“The kingdom remained in the line of their descendants, who were ever regarded as the pure race of the sun; the princes marrying their sisters, and the offspring of these unions being alone eligible to the throne. From Manco to Huayna Capac they counted a succession of twelve princes, who, partly by persuasion and partly by arms, extended their religion, dominion, and laws, through the immense region which runs from Chili to the Equator, gaining or subduing all the people they encountered, either in the mountains of the Cordilleras, or on the plains of the coast. The Inca who most extended the empire was Topa Yupanqui, who carried his conquests southward as far as Chili, and on the north to Quito; although, according to most authors, it was not he who conquered the latter province, but his son Huayna Capac, the most powerful, wealthy, and able of all the Peruvian princes.” “In his reign were established, or greatly perfected, three grand mediums of communication, necessary to provinces so distant and various,—the use of a general dialect, the establishment of posts for the prompt conveyance of intelligence, and lastly, the two great roads which extend from Cuzco to Quito, a distance of more than five hundred leagues. Of these two roads one passes over the Sierras, the other crosses the plains, and both were provided, at proper and convenient distances, with lodgings or quarters, which were called tambos, where the monarch, his court, and army, even though amounting to twenty or thirty thousand men, might find rest and refreshment, and even renew, if necessary, their arms and apparel.”—See pages 158-161 of the interesting work entitled, “Lives of Balboa and Pizarro, from the Spanish of Don Manuel Josef Quintana,” by Mrs. Hodson. [23] To separate wheat and barley from the ear, it is customary to tread the grain by oxen or young cattle. [24] The Indian gardens on the hills of the Sierra are by the Spaniards called _Andenes_, whence Andes.