments of Nature. 

By a judicious system of canals and subterraneous aqueducts, the waste places on the coast were refreshed by copious streams that clothed them in fertility and beauty.  Terraces were raised upon the steep sides of the Cordillera; and, as the different elevations had the effect of difference of latitude, they exhibited in regular gradation every variety of vegetable form, from the stimulated growth of the tropics, to the temperate products of a northern climate; while flocks of llamas wandered with their shepherds over the broad, snow-covered wastes on the crests of the sierra, which rose beyond the limits of cultivation.  An industrious population settled along the lofty regions of the plateaus, and towns and hamlets, clustering amidst orchards and wide spreading gardens, seemed suspended in the air far above the ordinary elevation of the clouds. Intercourse was maintained between these numerous settlements by means of great roads that traversed the mountain passes, and opened an easy communication between the capital and the remotest extremities of the empire. 

The source of the Incan civilization is traced to the valley of Cuzco in the central region of Peru.  According to legend, the Sun sent two of his children, Manco Capac and Mama Oello Huaco, to gather the natives into communities, and teach them the arts of civilized life.  The celestial pair, brother and sister, husband and wife, advanced along the high plains in the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca. They bore with them a golden wedge, and were directed to take up their residence on the spot where the sacred emblem should without effort sink into the ground.  They proceeded accordingly but a short distance, as far as the valley of Cuzco, the spot indicated by the performance of the miracle, since there the wedge speedily sank into the earth and disappeared forever.  Here the children of the Sun established their residence, Manco Capac teaching the men the arts of agriculture, and Mama Oello initiating her own sex in the mysteries of weaving and spinning.  The simple people lent a willing ear to the messengers of Heaven, and, gathering together in considerable numbers, laid the foundations of the city of Cuzco.  

But this legend is only one of several current among the Peruvian Indians, and probably not the one most generally received.  Another legend speaks of certain white and bearded men, who, advancing from the shores of Lake Titicaca, established an ascendancy over the natives, and imparted to them the blessings of civilization.  It may remind us of the legends existing among the Aztecs in respect to Quetzalcoatl, the good deity, who came up the great plateau from the east on a like benevolent mission to the natives.  The analogy is the more remarkable, as there is no trace of any communication with, or even knowledge of, each other to be found in the two nations. 

The date usually assigned for these extraordinary events was about four hundred years before the coming of the Spaniards, or early in the twelfth century. But, however pleasing to the imagination, and however popular, the legend of Manco Capac, it requires but little reflection to show its improbability, even when divested of supernatural accompaniments.  On the shores of Lake Titicaca extensive ruins exist at the present day, which the Peruvians themselves acknowledge to be of older date than the pretended advent of the Incas, and to have furnished them with the models of their architecture. The date of their appearance, indeed, is manifestly irreconcilable with their subsequent history.  No account assigns to the Inca dynasty more than thirteen generations before the Conquest.  But this number is too small to have spread over four hundred years, and would not carry back the foundations of the monarchy beyond two centuries and a half.  

By their wise and temperate policy, they gradually won over the neighboring tribes to their dominion, as these latter became more and more convinced of the benefits of a just and well-regulated government.  As they grew stronger, they were enabled to rely more directly on force; but, still advancing under cover of the same beneficent pretexts employed by their predecessors, they proclaimed peace and civilization at the point of the sword.  Their empire continued to expand, eventually penetrating to the southern region of Chili and pushing across the equator adding the powerful kingdom of Quito to the empire of Peru.