QUIBEBON. 614 QUIDOR. feated and driven back to their ships by General Hoche, all tlie prisoners taken being shot by order of the Convention. QUICHE, ke-eha', or KICHE. An ancient civilized nation of Mayan stock (q.v. ) occupying Western Guatemala, with centres at Santa Cruz, Quiche, and Totonicapan, and speaking a dia- lectic form of the language spoken by the Cakchiquel (q.v.). Their chronicles are said to date back to the beginning of the eighth century. Their national culture hero was Xbalanque, who, like Quetzalcoatl (q.v.), was born of a virgin mother, and whose deeds are recorded chiefly in their sacred book, the Popol Vuh (q.v.). Their culture was that common to most of the tribes of the Mayan stock. Their modern de- scendants still form a considerable part of the population of Central and Western Guatemala. QtriCHUA. kechno'a. QQTJICHUA, QUE- CHUA, or KECHTJA. The founders and ruling tribe of the great aboriginal empire of Peru. According to Peruvian tradition their empire was established by !Manco Capac, the youngest of the four sons of the great creator god Viracoeha (q.v.), anthropomorphized as the Sun, who, coming from Paucartambo, 'the House of the Dawn,' journeyed south- ward to the valley where he gathered his peo- ple about him and built the city of Cuzco (q.v.), 'The Navel,' so called because it was des- tined to become the centre and capital of the empire. His successors, the chiefs of the Inca elan, popularly regarded as 'Children of the Sun,' extended their dominions by slow conquest in every direction, including tribes both cognate and alien, civilized and wild, until under the Inca Yupanqui, about the year 1400, it reached from the present Colombian frontier southward to about Santiago, Chile, and from the coast inland across and tjeyond the Andes. For centu- ries after the conquest of Peru by Pizarro (q.v.) the natives cherished the hope of a restoration of their empire, and as late as 1781 Condorcanqui, a descendant of the ancient ruling family, pro- claimed himself the reincarnation of the lost Inca Tupac Amaru, gathered an immense Indian army, marched upon Cuzco, and for two years held at bay the whole power of Spain, until at last he was taken and con- demned, with all his family, to torture and death. The descendants of the ancient stock still constitute the bulk of the population throughout Peru. QUICHUAN STOCK. A linguistic group of which the Quichua (q.v.) are the most noted representatives, and including most of the ancient or existing tribes along the Pacific coast and in the Andes region of South America from about 2° N.. on the southern border of Colombia, to about 32° S. in the neighborhood of Valparaiso. Chile. Within this general area, however, are the Yunca, Aymara, Puquina, and Atacameno, all of alien lineage, but confined to limited territorial dis- tricts. The boundaries of the linguistic stock nearly coincide with thoseof the ancient Peruvian Empire, but include also a few wild tribes, as the IMalaba of Northern Ecuador, never brought under subjection to the Inca rule or civilization. So far as any linguistic evidence can show, the line of migi-ation appears to have been from north to south. The Quitu of Ecuador maintained an in- dependent kingdom under nineteen successive rulers, according to their own tradition, until finally subjugated by the Incas. In physical type all the tribes of this stock are of low stature, hea%-y build, and very strong. With the exception of the few wild border tribes, they were all sharers in the same general culture that prevailed throughout the ancient empire, although in some eases, as with the Quitu, this appears to have been of indigenous growth before the consolida- tion of the empire. The colonizing policy of the Incas tended to' reduce the various cognate lan- guages to one dialectic standard, the Quichua . proper, which is still the prevailing language of Peru and Ecuador outside of the large cities. The present number of persons belonging to the Quichuan stock is probably not far from three million. Consult: Tschudi, Die Eechiia-Sprnche (Vienna, 1853) ; id., Organismus der Khetsua- Sprache (Leipzig, 1884) ; Middendorf, Die ein- heimischen iSjjrachen I'crus ((3 vols., ib., 1890- 92) ; Spilsbury, Lenguas indigenas de Sud-amiri- ca, el Quichua (Buenos Ayres, 1898). QtnCK, John (1748-1831). An English comic actor, born in Whitechapel, London. He went on the stage when he was fourteen. His most famous roles were Tony Lumpkin in .Sfte Stoops to Conquer (1773) and Bob Acres in The^ liivals (1775). He retired in 1798. Quick was short in stature, quaint and whimsical, excellent in original parts and in old comedies, too, and especially famous for his personation of old men. As the First Gravedigger, Dromio of Ephesus, Spado, and Launee, he was one of the best actors of his time. QUICK, Robert HEbbebt (1831-91). An English educator, born in London.- He graduated at Cambridge in 1834 and w-as ordained the fol- lowing year. Afterwards he was an assistant to Dr. Merriman at Cranley and assistant master at Harrow; and he was the first to lecture at Cambridge on the history of education (1881). His Essays on. Educational Reformers (1868; 2d enlarged edition 1890) is a valuable work. He also wrote the article on Frobel in the ninth edition of the Encyclopcedia Britannica, and ed- ited Locke's Home Thoughts Concerning Educa- tion ( 1880) , and reprinted with notes Mulcaster'a Positions (1888). QUICK-FIRING GUNS. See Kapid-Fibe Grxs: ^Machine Gins; Artii.lert. QUICKSAND. A loose sand into which solid bodies readilj- sink. Quicksands are composed of water-worn and rounded particles which under ordinary pressure do not pack together and when moistened behave like a fluid. Any heavy object placed upon the surface is quickly swallowed up, leaving no trace behind ; thus at Pueblo, Colo- rado, in 1875 a locomotive and train sank out of sight after being derailed and could not be located, although probed for to a depth of 50 feet. In conducting mining and engineering operations it is sometimes necessary to freeze the quicksand . by sinking pipes at intervals, which are then used for circulating brines or other liquids at low temperature. QUICKSILVER. See IMercuby. QUIDOR, John (1800-81). An American figure painter, born in Gloucester County, N. J. In 1826 he removed to New York City, where he studied under Jarvis and Inman. Afterwards he lived for a time on a farm near Quincy, 111., i
