_The Incas’ Food Supply_ FOUR One of the greatest aids to the Incas in extending their domains was their abundant food supply: the result, largely, of the great progress they had made along agricultural lines. Although Peru is a very mountainous country, by taking advantage of every available inch of fertile ground where the climate permitted the raising of crops, they were able to carry on a system of agriculture which, in the variety of products yielded, seems truly marvelous. It is stated by Mr. O. F. Cook, of the United States Department of Agriculture, that a complete census of the plants cultivated by the ancient Peruvians would probably include between seventy and eighty species. The most important products are the maize and the potato, one world crop of which is today more valuable than all the gold the conquering Spaniards were able to take out of the country. The cultivation of corn goes very far back, for abundant specimens have been found in ancient graves, and the type of maize that furnishes the bulk of the Peruvian crop is peculiar to that region. Other plants familiar to us are the pineapple, the sweet potato, peanuts, beans, Lima beans, guava (gwä´-vä), alligator pears, _papayas_ (pä-pä´-yäs), and _chirimoyas_ (chee-ree-mo´-yäs), as well as many with which we are not familiar, as _affu_ (äf´-foo), _arracacha_ (är-rä-cä´-chä), _tintin_ (teen´-teen), _tomate_ (to-mä´-tay), _purutu_ (poo-roo´-too), _quinoa_ (keen´-o-ä), _occa_ (ok´-kä), and _ullucu_ (ool-yoo´-koo). From the dried potato a nutritious flour was made called _chuña_ (choon´-yä), which was used to thicken stews. The coca plant (_Erythroxylon_) was widely cultivated, but in the days of the Incas, if we are to believe the historians, its use was regulated by the government. Commonly used today by their modern descendants, it is alcohol’s most potent aid in the degradation of the Peruvian Indian. We must not think, however, that the Incas were vegetarians. Although they lacked sheep, hogs and cattle, in the _llama_ (lyämä) and _alpaca_ they had excellent meat, as well as animals to provide them with wool, and in the case of the _llama_, a serviceable pack animal. The _guanacos_ (gwä-nä´-kos) and _vicuñas_ (vi-coo´-nyas), first cousins of the _llama_, were never domesticated, but were hunted in large drives superintended by representatives of the government. In the mountains there were rodents, such as the _viscacha_ (vee-scä´-chä), _chinchilla_ (cheen-cheel´-yä), and guinea-pigs. In the valleys there were monkeys and parrots. At the sea-shore and near the larger rivers fish were plentiful. Such excellent means of communication existed between the capital at Cuzco and the coast, that the Incas were kept constantly supplied with fresh fish.