The Old and the New Peru: A Story of the Ancient Inheritance and the Modern Growth and Enterprise of a Great NationThe historian of the Conquerors who described the newly discovered Peru as “the Ophir of the Occident” gave it a name which modern research proves to have been singularly appropriate. Not only in wealth, but in antiquity, this interesting country is comparable to the fabled land of the East from which the emissaries of King Solomon brought so many luxuries to please the taste of their royal master. There are eminent writers and students of the records of ancient times who are of the opinion that the famous Ophir of the Bible was no other than ancient Peru, and that the Phœnicians—those intrepid navigators of past ages—visited its shores and were the founders of its earliest civilization. But speculation as to the origin of the ancient Peruvians covers such an extensive field that almost every writer on the subject has a distinct opinion; and every nation of the Orient has been supposed, by one authority or another, to have laid the foundation of Peruvian culture. The most popular theory gives to China the credit of introducing the earliest civilization on the American continent; and in support of this belief many parallels are drawn between the Mongolians and the primitive races of the New World in their traditions, customs, and, particularly, the similarity of their features. In some parts of the coast district of Peru, the indigenes do not speak Quichua, as do the descendants of the Incas’ people, but have a language which is said to be easily understood by the Chinese; and there is, apparently, a close analogy between the ancient creeds of the coast Indians and Chinese worship. According to several authorities, the traditional heroes of Peruvian and Mexican civilization were Buddhist priests. In this connection it is worthy of mention that some of the huacas which have been taken from ancient cemeteries on the coast, bear a marked resemblance to the well-known idols of Buddhist worship. The name huaca is given to all consecrated relics in these ancient burials, including the corpse and its wrappings, as well as the innumerable articles of household and personal use, ornaments and food, interred therewith. The custom of placing maize and other edibles in the grave, and (as has been found in some cases) of putting a coin in the mouth of the deceased, affords proof that these ancients believed in a future life. Most of the interments were made in huge mounds, called huacas, built of sun-dried bricks, or, in the earliest periods, of round balls of mud. From whatever source Peru derived its earliest culture, everything indicates that at some period, probably at various times during the early ages, immigrants arrived in the country from Asiatic shores. The most eminent authorities, among them the Peruvian scholars Dr. Pablo Patron, Dr. Larrabure y Unanue, and others who have made a scientific study of the antiquity of their country, agree in the belief that there were several early immigrations to Peru from China and Japan. A few even accept the theory that the origin of the advanced races who first peopled the ancient world of the West is to be traced to a lost “Atlantis” and a submerged “Lemuria,” supposed to have been great continents in a past age, whose inhabitants, rivalling the ancient Egyptians in culture, lived in close communication with America, and gave it the basis of its earliest civilization. Conservative scholars are disposed to give little attention to purely speculative theories, and prefer to seek the solution of the problem by the most practical methods. It is to the honor of Peru that the government, recognizing the importance of exploring its great treasure-store of antiquities in the interest of modern knowledge, is directing a systematic effort to penetrate the veil of mystery which envelopes the remote past of the country and its people. Dr. Max Uhle, an eminent authority on Peruvian archæology, is now occupied in the work of excavating and classifying Peruvian antiquities in accordance with modern scientific methods. The facts so far accumulated from reliable archæological data point to an antiquity of at least three thousand years, and may indicate a much more remote period of culture.
