“The condition of the peasant in Peru,” summarizes Mr. T. A. Joyce, “approximated nearer to the ideals of the doctrinaire socialist than in any country of the world. But it was at a price which, perhaps, the native of no other country would consent to pay. From the cradle to the grave the life of the individual was marked out for him; as he was born, so would he die, and he lived his allotted span under the ceaseless supervision of officials. His dress was fixed according to his district; he might not leave his village except at the bidding of the state, and then only for state purposes; he might not even seek a wife outside of his own community. An individual of ability might, perhaps, rise to be one of the subordinate inspectors, but the higher ranks were inexorably closed to him.” [Illustration: THE CONCACHA STONE A famous “Huaca” (meaning “holy”). The name was applied to material objects, such as rocks, etc., which were worshiped] Because of this despotism, which placed all the labor in the hands of the state, the Incas were able to achieve marvels in the way of building, road-making, irrigation works, and agricultural engineering. Inherently an agricultural people, the greatest efforts of the ancient Peruvians seem to have been exerted, not in building tombs for the dead, as did the Egyptians, but in making conditions better for the living. It is true that a great deal of labor was expended on the wonderful palaces of their rulers. Each successive Inca thought it necessary to rear an edifice for himself. But the greater part was employed for the benefit of the country as a whole, in irrigation and other projects. Water was brought many miles, and regions which today are desolate through the Spaniards’ failure to keep in repair the ditches and canals were flourishing agricultural communities in the days of the Incas. Rampant streams that threatened to destroy fertile valleys were penned within stone walls. Roads made throughout the whole dominion were useful, of course, for the transportation of troops, but especially valuable because the intershipment of crops was thereby made easy. [Illustration: MACHU PICCHU Intihuatana Hill and Stairway] _Agriculture and Architecture_ As might be expected in a mountainous country, where a wide stretch of level ground is but seldom encountered, the construction of miles upon miles of terraces was necessary. “Many slopes,” writes Mr. O. F. Cook, of the United States Department of Agriculture, “have more than fifty terraces, forming huge staircases as high as the Washington Monument, resting against the lower slopes of mountains that tower thousands of feet above.” [Illustration: RUINS ON KOATI ISLAND The famous Island of the Moon]