INCAS DECLARE WAR ON THE KAISER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16963, 27 March 1917, Page 6

INCAS DECLARE WAR ON THE KAISER.

STORY OP THE BURIED TREASURE. One moro nation has declared itself an enemy of the Kaiser and his people. The announcement is made that King Oucashma head of the Jevoros Indian tribe on me Upper Maranon, Peru, has declared war upon- Germany and all her subjects. lhe hostility of these Peruvians to Germany is not discounted in the by the fact that their equipment for war consists largely of shears and bows and arrows. Ihey feel fully confident of their ability to copo with Germany's machine guns and big howitzers, and declare their intention of slaughtering the Kaiser and every other German on whom they can lay hands. Some of us may not know that for years past the Germans have been settling in Brazil to so great an extent that in some districts you can hear nothing but German spoken. They have pushed still further in, and, attracted by the great riches of Peru, have crossed into that country from Brazil, and taken up wide tracts of land for growing wheat and other products and for pasturing their cattle. They are also deeply interested in working some of the rich mines for which Peru has been famous ever since the Spaniards made their way thither in the early part of the sixteenth century. It was in 1541 that Pizarro was murdered by the Indians. Now they are ready to rise again and destroy, if they can, the plantations of the Ge-rmans. who, they elaimj have done them great injury, and are stealing their land and their wealth. — The Crime of Ancient Spain.— Oucashma. King of the Jeveros Indians, claims that he is the direct descendant of the ancient Incas, those mighty and civilised rulers of ancient Peru who fell from power only because they woukl not believe that any other pow. n earl 1, could prevail against them ant. iheir .. gods. The canital crime of the Spanish conquerors, according to the native Peruvians, w"as the destruction of the civilisation which they had built up duriDg many con . turies, the upsetting of all their highly developed system of government, and the slaying of their rulers and nobles. For three centuries they have hoped that some day they might be able lo drive out the invaders and recover their beloved land. King Oucashma, asserting that he is one of the descendants of the great Incas of ancient days, may see in this declaration of war again t Gormanv the firi.t step towards the achievement of this ideal. If he can only drive out the Germans he may be able to stir ud a revolution among the many savage tribes still in the mountains of Peru, and then recover the throne of his ancestors and re-establish the old regime. He and his Indians can see nothing good in European civilisation and religion, and will at once return to the customs, the worshiD. and the life of their ancestors. They still hold in reverence the customs of their savage forbears who worshipped plants" and animals, and offered their- captives as sacrifices to these gods, cutting open their living victims, tearing out their palnitatinsr hearts, and placing them upon the altars of their idols. They also remember the teachings of Mango-Capac, the great law-giver, who taught the worshb of the sun nnd the Great Spirit, under the name of Pachacamac. Tliev tell their children that ancient tale of how Mango-Capac and his wife, being born of the sun, set out from Lake Titicaca, with a golden rod, which the sun had given them, that was to sink into the earth when they reached thejplace at which they were to settle and teach the ' new doctrine. ~ v It was in the valley of Cuzxo that the rod sank into the earth, and this became the seat of their empire, insisting upon the worship of the sun. and teaching much of an advanced civilisation. When j Mango-Capac \died he was deified, and altars raised in his honour. The greatest temple of the sun -was erected in Cuzpo, and, according to an ancient ( - authority, all four walls were covered with plates of gold. Over the high altar was the figure of the sun, on a gold ulate, twice as thick as those on the walls. The picture was a round face, with rays extending- in every direction. It was so large as almost to cover the wall where it hung. Below this tremendous image were ranged the mummies of the Incas, all preserved by some secret process, and each seated on a golden throne. When the Spaniards "came, the natives removed all of these deceased monarchs and their thrones, and they have never since been discovered. This also applies to many other temples laden with silver and -gold images. The ancient Incas would not bring any fire to the altar of the sun, considering it a desecration, but using a highlypolished bowl, they focused the rays of the sun, and catching these on some cotton lint started the fire on the altar. The fii-st sacrifice made was a black lamb. Its lungs and heart were carefully examined lo ascertain the fate of the nation. —Law Forbade Child Pampering.— The Incas were very particular as to marriage. Every year the ruling kin" assembled all marriageable persons in any way related to the royal family. The young men had to be 24, the women between 18 and 20. Then the Inca passed among the assembled men and maidens calling each by name, and joining the hands of those he thought fitted to one another. Each had to promise to be faithful to the other, and .they were then allowed to go to the house of the bridegroom's father, where the marriage-feast was celebrated for three or four 3 days On the day following, the proper officials assemb.ed the tons and daughters of the common people, and married them, as the Inra had done to his own relatives. The people, from the P,rince down to the lowest ranks, were very careful in bringing up their children, hardening them physically m every way, and at the same time educating them in the religion, morals, and science of their day and people. , There was a special class of philosophers and teachers called the Amautas, who, like the philosophers of ancient Greece, did nothing else than instruct the youth in the laws of the country, the practices and principles of their religion and the duties they owed to kine a"d country. ' None was permitted to remain idle, and the namnering of children was forbidden by law. All trained to endure hardships and to think and act for themselves learning even by suffering to avoid comnniting mi'-takes. In this way a race of hardv, efficient, thinking men were reared nnd the civilisation of the people was made the result of natural growth.