History Of The Conquest Of Peru
by William Hickling Prescott

Prepared for Project Gutenberg by Mark Rehorst,
mrehorst@fmi.fujitsu.com February, 1998

Hernando de Soto and Quizquiz 

Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5 

Preface

The most brilliant passages in the history of Spanish adventure in the
New World are undoubtedly afforded by the conquests of Mexico and
Peru--the two states which combined with the largest extent of empire a
refined social polity, and considerable progress in the arts of civilization.
Indeed, so prominently do they stand out on the great canvas of history,
that the name of the one, notwithstanding the contrast they exhibit in
their respective institutions, most naturally suggests that of the other; and
when I sent to Spain to collect materials for an account of the Conquest
of Mexico, I included in my researches those relating to the Conquest of
Peru.

The larger part of the documents, in both cases, was obtained from the
same great repository,--the archives of the Royal Academy of History at
Madrid; a body specially intrusted with the preservation of whatever may
serve to illustrate the Spanish colonial annals.  The richest portion of its
collection is probably that furnished by the papers of Munoz.  This
eminent scholar, historiographer of the Indies, employed nearly fifty
years of his life in amassing materials for a history of Spanish discovery
and conquest in America.  For this, as he acted under the authority of the
government, every facility was afforded him; and public offices and
private depositories, in all the principal cities of the empire, both at home
and throughout the wide extent of its colonial possessions, were freely
opened to his inspection.  The result was a magnificent collection of
manuscripts, many of which he patiently transscribed with his own hand.
But he did not live to reap the fruits of his persevering industry.  The
first volume, relative to the voyages of Columbus, were scarcely finished
when he died; and his manuscripts, at least that portion of them which
have reference to Mexico and Peru, were destined to serve the uses of
another, an inhabitant of that New World to which they related.

Another scholar, to whose literary stores I am largely indebted, is Don
Martin Fernandez de Navarrette, late Director of the Royal Academy of
History.  Through the greater part of his long life he was employed in
assembling original documents to illustrate the colonial annals.  Many of
these have been incorporated in his great work, "Coleccion de los Viages
y Descubrimientos," which, although far from being completed after the
original plan of its author, is of inestimable service to the historian.  In
following down the track of discovery, Navarrete turned aside from the
conquests of Mexico and Peru, to exhibit the voyages of his countrymen
in the Indian seas.  His manuscripts, relating to the two former countries,
he courteously allowed to be copied for me.  Some of them have since
appeared in print, under the auspices of his learned coadjutors, Salva and
Baranda, associated with him in the Academy; but the documents placed
in my hands form a most important contribution to my materials for the
present history.

The death of this illustrious man, which occurred some time after the
present work was begun, has left a void in his country not easy to be
filled; for he was zealously devoted to letters, and few have done more to
extend the knowledge of her colonial history.  Far from an exclusive
solicitude for his own literary projects, he was ever ready to extend his
sympathy and assistance to those of others.  His reputation as a scholar
was enhanced by the higher qualities which he possessed as a man,--by
his benevolence, his simplicity of manners, and unsullied moral worth.
My own obligations to him are large; for from the publication of my first
historical work, down to the last week of his life, I have constantly
received proofs from him of his hearty and most efficient interest in the
prosecution of my historical labors; and I now the more willingly pay
this well-merited tribute to his deserts, that it must be exempt from all
suspicion of flattery.

In the list of those to whom I have been indebted for materials, I must,
also, include the name of M. Ternaux-Compans, so well known by his
faithful and elegant French versions of the Munoz manuscripts; and that
of my friend Don Pascual de Gayangos, who, under the modest dress of
translation, has furnished a most acute and learned commentary on
Spanish Arabian history,--securing for himself the foremost rank in that
difficult department of letters, which has been illumined by the labors of
a Masdeu, a Casiri, and a Conde.

To the materials derived from these sources, I have added some
manuscripts of an important character from the library of the Escurial.
These, which chiefly relate to the ancient institutions of Peru, formed
part of the splendid collection of Lord Kingsborough, which has
unfortunately shared the lot of most literary collections, and been
dispersed since the death of its noble author.  For these I am indebted to
that industrious bibliographer, Mr. O. Rich, now resident in London.
Lastly, I must not omit to mention my obligations, in another way, to my
friend Charles Folsom, Esq., the learned librarian of the Boston
Athenaeum; whose minute acquaintance with the grammatical structure
and the true idiom of our English tongue has enabled me to correct many
inaccuracies into which I had fallen in the composition both of this and
of my former works.

From these different sources I have accumulated a large amount of
manuscripts, of the most various character, and from the most authentic
sources; royal grants and ordinances, instructions of the Court, letters of
the Emperor to the great colonial officers, municipal records, personal
diaries and memoranda, and a mass of private correspondence of the
principal actors in this turbulent drama.  Perhaps it was the turbulent
state of the country which led to a more frequent correspondence
between the government at home and the colonial officers.  But,
whatever be the cause, the collection of manuscript materials in reference
to Peru is fuller and more complete than that which relates to Mexico; so
that there is scarcely a nook or corner so obscure, in the path of the
adventurer, that some light has not been thrown on it by the written
correspondence of the period.  The historian has rather had occasion to
complain of the embarras des richesses; for, in the multiplicity of
contradictory testimony, it is not always easy to detect the truth, as the
multiplicity of cross-lights is apt to dazzle and bewilder the eye of the
spectator.

The present History has been conducted on the same general plan with
that of the Conquest of Mexico.  In an Introductory Book, I have
endeavored to portray the institutions of the Incas, that the reader may be
acquainted with the character and condition of that extraordinary race,
before he enters on the story of their subjugation.  The remaining books
are occupied with the narrative of the Conquest.  And here, the subject, it
must be allowed, notwithstanding the opportunities it presents for the
display of character, strange, romantic incident, and picturesque scenery,
does not afford so obvious advantages to the historian, as the Conquest
of Mexico.  Indeed, few subjects can present a parallel with that, for the
purposes either of the historian or the poet.  The natural development of
the story, there, is precisely what would be prescribed by the severest
rules of art.  The conquest of the country is the great end always in the
view of the reader.  From the first landing of the Spaniards on the soil,
their subsequent adventures, their battles and negotiations, their ruinous
retreat, their rally and final siege, all tend to this grand result, till the
long series is closed by the downfall of the capital.  In the march of
events, all moves steadily forward to this consummation.  It is a
magnificent epic, in which the unity of interest is complete.

In the "Conquest of Peru," the action, so far as it is founded on the
subversion of the Incas, terminates long before the close of the narrative.
The remaining portion is taken up with the fierce feuds of the
Conquerors, which would seem, from their very nature, to be incapable
of being gathered round a central point of interest.  To secure this, we
must look beyond the immediate overthrow of the Indian empire.  The
conquest of the natives is but the first step, to be followed by the
conquest of the Spaniards,--the rebel Spaniards, themselves,--till the
supremacy of the Crown is permanently established over the country.  It
is not till this period, that the acquisition of this Transatlantic empire can
be said to be completed; and, by fixing the eye on this remoter point, the
successive steps of the narrative will be found leading to one great result,
and that unity of interest preserved which is scarcely less essential to
historic than dramatic composition.  How far this has been effected, in
the present work, must be left to the judgment of the reader.

No history of the conquest of Peru, founded on original documents, and
aspiring to the credit of a classic composition, like the "Conquest of
Mexico" by Solis, has been attempted, as far as I am aware, by the
Spaniards.  The English possess one of high value, from the pen of
Robertson, whose masterly sketch occupies its due space in his great
work on America.  It has been my object to exhibit this same story, in all
its romantic details; not merely to portray the characteristic features of
the Conquest, but to fill up the outline with the coloring of life, so as to
present a minute and faithful picture of the times.  For this purpose, I
have, in the composition of the work, availed myself freely of my
manuscript materials, allowed the actors to speak as much as possible for
themselves, and especially made frequent use of their letters; for
nowhere is the heart more likely to disclose itself, than in the freedom of
private correspondence.  I have made liberal extracts from these
authorities in the notes, both to sustain the text, and to put in a printed
form those productions of the eminent captains and statesmen of the
time, which are not very accessible to Spaniards themselves.

M. Amedee Pichot, in the Preface to the French translation of the
"Conquest of Mexico," infers from the plan of the composition, that I
must have carefully studied the writings of his countryman, M. de
Barante.  The acute critic does me but justice in supposing me familiar
with the principles of that writer's historical theory, so ably developed in
the Preface to his "Ducs de Bourgogne." And I have had occasion to
admire the skilful manner in which he illustrates this theory himself, by
constructing out of the rude materials of a distant time a monument of
genius that transports us at once into the midst of the Feudal Ages,-and
this without the incongruity which usually attaches to a modernantique.
In like manner, I have attempted to seize the characteristic expression of
a distant age, and to exhibit it in the freshness of life.  But in an essential
particular, I have deviated from the plan of the French historian.  I have
suffered the scaffolding to remain after the building has been completed.
In other words, I have shown to the reader the steps of the process by
which I have come to my conclusions.  Instead of requiring him to take
my version of the story on trust, I have endeavored to give him a reason
for my faith.  By copious citations from the original authorities, and by
such critical notices of them as would explain to him the influences to
which they were subjected, I have endeavored to put him in a position
for judging for himself, and thus for revising, and, if need be, reversing,
the judgments of the historian.  He will, at any rate, by this means, be
enabled to estimate the difficulty of arriving at truth amidst the conflict
of testimony; and he will learn to place little reliance on those writers
who pronounce on the mysterious past with what Fontenelle calls "a
frightful degree of certainty,"--a spirit the most opposite to that of the
true philosophy of history.

Yet it must be admitted, that the chronicler who records the events of an
earlier age has some obvious advantages in the store of manuscript
materials at his command,--the statements of friends, rivals, and enemies,
furnishing a wholesome counterpoise to each other; and also, in the
general course of events, as they actually occurred, affording the best
commentary on the true motives of the parties.  The actor, engaged in the
heat of the strife, finds his view bounded by the circle around him and
his vision blinded by the smoke and dust of the conflict: while the
spectator, whose eye ranges over the ground from a more distant and
elevated point, though the individual objects may lose somewhat of their
vividness, takes in at a glance all the operations of the field.  Paradoxical
as it may appear, truth rounded on contemporary testimony would seem,
after all, as likely to be attained by the writer of a later day, as by
contemporaries themselves.

Before closing these remarks, I may be permitted to add a few of a
personal nature.  In several foreign notices of my writings, the author has
been said to be blind; and more than once I have had the credit of having
lost my sight in the composition of my first history.  When I have met
with such erroneous accounts, I have hastened to correct them.  But the
present occasion affords me the best means of doing so; and I am the
more desirous of this, as I fear some of my own remarks, in the Prefaces
to my former histories, have led to the mistake.

While at the University, I received an injury in one of my eyes, which
deprived me of the sight of it.  The other, soon after, was attacked by
inflammation so severely, that, for some time, I lost the sight of that also;
and though it was subsequently restored, the organ was so much
disordered as to remain permanently debilitated, while twice in my life,
since, I have been deprived of the use of it for all purposes of reading
and writing, for several years together.  It was during one of these
periods that I received from Madrid the materials for the "History of
Ferdinand and Isabella," and in my disabled condition, with my
Transatlantic treasures lying around me, I was like one pining from
hunger in the midst of abundance.  In this state, I resolved to make the
ear, if possible, do the work of the eye.  I procured the services of a
secretary, who read to me the various authorities; and in time I became
so far familiar with the sounds of the different foreign languages (to
some of which, indeed, I had been previously accustomed by a residence
abroad), that I could comprehend his reading without much difficulty.
As the reader proceeded, I dictated copious notes; and, when these had
swelled to a considerable amount, they were read to me repeatedly, till I
had mastered their contents sufficiently for the purposes of composition.
The same notes furnished an easy means of reference to sustain the text.

Still another difficulty occurred, in the mechanical labor of writing,
which I found a severe trial to the eye.  This was remedied by means of a
writing-case, such as is used by the blind, which enabled me to commit
my thoughts to paper without the aid of sight, serving me equally well in
the dark as in the light.  The characters thus formed made a near
approach to hieroglyphics; but my secretary became expert in the art of
deciphering, and a fair copy--with a liberal allowance for unavoidable
blunders--was transcribed for the 'use of the printer.  I have described the
process with more minuteness, as some curiosity has been repeatedly
expressed in reference to my modus operandi under my privations, and
the knowledge of it may be of some assistance to others in similar
circumstances.

Though I was encouraged by the sensible progress of my work, it was
necessarily slow.  But in time the tendency to inflammation diminished,
and the strength of the eye was confirmed more and more.  It was at
length so far restored, that I could read for several hours of the day
though my labors in this way necessarily terminated with the daylight.
Nor could I ever dispense with the services of a secretary, or with the
writing-case; for, contrary to the usual experience, I have found writing a
severer trial to the eye than reading,--a remark, however, which does not
apply to the reading of manuscript; and to enable myself therefore, to
revise my composition more carefully, I caused a copy of the "History of
Ferdinand and Isabella" to be printed for my own inspection, before it
was sent to the press for publication.  Such as I have described was the
improved state of my health during the preparation of the "Conquest of
Mexico"; and, satisfied with being raised so nearly to a level with the
rest of my species, I scarcely envied the superior good fortune of those
who could prolong their studies into the evening, and the later hours of
the night.

But a change has again taken place during the last two years.  The sight
of my eye has become gradually dimmed, while the sensibility of the
nerve has been so far increased, that for several weeks of the last year I
have not opened a volume, and through the whole time I have not had the
use of it, on an average, for more than an hour a day.  Nor can I cheer
myself with the delusive expectation, that, impaired as the organ has
become, from having been tasked, probably, beyond its strength, it can
ever renew its youth, or be of much service to me hereafter in my literary
researches.  Whether I shall have the heart to enter, as I had proposed, on
a new and more extensive field of historical labor, with these
impediments, I cannot say.  Perhaps long habit, and a natural desire to
follow up the career which I have so long pursued, may make this, in a
manner, necessary, as my past experience has already proved that it is
practicable.

From this statement--too long, I fear, for his patience--the reader, who
feels any curiosity about the matter, will understand the real extent of my
embarrassments in my historical pursuits.  That they have not been very
light will be readily admitted, when it is considered that I have had but a
limited use of my eye, in its best state, and that much of the time I have
been debarred from the use of it altogether.  Yet the difficulties I have
had to contend with are very far inferior to those which fall to the lot of a
blind man.  I know of no historian, now alive, who can claim the glory of
having overcome such obstacles, but the author of "La Conquete de
l'Angleterre par les Normands"; who, to use his own touching and
beautiful language, "has made himself the friend of darkness"; and who,
to a profound philosophy that requires no light but that from within,
unites a capacity for extensive and various research, that might well
demand the severest application of the student.

The remarks into which I have been led at such length will, I trust, not be
set down by the reader to an unworthy egotism, but to their true source, a
desire to correct a misapprehension to which I may have unintentionally
given rise myself, and which has gained me the credit with some--far
from grateful to my feelings, since undeserved--of having surmounted
the incalculable obstacles which lie in the path of the blind man.

Boston, April 2, 1847.



History Of The Conquest Of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

Book 1

Introduction

View Of The Civilization Of The Incas

Chapter 1

Physical Aspect Of The Country--Sources Of Peruvian Civilization--
Empire Of The Incas--Royal Family--Nobility

Of the numerous nations which occupied the great American continent at
the time of its discovery by the Europeans, the two most advanced in
power and refinement were undoubtedly those of Mexico and Peru.  But,
though resembling one another in extent of civilization, they differed
widely as to the nature of it; and the philosophical student of his species
may feel a natural curiosity to trace the different steps by which these two
nations strove to emerge from the state of barbarism, and place
themselves on a higher point in the scale of humanity.--In a former work I
have endeavored to exhibit the institutions and character of the ancient
Mexicans, and the story of their conquest by the Spaniards.  The present
will be devoted to the Peruvians; and, if their history shall be found to
present less strange anomalies and striking contrasts than that of the
Aztecs, it may interest us quite as much by the pleasing picture it offers of
a well-regulated government and sober habits of industry under the
patriarchal sway of the Incas.

The empire of Peru, at the period of the Spanish invasion, stretched along
the Pacific from about the second degree north to the thirty-seventh
degree of south latitude; a line, also, which describes the western
boundaries of the modern republics of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chili.
Its breadth cannot so easily be determined; for, though bounded
everywhere by the great ocean on the west, towards the east it spread out,
in many parts, considerably beyond the mountains, to the confines of
barbarous states, whose exact position is undetermined, or whose names
are effaced from the map of history.  It is certain, however, that its breadth
was altogether disproportioned to its length.1

The topographical aspect of the country is very remarkable.  A strip of
land, rarely exceeding twenty leagues in width, runs along the coast, and
is hemmed in through its whole extent by a colossal range of mountains,
which, advancing from the Straits of Magellan, reaches its highest
elevation-indeed, the highest on the American continent--about the
seventeenth degree south, 2 and, after crossing the line, gradually subsides
into hills of inconsiderable magnitude, as it enters the isthmus of Panama.
This is the famous Cordillera of the Andes, or "copper mountains," 3 as
termed by the natives, though they might with more reason have been
called "mountains of gold." Arranged sometimes in a single line, though
more frequently in two or three lines running parallel or obliquely to each
other, they seem to the voyager on the ocean but one continuous chain;
while the huge volcanoes, which to the inhabitants of the tableland look
like solitary and independent masses, appear to aim only like so many
peaks of the same vast and magnificent range.  So immense is the scale on
which Nature works in these regions, that it is only when viewed from a
great distance, that the spectator can, in any degree, comprehend the
relation of the several parts to the stupendous whole.  Few of the works of
Nature, indeed, are calculated to produce impressions of higher sublimity
than the aspect of this coast, as it is gradually unfolded to the eye of the
mariner sailing on the distant waters of the Pacific; where mountain is
seen to rise above mountain, and Chimborazo, with its glorious canopy of
snow, glittering far above the clouds, crowns the whole as with a celestial
diadem.4

The face of the country would appear to be peculiarly unfavorable to the
purposes both of agriculture and of internal communication.  The sandy
strip along the coast, where rain never falls, is fed only by a few scanty
streams, that furnish a remarkable contrast to the vast volumes of water
which roll down the eastern sides of the Cordilleras into the Atlantic.  The
precipitous steeps of the sierra, with its splintered sides of porphyry and
granite, and its higher regions wrapped in snows that never melt under the
fierce sun of the equator, unless it be from the desolating action of its own
volcanic fires, might seem equally unpropitious to the labors of the
husbandman.  And all communication between the parts of the long-
extended territory might be thought to be precluded by the savage
character of the region, broken up by precipices, furious torrents, and
impassable quebradas,--those hideous rents in the mountain chain, whose
depths the eye of the terrified traveller, as he winds along his aerial
pathway, vainly endeavors to fathom.5  Yet the industry, we might almost
say, the genius, of the Indian was sufficient to overcome all these
impediments of Nature.

By a judicious system of canals and subterraneous aqueducts, the waste
places on the coast were refreshed by copious streams, that clothed them
in fertility and beauty.  Terraces were raised upon the steep sides of the
Cordillera; and, as the different elevations had the effect of difference of
latitude, they exhibited in regular gradation every variety of vegetable
form, from the stimulated growth of the tropics, to the temperate products
of a northern clime; while flocks of llamas--the Peruvian sheep--wandered
with their shepherds over the broad, snow-covered wastes on the crests of
the sierra, which rose beyond the limits of cultivation.  An industrious
population settled along the lofty regions of the plateaus, and towns and
hamlets, clustering amidst orchards and widespreading gardens, seemed
suspended in the air far above the ordinary elevation of the clouds.  6
Intercourse was maintained between these numerous settlements by means
of great roads which traversed the mountain passes, and opened an easy
communication between the capital and the remotest extremities of the
empire.

The source of this civilization is traced to the valley of Cuzco, the central
region of Peru, as its name implies.7  The origin of the Peruvian empire,
like the origin of all nations, except the very few which, like our own,
have had the good fortune to date from a civilized period and people, is
lost in the mists of fable, which, in fact, have settled as darkly round its
history as round that of any nation, ancient or modern, in the Old World.
According to the tradition most familiar to the European scholar, the time
was, when the ancient races of the continent were all plunged in
deplorable barbarism; when they worshipped nearly every object in nature
indiscriminately; made war their pastime, and feasted on the flesh of their
slaughtered captives.  The Sun, the great luminary and parent of mankind,
taking compassion on their degraded condition, sent two of his children,
Manco Capac and Mama Oello Huaco, to gather the natives into
communities, and teach them the arts of civilized life.  The celestial pair,
brother and sister, husband and wife, advanced along the high plains in
the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca, to about the sixteenth degree south.
They bore with them a golden wedge, and were directed to take up their
residence on the spot where the sacred emblem should without effort sink
into the ground.  They proceeded accordingly but a short distance, as far
as the valley of Cuzco, the spot indicated by the performance of the
miracle, since there the wedge speedily sank into the earth and
disappeared for ever.  Here the children of the Sun established their
residence, and soon entered upon their beneficent mission among the rude
inhabitants of the country; Manco Capac teaching the men the arts of
agriculture, and Mama Oello  8 initiating her own sex in the mysteries of
weaving and spinning.  The simple people lent a willing ear to the
messengers of Heaven, and, gathering together in considerable numbers,
laid the foundations of the city of Cuzco.  The same wise and benevolent
maxims, which regulated the conduct of the first Incas, 9 descended to
their successors, and under their mild sceptre a community gradually
extended itself along the broad surface of the table-land, which asserted
its superiority over the surrounding tribes.  Such is the pleasing picture of
the origin of the Peruvian monarchy, as portrayed by Garcilasso de la
Vega, the descendant of the Incas, and through him made familiar to the
European reader.10

But this tradition is only one of several current among the Peruvian
Indians, and probably not the one most generally received.  Another
legend speaks of certain white and bearded men, who, advancing from the
shores of Lake Titicaca, established an ascendancy over the natives, and
imparted to them the blessings of civilization.  It may remind us of the
tradition existing among the Aztecs in respect to Quetzalcoatl, the good
deity, who with a similar garb and aspect came up the great plateau from
the east on a like benevolent mission to the natives.  The analogy is the
more remarkable, as there is no trace of any communication with, or even
knowledge of, each other to be found in the two nations.11

The date usually assigned for these extraordinary events was about four
hundred years before the coming of the Spaniards, or early in the twelfth
century.12  But, however pleasing to the imagination, and however
popular, the legend of Manco Capac, it requires but little reflection to
show its improbability, even when divested of supernatural
accompaniments.  On the shores of Lake Titicaca extensive ruins exist at
the present day, which the Peruvians themselves acknowledge to be of
older date than the pretended advent of the Incas, and to have furnished
them with the models of their architecture.13  The date of their
appearance, indeed, is manifestly irreconcilable with their subsequent
history.  No account assigns to the Inca dynasty more than thirteen princes
before the Conquest.  But this number is altogether too small to have
spread over four hundred years, and would not carry back the foundations
of the monarchy, on any probable computation, beyond two centuries and
a half,-an antiquity not incredible in itself, and which, it may be remarked,
does not precede by more than half a century the alleged foundation of the
capital of Mexico.  The fiction of Manco Capac and his sister-wife was
devised, no doubt, at a later period, to gratify the vanity of the Peruvian
monarchs, and to give additional sanction to their authority by deriving it
from a celestial origin.

We may reasonably conclude that there existed in the country a race
advanced in civilization before the time of the Incas; and, in conformity
with nearly every tradition, we may derive this race from the
neighborhood of Lake Titicaca;  a conclusion strongly confirmed by the
imposing architectural remains which still endure, after the lapse of so
many years, on its borders.  Who this race were, and whence they came,
may afford a tempting theme for inquiry to the speculative antiquarian.
But it is a land of darkness that lies far beyond the domain of history.15

The same mists that hang round the origin of the Incas continue to settle
on their subsequent annals; and, so imperfect were the records employed
by the Peruvians, and so confused and contradictory their traditions, that
the historian finds no firm footing on which to stand till within a century
of the Spanish conquest.16  At first, the progress of the Peruvians seems
to have been slow, and almost imperceptible.  By their wise and temperate
policy, they gradually won over the neighboring tribes to their dominion,
as these latter became more and more convinced of the benefits of a just
and well-regulated government.  As they grew stronger, they were enabled
to rely more directly on force; but, still advancing under cover of the same
beneficent pretexts employed by their predecessors, they proclaimed
peace and civilization at the point of the sword.  The rude nations of the
country, without any principle of cohesion among themselves, fell one
after another before the victorious arm of the Incas.  Yet it was not till the
middle of the fifteenth century that the famous Topa Inca Yupanqui,
grandfather of the monarch who occupied the throne at the coming of the
Spaniards, led his armies across the terrible desert of Atacama, and,
penetrating to the southern region of Chili, fixed the permanent boundary
of his dominions at the river Maule.  His son, Huayna Capac, possessed of
ambition and military talent fully equal to his father's, marched along the
Cordillera towards the north, and, pushing his conquests across the
equator, added the powerful kingdom of Quito to the empire of Peru.17

The ancient city of Cuzco, meanwhile, had been gradually advancing in
wealth and population, till it had become the worthy metropolis of a great
and flourishing monarchy.  It stood in a beautiful valley on an elevated
region of the plateau, which, among the Alps, would have been buried in
eternal snows, but which within the tropics enjoyed a genial and
salubrious temperature.  Towards the north it was defended by a lofty
eminence, a spur of the great Cordillera; and the city was traversed by a
river, or rather a small stream, over which bridges of timber, covered with
heavy slabs of stone, furnished an easy means of communication with the
opposite banks.  The streets were long and narrow; the houses low, and
those of the poorer sort built of clay and reeds.  But Cuzco was the royal
residence, and was adorned with the ample dwellings of the great nobility;
and the massy fragments still incorporated in many of the modern edifices
bear testimony to the size and solidity of the ancient.18

The health of the city was promoted by spacious openings and squares, in
which a numerous population from the capital and the distant country
assembled to celebrate the high festivals of their religion.  For Cuzco was
the "Holy City"; 19 and the great temple of the Sun, to which pilgrims
resorted from the furthest borders of the empire, was the most magnificent
structure in the New World, and unsurpassed, probably, in the costliness
of its decorations by any building in the Old.

Towards the north, on the sierra or rugged eminence already noticed, rose
a strong fortress, the remains of which at the present day, by their vast
size, excite the admiration of the traveller.20 It was defended by a single
wall of great thickness, and twelve hundred feet long on the side facing
the city, where the precipitous character of the ground was of itself almost
sufficient for its defence.  On the other quarter, where the approaches
were less difficult, it was protected by two other semicircular walls of the
same length as the preceding.  They were separated, a considerable
distance from one another and from the fortress; and the intervening
ground was raised so that the walls afforded a breastwork for the troops
stationed there in times of assault.  The fortress consisted of three towers,
detached from one another.  One was appropriated to the Inca, and was
garnished with the sumptuous decorations befitting a royal residence,
rather than a military post.  The other two were held by the garrison,
drawn from the Peruvian nobles, and commanded by an officer of the
blood royal; for the position was of too great importance to be intrusted to
inferior hands.  The hill was excavated below the towers, and several
subterraneous galleries communicated with the city and the palaces of the
Inca.21

The fortress, the walls, and the galleries were all built of stone, the heavy
blocks of which were not laid in regular courses, but so disposed that the
small ones might fill up the interstices between the great.  They formed a
sort of rustic work, being rough-hewn except towards the edges, which
were finely wrought; and, though no cement was used, the several blocks
were adjusted with so much exactness and united so closely, that it was
impossible to introduce even the blade of a knife between them.22  Many
of these stones were of vast size; some of them being full thirty-eight feet
long, by eighteen broad, and six feet thick.23

We are filled with astonishment, when we consider, that these enormous
masses were hewn from their native bed and fashioned into shape, by a
people ignorant of the use of iron; that they were brought from quarries,
from four to fifteen leagues distant, 24 without the aid of beasts of burden;
were transported across rivers and ravines, raised to their elevated
position on the sierra, and finally adjusted there with the nicest accuracy,
without the knowledge of tools and machinery familiar to the European.
Twenty thousand men are said to have been employed on this great
structure, and fifty years consumed in the building.25  However this may
be, we see in it the workings of a despotism which had the lives and
fortunes of its vassals at its absolute disposal, and which, however mild in
its general character, esteemed these vassals, when employed in its
service, as lightly as the brute animals for which they served as a
substitute.

The fortress of Cuzco was but part of a system of fortifications established
throughout their dominions by the Incas.  This system formed a prominent
feature in their military policy; but before entering on this latter, it will
be proper to give the reader some view of their civil institutions and
scheme of government.

The sceptre of the Incas, if we may credit their historian, descended in
unbroken succession from father to son, through their whole dynasty.
Whatever we may think of this, it appears probable that the right of
inheritance might be claimed by the eldest son of the Coya, or lawful
queen, as she was styled, to distinguish her from the host of concubines
who shared the affections of the sovereign.26  The queen was further
distinguished, at least in later reigns, by the circumstance of being
selected from the sisters of the Inca, an arrangement which, however
revolting to the ideas of civilized nations, was recommended to the
Peruvians by its securing an heir to the crown of the pure heaven-born
race, uncontaminated by any mixture of earthly mould.27

In his early years, the royal offspring was intrusted to the care of the
amautas, or "wise men," as the teachers of Peruvian science were called,
who instructed him in such elements of knowledge as they possessed, and
especially in the cumbrous ceremonial of their religion, in which he was
to take a prominent part.  Great care was also bestowed on his military
education, of the last importance in a state which, with its professions of
peace and good-will, was ever at war for the acquisition of empire.

In this military school he was educated with such of the Inca nobles as
were nearly of his own age; for the sacred name of Inca--a fruitful source
of obscurity in their annals--was applied indifferently to all who
descended by the male line from the founder of the monarchy.28  At the
age of sixteen the pupils underwent a public examination, previous to
their admission to what may be called the order of chivalry.  This
examination was conducted by some of the oldest and most illustrious
Incas.  The candidates were required to show their prowess in the athletic
exercises of the warrior; in wrestling and boxing, in running such long
courses as fully tried their agility and strength, in severe fasts of several
days' duration, and in mimic combats, which, although the weapons were
blunted, were always attended with wounds, and sometimes with death.
During this trial, which lasted thirty days, the royal neophyte fared no
better than his comrades, sleeping on the bare ground, going unshod, and
wearing a mean attire,--a mode of life, it was supposed, which might tend
to inspire him with more sympathy with the destitute.  With all this show
of impartiality, however, it will probably be doing no injustice to the
judges to suppose that a politic discretion may have somewhat quickened
their perceptions of the real merits of the heir-apparent.

At the end of the appointed time, the candidates selected as worthy of the
honors of their barbaric chivalry were presented to the sovereign, who
condescended to take a principal part in the ceremony of inauguration.
He began with a brief discourse, in which, after congratulating the young
aspirants on the proficiency they had shown in martial exercises, he
reminded them of the responsibilities attached to their birth and station;
and, addressing them affectionately as "children of the Sun," he exhorted
them to imitate their great progenitor in his glorious career of beneficence
to mankind.  The novices then drew near, and, kneeling one by one before
the Inca, he pierced their ears with a golden bodkin; and this was suffered
to remain there till an opening had been made large enough for the
enormous pendants which were peculiar to their order, and which gave
them, with the Spaniards, the name of orejones.29  This ornament was so
massy in the ears of the sovereign, that the cartilage was distended by it
nearly to the shoulder, producing what seemed a monstrous deformity in
the eyes of the Europeans, though, under the magical influence of fashion,
it was regarded as a beauty by the natives.

When this operation was performed, one of the most venerable of the
nobles dressed the feet of the candidates in the sandals worn by the order,
which may remind us of the ceremony of buckling on the spurs of the
Christian knight.  They were then allowed to assume the girdle or sash
around the loins, corresponding with the toga virilis of the Romans, and
intimating that they had reached the season of manhood.  Their heads
were adorned with garlands of flowers, which, by their various colors,
were emblematic of the clemency and goodness that should grace the
character of every true warrior; and the leaves of an evergreen plant were
mingled with the flowers, to show that these virtues should endure without
end.30  The prince's head was further ornamented by a fillet, or tasselled
fringe, of a yellow color, made of the fine threads of the vicuna wool,
which encircled the forehead as the peculiar insignia of the heir apparent.
The great body of the Inca nobility next made their appearance, and,
beginning with those nearest of kin, knelt down before the prince, and did
him homage as successor to the crown.  The whole assembly then moved
to the great square of the capital, where songs, and dances, and other
public festivities closed the important ceremonial of the huaracu.31

The reader will be less surprised by the resemblance which this
ceremonial bears to the inauguration of a Christian knight in the feudal
ages, if he reflects that a similar analogy may be traced in the institutions
of other people more or less civilized; and that it is natural that nations,
occupied with the one great business of war, should mark the period,
when the preparatory education for it was ended, by similar characteristic
ceremonies.
Having thus honorably passed through his ordeal, the heir-apparent was
deemed worthy to sit in the councils of his father, and was employed in
offices of trust at home, or, more usually, sent on distant expeditions to
practise in the field the lessons which he had hitherto studied only in the
mimic theatre of war.  His first campaigns were conducted under the
renowned commanders who had grown grey in the service of his father;
until, advancing in years and experience, he was placed in command
himself, and, like Huayna Capac, the last and most illustrious of his line,
carried the banner of the rainbow, the armorial ensign of his house, far
over the borders, among the remotest tribes of the plateau.

The government of Peru was a despotism, mild in its character, but in its
form a pure and unmitigated despotism.  The sovereign was placed at an
immeasurable distance above his subjects.  Even the proudest of the Inca
nobility, claiming a descent from the same divine original as himself,
could not venture into the royal presence, unless barefoot, and bearing a
light burden on his shoulders in token of homage.32  As the
representative of the Sun, he stood at the head of the priesthood, and
presided at the most important of the religious festivals.33  He raised
armies, and usually commanded them in person.  He imposed taxes, made
laws, and provided for their execution by the appointment of judges,
whom he removed at pleasure.  He was the source from which every thing
flowed, all dignity, all power, all emolument.  He was, in short, in the well-
known phrase of the European despot, "himself the state." 34

The Inca asserted his claims as a superior being by assuming a pomp in
his manner of living well calculated to impose on his people.  His dress
was of the finest wool of the vicuna, richly dyed, and ornamented with a
profusion of gold and precious stones.  Round his head was wreathed a
turban of many-colored folds, called the llautu; and a tasselled fringe, like
that worn by the prince, but of a scarlet color, with two feathers of a rare
and curious bird, called the coraquenque, placed upright in it, were the
distinguishing insignia of royalty.  The birds from which these feathers
were obtained were found in a desert country among the mountains; and it
was death to destroy or to take them, as they were reserved for the
exclusive purpose of supplying the royal head-gear.  Every succeeding
monarch was provided with a new pair of these plumes, and his credulous
subjects fondly believed that only two individuals of the species had ever
existed to furnish the simple ornament for the diadem of the Incas.35

Although the Peruvian monarch was raised so far above the highest of his
subjects, he condescended to mingle occasionally with them, and took
great pains personally to inspect the condition of the humbler classes.  He
presided at some of the religious celebrations, and on these occasions
entertained the great nobles at his table, when he complimented them,
after the fashion of more civilized nations, by drinking the health of those
whom he most delighted to honor.36

But the most effectual means taken by the Incas for communicating with
their people were their progresses through the empire.  These were
conducted, at intervals of several years, with great state and magnificence.
The sedan, or litter, in which they travelled, richly emblazoned with gold
and emeralds, was guarded by a numerous escort.  The men who bore it
on their shoulders were provided by two cities, specially appointed for the
purpose.  It was a post to be coveted by no one, if, as is asserted, a fall
was punished by death.37  They travelled with ease and expedition,
halting at the tambos, or inns, erected by government along the route, and
occasionally at the royal palaces, which in the great towns afforded ample
accommodations to the whole of the monarch's retinue.  The noble roads
which traversed the table-land were lined with people who swept away the
stones and stubble from their surface, strewing them with sweet-scented
flowers, and vying with each other in carrying forward the baggage from
one village to another.  The monarch halted from time to time to listen to
the grievances of his subjects, or to settle some points which had been
referred to his decision by the regular tribunals.  As the princely train
wound its way along the mountain passes, every place was thronged with
spectators eager to catch a glimpse of their sovereign; and, when he raised
the curtains of his litter, and showed himself to their eyes, the air was rent
with acclamations as they invoked blessings on his head.38  Tradition
long commemorated the spots at which he halted, and the simple people
of the country held them in reverence as places consecrated by the
presence of an Inca.39

The royal palaces were on a magnificent scale, and, far from being
confined to the capital or a few principal towns, were scattered over all
the provinces of their vast empire.40  The buildings were low, but
covered a wide extent of ground.  Some of the apartments were spacious,
but they were generally small, and had no communication with one
another, except that they opened into a common square or court.  The
walls were made of blocks of stone of various sizes, like those described
in the fortress of Cuzco, rough-hewn, but carefully wrought near the line
of junction, which was scarcely visible to the eye.  The roofs were of
wood or rushes, which have perished under the rude touch of time, that
has shown more respect for the walls of the edifices.  The whole seems to
have been characterized by solidity and strength, rather than by any
attempt at architectural elegance.41

But whatever want of elegance there may have been in the exterior of the
imperial dwellings, it was amply compensated by the interior, in which all
the opulence of the Peruvian princes was ostentatiously displayed.  The
sides of the apartments were thickly studded with gold and silver
ornaments.  Niches, prepared in the walls, were filled with images of
animals and plants curiously wrought of the same costly materials; and
even much of the domestic furniture, including the utensils devoted to the
most ordinary menial services, displayed the like wanton magnificence!
42  With these gorgeous decorations were mingled richly colored stuffs of
the delicate manufacture of the Peruvian wool, which were of so beautiful
a texture, that the Spanish sovereigns, with all the luxuries of Europe and
Asia at their command, did not disdain to use them.43  The royal
household consisted of a throng of menials, supplied by the neighboring
towns and villages, which, as in Mexico, were bound to furnish the
monarch with fuel and other necessaries for the consumption of the
palace.

But the favorite residence of the Incas was at Yucay, about four leagues
distant from the capital.  In this delicious valley, locked up within the
friendly arms of the sierra, which sheltered it from the rude breezes of the
east, and refreshed by gushing fountains and streams of running water,
they built the most beautiful of their palaces.  Here, when wearied with
the dust and toil of the city, they loved to retreat, and solace themselves
with the society of their favorite concubines, wandering amidst groves and
airy gardens, that shed around their soft, intoxicating odors, and lulled the
senses to voluptuous repose.  Here, too, they loved to indulge in the
luxury of their baths, replenished by streams of crystal water which were
conducted through subterraneous silver channels into basins of gold.  The
spacious gardens were stocked with numerous varieties of plants and
flowers that grew without effort in this temperate region of the tropics,
while parterres of a more extraordinary kind were planted by their side,
glowing with the various forms of vegetable life skilfully imitated in gold
and silver! Among them the Indian corn, the most beautiful of American
grains, is particularly commemorated, and the curious workmanship is
noticed with which the golden ear was half disclosed amidst the broad
leaves of silver, and the light tassel of the same material that floated
gracefully from its top.44

If this dazzling picture staggers the faith of the reader, he may reflect that
the Peruvian mountains teemed with gold; that the natives understood the
art of working the mines, to a considerable extent; that none of the ore, as
we shall see hereafter, was converted into coin, and that the whole of it
passed into the hands of the sovereign for his own exclusive benefit,
whether for purposes of utility or ornament.  Certain it is that no fact is
better attested by the Conquerors themselves, who had ample means of
information, and no motive for misstatement.--The Italian poets, in their
gorgeous pictures of the gardens of Alcina and Morgana, came nearer the
truth than they imagined.

Our surprise, however, may reasonably be excited, when we consider that
the wealth displayed by the Peruvian princes was only that which each
had amassed individually for himself.  He owed nothing to inheritance
from his predecessors.  On the decease of an Inca, his palaces were
abandoned, all his treasures, except what were employed in his obsequies,
his furniture and apparel, were suffered to remain as he left them, and his
mansions, save one, were closed up for ever.  The new sovereign was to
provide himself with every thing new for his royal state.  The reason of
this was the popular belief, that the soul of the departed monarch would
return after a time to reanimate his body on earth; and they wished that he
should find every thing to which he had been used in life prepared for his
reception.45

When an Inca died, or, to use his own language, "was called home to the
mansions of his father, the Sun,"  46 his obsequies were celebrated with
great pomp and solemnity.  The bowels were taken from the body, and
deposited in the temple of Tampu, about five leagues from the capital.  A
quantity of his plate and jewels was buried with them, and a number of his
attendants and favorite concubines, amounting sometimes, it is said, to a
thousand, were immolated on his tomb.47  Some of them showed the
natural repugnance to the sacrifice occasionally manifested by the victims
of a similar superstition in India.  But these were probably the menials
and more humble attendants; since the women have been known, in more
than one instance, to lay violent hands on themselves, when restrained
from testifying their fidelity by this act of conjugal martyrdom.  This
melancholy ceremony was followed by a general mourning throughout the
empire.  At stated intervals, for a year, the people assembled to renew the
expressions of their sorrow, processions were made, displaying the banner
of the departed monarch; bards and minstrels were appointed to chronicle
his achievements, and their songs continued to be rehearsed at high
festivals in the presence of the reigning monarch,--thus stimulating the
living by the glorious example of the dead.48

The body of the deceased Inca was skilfully embalmed, and removed to
the great temple of the Sun at Cuzco.  There the Peruvian sovereign, on
entering the awful sanctuary, might behold the effigies of his royal
ancestors, ranged in opposite files,--the men on the right, and their queens
on the left, of the great luminary which blazed in refulgent gold on the
walls of the temple.  The bodies, clothed in the princely attire which they
had been accustomed to wear, were placed on chairs of gold, and sat with
their heads inclined downward, their hands placidly crossed over their
bosoms, their countenances exhibiting their natural dusky hue,--less liable
to change than the fresher coloring of a European complexion,--and their
hair of raven black, or silvered over with age, according to the period at
which they died! It seemed like a company of solemn worshippers fixed in
devotion,--so true were the forms and lineaments to life.  The Peruvians
were as successful as the Egyptians in the miserable attempt to perpetuate
the existence of the body beyond the limits assigned to it by nature.49

They cherished a still stranger illusion in the attentions which they
continued to pay to these insensible remains, as if they were instinct with
life.  One of the houses belonging to a deceased Inca was kept open and
occupied by his guard and attendants, with all the state appropriate to
royalty.  On certain festivals, the revered bodies of the sovereigns were
brought out with great ceremony into the public square of the capital.
Invitations were sent by the captains of the guard of the respective Incas
to the different nobles and officers of the court; and entertainments were
provided in the names of their masters, which displayed all the profuse
magnificence of their treasures,--and "such a display," says an ancient
chronicler, "was there in the great square of Cuzco, on this occasion, of
gold and silver plate and jewels, as no other city in the world ever
witnessed." 50  The banquet was served by the menials of the respective
households, and the guests partook of the melancholy cheer in the
presence of the royal phantom with the same attention to the forms of
courtly etiquette as if the living monarch had presided! 51

The nobility of Peru consisted of two orders, the first and by far the most
important of which was that of the Incas, who, boasting a common
descent with their sovereign, lived, as it were, in the reflected light of his
glory.  As the Peruvian monarchs availed themselves of the right of
polygamy to a very liberal extent, leaving behind them families of one or
even two hundred children, 52 the nobles of the blood royal, though
comprehending only their descendants in the male line, came in the course
of years to be very numerous.53  They were divided into different
lineages, each of which traced its pedigree to a different member of the
royal dynasty, though all terminated in the divine founder of the empire.

They were distinguished by many exclusive and very important privileges;
they wore a peculiar dress; spoke a dialect, if we may believe the
chronicler, peculiar to themselves; 54 and had the choicest portion of the
public domain assigned for their support.  They lived, most of them, at
court, near the person of the prince, sharing in his counsels, dining at his
board, or supplied from his table.  They alone were admissible to the great
offices in the priesthood.  They were invested with the command of
armies, and of distant garrisons, were placed over the provinces, and, in
short, filled every station of high trust and emolument.55  Even the laws,
severe in their general tenor, seem not to have been framed with reference
to them; and the people, investing the whole order with a portion of the
sacred character which belonged to the sovereign, held that an Inca noble
was incapable of crime.56

The other order of nobility was the Curacas, the caciques of the
conquered nations, or their descendants.  They were usually continued by
the government in their places, though they were required to visit the
capital occasionally, and to allow their sons to be educated there as the
pledges of their loyalty.  It is not easy to define the nature or extent of
their privileges.  They were possessed of more or less power, according to
the extent of their patrimony, and the number of their vassals.  Their
authority was usually transmitted from father to son, though sometimes
the successor was chosen by the people.57  They did not occupy the
highest posts of state, or those nearest the person of the sovereign, like the
nobles of the blood.  Their authority seems to have been usually local, and
always in subordination to the territorial jurisdiction of the great
provincial governors, who were taken from the Incas.58

It was the Inca nobility, indeed, who constituted the real strength.of the
Peruvian monarchy.  Attached to their prince by ties of consanguinity,
they had common sympathies and, to a considerable extent, common
interests with him.  Distinguished by a peculiar dress and insignia, as well
as by language and blood, from the rest of the community, they were
never confounded with the other tribes and nations who were incorporated
into the great Peruvian monarchy.  After the lapse of centuries, they still
retained their individuality as a peculiar people.  They were to the
conquered races of the country what the Romans were to the barbarous
hordes of the Empire, or the Normans to the ancient inhabitants of the
British Isles.  Clustering around the throne, they formed an invincible
phalanx, to shield it alike from secret conspiracy and open insurrection.
Though living chiefly in the capital, they were also distributed throughout
the country in all its high stations and strong military posts, thus
establishing lines of communication with the court, which enabled the
sovereign to act simultaneously and with effect on the most distant
quarters of his empire.  They possessed, moreover, an intellectual
preeminence, which, no less than their station, gave them authority with
the people.  Indeed, it may be said to have been the principal foundation
of their authority.  The crania of the Inca race show a decided superiority
over the other races of the land in intellectual power; 59 and it cannot be
denied that it was the fountain of that peculiar civilization and social
polity, which raised the Peruvian monarchy above every other state in
South America.  Whence this remarkable race came, and what was its
early history, are among those mysteries that meet us so frequently in the
annals of the New World, and which time and the antiquary have as yet
done little to explain.



Book 1

Chapter 2

Orders Of The State--Provisions For Justice--Division Of Lands-
Revenues And Registers--Great Roads And Posts-
Military Tactics And Policy

If we are surprised at the peculiar and original features of what may be
called the Peruvian aristocracy, we shall be still more so as we descend
to the lower orders of the community, and see the very artificial character
of their institutions,--as artificial as those of ancient Sparta, and, though
in a different way, quite as repugnant to the essential principles of our
nature.  The institutions of Lycurgus, however, were designed for a petty
state, while those of Peru, although originally intended for such, seemed,
like the magic tent in the Arabian tale, to have an indefinite power of
expansion, and were as well suited to the most flourishing condition of
the empire as to its infant fortunes.  In this remarkable accommodation to
change of circumstances we see the proofs of a contrivance that argues
no slight advance in civilization.

The name of Peru was not known to the natives.  It was given by the
Spaniards, and originated, it is said, in a misapprehension of the Indian
name of "river."1  However this may be, it is certain that the natives had
no other epithet by which to designate the large collection of tribes and
nations who were assembled under the sceptre of the Incas, than that of
Tavantinsuyu, or "four quarters of the world."2  This will not surprise a
citizen of the United States, who has no other name by which to class
himself among nations than what is borrowed from a quarter of the
globe.3  The kingdom, conformably to its name, was divided into four
parts, distinguished each by a separate title, and to each of which ran one
of the four great roads that diverged from Cuzco, the capital or navel of
the Peruvian monarchy.  The city was in like manner divided into four
quarters; and the various races, which gathered there from the distant
parts of the empire, lived each in the quarter nearest to its respective
province.  They all continued to wear their peculiar national costume, so
that it was easy to determine their origin; and the same order and system
of arrangement prevailed in the motley population of the capital, as in
the great provinces of the empire.  The capital, in fact, was a miniature
image of the empire.4

The four great provinces were each placed under a viceroy or governor,
who ruled over them with the assistance of one or more councils for the
different departments.  These viceroys resided, some portion of their
time, at least, in the capital, where they constituted a sort of council of
state to the Inca.5  The nation at large was distributed into decades, or
small bodies of ten; and every tenth man, or head of a decade, had
supervision of the rest,---being required to see that they enjoyed the
rights and immunities to which they were entitled, to solicit aid in their
behalf from government, when necessary, and to bring offenders to
justice.  To this last they were stimulated by a law that imposed on them,
in case of neglect, the same penalty that would have been incurred by the
guilty party.  With this law hanging over his head, the magistrate of Peru,
we may well believe, did not often go to sleep on his post.6

The people were still further divided into bodies of fifty, one hundred,
five hundred, and a thousand, with each an officer having general
supervision over those beneath, and the higher ones possessing, to a
certain extent, authority in matters of police.  Lastly, the whole empire
was distributed into sections or departments of ten thousand inhabitants,
with a governor over each, from the Inca nobility, who had control over
the curacas and other territorial officers in the district.  There were, also,
regular tribunals of justice, consisting of magistrates in each of the towns
or small communities, with jurisdiction over petty offences, while those
of a graver character were carried before superior judges, usually the
governors or rulers of the districts.  These judges all held their authority
and received their support from the Crown, by which they were
appointed and removed at pleasure.  They were obliged to determine
every suit in five days from the time it was brought before them; and
there was no appeal from one tribunal to another.  Yet there were
important provisions for the security of justice.  A committee of visitors
patrolled the kingdom at certain times to investigate the character and
conduct of the magistrates; and any neglect or violation of duty was
punished in the most exemplary manner.  The inferior courts were also
required to make monthly returns of their proceedings to the higher ones,
and these made reports in like manner to the viceroys; so that the
monarch, seated in the centre of his dominions, could look abroad, as it
were, to the most distant extremities, and review and rectify any abuses
in the administration of the law.7

The laws were few and exceedingly severe.  They related almost wholly
to criminal matters.  Few other laws were needed by a people who had
no money, little trade, and hardly any thing that could be called fixed
property.  The crimes of theft, adultery, and murder were all capital;
though it was wisely provided that some extenuating circumstances
might be allowed to mitigate the punishment.8   Blasphemy against the
Sun, and malediction of the Inca,--offences, indeed, of the same
complexion were also punished with death.  Removing landmarks,
turning the water away from a neighbor's land into one's own, burning a
house, were all severely punished.  To burn a bridge was death.  The inca
allowed no obstacle to those facilities of communication so essential to
the maintenance of public order.  A rebellious city or province was laid
waste, and its inhabitants exterminated.  Rebellion against the "Child of
the Sun," was the greatest of all crimes.9

The simplicity and severity of the Peruvian code may be thought to infer
a state of society but little advanced; which had few of those complex
interests and relations that grow up in a civilized community, and which
had not proceeded far enough in the science of legislation to economize
human suffering by proportioning penalties to crimes.  But the Peruvian
institutions must be regarded from a different point of view from that in
which we study those of other nations.  The laws emanated from the
sovereign, and that sovereign held a divine commission, and was
possessed of a divine nature.  To violate the law was not only to insult
the majesty of the throne, but it was sacrilege.  The slightest offence,
viewed in this light, merited death; and the gravest could incur no
heavier penalty.10  Yet, in the infliction of their punishments, they
showed no unnecessary cruelty; and the sufferings of the victim were not
prolonged by the ingenious torments so frequent among barbarous
nations.11

These legislative provisions may strike us as very defective, even as
compared with those of the semi-civilized races of Anahuac, where a
gradation of courts, moreover, with the fight of appeal, afforded a
tolerable security for justice.  But in a country like Peru, where few but
criminal causes were known, the right of appeal was of less consequence.
The law was simple, its application easy; and, where the judge was
honest, the case was as likely to be determined correctly on the first
hearing as on the second.  The inspection of the board of visitors, and the
monthly returns of the tribunals, afforded no slight guaranty for their
integrity.  The law which required a decision within five days would
seem little suited to the complex and embarrassing litigation of a modern
tribunal.  But, in the simple questions submitted to the Peruvian judge,
delay would have been useless; and the Spaniards, familiar with the evils
growing out of long-protracted suits, where the successful litigant is too
often a ruined man, are loud in their encomiums of this swift-handed and
economical justice.12

The fiscal regulations of the Incas, and the laws respecting property, are
the most remarkable features in the Peruvian polity.  The whole territory
of the empire was divided into three parts, one for the Sun, another for
the Inca, and the last for the people.  Which of the three was the largest
is doubtful.  The proportions differed materially in different provinces.
The distribution, indeed, was made on the same general principle, as
each new conquest was added to the monarchy; but the propertion varied
according to the amount of population, and the greater or less amount of
land consequently required for the support of the inhabirants.13

The lands assigned to the Sun furnished a revenue to support the
temples, and maintain the costly ceremonial of the Peruvian worship and
the multitudinous priesthood.  Those reserved for the Inca went to
support the royal state, as well as the numerous members of his
household and his kindred, and supplied the various exigencies of
government.  The remainder of the lands was divided, per capita, in
equal shares among the people.  It was provided by law, as we shall see
hereafter, that every Peruvian should marry at a certain age.  When this
event took place, the community or district in which he lived furnished
him with a dwelling, which, as it was constructed of humble materials,
was done at little cost.  A lot of land was then assigned to him sufficient
for his own maintenance and that of his wife.  An additional portion was
granted for every child, the amount allowed for a son being the double of
that for a daughter.  The division of the soil was renewed every year, and
the possessions of the tenant were increased or diminished according to
the numbers in his family.  The same arrangement was observed with
reference to the curacas, except only that a domain was assigned to them
corresponding with the superior dignity of their stations.15

A more thorough and effectual agrarian law than this cannot be
imagined.  In other countries where such a law has been introduced, its
operation, after a time, has given way to the natural order of events, and,
under the superior intelligence and thrift of some and the prodigality of
others, the usual vicissitudes of fortune have been allowed to take their
course, and restore things to their natural inequality.  Even the iron law
of Lycurgus ceased to operate after a time, and melted away before the
spirit of luxury and avarice.  The nearest approach to the Peruvian
constitution was probably in Judea, where, on the recurrence of the great
national jubilee, at the close of every half-century, estates reverted to
their original proprietors.  There was this important difference in Peru;
that not only did the lease, if we may so call it, terminate with the year,
but during that period the tenant had no power to alienate or to add to his
possessions.  The end of the brief term found him in precisely the same
condition that he was in at the beginning.  Such a state of things might be
supposed to be fatal to any thing like attachment to the soil, or to that
desire of improving it, which is natural to the permanent proprietor, and
hardly less so to the holder of a long lease.  But the practical operation of
the law seems to have been otherwise; and it is probable, that, under the
influence of that love of order and aversion to change which marked the
Peruvian institutions, each new partition of the soil usually confirmed the
occupant in his possession, and the tenant for a year was converted into a
proprietor for life.

The territory was cultivated wholly by the people.  The lands belonging
to the Sun were first attended to.  They next tilled the lands of the old, of
the sick, of the widow and the orphan, and of soldiers engaged in actual
service; in short, of all that part of the community who, from bodily
infirmity or any other cause, were unable to attend to their own concerns.
The people were then allowed to work on their own ground, each man
for himself, but with the general obligation to assist his neighbor, when
any circumstance--the burden of a young and numerous family, for
example--might demand it.16  Lastly, they cultivated the lands of the
Inca.  This was done, with great ceremony, by the whole population in a
body.  At break of day, they were summoned together by proclamation
from some neighboring tower or eminence, and all the inhabitants of the
district, men, women, and children, appeared dressed in their gayest
apparel, bedecked with their little store of finery and ornaments, as if for
some great jubilee.  They went through the labors of the day with the
same joyous spirit, chanting their popular ballads which commemorated
the heroic deeds of the Incas, regulating their movements by the measure
of the chant, and all mingling in the chorus, of which the word hailli, or
"triumph," was usually the burden.  These national airs had something
soft and pleasing in their character, that recommended them to the
Spaniards; and many a Peruvian song was set to music by them after the
Conquest, and was listened to by the unfortunate natives with
melancholy satisfaction, as it called up recollections of the past, when
their days glided peacefully away under the sceptre of the Incas.17

A similar arrangement prevailed with respect to the different
manufactures as to the agricultural products of the country.  The flocks
of llamas, or Peruvian sheep, were appropriated exclusively to the Sun
and to the Inca.18  Their number was immense.  They were scattered
over the different provinces, chiefly in the colder regions of the country,
where they were intrusted to the care of experienced shepherds, who
conducted them to different pastures according to the change of season.
A large number was every year sent to the capital for the consumption of
the Court, and for the religious festivals and sacrifices.  But these were
only the males, as no female was allowed to be killed.  The regulations
for the care and breeding of these flocks were prescribed with the
greatest minuteness, and with a sagacity which excited the admiration of
the Spaniards, who were familiar with the management of the great
migratory flocks of merinos in their own country.19

At the appointed season, they were all sheared, and the wool was
deposited in the public magazines.  It was then dealt out to each family in
such quantities as sufficed for its wants, and was consigned to the female
part of the household, who were well instructed in the business of
spinning and weaving.  When this labor was accomplished, and the
family was provided with a coarse but warm covering, suited to the cold
climate of the mountains,--for, in the lower country, cotton, furnished in
like manner by the Crown, took the place, to a certain extent, of wool,--
the people were required to labor for the Inca.  The quantity of the cloth
needed, as well as the peculiar kind and quality of the fabric, was first
determined at Cuzco.  The work was then apportioned among the
different provinces.  Officers, appointed for the purpose, superintended
the distribution of the wool, so that the manufacture of the different
articles should be intrusted to the most competent hands.20  They did not
leave the matter here, but entered the dwellings, from time to time, and
saw that the work was faithfully executed.  This domestic inquisition was
not confined to the labors for the Inca.  It included, also, those for the
several families; and care was taken that each household should employ
the materials furnished for its own use in the manner that was intended,
so that no one should be unprovided with necessary apparel.21  In this
domestic labor all the female part of the establishment was expected to
join.  Occupation was found for all, from the child five years old to the
aged matron not too infirm to hold a distaff.  No one, at least none but
the decrepit and the sick, was allowed to eat the bread of idleness in
Peru.  Idleness was a crime in the eye of the law, and, as such, severely
punished; while industry was publicly commended and stimulated by
rewards.22

The like course was pursued with reference to the other requisitions of
the government.  All the mines in the kingdom belonged to the Inca.
They were wrought exclusively for his benefit, by persons familiar with
this service, and selected from the districts where the mines were
situated.23  Every Peruvian of the lower class was a husbandman, and,
with the exception of those already specified, was expected to provide
for his own support by the cultivation of his land.  A small portion of the
community, however, was instructed in mechanical arts; some of them of
the more elegant kind, subservient to the purposes of luxury and
ornament.  The demand for these was chiefly limited to the sovereign
and his Court; but the labor of a larger number of hands was exacted for
the execution of the great public works which covered the land.  The
nature and amount of the services required were all determined at Cuzco
by commissioners well instructed in the resources of the country, and in
the character of the inhabitants of different provinces.24

This information was obtained by an admirable regulation, which has
scarcely a counterpart in the annals of a semi-civilized people.  A
register was kept of all the births and deaths throughout the country, and
exact returns of the actual population were made to government every
year, by means of the quipus, a curious invention, which will be
explained hereafter.25  At certain intervals, also, a general survey of the
country was made, exhibiting a complete view of the character of the
soil, its fertility, the nature of its products, both agricultural and mineral,-
-in short, of all that constituted the physical resources of the empire.26
Furnished with these statistical details, it was easy for the government,
after determining the amount of requisitions, to distribute the work
among the respective provinces best qualified to execute it.  The task of
apportioning the labor was assigned to the local authorities, and great
care was taken that it should be done in such a manner, that, while the
most competent hands were selected, it should not fall disproportionately
heavy on any.27

The different provinces of the country furnished persons peculiarly
suited to different employments, which, as we shall see hereafter, usually
descended from father to son.  Thus, one district supplied those most
skilled in working the mines, another the most curious workers in metals,
or in wood, and so on.28  The artisan was provided by government with
the materials; and no one was required to give more than a stipulated
portion of his time to the public service.  He was then succeeded by
another for the like term; and it should be observed, that all who were
engaged in the employment of the government--and the remark applies
equally to agricultural labor--were maintained, for the time, at the public
expense.29  By this constant rotation of labor, it was intended that no
one should be overburdened, and that each man should have time to
provide for the demands of his own household.  It was impossible--in the
judgment of a high Spanish authority--to improve on the system of
distribution, so carefully was it accommodated to the condition and
comfort of the artisan.30  The security of the working classes seems to
have been ever kept in view in the regulations of the government; and
these were so discreetly arranged, that the most wearing and
unwholesome labors, as those of the mines, occasioned no detriment to
the health of the laborer; a striking contrast to his subsequent condition
under the Spanish rule.31

A part of the agricultural produce and manufactures was transported to
Cuzco, to minister to the immediate demands of the Inca and his Court.
But far the greater part was stored in magazines scattered over the
different provinces.  These spacious buildings, constructed of stone,
were divided between the Sun and the Inca, though the greater share
seems to have been appropriated by the monarch.  By a wise regulation,
any deficiency in the contributions of the Inca might be supplied from
the granaries of the Sun.32  But such a necessity could rarely have
happened; and the providence of the government usually left a large
surplus in the royal depositories, which was removed to a third class of
magazines, whose design was to supply the people in seasons of scarcity,
and, occasionally, to furnish relief to individuals, whom sickness or
misfortune had reduced to poverty; thus, in a manner, justifying the
assertion of a Castilian document, that a large portion of the revenues of
the Inca found its way back again, through one channel or another, into
the hands of the people.33  These magazines were found by the
Spaniards, on their arrival, stored with all the various products and
manufactures of the country,--with maize, coca, quinua, woolen and
cotton stuffs of the finest quality, with vases and utensils of gold, silver,
and copper, in short, with every article of luxury or use within the
compass of Peruvian skill.34  The magazines of grain, in particular,
would frequently have sufficed for the consumption of the adjoining
district for several years.35  An inventory of the various products of the
country, and the quarters whence they were obtained, was every year
taken by the royal officers, and recorded by the quipucamayus on their
registers, with surprising regularity and precision.  These registers were
transmitted to the capital, and submitted to the Inca, who could thus at a
glance, as it were, embrace the whole results of the national industry, and
see how far they corresponded with the requisitions of government.36

Such are some of the most remarkable features of the Peruvian
institutions relating to property, as delineated by writers who, however
contradictory in the details, have a general conformity of outline.  These
institutions are certainly so remarkable, that it is hardly credible they
should ever have been enforced throughout a great empire, and for a long
period of years.  Yet we have the most unequivocal testimony to the fact
from the Spaniards, who landed in Peru in time to witness their
operation; some of whom, men of high judicial station and character,
were commissioned by the government to make investigations into the
state of the country under its ancient rulers.

The impositions on the Peruvian people seem to have been sufficiently
heavy.  On them rested the whole burden of maintaining, not only their
own order, but every other order in the state.  The members of the royal
house, the great nobles, even the public functionaries, and the numerous
body of the priesthood, were all exempt from taxation.37  The whole
duty of defraying the expenses of the government belonged to the
people.  Yet this was not materially different from the condition of things
formerly existing in most parts of Europe, where the various privileged
classes claimed exemption--not always with success, indeed--from
bearing part of the public burdens.  The great hardship in the case of the
Peruvian was, that he could not better his condition.  His labors were for
others, rather than for himself.  However industrious, he could not add a
rood to his own possessions, nor advance himself one hair's breadth in
the social scale.  The great and universal motive to honest industry, that
of bettering one's lot, was lost upon him.  The great law of human
progress was not for him.  As he was born, so he was to die.  Even his
time he could not properly call his own.  Without money, with little
property of any kind, he paid his taxes in labor.38  No wonder that the
government should have dealt with sloth as a crime.  It was a crime
against the state, and to be wasteful of time was, in a manner, to rob the
exchequer.  The Peruvian, laboring all his life for others, might be
compared to the convict in a treadmill, going the same dull round of
incessant toil, with the consciousness, that, however profitable the results
to the state, they were nothing to him.

But this is the dark side of the picture.  If no man could become rich in
Peru, no man could become poor.  No spendthrift could waste his
substance in riotous luxury.  No adventurous schemer could impoverish
his family by the spirit of speculation.  The law was constantly directed
to enforce a steady industry and a sober management of his affairs.  No
mendicant was tolerated in Peru.  When a man was reduced by poverty
or misfortune, (it could hardly be by fault,) the arm of the law was
stretched out to minister relief; not the stinted relief of private charity,
nor that which is doled out, drop by drop, as it were, from the frozen
reservoirs of "the parish," but in generous measure, bringing no
humiliation to the object of it, and placing him on a level with the rest of
his countrymen.39

No man could be rich, no man could be poor, in Peru; but all might
enjoy, and did enjoy, a competence.  Ambition, avarice, the love of
change, the morbid spirit of discontent, those passions which most
agitate the minds of men, found no place in the bosom of the Peruvian.
The very condition of his being seemed to be at war with change.  He
moved on in the same unbroken circle in which his fathers had moved
before him, and in which his children were to follow.  It was the object
of the Incas to infuse into their subjects a spirit of passive obedience and
tranquillity,--a perfect acquiescence in the established order of things.  In
this they fully succeeded.  The Spaniards who first visited the country are
emphatic in their testimony, that no government could have been better
suited to the genius of the people; and no people could have appeared
more contented with their lot, or more devoted to their government.40

Those who may distrust the accounts of Peruvian industry will find their
doubts removed on a visit to the country.  The traveller still meets,
especially in the central regions of the table-land, with memorials of the
past, remains of temples, palaces, fortresses, terraced mountains, great
military roads, aqueducts, and other public works, which, whatever
degree of science they may display in their execution, astonish him by
their number, the massive character of the materials, and the grandeur of
the design.  Among them, perhaps the most remarkable are the great
roads, the broken remains of which are still in sufficient preservation to
attest their former magnificence.  There were many of these roads,
traversing different parts of the kingdom; but the most considerable were
the two which extended from Quito to Cuzco, and, again diverging from
the capital, continued in a southern direction towards Chili.

One of these roads passed over the grand plateau, and the other along the
lowlands on the borders of the ocean.  The former was much the more
difficult achievement, from the character of the country.  It was
conducted over pathless sierras buried in snow; galleries were cut for
leagues through the living rock; rivers were crossed by means of bridges
that swung suspended in the air; precipices were scaled by stairways
hewn out of the native bed; ravines of hideous depth were filled up with
solid masonry; in short, all the difficulties that beset a wild and
mountainous region, and which might appall the most courageous
engineer of modern times, were encountered and successfully overcome.
The length of the road, of which scattered fragments only remain, is
variously estimated, from fifteen hundred to two thousand miles; and
stone pillars, in the manner of European milestones, were erected at
stated intervals of somewhat more than a league, all along the route.  Its
breadth scarcely exceeded twenty feet.41  It was built of heavy flags of
freestone, and in some parts, at least, covered with a bituminous cement,
which time has made harder than the stone itself.  In some places, where
the ravines had been filled up with masonry, the mountain torrents,
wearing on it for ages, have gradually eaten a way through the base, and
left the superincumbent mass--such is the cohesion of the materials--still
spanning the valley like an arch ! 42

Over some of the boldest streams it was necessary to construct
suspension bridges, as they are termed, made of the tough fibres of the
maguey, or of the osier of the country, which has an extraordinary degree
of tenacity and strength.  These osiers were woven into cables of the
thickness of a man's body.  The huge ropes, then stretched across the
water, were conducted through rings or holes cut in immense buttresses
of stone raised on the opposite banks of the river, and there secured to
heavy pieces of timber.  Several of these enormous cables, bound
together, formed a bridge, which, covered with planks, well secured and
defended by a railing of the same osier materials on the sides, afforded a
safe passage for the traveller.  The length of this aerial bridge, sometimes
exceeding two hundred feet, caused it, confined, as it was, only at the
extremities, to dip with an alarming inclination towards the centre, while
the motion given to it by the passenger occasioned an oscillation still
more frightful, as his eye wandered over the dark abyss of waters that
foamed and tumbled many a fathom beneath.  Yet these light and fragile
fabrics were crossed without fear by the Peruvians, and are still retained
by the Spaniards over those streams which, from the depth or
impetuosity of the current, would seem impracticable for the usual
modes of conveyance.  The wider and more tranquil waters were crossed
on balsas--a kind of raft still much used by the natives--to which sails
were attached, furnishing the only instance of this higher kind of
navigation among the American Indians.43

The other great road of the Incas lay through the level country between
the Andes and the ocean.  It was constructed in a different manner, as
demanded by the nature of the ground, which was for the most part low,
and much of it sandy.  The causeway was raised on a high embankment
of earth, and defended on either side by a parapet or wall of clay; and
trees and odoriferous shrubs were planted along the margin, regaling the
sense of the traveller with their perfumes, and refreshing him by their
shades, so grateful under the burning sky of the tropics.  In the strips of
sandy waste, which occasionally intervened, where the light and volatile
soil was incapable of sustaining a road, huge piles, many of them to be
seen at this day, were driven into the ground to indicate the route to the
traveller.44

All along these highways, caravansaries, or tambos, as they were called,
were erected, at the distance of ten or twelve miles from each other, for
the accommodation, more particularly, of the Inca and his suite, and
those who journeyed on the public business.  There were few other
travellers in Peru.  Some of these buildings were on an extensive scale,
consisting of a fortress, barracks, and other military works, surrounded
by a parapet of stone, and covering a large tract of ground.  These were
evidently destined for the accommodation of the imperial armies, when
on their march across the country.  The care of the great roads was
committed to the districts through which they passed, and a large number
of hands was constantly employed under the Incas to keep them in repair.
This was the more easily done in a country where the mode of travelling
was altogether on foot; though the roads are said to have been so nicely
constructed, that a carriage might have rolled over them as securely as on
any of the great roads of Europe.45  Still, in a region where the elements
of fire and water are both actively at work in the business of destruction,
they must, without constant supervision, have gradually gone to decay.
Such has been their fate under the Spanish conquerors, who took no care
to enforce the admirable system for their preservation adopted by the
Incas.  Yet the broken portions that still survive, here and there, like the
fragments of the great Roman roads scattered over Europe, bear
evidence to their primitive grandeur, and have drawn forth the eulogium
from a discriminating traveller, usually not too profuse in his panegyric,
that "the roads of the Incas were among the most useful and stupendous
works ever executed by man." 46

The system of communication through their dominions was still further
improved by the Peruvian sovereigns, by the introduction of posts, in the
same manner as was done by the Aztecs.  The Peruvian posts, however,
established on all the great routes that conducted to the capital, were on a
much more extended plan than those in Mexico.  All along these routes,
small buildings were erected, at the distance of less than five miles
asunder,47 in each of which a number of runners, or chasquis, as they
were called, were stationed to carry forward the despatches of
government.48  These despatches were either verbal, or conveyed by
means of quipus, and sometimes accompanied by a thread of the crimson
fringe worn round the temples of the Inca, which was regarded with the
same implicit deference as the signet ring of an Oriental despot.49

The chasquis were dressed in a peculiar livery, intimating their
profession.  They were all trained to the employment, and selected for
their speed and fidelity.  As the distance each courier had to perform was
small, and as he had ample time to refresh himself at the stations, they
tart over the ground with great swiftness, and messages were carried
through the whole extent of the long routes, at the rate of a hundred and
fifty miles a day.  The office of the chasquis was not limited to carrying
despatches.  They frequently brought various articles for the use of the
Court; and in this way, fish from the distant ocean, fruits, game, and
different commodities from the hot regions on the coast, were taken to
the capital in good condition, and served fresh at the royal table.50  It is
remarkable that this important institution should have been known to
both the Mexicans and the Peruvians without any correspondence with
one another; and that it should have been found among two barbarian
nations of the New World, long before it was introduced among the
civilized nations of Europe.51

By these wise contrivances of the Incas, the most distant parts of the
long-extended empire of Peru were brought into intimate relations with
each other.  And while the capitals of Christendom, but a few hundred
miles apart, remained as far asunder as if seas had rolled between them,
the great capitals Cuzco and Quito were placed by the high roads of the
Incas in immediate correspondence.  Intelligence from the numerous
provinces was transmitted on the wings of the wind to the Peruvian
metropolis, the great focus to which all the lines of communication
converged.  Not an insurrectionary movement could occur, not an
invasion, on the remotest frontier, before the tidings were conveyed to
the capital, and the imperial armies were on their march across the
magnificent roads of the country to suppress it.  So admirable was the
machinery contrived by the American despots for maintaining
tranquillity throughout their dominions! It may remind us of the similar
institutions of ancient Rome, when, under the Caesars, she was mistress
of half the world.

A principal design of the great roads was to serve the purposes of
military communication.  It formed an important item of their military
policy, which is quite as well worth studying as their municipal.

Notwithstanding the pacific professions of the Incas, and the pacific
tendency, indeed, of their domestic institutions, they were constantly at
war.  It was by war that their paltry territory had been gradually enlarged
to a powerful empire.  When this was achieved, the capital, safe in its
central position, was no longer shaken by these military movements, and
the country enjoyed, in a great degree, the blessings of tranquillity and
order.  But, however tranquil at heart, there is not a reign upon record in
which the nation was not engaged in war against the barbarous nations
on the frontier.  Religion furnished a plausible pretext for incessant
aggression, and disguised the lust of conquest in the Incas, probably,
from their own eyes, as well as from those of their subjects.  Like the
followers of Mahomet, bearing the sword in one hand and the Koran in
the other, the Incas of Peru offered no alternative but the worship of the
Sun or war.

It is true, their fanaticism--or their policy--showed itself in a milder form
than was found in the descendants of the Prophet.  Like the great
luminary which they adored, they operated by gentleness more potent
than violence.52  They sought to soften the hearts of the rude tribes
around them, and melt them by acts of condescension and kindness.  Far
from provoking hostilities, they allowed time for the salutary example of
their own institutions to work its effect, trusting that their less civilized
neighbors would submit to their sceptre, from a conviction of the
blessings it would secure to them.  When this course failed, they
employed other measures, but still of a pacific character; and endeavored
by negotiation, by conciliatory treatment, and by presents to the leading
men, to win them over to their dominion.  In short, they practised all the
arts familiar to the most subtle politician of a civilized land to secure the
acquisition of empire.  When all these expedients failed, they prepared
for war.

Their levies were drawn from all the different provinces; though from
some, where the character of the people was particularly hardy, more
than from others.53  It seems probable that every Peruvian, who had
reached a certain age, might be called to bear arms.  But the rotation of
military service, and the regular drills, which took place twice or thrice
in a month, of the inhabitants of every village, raised the soldiers
generally above the rank of a raw militia.  The Peruvian army, at first
inconsiderable, came, with the increase of population, in the latter days
of the empire, to be very large, so that their monarchs could bring into
the field, as contemporaries assure us, a force amounting to two hundred
thousand men.  They showed the same skill and respect for order in their
military organization, as in other things.  The troops were divided into
bodies corresponding with our battalions and companies, led by officers,
that rose, in regular gradation, from the lowest subaltern to the Inca
noble, who was intrusted with the general command.54

Their arms consisted of the usual weapons employed by nations, whether
civilized or uncivilized, before the invention of powder,--bows and
arrows, lances, darts, a short kind of sword, a battle-axe or partisan, and
slings, with which they were very expert.  Their spears and arrows were
tipped with copper, or, more commonly, with bone, and the weapons of
the Inca lords were frequently mounted with gold or silver.  Their heads
were protected by casques made either of wood or of the skins of wild
animals, and sometimes richly decorated with metal and with precious
stones, surmounted by the brilliant plumage of the tropical birds.  These,
of course, were the ornaments only of the higher orders.  The great mass
of the soldiery were dressed in the peculiar costume of their provinces,
and their heads were wreathed with a sort of turban or roll of different-
colored cloths, that produced a gay and animating effect.  Their
defensive armor consisted of a shield or buckler, and a close tunic of
quilted cotton, in the same manner as with the Mexicans.  Each company
had its particular banner, and the imperial standard, high above all,
displayed the glittering device and the rainbow,--the armorial ensign of
the Incas, intimating their claims as children of the skies.55

By means of the thorough system of communication established in the
country, a short time sufficed to draw the levies together from the most
distant quarters.  The army was put under the direction of some
experienced chief, of the blood royal, or, more frequently, headed by the
Inca in person.  The march was rapidly performed, and with little fatigue
to the soldier; for, all along the great routes, quarters were provided for
him, at regular distances, where he could find ample accommodations.
The country is still covered with the remains of military works,
constructed of porphyry or granite, which tradition assures us were
designed to lodge the Inca and his army.56

At regular intervals, also, magazines were established, filled with grain,
weapons, and the different munitions of war, with which the army was
supplied on its march.  It was the especial care of the government to see
that these magazines, which were furnished from the stores of the Incas,
were always well filled.  When the Spaniards invaded the country, they
supported their own armies for a long time on the provisions found in
them.57  The Peruvian soldier was forbidden to commit any trespass on
the property of the inhabitants whose territory lay in the line of march.
Any violation of this order was punished with death.58  The soldier was
clothed and fed by the industry of the people, and the Incas rightly re-
solved that he should not repay this by violence.  Far from being a tax on
the labors of the husbandman, or even a burden on his hospitality, the
imperial armies traversed the country, from one extremity to the other,
with as little inconvenience to the inhabitants, as would be created by a
procession of peaceful burghers, or a muster of holiday soldiers for a
review.

From the moment war was proclaimed, the Peruvian monarch used all
possible expedition in assembling his forces, that he might anticipate the
movements of his enemies, and prevent a combination with their allies.
It was, however, from the neglect of such a principle of combination, that
the several nations of the country, who might have prevailed by
confederated strength, fell one after another under the imperial yoke.
Yet, once in the field the Inca did not usually show any disposition to
push his advantages to the utmost, and urge his foe to extremity.  In
every stage of the war, he was open to propositions for peace; and
although he sought to reduce his enemies by carrying off their harvests
and distressing them by famine, he allowed his troops to commit no
unnecessary outrage on person or property.  "We must spare our
enemies," one of the Peruvian princes is quoted as saying, "or it will be
our loss, since they and all that belong to them must soon be ours." 59  It
was a wise maxim, and, like most other wise maxims, founded equally on
benevolence and prudence.  The Incas adopted the policy claimed for the
Romans by their countryman, who tells us that they gained more by
clemency to the vanquished than by their victories.60

In the same considerate spirit, they were most careful to provide for the
security and comfort of their own troops; and, when a war was long
protracted, or the climate proved unhealthy, they took care to relieve
their men by frequent reinforcements, allowing the earlier recruits to
return to their homes.61  But while thus economical of life, both in their
own followers and in the enemy, they did not shrink from sterner
measures when provoked by the ferocious or obstinate character of the
resistance; and the Peruvian annals contain more than one of those
sanguinary pages which cannot be pondered at the present day without a
shudder.  It should be added, that the beneficent policy, which I have
been delineating as characteristic of the Incas, did not belong to all; and
that there was more than one of the royal line who displayed a full
measure of the bold and unscrupulous spirit of the vulgar conqueror.

The first step of the government, after the reduction of a country, was to
introduce there the worship of the Sun.  Temples were erected, and
placed under the care of a numerous priesthood, who expounded to the
conquered people the mysteries of their new faith, and dazzled them by
the display of its rich and stately ceremonial.62  Yet the religion of the
conquered was not treated with dishonor.  The Sun was to be worshipped
above all; but the images of their gods were removed to Cuzco and
established in one of the temples, to hold their rank among the inferior
deities of the Peruvian Pantheon.  Here they remained as hostages, in
some sort, for the conquered nation, which would be the less inclined to
forsake its allegiance, when by doing so it must leave its own gods in the
hands of its enemies.63

The Incas provided for the settlement of their new conquests, by
ordering a census to be taken of the population, and a careful survey to
be made of the country, ascertaining its products, and the character and
capacity of its soil.64  A division of the territory was then made on the
same principle with that adopted throughout their own kingdom; and
their respective portions were assigned to the Sun, the sovereign, and the
people.  The amount of the last was regulated by the amount of the
population, but the share of each individual was uniformly the same.  It
may seem strange, that any people should patiently have acquiesced in an
arrangement which involved such a total surrender of property.  But it
was a conquered nation that did so, held in awe, on the least suspicion of
meditating resistance, by armed garrisons, who were established at
various commanding points throughout the country.65  It is probable,
too, that the Incas made no greater changes than was essential to the new
arrangement, and that they assigned estates, as far as possible, to their
former proprietors.  The curacas, in particular, were confirmed in their
ancient authority; or, when it was found expedient to depose the existing
curaca, his rightful heir was allowed to succeed him.66  Every respect
was shown to the ancient usages and laws of the land, as far as was
compatible with the fundamental institutions of the Incas.  It must also be
remembered, that the conquered tribes were, many of them, too little
advanced in civilization to possess that attachment to the soil which
belongs to a cultivated nation.67  But, to whatever it be referred, it seems
probable that the extraordinary institutions of the Incas were established
with little opposition in the conquered territories.68

Yet the Peruvian sovereigns did not trust altogether to this show of
obedience in their new vassals; and, to secure it more effectually, they
adopted some expedients too remarkable to be passed by in silence.-
Immediately after a recent conquest, the curacas and their families were
removed for a time to Cuzco.  Here they learned the language of the
capital, became familiar with the manners and usages of the court, as
well as with the general policy of government, and experienced such
marks of favor from the sovereign as would be most grateful to their
feelings, and might attach them most warmly to his person.  Under the
influence of these sentiments, they were again sent to rule over their
vassals, but still leaving their eldest sons in the capital, to remain there as
a guaranty for their own fidelity, as well as to grace the court of the
Inca.69

Another expedient was of a bolder and more original character.  This
was nothing less than to revolutionize the language of the country.  South
America, like North, was broken up into a great variety of dialects, or
rather languages, having little affinity with one another.  This
circumstance occasioned great embarrassment to the government in the
administration of the different provinces, with whose idioms they were
unacquainted.  It was determined, therefore, to substitute one universal
language, the Quichua,--the language of the court, the capital, and the
surrounding country,--the richest and most comprehensive of the South
American dialects.  Teachers were provided in the towns and villages
throughout the land, who were to give instruction to all, even the
humblest classes; and it was intimated at the same time, that no one
should be raised to any office of dignity or profit, who was unacquainted
with this tongue.  The curacas and other chiefs, who attended at the
capital became familiar with this dialect in their intercourse with the
Court and, on their return home, set the example of conversing in it
among themselves.  This example was imitated by their followers, and
the Quichua gradually became the language of elegance and fashion, in
the same manner as the Norman French was affected by all those who
aspired to any consideration in England, after the Conquest.  By this
means, while each province retained its peculiar tongue, a beautiful
medium of communication was introduced, which enabled the
inhabitants of one part of the country to hold intercourse with every
other, and the Inca and his deputies to communicate with all.  This was
the state of things on the arrival of the Spaniards.  It must be admitted,
that history furnishes few examples of more absolute authority than such
a revolution in the language of an empire, at the bidding of a master.70

Yet little less remarkable was another device of the Incas for securing the
loyalty of their subjects.  When any portion of the recent conquests
showed a pertinacious spirit of disaffection, it was not uncommon to
cause a part of the population, amounting, it might be, to ten thousand
inhabitants or more, to remove to a distant quarter of the kingdom,
occupied by ancient vassals of undoubted fidelity to the crown.  A like
number of these last was transplanted to the territory left vacant by the
emigrants.  By this exchange, the population was composed of two
distinct races, who regarded each other with an eye of jealousy, that
served as an effectual check on any mutinous proceeding.  In time, the
influence of the well affected prevailed, supported, as they were, by
royal authority, and by the silent working of the national institutions, to
which the strange races became gradually accustomed.  A spirit of
loyalty sprang up by degrees in their bosoms, and, before a generation
had passed away, the different tribes mingled in harmony together as
members of the same community.71  Yet the different races continued to
be distinguished by difference of dress; since, by the law of the land,
every citizen was required to wear the costume of his native province.72
Neither could the colonist, who had been thus unceremoniously
transplanted, return to his native district for, by another law, it was
forbidden to any one to change his residence without license.73  He was
settled for life.  The Peruvian government ascribed to every man his
local habitation, his sphere of action, nay, the very nature and quality of
that action.  He ceased to be a free agent; it might be almost said, that it
relieved him of personal responsibility.

In following out this singular arrangement, the Incas showed as much
regard for the comfort and convenience of the colonist as was compatible
with the execution of their design.  They were careful that the mitimaes,
as these emigrants were styled, should be removed to climates most
congenial with their own.  The inhabitants of the cold countries were not
transplanted to the warm, nor the inhabitants of the warm countries to the
cold.74  Even their habitual occupations were consulted, and the
fisherman was settled in the neighborhood of the ocean, or the great
lakes; while such lands were assigned to the husbandman as were best
adapted to the culture with which he was most familiar.75  And, as
migration by many, perhaps by most, would be regarded as a calamity,
the government was careful to show particular marks of favor to the
mitimaes, and, by various privileges and immunities, to ameliorate their
condition, and thus to reconcile them, if possible, to their lot.76

The Peruvian institutions, though they may have been modified and
matured under successive sovereigns, all bear the stamp of the same
original,--were all cast in the same mould.  The empire, strengthening
and enlarging at every successive epoch of its history, was, in its latter
days, but the development, on a great scale, of what it was in miniature at
its commencement, as the infant germ is said to contain within itself all
the ramifications of the future monarch of the forest.  Each succeeding
Inca seemed desirous only to tread in the path, and carry out the plans, of
his predecessor.  Great enterprises, commenced under one, were
continued by another, and completed by a third.  Thus, while all acted on
a regular plan, without any of the eccentric or retrograde movements
which betray the agency of different individuals, the state seemed to be
under the direction of a single hand, and steadily pursued, as if through
one long reign, its great career of civilization and of conquest.

The ultimate aim of its institutions was domestic quiet.  But it seemed as
if this were to be obtained only by foreign war.  Tranquillity in the heart
of the monarchy, and war on its borders, was the condition of Peru.  By
this war it gave occupation to a part of its people, and, by the reduction
and civilization of its barbarous neighbors, gave security to all.   Every
Inca sovereign, however mild and benevolent in his domestic rule, was a
warrior, and led his armies in person.  Each successive reign extended
still wider the boundaries of the empire.  Year after year saw the
victorious monarch return laden with spoils, and followed by a throng of
tributary chieftains to his capital.  His reception there was a Roman
triumph.  The whole of its numerous population poured out to welcome
him, dressed in the gay and picturesque costumes of the different
provinces, With banners waving above their heads, and strewing
branches and flowers along the path of the conqueror.  The Inca, borne
aloft in his golden chair on the shoulders of his nobles, moved in solemn
procession, under the triumphal arches that were thrown across the way,
to the great temple of the Sun.  There, without attendants,--for all but the
monarch were excluded from the hallowed precincts,--the victorious
prince, stripped of his royal insignia, barefooted, and with all humility,
approached the awful shrine, and offered up sacrifice and thanksgiving
to the glorious Deity who presided over the fortunes of the Incas.  This
ceremony concluded, the whole population gave itself up to festivity;
music, revelry, and dancing were heard in every quarter of the capital,
and illuminations and bonfires commemorated the victorious campaign
of the Inca, and the accession of a new territory to his empire.77

In this celebration we see much of the character of a religious festival.
Indeed, the character of religion was impressed on all the Peruvian wars.
The life of an Inca was one long crusade against the infidel, to spread
wide the worship of the Sun, to reclaim the benighted nations from their
brutish superstitions, and impart to them the blessings of a well-regulated
government.  This, in the favorite phrase of our day, was the "mission"
of the Inca.  It was also the mission of the Christian conqueror who
invaded the empire of this same Indian potentate.  Which of the two
executed his mission most faithfully, history must decide.

Yet the Peruvian monarchs did not show a childish impatience in the
acquisition of empire.  They paused after a campaign, and allowed time
for the settlement of one conquest before they undertook another; and, in
this interval, occupied themselves with the quiet administration of their
kingdom, and with the long progresses, which brought them into nearer
intercourse with their people.  During this interval, also, their new
vassals had begun to accommodate themselves to the strange institutions
of their masters.  They learned to appreciate the value of a government
which raised them above the physical evils of a state of barbarism,
secured them protection of person, and a full participation in all the
privileges enjoyed by their conquerors; and, as they became more
familiar with the peculiar institutions of the country, habit, that second
nature, attached them the more strongly to these institutions, from their
very peculiarity.  Thus, by degrees, and without violence, arose the great
fabric of the Peruvian empire, composed of numerous independent and
even hostile tribes, yet, under the influence of a common religion,
common language, and common government, knit together as one nation,
animated by a spirit of love for its institutions and devoted loyalty to its
sovereign.  What a contrast to the condition of the Aztec monarchy, on
the neighboring continent, which, composed of the like heterogeneous
materials, without any internal principle of cohesion, was only held
together by the stern pressure, from without, of physical force !--Why the
Peruvian monarchy should have fared no better than its rival, in its
conflict with European civilization, will appear in the following pages.



Book 1

Chapter 3

Peruvian Religion--Deities--Gorgeous Temples--Festivals-
Virgins Of The Sun--Marriage

It is a remarkable fact, that many, if not most, of the rude tribes
inhabiting the vast American continent, however disfigured their creeds
may have been in other respects by a childish superstition, had attained
to the sublime conception of one Great Spirit, the Creator of the
Universe, who, immaterial in his own nature, was not to be dishonored
by an attempt at visible representation, and who, pervading all space,
was not to be circumscribed within the walls of a temple.  Yet these
elevated ideas, so far beyond the ordinary range of the untutored
intellect, do not seem to have led to the practical consequences that
might have been expected; and few of the American nations have shown
much solicitude for the maintenance of a religious worship, or found in
their faith a powerful spring of action.

But, with progress in civilization, ideas more akin to those of civilized
communities were gradually unfolded; a liberal provision was made, and
a separate order instituted, for the services of religion, which were
conducted with a minute and magnificent ceremonial, that challenged
comparison, in some respects, with that of the most polished nations of
Christendom.  This was the case with the nations inhabiting the table-
land of North America, and with the natives of Bogota, Quito, Peru, and
the other elevated regions on the great Southern continent.  It was, above
all, the case with the Peruvians, who claimed a divine original for the
founders of their empire, whose laws all rested on a divine sanction, and
whose domestic institutions and foreign wars were alike directed to
preserve and propagate their faith.  Religion was the basis of their polity,
the very condition, as it were, of their social existence.  The government
of the Incas, in its essential principles, was a theocracy.

Yet, though religion entered so largely into the fabric and conduct of the
political institutions of the people, their mythology, that is, the
traditionary legends by which they affected to unfold the mysteries of the
universe, was exceedingly mean and puerile.  Scarce one of their
traditions--except the beautiful one respecting the founders of their royal
dynasty--is worthy of note, or throws much light on their own antiquities,
or the primitive history of man.  Among the traditions of importance is
one of the deluge, which they held in common with so many of the
nations in all parts of the globe, and which they related with some
particulars that bear resemblance to a Mexican legend.1

Their ideas in respect to a future state of being deserve more attention.
They admitted the existence of a soul hereafter, and connected with this
a belief in the resurrection of the body.  They assigned two distinct
places for the residence of the good and of the wicked, the latter of
which they fixed in the centre of the earth.  The good they supposed were
to pass a luxurious life of tranquillity and ease, which comprehended
their highest notions of happiness.  The wicked were to expiate their
crimes by ages of wearisome labor.  They associated with these ideas a
belief in an evil principle or spirit, bearing the name of Cupay, whom
they did not attempt to propitiate by sacrifices, and who seems to have
been only a shadowy personification of sin, that exercised little influence
over their conduct.2

It was this belief in the resurrection of the body, which led them to
preserve the body with so much solicitude, by a simple process,
however, that, unlike the elaborate embalming of the Egyptians,
consisted in exposing it to the action of the cold, exceedingly dry, and
highly rarefied atmosphere of the mountains.3  As they believed that the
occupations in the future world would have great resemblance to those of
the present, they buried with the deceased noble some of his apparel, his
utensils, and, frequently, his treasures; and completed the gloomy
ceremony by sacrificing his wives and favorite domestics, to bear him
company and do him service in the happy regions beyond the clouds.4
Vast mounds of an irregular, or, more frequently, oblong shape,
penetrated by galleries running at right angles to each other, were raised
over the dead, whose dried bodies or mummies have been found in
considerable numbers, sometimes erect, but more often in the sitting
posture, common to the Indian tribes of both continents.  Treasures of
great value have also been occasionally drawn from these monumental
deposits, and have stimulated, speculators to repeated excavations with
the hope of similar good-fortune.  It was a lottery like that of searching
after mines, but where the chances have proved still more against the
adventurers.5

The Peruvians, like so many other of the Indian races, acknowledged a
Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, whom they
adored under the different names of Pachacamac and Viracocha.6  No
temple was raised to this invisible Being, save one only in the valley
which took its name from the deity himself, not far from the Spanish city
of Lima.  Even this temple had existed there before the country came
under the sway of the Incas, and was the great resort of Indian pilgrims
from remote parts of the land; a circumstance which suggests the idea,
that the worship of this Great Spirit, though countenanced, perhaps, by
their accommodating policy, did not originate with the Peruvian
princes.7

The deity whose worship they especially inculcated, and which they
never failed to establish wherever their banners were known to penetrate,
was the Sun.  It was he, who, in a particular manner, presided over the
destinies of man; gave light and warmth to the nations, and life to the
vegetable world; whom they reverenced as the father of their royal
dynasty, the founder of their empire; and whose temples rose in every
city and almost every village throughout the land, while his altars
smoked with burnt offerings,--a form of sacrifice peculiar to the
Peruvians among the semi-civilized nations of the New World.8

Besides the Sun, the Incas acknowledged various objects of worship in
some way or other connected with this principal deity.  Such was the
Moon, his sister-wife; the Stars, revered as part of her heavenly train,-
though the fairest of them, Venus, known to the Peruvians by the name
of Chasca, or the "youth with the long and curling locks," was adored as
the page of the Sun, whom he attends so closely in his rising and in his
setting.  They dedicated temples also to the Thunder and Lightning,9 in
whom they recognized the Sun's dread ministers, and to the Rainbows
whom they worshipped as a beautiful emanation of their glorious
deity.10

In addition to these, the subjects of the Incas enrolled among their
inferior deities many objects in nature, as the elements, the winds, the
earth, the air, great mountains and rivers, which impressed them with
ideas of sublimity and power, or were supposed in some way or other to
exercise a mysterious influence over the destinies of man.11  They
adopted also a notion, not unlike that professed by some of the schools
of ancient philosophy, that every thing on earth had its archetype or idea,
its mother, as they emphatically styled it, which they held sacred, as, in
some sort, its spiritual essence.12  But their system, far from being
limited even to these multiplied objects of devotion, embraced within its
ample folds the numerous deities of the conquered nations, whose
images were transported to the capital, where the burdensome charges of
their worship were defrayed by their respective provinces.  It was a rare
stroke of policy in the Incas, who could thus accommodate their religion
to their interests.13

But the worship of the Sun constituted the peculiar care of the Incas, and
was the object of their lavish expenditure.  The most ancient of the many
temples dedicated to this divinity was in the Island of Titicaca, whence
the royal founders of the Peruvian line were said to have proceeded.
From this circumstance, this sanctuary was held in peculiar veneration.
Every thing which belonged to it, even the broad fields of maize, which
Surrounded the temple, and formed part of its domain, imbibed a portion
of its sanctity.  The yearly produce was distributed among the different
public magazines, in small quantities to each, as something that would
sanctify the remainder of the store.  Happy was the man who could
secure even an ear of the blessed harvest for his own granary! 

But the most renowned of the Peruvian temples, the pride of the capital,
and the wonder of the empire, was at Cuzco, where, under the
munificence of successive sovereigns, it had become so enriched, that it
received the name of Coricancha, or "the Place of Gold." It consisted of
a principal building and several chapels and inferior edifices, covering a
large extent of ground in the heart of the city, and completely
encompassed by a wall, which, with the edifices, was all constructed of
stone.  The work was of the kind already described in the other public
buildings of the country, and was so finely executed, that a Spaniard,
who saw it in its glory, assures us, he could call to mind only two
edifices in Spain, which, for their workmanship, were at all to be
compared with it.15  Yet this substantial, and, in some respects,
magnificent structure, was thatched with straw !

The interior of the temple was the most worthy of admiration.  It was
literally a mine of gold.  On the western wall was emblazoned a
representation of the deity, consisting of a human countenance, looking
forth from amidst innumerable rays of light, which emanated from it in
every direction, in the same manner as the sun is often personified with
us.  The figure was engraved on a massive plate of gold of enormous
dimensions, thickly powdered with emeralds and precious stones.16  It
was so situated in front of the great eastern portal, that the rays of the
morning sun fell directly upon it at its rising, lighting up the whole
apartment with an effulgence that seemed more than natural, and which
was reflected back from the golden ornaments with which the walls and
ceiling were everywhere in crusted.  Gold, in the figurative language of
the people was "the tears wept by the sun," 17  and every part of the
interior of the temple glowed with burnished plates and studs of the
precious metal.  The cornices, which surrounded the walls of the
sanctuary, were of the same costly material; and a broad belt or frieze of
gold, let into the stonework, encompassed the whole exterior of the
edifice.18

Adjoining the principal structure were several chapels of smaller
dimensions.  One of them was consecrated to the Moon, the deity held
next in reverence, as the mother of the Incas.  Her effigy was delineated
in the same manner as that of the Sun, on a vast plate that nearly covered
one side of the apartment.  But this plate, as well as all the decorations of
the building, was of silver, as suited to the pale, silvery light of the
beautiful planet.  There were three other chapels, one of which was
dedicated to the host of Stars, who formed the bright court of the Sister
of the Sun; another was consecrated to his dread ministers of vengeance,
the Thunder and the Lightning; and a third, to the Rainbow, whose
many-colored arch spanned the walls of the edifice with hues almost as
radiant as its own.  There were besides several other buildings, or
insulated apartments, for the accommodation of the numerous priests
who officiated in the services of the temple.19

All the plate, the ornaments, the utensils of every description,
appropriated to the uses of religion, were of gold or silver.  Twelve
immense vases of the latter metal stood on the floor of the great saloon,
filled with grain of the Indian corn;20  the censers for the perfumes, the
ewers which held the water for sacrifice, the pipes which conducted it
through subterraneous channels into the buildings, the reservoirs that
received it, even the agricultural implements used in the gardens of the
temple, were all of the same rich materials.  The gardens, like those
described, belonging to the royal palaces, sparkled with flowers of gold
and silver, and various imitations of the vegetable kingdom.  Animals,
also, were to be found there,--among which the llama, with its golden
fleece, was most conspicuous,--executed in the same style, and with a
degree of skill, which, in this instance, probably, did not surpass the
excellence of the material.21

If the reader sees in this fairy picture only the romantic coloring of some
fabulous El Dorado, he must recall what has been said before in
reference to the palaces of the Incas, and consider that these "Houses of
the Sun," as they were styled, were the common reservoir into which
flowed all the streams of public and private benefaction throughout the
empire.  Some of the statements, through credulity, and others, in the
desire of exciting admiration, may be greatly exaggerated; but, in the
coincidence of contemporary testimony, it is not easy to determine the
exact line which should mark the measure of our skepticism.  Certain it
is, that the glowing picture I have given is warranted by those who saw
these buildings in their pride, or shortly after they had been despoiled by
the cupidity of their countrymen.  Many of the costly articles were buried
by the natives, or thrown into the waters of the rivers and the lakes; but
enough remained to attest the unprecedented opulence of these religious
establishments.  Such things as were in their nature portable were
speedily removed, to gratify the craving of the Conquerors, who even
tore away the solid cornices and frieze of gold from the great temple,
filling the vacant places with the cheaper, but--since it affords no
temptation to avarice--more durable, material of plaster.  Yet even thus
shorn of their splendor, the venerable edifices still presented an
attraction to the spoiler, who found in their dilapidated walls an
inexhaustable quarry for the erection of other buildings.  On the very
ground once crowned by the gorgeous Coricancha rose the stately church
of St. Dominic, one of the most magnificent structures of the New
World.  Fields of maize and lucerne now bloom on the spot which
glowed with the golden gardens of the temple; and the friar chants his
orisons within the consecrated precincts once occupied by the Children
of the Sun.22

Besides the great temple of the Sun, there was a large number of inferior
temples and religious houses in the Peruvian capital and its environs,
amounting, as is stated, to three or four hundred.23 For Cuzco was a
sanctified spot, venerated not only as the abode of the Incas, but of all
those deities who presided over the motley nations of the empire.  It was
the city beloved of the Sun; where his worship was maintained in its
splendor; "where every fountain, pathway, and wall," says an ancient
chronicler, "was regarded as a holy mystery." 24  And unfortunate was
the Indian noble who, at some period or other of his life, had not made
his pilgrimage to the Peruvian Mecca.

Other temples and religious dwellings were scattered over the provinces;
and some of them constructed on a scale of magnificence, that almost
rivalled that of the metropolis.  The attendants on these composed an
army of themselves.  The whole number of functionaries, including those
of the sacerdotal order, who officiated at the Coricancha alone, was no
less than four thousand.25

At the head of all, both here and throughout the land, stood the great
High-Priest, or Villac Vmu, as he was called.  He was second only to the
Inca in dignity, and was usually chosen from his brothers or nearest
kindred.  He was appointed by the monarch, and held his office for life;
and he, in turn, appointed to all the subordinate stations of his own order.
This order was very numerous.  Those members of it who officiated in
the House of the Sun, in Cuzco, were taken exclusively from the sacred
race of the Incas.  The ministers in the provincial temples were drawn
from the families of the curacas; but the office of high-priest in each
district was reserved for one of the blood royal.  It was designed by this
regulation to preserve the faith in its purity, and to guard against any
departure from the stately ceremonial which it punctiliously
prescribed.26

The sacerdotal order, though numerous, was not distinguished by any
peculiar badge or costume from the rest of the nation.  Neither was it the
sole depository of the scanty science of the country, nor was it charged
with the business of instruction, nor with those parochial duties, if they
may so be called, which bring the priest in contact with the great body of
the people,--as was the case in Mexico.  The cause of this peculiarity
may probably be traced to the existence of a superior order, like that of
the Inca nobles, whose sanctity of birth so far transcended all human
appointments, that they in a manner engrossed whatever there was of
religious veneration in the people.  They were, in fact, the holy order of
the state.  Doubtless, any of them might, as very many of them did, take
on themselves the sacerdotal functions; and their own insignia and
peculiar privileges were too well understood to require any further badge
to separate them from the people.

The duties of the priest were confined to ministration in the temple.
Even here his attendance was not constant, as he was relieved after a
stated interval by other brethren of his order, who succeeded one another
in regular rotation.  His science was limited to an acquaintance with the
fasts and festivals of his religion, and the appropriate ceremonies which
distinguished them.  This, however frivolous might be its character, was
no easy acquisition; for the ritual of the Incas involved a routine of
observances, as complex and elaborate as ever distinguished that of any
nation, whether pagan or Christian.  Each month had its appropriate
festival, or rather festivals.  The four principal had reference to the Sun,
and commemorated the great periods of his annual progress, the solstices
and equinoxes.  Perhaps the most magnificent of all the national
solemnities was the feast of Raymi, held at the period of the summer
solstice, when the Sun, having touched the southern extremity of his
course, retraced his path, as if to gladden the hearts of his chosen people
by his presence.  On this occasion, the Indian nobles from the different
quarters of the country thronged to the capital to take part in the great
religious celebration.

For three days previous, there was a general fast, and no fire was allowed
to be lighted in the dwellings.  When the appointed day arrived, the Inca
and his court, followed by the whole population of the city, assembled at
early dawn in the great square to greet the rising of the Sun.  They were
dressed in their gayest apparel, and the Indian lords vied with each other
in the display of costly ornaments and jewels on their persons, while
canopies of gaudy feather-work and richly tinted stuffs, borne by the
attendants over their heads, gave to the great square, and the streets that
emptied into it, the appearance of being spread over with one vast and
magnificent awning.  Eagerly they watched the coming of their deity,
and, no sooner did his first yellow rays strike the turrets and loftiest
buildings of the capital, than a shout of gratulation broke forth from the
assembled multitude, accompanied by songs of triumph, and the wild
melody of barbaric instruments, that swelled louder and louder as his
bright orb, rising above the mountain range towards the east, shone in
full splendor on his votaries.  After the usual ceremonies of adoration, a
libation was offered to the great deity by the Inca, from a huge golden
vase, filled with the fermented liquor of maize or of maguey, which,
after the monarch had tasted it himself, he dispensed among his royal
kindred.  These ceremonies completed, the vast assembly was arranged
in order of procession, and took its way towards the Coricancha.27

As they entered the street of the sacred edifice, all divested themselves of
their sandals, except the Inca and his family, who did the same on
passing through the portals of the temple, where none but these august
personages were admitted.28  After a decent time spent in devotion, the
sovereign, attended by his courtly train, again appeared, and preparations
were made to commence the sacrifice.  This, with the Peruvians,
consisted of animals, grain, flowers, and sweet-scented gums; sometimes
of human beings, on which occasions a child or beautiful maiden was
usually selected as the victim.  But such sacrifices were rare, being
reserved to celebrate some great public event, as a coronation, the birth
of a royal heir, or a great victory.  They were never followed by those
cannibal repasts familiar to the Mexicans, and to many of the fierce
tribes conquered by the Incas.  Indeed, the conquests of these princes
might well be deemed a blessing to the Indian nations, if it were only
from their suppression of cannibalism, and the diminution, under their
rule, of human sacrifices.29

At the feast of Raymi, the sacrifice usually offered was that of the llama;
and the priest, after opening the body of his victim, sought in the
appearances which it exhibited to read the lesson of the mysterious
future.  If the auguries were unpropitious, a second victim was
slaughtered, in the hope of receiving some more comfortable assurance.
The Peruvian augur might have learned a good lesson of the Roman,--to
consider every omen as favorable, which served the interests of his
country.30

A fire was then kindled by means of a concave mirror of polished metal,
which, collecting the rays of the sun into a focus upon a quantity of dried
cotton, speedily set it on fire.  It was the expedient used on the like
occasions in ancient Rome, at least under the reign of the pious Numa.
When the sky was overcast, and the face of the good deity was hidden
from his worshippers, which was esteemed a bad omen, fire was
obtained by means of friction.  The sacred flame was intrusted to the care
of the Virgins of the Sun, and if, by any neglect, it was suffered to go out
in the course of the year, the event was regarded as a calamity that boded
some strange disaster to the monarchy.31  A burnt offering of the victims
was then made on the altars of the deity.  This sacrifice was but the
prelude to the slaughter of a great number of llamas, part of the flocks of
the Sun, which furnished a banquet not only for the Inca and his Court,
but for the people, who made amends at these festivals for the frugal fare
to which they were usually condemned.  A fine bread or cake, kneaded
of maize flour by the fair hands of the Virgins of the Sun, was also
placed on the royal board, where the Inca, presiding over the feast,
pledged his great nobles in generous goblets of the fermented liquor of
the country, and the long revelry of the day was closed at night by music
and dancing.  Dancing and drinking were the favorite pastimes of the
Peruvians.  These amusements continued for several days, though the
sacrifices terminated on the first.--Such was the great festival of Raymi;
and the recurrence of this and similar festivities gave relief to the
monotonous routine of toil prescribed to the lower orders of the
community.32

In the distribution of bread and wine at this high festival, the orthodox
Spaniards, who first came into the country, saw a striking resemblance to
the Christian communion; 33  as in the practice of confession and
penance, which, in a most irregular form, indeed, seems to have been
used by the Peruvians, they discerned a coincidence with another of the
sacraments of the Church.34  The good fathers were fond of tracing such
coincidences, which they considered as the contrivance of Satan, who
thus endeavored to delude his victims by counterfeiting the blessed rites
of Christianity.35  Others, in a different vein, imagined that they saw in
such analogies the evidence, that some of the primitive teachers of the
Gospel, perhaps an apostle himself, had paid a visit to these distant
regions, and scattered over them the seeds of religious truth.36  But it
seems hardly necessary to invoke the Prince of Darkness, or the
intervention of the blessed saints, to account for coincidences which
have existed in countries far removed from the light of Christianity, and
in ages, indeed, when its light had not yet risen on the world.  It is much
more reasonable to refer such casual points of resemblance to the general
constitution of man, and the necessities of his moral nature.37

Another singular analogy with Roman Catholic institutions is presented
by the Virgins of the Sun, the "elect," as they were called,38 to whom I
have already had occasion to refer.  These were young maidens,
dedicated to the service of the deity, who, at a tender age, were taken
from their homes, and introduced into convents, where they were placed
under the care of certain elderly matrons, mamaconas, who had grown
grey within their walls.39  Under these venerable guides, the holy virgins
were instructed in the nature of their religious duties.  They were
employed in spinning and embroidery, and, with the fine hair of the
vicuna wove the hangings for the temples, and the apparel for the Inca
and his household.40  It was their duty, above all, to watch over the
sacred fire obtained at the festival of Raymi.  From the moment they
entered the establishment, they were cut off from all connection with the
world, even with their own family and friends.  No one but the Inca, and
the Coya or queen, might enter the consecrated precincts.  The greatest
attention was paid to their morals, and visitors were sent every year to
inspect the institutions, and to report on the state of their discipline.41
Woe to the unhappy maiden who was detected in an intrigue!  By the
stern law of the Incas, she was to be buried alive, her lover was to be
strangled, and the town or village to which he belonged was to be razed
to the ground, and "sowed with stones," as if to efface every memorial of
his existence.42  One is astonished to find so close a resemblance
between the institutions of the American Indian, the ancient Roman, and
the modern Catholic! Chastity and purity of life are virtues in woman,
that would seem to be of equal estimation with the barbarian and with the
civilized.--Yet the ultimate destination of the inmates of these religious
houses was materially different.

The great establishment at Cuzco consisted wholly of maidens of the
royal blood, who amounted, it is said, to no less than fifteen hundred.
The provincial convents were supplied from the daughters of the curacas
and inferior nobles, and, occasionally, where a girl was recommended by
great personal attractions, from the lower classes of the people.43  The
"Houses of the Virgins of the Sun" consisted of low ranges of stone
buildings, covering a large extent of ground, surrounded by high walls,
which excluded those within entirely from observation.  They were
provided with every accommodation for the fair inmates, and were
embellished in the same sumptuous and costly manner as the palaces of
the Incas, and the temples; for they received the particular care of
government, as an important part of the religious establishment.44

Yet the career of all the inhabitants of these cloisters was not confined
within their narrow walls.  Though Virgins of the Sun, they were brides
of the Inca, and, at a marriageable age, the most beautiful among them
were selected for the honors of his bed, and transferred to the royal
seraglio.  The full complement of this amounted in time not only to
hundreds, but thousands, who all found accommodations in his different
palaces throughout the country.  When the monarch was disposed to
lessen the number of his establishment, the concubine with whose society
he was willing to dispense returned, not to her former monastic
residence, but to her own home; where, however humble might be her
original condition, she was maintained in great state, and, far from being
dishonored by the situation she had filled, was held in universal
reverence as the Inca's bride.45

The great nobles of Peru were allowed, like their sovereign, a plurality of
wives.  The people, generally, whether by law, or by necessity stronger
than law, were more happily limited to one.  Marriage was conducted in
a manner that gave it quite as original a character as belonged to the
other institutions of the country.  On an appointed day of the year, all
those of a marriageable age--which, having reference to their ability to
take charge of a family, in the males was fixed at not less than
twentyfour years, and in the women at eighteen or twenty--were called
together in the great squares of their respective towns and villages,
throughout the empire.  The Inca presided in person over the assembly of
his own kindred, and taking the hands of the different couples who were
to be united, he placed them within each other, declaring the parties man
and wife.  The same was done by the curacas towards all persons of their
own or inferior degree in their several districts.  This was the simple
form of marriage in Peru.  No one was allowed to select a wife beyond
the community to which he belonged, which generally comprehended all
his own kindred; 46 nor was any but the sovereign authorized to dispense
with the law of nature--or at least, the usual law of nations--so far as to
marry his own sister.47  No marriage was esteemed valid without the
consent of the parents; and the preference of the parties, it is said, was
also to be consulted; though, considering the barriers imposed by the
prescribed age of the candidates, this must have been within rather
narrow and whimsical limits.  A dwelling was got ready for the new-
married pair at the charge of the district, and the prescribed portion of
land assigned for their maintenance.  The law of Peru provided for the
future, as well as for the present.  It left nothing to chance.--The simple
ceremony of marriage was followed by general festivities among the
friends of the parties, which lasted several days; and as every wedding
took place on the same day, and as there were few families who had not
someone of their members or their kindred personally interested, there
was one universal bridal jubilee throughout the empire.48

The extraordinary regulations respecting marriage under the Incas are,
eminently characteristic of the genius of the government; which, far from
limiting itself to matters of public concern, penetrated into the most
private recesses of domestic life, allowing no man, however humble, to
act for himself, even in those personal matters in which none but himself,
or his family at most, might be supposed to be interested.  No Peruvian
was too low for the fostering vigilance of government.  None was so high
that he was not made to feel his dependence upon it in every act of his
life.  His very existence as an individual was absorbed in that of the
community.  His hopes and his fears, his joys and his sorrows, the
tenderest sympathies of his nature, which would most naturally shrink
from observation, were all to be regulated by law.  He was not allowed
even to be happy in his own way.  The government of the Incas was the
mildest, --but the most searching of despotisms.



Book 1

Chapter 4

Education--Quipus-Astronomy-Agriculture--Aqueducts-Guano--
Important Esculents

"Science was not intended for the people; but for those of generous
blood.  Persons of low degree are only puffed up by it, and rendered
vain and arrogant.  Neither should such meddle with the affairs of
government; for this would bring high offices into disrepute, and cause
detriment to the state.1 Such was the favorite maxim, often repeated, of
Tupac Inca Yupanqui, one of the most renowned of the Peruvian
sovereigns.  It may seem strange that such a maxim should ever have
been proclaimed in the New World, where popular institutions have beer
established on a more extensive scale than was ever before witnessed;
where government rests wholly on the people; and education--at least, in
the great northern division of the continent--is mainly directed to qualify
the people for the duties of government.  Yet this maxim was strictly
conformable to the genius of the Peruvian monarchy, and may serve as a
key to its habitual policy; since, while it watched with unwearied
solicitude over its subjects, provided for their physical necessities, was
mindful of their morals, and showed, throughout, the affectionate
concern of a parent for his children, it yet regarded them only as
children, who were never to emerge from the state of pupilage, to act or
to think for themselves, but whose whole duty was comprehended in the
obligation of implicit obedience.

Such was the humiliating condition of the people under the Incas: while
the numerous families of the blood royal enjoyed the benefit of all the
light of education, which the civilization of the country could afford;
and, long after the Conquest, the spots continued to be pointed out where
the seminaries had existed for their instruction.  These were placed
under the care of the amautas, or "wise men," who engrossed the scanty
stock of science--if science it could be called--possessed by the
Peruvians, and who were the sole teachers of youth.  It was natural that
the monarch should take a lively interest in the instruction of the young
nobility, his own kindred.  Several of the Peruvian princes are said to
have built their palaces in the neighborhood of the schools, in order that
they might the more easily visit them and listen to the lectures of the
amautas, which they occasionally reinforced by a homily of their own.2
In these schools, the royal pupils were instructed in all the different kinds
of knowledge in which their teachers were versed, with especial
reference to the stations they were to occupy in after-life.  They studied
the laws, and the principles of administering the government, in which
many of them were to take part.  They were initiated in the peculiar rites
of their religion, most necessary to those who were to assume the
sacerdotal functions.  They learned also to emulate the achievements of
their royal ancestors by listening to the chronicles compiled by the
amautas.  They were taught to speak their own dialect with purity and
elegance; and they became acquainted with the mysterious science of the
quipus, which supplied the Peruvians with the means of communicating
their ideas to one another, and of transmitting them to future
generations.3

The quipu was a cord about two feet long, composed of different colored
threads tightly twisted together, from which a quantity of smaller threads
were suspended in the manner of a fringe.  The threads were of different
colors and were tied into knots.  The word quipu, indeed, signifies a
knot.  The colors denoted sensible objects; as, for instance, white
represented silver, and yellow, gold.  They sometimes also stood for
abstract ideas.  Thus, white signified peace, and red, war.  But the
quipus were chiefly used for arithmetical purposes.  The knots served
instead of ciphers, and could be combined in such a manner as to
represent numbers to any amount they required.  By means of these they
went through their calculations with great rapidity, and the Spaniards
who first visited the country bear testimony to their accuracy.4

Officers were established in each of the districts, who, under the title of
quipucamayus, Or "keepers of the quipus," were required to furnish the
government with information on various important matters.  One had
charge of the revenues, reported the quantity of raw material distributed
among the laborers, the quality and quantity of the fabrics made from it,
and the amount of stores, of various kinds, paid into the royal magazines.
Another exhibited the register of births and deaths, the marriages, the
number of those qualified to bear arms, and the like details in reference
to the population of the kingdom.  These returns were annually
forwarded to the capital, where they were submitted to the inspection of
officers acquainted with the art of deciphering these mystic records.
The government was thus provided with a valuable mass of statistical
information, and the skeins of many-colored threads, collected and
carefully preserved, constituted what might be called the national
archives.5

But, although the quipus sufficed for all the purposes of arithmetical
computation demanded by the Peruvians, they were incompetent to
represent the manifold ideas and images which are expressed by writing,
Even here, however, the invention was not without its use.  For,
independently of the direct representation of simple objects, and even of
abstract ideas, to a very limited extent, as above noticed, it afforded great
help to the memory by way of association.  The peculiar knot or color,
in this way, suggested what it could not venture to represent; in the same
manner-to borrow the homely illustration of an old writer--as the number
of the Commandment calls to mind the Commandment itself.  The
quipus, thus used, might be regarded as the Peruvian system of
mnemonics.

Annalists were appointed in each of the principal communities, whose
business it was to record the most important events which occurred in
them.  Other functionaries of a higher character, usually the amautas,
were intrusted with the history of the empire, and were selected to
chronicle the great deeds of the reigning Inca, or of his ancestors.6  The
narrative, thus concocted, could be communicated only by oral tradition;
but the quipus served the chronicler to arrange the incidents with
method, and to refresh his memory.  The story, once treasured up in the
mind, was indelibly impressed there by frequent repetition.  It was
repeated by the amauta to his pupils, and in this way history, conveyed
partly by oral tradition, and partly by arbitrary signs, was handed down
from generation to generation, with sufficient discrepancy of details, but
with a general conformity of outline to the truth.

The Peruvian quipus were, doubtless, a wretched substitute for that
beautiful contrivance, the alphabet, which, employing a few simple
characters as the representatives of sounds, instead of ideas, is able to
convey the most delicate shades of thought that ever passed through the
mind of man.  The Peruvian invention, indeed, was far below that of the
hieroglyphics, even below the rude picture-writing of the Aztecs; for the
latter art, however incompetent to convey abstract ideas, could depict
sensible objects with tolerable accuracy.  It is evidence of the total
ignorance in which the two nations remained of each other, that the
Peruvians should have borrowed nothing of the hieroglyphical system of
the Mexicans, and this, notwithstanding that the existence of the maguey
plant agave, in South America might have furnished them with the very
material used by the Aztecs for the construction of their maps.7

It is impossible to contemplate without interest the struggles made by
different nations, as they emerge from barbarism, to supply themselves
with some visible symbols of thought,--that mysterious agency by which
the mind of the individual may be put in communication with the minds
of a whole community.  The want of such a symbol is itself the greatest
impediment to the progress of civilization.  For what is it but to
imprison the thought, which has the elements of immortality, within the
bosom of its author, or of the small circle who come in contact with him,
instead of sending it abroad to give light to thousands, and to generations
yet unborn! Not only is such a symbol an essential element of
civilization, but it may be assumed as the very criterion of civilization;
for the intellectual advancement of a people will keep pace pretty nearly
with its facilities for intellectual communication.

Yet we must be careful not to underrate the real value of the Peruvian
system; nor to suppose that the quipus were as awkward an instrument, in
the hand of a practised native, as they would be in ours.  We know the
effect of habit in all mechanical operations, and the Spaniards bear
constant testimony to the adroitness and accuracy of the Peruvians in
this.  Their skill is not more surprising than the facility with which habit
enables us to master the contents of a printed page, comprehending
thousands of separate characters, by a single glance, as it were, though
each character must require a distinct recognition by the eye, and that,
too, without breaking the chain of thought in the reader's mind.  We
must not hold the invention of the quipus too lightly, when we reflect
that they supplied the means of calculation demanded for the affairs of a
great nation, and that, however insufficient, they afforded no little help to
what aspired to the credit of literary composition.

The office of recording the national annals was not wholly confined to
the amautas.  It was assumed in part by the haravecs, or poets, who
selected the most brilliant incidents for their songs or ballads, which
were chanted at the royal festivals and at the table of the Inca.8  In this
manner, a body of traditional minstrelsy grew up, like the British and
Spanish ballad poetry, by means of which the name of many a rude
chieftain, that might have perished for want of a chronicler, has been
borne down the tide of rustic melody to later generations.

Yet history may be thought not to gain much by this alliance with poetry;
for the domain of the poet extends over an ideal realm peopled with the
shadowy forms of fancy, that bear little resemblance to the rude realities
of life.  The Peruvian annals may be deemed to show somewhat of the
effects of this union, since there is a tinge of the marvellous spread over
them down to the very latest period, which, like a mist before the reader's
eye, makes it difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction.

The poet found a convenient instrument for his purposes in the beautiful
Quichua dialect.  We have already seen the extraordinary measures
taken by the Incas for propagating their language throughout their
empire.  Thus naturalized in the remotest provinces, it became enriched
by a variety of exotic words and idioms, which, under the influence of
the Court and of poetic culture, if I may so express myself, was gradually
blended, like some finished mosaic made up of coarse and disjointed
materials, into one harmonious whole.  The Quichua became the most
comprehensive and various, as well as the most elegant, of the South
American dialects.9

Besides the compositions already noticed, the Peruvians, it is said,
showed some talent for theatrical exhibitions; not those barren
pantomimes which, addressed simply to the eye, have formed the
amusement of more than one rude nation.  The Peruvian pieces aspired
to the rank of dramatic compositions, sustained by character and
dialogue, founded sometimes on themes of tragic interest, and at others
on such as, from their light and social character, belong to comedy.10
Of the execution of these pieces we have now no means of judging.  It
was probably rude enough, as befitted an unformed people.  But,
whatever may have been the execution, the mere conception of such an
amusement is a proof of refinement that honorably distinguishes the
Peruvian from the other American races, whose pastime was war, or the
ferocious sports that reflect the image of it.

The intellectual character of the Peruvians, indeed, seems to have been
marked rather by a tendency to refinement than by those hardier qualities
which insure success in the severer walks of science.  In these they were
behind several of the semi-civilized nations of the New World.  They
had some acquaintance with geography, so far as related to their own
empire, which was indeed extensive; and they constructed maps with
lines raised on them to denote the boundaries and localities, on a similar
principle with those formerly used by the blind.  In astronomy, they
appear to have made but moderate proficiency.  They divided the year
into twelve lunar months, each of which, having its own name, was
distinguished by its appropriate festival.11  They had, also, weeks; but of
what length, whether of seven, nine, or ten days, is uncertain.  As their
lunar year would necessarily fall short of the true time, they rectified
their calendar by solar observations made by means of a number of
cylindrical columns raised on the high lands round Cuzco, which served
them for taking azimuths; and, by measuring their shadows, they
ascertained the exact times of the solstices.  The period of the equinoxes
they determined by the help of a solitary pillar, or gnomon, placed in the
centre of a circle, which was described in the area of the great temple,
and traversed by a diameter that was drawn from east to west.  When the
shadows were scarcely visible under the noontide rays of the sun, they
said that "the god sat with all his light upon the column." 12  Quito
which lay immediately under the equator, where the vertical rays of the
sun threw no shadow at noon, was held in especial veneration as the
favored abode of the great deity.  The period of the equinoxes was
celebrated by public rejoicings.  The pillar was crowned by the golden
chair of the Sun, and, both then and at the solstices, the columns were
hung with garlands, and offerings of flowers and fruits were made, while
high festival was kept throughout the empire.  By these periods the
Peruvians regulated their religious rites and ceremonial, and prescribed
the nature of their agricultural labors.  The year itself took its departure
from the date of the winter solstice.13

This meagre account embraces nearly all that has come down to us of
Peruvian astronomy.  It may seem strange that a nation, which had
proceeded thus far in its observations, should have gone no farther; and
that, notwithstanding its general advance in civilization, it should in this
science have fallen so far short, not only of the Mexicans, but of the
Muyscas, inhabiting the same elevated regions of the great southern
plateau with themselves.  These latter regulated their calendar on the
same general plan of cycles and periodical series as the Aztecs,
approaching yet nearer to the system pursued by the people of Asia.

It might have been expected that the Incas, the boasted children of the
Sun, would have made a particular study of the phenomena of the
heavens, and have constructed a calendar on principles as scientific as
that of their semi-civilized neighbors.  One historian, indeed, assures us
that they threw their years into cycles of ten, a hundred, and a thousand
years, and that by these cycles they regulated their chronology.15  But
this assertion--not improbable in itself--rests on a writer but little gifted
with the spirit of criticism, and is counter-balanced by the silence of
every higher and earlier authority, as well as by the absence of any
monument, like those found among other American nations, to attest the
existence of such a calendar.  The inferiority of the Peruvians may be,
perhaps, in part explained by the fact of their priesthood being drawn
exclusively from the body of the Incas, a privileged order of nobility,
who had no need, by the assumption of superior learning, to fence
themselves round from the approaches of the vulgar.  The little true
science possessed by the Aztec priest supplied him with a key to unlock
the mysteries of the heavens, and the false system of astrology which he
built upon it gave him credit as a being who had something of divinity in
his own nature.  But the Inca noble was divine by birth.  The illusory
study of astrology, so captivating to the unenlightened mind, engaged no
share of his attention.  The only persons in Peru, who claimed the power
of reading the mysterious future, were the diviners, men who, combining
with their pretensions some skill in the healing art, resembled the
conjurors found among many of the Indian tribes.  But the office was
held in little repute, except among the lower classes, and was abandoned
to those whose age and infirmity disqualified them for the real business
of life.16

The Peruvians had knowledge of one or two constellations, and watched
the motions of the planet Venus, to which, as we have seen, they
dedicated altars.  But their ignorance of the first principles of
astronomical science is shown by their ideas of eclipses, which, they
supposed, denoted some great derangement of the planet; and when the
moon labored under one of these mysterious infirmities, they sounded
their instruments, and filled the air with shouts and lamentations, to rouse
her from her lethargy.  Such puerile conceits as these form a striking
contrast with the real knowledge of the Mexicans, as displayed in their
hieroglyphical maps, in which the true cause of this phenomenon is
plainly depicted.17

But, if less successful in exploring the heavens, the Incas must be
admitted to have surpassed every other American race in their dominion
over the earth.  Husbandry was pursued by them on principles that may
be truly called scientific.  It was the basis of their political institutions.
Having no foreign commerce, it was agriculture that furnished them with
the means of their internal exchanges, their subsistence, and their
revenues.  We have seen their remarkable provisions for distributing the
land in equal shares among the people, while they required every man,
except the privileged orders, to assist in its cultivation.  The Inca himself
did not disdain to set the example.  On one of the great annual festivals,
he proceeded to the environs of Cuzco, attended by his Court, and, in the
presence of all the people, turned up the earth with a golden plough,--or
an instrument that served as such,--thus consecrating the occupation of
the husbandman as one worthy to be followed by the Children of the
Sun.18

The patronage of the government did not stop with this cheap display of
royal condescension, but was shown in the most efficient measures for
facilitating the labors of the husbandman.  Much of the country along the
sea-coast suffered from want of water, as little or no rain fell there, and
the few streams, in their short and hurried course from the mountains,
exerted only a very limited influence on the wide extent of territory.  The
soil, it is true, was, for the most part, sandy and sterile; but many places
were capable of being reclaimed, and, indeed, needed only to be
properly irrigated to be susceptible of extraordinary production.  To
these spots water was conveyed by means of canals and subterraneous
aqueducts, executed on a noble scale.  They consisted of large slabs of
freestone nicely fitted together without cement, and discharged a volume
of water sufficient, by means of latent ducts or sluices, to moisten the
lands in the lower level, through which they passed.  Some of these
aqueducts were of great length.  One that traversed the district of
Condesuyu measured between four and five hundred miles.  They were
brought from some elevated lake or natural reservoir in the heart of the
mountains, and were fed at intervals by other basins which lay in their
route along the slopes of the sierra.  In this descent, a passage was
sometimes to be opened through rocks,--and this without the aid of iron
tools; impracticable mountains were to be turned; rivers and marshes to
be crossed; in short, the same obstacles were to be encountered as in the
construction of their mighty roads.  But the Peruvians seemed to take
pleasure in wrestling with the difficulties of nature.  Near Caxamarca, a
tunnel is still visible, which they excavated in the mountains, to give an
outlet to the waters of a lake, when these rose to a height in the rainy
season that threatened the country with inundation.19

Most of these beneficent works of the Incas were suffered to go to decay
by their Spanish conquerors.  In some spots, the waters are still left to
flow in their silent, subterraneous channels, whose windings and whose
sources have been alike unexplored.  Others, though partially
dilapidated, and closed up with rubbish and the rank vegetation of the
soil, still betray their course by occasional patches of fertility.  Such are
the remains in the valley of Nasca, a fruitful spot that lies between long
tracts of desert; where the ancient water-courses of the Incas, measuring
four or five feet in depth by three in width, and formed of large blocks of
uncemented masonry, are conducted from an unknown distance.

The greatest care was taken that every occupant of the land through
which these streams passed should enjoy the benefit of them.  The
quantity of water alloted to each was prescribed by law; and royal
overseers superintended the distribution, and saw that it was faithfully
applied to the irrigation of the ground.20

The Peruvians showed a similar spirit of enterprise in their schemes for
introducing cultivation into the mountainous parts of their domain.
Many of the hills, though covered with a strong soil, were too precipitous
to be tilled.  These they cut into terraces, faced with rough stone,
diminishing in regular gradation towards the summit; so that, while the
lower strip, or anden, as it was called by the Spaniards, that belted round
the base of the mountain, might comprehend hundreds of acres, the
upper-most was only large enough to accommodate a few rows of Indian
corn.21  Some of the eminences presented such a mess of solid rock,
that, after being hewn into terraces, they were obliged to be covered deep
with earth, before they could serve the purpose of the husbandman.  With
such patient toil did the Peruvians combat the formidable obstacles
presented by the face of their country! Without the use of tools or the
machinery familiar to the European, each individual could have done
little; but acting in large masses, and under a common direction, they
were enabled by indefatigable perseverance to achieve results, to have
attempted which might have filled even the European with dismay.22

In the same spirit of economical husbandry which redeemed the rocky
sierra from the curse of sterility, they dug below the arid soil of the
valleys, and sought for a stratum where some natural moisture might be
found.  These excavations, called by the Spaniards hoyas, or "pits," were
made on a great scale, comprehending frequently more than an acre,
sunk to the depth of fifteen or twenty feet, and fenced round within by a
wall of adobes, or bricks baked in the sun.  The bottom of the
excavation, well prepared by a rich manure of the sardines,--a small fish
obtained in vast quantities along the coast,--was planted with some kind
or grain or vegetable.23

The Peruvian farmers were well acquainted with the different kinds of
manures, and made large use of them; a circumstance rare in the rich
lands of the tropics, and probably not elsewhere practised by the rude
tribes of America.  They made great use of guano, the valuable deposit
of sea-fowl, that has attracted so much attention, of late, from the
agriculturists both of Europe and of our own country, and the stimulating
and nutritious properties of which the Indians perfectly appreciated.
This was found in such immense quantities on many of the little islands
along the coast, as to have the appeaarnce of lofty hills, which, covered
with a white saline incrustation, led the Conquerors to give them the
name of the sierra nevada, or "snowy mountains."

The Incas took their usual precautions for securing the benefits of this
important article to the husbandman.  They assigned the small islands on
the coast to the use of the respective districts which lay adjacent to them.
When the island was large, it was distributed among several districts, and
the boundaries for each were clearly defined.  All encroachment on the
rights of another was severely punished.  And they secured the
preservation of the fowl by penalties as stern as those by which the
Norman tyrants of England protected their own game.  No one was
allowed to set foot on the island during the season for breeding, under
pain of death; and to kill the birds at any time was punished in the like
manner.24

With this advancement in agricultural science, the Peruvians might be
supposed to have had some knowledge of the plough, in such general use
among the primitive nations of the eastern continent.  But they had
neither the iron ploughshare of the Old World, nor had they animals for
.draught, which, indeed, were nowhere found in the New.  The
instrument which they used was a strong, sharp-pointed stake, traversed
by a horizontal piece, ten or twelve inches from the point, on which the
ploughman might set his foot and force it into the ground.  Six or eight
strong men were attached by ropes to the stake, and dragged it forcibly
along, --pulling together, and keeping time as they moved by chanting
their national songs, in which they were accompanied by the women who
followed in their-train, to break up the sods with their rakes.  The mellow
soil offered slight resistance; and the laborer., by long practice, acquired
a dexterity which enabled him to turn up the ground to the requisite
depth with astonishing facility.  This substitute for the plough was but a
clumsy contrivance; yet it is curious as the only specimen of the kind
among the American aborigines, and was perhaps not much inferior to
the wooden instrument introduced in its stead by the European
conquerors .25

It was frequently the policy of the Incas, after providing a deserted tract
with the means for irrigation, and thus fitting it for the labors of the
husbandman, to transplant there a colony of mitimaes, who brought it
under cultivation by raising the crops best suited to the soil.  While the
peculiar character and capacity of the lands were thus consulted, a means
of exchange of the different products was afforded to the neighboring
provinces, which, from the formation of the country, varied much more
than usual within the same limits.  To facilitate these agricultural
exchanges, fairs were instituted, which took place three times a month in
some of the most populous places, where, as money was unknown, a
rude kind of commerce was kept up by the barter of their respective
products.  These fairs afforded so many holidays for the relaxation of the
industrious laborer.26

Such were the expedients adopted by the Incas for the improvement of
their territory; and, although imperfect, they must be allowed to show an
acquaintance with the principles of agricultural science, that gives them
some claim to the rank of a civilized people.  Under their patient and
discriminating culture, every inch of good soil was tasked to its greatest
power of production; while the most-unpromising spots were compelled
to contribute something to the subsistence of the people.  Everywhere the
land teemed with evidence of agricultural wealth, from the smiling
valleys along the coast to the terraced steeps of the sierra, which, rising
into pyramids of verdure, glowed with all the splendors of tropical
vegetation.

The formation of the country was particularly favorable, as already
remarked, to an infinite variety of products, not so much from its extent
as from its various elevations, which, more remarkable, even, than those
in Mexico, comprehend every degree of latitude from the equator to the
polar regions.  Yet, though the temperature changes in this region with
the degree of elevation, it remains nearly the same in the same spots
throughout the year; and the inhabitant feels none of those grateful
vicissitudes of season which belong to the temperate latitudes of the
globe.  Thus, while the summer lies in full power on the burning regions
of the palm and the cocoa-tree that fringe the borders of the ocean, the
broad surface of the table-land blooms with the freshness of perpetual
spring, and the higher summits of the Cordilleras are white with
everlasting winter.

The Peruvians turned this fixed variety of climate, if I may so say, to the
best account by cultivating the productions appropriate to each; and they
particularly directed their attention to those which afforded the most
nutriment to man.  Thus, in the lower level were to be found the
cassavatree and the banana, that bountiful plant, which seems to have
relieved man from the primeval curse--if it were not rather a blessing--of
toiling for his sustenance.27  As the banana faded from the landscape, a
good substitute was found in the maize, the great agricultural staple of
both the northern and southern divisions of the American continent; and
which, after its exportation to the Old World, spread so rapidly there, as
to suggest the idea of its being indigenous to it.28  The Peruvians were
well acquainted with the different modes of preparing this useful
vegetable, though it seems they did not use it for bread, except at
festivals; and they extracted a sort of honey from the stalk, and made an
intoxicating liquor from the fermented grain, to which, like the Aztecs,
they were immoderately addicted.29

The temperate climate of the table-land furnished them with the maguey,
agave Americana, many of the extraordinary qualities of which they
comprehended, though not its most important one of affording a material
for paper.  Tobacco, too, was among the products of this elevated region.
Yet the Peruvians differed from every other Indian nation to whom it was
known, by using it only for medicinal purposes, in the form of snuff.30
They may have found a substitute for its narcotic qualities in the coco
(Erythroxylum Peruvianurn), or cuca, as called by the natives.  This is a
shrub which grows to the height of a man.  The leaves when gathered are
dried in the sun, and, being mixed with a little lime, form a preparation
for chewing, much like the betel-leaf of the East.31  With a small supply
of this cuca in his pouch, and a handful of roasted maize, the Peruvian
Indian of our time performs his wearisome journeys, day ,after day,
without fatigue, or, at least, without complaint.  Even food the most
invigorating is less grateful to him than his loved narcotic.  Under the
Incas, it is said to have been exclusively reserved for the noble orders.  If
so, the people gained one luxury by the Conquest; and, after that period,
it was so extensively used by them, that this article constituted a most
important item of the colonial revenue of Spain.32  Yet, with the
soothing charms of an opiate, this weed so much vaunted by the natives,
when used to excess, is said to be attended with all the mischievous
effects of habitual intoxication.33

Higher up on the slopes of the Cordilleras, beyond the limits of the maize
and of the quinoa,--a grain bearing some resemblance to rice, and largely
cultivated by the Indians,--was to be found the potato, the introduction of
which into Europe has made an era in the history of agriculture.
Whether indigenous to Peru, or imported from the neighboring country
of Chili, it formed the great staple of the more elevated plains, under the
Incas, and its culture was continued to a height in the equatorial regions
which reached many thousand feet above the limits of perpetual snow in
the temperate latitudes of Europe.34  Wild specimens of the vegetable
might be seen still higher, springing up spontaneously amidst the stunted
shrubs that clothed the lofty sides of the Cordilleras till these gradually
subsided into the mosses and the short yellow grass: pajonal, which, like
a golden carpet, was unrolled around the base of the mighty cones, that
rose far into the regions of eternal silence, covered with the snows of
centuries.35



Book 1

Chapter 5

Peruvian Sheep--Great Hunts--Manufactures--Mechanical Skill--
Architecture--Concluding Reflections

A Nation which had made such progress in agriculture might be
reasonably expected to have made, also, some proficiency in the
mechanical arts--especially when, as in the case of the Peruvians, their
agricultural economy demanded in itself no inconsiderable degree of
mechanical skill.  Among most nations, progress in manufactures has
been found to have an intimate connection with the progress of
husbandry.  Both arts are directed to the same great object of supplying
the necessaries, the comforts, or, in a more refined condition of society,
the luxuries of life; and when the one is brought to a perfection that
infers a certain advance in civilization, the other must naturally find a
corresponding development under the increasing demands and capacities
of such a state.  The subjects of the Incas, in their patient and tranquil
devotion to the more humble occupations of industry which bound them
to their native soil, bore greater resemblance to the Oriental nations, as
the Hindoos and Chinese, than they bore to the members of the great
Anglo-Saxon family whose hardy temper has driven them to seek their
fortunes on the stormy ocean, and to open a commerce with the most
distant regions of the globe.  The Peruvians, though lining a long extent
of sea-coast, had no foreign commerce.

They had peculiar advantages for domestic manufacture in a material
incomparably superior to anything possessed by the other races of the
Western continent.  They found a good substitute for linen in a fabric
which, like the Aztecs, they knew how to weave from the tough thread of
the maguey.  Cotton grew luxuriantly on the low, sultry level of the
coast, and furnished them with a clothing suitable to the milder latitudes
of the country.  But from the llama and the kindred species of Peruvian
sheep they obtained a fleece adapted to the colder climate of the
table]and, "more estimable," to quote the language of a well-informed
writer, "than the down of the Canadian beaver, the fleece of the brebis
des Calmoucks, or of the Syrian goat." 1

Of the four varieties of the Peruvian sheep, the llama, the one most
familiarly known, is the least valuable on account of its wool.  It is
chiefly employed as a beast of burden, for which, although it is
somewhat larger than any of the other varieties, its diminutive size and
strength would seem to disqualify it.  It carries a load of little more than
a hundred pounds, and cannot travel above three or four leagues in a day.
But all this is compensated by the little care and cost required for its
management and its maintenance.  It picks up an easy subsistence from
the moss and stunted herbage that grow scantily along the withered sides
and the steeps of the Cordilleras.  The structure of its stomach, like that
of the camel, is such as to enable it to dispense with any supply of water
for weeks, nay, months together.  Its spongy hoof, armed with a claw or
pointed talon to enable it to take secure hold on the ice, never requires to
be shod; and the load laid upon its back rests securely in its bed of wool,
without the aid of girth or saddle.  The llamas move in troops of five
hundred or even a thousand, and thus, though each individual carries but
little, the aggregate is considerable.  The whole caravan travels on at its
regular pace, passing the night in the open air without suffering from the
coldest temperature, and marching in perfect order, and in obedience to
the voice of the driver.  It is only when overloaded that the spirited little
animal refuses to stir, and neither blows nor caresses can induce him to
rise from the ground.  He is as sturdy in asserting his rights on this
occasion, as he is usually docile and unresisting.2

The employment of domestic animals distinguished the Peruvians from
the other races of the New World.  This economy of human labor by the
substitution of the brute is an important element of civilization, interior
only to what is gained by the substitution of machinery for both.  Yet the
ancient Peruvians seem to have made much less account of it than their
Spanish conquerors, and to have valued the llama, in common with the
other animals of that genus, chiefly for its fleece.  Immense herds of
these "large cattle," as they were called, and of the "smaller cattle," 3 or
alpacas, were held by the government, as already noticed, and placed
under the direction of shepherds, who conducted them from one quarter
of the country to another, according to the changes of the season.  These
migrations were regulated with all the precision with which the code of
the mesta determined the migrations of the vast merino flocks in Spain;
and the Conquerors, when they landed in Peru, were amazed at finding a
race of animals so similar to their own in properties and habits, and
under the control of a system of legislation which might seem to have
been imported from their native land.4

But the richest store of wool was obtained, not from these domesticated
animals, but from the two other species, the huanacos and the vicunas,
which roamed in native freedom over the frozen ranges of the
Cordilleras; where not unfrequently they might be seen scaling the snow-
covered peaks which no living thing inhabits save the condor, the huge
bird of the Andes, whose broad pinions bear him up in the atmosphere to
the height of more than twenty thousand feet above the level of the sea.5
In these rugged pastures, "the flock without a fold" finds sufficient
sustenance in the ychu, a species of grass which is found scattered all
along the great ridge of the Cordilleras, from the equator to the southern
limits of Patagonia.  And as these limits define the territory traversed by
the Peruvian sheep, which rarely, if ever, venture north of the line, it
seems not improbable that this mysterious little plant is so important to
their existence, that the absence of it is the principal reason why they
have not penetrated to the northern latitudes of Quito and New
Granada.6

But, although thus roaming without a master over the boundless wastes
of the Cordilleras, the Peruvian peasant was never allowed to hunt these
wild animals, which were protected by laws as severe as were the sleek
herds that grazed on the more cultivated slopes of the plateau.  The wild
game of the forest and the mountain was as much the property of the
government, as if it had been inclosed within a park, or penned within a
fold.7  It was only on stated occasions, at the great hunts, which took
place once a year, under the personal superintendence of the Inca or his
principal officers, that the game was allowed to be taken.  These hunts.
were not repeated in the same quarter of the country oftener than once.
in four years, that time might be allowed for the waste occasioned by
them to be replenished.  At the appointed time, all those living in the
district and its neighborhood, to the number, it might be, of fifty or sixty
thousand men,8 were distributed round, so as to form a cordon of
immense extent, that should embrace the whole country which was to be
hunted over.  The men were armed with long poles and spears, with
which they beat up game of every description lurking in the woods, the
valleys, and the mountains, killing the beasts of prey without mercy, and
driving the others, consisting chiefly of the deer of the country, and the
huanacos and vicunas, towards the centre of the wide-extended circle;
until, as this gradually contracted, the timid inhabitants of the forest were
concentrated on some spacious plain, where the eye of the hunter might
range freely over his victims, who found no place for shelter or escape.

The male deer and some of the coarser kind of the Peruvian sheep were
slaughtered; their skins were reserved for the various useful
manufactures to which they are ordinarily applied, and their flesh, cut
into thin slices, was distributed among the people, who converted it into
charqui, the dried meat of the country, which constituted then the sole, as
it has since the principal, animal food of the lower classes of Peru.9

But nearly the whole of the sheep, amounting usually to thirty or forty
thousand, or even a larger number, after being carefully sheared, were
suffered to escape and regain their solitary haunts among the mountains.
The wool thus collected was deposited in the royal magazines, whence,
in due time, it was dealt out to the people.  The coarser quality was
worked up into garments for their own use, and the finer for the Inca; for
none but an Inca noble could wear the fine fabric of the vicuna.10

The Peruvians showed great skill in the manufacture of different articles
for the royal household from this delicate material, which, under the
name of vigonia wool, is now familiar to the looms of Europe.  It was
wrought into shawls, robes, and other articles of dress for the monarch,
and into carpets, coverlets, and hangings for the imperial palaces and the
temples.  The cloth was finished on both sides alike; 11 the delicacy of
the texture was such as to give it the lustre of silk; and the brilliancy of
the dyes excited the admiration and the envy of the European artisan.12
The Peruvians produced also an article of great strength and durability
by mixing the hair of animals with wool; and they were expert in the
beautiful feather-work, which they held of less account than the
Mexicans from the superior quality of the materials for other fabrics,
which they had at their command.13

The natives showed a skill in other mechanical arts similar to that
displayed by their manufactures of cloth.  Every man in Peru was
expected to be acquainted with the various handicrafts essential to
domestic comfort.  No long apprenticeship was required for this, where
the wants were so few as among the simple peasantry of the Incas.  But,
if this were all, it would imply but a very moderate advancement in the
arts.  There were certain individuals, however, carefully trained to those
occupations which minister to the demands of the more opulent classes
of society.  These occupations, like every other calling and office in
Peru, always descended from father to son.  The division of castes, in
this particular, was as precise as that which existed in Egypt or
Hindostan.  If this arrangement be unfavorable to originality, or to the
development of the peculiar talent of the individual, it at least conduces
to an easy and finished execution by familiarizing the artist with the
practice of his art from childhood.15

The royal magazines and the huacas or tombs of the Incas have been
found to contain many specimens of curious and elaborate workmanship.
Among these are vases of gold and silver, bracelets, collars, and other
ornaments for the person; utensils of every description, some of fine
clay, and many more of copper; mirrors of a hard, polished stone, or
burnished silver, with a great variety of other articles made frequently on
a whimsical pattern, evincing quite as much ingenuity as taste or
inventive talent.16  The character of the Peruvian mind led to imitation,
in fact, rather than invention, to delicacy and minuteness of finish, rather
than to boldness or beauty of design.

That they should have accomplished these difficult works with such tools
as they possessed, is truly wonderful.  It was comparativeIy easy to cast
and even sculpture metallic substances, both of which they did with
consummate skill.  But that they should have shown the like facility in
cutting the hardest substances, as emeralds and other precious stones, is
not easy to explain.  Emeralds they obtained in considerable quantity
from the barren district of Atacames, and this inflexible material seems
to have been almost as ductile in the hands of the Peruvian artist as if it
had been made of clay.17  Yet the natives were unacquainted with the
use of iron, though the soil was largely impregnated with it.18  The tools
used were of stone, or more frequently of copper.  But the material on
which they relied for the execution of their most difficult tasks was
formed by combining a very small portion of tin with copper.19  This
composition gave a hardness to the metal which seems to have been little
inferior to that of steel.  With the aid of it, not only did the Peruvian
artisan hew into shape porphyry and granite, but by his patient industry
accomplished works which the European would not have ventured to
undertake.  Among the remains of the monuments of Cannar may be seen
movable rings in the muzzles of animals, all nicely sculptured of one
entire block of granite.20  It is worthy of remark, that the Egyptians, the
Mexicans, and the Peruvians, in their progress towards civilization,
should never have detected the use of iron, which lay around them in
abundance; and that they should each, without any knowledge of the
other, have found a substitute for it in such a curious composition of
metals as gave to their tools almost the temper of steel; 21 a secret that
has been lost--or, to speak more correctly, has never been discovered-by
the civilized European.

I have already spoken of the large quantity of gold and silver wrought
into various articles of elegance and utility for the Incas; though the
amount was inconsiderable, in comparison with what could have been
afforded by the mineral riches of the land, and with what has since been
obtained by the more sagacious and unscrupulous cupidity of the white
.man.  Gold was gathered by the Incas from the deposits of the streams.
They extracted the ore also in considerable quantities from the valley of
Curimayo, northeast of Caxamarca, as well as from other places; and the
silver mines of Porco, in particular, yielded them considerable returns.
Yet they did not attempt to penetrate into the bowels of the earth 'by
sinking a shaft, but simply excavated a cavern in the steep sides of the
mountain, or, at most, opened a horizonal vein of moderate depth.  They
were equally deficient in the knowledge of the best means of detaching
the precious metal from the dross with which it was united, and had no
idea of the virtues of quicksilver,--a mineral not rare in Peru, as an
amalgam to effect this decomposition.22  Their method of smelting the
ore was by means of furnaces built in elevated and exposed situations,
where they might be fanned by the strong breezes of the mountains.  The
subjects of the Incas, in short, with all their patient perseverance, did
little more than penetrate below the crust, the outer rind, as it were,
formed over those golden caverns which lie hidden in the dark depths of
the Andes.  Yet what they gleaned from the surface was more than
adequate for all their demands.  For they were not a commercial people,
and had no knowledge of money.23  In this they differed from the
ancient Mexicans, who had an established currency of a determinate
value.  In one respect, however, they were superior to their American
rivals, since they made use of weights to determine the quantity of their
commodities, a thing wholly unknown to the Aztecs.  This fact is
ascertained by the discovery of silver balances, adjusted with perfect
accuracy, in some of the tombs of the Incas.24

But the surest test of the civilization of a people--at least, as sure as any--
afforded by mechanical art is to be found in their architecture, which
presents so noble a field for the display of the grand and the beautiful,
and which, at the same time, is so intimately connected with the essential
comforts of life.  There is no object on which the resources of the
wealthy are more freely lavished, or which calls out more effectually the
inventive talent of the artist.  The painter and the sculptor may display
their individual genius in creations of surpassing excellence, but it is the
great monuments of architectural taste and magnificence that are
stamped in a peculiar manner by the genius of the nation.  The Greek, the
Egyptian, the Saracen, the Gothic,--what a key do their respective styles
afford to the character and condition of the people! The monuments of
China, of Hindostan, and of Central America are all indicative of an
immature period, in which the imagination has not been disciplined by
study, and which, therefore, in its best results, betrays only the
illregulated aspirations after the beautiful, that belong to a semi-civilized
people.

The Peruvian architecture, bearing also the general characteristics of an
imperfect state of refinement, had still its peculiar character; and so
uniform was that character, that the edifices throughout the country seem
to have been all cast in the same mould.25  They were usually built of
porphyry or granite; not unfrequently of brick.  This, which was formed
into blocks or squares of much larger dimensions than our brick, was
made of a tenacious earth mixed up with reeds or tough grass, and
acquired a degree of hardness with age that made it insensible alike to
the storms and the more trying sun of the tropics.26  The walls were of
great thickness, but low, seldom reaching to more than twelve or
fourteen feet in height.  It is rare to meet with accounts of a building that
rose to a  second story.27

The apartments had no communication with one another, but usually
opened into a court; and, as they were unprovided with windows, or
apertures that served for them, the only light from without must have
been admitted by the doorways.  These were made with the sides
approaching each other towards the top, so that the lintel was
considerably narrower than the threshold, a peculiarity, also, in Egyptian
architecture.  The roofs have for the most part disappeared with time.
Some few survive in the less ambitious edifices, of a singular bell-shape,
and made of a composition of earth and pebbles.  They are supposed,
however, to have been generally formed of more perishable materials, of
wood or straw.  It is certain that some of the most considerable stone-
buildings were thatched with straw.  Many seem to have been
constructed without the aid of cement; and writers have contended that
the Peruvians were unacquainted with the use of mortar, or cement of
any kind.28  But a close, tenacious mould, mixed with lime, may be
discovered filling up the interstices of the granite in some buildings; and
in others, where the wellfitted blocks leave no room for this coarser
material, the eye of the antiquary has detected a fine bituminous glue, as
hard as the rock itself.29

The greatest simplicity is observed in the construction of the buildings.
which are usually free from outward ornament; though in some the huge
stones are shaped into a convex form with great regularity, and adjusted
with such nice precision to one another, that it would be impossible, but
for the flutings, to determine the line of junction.  In others, the stone is
rough, as it was taken from the quarry, in the most irregular forms, with
the edges nicely wrought and fitted to each other.  There is no
appearance of columns or of arches; though there is some contradiction
as to the latter point.  But it is not to be doubted, that, although they may
have made some approach to this mode of construction by the greater or
less inclination of the walls, the Peruvian architects were wholly
unacquainted with the true principle of the circular arch reposing on its
key-stone.30

The architecture of the Incas is characterized, says an eminent traveller,
"by simplicity, symmetry, and solidity."31  It may seem unphilosophical
to condemn the peculiar fashion of a nation as indicating want of taste,
because its standard of taste differs from our own.  Yet there is an
incongruity in the composition of the Peruvian buildings which argues a
very imperfect acquaintance with the first principles of architecture.
While they put together their bulky masses of porphyry and granite with
the nicest art, they were incapable of mortising their timbers, and, in their
ignorance of iron, knew no better way of holding the beams together that
tying them with thongs of maguey.  In the same incongruous spirit, the
building that was thatched with straw, and unilluminated by a window,
was glowing with tapestries of gold and silver! These are the
inconsistencies of a rude people, among whom the arts are but partially
developed.  It might not be difficult to find examples of like
inconsistency in the architecture and domestic arrangements of our
Anglo-Saxon, and, at a still later period of our Norman ancestors.

Yet the buildings of the Incas were accommodated to the character of the
climate, and were well fitted to resist those terrible convulsions which
belong to the land of volcanoes.  The wisdom of their plan is attested by
the number which still survive, while the more modern constructions of
the Conquerors have been buried in ruins.  The hand of the Conquerors,
indeed, has fallen heavily on these venerable monuments, and, in their
blind and superstitious search for hidden treasure, has caused infinitely
more ruin than time or the earthquake.32  Yet enough of these
monuments still remain to invite the researches of the antiquary.  Those
only in the most conspicuous situations have been hitherto examined.
But, by the testimony of travellers, many more are to be found in the less
frequented parts of the country; and we may hope they will one day call
forth a kindred spirit of enterprise to that which has so successfully
explored the mysterious recesses of Central America and Yucatan.

I cannot close this analysis of the Peruvian institutions without a few
reflections on their general character and tendency, which, if they
involve some repetition of previous remarks, may, I trust, be excused,
from my desire to leave a correct and consistent impression on the
reader.  In this survey, we cannot but be struck with the total
dissimilarity between these institutions and those of the Aztecs,--the
other great nation who led in the march of civilization on this western
continent, and whose empire in the northern portion of it was as
conspicuous as that of the Incas in the south.  Both nations came on the
plateau, and commenced their career of conquest, at dates, it may be, not
far removed from each other.33  And it is worthy of notice, that, in
America, the elevated region along the crests of the great mountain
ranges should have been the chosen seat of civilization in both
hemispheres.

Very different was the policy pursued by the two races in their military
career.  The Aztecs, animated by the most ferocious spirit, carried on a
war of extermination, signalizing their triumphs by the sacrifice of
hecatombs of captives; while the Incas, although they pursued the game
of conquest with equal pertinacity, preferred a milder policy, substituting
negotiation and intrigue for violence, and dealt with their antagonists so
that their future resources should not be crippled, and that they should
come as friends, not as foes, into the bosom of the empire.

Their policy toward the conquered forms a contrast no less striking to
that pursued by the Aztecs.  The Mexican vassals were ground by
excessive imposts and military conscriptions.  No regard was had to their
welfare, and the only limit to oppression was the power of endurance.
They were over-awed by fortresses and armed garrisons, and were made
to feel every hour that they were not part and parcel of the nation, but
held only in subjugation as a conquered people.  The Incas, on the other
hand, admitted their new subjects at once to all the rights enjoyed by the
rest of the community; and, though they made them conform to the
established laws and usages of the empire, they watched over their
personal security and comfort with a sort of parental solicitude.  The
motley population, thus bound together by common interest, was
animated by a common feeling of loyality, which gave greater strength
and stability to the empire, as it became more and more widely extended;
while the various tribes who successively came under the Mexican
sceptre, being held together only by the pressure of external force, were
ready to fall asunder the moment that that force was withdrawn.  The
policy of the two nations displayed the principle of fear as contrasted
with the principle of love.

The characteristic features of their religious systems had as little
resemblance to each other.  The whole Aztec pantheon partook more or
less of the sanguinary spirit of the terrible war-god who presided over it,
and their frivolous ceremonial almost always terminated with human
sacrifice and cannibal orgies.  But the rites of the Peruvians were of a
more innocent cast, as they tended to a more spiritual worship.  For the
worship of the Creator is most nearly approached by that of the heavenly
bodies, which, as they revolve in their bright orbits, seem to be the most
glorious symbols of his beneficence and power.

In the minuter mechanical arts, both showed considerable skill; but in the
construction of important public works, of roads, aqueducts, canals, and
in agriculture in all its details, the Peruvians were much superior.
Strange that they should have fallen so far below their rivals in their
efforts after a higher intellectual culture, in astronomical science, more
especially, and in the art of communicating thought by visible symbols.
When we consider the greater refinement of the Incas, their inferiority to
the Aztecs in these particulars can be explained only by the fact, that the
latter in all probability were indebted for their science to the race who
preceded them in the land,--that shadowy race whose origin and whose
end are alike veiled from the eye of the inquirer, but who possibly may
have sought a refuge from their ferocious invaders in those regions of
Central America the architectural remains of which now supply us with
the most pleasing monuments of Indian civilization.  It is with this more
polished race, to whom the Peruvians seem to have borne some
resemblance in their mental and moral organization, that they should be
compared.  Had the empire of the Incas been permitted to extend itself
with the rapid strides with which it was advancing at the period of the
Spanish conquest, the two races might have come into conflict, or,
perhaps, into alliance with one another.

The Mexicans and Peruvians, so different in the character of their
peculiar civilization, were, it seems probable, ignorant of each other's
existence; and it may appear singular, that, during the simultaneous
continuance of their empires, some of the seeds of science and of art,
which pass so imperceptibly from one people to another, should not have
found their way across the interval which separated the two nations.
They furnish an interesting example of the opposite directions which the
human mind may take in its struggle to emerge from darkness into the
light of civilization,

A closer resemblance--as I have more than once taken occasion to
notice--may be found between the Peruvian institutions and some of the
despotic governments of Eastern Asia; those governments where
despotism appears in its more mitigated form, and the whole people,
under the patriarchal sway of its sovereign, seem to be gathered together
like the members of one vast family.  Such were the Chinese, for
example, whom the Peruvians resembled in their implicit obedience to
authority, their mild yet somewhat stubborn temper, their solicitude for
forms, their reverence for ancient usage, their skill in the minuter
manufactures, their imitative rather than inventive cast of mind, and their
invincible patience, which serves instead of a more adventurous spirit for
the execution of difficult undertakings.34

A still closer analogy may be found with the natives of Hindostan in their
division into castes, their worship of the heavenly bodies and the
elements of nature, and their acquaintance with the scientific principles
of husbandry.  To the ancient Egyptians, also, they bore considerable
resemblance in the same particulars, as well as in those ideas of a future
existence which led them to attach so much importance to the permanent
preservation of the body.

But we shall look in vain in the history of the East for a parallel to the
absolute control exercised by the Incas over their subjects.  In the East,
this was rounded on physical power,--on the external resources of the
government.  The authority of the Inca might be compared with that of
the Pope in the day of his might, when Christendom trembled at the
thunders of the Vatican, and the successor of St.  Peter set his foot on the
necks of princes.  But the authority of the Pope was founded on opinion.
His temporal power was nothing.  The empire of the Incas rested on
both.  It was a theocracy more potent in its operation than that of the
Jews; for, though the sanction of the law might be as great among the
latter, the law was expounded by a human lawgiver, the servant and
representative of Divinity.  But the Inca was both the lawgiver and the
law.  He was not merely the representative of Divinity, or, like the Pope,
its vicegerent, but he was Divinity itself.  The violation of his ordinance
was sacrilege.  Never was there a scheme of government enforced by
such terrible sanctions, or which bore so oppressively on the subjects of
it.  For it reached not only to the visible acts, but to the private conduct,
the words, the very thoughts, of its vassals.

It added not a little to the efficacy of the government, that, below the
sovereign, there was an order of hereditary nobles of the same divine
original with himself, who, placed far below himself, were still
immeasurably above the rest of the community, not merely by descent,
but, as it would seem, by their intellectual nature.  These were the
exclusive depositaries of power, and, as their long hereditary training
made them familiar with their vocation, and secured them implicit
deference from the multitude, they became the prompt and well-practised
agents for carrying out the executive measures of the administration.  All
that occurred throughout the wide extent of his empire---such was the
perfect system of communication--passed in review, as it were, before
the eyes of the monarch, and a thousand hands, armed with irresistible
authority, stood ready in every quarter to do his bidding.  Was it not, as
we have said, the most oppressive, though the mildest, of despotisms?

It was the mildest, from the very circumstance, that the transcendent rank
of the sovereign, and the humble, nay, superstitious, devotion to his will
make it superfluous to assert this will be acts of violence or rigor.  The
great mass of the people may have appeared to his eyes as but little
removed above the condition of the brute, formed to minister to his
pleasures.  But, from their very helplessness, he regarded them with
feelings of commiseration, like those which a kind master might feel for
the poor animals committed to his charge, or--to do justice to the
beneficent character attributed to many of the Incas--that a parent might
feel for his young and impotent offspring.  The laws were carefully
directed to their preservation and personal comfort.  The people were not
allowed to be employed on works pernicious to their health, nor to pine--
a sad contrast to their subsequent destiny--under the imposition of tasks
too heavy for their powers.  They were never made the victims of public
or private extortion; and a benevolent forecast watched carefully over
their necessities, and provided for their relief in seasons of infirmity, and
for their sustenance in health.  The government of the Incas, however
arbitrary in form, was in its spirit truly patriarchal.

Yet in this there was nothing cheering to the dignity of human nature.
What the people had was conceded as a boon, not as a right.  When a
nation was brought under the sceptre of the Incas, it resigned every
personal right, even the rights dearest to humanity.  Under this
extraordinary polity, a people advanced in many of the social
refinements, well skilled in manufactures and agriculture, were
unacquainted, as we have seen, with money.  They had nothing that
deserved to be called property.  They could follow no craft, could
engage in no labor, no amusement, but such as was specially provided by
law.  They could not change their residence or their dress without a
license from the government.  They could not even exercise the freedom
which is conceded to the most abject in other countries, that of selecting
their own wives.  The imperative spirit of despotism would not allow
them to be happy or miserable in any way but that established by law.
The power of free agency--the inestimable and inborn right of every
human being--was annihilated in Peru.

The astonishing mechanism of the Peruvian polity could have resulted
only from the combined authority of opinion and positive power in the
ruler to an extent unprecedented in the history of man.  Yet that it should
have so successfully gone into operation, and so long endured, in
opposition to the taste, the prejudices, and the very principles of our
nature, is a strong proof of a generally wise and temperate administration
of the government.

The policy habitually pursued by the Incas for the prevention of evils
that might have disturbed the order of things is well exemplified in their
provisions against poverty and idleness.  In these they rightly discerned
the two great causes of disaffection in a populous community.  The
industry of the people was secured not only by their compulsory
occupations at home, but by their employment on those great public
works which covered every part of the country, and which still bear
testimony in their decay to their primitive grandeur.  Yet it may well
astonish us to find, that the natural difficulty of these undertakings,
sufficiently great in itself, considering the imperfection of their tools and
machinery, was inconceivably enhanced by the politic contrivance of
government.  The royal edifices of Quito, we are assured by the Spanish
conquerors, were constructed of huge masses of stone, many of which
were carried all the way along the mountain roads from Cuzco, a
distance of several hundred leagues.35  The great square of the capital
was filled to a considerable depth with mould brought with incredible
labor up the steep slopes of the Cordilleras from the distant shores of the
Pacific Ocean.36  Labor was regarded not only as a means, but as an
end, by the Peruvian law.

With their manifold provisions against poverty the reader has already
been made acquainted.  They were so perfect, that, in their wide extent of
territory,--much of it smitten with the curse of barrenness,--no man,
however humble, suffered from the want of food and clothing.  Famine,
so common a scourge in every other American nation, so common at that
period in every country of civilized Europe, was an evil unknown in the
dominions of the Incas.

The most enlightened of the Spaniards who first visited Peru, struck with
the general appearance of plenty and prosperity, and with the astonishing
order with which every thing throughout the country was regulated, are
loud in their expressions of admiration.  No better government, in their
opinion, could have been devised for the people.  Contented with their
condition, and free from vice, to borrow the language of an eminent
authority of that early day, the mild and docile character of the Peruvians
would have well fitted them to receive the teachings of Christianity, had
the love of conversion, instead of gold, animated the breasts of the
Conquerors.37  And a philosopher of a later time, warmed by the
contemplation of the picture--which his own fancy had colored---of
public prosperity and private happiness under the rule of the Incas,
pronounces "the moral man in Peru far superior to the European." 38

Yet such results are scarcely reconcilable with the theory of the
government I have attempted to analyze.  Where there is no free agency,
there can be no morality.  Where there is no temptation, there can be
little claim to virtue.  Where the routine is rigorously prescribed by law,
the law, and not the man, must have the credit of the conduct.  if that
government is the best, which is felt the least, which encroaches on the
natural liberty of the subject only so far as is essential to civil
subordination, then of all governments devised by man the Peruvian has
the least real.  claim to our admiration.

It is not easy to comprehend the genius and the full import of institutions
so opposite to those of our own free republic, where every man, however
humble his condition, may aspire to the highest honors of the state,--may
select his own career, and carve out his fortune in his own way; where
the light of knowledge, instead of being concentrated on a chosen few, is
shed abroad like the light of day, and suffered to fall equally on the poor
and the rich; where the collision of man with man wakens a generous
emulation that calls out latent talent and tasks the energies to the utmost;
where consciousness of independence gives a feeling of self-reliance
unknown to the timid subjects of a despotism; where, in short, the
government is made for man,--not as in Peru, where man seemed to be
made only for the government.  The New World is the theatre in which
these two political systems, so opposite in their character, have been
carried into operation.  The empire of the Incas has passed away and left
no trace.  The other great experiment is still going on,--the experiment
which is to solve the problem, so long contested in the Old World, of the
capacity of man for self-government.  Alas for humanity, if it should fail!

The testimony of the Spanish conquerors is not uniform m respect to the
favorable influence exerted by the Peruvian institutions on the character
of the people.  Drinking and dancing are said to have been the pleassures
to which they were immoderately addicted.  Like the slaves and serfs in
other lands, whose position excluded them from more serious and
ennobling occupations, they found a substitute in frivolous or sensual
indulgence.  Lazy, luxurious, and licentious, are the epithets bestowed on
them by one of those who saw them at the Conquest, but whose pen was
not too friendly to the Indian.39  Yet the spirit of independence could
hardly be strong in a people who had no interest in the soil, no personal
rights to defend; and the facility with which they yielded to the Spanish
invader--after every allowance for their comparative inferiority--argues a
deplorable destitution of that patriotic feeling which holds life as little in
comparison with freedom.

But we must not judge too hardly of the unfortunate native, because he
quailed before the civilization of the European.  We must not be
insensible to the really great results that were achieved by the
government of the Incas.  We must not forget, that, under their rule, the
meanest of the people enjoyed a far greater degree of personal comfort,
at least, a greater exemption from physical suffering, than was possessed
by similar classes in other nations on the American continent,--greater,
probably, than was possessed by these classes in most of the countries of
feudal Europe.  Under their sceptre, the higher orders of the state had
made advances in many of the arts that belong to a cultivated
community.  The foundations of a regular government were laid, which,
in an age of rapine, secured to its subjects the inestimable blessings of
tranquillity and safety.  By the well-sustained policy of the Incas, the
rude tribes of the forest were gradually drawn from their fastnesses, and
gathered within the folds of civilization; and of these materials was
constructed a flourishing and populous empire, such as was to be found
in no other quarter of the American continent.  The defects of this
government were those of overrefinement in legislation,--the last defects
to have been looked for, certainly, in the American aborigines.


Note.   I have not thought it necessary to swell this Introduction by an
inquiry into the origin of the Peruvian civilization, like that appended to
the history of the Mexican.   The Peruvian history doubtless suggests
analogies with more than one nation in the East, some of which have
been briefly adverted to in the preceding pages; although these analogies
are adduced there not as evidence of a common origin, but as showing
the coincidences which might naturally spring up among different
nations under the same phase of civilization.  Such coincidences are
neither so numerous nor so striking as those afforded by the Aztec
history.  The correspondence presented by the astronomical science of
the Mexicans is alone of more importance than all the rest, Yet the light
of analogy, afforded by the institutions of the Incas, seems to point, as
far as it goes, towards the same direction; and as the investigation could
present but little substantially to confirm, and still less to confute, the
views taken in the former disquisition, I have not thought it best to
fatigue the reader with it.


Two of the prominent authorities on whom I have relied in this
Introductory portion of the work, are Juan de Sarmiento and the
Licentiate Ondegardo.  Of the former I have been able to collect no
information beyond what is afforded by his own writings.  In the title
prefixed to his manuscript, he is styled President of the Council of the
Indies, a post of high authority, which infers a weight of character in the
party, and means of information, that entitle his opinions on colonial
topics to great deference.

These means of information were much enlarged by Sarmiento's visit to
the colonies, during the administration of Gasca.  Having conceived the
design of compiling a history of the ancient Peruvian institutions, he
visited Cuzco, as he tells us, in 1550, and there drew from the natives
themselves the materials for his narrative.  His position gave him access
to the most authentic sources of knowledge, and from the lips of the Inca
nobles, the best instructed of the conquered race, he gathered the
traditions of their national history and institutions.  The quipus formed,
as we have seen, an imperfect system of mnemonics, requiring constant
attention, and much inferior to the Mexican hieroglyphics.  It was only
by diligent instruction that they were made available to historical
purposes; and this instruction was so far neglected after the Conquest,
that the ancient annals of the country would have perished with the
generation which was the sole depositary of them, had it not been for the
efforts of a few intelligent scholars, like Sarmiento, who saw the
importance, at this critical period, of cultivating an intercourse with the
natives, and drawing from them their hidden stores of information.

To give still further authenticity to his work, Sarmiento travelled over the
country, examined the principal objects of interest with his own eyes,
and thus verified the accounts of the natives as far as possible by
personal observation.  The result of these labors was his work entitled,
"Relacion de la sucesion y govierno de las Yngas Senores naturales que
fueron de las Provincias del Peru y otras cosas tocantes a aquel Reyno,
para el Iltmo.  Senor Dn Juan Sarmiento, Presidente del Consejo Rl de
Indias."

It is divided into chapters, and embraces about four hundred folio pages
in manuscript.  The introductory portion of the work is occupied with the
traditionary tales of the origin and early period of the Incas; teeming, as
usual, in the antiquities of a barbarous people, with legendary fables of
the most wild and monstrous character.  Yet these puerile conceptions
afford an inexhaustible mine for the labors of the antiquarian, who
endeavors to unravel the allegorical web which a cunning priesthood had
devised as symbolical of those mysteries of creation that it was beyond
their power to comprehend.  But Sarmiento happily confines himself to
the mere statement of traditional fables, without the chimerical ambition
to explain them.

From this region of romance, Sarmiento passes to the institutions of the
Peruvians, describes their ancient polity, their religion, their progress in
the arts, especially agriculture; and presents, in short, an elaborate
picture of the civilization which they reached under the Inca dynasty.
This part of his work, resting, as it does, on the best authority, confirmed
in many instances by his own observation, is of unquestionable value,
and is written with an apparent respect for truth, that engages the
confidence of the reader.  The concluding portion of the manuscript is
occupied with the civil history of the country.  The reigns of the early
Incas, which lie beyond the sober province of history.  he despatches
with commendable brevity.  But on the three last reigns, and fortunately
of the greatest princes who occupied the Peruvian throne, he is more
diffuse.  This was comparatively firm ground for the chronicler, for the
events were too recent to be obscured by the vulgar legends that gather
like moss round every incident of the older time.  His account stops with
the Spanish invasion: for this story, Sarmiento felt, might be safely left to
his contemporaries who acted a part in it, but whose taste and education
had qualified them but indifferently for exploring the antiquities and
social institutions of the natives.

Sarmiento's work is composed in a simple, perspicuous style, without
that ambition of rhetorical display too common with his countrymen.  He
writes with honest candor, and while he does ample justice to the merits
and capacity of the conquered races, be notices with indignation the
atrocities of the Spaniards and the demoralizing tendency of the
Conquest.  It may be thought, indeed, that he forms too high an estimate
of the attainments of the nation under the Incas.  And it is not
improbable, that, astonished by the vestiges it afforded of an original
civilization, he became enamoured of his subject, and thus exhibited it in
colors somewhat too glowing to the eye of the European.  But this was
an amiable failing, not too largely shared by the stern Conquerors, who
subverted the institutions of the country, and saw little to admire in it,
save its gold.  It must be further admitted, that Sarmiento has no design
to impose on his reader, and that he is careful to distinguish between
what he reports on hearsay, and what on personal experience.  The
Father of History himself does not discriminate between these two things
more carefully.

Neither is the Spanish historian to be altogether vindicated from the
superstition which belongs to his time; and we often find him referring to
the immediate interposition of Satan those effects which might quite as
well be charged on the perverseness of man.  But this was common to the
age, and to the wisest men in it; and it is too much to demand of a man to
be wiser than his generation.  It is sufficient praise of Sarmiento, that, in
an age when superstition was too often allied with fanaticism, he seems
to have had no tincture of bigotry in his nature.  His heart opens with
benevolent fulness to the unfortunate native; and his language, while it is
not kindled into the religious glow of the missionary, is warmed by a
generous ray of philanthropy that embraces the conquered, no less than
the conquerors, as his brethren.

Notwithstanding the great value of Sarmiento's work for the information
it affords of Peru under the Incas, it is but little known, has been rarely
consulted by historians, and still remains among the unpublished
manuscripts which lie, like uncoined bullion, in the secret chambers of
the Escurial.

The other authority to whom I have alluded, the Licentiate Polo de
Ondegardo, was a highly respectable jurist, whose name appears
frequently in the affairs of Peru.  I find no account of the period when he
first came into the country.  But he was there on the arrival of Gasca, and
resided at Lima under the usurpation of Gonzalo Pizarro.  When the
artful Cepeda endeavored to secure the signatures of the inhabitants to
the instrument proclaiming the sovereignty of his chief, we find
Ondegardo taking the lead among those of his profession in resisting it.
On Gasca's arrival, he consented to take a commission in his army.  At
the close of the rebellion he was made corregidor of La Plata, and
subsequently of Cuzco, in which honorable station he seems to have
remained several years.  In the exercise of his magisterial functions, he
was brought into familiar intercourse with the natives, and had ample
opportunity for studying their laws and ancient customs.  He conducted
himself with such prudence and moderation, that he seems to have won
the confidence not only of his countrymen but of the Indians; while the
administration was careful to profit by his large experience in devising
measures for the better government of the colony.

The Relaciones, so often cited in this History, were prepared at the
suggestion of the viceroys, the first being addressed to the Marques de
Canete, in 1561, and the second, ten years later, to the Conde de Nieva.
The two cover about as much ground as Sarmiento's manuscript; and the
second memorial, written so long after the first, may be thought to
intimate the advancing age of the author, in the greater carelessness and
diffuseness of the composition.

As these documents are in the nature of answers to the interrogatories
propounded by government- the range of topics might seem to be limited
within narrower bounds than the modern historian would desire.  These
queries, indeed, had particular reference to the revenues, tributes,--the
financial administration, in short, of the Incas; and on these obscure
topics the communication of Ondegardo is particularly full.  But the
enlightened curiosity of government embraced a far wider range; and the
answers necessarily implied an acquaintance with the domestic policy of
the Incas, with their laws, social habits, their religion, science, and arts,
in short, with all that make up the elements of civilization.  Ondegardo's
memoirs, therefore, cover the whole ground of inquiry for the
philosophic historian.

In the management of these various subjects, Ondegardo displays both
acuteness and erudition.  He never shrinks from the discussion, however
difficult; and while he gives his conclusions with an air of modesty, it is
evident that he feels conscious of having derived his information through
the most authentic channels.  He rejects the fabulous with disdain;
decides on the probabilities of such facts as he relates, and candidly
exposes the deficiency of evidence.  Far from displaying the simple
enthusiasm of the well-meaning but credulous missionary, he proceeds
with the cool and cautious step of a lawyer accustomed to the conflict of
testimony and the uncertainty of oral tradition.  This circumspect manner
of proceeding, and the temperate character of his judgments, entitle
Ondegardo to much higher consideration as an authority than most of his
countrymen who have treated of Indian antiquities.

There runs through his writings a vein of humanity, shown particularly in
his tenderness to the unfortunate natives, to whose ancient civilization he
does entire, but not extravagant, justice; while, like Sarmiento, he
fearlessly denounces the excesses of his own countrymen, and admits the
dark reproach they had brought on the honor of the nation.  But while
this censure forms the strongest ground for condemnation of the
Conquerors, since it comes from the lips of a Spaniard like themselves, it
proves, also, that Spain in this age of violence could send forth from her
bosom wise and good men who refused to make common cause with the
licentious rabble around them.  Indeed, proof enough is given in these
very memorials of the unceasing efforts of the colonial government, from
the good viceroy Mendoza downwards, to secure protection and the
benefit of a mild legislation to the unfortunate natives.  But the iron
Conquerors, and the colonist whose heart softened only to the touch of
gold, presented a formidable barrier to improvement.

Ondegardo's writings are honorably distinguished by freedom from that
superstition which is the debasing characteristic of the times; a
superstition shown in the easy credit given to the marvellous, and this
equally whether in heathen or in Christian story; for in the former the eye
of credulity could discern as readily the direct interposition of Satan, as
in the latter the hand of the Almighty.  It is this ready belief in a spiritual
agency, whether for good or for evil, which forms one of the most
prominent features in the writings of the sixteenth century.  Nothing
could be more repugnant to the true spirit of philosophical inquiry or
more irreconcilable with rational criticism.  Far from betraying such
weakness, Ondegardo writes in a direct and business-like manner,
estimating things for what they are worth by the plain rule of common-
sense.  He keeps the main object of his argument ever in view, without
allowing himself, like the garrulous chroniclers of the period, to be led
astray into a thousand rambling episodes that bewilder the reader and
lead to nothing.

Ondegardo's memoirs deal not only with the antiquities of the nation, but
with its actual condition, and with the best means for redressing the
manifold evils to which it was subjected under the stern rule of its
conquerors.  His suggestions are replete with wisdom, and a merciful
policy, that would reconcile the interests of government with the
prosperity and happiness of its humblest vassal.  Thus, while his
contemporaries gathered light from his suggestions as to the present
condition of affairs, the historian of later times is no less indebted to him
for information in respect to the past.  His manuscript was freely
consulted by Herrera and the reader, as he peruses the pages of the
learned historian of the Indies, is unconsciously enjoying the benefit of
the researches of Ondegardo.  His valuable Relaciones thus had their
uses for future generations, though they have never been admitted to the
honors of the press.  The copy in my possession, like that of Sarmiento's
manuscript, for which I am indebted to that industrious bibliographer,
Mr.  Rich formed part of the magnificent collection of Lord
Kingsborough,--a name ever to be held in honor by the scholar for his
indefatigable efforts to illustrate the antiquities of America.

Ondegardo's manuscripts, it should be remarked, do not bear his
signature.  But they contain allusions to several actions of the writer's
life, which identify them, beyond any reasonable doubt, as his
production.  In the archives of Simancas is a duplicate copy of the first
memorial, Relacion Primera, though, like the one in the Escurial, without
its author's name.  Munoz assigns it to the pen of Gabriel de Rojas, a
distinguished cavalier of the Conquest.  This is clearly an error; for the
author of the manuscript identifies himself with Ondegardo, by
declaring, in his reply to the fifth interrogatory, that he was the person
who discovered the mummies of the Incas in Cuzco; an act expressly
referred both by Acosta and Garcilasso, to the Licentiate Polo de
Ondegardo, when corregidor of that city.--Should the savans of Madrid
hereafter embrace among the publications of valuable manuscripts these
Relaciones, they should be careful not to be led into an error here, by the
authority of a critic like Munoz whose criticism is rarely at fault.



History of the Conquest of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

Book 2

Discovery of Peru

Chapter 1

Ancient And Modern Science--Art Of Navigation--Maritime Discovery--
Spirit Of The Spaniards--Possessions In The New World-
Rumors Concerning Peru

Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the comparative merle of
the ancients and the moderns in the arts, in poetry, eloquence, and all
that depends on imagination, there can be no doubt that in science the
moderns have eminently the advantage.  It could not be otherwise.  In the
early ages of the world, as in the early period of life, there was the
freshness of a morning existence, when the gloss of novelty was on every
thing that met the eye; when the senses, not blunted by familiarity, were
more keenly alive to the beautiful, and the mind, under the influence of a
healthy and natural taste, was not perverted by philosophical theory;
when the simple was necessarily connected with the beautiful, and the
epicurean intellect, sated by repetition, had not begun to seek for
stimulants in the fantastic and capricious.  The realms of fancy were all
untravelled, and its fairest flowers had not been gathered, nor its beauties
despoiled, by the rude touch of those who affected to cultivate them.
The wing of genius was not bound to the earth by the cold and
conventional rules of criticism, but was permitted to take its flight far
and wide over the broad expanse of creation.

But with science it was otherwise.  No genius could suffice for the
creation of facts,--hardly for their detection.  They were to be gathered in
by painful industry; to be collected from careful observation and
experiment.  Genius, indeed, might arrange and combine these facts into
new forms, and elicit from their combinations new and important
inferences; and in this process might almost rival in originality the
creations of the poet and the artist.  But if the processes of science are
necessarily slow, they are sure.  There is no retrograde movement in her
domain.  Arts may fade, the Muse become dumb, a moral lethargy may
lock up the faculties of a nation.  the nation itself may pass away and
leave only the memory of its existence but the stores of science it has
garnered up will endure for ever.  As other nations come upon the stage,
and new forms of civilization arise.  the monuments of art and of
imagination, productions of an older time, will lie as an obstacle in the
path of improvement.  They cannot be built upon; they occupy the
ground which the new aspirant for immortality would cover.  The whole
work is to be gone over again, and other forms of beauty--whether higher
or lower in the scale of merit, but unlike the past--must arise to take a
place by their side.  But, in science, every stone that has been laid
remains as the foundation for another.  The coming generation takes up
the work where the preceding left it.  There is no retrograde movement.
The individual nation may recede, but science still advances.  Every step
that has been gained makes the ascent easier for those who come after.
Every step carries the patient inquirer after truth higher and higher
towards heaven, and unfolds to him, as he rises, a wider horizon, and
new and more magnificent views of the universe.

Geography partook of the embarrassments which belonged to every other
department of science in the primitive ages of the world.  The knowledge
of the earth could come only from an extended commerce; and
commerce is founded on artificial wants or an enlightened curiosity,
hardly compatible with the earlier condition of society.  In the infancy of
nations, the different tribes, occupied with their domestic feuds, found
few occasions to wander beyond the mountain chain or broad stream that
formed the natural boundary of their domains.  The Phoenicians, it is
true, are said to have sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and to have
launched out on the great western ocean.  But the adventures of these
ancient voyagers belong to the mythic legends of antiquity, and ascend
far beyond the domain of authentic record.

The Greeks, quick and adventurous.  skilled in mechanical art, had many
of the qualities of successful navigators, and within the limits of their
little inland sea ranged fearlessly and freely.  But the conquests of
Alexander did more to extend the limits of geographical science, and
opened an acquaintance with the remote countries of the East.  Yet the
march of the conqueror is slow in comparison with the movements of the
unencumbered traveller.  The Romans were still less enterprising than
the Greeks, were less commercial in their character.  The contributions to
geographical knowledge grew with the slow acquisitions of empire.  But
their system was centralizing in its tendency; and instead of taking an
outward direction and looking abroad for discovery, every part of the
vast imperial domain turned towards the capital at its head and central
point of attraction.  The Roman conqueror pursued his path by land, not
by sea.  But the water is the great highway between nations, the true
element for the discoverer.  The Romans were not a maritime people.  At
the close of their empire, geographical science could hardly be said to
extend farther than to an acquaintance with Europe,--and this not its
more northern division,--together with a portion of Asia and Africa;
while they had no other conception of a world beyond the western waters
than was to be gathered from the fortunate prediction of the poet.1

Then followed the Middle Ages; the dark ages, as they are called, though
in their darkness were matured those seeds of knowledge, which, in
fulness of time, were to spring up into new and more glorious forms of
civilization.  The organization of society became more favorable to
geographical science.  Instead of one overgrown, lethargic empire,
oppressing every thing by its colossal weight, Europe was broken up into
various independent communities, many of which, adopting liberal forms
of government, felt all the impulses natural to freemen; and the petty
republics on the Mediterranean and the Baltic sent forth their swarms of
seamen in a profitable commerce, that knit together the different
countries scattered along the great European waters.

But the improvements which took place in the art of navigation, the more
accurate measurement of time, and, above all, the discovery of the
polarity of the magnet, greatly advanced the cause of geographical
knowledge.  Instead of creeping timidly along the coast, or limiting his
expeditions to the narrow basins of inland waters, the voyager might now
spread his sails boldly on the deep, secure of a guide to direct his bark
unerringly across the illimitable waste.  The consciousness of this power
led thought to travel in a new direction; and the mariner began to look
with earnestness for another path to the Indian Spice-islands than that by
which the Eastern caravans had traversed the continent of Asia.  The
nations on whom the spirit of enterprise, at this crisis, naturally
descended, were Spain and Portugal, placed, as they were, on the
outposts of the European continent, commanding the great theatre of
future discovery.

Both countries felt the responsibility of their new position.  The crown of
Portugal was constant in its efforts, through the fifteenth century, to find
a passage round the southern point of Africa into the Indian Ocean;
though so timid was the navigation, that every fresh headland became a
formidable barrier; and it was not till the latter part of the century that
the adventurous Diaz passed quite round the Stormy Cape, as he termed
it, but which John the Second, with happier augury, called the Cape of
Good Hope.  But, before Vasco de Gama had availed himself of this
discovery to spread his sails in the Indian seas, Spain entered on her
glorious career, and sent Columbus across the western waters.

The object of the great navigator was still the discovery of a route to
India, but by the west instead of the east.  He had no expectation of
meeting with a continent in his way, and, after repeated voyages, he
remained in his original error, dying, as is well known, in the conviction
that it was the eastern shore of Asia which he had reached.  It was the
same object which directed the nautical enterprises of those who
followed in the Admiral's track; and the discovery of a strait into the
Indian Ocean was the burden of every order from the government, and
the design of many an expedition to different points of the new continent,
which seemed to stretch its leviathan length along from one pole to the
other.  The discovery of an Indian passage is the true key to the maritime
movements of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth centuries.  It
was the great leading idea that gave the character to the enterprise of the
age.

It is not easy at this time to comprehend the impulse given to Europe by
the discovery of America.  It was not the gradual acquisition of some
border territory, a province or a kingdom that had been gained, but a
New World that was now thrown open to the Europeans.  The races of
animals, the mineral treasures, the vegetable forms, and the varied
aspects of nature, man in the different phases of civilization, filled the
mind with entirely new sets of ideas, that changed the habitual current of
thought and stimulated it to indefinite conjecture.  The eagerness to
explore the wonderful secrets of the new hemisphere became so active,
that the principal cities of Spain were, in a manner, depopulated, as
emigrants thronged one after another to take their chance upon the
deep.2  It was a world of romance that was thrown open; for, whatever
might be the luck of the adventurer, his reports on his return were tinged
with a coloring of romance that stimulated still higher the sensitive
fancies of his countrymen, and nourished the chimerical sentiments of an
age of chivalry.  They listened with attentive ears to tales of Amazons
which seemed to realize the classic legends of antiquity, to stories of
Patagonian giants, to flaming pictures of an El Dorado, where the sands
sparkled with gems, and golden pebbles as large as birds' eggs were
dragged in nets out of the rivers.

Yet that the adventurers were no impostors, but dupes, too easy dupes of
their own credulous fancies, is shown by the extravagant character of
their enterprises; by expeditions in search of the magical Fountain of
Health, of the golden Temple of Doboyba, of the golden sepulchres of
Zenu; for gold was ever floating before their distempered vision, and the
name of Castilla del Oro, Golden Castile, the most unhealthy and
unprofitable region of the Isthmus, held out a bright promise to the
unfortunate settler, who too frequently, instead of gold, found there only
his grave.

In this realm of enchantment, all the accessories served to maintain the
illusion.  The simple natives, with their defenceless bodies and rude
weapons, were no match for the European warrior armed to the teeth in
mail.  The odds were as great as those found in any legend of chivalry,
where the lance of the good knight overturned hundreds at a touch.  The
perils that lay in the discoverer's path, and the sufferings he had to
sustain, were scarcely inferior to those that beset the knight-errant.
Hunger and thirst and fatigue, the deadly effluvia of the morass with its
swarms of venomous insects, the cold of mountain snows, and the
scorching sun of the tropics, these were the lot of every cavalier who
came to seek his fortunes in the New World.  It was the reality of
romance.  The life of the Spanish adventurer was one chapter more--and
not the least remarkable --in the chronicles of knight-errantry.

The character of the warrior took somewhat of the exaggerated coloring
shed over his exploits.  Proud and vainglorious, swelled with lofty
anticipations of his destiny, and an invincible confidence in his own
resources, no danger could appall and no toil could tire him.  The greater
the danger, indeed, the higher the charm; for his soul revelled in
excitement, and the enterprise without peril wanted that spur of romance
which was necessary to rouse his energies into action.  Yet in the motives
of action meaner influences were strangely mingled with the loftier, the
temporal with the spiritual.  Gold was the incentive and the recompense,
and in the pursuit of it his inflexible nature rarely hesitated as to the
means.  His courage was sullied with cruelty, the cruelty that flowed
equally--strange as it may seem--from his avarice and his religion;
religion as it was understood in that age,--the religion of the Crusader.  It
was the convenient cloak for a multitude of sins, which covered them
even from himself.  The Castilian, too proud for hypocrisy, committed
more cruelties in the name of religion than were ever practised by the
pagan idolater or the fanatical Moslem.  The burning of the infidel was a
sacrifice acceptable to Heaven, and the conversion of those who survived
amply atoned for the foulest offences.  It is a melancholy and mortifying
consideration, that the most uncompromising spirit of intolerance--the
spirit of the Inquisitor at home, and of the Crusader abroad-should have
emanated from a religion which preached peace upon earth and good-
will towards man!

What a contrast did these children of Southern Europe present to the
Anglo-Saxon races who scattered themselves along the great northern
division of the western hemisphere! For the principle of action with these
latter was not avarice, nor the more specious pretext of proselytism; but
independence---independence religious and political.  To secure this,
they were content to earn a bare subsistence by a life of frugality and toil.
They asked nothing from the soil, but the reasonable returns of their own
labor.  No golden visions threw a deceitful halo around their path and
beckoned them onwards through seas of blood to the subversion of an
unoffending dynasty.  They were content with the slow but steady
progress of their social polity.  They patiently endured the privations of
the wilderness, watering the tree of liberty with their tears and with the
sweat of their brow, till it took deep root in the land and sent up its
branches high towards the heavens; while the communities of the
neighboring continent, shooting up into the sudden splendors of a
tropical vegetation, exhibited, even in their prime, the sure symptoms of
decay.

It would seem to have been especially ordered by Providence that the
discovery of the two great divisions of the American hemisphere should
fall to the two races best fitted to conquer and colonize them.  Thus the
northern section was consigned to the Anglo-Saxon race, whose orderly,
industrious habits found an ample field for development under its colder
skies and on its more rugged soil; while the southern portion, with its
rich tropical products and treasures of mineral wealth, held out the most
attractive bait to invite the enterprise of the Spaniard.  How different
might have been the result, if the bark of Columbus had taken a more
northerly direction, as he at one time meditated, and landed its band of
adventurers on the shores of what is now Protestant America!

Under the pressure of that spirit of nautical enterprise which filled the
maritime communities of Europe in the sixteenth century, the whole
extent of the mighty continent, from Labrador to Terra del Fuego, was
explored in less than thirty years after its discovery; and in 1521, the
Portuguese Maghellan, sailing under the Spanish flag, solved the
problem of the strait, and found a westerly way to the long sought Spice-
islands of India,--greatly to the astonishment of the Portuguese, who,
sailing from the opposite direction, there met their rivals, face to face, at
the antipodes.  But while the whole eastern coast of the American
continent had been explored, and the central portion of it colonized,--
even after the brilliant achievement of the Mexican conquest,---the veil
was not yet raised that hung over the golden shores of the Pacific.

Floating rumors had reached the Spaniards, from time to time, of
countries in the far west, teeming with the metal they so much coveted;
but the first distinct notice of Peru was about the year 1511, when Vasco
Nunez de Balboa, the discoverer of the Southern Sea, was weighing
some gold which he had collected from the natives.  A young barbarian
chieftain, who was present, struck the scales with his fist, and, scattering
the glittering metal around the apartment, exclaimed,---"If this is what
you prize so much that you are willing to leave your distant homes, and
risk even life itself for it, I can tell you of a land where they eat and drink
out of golden vessels, and gold is as cheap as iron is with you." It was
not long after this startling intelligence that Balboa achieved the
formidable adventure of scaling the mountain rampart of the Isthmus
which divides the two mighty oceans from each other; when, armed with
sword and buckler, he rushed into the waters of the Pacific, and cried
out, in the true chivalrous vein, that "he claimed this unknown sea with
all that it contained for the king of Castile, and that he would make good
the claim against all, Christian or infidel, who dared to gainsay it!"3  All
the broad continent and sunny isles washed by the waters of the Southern
Ocean! Little did the bold cavalier comprehend the full import of his
magnificent vaunt.

On this spot he received more explicit tidings of the Peruvian empire,
heard proofs recounted of its civilization, and was shown drawings of the
llama, which, to the European eye, seemed a species of the Arabian
camel.  Bat, although he steered his caravel for these golden realms, and
even pushed his discoveries some twenty leagues south of the Gulf of St.
Michael, the adventure was not reserved for him.  The illustrious
discoverer was doomed to fall a victim to that miserable jealousy with
which a little spirit regards the achievements of a great one.

The Spanish colonial domain was broken up into a number of petty
governments, which were dispensed sometimes to court favorites,
though, as the duties of the post, at this early period, were of an arduous
nature, they were more frequently reserved for men of some practical
talent and enterprise.  Columbus, by virtue of his original contract with
the Crown, had jurisdiction over the territories discovered by himself,
embracing some of the principal islands, and a few places on the
continent.  This jurisdiction differed from that of other functionaries,
inasmuch as it was hereditary; a privilege found in the end too
considerable for a subject, and commuted, therefore, for a title and a
pension.  These colonial governments were multiplied with the increase
of empire, and by the year 1524, the period at which our narrative
properly commences, were scattered over the islands, along the Isthmus
of Darien, the broad tract of Terra Firma, and the recent conquests of
Mexico.  Some of these governments were of no great extent.  Others,
like that of Mexico, were of the dimensions of a kingdom; and most had
an indefinite range for discovery assigned to them in their immediate
neighborhood, by which each of the petty potentates might enlarge his
territorial sway, and enrich his followers and himself.  This politic
arrangement best served the ends of the Crown, by affording a perpetual
incentive to the spirit of enterprise.  Thus living on their own little
domains at a long distance from the mother country, these military rulers
held a sort of vice-regal sway, and too frequently exercised it in the most
oppressive and tyrannical manner; oppressive to the native, and
tyrannical towards their own followers.  It was the natural consequence,
when men, originally low in station, and unprepared by education for
office, were suddenly called to the possession of a brief, but in its nature
irresponsible, authority.  It was not till after some sad experience of these
results, that measures were taken to hold these petty tyrants in check by
means of regular tribunals, or Royal Audiences, as they were termed,
which, composed of men of character and learning, might interpose the
arm of the law, or, at least, the voice of remonstrance, for the protection
of both colonist and native.

Among the colonial governors, who were indebted for their situation to
their rank at home, was Don Pedro Arias de Avila, or Pedrarias, as
usually called.  He was married to a daughter of Dona Beatriz de
Bobadilla, the celebrated Marchioness of Moya, best known as the friend
of Isabella the Catholic.  He was a man of some military experience and
considerable energy of character.  But, as it proved, he was of a
malignant temper; and the base qualities, which might have passed
unnoticed in the obscurity of private life, were made conspicuous, and
perhaps created in some measure, by sudden elevation to power; as the
sunshine, which operates kindly on a generous soil, and stimulates it to
production, calls forth from the unwholesome marsh only foul and
pestilent vapors.  This man was placed over the territory of Castilla del
Oro, the ground selected by Nunez de Balboa for the theatre of his
discoveries.  Success drew on this latter the jealousy of his superior, for
it was crime enough in the eyes of Pedrarias to deserve too well.  The
tragical history of this cavalier belongs to a period somewhat earlier than
that with which we are to be occupied.  It has been traced by abler hands
than mine, and, though brief, forms one of the most brilliant passages in
the annals of the American conquerors.4

But though Pedrarias was willing to cut short the glorious career of his
rival, he was not insensible to the important consequences of his
discoveries.  He saw at once the unsuitableness of Darien for prosecuting
expeditions on the Pacific, and, conformably to the original suggestion of
Balboa, in 1519, he caused his rising capital to be transferred from the
shores of the Atlantic to the ancient site of Panama, some distance east of
the present city of that name.5  This most unhealthy spot, the cemetery of
many an unfortunate colonist, was favorably situated for the great object
of maritime enterprise; and the port, from its central position, afforded
the best point of departure for expeditions, whether to the north or south,
along the wide range of undiscovered coast that lined the Southern
Ocean.  Yet in this new and more favorable position, several years were
suffered to elapse before the course of discovery took the direction of
Peru.  This was turned exclusively towards the north, or rather west, in'
obedience to the orders of government, which had ever at heart the
detection of a strait that, as was supposed, must intersect some part or
other of the long-extended Isthmus.  Armament after armament was
fitted out with this chimerical object; and Pedrarias saw his domain
extending every year farther and farther without deriving any
considerable advantage from his acquisitions.  Veragua, Costa Rica,
Nicaragua, were successively occupied; and his brave cavaliers forced a
way across forest and mountain and warlike tribes of savages, till, at
Honduras, they came in collision with the companions of Cortes, the
Conquerors of Mexico, who had descended from the great northern
plateau on the regions of Central America, and thus completed the
survey of this wild and mysterious land.

It was not till 1522 that a regular expedition was despatched in the
direction south of Panama, under the conduct of Pascual de Andagoya, a
cavalier of much distinction in the colony.  But that officer penetrated
only to the Puerto de Pinas, the limit of Balboa's discoveries, when the
bad state of his health compelled him to reembark and abandon his
enterprise at its commencement.6

Yet the floating rumors of the wealth and civilization of a mighty nation
at the South were continually reaching the ears and kindling the dreamy
imaginations of the colonists; and it may seem astonishing that an
expedition in that direction should have been so long deferred.  But the
exact position and distance of this fairy realm were matter of conjecture.
The long tract of intervening country was occupied by rude and warlike
races; and the little experience which the Spanish navigators had already
had of the neighboring coast and its inhabitants, and still more, the
tempestuous character of the seas--for their expeditions had taken place
at the most unpropitious seasons of the year--enhanced the apparent
difficulties of the undertaking, and made even their stout hearts shrink
from it.

Such was the state of feeling in the little community of Panama for
several years after its foundation.  Meanwhile, the dazzling conquest of
Mexico gave a new impulse to the ardor of discovery, and, in 1524, three
men were found in the colony, in whom the spirit of adventure triumphed
over every consideration of difficulty and danger that obstructed the
prosecution of the enterprise.  One among them was selected as fitted by
his character to conduct it to a successful issue.  That man was Francisco
Pizarro; and as he held the same conspicuous post in the Conquest of
Peru that was occupied by Cortes in that of Mexico it will be necessary
to take a brief review of his early history.



Book 2

Chapter 2

Francisco Pizarro--His Early History--First Expedition To The South--
Distresses Of The Voyagers--Sharp Encounters--Return To Panama--
Almagro's Expedition

1524-1525

Francisco Pizarro was born at Truxillo, a city of Estremadura, in Spain.
The period of his birth is uncertain; but probably it was not far from
71.1  He was an illegitimate child, and that his parents should not have
taken pains to perpetuate the date of his birth is not surprising.  Few care
to make a particular record of their transgressions.  His father, Gonzalo
Pizarro, was a colonel of infantry, and served with some distinction in
the Italian campaigns under the Great Captain, and afterwards in the
wars of Navarre.  His mother, named Francisca Gonzales, was a person
of humble condition in the town of Truxillo.2

But little is told of Francisco's early years, and that little not always
deserving of credit.  According to some, he was deserted by both his
parents, and left as a foundling at the door of one of the principal
churches of the city.  It is even said that he would have perished, had he
not been nursed by a sow.3  This is a more discreditable fountain of
supply than that assigned to the infant Romulus.  The early history of
men who have made their names famous by deeds in after-life, like the
early history of nations, affords a fruitful field for invention.

It seems certain that the young Pizarro received little care from either of
his parents, and was suffered to grow up as nature dictated.  He was
neither taught to read nor write, and his principal occupation was that of
a swineherd.  But this torpid way of life did not suit the stirring spirit of
Pizarro, as he grew older, and listened to the tales, widely circulated and
se captivating to a youthful fancy, of the New World.  He shared in the
popular enthusiasm, and availed himself of a favorable moment to
abandon his ignoble charge, and escape to Seville, the port where the
Spanish adventurers embarked to seek their fortunes in the West.  Few of
them could have turned their backs on their native land with less cause
for regret than Pizarro.4

In what year this important change in his destiny took place we are not
informed.  The first we hear of him in the New World is at the island of
Hispaniola, in 1510, where he took part in the expedition to Uraba in
Terra Firma, under Alonzo de Ojeda, a cavalier whose character and
achievements find no parallel but in the pages of Cervantes.  Hernando
Cortes, whose mother was a Pizarro, and related, it is said, to the father
of Francis, was then in St.  Domingo, and prepared to accompany
Ojeda's expedition, but was prevented by a temporary lameness.  Had he
gone, the fall of the Aztec empire might have been postponed for some
time longer, and the sceptre of Montezuma have descended in peace to
his posterity.  Pizarro shared in the disastrous fortunes of Ojeda's colony,
and, by his discretion, obtained so far the confidence of his commander,
as to be left in charge of the settlement, when the latter returned for
supplies to the islands.  The lieutenant continued at his perilous post for
nearly two months, waiting deliberately until death should have thinned
off the colony sufficiently to allow the miserable remnant to be
embarked in the single small vessel that remained to it.5

After this, we find him associated with Balboa, the discoverer of the
Pacific, and cooperating with him in establishing the settlement at
Darien.  He had the glory of accompanying this gallant cavalier in his
terrible march across the mountains, and of being among the first
Europeans, therefore, whose eyes were greeted with the long-promised
vision of the Southern Ocean.

After the untimely death of his commander, Pizarro attached himself to
the fortunes of Pedrarias, and was employed by that governor in several
military expeditions, which, if they afforded nothing else, gave him the
requisite training for the perils and privations that lay in the path of the
future Conqueror of Peru.

In 1515, he was selected, with another cavalier named Morales, to cross
the Isthmus and traffic with the natives on the shores of the Pacific.  And
there, while engaged in collecting his booty of gold and pearls from the
neighbouring islands, as his eye ranged along the shadowy line of coast
till it faded in the distance, his imagination may have been first fired with
the idea of, one day, attempting the conquest of the mysterious regions
beyond the mountains.  On the removal of the seat of government across
the Isthmus to Panama, Pizarro accompanied Pedrarias, and his name
became conspicuous among the cavaliers who extended the line of
conquest to the north over the martial tribes of Veragua.  But all these
expeditions, whatever glory they may have brought him, were productive
of very little gold; and, at the age of fifty, the captain Pizarro found
himself in possession only of a tract of unhealthy land in the
neighborhood of the capital, and of such repartimientos of the natives as
were deemed suited to his military services.6  The New World was a
lottery, where the great prizes were so few that the odds were much
against the player; yet in the game he was content to stake health,
fortune, and, too often, his fair fame.

Such was Pizarro's situation when, in 1522, Andagoya returned from his
unfinished enterprise to the south of Panama, bringing back with him
more copious accounts than any hitherto received of the opulence and
grandeur of the countries that lay beyond.7  It was at this time, too, that
the splendid achievements of Cortes made their impression on the public
mind, and gave a new impulse to the spirit of adventure.  The southern
expeditions became a common topic of speculation among the colonists
of Panama.  But the region of gold, as it lay behind the mighty curtain of
the Cordilleras, was still veiled in obscurity.  No idea could be formed of
its actual distance; and the hardships and difficulties encountered by the
few navigators who had sailed in that direction gave a gloomy character
to the undertaking, which had hitherto deterred the most daring from
embarking in it.  There is no evidence that Pizarro showed any particular
alacrity in the cause.  Nor were his own funds such as to warrant any
expectation of success without great assistance from others.  He found
this in two individuals of the colony, who took too important a part in the
subsequent transactions not to be particularly noticed.

One of them, Diego de Almagro, was a soldier of fortune somewhat
older, it seems probable, than Pizarro; though little is known of his birth,
and even the place of it is disputed.  It is supposed to have been the town
of Almagro in New Castile, whence his own name, for want of a better
source was derived; for, like Pizarro, he was a foundling.8  Few
particulars are known of him till the present period of our history; for he
was one of those whom the working of turbulent times first throws upon
the surface,--less fortunate, perhaps, than if left in their original
obscurity.  In his military career, Almagro had earned the reputation of a
gallant soldier.  He was frank and liberal in his disposition, somewhat
hasty and ungovernable in his passions, but, like men of a sanguine
temperament, after the first sallies had passed away, not difficult to be
appeased.  He had, in short, the good qualities and the defects incident to
an honest nature, not improved by the discipline of early education or
self-control.

The other member of the confederacy was Hernando de Luque, a
Spanish ecclesiastic, who exercised the functions of vicar at Panama, and
had formerly filled the office of schoolmaster in the Cathedral of Darien.
He seems to have been a man of singular prudence and knowledge of the
world; and by his respectable qualities had acquired considerable
influence in the little community to which he belonged, as well as the
control of funds, which made his cooperation essential to the success of
the present enterprise.

It was arranged among the three associates, that the two cavaliers should
contribute their little stock towards defraying the expenses of the
armament, but by far the greater part of the funds was to be furnished by
Luque.  Pizarro was to take command of the expedition, and the business
of victualling and equipping the vessels was assigned to Almagro.  The
associates found no difficulty in obtaining the consent of the governor to
their undertaking.  After the return of Andagoya, he had projected
another expedition, but the officer to whom it was to be intrusted died.
Why he did not prosecute his original purpose, and commit the affair to
an experienced captain like Pizarro, does not appear.  He was probably
not displeased that the burden of the enterprise should be borne by
others, so long as a good share of the profits went into his own coffers.
This he did not overlook in his stipulations.9

Thus fortified with the funds of Luque, and the consent of the governor,
Almagro was not slow to make preparations for the voyage.  Two small
vessels were purchased, the larger of which had been originally built by
Balboa, for himself, with a view to this same expedition.  Since his
death, it had lain dismantled in the harbor of Panama.  It was now
refitted as well as circumstances would permit, and put in order for sea,
while the stores and provisions were got on board with an alacrity which
did more credit, as the event proved, to Almagro's zeal than to his
forecast.

There was more difficulty in obtaining the necessary complement of
hands; for a general feeling of distrust had gathered round expeditions in
this direction, which could not readily be overcome.  But there were
many idle hangers-on in the colony, who had come out to mend their
fortunes, and were willing to take their chance of doing so, however
desperate.  From such materials as these, Almagro assembled a body of
somewhat more than a hundred men;10 and every thing being ready,
Pizarro assumed the command, and, weighing anchor, took his departure
from the little port of Panama, about the middle of November, 1524..
Almagro was to follow in a second vessel of inferior size, as soon as it
could be fitted out.11

The time of year was the most unsuitable that could have been selected
for the voyage; for it was the rainy season, when the navigation to the
south, impeded by contrary winds, is made doubly dangerous by the
tempests that sweep over the coast.  But this was not understood by the
adventurers.  After touching at the Isle of Pearls, the frequent resort of
navigators, at a few leagues' distance from Panama, Pizarro hold his way
across the Gulf of St.  Michael, and steered almost due south for the
Puerto de Pinas, a headland in the province of Biruquete, which marked
the limit of Andagoya's voyage.  Before his departure, Pizarro had
obtained all the information which he could derive from that officer in
respect to the country, and the route he was to follow.  But the cavalier's
own experience had been too limited to enable him to be of much
assistance.

Doubling the Puerto de Pinas, the little vessel entered the river Biru, the
misapplication of which name is supposed by some to have given rise to
that of the empire of the Incas.12  After sailing up this stream for a
couple of leagues, Pizarro came to anchor, and disembarking his whole
force except the sailors, proceeded at the head of it to explore the
country.  The land spread out into a vast swamp, where the heavy rains
had settled in pools of stagnant water, and the muddy soil afforded no
footing to the traveller.  This dismal morass was fringed with woods,
through whose thick and tangled undergrowth they found it difficult to
penetrate and emerging from them, they came out on a hilly country, so
rough and rocky in its character, that their feet were cut to the bone, and
the weary soldier, encumbered with his heavy mail or thick-padded
doublet of cotton, found it difficult to drag one foot after the other.  The
heat at times was oppressive; and, fainting with toil and famished for
want of food, they sank down on the earth from mere exhaustion.  Such
was the ominous commencement of the expedition to Peru.

Pizarro, however, did not lose heart.  He endeavored to revive the spirits
of his men, and besought them not to be discouraged by difficulties
which a brave heart would be sure to overcome, reminding them of the
golden prize which awaited those who persevered.  Yet it was obvious
that nothing was to be gained by remaining longer in this desolate region.
Returning to their vessel, therefore, it was suffered to drop down the
river and proceed along its southern course on the great ocean.

After coasting a few leagues, Pizarro anchored off a place not very
inviting in its appearance, where he took in a supply of wood and water.
Then, stretching more towards the open sea, he held on in the same
direction towards the south.  But in this he was baffled by a succession of
heavy tempests, accompanied with such tremendous peals of thunder and
floods of rain as are found only in the terrible storms of the tropics.  The
sea was lashed into fury, and, swelling into mountain billows, threatened
every moment to overwhelm the crazy little bark, which opened at every
seam.  For ten days the unfortunate voyagers were tossed about by the
pitiless elements, and it was only by incessant exertions--the exertions of
despair--that they preserved the ship from foundering.  To add to their
calamities, their provisions began to fail, and they were short of water, of
which they had been furnished only with a small number of casks; for
Almagro had counted on their recruiting their scanty supplies, from time
to time, from the shore.  Their meat was wholly consumed, and they
were reduced to the wretched allowance of two ears of Indian corn a day
for each man.

Thus harassed by hunger and the elements, the battered voyagers were
too happy to retrace their course and regain the port where they had last
taken in supplies of wood and water.  Yet nothing could be more
unpromising than the aspect of the country.  It had the same character of
low, swampy soil, that distinguished the former landing-place; while
thick-matted forests, of a depth which the eye could not penetrate,
stretched along the coast to an interminable length.  It was in vain that


840
the wearied Spaniards endeavored to thread the mazes of this tangled
thicket, where the creepers and flowering vines, that shoot up luxuriant
in a hot and humid atmosphere, had twined themselves round the huge
trunks of the forest-trees, and made a network that could be opened only
with the axe.  The rain, in the mean time, rarely slackened, and the
ground, strewed with leaves and saturated with moisture, seemed to slip
away beneath their feet.

Nothing could be more dreary and disheartening than the aspect of these
funereal forests; where the exhalations from the overcharged surface of
the ground poisoned the air, and seemed to allow no life, except that,
indeed, of myriads of insects, whose enamelled wings glanced to and fro,
like sparks of fire, in every opening of the woods.  Even the brute
creation appeared instinctively to have shunned the fatal spot, and
neither beast nor bird of any description was seen by the wanderers.
Silence reigned unbroken in the heart of these dismal solitudes; at least,
the only sounds that could be heard were the plashing of the rain-drops
on the leaves, and the tread of the forlorn adventurers.13

Entirely discouraged by the aspect of the country, the Spaniards began to
comprehend that they had gained nothing by changing their quarters
from sea to shore, and they felt the most serious apprehensions of
perishing from famine in a region which afforded nothing but such
unwholesome berries as they could pick up here and there in the woods.
They loudly complained of their hard lot, accusing their commander as
the author of all their troubles, and as deluding them with promises of a
fairy land, which seemed to recede in proportion as they advanced.  It
was of no use, they said, to contend against fate, and it was better to take
their chance of regaining the port of Panama in time to save their lives,
than to wait where they were to die of hunger.

But Pizarro was prepared to encounter much greater evils than these,
before returning to Panama, bankrupt in credit, an object of derision as a
vainglorious dreamer, who had persuaded others to embark in an
adventure which he had not the courage to carry through himself.  The
present was his only chance.  To return would be ruin.  He used every
argument, therefore, that mortified pride or avarice could suggest to turn
his followers from their purpose; represented to them that these were the
troubles that necessarily lay in the path of the discoverer; and called to
mind the brilliant successes of their countrymen in other quarters, and
the repeated reports, which they had themselves received, of the rich
regions along the coast, of which it required only courage and constancy
on their part to become the masters.  Yet, as their present exigencies
were pressing, he resolved to send back the vessel to the Isle of Pearls, to
lay in a fresh stock of provisions for his company, which might enable
them to go forward with renewed confidence.  The distance was not
great, and in a few days they would all be relieved from their perilous
position.  The officer detached on this service was named Montenegro;
and taking with him nearly half the company, after receiving Pizarro's
directions, he instantly weighed anchor, and steered for the Isle of Pearls.

On the departure of his vessel, the Spanish commander made an attempt
to explore the country, and see if some Indian settlement might not be
found, where he could procure refreshments for his followers.  But his
efforts were vain, and no trace was visible of a human dwelling; though,
in the dense and impenetrable foliage of the equatorial regions, the
distance of a few rods might suffice to screen a city from observation.
The only means of nourishment left to the unfortunate adventurers were
such shell-fish as they occasionally picked up on the shore, or the bitter
buds of the palm-tree, and such berries and unsavory herbs as grew wild
in the woods.  Some of these were so poisonous, that the bodies of those
who ate them swelled up and were tormented with racking pains.  Others,
preferring famine to this miserable diet, pined away from weakness and
actually died of starvation.  Yet their resolute leader strove to maintain
his own cheerfulness and to keep up the drooping spirits of his men.  He
freely shared with them his scanty stock of provisions, was unwearied in
his endeavors to procure them sustenance, tended the sick, and ordered
barracks to be constructed for their accommodation, which might, at
least, shelter them from the drenching storms of the season.  By this
ready sympathy with his followers in their sufferings, he obtained an
ascendency over their rough natures, which the assertion of authority, at
least in the present extremity, could never have secured to him.

Day after day, week after week, had now passed away, and no tidings
were heard of the vessel that was to bring relief to the wanderers.  In vain
did they strain their eyes over the distant waters to catch a glimpse of
their coming friends.  Not a speck was to be seen in the blue distance,
where the canoe of the savage dared not venture, and the sail of the white
man was not yet spread.  Those who had borne up bravely at first now
gave way to despondency, as they felt themselves abandoned by their
countrymen on this desolate shore.  They pined under that sad feeling
which "maketh the heart sick." More than twenty of the little band had
already died, and the survivors seemed to be rapidly following.

At this crisis reports were brought to Pizarro of a light having been seen
through a distant opening in the woods.  He hailed the tidings with
eagerness, as intimating the existence of some settlement in the
neighborhood; and, putting himself at the head of a small party, went in
the direction pointed out, to reconnoitre.  He was not disappointed, and,
after extricating himself from a dense wilderness of underbrush and
foliage, he emerged into an open space, where a small Indian village was
planted.  The timid inhabitants, on the sudden apparition of the strangers,
quitted their huts in dismay; and the famished Spaniards, rushing in,
eagerly made themselves masters of their contents.  These consisted of
different articles of food, chiefly maize and cocoanuts.  The supply,
though small, was too seasonable not to fill them with rapture.

The astonished natives made no attempt at resistance.  But, gathering
more confidence as no violence was offered to their persons, they drew
nearer the white men, and inquired, "Why they did not stay at home and
till their own lands, instead of roaming about to rob others who had
never harmed them?"15  Whatever may have been their opinion as to.
the question of right, the Spaniards, no doubt, felt then that it would have
been wiser to do so.  But the savages wore about their persons gold
ornaments of some size, though of clumsy workmanship.  This furnished
the best reply to their demand.  It was the golden bait which lured the
Spanish adventurer to forsake his pleasant home for the trials of the
wilderness.  From the Indians Pizarro gathered a confirmation of the
reports he had so often received of a rich country lying farther south; and
at the distance of ten days' journey across the mountains, they told him,
there dwelt a mighty monarch whose dominions had been invaded by
another still more powerful, the Child of the Sun.16  It may have been
the invasion of Quito that was meant, by the valiant Inca Huayna Capac,
which took place some years previous to Pizarro's expedition.

At length, after the expiration of more than six weeks, the Spaniards
beheld with delight the return of the wandering bark that had borne away
their comrades, and Montenegro sailed into port with an ample supply of
provisions for his famishing countrymen.  Great was his horror at the
aspect presented by the latter, their wild and haggard countenances and
wasted frames,--so wasted by hunger and disease, that their old
companions found it difficult to recognize them.  Montenegro accounted
for his delay by incessant head winds and bad weather; and he himself
had also a doleful tale to tell of the distress to which he and his crew had
been reduced by hunger, on their passage to the Isle of Pearls.--It is
minute incidents like these with which we have been occupied, that
enable one to comprehend the extremity of suffering to which the
Spanish adventurer was subjected in the prosecution of his great work of
discovery.

Revived by the substantial nourishment to which they had so long been
strangers, the Spanish cavaliers, with the buoyancy that belongs to men
of a hazardous and roving life, forgot their past distresses in their
eagerness to prosecute their enterprise.  Reembarking therefore on board
his vessel, Pizarro bade adieu to the scene of so much suffering, which
he branded with the appropriate name of Puerto de la Hambre, the Port
of Famine, and again opened his sails to a favorable breeze that bore him
onwards towards the south.

Had he struck boldly out into the deep, instead of hugging the
inhospitable shore, where he had hitherto found so little to recompense
him, he might have spared himself the repetition of wearisome and
unprofitable adventures, and reached by a shorter route the point of his
destination.  But the Spanish mariner groped his way along these
unknown coasts, landing at every convenient headland, as if fearful lest
some fruitful region or precious mine might be overlooked, should a
single break occur in the line of survey.  Yet it should be remembered,
that, though the true point of Pizarro's destination is obvious to us,
familiar with the topography of these countries, he was wandering in the
dark, feeling his way along, inch by inch, as it were, without chart to
guide him, without knowledge of the seas or of the bearings of the coast,
and even with no better defined idea of the object at which he aimed than
that of a land teeming with gold, that lay somewhere at the south! It was
a hunt after an El Dorado; on information scarcely more circumstantial
or authentic than that which furnished the basis of so many chimerical
enterprises in this land of wonders.  Success only, the best argument with
the multitude, redeemed the expeditions of Pizarro from a similar
imputation of extravagance.

Holding on his southerly course under the lee of the shore, Pizarro, after
a short run, found himself abreast of an open reach of country, or at least
one less encumbered with wood, which rose by a gradual swell, as it
receded from the coast.  He landed with a small body of men, and,
advancing a short distance into the interior, fell in with an Indian hamlet.
It was abandoned by the inhabitants, who, on the approach of the
invaders, had betaken themselves to the mountains; and the Spaniards,
entering their deserted dwellings, found there a good store of maize and
other articles of food, and rude ornaments of gold of considerable value.
Food was not more necessary for their bodies than was the sight of gold,
from time to time, to stimulate their appetite for adventure.  One
spectacle, however, chilled their blood with horror.  This was the sight of
human flesh, which they found roasting before the fire, as the barbarians
had left it, preparatory to their obscene repast.  The Spaniards,
conceiving that they had fallen in with a tribe of Caribs, the only race in
that part of the New World known to be cannibals, retreated precipitately
to their vessel.17  They were not steeled by sad familiarity with the
spectacle, like the Conquerors of Mexico.

The weather, which had been favorable, now set in tempestuous, with
heavy squalls, accompanied by incessant thunder and lightning, and the
rain, as usual in these tropical tempests, descended not so much in drops
as in unbroken sheets of water.  The Spaniards, however, preferred to
take their chance on the raging element rather than remain in the scene of
such brutal abominations.  But the fury of the storm gradually subsided,
and the little vessel held on her way along the coast, till, coming abreast
of a bold point of land named by Pizarro Punts Quemada, he gave orders
to anchor.  The margin of the shore was fringed with a deep belt of
mangrove-trees, the long roots of which, interlacing one another, formed
a kind of submarine lattice-work that made the place difficult of
approach.  Several avenues, opening through this tangled thicket, led
Pizarro to conclude that the country must be inhabited, and he
disembarked, with the greater part of his force, to explore the interior.

He had not penetrated more than a league, when he found his conjecture
verified by the sight of an Indian town of larger size than those he had
hitherto seen, occupying the brow of an eminence, and well detended by
palisades.  The inhabitants, as usual, had fled; but left in their dwellings a
good supply of provisions and some gold trinkets, which the Spaniards
made no difficulty of appropriating to themselves.  Pizarro's flimsy bark
had been strained by the heavy gales it had of late encountered, so that it
was unsafe to prosecute the voyage further without more thorough
repairs than could be given to her on this desolate coast.  He accordingly
determined to send her back with a few hands to be careened at Panama,
and meanwhile to establish his quarters in his present position, which
was so favorable for defence.  But first he despatched a small party
under Montenegro to reconnoitre the country, and, if possible, to open a
communication with the natives.

The latter were a warlike race.  They had left their habitations in order to
place their wives and children in safety.  But they had kept an eye on the
movements of the invaders, and, when they saw their forces divided, they
resolved to fall upon each body singly before it could communicate with
the other.  So soon, therefore, as Montenegro had penetrated through the
defiles of the lofty hills, which shoot out like spurs of the Cordilleras
along this part of the coast, the Indian warriors, springing from their
ambush, sent off a cloud of arrows and other missiles that darkened the
air, while they made the forest ring with their shrill warwhoop.  The
Spaniards, astonished at the appearance of the savages, with their naked
bodies gaudily painted, and brandishing their weapons as they glanced
among the trees and straggling underbrush that choked up the defile,
were taken by surprise and thrown for a moment into disarray.  Three of
their number were killed and several wounded.  Yet, speedily rallying,
they returned the discharge of the assailants with their cross-bows,--for
Pizarro's troops do not seem to have been provided with muskets on this
expedition,--and then gallantly charging the enemy, sword in hand,
succeeded in driving them back into the fastnesses of the mountains.  But
it only led them to shift their operations to another quarter, and make an
assault ,,n Pizarro before he could be relieved by his lieutenant.

Availing themselves of their superior knowledge of the passes, they
reached that commander's quarters long before Montenegro, who had
commenced a countermarch in the same direction.  And issuing from the
woods, the bold savages saluted the Spanish garrison with a tempest of
darts and arrows, some of which found their way through the joints of the
harness and the quilted mail of the cavaliers.  But Pizarro was too well
practised a soldier to be off his guard.  Calling his men about him, he
resolved not to abide the assault tamely in the works, but to sally out, and
meet the enemy on their own ground.  The barbarians, who had advanced
near the defences, fell back as the Spaniards burst forth with their valiant
leader at their head.  But, soon returning with admirable ferocity to the
charge, they singled out Pizarro, whom, by his bold bearing and air of
authority, they easily recognized as the chief; and, hurling at him a storm
of missiles, wounded him, in spite of his armour, in no less than seven
places.18

Driven back by the fury of the assault directed against his own person,
the Spanish commander retreated down the slope of the hill, still
defending himself as he could with sword and buckler, when his foot
slipped and he fell.  The enemy set up a fierce yell of triumph, and some
of the boldest sprang forward to despatch him.  But Pizarro was on his
feet in an instant, and, striking down two of the foremost with his strong
arm, held the rest at bay till his soldiers could come to the rescue.  The
barbarians, struck with admiration at his valor, began to falter, when
Montenegro luckily coming on the ground at the moment, and falling on
their rear, completed their confusion; and, abandoning the field, they
made the best of their way into the recesses of the mountains.  The
ground was covered with their slain; but the victory was dearly
purchased by the death of two more Spaniards and a long list of
wounded.

A council of war was then called.  The position had lost its charm in the
eyes of the Spaniards, who had met here with the first resistance they had
yet experienced on their expedition.  It was necessary to place the
wounded in some secure spot, where their injuries could be attended to.
Yet it was not safe to proceed farther, in the crippled state of their vessel.
On the whole, it was decided to return and report their proceedings to the
governor; and, though the magnificent hopes of the adventurers had not
been realized, Pizarro trusted that enough had been done to vindicate the
importance of the enterprise, and to secure the countenance of Pedrarias
for the further prosecution of it.19

Yet Pizarro could not make up his mind to present himself, in the present
state of the undertaking, before the governor.  He determined, therefore,
to be set on shore with the principal part of his company at Chicarea, a
place on the main land, at a short distance west of Panama From this
place, which he reached without any further accident, he despatched the
vessel, and in it his treasurer, Nicolas de Ribera, with the gold he had
collected, and with instructions to lay before the governor in full account
of his discoveries, and the result of the expedition.

While these events were passing, Pizarro's associate, Almagro, had been
busily employed in fitting out another vessel for the expedition at the
port of Panama.  It was not till long after his friend's departure that he
was prepared to follow him.  With the assistance of Luque, he at length
succeeded in equipping a small caravel and embarking a body of
between sixty and seventy adventurers, mostly of the lowest order of the
colonists.  He steered in the track of his comrade, with the intention of
overtaking him as soon as possible.  By a signal previously concerted of
notching the trees, he was able to identify the spots visited by Pizarro,--
Puerto de Pinas, Puerto de la Hambre, Pueblo Quemado--touching
successively at every point of the coast explored by his countrymen,
though in a much shorter time.  At the last-mentioned place he was
received by the fierce natives with the same hostile demonstrations as
Pizarro, though in the present encounter the Indians did not venture
beyond their defences.  But the hot blood of Almagro was so exasperated
by this check, that he assaulted the place and carried it sword in hand,
setting fire to the outworks and dwellings, and driving the wretched
inhabitants into the forests.

His victory cost him dear.  A wound from a javelin on the head caused
an inflammation in one of his eyes, which, after great anguish, ended in
the loss of it.  Yet the intrepid adventurer did not hesitate to pursue his
voyage, and, after touching at several places on the coast, some of which
rewarded him with a considerable booty in gold, he reached the mouth of
the Rio de San Juan, about the fourth degree of north latitude.  He was
struck with the beauty of the stream, and with the cultivation on its
borders, which were sprinkled with Indian cottages showing some skill in
their construction, and altogether intimating a higher civilization than
any thing he had yet seen.

Still his mind was filled with anxiety for the fate of Pizarro and his
followers.  No trace of them had been found on the coast for a long time,
and it was evident they must have foundered at sea, or made their way
back to Panama.  This last he deemed most probable; as the vessel might
have passed him unnoticed under the cover of the night, or of the dense
fogs that sometimes hang over the coast.

Impressed with this belief, he felt no heart to continue his voyage of
discovery, for which, indeed, his single bark, with its small complement
of men, was altogether inadequate.  He proposed, therefore, to return
without delay.  On his way, he touched at the Isle of Pearls, and there
learned the result of his friend's expedition, and the place of his present
residence.  Directing his course, at once, to Chicama, the two cavaliers
soon had the satisfaction of embracing each other, and recounting their
several exploits and escapes.  Almagro returned even better freighted
with gold than his confederate, and at every step of his progress he had
collected fresh confirmation of the existence of some great and opulent
empire in the South.  The confidence of the two friends was much
strengthened by their discoveries; and they unhesitatingly pledged
themselves to one another to die rather than abandon the enterprise.20

The best means of obtaining the levies requisite for so formidable an
undertaking--more formidable, as it now appeared to them, than before --
were made the subject of long and serious discussion.  It was at length
decided that Pizarro should remain in his present quarters, inconvenient
and even unwholesome as they were rendered by the humidity of the
climate, and the pestilent swarms of insects that filled the atmosphere.
Almagro would pass over to Panama, lay the case before the governor,
and secure, if possible, his good-will towards the prosecution of the
enterprise.  If no obstacle were thrown in their way from this quarter,
they might hope, with the assistance of Luque, to raise the necessary
supplies; while the results of the recent expedition were sufficiently
encouraging to draw adventurers to their standard in a community which
had a craving for excitement that gave even danger a charm, and which
held life cheap in comparison with gold.



Book 2

Chapter 3

The Famous Contract-Second Expedition--Ruiz Explores The Coast--
Pizarro's Sufferings In The Forests--Arrival Of New Recruits-
Fresh Discoveries And Disasters--Pizarro On The Isle Of Gallo

1526--1527

On his arrival at Panama, Almagro found that events had taken a turn
less favorable to his views than he had anticipated.  Pedrarias, the
governor, was preparing to lead an expedition in person against a
rebellious officer in Nicaragua; and his temper, naturally not the most
amiable, was still further soured by this defection of his lieutenant, and
the necessity it imposed on him of a long and perilous march.  When,
therefore, Almagro appeared before him with the request that he might
be permitted to raise further levies to prosecute his enterprise, the
governor received him with obvious dissatisfaction, listened coldly to the
narrative of his losses, turned an incredulous ear to his magnificent
promises for the future, and bluntly demanded an account of the lives,
which had been sacrificed by Pizarro's obstinacy, but which, had they
been spared, might have stood him in good stead in his present
expedition to Nicaragua.  He positively declined to countenance the rash
schemes of the two adventurers any longer, and the conquest of Peru
would have been crushed in the bud, but for the efficient interposition of
the remaining associate, Fernando de Luque.

This sagacious ecclesiastic had received a very different impression from
Almagro's narrative, from that which had been made on the mind of the
irritable governor.  The actual results of the enterprise in gold and silver,
thus far, indeed, had been small,--forming a mortifying contrast to the
magnitude of their expectations.  But, in another point of view, they were
of the last importance; since the intelligence which the adventurers had
gained in every successive stage of their progress confirmed, in the
strongest manner, the previous accounts, received from Andogoya and
others, of a rich Indian empire at the south, which might repay the
trouble of conquering it as well as Mexico had repaid the enterprise of
Cortes.  Fully entering, therefore, into the feelings of his military
associates, he used all his influence with the governor to incline him to a
more favorable view of Almagro's petition; and no one in the little
community of Panama exercised greater influence over the councils of
the executive than Father Luque, for which he was indebted no less to his
discretion and acknowledged sagacity than to his professional station.

But while Pedrarias, overcome by the arguments or importunity of the
churchman, yielded a reluctant assent to the application, he took care to
testify his displeasure with Pizarro, on whom he particularly charged the
loss of his followers, by naming Almagro as his equal in command in the
proposed expedition.  This mortification sunk deep into Pizarro's mind.
He suspected his comrade, with what reason does not appear, of
soliciting this boon from the governor.  A temporary coldness arose
between them, which subsided, in outward show, at least, on Pizarro's
reflecting that it was better to have this authority conferred on a friend
than on a stranger, perhaps an enemy.  But the seeds of permanent
distrust were left in his bosom, and lay waiting for the due season to
ripen into a fruitful harvest of discord.1

Pedrarias had been originally interested in the enterprise, at least, so far
as to stipulate for a share of the gains, though he had not contributed, as
it appears, a single ducat towards the expenses.  He was at length,
however, induced to relinquish all right to a share of the contingent
profits.  But, in his manner of doing so, he showed a mercenary spirit,
better becoming a petty trader than a high officer of the Crown.  He
stipulated that the associates should secure to him the sum of one
thousand pesos de oro in requital of his good-will, and they eagerly
closed with his proposal, rather than be encumbered with his pretensions.
For so paltry a consideration did he resign his portion of the rich spoil of
the Incas! 2  But the governor was not gifted with the eye of a prophet.
His avarice was of that short-sighted kind which defeats itself.  He had
sacrificed the chivalrous Balboa just as that officer was opening to him
the conquest of Peru, and he would now have quenched the spirit of
enterprise, that was taking the same direction, in Pizarro and his
associates.

Not long after this, in the following year, he was succeeded in his
government by Don Pedro de los Rios, a cavalier of Cordova.  It was the
policy of the Castilian Crown to allow no one of the great colonial
officers to occupy the same station so long as to render himself
formidable by his authority.3  It had, moreover, many particular causes
of disgust with Pedrarias.  The functionary they sent out to succeed him
was fortified with ample instructions for the good of the colony, and
especially of the natives, whose religious conversion was urged as a
capital object, and whose personal freedom was unequivocally asserted,
as loyal vassals of the Crown.  It is but justice to the Spanish government
to admit that its provisions were generally guided by a humane and
considerate policy, which was as regularly frustrated by the cupidity of
the colonist, and the capricious cruelty of the conqueror.  The few
remaining years of Pedrarias were spent in petty squabbles, both of a
personal and official nature; for he was still continued in office, though
in one of less consideration than that which he had hitherto filled.  He
survived but a few years, leaving behind him a reputation not to be
envied, of one who united a pusillanimous spirit with uncontrollable
passions; who displayed, notwithstanding, a certain energy of character,
or, to speak more correctly, an impetuosity of purpose, which might have
led to good results had it taken a right direction.  Unfortunately, his lack
of discretion was such, that the direction he took was rarely of service to
his country or to himself.

Having settled their difficulties with the governor, and obtained his
sanction to their enterprise, the confederates lost no time in making the
requisite preparations for it.  Their first step was to execute the
memorable contract which served as the basis of their future
arrangements; and, as Pizarro's name appears in this, it seems probable
that that chief had crossed over to Panama so soon as the favorable
disposition of Pedrarias had been secured.4  The instrument, after
invoking in the most solemn manner the names of the Holy Trinity and
Our Lady the Blessed Virgin, sets forth, that, whereas the parties have
full authority to discover and subdue the countries and provinces lying
south of the Gulf, belonging to the empire of Peru, and as Fernando de
Luque had advanced the funds for the enterprise in bars of gold of the
value of twenty thousand pesos, they mutually bind themselves to divide
equally among them the whole of the conquered territory.  This
stipulation is reiterated over and over again, particularly with reference
to Luque, who, it is declared, is to be entitled to one third of all lands,
repartimientos, treasures of every kind, gold, silver, and precious stones,-
-to one third even of all vassals, rents, and emoluments arising from such
grants as may be conferred by the Crown on either of his military
associates, to be held for his own use, or for that of his heirs, assigns, or
legal representative.

The two captains solemnly engage to devote themselves exclusively to
the present undertaking until it is accomplished; and, in case of failure in
their part of the covenant, they pledge themselves to reimburse Luque for
his advances, for which all the property they possess shall be held
responsible, and this declaration is to be a sufficient warrant for the
execu.  tion of judgment against them, in the same manner as if it had
proceed.  ed from the decree of a court of justice.

The commanders, Pizarro and Almagro, made oath, in the name of God
and the Holy Evangelists, sacredly to keep this covenant, swearing it on
the missal, on which they traced with their own hands the sacred emblem
of the cross.  To give still greater efficacy to the compact, Father Luque
administered the sacrament to the parties, dividing the consecrated wafer
into three portions, of which each one of them partook; while the
bystanders, says an historian, were affected to tears by this spectacle of
the solemn ceremonial with which these men voluntarily devoted
themselves to a sacrifice that seemed little short of insanity.5

The instrument, which was dated March 10, 1526, was subscribed by
Luque, and attested by three respectable citizens of Panama, one of
whom signed on behalf of Pizarro, and the other for Almagro; since
neither of these parties, according to the avowal of the instrument, was
able to subscribe his own name.6

Such was the singular compact by which three obscure individuals coolly
carved out and partitioned among themselves, an empire of whose
extent, power, and resources, of whose situation, of whose existence,
even, they had no sure or precise knowledge.  The positive and
unhesitating manner in which they speak of the grandeur of this empire,
of its stores of wealth, so conformable to the event, but of which they
could have really known so little, forms a striking contrast with the
general skepticism and indifference manifested by nearly every other
person, high and low, in the community of Panama.7

The religious tone of the instrument is not the least remarkable feature in
it, especially when we contrast this with the relentless policy, pursued by
the very men who were parties to it, in their conquest of the country.  "In
the name of the Prince of Peace," says the illustrious historian of
America, "they ratified a contract of which plunder and bloodshed were
the objects."8  The reflection seems reasonable.  Yet, in criticizing what
is done, as well as what is written, we must take into account the spirit of
the times.9  The invocation of Heaven was natural, where the object of
the undertaking was, in part, a religious one.  Religion entered, more or
less, into the theory, at least, of the Spanish conquests in the New World.
That motives of a baser sort mingled largely with these higher ones, and
in different proportions according to the character of the individual, no
one will deny.  And few are they that have proposed to themselves a long
career of action without the intermixture of some vulgar personal motive,
--fame, honors, or emolument.  Yet that religion furnishes a key to the
American crusades, however rudely they may have been conducted, is
evident from the history of their origin; from the sanction openly given to
them by the Head of the Church; from the throng of self-devoted
missionaries, who followed in the track of the conquerors to garner up
the rich harvest of souls; from the reiterated instructions of the Crown,
the great object of which was the conversion of the natives; from those
superstitious acts of the iron-hearted soldiery themselves, which,
however they may be set down to fanaticism, were clearly too much in
earnest to leave any ground for the charge of hypocrisy.  It was indeed a
fiery cross that was borne over the devoted land, scathing and consuming
it in its terrible progress; but it was still the cross, the sign of man's
salvation, the only sign by which generations and generations yet unborn
were to be rescued from eternal perdition.

It is a remarkable fact, which has hitherto escaped the notice of the
historian, that Luque was not the real party to this contract.  He
represented another, who placed in his hands the funds required for the
undertaking.  This appears from an instrument signed by Luque himself
and certified before the same notary that prepared the original contract.
The instrument declares that the whole sum of twenty thousand pesos
advanced for the expedition was furnished by the Licentiate Gaspar de
Espinosa, then at Panama; that the vicar acted only as his agent and by
his authority; and that, in consequence, the said Espinosa and no other
was entitled to a third of all the profits and acquisitions resulting from
the conquest of Peru.  This instrument, attested by three persons, one of
them the same who had witnessed the original contract, was dated on the
6th of August, 1531.10  The Licentiate Espinosa was a respectable
functionary, who had filled the office of principal alcalde in Darien, and
since taken a conspicuous part in the conquest and settlement of Tierra
Firme.  He enjoyed much consideration for his personal character and
station; and it is remarkable that so little should be known of the manner
in which the covenant, so solemnly made, was executed in reference to
him.  As in the case of Columbus, it is probable that the unexpected
magnitude of the results was such as to prevent a faithful adherence to
the original stipulation; and yet, from the same consideration, one can
hardly doubt that the twenty thousand pesos of the bold speculator must
have brought him a magnificent return.  Nor did the worthy vicar of
Panama, as the history will show hereafter, go without his reward.

Having completed these preliminary arrangements, the three associates
lost no time in making preparations for the voyage.  Two vessels were
purchased, larger and every way better than those employed on the
former occasion.  Stores were laid in, as experience dictated, on a larger
scale than before, and proclamation was made of "an expedition to
Peru." But the call was not readily answered by the skeptical citizens of
Panama.  Of nearly two hundred men who had embarked on the former
cruise, not more than three fourths now remained.11 This dismal
mortality, and the emaciated, poverty-stricken aspect of the survivors,
spoke more eloquently than the braggart promises and magnificent
prospects held out by the adventurers.  Still there were men in the
community of such desperate circumstances, that any change seemed like
a chance of bettering their condition.  Most of the former company also,
strange to say, felt more pleased to follow up the adventure to the end
than to abandon it, as they saw the light of a better day dawning upon
them.  From these sources the two captains succeeded in mustering about
one hundred and sixty men, making altogether a very inadequate force
for the conquest of an empire.  A few horses were also purchased, and a
better supply of ammunition and military stores than before, though still
on a very limited scale.  Considering their funds, the only way of
accounting for this must be by the difficulty of obtaining supplies at
Panama, which, recently founded, and on the remote coast of the Pacific,
could be approached only by crossing the rugged barrier of mountains,
which made the transportation of bulky articles extremely difficult.  Even
such scanty stock of materials as it possessed was probably laid under
heavy contribution, at the present juncture, by the governor's
preparations for his own expedition to the north.

Thus indifferently provided, the two captains, each in his own vessel,
again took their departure from Panama, under the direction of
Bartholomew Ruiz, a sagacious and resolute pilot, well experienced in
the navigation of the Southern Ocean.  He was a native of Moguer, in
Andalusia, that little nursery of nautical enterprise, which furnished so
many seamen for the first voyages of Columbus.  Without touching at the
intervening points of the coast, which offered no attraction to the
voyagers, they stood farther out to sea, steering direct for the Rio de San
Juan, the utmost limit reached by Almagro.  The season was better
selected than on the former occasion, and they were borne along by
favorable breezes to the place of their destination, which they reached
without accident in a few days.  Entering the mouth of the river, they saw
the banks well lined with Indian habitations; and Pizarro, disembarking,
at the head of a party of soldiers, succeeded in surprising a small village
and carrying off a considerable booty of gold ornaments found in the
dwellings, together with a few of the natives.12

Flushed with their success, the two chiefs were confident that the sight of
the rich spoil so speedily obtained could not fall to draw adventurers to
their standard in Panama; and, as they felt more than ever the necessity
of a stronger force to cope with the thickening population of the country
which they were now to penetrate, it was decided that Almagro should
return with the treasure and beat up for reinforcements, while the pilot
Ruiz, in the other vessel, should reconnoitre the country towards the
south, and obtain such information as might determine their future
movements.  Pizarro, with the rest of the force, would remain in the
neighborhood of the river, as he was assured by the Indian prisoners, that
not far in the interior was an open reach of country, where he and his
men could find comfortable quarters.  This arrangement was instantly put
in execution.  We will first accompany the intrepid pilot in his cruise
towards the south.

Coasting along the great continent, with his canvas still spread to
favorable winds, the first place at which Ruiz cast anchor was off the
little island of Gallo, about two degrees north.  The inhabitants, who
were not numerous, were prepared to give him a hostile reception,--for
tidings of the invaders had preceded them along the country, and even
reached this insulated spot.  As the object of Ruiz was to explore, not
conquer, he did not care to entangle himself in hostilities with the
natives; so, changing his purpose of landing, he weighed anchor, and ran
down the coast as far as what is now called the Bay of St. Matthew.  The
country, which, as he advanced, continued to exhibit evidence of a better
culture as well as of a more dense population than the parts hitherto seen,
was crowded, along the shores, with spectators, who gave no signs of
fear or hostility.  They stood gazing on the vessel of the white men as it
glided smoothly into the crystal waters of the bay, fancying it, says an
old writer, some mysterious being descended from the skies.

Without staying long enough on this friendly coast to undeceive the
simple people, Ruiz, standing off shore, struck out into the deep sea; but
he had not sailed far in that direction, when he was surprised by the sight
of a vessel, seeming in the distance like a caravel of considerable size,
traversed by a large sail that carried it sluggishly over the waters.  The
old navigator was not a little perplexed by this phenomenon, as he was
confident no European bark could have been before him in these
latitudes, and no Indian nation, yet discovered, not even the civilized
Mexican, was acquainted with the use of sails in navigation.  As he drew
near, he found it was a large vessel, or rather raft, called balsa by the
natives, consisting of a number of huge timbers of a light, porous wood,
tightly lashed together, with a frail flooring of reeds raised on them by
way of deck.  Two masts or sturdy poles, erected in the middle of the
vessel, sustained a large square-sail of cotton, while a rude kind of
rudder and a movable keel, made of plank inserted between the logs,
enabled the mariner to give a direction to the floating fabric, which held
on its course without the aid of oar or paddle.13  The simple architecture
of this craft was sufficient for the purposes of the natives, and indeed has
continued to answer them to the present day; for the balsa, surmounted
by small thatched huts or cabins, still supplies the most commodious
means for the transportation of passengers and luggage on the streams
and along the shores of this part of the South American continent.

On coming alongside, Ruiz found several Indians, both men and women,
on board, some with rich ornaments on their persons, besides several
articles wrought with considerable skill in gold and silver, which they
were carrying for purposes of traffic to the different places along the
coast.  But what most attracted his attention was the woollen cloth of
which some of their dresses were made.  It was of a fine texture,
delicately embroidered with figures of birds and flowers, and dyed in
brilliant colors.  He also observed in the boat a pair of balances made to
weigh the precious metals.  His astonishment at these proofs of
ingenuity and civilization, so much higher than anything he had ever
seen in the country, was heightened by the intelligence which he
collected from some of these Indians.  Two of them had come from
Tumbez, a Peruvian port, some degrees to the south; and they gave him
to understand, that in their neighborhood the fields were covered with
large flocks of the animals from which the wool was obtained, and that
gold and silver were almost as common as wood in the palaces of their
monarch.  The Spaniards listened greedily to reports which harmonized
so well with their fond desires.  Though half distrusting the exaggeration,
Ruiz resolved to detain some of the Indians, including the natives of
Tumbez, that they might repeat the wondrous tale to his commander, and
at the same time, by learning the Castilian, might hereafter serve as
interpreters with their countrymen.  The rest of the party he suffered to
proceed without further interruption on their voyage.  Then holding on
his course, the prudent pilot, without touching at any other point of the
coast, advanced as far as the Punta de Pasado, about half a degree south,
having the glory of being the first European who, sailing in this direction
on the Pacific, had crossed the equinoctial line.  This was the limit' of his
discoveries; on reaching which he tacked about, and standing away to the
north, succeeded, after an absence of several weeks, in regaining the spot
where he had left Pizarro and his comrades.15

It was high time; for the spirits of that little band had been sorely tried by
the perils they had encountered.  On the departure of his vessels, Pizarro
marched into the interior, in the hope of finding the pleasant champaign
country which had been promised him by the natives.  But at every step
the forests seemed to grow denser and darker, and the trees towered to a
height such as he had never seen, even in these fruitful regions, where
Nature works on so gigantic a scale.16  Hill continued to rise above hill,
as he advanced, rolling onward, as it were, by successive waves to join
that colossal barrier of the Andes, whose frosty sides, far away above the
clouds, spread out like a curtain of burnished silver, that seemed to
connect the heavens with the earth.

On crossing these woody eminences, the forlorn adventurers would
plunge into ravines of frightful depth, where the exhalations of a humid
soil steamed up amidst the incense of sweet-scented flowers, which
shone through the deep glooms in every conceivable variety of color.
Birds.  especially of the parrot tribe, mocked this fantastic variety of
nature with tints as brilliant as those of the vegetable world.  Monkeys
chattered in crowds above their heads, and made grimaces like the
fiendish spirits of these solitudes; while hideous reptiles, engendered in
the slimy depths of the pools, gathered round the footsteps of the
wanderers.  Here was seen the gigantic boa, coiling his unwieldy folds
about the trees, so as hardly to be distinguished from their trunks, till he
was ready to dart upon his prey; and alligators lay basking on the borders
of the streams, or, gliding under the waters, seized their incautious victim
before he was aware of their approach.17  Many of the Spaniards
perished miserably in this way, and others were waylaid by the natives,
who kept a jealous eye on their movements, and availed themselves of
every opportunity to take them at advantage.  Fourteen of Pizarro's men
were cut off at once in a canoe which had stranded on the bank of a
stream.18

Famine came in addition to other troubles, and it was with difficulty that
they found the means of sustaining life on the scanty fare of the forest,--
occasionally the potato, as it grew without cultivation, or the wild cocoa-
nut, or, on the shore, the salt and bitter fruit of the mangrove; though the
shore was less tolerable than the forest, from the swarms of mosquitos
which compelled the wretched adventurers to bury their bodies up to
their very faces in the sand.  In this extremity of suffering, they thought
only of return; and all schemes of avarice and ambition--except with
Pizarro and a few dauntless spirits--were exchanged for the one craving
desire to return to Panama.

It was at this crisis that the pilot Ruiz returned with the report of his
brilliant discoveries; and, not long after, Almagro sailed into port with
his vessel laden with refreshments, and a considerable reinforcement of
volunteers.  The voyage of that commander had been prosperous.  When
he arrived at Panama, he found the government in the hands of Don
Pedro de los Rios; and he came to anchor in the harbor, unwilling to trust
himself on shore, till he had obtained from Father Luque some account
of the dispositions of the executive.  These were sufficiently favorable;
for the new governor had particular instructions fully to carry out the
arrangements made by his predecessor with the associates.  On learning
Almagro's arrival, he came down to the port to welcome him, professing
his willingness to afford every facility for the execution of his designs.
Fortunately, just before this period, a small body of military adventurers
had come to Panama from the mother country, burning with desire to
make their fortunes in the New World.  They caught much more eagerly
than the old and wary colonists at the golden bait held out to them; and
with their addition, and that of a few supernumerary stragglers who hung
about the town, Almagro found himself at the head of a reinforcement of
at least eighty men, with which, having laid in a fresh supply of stores, he
again set sail for the Rio de San Juan.

The arrival of the new recruits all eager to follow up the expedition, the
comfortable change in their circumstances produced by an ample supply
of refreshments, and the glowing pictures of the wealth that awaited them
in the south, all had their effect on the dejected spirits of Pizarro's
followers.  Their late toils and privations were speedily forgotten, and,
with the buoyant and variable feelings incident to a freebooter's life, they
now called as eagerly on their commander to go forward in the voyage,
as they had before called on him to abandon it.  Availing themselves of
the renewed spirit of enterprise, the captains embarked on board their
vessels, and, under the guidance of the veteran pilot, steered in the same
track he had lately pursued.

But the favorable season for a southern course, which in these latitudes
lasts but a few months in the year, had been suffered to escape.  The
breezes blew steadily towards the north, and a strong current, not far
from shore, set in the same direction.  The winds frequently rose into
tempests, and the unfortunate voyagers were tossed about, for many
days, in the boiling surges, amidst the most awful storms of thunder and
lightning, until, at length, they found a secure haven in the island of
Gallo, already visited by Ruiz.  As they were now too strong in numbers
to apprehend an assault, the crews landed, and, experiencing no
molestation from the natives, they continued on the island for a fortnight,
refitting their damaged vessels, and recruiting themselves after the
fatigues of the ocean.  Then, resuming their voyage, the captains stood
towards the south until they reached the Bay of St. Matthew.  As they
advanced along the coast, they were struck, as Ruiz had been before,
with the evidences of a higher civilization constantly exhibited in the
general aspect of the country and its inhabitants.  The hand of cultivation
was visible in every quarter.  The natural appearance of the coast, too,
had something in it more inviting; for, instead of the eternal labyrinth of
mangrove-trees, with their complicated roots snarled into formidable
coils under the water, as if to waylay and entangle the voyager, the low
margin of the sea was covered with a stately growth of ebony, and with a
species of mahogany, and other hard woods that take the most brilliant
and variegated polish.  The sandal-wood, and many balsamic trees of
unknown names, scattered their sweet odors far and wide, not in an
atmosphere tainted with vegetable corruption, but on the pure breezes of
the ocean, bearing health as well as fragrance on their wings.  Broad
patches of cultivated land intervened, disclosing hill-sides covered with
the yellow maize and the potato, or checkered, in the lower levels, with
blooming plantations of cacao.19

The villages became more numerous; and, as the vessels rode at anchor
off the port of Tacamez, the Spaniards saw before them a town of two
thousand houses or more, laid out into streets, with a numerous
population clustering around it in the suburbs.20  The men and women
displayed many ornaments of gold and precious stones about their
persons, which may seem strange, considering that the Peruvian Incas
claimed a monopoly of jewels for themselves and the nobles on whom
they condescended to bestow them.  But, although the Spaniards had
now reached the outer limits of the Peruvian empire, it was not Peru, but
Quito, and that portion of it but recently brought under the sceptre of the
Incas, where the ancient usages of the people could hardly have been
effaced under the oppressive system of the American despots.  The
adjacent country was, moreover, particularly rich in gold, which,
collected from the washings of the streams, still forms one of the staple
products of Barbacoas.  Here, too, was the fair River of Emeralds, so
called from the quarries of the beautiful gem on its borders, from which
the Indian monarchs enriched their treasury.21

The Spaniards gazed with delight on these undeniable evidences of
wealth, and saw in the careful cultivation of the soil a comfortable
assurance that they had at length reached the land which had so long
been seen in brilliant, though distant, perspective before them.  But here
again they were doomed to be disappointed by the warlike spirit of the
people, who, conscious of their own strength, showed no disposition to
quail before the invaders.  On the contrary, several of their canoes shot
out, loaded with warriors, who, displaying a gold mask as their ensign,
hovered round the vessels with looks of defiance, and, when pursued,
easily took shelter under the lee of the land.22

A more formidable body mustered along the shore, to the number,
according to the Spanish accounts, of at least ten thousand warriors,
eager, apparently, to come to close action with the invaders.  Nor could
Pizarro, who had landed with a party of his men in the hope of a
conference with the natives, wholly prevent hostilities; and it might have
gone hard with the Spaniards, hotly pressed by their resolute enemy so
superior in numbers, but for a ludicrous accident reported by the
historians as happening to one of the cavaliers.  This was a fall from his
horse, which so astonished the barbarians, who were not prepared for
this division of what seemed one and the same being into two, that, filled
with consternation, they fell back, and left a way open for the Christians
to regain their vessels! 23

A council of war was now called.  It was evident that the forces of the
Spaniards were unequal to a contest with so numerous and well-
appointed a body of natives; and, even if they should prevail here, they
could have no hope of stemming the torrent which must rise against them
in their progress--for the country was becoming more and more thickly
settled, and towns and hamlets started into view at every new headland
which they doubled.  It was better, in the opinion of some,--the faint-
hearted,-to abandon the enterprise at once, as beyond their strength.  But
Almagro took a different view of the affair.  "To go home," he said,
"with nothing done, would be ruin, as well as disgrace.  There was
scarcely one but had left creditors at Panama, who looked for payment to
the fruits of this expedition.  To go home now would be to deliver
themselves at once into their hands.  It would be to go to prison.  Better
to roam a freeman, though in the wilderness, than to lie bound with
fetters in the dungeons of Panama.24  The only course for them," he
concluded, "was the one lately pursued.  Pizarro might find some more
commodious place where he could remain with part of the force while he
himself went back for recruits to Panama.  The story they had now to tell
of the riches of the land, as they had seen them with their own eyes,
would put their expedition in a very different light, and could not fail to
draw to their banner as many volunteers as they needed."

But this recommendation, however judicious, was not altogether to the
taste of the latter commander, who did not relish the part, which
constantly fell to him, of remaining behind in the swamps and forests of
this wild country.  "It is all very well," he said to Almagro, "for you, who
pass your time pleasantly enough, careering to and fro in your vessel, or
snugly sheltered in a land of plenty at Panama; but it is quite another
matter for those who stay behind to droop and die of hunger in the
wilderness.25  To this Almagro retorted with some heat, professing his
own willingness to take charge of the brave men who would remain with
him, if Pizarro declined it.  The controversy assuming a more angry and
menacing tone, from words they would have soon come to blows, as
both, laying their hands on their swords, were preparing to rush on each
other, when the treasurer Ribera, aided by the pilot Ruiz, succeeded in
pacifying them.  It required but little effort on the part of these cooler
counsellors to convince the cavaliers of the folly of a conduct which
must at once terminate the expedition in a manner little creditable to its
projectors.  A reconciliation consequently took place, sufficient, at least
in outward show, to allow the two commanders to act together in
concert.  Almagro's plan was then adopted; and it only remained to find
out the most secure and convenient spot for Pizarro's quarters.

Several days were passed in touching at different parts of the coast, as
they retraced their course; but everywhere the natives appeared to have
caught the alarm, and assumed a menacing, and from their numbers a
formidable, aspect.  The more northerly region, with its unwholesome
fens and forests, where nature wages a war even more relentless than
man, was not to be thought of.  In this perplexity, they decided on the
little island of Gallo, as being, on the whole, from its distance from the
shore, and from the scantiness of its population, the most eligible spot
for them in their forlorn and destitute condition.26

But no sooner was the resolution of the two captains made known, than a
feeling of discontent broke forth among their followers, especially those
who were to remain with Pizarro on the island, "What!" they exclaimed,
"were they to be dragged to that obscure spot to die by hunger? The
whole expedition had been a cheat and a failure, from beginning to end.
The golden countries, so much vaunted, had seemed to fly before them
as they advanced; and the little gold they had been fortunate enough to
glean had all been sent back to Panama to entice other fools to follow
their example.  What had they got in return for all their sufferings? The
only treasures they could boast were their bows and arrows, and they
were now to be left to die on this dreary island, without so much as a
rood of consecrated ground to lay their bones in!27

In this exasperated state of feeling, several of the soldiers wrote back to
their friends, informing them of their deplorable condition, and
complaining of the cold-blooded manner in which they were to be
sacrificed to the obstinate cupidity of their leaders.  But the latter were
wary enough to anticipate this movement, and Almagro defeated it by
seizing all the letters in the vessels, and thus cutting off at once the
means of communication with their friends at home.  Yet this act of
unscrupulous violence, like most other similar acts, fell short of its
purpose; for a soldier named Sarabia had the ingenuity to evade it by
introducing a letter into a ball of cotton, which was to be taken to
Panama as a specimen of the products of the country, and presented to
the governor's lady.28

The letter, which was signed by several of the disaffected soldiery
besides the writer, painted in gloomy colors the miseries of their
condition, accused the two commanders of being the authors of this, and
called on the authorities of Panama to interfere by sending a vessel to
take them from the desolate spot, while some of them might still be
found surviving the horrors of their confinement.  The epistle concluded
with a stanza, in which the two leaders were stigmatized as partners in a
slaughter-house; one being employed to drive in the cattle for the other
to butcher.  The verses, which had a currency in their day among the
colonists to which they were certainly not entitled by their poetical
merits, may be thus rendered into corresponding doggerel:

"Look out, Senor Governor,
For the drover while he's near;
Since he goes home to get the sheep
For the butcher who stays here." 29



Book 2

Chapter 4

Indignation Of The Governor--Stern Resolution Of Pizarro-
Prosecution Of The Voyage--Brilliant Aspect Of Tumbez-
Discoveries Along The Coast--Return To Panama-
Pizarro Embarks For Spain

1527--1528

Not long after Almagro's departure, Pizarro sent off the remaining vessel,
under the pretext of its being put in repair at Panama.  It probably
relieved him of a part of his followers, whose mutinous spirit made them
an obstacle rather than a help in his forlorn condition, and with whom he
was the more willing to part from the difficulty of finding subsistence on
the barren spot which he now occupied.

Great was the dismay occasioned by the return of Almagro and his
followers, in the little community of Panama; for the letter,
surreptitiously conveyed in the ball of cotton, fell into the hands for
which it was intended, and the contents soon got abroad with usual
quantity of exaggeration.  The haggard and dejected mien of the
adventurers, of itself, told a tale sufficiently disheartening, and it was
soon generally believed that the few ill-fated survivors of the expedition
were detained against their will by Pizarro, to end their days with their
disappointed leader on his desolate island.

Pedro de los Rios, the governor, was so much incensed at the result of
the expedition, and the waste of life it had occasioned to the colony, that
he turned a deaf ear to all the applications of Luque and Almagro for
further countenance in the affair; he derided their sanguine anticipations
of the future, and finally resolved to send an officer to the isle of Gallo,
with orders to bring back every Spaniard whom he should find still living
in that dreary abode.  Two vessels were immediately despatched for the
purpose, and placed under charge of a cavalier named Tafur, a native of
Cordova.

Meanwhile Pizarro and his followers were experiencing all the miseries
which might have been expected from the character of the barren spot on
which they were imprisoned.  They were, indeed, relieved from all
apprehensions of the natives, since these had quitted the island on its
occupation by the white men; but they had to endure the pains of hunger
even in a greater degree than they had formerly experienced in the wild
woods of the neighboring continent.  Their principal food was crabs and
such shell-fish as they could scantily pick up along the shores.  Incessant
storms of thunder and lightning, for it was the rainy season, swept over
the devoted island, and drenched them with a perpetual flood.  Thus,
halfnaked, and pining with famine, there were few in that little company
who did not feel the spirit of enterprise quenched within them, or who
looked for any happier termination of their difficulties than that afforded
by a return to Panama.  The appearance of Tafur, therefore, with his two
vessels, well stored with provisions, was greeted with all the rapture that
the crew of a sinking wreck might feel on the arrival of some unexpected
succour; and the only thought, after satisfying the immediate cravings of
hunger, was to embark and leave the detested isle forever.

But by the same vessel letters came to Pizarro from his two confederates,
Luque and Almagro, beseeching him not to despair in his present
extremity, but to hold fast to his original purpose.  To return under the
present circumstances would be to seal the fate of the expedition; and
they solemnly engaged, if he would remain firm at his post, to furnish
him in a short time with the necessary means for going forward.1

A ray of hope was enough for the courageous spirit of Pizarro.  It does
not appear that he himself had entertained, at any time, thoughts of
returning.  If he had, these words of encouragement entirely banished
them from his bosom, and he prepared to stand the fortune of the cast on
which he had so desperately ventured.  He knew, however, that
solicitations or remonstrances would avail little with the companions of
his enterprise; and he probably did not care to win over the more timid
spirits who, by perpetually looking back, would only be a clog on his
future movements.  He announced his own purpose, however, in a
laconic but decided manner, characteristic of a man more accustomed to
act than to talk, and well calculated to make an impression on his rough
followers.

Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand from east to west.
Then turning towards the south, "Friend and comrades!" he said, "on that
side are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and
death; on this side, ease and pleasure.  There lies Peru with its riches;
here, Panama, and its poverty.  Choose, each man, what best becomes a
brave Castilian.  For my part, I go to the south." So saying, he stepped
across the line.2  He was followed by the brave pilot Ruiz; next by Pedro
de Candia, a cavalier, born, as his name imports, in one of the isles of
Greece.  Eleven others successively crossed the line, thus intimating their
willingness to abide the fortunes of their leader, for good or for evil.3
Fame, to quote the enthusiastic language of an ancient chronicler, has
commemorated the names of this little band, "who thus, in the face or
difficulties unexampled in history, with death rather than riches for their
reward, preferred it all to abandoning their honor, and stood firm by their
leader as an example of loyalty to future ages." 4

But the act excited no such admiration in the mind of Tafur, who looked
on it as one of gross disobedience to the commands of the governor, and
as little better than madness, involving the certain destruction of the
parties engaged in it.  He refused to give any sanction to it himself by
leaving one of his vessels with the adventurers to prosecute their voyage,
and it was with great difficulty that he could be persuaded even to allow
them a part of the stores which he had brought for their support.  This
had no influence on their determination, and the little party, bidding
adieu to their returning comrades, remained unshaken in their purpose of
abiding the fortunes of their commander.5

There is something striking to the imagination in the spectacle of these
few brave spirits, thus consecrating themselves to a daring enterprise,
which seemed as far above their strength as any recorded in the fabulous
annals of knight-errantry.  A handful of men, without food, without
clothing, almost without arms, without knowledge of the land to which
they were bound, without vessel to transport them, were here left on a
lonely rock in the ocean with the avowed purpose of carrying on a
crusade against a powerful empire, staking their lives on its success.
What is there in the legends of chivalry that surpasses it? This was the
crisis of Pizarro's fate.  There are moments in the lives of men, which, as
they are seized or neglected, decide their future destiny.6  Had Pizarro
faltered from his strong purpose, and yielded to the occasion, now so
temptingly presented, for extricating himself and his broken band from
their desperate position, his name would have been buried with his
fortunes, and the conquest of Peru would have been left for other and
more successful adventurers.  But his constancy was equal to the
occasion, and his conduct here proved him competent to the perilous
post he had assumed, and inspired others with a confidence in him which
was the best assurance of success.

In the vessel that bore back Tafur and those who seceded from the
expedition the pilot Ruiz was also permitted to return, in order to
cooperate with Luque and Almagro in their application for further
succour.

Not long after the departure of the ships, it was decided by Pizarro to
abandon his present quarters, which had little to recommend them, and
which, he reflected, might now be exposed to annoyance from the
original inhabitants, should they take courage and return, on learning the
diminished number of the white men.  The Spaniards, therefore, by his
orders, constructed a rude boat or raft, on which they succeeded in
transporting themselves to the little island of Gorgona, twenty-five
leagues to the north of their present residence.  It lay about five leagues
from the continent, and was uninhabited.  It had some advantages over
the isle of Gallo; for it stood higher above the sea, and was partially
covered with wood, which afforded shelter to a species of pheasant, and
the hare or rabbit of the country, so that the Spaniards, with their cross-
bows, were enabled to procure a tolerable supply of game.  Cool streams
that issued from the living rock furnished abundance of water, though the
drenching rains that fell, without intermission, left them in no danger of
perishing by thirst.  From this annoyance they found some protection in
the rude huts which they constructed; though here, as in their former
residence, they suffered from the no less intolerable annoyance of
venomous insects, which multiplied and swarmed in the exhalations of
the rank and stimulated soil.  In this dreary abode Pizarro omitted no
means by which to sustain the drooping spirits of his men.  Morning
prayers were duly said, and the evening hymn to the Virgin was regularly
chanted; the festivals of the church were carefully commemorated, and
every means taken by their commander to give a kind of religious
character to his enterprise, and to inspire his rough followers with a
confidence in the protection of Heaven, that might support them in their
perilous circumstances.7

In these uncomfortable quarters, their chief employment was to keep
watch on the melancholy ocean, that they might hail the first signal of the
anticipated succour.  But many a tedious month passed away, and no
sign of it appeared.  All around was the same wide waste of waters,
except to the eastward, where the frozen crest of the Andes, touched with
the ardent sun of the equator, glowed like a ridge of fire along the whole
extent of the great continent.  Every speck in the distant horizon was
carefully noticed, and the drifting timber or masses of sea-weed, heaving
to and fro on the bosom of the waters, was converted by their
imaginations into the promised vessel; till, sinking under successive
disappointments, hope gradually gave way to doubt, and doubt settled
into despair.8

Meanwhile the vessel of Tafur had reached the port of Panama.  The
tidings which she brought of the inflexible obstinacy of Pizarro and his
followers filled the governor with indignation.  He could look on it in no
other light than as an act of suicide, and steadily refused to send further
assistance to men who were obstinately bent on their own destruction.
Yet Luque and Almagro were true to their engagements.  They
represented to the governor, that, if the conduct of their comrade was
rash, it was at least in the service of the Crown, and in prosecuting the
great work of discovery.  Rios had been instructed, on his taking the
government, to aid Pizarro in the enterprise; and to desert him now
would be to throw away the remaining chance of success, and to incur
the responsibility of his death and that of the brave men who adhered to
him.  These remonstrances, at length, so far operated on the mind of that
functionary, that he reluctantly consented that a vessel should be sent to
the island of Gorgona, but with no more hands than were necessary to
work her, and with positive instructions to Pizarro to return in six months
and report himself at Panama, whatever might be the future results of his
expedition.

Having thus secured the sanction of the executive, the two associates lost
no time in fitting out a small vessel with stores and a supply of arms and
ammunition, and despatched it to the island.  The unfortunate tenants of
this little wilderness, who had now occupied it for seven months,9 hardly
dared to trust their senses when they descried the white sails of the
friendly bark coming over the waters.  And although, when the vessel
anchored off the shore, Pizarro was disappointed to find that it brought
no additional recruits for the enterprise, yet he greeted it with joy, as
affording the means of solving the great problem of the existence of the
rich southern empire, and of thus opening the way for its future conquest.
Two of his men were so ill, that it was determined to leave them in the
care of some of the friendly Indians who had continued with him through
the whole of his sojourn, and to call for them on his return.  Taking with
him the rest of his hardy followers and the natives of Tumbez, he
embarked, and, speedily weighing anchor, bade adieu to the "Hell," as it
was called by the Spaniards, which had been the scene of so much
suffering and such undaunted resolution.10

Every heart was now elated with hope, as they found themselves once
more on the waters, under the guidance of the good pilot Ruiz, who,
obeying the directions of the Indians, proposed to steer for the land of
Tumbez, which would bring them at once into the golden empire of the
Incas, --the El Dorado, of which they had been so long in pursuit.
Passing by the dreary isle of Gallo, which they had such good cause to
remember, they stood farther out to sea until they made point Tacumez,
near which they had landed on their previous voyage.  They did not
touch at any part of the coast, but steadily held on their way, though
considerably impeded by the currents, as well as by the wind, which
blew with little variation from the south.  Fortunately, the wind was light,
and, as the weather was favorable, their voyage, though slow, was not
uncomfortable.  In a few days, they came in sight of Point Pasado, the
limit of the pilot's former navigation; and, crossing the line, the little bark
entered upon those unknown seas which had never been ploughed by
European keel before.  The coast, they observed, gradually declined
from its former bold and rugged character, gently sloping towards the
shore, and spreading out into sandy plains, relieved here and there by
patches of uncommon richness and beauty; while the white cottages of
the natives glistening along the margin of the sea, and the smoke that
rose among the distant hills, intimated the increasing population of the
country.

At length, after the lapse of twenty days from their departure from the
island, the adventurous vessel rounded the point of St. Helena, and
glided smoothly into the waters of the beautiful gulf of Guayaquil.  The
country was here studded along the shore with towns and villages,
though the mighty chain of the Cordilleras, sweeping up abruptly from
the coast, left but a narrow strip of emerald verdure, through which
numerous rivulets, spreading fertility around them, wound their way into
the sea.

The voyagers were now abreast of some of the most stupendous heights
of this magnificent range; Chimborazo, with its broad round summit,
towering like the dome of the Andes, and Cotopaxi, with its dazzling
cone of silvery white, that knows no change except from the action of its
own volcanic fires; for this mountain is the most terrible of the American
volcanoes, and was in formidable activity at no great distance from the
period of our narrative.  Well pleased with the signs of civilization that
opened on them at every league of their progress, the Spaniards, at
length, came to anchor, off the island of Santa Clara, lying at the
entrance of the bay of Tumbez.11

The place was uninhabited, but was recognized by the Indians on board,
as occasionally resorted to by the warlike people of the neighboring isle
of Puna, for purposes of sacrifice and worship.  The Spaniards found on
the spot a few bits of gold rudely wrought into various shapes, and
probably designed as offerings to the Indian deity.  Their hearts were
cheered, as the natives assured them they would see abundance of the
same precious metal in their own city of Tumbez.

The following morning they stood across the bay for this place.  As they
drew near, they beheld a town of considerable size, with many of the
buildings apparently of stone and plaster, situated in the bosom of a
fruitful meadow, which seemed to have been redeemed from the sterility
of the surrounding country by careful and minute irrigation.  When at
some distance from shore, Pizarro saw standing towards him several
large balsas, which were found to be filled with warriors going on an
expedition against the island of Puna.  Running alongside of the Indian
flotilla, he invited some of the chiefs to come on board of his vessel.
The Peruvians gazed with wonder on every object which met their eyes,
and especially on their own countrymen, whom they had little expected
to meet there.  The latter informed them in what manner they had fallen
into the hands of the strangers, whom they described as a wonderful race
of beings, that had come thither for no harm, but solely to be made
acquainted with the country and its inhabitants.  This account was
confirmed by the Spanish commander, who persuaded the Indians to
return in their balsas and report what they had learned to their townsmen,
requesting them at the same time to provide his vessel with refreshments,
as it was his desire to enter into a friendly intercourse with the natives.

The people of Tumbez were gathered along the shore, and were gazing
with unutterable amazement on the floating castle, which, now having
dropped anchor, rode lazily at its moorings in their bay.  They eagerly
listened to the accounts of their countrymen, and instantly reported the
affair to the curaca or ruler of the district, who, conceiving that the
strangers must be beings of a superior order, prepared at once to comply
with their request.  It was not long before several balsas were seen
steering for the vessel laden with bananas, plantains, yuca, Indian corn,
sweet potatoes, pine-apples, cocoa-nuts, and other rich products of the
bountiful vale of Tumbez.  Game and fish, also, were added, with a
number of llamas, of which Pizarro had seen the rude drawings
belonging to Balboa, but of which till now he had met with no living
specimen.  He examined this curious animal, the Peruvian sheep,--or, as
the Spaniards called it, the "little camel" of the Indians,--with much
interest, greatly admiring the mixture of wool and hair which supplied
the natives with the materials for their fabrics.

At that time there happened to be at Tumbez an Inca noble, or orejon, --
for so, as I have already noticed, men of his rank were called by the
Spaniards, from the huge ornaments of gold attached to their ears.  He
expressed great curiosity to see the wonderful strangers, and had,
accordingly, come out with the balsas for the purpose.  It was easy to
perceive from the superior quality of his dress, as well as from the
deference paid to him by the others, that he was a person of
consideration, and Pizarro received him with marked distinction.  He
showed him the different parts of the ship, explaining to him the uses of
whatever engaged his attention, and answering his numerous queries, as
well as he could, by means of the Indian interpreters.  The Peruvian chief
was especially desirous of knowing whence and why Pizarro and his
followers had come to these shores.  The Spanish captain replied, that he
was the vassal of a great prince, the greatest and most powerful in the
world, and that he had come to this country to assert his master's lawful
supremacy over it.  He had further come to rescue the inhabitants from
the darkness of unbelief in which they were now wandering.  They
worshipped an evil spirit, who would sink their souls into everlasting
perdition; and he would give them the knowledge of the true and only
God, Jesus Christ, since to believe in him was eternal salvation.12

The Indian prince listened with deep attention and apparent wonder; but
answered nothing.  It may be, that neither he nor his interpreters had any
very distinct ideas of the doctrines thus abruptly revealed to them.  It
may be that he did not believe there was any other potentate on earth
greater than the Inca; none, at least, who had a better right to rule over
his dominions.  And it is very possible he was not disposed to admit that
the great luminary whom he worshipped was inferior to the God of the
Spaniards.  But whatever may have passed in the untutored mind of the
barbarian, he did not give vent to it, but maintained a discreet silence,
without any attempt to controvert or to convince his Christian antagonist.

He remained on board the vessel till the hour of dinner, of which he
partook with the Spaniards, expressing his satisfaction at the strange
dishes, and especially pleased with the wine, which he pronounced far
superior to the fermented liquors of his own country.  On taking leave, he
courteously pressed the Spaniards to visit Tumbez, and Pizarro
dismissed him with the present, among other things, of an iron hatchet,
which had greatly excited his admiration; for the use of iron, as we have
seen, was as little known to the Peruvians as to the Mexicans.

On the day following, the Spanish captain sent one of his own men,
named Alonso de Molina, on shore, accompanied by a negro who had
come in the vessel from Panama, together with a present for the curaca
of some swine and poultry, neither of which were indigenous to the New
World.  Towards evening his emissary returned with a fresh supply of
fruits and vegetables, that the friendly people sent to the vessel.  Molina
had a wondrous tale to tell.  On landing, he was surrounded by the
natives, who expressed the greatest astonishment at his dress, his fair
complexion, and his long beard.  The women, especially, manifested
great curiosity in respect to him, and Molina seemed to be entirely won
by their charms and captivating manners.  He probably intimated his
satisfaction by his demeanor, since they urged him to stay among them,
promising in that case to provide him with a beautiful wife.

Their surprise was equally great at the complexion of his sable
companion.  They could not believe it was natural, and tried to rub off
the imaginary dye with their hands.  As the African bore all this with
characteristic good-humor, displaying at the same time his rows of ivory
teeth, they were prodigiously delighted.13  The animals were no less
above their comprehension; and, when the cock crew, the simple people
clapped their hands, and inquired what he was saying.  Their intellects
were so bewildered by sights so novel, that they seemed incapable of
distinguishing between man and brute.

Molina was then escorted to the residence of the curaca, whom he found
living in much state, with porters stationed at his doors, and with a
quantity of gold and silver vessels, from which he was served.  He was
then taken to different parts of the Indian city, saw a fortress built of
rough stone, and, though low, spreading over a large extent of ground.15
Near this was a temple; and the Spaniard's description of its decorations.
blazing with gold and silver, seemed so extravagant, that Pizarro,
distrusting his whole account, resolved to send a more discreet and
trustworthy emissary on the following day.16

The person selected was Pedro de Candia, the Greek cavalier mentioned
as one of the first who intimated his intention to share the fortunes of his
commander.  He was sent on shore, dressed in complete mail as became
a good knight, with his sword by his side, and his arquebuse on his
shoulder.  The Indians were even more dazzled by his appearance than
by Molina's, as the sun fell brightly on his polished armour, and glanced
from his military weapons.  They had heard much of the formidable
arquebuse from their townsmen who had come in the vessel, and they
besought Candia "to let it speak to them." He accordingly set up a
wooden board as a target, and, taking deliberate aim, fired off the
musket.  The flash of the powder and the startling report of the piece, as
the board, struck by the ball, was shivered into splinters, filled the
nativeswith dismay.  Some fell on the ground, covering their faces with
their hands, and others approached the cavalier with feelings of awe,
which were gradually dispelled by the assurance they received from the
smiling expression of his countenance.17

They then showed him the same hospitable attentions which they had
paid to Molina; and his description of the marvels of the place, on his
return, fell nothing short of his predecessor's.  The fortress, which was
surrounded by a triple row of wall, was strongly garrisoned.  The temple
he described as literally tapestried with plates of gold and silver.
Adjoining this structure was a sort of convent appropriated to the Inca's
destined brides, who manifested great curiosity to see him.  Whether this
was gratified is not clear; but Candia described the gardens of the
convent, which he entered, as glowing with imitations of fruits and
vegetables all in pure gold and silver!18  He had seen a number of
artisans at work, whose sole business seemed to be to furnish these
gorgeous decorations for the religious houses.

The reports of the cavalier may have been somewhat over-colored.19  It
was natural that men coming from the dreary wilderness, in which they
had been buried the last six months, should have been vividly impressed
by the tokens of civilization which met them on the Peruvian coast.  But
Tumbez was a favorite city of the Peruvian princes.  It was the most
important place on the northern borders of the empire, contiguous to the
recent acquisition of Quito.  The great Tupac Yupanqui had established a
strong fortress there, and peopled it with a colony of mitimaes.  The
temple, and the house occupied by the Virgins of the Sun, had been
erected by Huayna Capac, and were liberally endowed by that Inca, after
the sumptuous fashion of the religious establishments of Peru.  The town
was well supplied with water by numerous aqueducts, and the fruitful
valley in which it was embosomed, and the ocean which bathed its
shores, supplied ample means of subsistence to a considerable
population.  But the cupidity of the Spaniards, after the Conquest, was
not stow in despoiling the place of its glories; and the site of its proud
towers and temples, in less than half a century after that fatal period, was
to be traced only by the huge mass of ruins that encumbered the
ground.20

The Spaniards were nearly mad with joy, says an old writer, at receiving
these brilliant tidings of the Peruvian city.  All their fond dreams were
now to be realized, and they had at length reached the realm which had
so long flitted in visionary splendor before them.  Pizarro expressed his
gratitude to Heaven for having crowned his labors with so glorious a
result; but he bitterly lamented the hard fate which, by depriving him of
his followers, denied him, at such a moment, the means of availing
himself of his success.  Yet he had no cause for lamentation; and the
devout Catholic saw in this very circumstance a providential
interposition which prevented the attempt at conquest, while such
attempts would have been premature.  Peru was not yet torn asunder by
the dissensions of rival candidates for the throne; and, united and strong
under the sceptre of a warlike monarch, she might well have bid defiance
to all the forces that Pizarro could muster.  "It was manifestly the work
of Heaven," exclaims a devout son of the Church, "that the natives of the
country should have received him in so kind and loving a spirit, as best
fitted to facilitate the conquest; for it was the Lord's hand which led him
and his followers to this remote region for the extension of the holy faith,
and for the salvation of souls." 21

Having now collected all the information essential to his object, Pizarro,
after taking leave of the natives of Tumbez, and promising a speedy
return, weighed anchor, and again turned his prow towards the south.
Still keeping as near as possible to the coast, that no place of importance
might escape his observation, he passed Cape Blanco, and, after sailing
about a degree and a half, made the port of Payta.  The inhabitants, who
had notice of his approach, came out in their balsas to get sight of the
wonderful strangers, bringing with them stores of fruits, fish, and
vegetables, with the same hospitable spirit shown by their countrymen at
Tumbez.

After staying here a short time, and interchanging presents of trifling
value with the natives, Pizarro continued his cruise; and, sailing by the
sandy plains of Sechura for an extent of near a hundred miles, he
doubled the Punta de Aguja, and swept down the coast as it fell off
towards the east, still carried forward by light and somewhat variable
breezes.  The weather now became unfavorable, and the voyagers
encountered a succession of heavy gales, which drove them some
distance out to sea, and tossed them about for many days.  But they did
not lose sight of the mighty ranges of the Andes, which, as they
proceeded towards the south, were still seen, at nearly the same distance
from the shore, rolling onwards, peak after peak, with their stupendous
surges of ice, like some vast ocean, that had been suddenly arrested and
frozen up in the midst of its wild and tumultuous career.  With this
landmark always in view, the navigator had little need of star or compass
to guide his bark on her course.

As soon as the tempest had subsided, Pizarro stood in again for the
continent, touching at the principal points as he coasted along.
Everywhere he was received with the same spirit of generous hospitality;
the natives coming out in their balsas to welcome him, laden with their
little cargoes of fruits and vegetables, of all the luscious varieties that
grow in the tierra caliente.  All were eager to have a glimpse of the
strangers, the "Children of the Sun," as the Spaniards began already to be
called, from their fair complexions, brilliant armour, and the
thunderbolts which they bore in their hands.22  The most favorable
reports, too, had preceded them, of the urbanity and gentleness of their
manners, thus unlocking the hearts of the simple natives, and disposing
them to confidence and kindness.  The iron-hearted soldier had not yet
disclosed the darker side of his character.  He was too weak to do so.
The hour of Conquest had not yet come.

In every place Pizarro received the same accounts of a powerful monarch
who ruled over the land, and held his court on the mountain plains of the
interior, where his capital was depicted as blazing with gold and silver,
and displaying all the profusion of an Oriental satrap.  The Spaniards,
except at Tumbez, seem to have met with little of the precious metals
among the natives on the coast.  More than one writer asserts that they
did not covet them, or, at least, by Pizarro's orders, affected not to do so.
He would not have them betray their appetite for gold, and actually
refused gifts when they were proffered!23  It is more probable that they
saw little display of wealth, except in the embellishments of the temples
and other sacred buildings, which they did not dare to violate.  The
precious metals, reserved for the uses of religion and for persons of high
degree, were not likely to abound in the remote towns and hamlets on the
coast.

Yet the Spaniards met with sufficient evidence of general civilization
and power to convince them that there was much foundation for the
reports of the natives.  Repeatedly they saw structures of stone and
plaster, and occasionally showing architectural skill in the execution, if
not elegance of design.  Wherever they cast anchor, they beheld green
patches of cultivated country redeemed from the sterility of nature, and
blooming with the variegated vegetation of the tropics; while a refined
system of irrigation, by means of aqueducts and canals, seemed to be
spread like a net-work over the surface of the country, making even the
desert to blossom as the rose.  At many places where they landed they
saw the great road of the Incas which traversed the sea-coast, often,
indeed, lost in the volatile sands, where no road could be maintained, but
rising into a broad and substantial causeway, as it emerged on a firmer
soil.  Such a provision for internal communication was in itself no slight
monument of power and civilization.

Still beating to the south, Pizarro passed the site of the future flourishing
city of Truxillo, founded by himself some years later, and pressed on till
he rode off the port of Santa.  It stood on the banks of a broad and
beautiful stream; but the surrounding country was so exceedingly arid
that it was frequently selected as a burial-place by the Peruvians, who
found the soil most favorable for the preservation of their mummies.  So
numerous, indeed, were the Indian guacas, that the place might rather be
called the abode of the dead than of the living.24

Having reached this point, about the ninth degree of southern latitude,
Pizarro's followers besought him not to prosecute the voyage farther.
Enough and more than enough had been done, they said, to prove the
existence and actual position of the great Indian empire of which they
had so long been in search.  Yet, with their slender force, they had no
power to profit by the discovery.  All that remained, therefore, was to
return and report the success of their enterprise to the governor at
Panama.  Pizarro acquiesced in the reasonableness of this demand.  He
had now penetrated nine degrees farther than any former navigator in
these southern seas, and, instead of the blight which, up to this hour, had
seemed to hang over his fortunes, he could now return in triumph to his
countrymen.  Without hesitation, therefore, he prepared to retrace his
course, and stood again towards the north.

On his way, he touched at several places where he had before landed.  At
one of these, called by the Spaniards Santa Cruz, he had been invited on
shore by an Indian woman of rank, and had promised to visit her on his
return.  No sooner did his vessel cast anchor off the village where she
lived, than she came on board, followed by a numerous train of
attendants.  Pizarro received her with every mark of respect, and on her
departure presented her with some trinkets which had a real value in the
eyes of an Indian princess.  She urged the Spanish commander and his
companions to return the visit, engaging to send a number of hostages on
board, as security for their good treatment.  Pizarro assured her that the
frank confidence she had shown towards them proved that this was
unnecessary.  Yet, no sooner did he put off in his boat, the following day,
to go on shore, than several of the principal persons in the place came
alongside of the ship to be received as hostages during the absence of the
Spaniards,--a singular proof of consideration for the sensitive
apprehensions of her guests.

Pizarro found that preparations had been made for his reception in a style
of simple hospitality that evinced some degree of taste.  Arbours were
formed of luxuriant and wide-spreading branches, interwoven with
fragrant flowers and shrubs that diffused a delicious perfume through the
air.  A banquet was provided, teeming with viands prepared in the style
of the Peruvian cookery, and with fruits and vegetables of tempting hue
and luscious to the taste, though their names and nature were unknown to
the Spaniards.  After the collation was ended, the guests were entertained
with music and dancing by a troop of young men and maidens simply
attired, who exhibited in their favorite national amusement all the agility
and grace which the supple limbs of the Peruvian Indians so well
qualified them to display.  Before his departure, Pizarro stated to his
kind host the motives of his visit to the country, in the same manner as he
had done on other occasions, and he concluded by unfurling the royal
banner of Castile, which he had brought on shore, requesting her and her
attendants to raise it in token of their allegiance to his sovereign.  This
they did with great good-humor, laughing all the while, says the
chronicler, and making it clear that they had a very imperfect conception
of the serious nature of the ceremony.  Pizarro was contented with this
outward display of loyalty, and returned to his vessel well satisfied with
the entertainment he had received, and meditating, it may be, on the best
mode of repaying it, hereafter, by the subjugation and conversion of the
country.

The Spanish commander did not omit to touch also at Tumbez, on his
homeward voyage.  Here some of his followers, won by the comfortable
aspect of the place and the manners of the people, intimated a wish to
remain, conceiving, no doubt, that it would be better to live where they
would be persons of consequence than to return to an obscure condition
in the community of Panama.  One of these men was Alonso de Molina,
the same who had first gone on shore at this place, and been captivated
by the charms of the Indian beauties.  Pizarro complied with their
wishes, thinking it would not be amiss to find, on his return, some of his
own followers who would be instructed in the language and usages of the
natives.  He was also allowed to carry back in his vessel two or three
Peruvians, for the similar purpose of instructing them in the Castilian.
One of them, a youth named by the Spaniards Felipillo, plays a part of
some importance in the history of subsequent events.

On leaving Tumbez, the adventurers steered directly for Panama,
touching only, on their way, at the ill-fated island of Gorgona to take on
board their two companions who were left there too ill to proceed with
them.  One had died, and, receiving the other, Pizarro and his gallant
little band continued their voyage; and, after an absence of at least
eighteen months, found themselves once more safely riding at anchor in
the harbor of Panama.25

The sensation caused by their arrival was great, as might have been
expected.  For there were few, even among the most sanguine of their
friends, who did not imagine that they had long since paid for their
temerity, and fallen victims to the climate or the natives, or miserably
perished in a watery grave.  Their joy was proportionably great,
therefore, as they saw the wanderers now returned, not only in health and
safety, but with certain tidings of the fair countries which had so long
eluded their grasp.  It was a moment of proud satisfaction to the three
associates, who, in spite of obloquy, derision, and every impediment
which the distrust of friends or the coldness of government could throw
in their way, had persevered in their great enterprise until they had
established the truth of what had been so generally denounced as a
chimera.  It is the misfortune of those daring spirits who conceive an idea
too vast for their own generation to comprehend, or, at least, to attempt
to carry out, that they pass for visionary dreamers.  Such had been the
fate of Luque and his associates.  The existence of a rich Indian empire
at the south, which, in their minds, dwelling long on the same idea and
alive to all the arguments in its favor, had risen to the certainty of
conviction, had been derided by the rest of their countrymen as a mere
mirage of the fancy, which, on nearer approach, would melt into air;
while the projectors, who staked their fortunes on the adventure, were
denounced as madmen.  But their hour of triumph, their slow and
hardearned triumph, had now arrived.

Yet the governor, Pedro de los Rios, did not seem, even at this moment,
to be possessed with a conviction of the magnitude of the discovery,--or,
perhaps, he was discouraged by its very magnitude.  When the
associates, now with more confidence, applied to him for patronage in an
undertaking too vast for their individual resources, he coldly replied, "He
had no desire to build up other states at the expense of his own; nor
would he be led to throw away more lives than had already been
sacrificed by the cheap display of gold and silver toys and a few Indian
sheep!" 26

Sorely disheartened by this repulse from the only quarter whence
effectual aid could be expected, the confederates, without funds, and
with credit nearly exhausted by their past efforts, were perplexed in the
extreme.  Yet to stop now,--what was it but to abandon the rich mine
which their own industry and perseverance had laid open, for others to
work at pleasure?  In this extremity the fruitful mind of Luque suggested
the only expedient by which they could hope for success.  This was to
apply to the Crown itself.  No one was so much interested in the result of
the expedition.  It was for the government, indeed, that discoveries were
to be made, that the country was to be conquered.  The government alone
was competent to provide the requisite means, and was likely to take a
much broader and more liberal view of the matter than a petty colonial
officer.

But who was there qualified to take charge of this delicate mission?
Luque was chained by his professional duties to Panama; and his
associates, unlettered soldiers, were much better fitted for the business of
the camp than of the court.  Almagro, blunt, though somewhat swelling
and ostentatious in his address, with a diminutive stature and a
countenance naturally plain, now much disfigured by the loss of an eye,
was not so well qualified for the mission as his companion in arms, who,
possessing a good person and altogether a commanding presence, was
plausible, and, with all his defects of education, could, where deeply
interested, be even eloquent in discourse.  The ecclesiastic, however,
suggested that the negotiation should be committed to the Licentiate
Corral, a respectable functionary, then about to return on some public
business to the mother country.  But to this Almagro strongly objected.
No one, he said, could conduct the affair so well as the party interested
in it.  He had a high opinion of Pizarro's prudence, his discernment of
character, and his cool, deliberate policy.27  He knew enough of his
comrade to have confidence that his presence of mind would not desert
him, even in the new, and therefore embarrassing, circumstances in
which he would be placed at court.  No one, he said, could tell the story
of their adventures with such effect, as the man who had been the chief
actor in them.  No one could so well paint the unparalleled sufferings and
sacrifices which they had encountered; no other could tell so forcibly
what had been done, what yet remained to do, and what assistance would
be necessary to carry it into execution.  He concluded, with characteristic
frankness, by strongly urging his confederate to undertake the mission.

Pizarro felt the force of Almagro's reasoning, and, though with
undisguised reluctance, acquiesced in a measure which was less to his
taste than an expedition to the wilderness.  But Luque came into the
arrangement with more difficulty.  "God grant, my children," exclaimed
the ecclesiastic, "that one of you may not defraud the other of his
blessing!" 28  Pizarro engaged to consult the interests of his associates
equally with his own.  But Luque, it is clear, did not trust Pizarro.

There was some difficulty in raising the funds necessary for putting the
envoy in condition to make a suitable appearance at court; so low had the
credit of the confederates fallen, and so little confidence was yet placed
in the result of their splendid discoveries.  Fifteen hundred ducats were at
length raised; and Pizarro, in the spring of 1528, bade adieu to Panama,
accompanied by Pedro de Candia.29  He took with him, also, some of
the natives, as well as two or three llamas, various nice fabrics of cloth,
with many ornaments and vases of gold and silver, as specimens of the
civilization of the country, and vouchers for his wonderful story.

Of all the writers on ancient Peruvian history, no one has acquired so
wide celebrity, or been so largely referred to by later compilers, as the
Inca Garcilasso de la Vega.  He was born at Cuzco, in 1540; and was a
mestizo, that is of mixed descent, his father being European, and his
mother Indian.  His father, Garcilasso de la Vega, was one of that
illustrious family whose achievements, both in arms and letters, shed
such lustre over the proudest period of the Castilian annals.  He came to
Peru, in the suite of Pedro de Alvarado, soon after the country had been
gained by Pizarro.  Garcilasso attached himself to the fortunes of this
chief, and, after his death, to those of his brother Gonzalo,--remaining.
constant to the latter, through his rebellion, up to the hour of his rout at
Xaquixaguana, when Garcilasso took the same course with most of his
faction, and passed over to the enemy.  But this demonstration of loyalty,
though it saved his life, was too late to redeem his credit with the
victorious party; and the obloquy which he incurred by his share in the
rebellion threw a cloud over his subsequent fortunes, and even over
those of his son, as it appears, in after years.

The historian's mother was of the Peruvian blood royal.  She was niece
of Huayna Capac, and granddaughter of the renowned Tupac Inca
Yupanqui.  Garcilasso, while he betrays obvious satisfaction that the
blood of the civilized European flows in his veins shows himself not a
little proud of his descent from the royal dynasty of Peru; and this he
intimated by combining with his patronymic the distinguishing title of
the Peruvian princes,---subscribing himself always Garcilasso Inca de la
Vega.

His early years were passed in his native land, where he was reared in the
Roman Catholic faith, and received the benefit of as good an education
as could be obtained, amidst the incessant din of arms and civil
commotion.  In 1560, when twenty years of age, he left America, and
from that time took up his residence in Spain.  Here he entered the
military service, and held a captain's commission in the war against the
Moriscos, and, afterwards, under Don John of Austria.  Though he
acquitted himself honorably in his adventurous career, he does not seem
to have been satisfied with the manner in which his services were
requited by the government.  The old reproach of the father's disloyalty
still clung to the son and Garcilasso assures us that this circumstance
defeated all his efforts to recover the large inheritance of landed property
belonging to his mother, which had escheated to the Crown.  "Such were
the prejudices against me," says he, "that I could not urge my ancient
claims or expectations; and I left the army so poor and so much in debt,
that I did not care to show myself again at court; but was obliged to
withdraw into an obscure solitudes where I lead a tranquil life for the
brief space that remains to me, no longer deluded by the world or its
vanities."

The scene of this obscure retreat was not, however, as the reader might
imagine from this tone of philosophic resignation, in the depths of some
rural wilderness, but in Cordova, once the gay capital of Moslem
science, and still the busy haunt of men.  Here our philosopher occupied
himself with literary labors, the more sweet and soothing to his wounded
spirit, that they tended to illustrate the faded glories of his native land,
and exhibit them in their primitive splendor to the eyes of his adopted
countrymen.  "And I have no reason to regret," he says in his Preface to
his account of Florida, "that Fortune has not smiled on me, since this
circumstance has opened a literary career which, I trust, will secure to
me a wider and more enduring fame than could flow from any worldly
prosperity."

In 1609, he gave to the world the First Part of his great work, the
Commentarios Reales, devoted to the history of the country under the
Incas; and in 1616, a few months before his death, he finished the
Second Part, embracing the story of the Conquest, which was published
at Cordova the following year.  The chronicler, who thus closed his
labors with his life, died at the ripe old age of seventy-six.  He left a
considerabe sum for the purchase of masses for his soul, showing that the
complaints of his poverty are not to be taken literally.  His remains were
interred in the cathedral church of Cordova, in a chapel which bears the
name of Garcilasso; and an inscription was placed on his monument,
intimating the high respect in which the historian was held both for his
moral worth and his literary attainments.

The First Part of the Commentarios Reales is occupied, as already
noticed, with the ancient history of the country, presenting a complete
picture of its civilization under the Incas,--far more complete than has
been given by any other writer.  Garcilasso's mother was but ten years
old at the time of her cousin Atahuallpa's accession, or rather usurpation,
as it is called by the party of Cuzco.  She had the good fortune to escape
the massacre which, according to the chroniclers befell most of her
kindred, and with her brother continued to reside in their ancient capital
after the Conquest.  Their conversations naturally turned to the good old
times of the Inca rule, which, colored by their fond regrets, may be
presumed to have lost nothing as seen through the magnifying medium of
the past.  The young Garcilasso Listened greedily to the stories which
recounted the magnificence and prowess of his royal ancestors, and
though he made no use of them at the time, they sunk deep into his
memory, to be treasured up for a future occasion.  When he prepared,
after the lapse of many years, in his retirement at Cordova, to compose
the history of his country, he wrote to his old companions and
schoolfellows, of the Inca family, to obtain fuller information than he
could get in Spain on various matters of historical interest.  He had
witnessed in his youth the ancient ceremonies and usages of his
countrymen, understood the science of their quipus, and mastered many
of their primitive traditions.  With the assistance he now obtained from
his Peruvian kindred, he acquired a familiarity with the history of the
great Inca race, and of their national institutions, to an extent that no
person could have possessed, unless educated in the midst of them,
speaking the same language, and with the same Indian blood flowing in
his veins.  Garcilasso, in short, was the representative of the conquered
race; and we might expect to find the lights and shadows of the picture
disposed under his pencil so as to produce an effect very different from
that which they had hitherto exhibited under the hands of the
Conquerors.

Such, to a certain extent, is the fact; and this circumstance affords a
means of comparison which would alone render his works of great value
in arriving at just historic conclusions.  But Garcilasso wrote late in life,
after the story had been often told by Castilian writers.  He naturally
deferred much to men, some of whom enjoyed high credit on the score
both of their scholarship and their social position.  His object, he
professes, was not so much to add any thing new of his own, as to correct
their errors and the misconceptions into which they had been brought by
their ignorance of the Indian languages and the usages of his people.  He
does, in fact, however, go far beyond this; and the stores of information
which he has collected have made his work a large repository, whence
later laborers in the same field have drawn copious materials.  He writes
from the fulness of his heart, and illuminates every topic that he touches
with a variety and richness of illustration, that leave little to be desired
by the most importunate curiosity.  The difference between reading his
Commentaries and the accounts of European writers is the difference that
exists between reading a work in the original and in a bald translation.
Garcilasso's writings are an emanation from the Indian mind.

Yet his Commentaries are open to a grave objection,--and one naturally
suggested by his position.  Addressing himself to the cultivated
European, he was most desirous to display the ancient glories of his
people, and still more of the Inca race, in their most imposing form.
This, doubtless, was the great spur to his literary labors, for which
previous education, however good for the evil time on which he was
cast, had far from qualified him.  Garcilasso, therefore, wrote to effect a
particular object.  He stood forth as counsel for his unfortunate
countrymen, pleading the cause of that degraded race before the tribunal
of posterity.  The exaggerated tone of panegyric consequent on this
becomes apparent in every page of his work.  He pictures forth a state of
society such as an Utopian philosopher would hardly venture to depict.
His royal ancestors became the types of every imaginery excellence, and
the golden age is revived for a nation, which, while the war of
proselytism is raging on its borders, enjoys within all the blessings of
tranquillity and peace.  Even the material splendors of the monarchy,
sufficiently great in this land of gold, become heightened, under the
glowing imagination of the Inca chronicler, into the gorgeous illusions of
a fairy tale.

Yet there is truth at the bottom of his wildest conceptions, and it would
be unfair to the Indian historian to suppose that he did not himself
believe most of the magic marvels which he describes.  There is no
credulity like that of a Christian convert,---one newly converted to the
faith.  From long dwelling in the darkness of paganism, his eyes, when
first opened to the light of truth, have not acquired the power of
discriminating the just proportions of objects, of distinguishing between
the real and the imaginary.  Garcilasso was not a convert indeed, for he
was bred from infancy in the Roman Catholic faith.  But he was
surrounded by converts and neophytes,--by those of his own blood, who,
after practising all their lives the rites of paganism, were now first
admitted into the Christian fold.  He listened to the teachings of the
missionary, learned from him to give implicit credit to the marvellous
legends of the Saints, and the no less marvellous accounts of his own
victories in his spiritual warfare for the propagation of the faith.  Thus
early accustomed to such large drafts on his credulity, his reason lost its
heavenly power of distinguishing truth from error, and he became so
familiar with the miraculous, that the miraculous was no longer a
miracle.

Yet, while large deductions are to be made on this account from the
chronicler's reports, there is always a germ of truth which it is not
difficult to detect, and even to disengage from the fanciful covering
which envelopes it; and after every allowance for the exaggerations of
national vanity, we shall find an abundance of genuine information in
respect to the antiquities of his country, for which we shall look in vain
in any European writer.

Garcilasso's work is the reflection of the age in which he lived.  It is
addressed to the imagination, more than to sober reason.  We are dazzled
by the gorgeous spectacle it perpetually exhibits, and delighted by the
variety of amusing details and animated gossip sprinkled over its pages.
The story of the action is perpetually varied by discussions on topics
illustrating its progress, so as to break up the monotony of the narrative,
and afford an agreeable relief to the reader.  This is true of the First Part
of his great work.  In the Second there was no longer room for such
discussion.  But he has supplied the place by garrulous reminiscences,
personal anecdotes, incidental adventures, and a host of trivial details,--
trivial in the eyes of the pedant,--which historians have been too willing
to discard, as below the dignity of history.  We have the actors in this
great drama in their private dress, become acquainted with their personal
habits, listen to their familiar sayings, and, in short gather up those
minutiae which in the aggregate make up so much of life and not less of
character.

It is this confusion of the great and the little, thus artlessly blended
together, that constitutes one of the charms of the old romantic
chronicle,--not the less true that, in this respect, it approaches nearer to
the usual tone of romance.  It is in such writings that we may look to find
the form and pressure of the age.  The wormeaten state-papers, official
correspondence, public records, are all serviceable, indispensable, to
history.  They are the framework on which it is to repose; the skeleton of
facts which gives it its strength and proportions.  But they are as
worthless as the dry bones of the skeleton, unless clothed with the
beautiful form and garb of humanity, and instinct with the spirit of the
age.--Our debt is large to the antiquarian, who with conscientious
precision lays broad and deep the foundations of historic truth; and no
less to the philosophic annalist who exhibits man in the dress of public
life,--man in masquerade; but our gratitude must surely not be withheld
from those, who, like Garcilasso de la Vega, and many a romancer of the
Middle Ages, have held up the mirror--distorted though it may somewhat
be-to the interior of life, reflecting every object, the great and the mean
the beautiful and the deformed, with their natural prominence and their
vivacity of coloring, to the eye of the spectator.  As a work of art, such a
production may be thought to be below criticism.  But, although it defy
the rules of art in its composition, it does not necessarily violate the
principles of taste; for it conforms in its spirit to the spirit of the age in
which it was written.  And the critic, who coldly condemns it on the
severe principles of art, will find a charm in its very simplicity, that will
make him recur again and again to its pages, while more correct and
classical compositions are laid aside and forgotten.

I cannot dismiss this notice of Garcilasso, though already long
protracted, without some allusion to the English translation of his
Commentaries.  It appeared in James the Second's reign, and is the work
of Sir Paul Rycaut, Knight.  It was printed at London in 1688, in folio,
with considerable pretension in its outward dress, well garnished with
wood-cuts, and a frontispiece displaying the gaunt and rather sardonic
features, not of the author, but his translator.  The version keeps pace
with the march of the original, corresponding precisely in books and
chapters, and seldom, though sometimes, using the freedom, so common
in these ancient versions, of abridgment and omission.  Where it does
depart from the original, it is rather from ignorance than intention.
Indeed, as far as the plea of ignorance will avail him, the worthy knight
may urge it stoutly in his defence.  No one who reads the book will doubt
his limited acquaintance with his own tongue, and no one who compares
it with the original will deny his ignorance of the Castilian.  It contains as
many blunders as paragraphs, and most of them such as might shame a
schoolboy.  Yet such are the rude charms of the original, that this ruder
version of it has found considerable favor with readers; and Sir Paul
Rycaut's translation, old as it is, may still be met with in many a private,
as well as public library.



History of the Conquest of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

Book 3

Chapter 1

Pizarro's Reception At Court--His Capitulation With The Crown -
He Visits His Birthplace--Returns To The New World-
Difficulties With Almagro--His Third Expedition-
Adventures On The Coast--Battles In The Isle Of Puna

1528--1531

Pizarro and his officer, having crossed the Isthmus, embarked at Nombre
de Dios for the old country, and, after a good passage, reached Seville
early in the summer of 1528.  There happened to be at that time in port a
person well known in the history of Spanish adventure as the Bachelor
Enciso.  He had taken an active part in the colonization of Tierra Firme,
and had a pecuniary claim against the early colonists of Darien, of whom
Pizarro was one.  Immediately on the landing of the latter, he was seized
by Enciso's orders, and held in custody for the debt.  Pizarro, who had
fled from his native land as a forlorn and houseless adventurer, after an
absence of more than twenty years, passed, most of them, in
unprecedented toil and suffering, now found himself on his return the
inmate of a prison.  Such was the commencement of those brilliant
fortunes which, as he had trusted, awaited him at home.  The
circumstance excited general indignation; and no sooner was the Court
advised of his arrival in the country, and the great purpose of his
mission, than orders were sent for his release, with permission to proceed
at once on his journey.

Pizarro found the emperor at Toledo, which he was soon to quit, in order
to embark for Italy.  Spain was not the favorite residence of Charles the
Fifth, in the earlier part of his reign.  He was now at that period of it
when he was enjoying the full flush of his triumphs over his gallant rival
of France, whom he had defeated and taken prisoner at the great battle of
Pavia; and the victor was at this moment preparing to pass into Italy to
receive the imperial crown from the hands of the Roman Pontiff.  Elated
by his successes and his elevation to the German throne, Charles made
little account of his hereditary kingdom, as his ambition found so
splendid a career thrown open to it on the wide field of European
politics.

He had hitherto received too inconsiderable returns from his transatlantic
possessions to give them the attention they deserved.  But, as the recent
acquisition of Mexico and the brilliant anticipations in respect to the
southern continent were pressed upon his notice, he felt their importance
as likely to afford him the means of prosecuting his ambitious and most
expensive enterprises.

Pizarro, therefore, who had now come to satisfy the royal eyes, by visible
proofs, of the truth of the golden rumors which, from time to time, had
reached Castile, was graciously received by the emperor.  Charles
examined the various objects which his officer exhibited to him with
great attention.  He was particularly interested by the appearance of the
llama, so remarkable as the only beast of burden yet known on the new
continent; and the fine fabrics of woollen cloth, which were made from
its shaggy sides, gave it a much higher value, in the eyes of the sagacious
monarch, than what it possessed as an animal for domestic labor.  But
the specimens of gold and silver manufacture, and the wonderful tale
which Pizarro had to tell of the abundance of the precious metals, must
have satisfied even the cravings of royal cupidity.

Pizarro, far from being embarrassed by the novelty of his situation,
maintained his usual self-possession, and showed that decorum and even
dignity in his address which belong to the Castilian.  He spoke in a
simple and respectful style, but with the earnestness and natural
eloquence of one who had been an actor in the scenes he described, and
who was conscious that the impression he made on his audience was to
decide his future destiny.  All listened with eagerness to the account of
his strange adventures by sea and land, his wanderings in the forests, or
in the dismal and pestilent swamps on the sea-coast, without food, almost
without raiment, with feet torn and bleeding at every step, with his few
companions becoming still fewer by disease and death, and yet pressing
on with unconquerable spirit to extend the empire of Castile, and the
name and power of her sovereign; but when he painted his lonely
condition on the desolate island, abandoned by the government at home,
deserted by all but a handful of devoted followers, his royal auditor,
though not easily moved, was affected to tears.  On his departure from
Toledo, Charles commended the affairs of his vassal in the most
favorable terms to the consideration of the Council of the Indies.1

There was at this time another man at court, who had come there on a
similar errand from the New World, but whose splendid achievements
had already won for him a name that threw the rising reputation of
Pizarro comparatively into the shade.  This man was Hernando Cortes,
the Conqueror of Mexico.  He had come home to lay an empire at the
feet of his sovereign, and to demand in return the redress of his wrongs,
and the recompense of his great services.  He was at the close of his
career, as Pizarro was at the commencement of his; the Conqueror of the
North and of the South; the two men appointed by Providence to
overturn the most potent of the Indian dynasties, and to open the golden
gates by which the treasures of the New World were to pass into the
coffers of Spain.

Notwithstanding the emperor's recommendation, the business of Pizarro
went forward at the tardy pace with which affairs are usually conducted
in the court of Castile.  He found his limited means gradually sinking
under the expenses incurred by his present situation, and he represented,
that, unless some measures were speedily taken in reference to his suit,
however favorable they might be in the end, he should be in no condition
to profit by them.  The queen, accordingly, who had charge of the
business, on her husband's departure, expedited the affair, and on the
twenty sixth of July, 1529, she executed the memorable Capitulation,
which defined the powers and privileges of Pizarro.

The instrument secured to that chief the right of discovery and conquest
in the province of Peru, or New Castile,--as the country was then
called, in the same manner as Mexico had received the name of New
Spain,--for the distance of two hundred leagues south of Santiago.  He
was to receive the titles and rank of Governor and Captain-General of
the province, together with those of Adelantado, and Alguacil Mayor, for
life; and he was to have a salary of seven hundred and twenty-five
thousand maravedis, with the obligation of maintaining certain officers
and military retainers, corresponding with the dignity of his station.  He
was to have the right to erect certain fortresses, with the absolute
government of them; to assign encomiendas of Indians, under the
limitations prescribed by law; and, in fine, to exercise nearly all the
prerogatives incident to the authority of a viceroy.

His associate, Almagro, was declared commander of the fortress of
Tumbez, with an annual rent of three hundred thousand maravedis, and
with the further rank and privileges of an hidalgo.  The reverend Father
Luque received the reward of his services in the Bishopric of Tumbez,
and he was also declared Protector of the Indians of Peru.  He was to
enjoy the yearly stipend of a thousand ducats,--to be derived, like the
other salaries and gratuities in this instrument, from the revenues of the
conquered territory.

Nor were the subordinate actors in the expedition forgotten.  Ruiz
received the title of Grand Pilot of the Southern Ocean, with a liberal
provision; Candia was placed at the head of the artillery; and the
remaining eleven companions on the desolate island were created
hidalgos and cavalleros, and raised to certain municipal dignities,--in
prospect.

Several provisions of a liberal tenor were also made, to encourage
emigration to the country.  The new settlers were to be exempted from
some of the most onerous, but customary taxes, as the alcabala, or to be
subject to them only in a mitigated form.  The tax on the precious metals
drawn from mines was to be reduced, at first, to one tenth, instead of the
fifth imposed on the same metals when obtained by barter or by rapine.

It was expressly enjoined on Pizarro to observe the existing regulations
for the good government and protection of the natives; and he was
required to carry out with him a specified number of ecclesiastics, with
whom he was to take counsel in the conquest of the country, and whose
efforts were to be dedicated to the service and conversion of the Indians;
while lawyers and attorneys, on the other hand, whose presence was
considered as boding ill to the harmony of the new settlements, were
strictly prohibited from setting foot in them.

Pizarro, on his part, was bound, in six months from the date of the
instrument, to raise a force, well equipped for the service, of two
hundred and fifty men, of whom one hundred might be drawn from the
colonies; and the government engaged to furnish some trifling assistance
in the purchase of artillery and military stores.  Finally, he was to be
prepared, in six months after his return to Panama, to leave that port and
embark on his expedition.2

Such are some of the principal provisions of this Capitulation, by which
the Castilian government, with the sagacious policy which it usually
pursued on the like occasions, stimulated the ambitious hopes of the
adventurer by high-sounding titles, and liberal promises of reward
contingent on his success, but took care to stake nothing itself on the
issue of the enterprise.  It was careful to reap the fruits of his toil, but not
to pay the cost of them.

A circumstance, that could not fail to be remarked in these provisions,
was the manner in which the high and lucrative posts were accumulated
on Pizarro, to the exclusion of Almagro, who, if he had not taken as
conspicuous a part in personal toil and exposure, had, at least, divided
with him the original burden of the enterprise, and, by his labors in
another direction, had contributed quite as essentially to its success.
Almagro had willingly conceded the post of honor to his confederate; but
it had been stipulated, on Pizarro's departure for Spain, that, while he
solicited the office of Governor and Captain-General for himself, he
should secure that of Adelantado for his companion.  In like manner, he
had engaged to apply for the see of Tumbez for the vicar of Panama, and
the office of Alguacil Mayor for the pilot Ruiz.  The bishopric took the
direction that was concerted, for the soldier could scarcely claim the
mitre of the prelate; but the other offices, instead of their appropriate
distribution, were all concentred in himself.  Yet it was in reference to
his application for his friends, that Pizarro had promised on his departure
to deal fairly and honorably by them all.3

It is stated by the military chronicler, Pedro Pizarro, that his kinsman did,
in fact, urge the suit strongly in behalf of Almagro; but that he was
refused by the government, on the ground that offices of such paramount
importance could not be committed to different individuals.  The ill
effects of such an arrangement had been long since felt in more than one
of the Indian colonies, where it had led to rivalry and fatal collision.4
Pizarro, therefore, finding his remonstrances unheeded, had no
alternative but to combine the offices in his own person, or to see the
expedition fall to the ground.  This explanation of the affair has not
received the sanction of other contemporary historians.  The
apprehensions expressed by Luque, at the time of Pizarro's assuming the
mission, of some such result as actually occurred, founded, doubtless, on
a knowledge of his associate's character, may warrant us in distrusting
the alleged vindication of his conduct, and our distrust will not be
diminished by familiarity with his subsequent career.  Pizarro's virtue
was not of a kind to withstand temptation,--though of a much weaker sort
than that now thrown in his path.

The fortunate cavalier was also honored with the habit of St. Jago;5 and
he was authorized to make an important innovation in his family
escutcheon,--for by the father's side he might claim his armorial bearings.
The black eagle and the two pillars emblazoned on the royal arms were
incorporated with those of the Pizarros; and an Indian city, with a vessel
in the distance on the waters, and the llama of Peru, revealed the theatre
and the character of his exploits; while the legend announced, that
"under the auspices of Charles, and by the industry, the genius, and the
resources of Pizarro, the country had been discovered and reduced to
tranquillity,"---thus modestly intimating both the past and prospective
services of the Conqueror.6

These arrangements having been thus completed to Pizarro's satisfaction,
he left Toledo for Truxillo, his native place, in Estremadura, where he
thought he should be most likely to meet with adherents for his new
enterprise, and where it doubtless gratified his vanity to display himself
in the palmy, or at least promising, state of his present circumstances.  If
vanity be ever pardonable, it is certainly in a man who, born in an
obscure station in life, without family, interest, or friends to back him,
has carved out his own fortunes in the world, and, by his own resources,
triumphed over all the obstacles which nature and accident had thrown in
his way.  Such was the condition of Pizarro, as he now revisited the place
of his nativity, where he had hitherto been known only as a poor outcast,
without a home to shelter, a father to own him, or a friend to lean upon.
But he now found both friends and followers, and some who were eager
to claim kindred with him, and take part in his future fortunes.  Among
these were four brothers.  Three of them, like himself, were illegitimate;
one of whom, named Francisco Martin de Alcantara, was related to him
by the mother's side; the other two, named Gonzalo and Juan Pizarro,
were descended from the father.  "They were all poor, and proud as they
were poor," says Oviedo, who had seen them; "and their eagerness for
gain was in proportion to their poverty." 7

The remaining and eldest brother, named Hernando, was a legitimate
son,--'legitimate," continues the same caustic authority, "by his pride, as
well as by his birth." His features were plain, even disagreeably so; but
his figure was good.  He was large of stature, and, like his brother
Francis, had on the whole an imposing presence.8  In his character, he
combined some of the worst defects incident to the Castilian.  He was
jealous in the extreme; impatient not merely of affront, but of the least
slight, and implacable in his resentment.  He was decisive in his
measures, and unscrupulous in their execution.  No touch of pity had
power to arrest his arm.  His arrogance was such, that he was constantly
wounding the self-love of those with whom he acted; thus begetting an
ill-will which unnecessarily multiplied obstacles in his path.  In this he
differed from his brother Francis, whose plausible manners smoothed
away difficulties, and conciliated confidence and cooperation in his
enterprises.  Unfortunately, the evil counsels of Hernando exercised an
influence over his brother which more than compensated the advantages
derived from his singular capacity for business.

Notwithstanding the general interest which Pizarro's adventures excited
in his country, that chief did not find it easy to comply with the
provisions of the Capitulation in respect to the amount of his levies.
Those who were most astonished by his narrative were not always most
inclined to take part in his fortunes.  They shrunk from the unparalleled
hardships which lay in the path of the adventurer in that direction; and
they listened with visible distrust to the gorgeous pictures of the golden
temples and gardens of Tumbez, which they looked upon as indebted in
some degree, at least, to the coloring of his fancy, with the obvious
purpose of attracting followers to his banner.  It is even said that Pizarro
would have found it difficult to raise the necessary funds, but for the
seasonable aid of Cortes, a native of Estremadura like himself, his
companion in arms in early days, and, according to report, his kinsman.9
No one was in a better condition to hold out a helping hand to a brother
adventurer, and, probably, no one felt greater sympathy in Pizarro's
fortunes, or greater confidence in his eventual success, than the man who
had so lately trod the same career with renown.

The six months allowed by the Capitulation had elapsed, and Pizarro had
assembled somewhat less than his stipulated complement of men, with
which he was preparing to embark in a little squadron of three vessels at
Seville; but, before they were wholly ready, he received intelligence that
the officers of the Council of the Indies proposed to inquire into the
condition of the vessels, and ascertain how far the requisitions had been
complied with.

Without loss of time therefore, Pizarro afraid, if the facts were known,
that his enterprise might be nipped in the bud, slipped his cables, and
crossing the bar of San Lucar, in January, 1530, stood for the isle of
Gomera,--one of the Canaries,--where he ordered his brother Hernando,
who had charge of the remaining vessels, to meet him.

Scarcely had he gone, before the officers arrived to institute the search.
But when they objected the deficiency of men, they were easily--perhaps
willingly--deceived by the pretext that the remainder had gone forward in
the vessel with Pizarro.  At all events, no further obstacles were thrown
in Hernando's way, and he was permitted, with the rest of the squadron,
to join his brother, according to agreement, at Gomera.

After a prosperous voyage, the adventurers reached the northern coast of
the great southern continent, and anchored off the port of Santa Marta.
Here they received such discouraging reports of the countries to which
they were bound, of forests teeming with insects and venomous serpents,
of huge alligators that swarmed on the banks of the streams, and of
hardships and perils such as their own fears had never painted, that
several of Pizarro's men deserted; and their leader, thinking it no longer
safe to abide in such treacherous quarters, set sail at once for Nombre de
Dios.

Soon after his arrival there, he was met by his two associates, Luque and
Almagro, who had crossed the mountains for the purpose of hearing
from his own lips the precise import of the capitulation with the Crown.
Great, as might have been expected, was Almagro's discontent at
learning the result of what he regarded as the perfidious machinations of
his associate.  "Is it thus," he exclaimed, "that you have dealt with the
friend who shared equally with you in the trials, the dangers, and the cost
of the enterprise; and this, notwithstanding your solemn engagements on
your departure to provide for his interests as faithfully as your own?
How could you allow me to be thus dishonored in the eyes of the world
by so paltry a compensation, which seems to estimate my services as
nothing in comparison with your own?" 10

Pizarro, in reply, assured his companion that he had faithfully urged his
suit, but that the government refused to confide powers which intrenched
so closely on one another to different hands.  He had no alternative, but
to accept all himself or to decline all; and he endeavored to mitigate
Almagro's displeasure by representing that the country was large enough
for the ambition of both, and that the powers conferred on himself were,
in fact, conferred on Almagro, since all that he had would ever be at his
friend's disposal, as if it were his own.  But these honeyed words did not
satisfy the injured party; and the two captains soon after returned to
Panama with feelings of estrangement, if not hostility, towards one
another, which did not augur well for their enterprise.

Still, Almagro was of a generous temper, and might have been appeased
by the politic concessions of his rival, but for the interference of
Hernando Pizarro, who, from the first hour of their meeting, showed
little respect for the veteran, which, indeed, the diminutive person of the
latter was not calculated to inspire, and who now regarded him with
particular aversion as an impediment to the career of his brother.

Almagro's friends--and his frank and liberal manners had secured him
many--were no less disgusted than himself with the overbearing conduct
of this new ally.  They loudly complained that it was quite enough to
suffer from the perfidy of Pizarro, without being exposed to the insults of
his family, who had now come over with him to fatten on the spoils of
conquest which belonged to their leader.  The rupture soon proceeded to
such a length, that Almagro avowed his intention to prosecute the
expedition without further cooperation with his partner, and actually
entered into negotiations for the purchase of vessels for that object.  But
Luque, and the Licentiate Espinosa, who had fortunately come over at
that time from St. Domingo, now interposed to repair a breach which
must end in the ruin of the enterprise, and the probable destruction of
those most interested in its success.  By their mediation, a show of
reconciliation was at length effected between the parties, on Pizarro's
assurance that he would relinquish the dignity of Adelantado in favor of
his rival, and petition the emperor to confirm him in the possession of it;-
-an assurance, it may be remarked, not easy to reconcile with his former
assertion in respect to the avowed policy of the Crown in bestowing this
office.  He was, moreover, to apply for a distinct government for his
associate, so soon as he had become master of the country assigned to
himself; and was to solicit no office for either of his own brothers, until
Almagro had been first provided for.  Lastly, the former contract in
regard to the division of the spoil into three equal shares between the
three original associates was confirmed in the most explicit manner.  The
reconciliation thus effected among the parties answered the temporary
purpose of enabling them to go forward in concert in the expedition.  But
it was only a thin scar that had healed ever the wound, which, deep and
rankling within, waited only fresh cause of irritation to break out with a
virulence more fatal than ever.11

No time was now lost in preparing for the voyage.  It found little
encouragement, however, among the colonists of Panama, who were too
familiar with the sufferings on the former expeditions to care to
undertake another, even with the rich bribe that was held out to allure
them.  A few of the old company were content to follow out the
adventure to its close; and some additional stragglers were collected
from the province of Nicaragua,--a shoot, it may be remarked, from the
colony of Panama.  But Pizarro made slender additions to the force
brought over with him from Spain, though this body was in better
condition, and, in respect to arms, ammunition, and equipment generally,
was on a much better footing than his former levies.  The whole number
did not exceed one hundred and eighty men, with twenty-seven horses
for the cavalry.  He had provided himself with three vessels, two of them
of a good size, to take the place of those which he had been compelled to
leave on the opposite side of the isthmus at Nombre de Dios; an
armament small for the conquest of an empire, and far short of that
prescribed by the capitulation with the Crown.  With this the intrepid
chief proposed to commence operations, trusting to his own successes,
and the exertions of Almagro, who was to remain behind, for the present,
to muster reinforcements.12

On St. John the Evangelist's day, the banners of the company and the
royal standard were consecrated in the cathedral church of Panama; a
sermon was preached before the little army by Fray Juan de Vargas, one
of the Dominicans selected by the government for the Peruvian mission;
and mass was performed, and the sacrament administered to every
soldier previous to his engaging in the crusade against the infidel.13
Having thus solemnly invoked the blessing of Heaven on the enterprise,
Pizarro and his followers went on board their vessels, which rode at
anchor in the Bay of Panama, and early in January, 1531, sallied forth on
his third and last expedition for the conquest of Peru.

It was his intention to steer direct for Tumbez, which held out so
magnificent a show of treasure on his former voyage.  But head winds
and currents, as usual, baffled his purpose, and after a run of thirteen
days, much shorter than the period formerly required for the same
distance, his little squadron came to anchor in the Bay of St. Matthew,
about one degree north; and Pizarro, after consulting with his officers,
resolved to disembark his forces and advance along the coast, while the
vessels, held their course at a convenient distance from the shore.

The march of the troops was severe and painful in the extreme; for the
road was constantly intersected by streams, which, swollen by the winter
rains, widened at their mouths into spacious estuaries.  Pizarro, who had
some previous knowledge of the country, acted as guide as well as
commander of the expedition.  He was ever ready to give aid where it
was needed, encouraging his followers to ford or swim the torrents as
they best could, and cheering the desponding by his own buoyant and
courageous spirit.

At length they reached a thick-settled hamlet, or rather town, in the
province of Coaque.  The Spaniards rushed on the place, and the
inhabitants, without offering resistance, fled in terror to the neighboring
forests, leaving their effects--of much greater value than had been
anticipated--in the hands of the invaders.  "We fell on them, sword in
hand," says one of the Conquerors, with some naivete; "for, if we had
advised the Indians of our approach, we should never have found there
such store of gold and precious stones."   The natives, however,
according to another authority, stayed voluntarily; "for, as they had done
no harm to the white men, they flattered themselves none would be
offered to them, but that there would be only an interchange of good
offices with the strangers," 15---an expectation founded, it may be, on
the good character which the Spaniards had established for themselves
on their preceding visit, but in which the simple people now found
themselves most unpleasantly deceived.

Rushing into the deserted dwellings, the invaders found there, besides
stuffs of various kinds, and food most welcome in their famished
condition, a large quantity of gold and silver wrought into clumsy
ornaments, together with many precious stones; for this was the region of
the esmeraldas, or emeralds, where that valuable gem was most
abundant.  One of these jewels that fell into the hands of Pizarro, in this
neighborhood, was as large as a pigeon's egg.  Unluckily, his rude
followers did not know the value of their prize; and they broke many of
them in pieces by pounding them with hammers.16  They were led to this
extraordinary proceeding, it is said, by one of the Dominican
missionaries, Fray Reginaldo de Pedraza, who assured them that this was
the way to prove the true emerald, which could not be broken.  It was
observed that the good father did not subject his own jewels to this wise
experiment; but, as the stones, in consequence of it, fell in value, being
regarded merely as colored glass, he carried back a considerable store of
them to Panama.17

The gold and silver ornaments rifled from the dwellings were brought
together and deposited in a common heap; when a fifth was deducted for
the Crown, and Pizarro distributed the remainder in due proportions
among the officers and privates of his company.  This was the usage
invariably observed on the like occasions throughout the Conquest.  The
invaders had embarked in a common adventure.  Their interest was
common, and to have allowed every one to plunder on his own account
would only have led to insubordination and perpetual broils.  All were
required, therefore, on pain of death, to contribute whatever they
obtained, whether by bargain or by rapine, to the general stock; and all
were too much interested in the execution of the penalty to allow the
unhappy culprit, who violated the law, any chance of escape.18

Pizarro, with his usual policy, sent back to Panama a large quantity of
the gold, no less than twenty thousand castellanos in value, in the belief
that the sight of so much treasure, thus speedily acquired, would settle
the doubt of the wavering, and decide them on joining his banner.19  He
judged right.  As one of the Conquerors piously expresses it, "It pleased
the Lord that we should fall in with the town of Coaque, that the riches of
the land might find credit with the people, and that they should flock to
it." 20

Pizarro, having refreshed his men, continued his march along the coast,
but no longer accompanied by the vessels, which had returned for
recruits to Panama.  The road, as he advanced, was checkered with strips
of sandy waste, which, drifted about by the winds, blinded the soldiers,
and afforded only treacherous footing for man and beast.  The glare was
intense; and the rays of a vertical sun beat fiercely on the iron mail and
the thick quilted doublets of cotton, till the fainting troops were almost
suffocated with the heat.  To add to their distresses, a strange epidemic
broke out in the little army.  It took the form of ulcers, or rather hideous
warts of great size, which covered the body, and when lanced, as was the
case with some, discharged such a quantity of blood as proved fatal to
the sufferer.  Several died of this frightful disorder, which was so sudden
in its attack, and attended with such prostration of strength, that those
who lay down well at night were unable to lift their hands to their heads
in the morning.21  The epidemic, which made its first appearance during
this invasion, and which did not long survive it, spread over the country,
sparing neither native nor white man.22  It was one of those plagues
from the vial of wrath, which the destroying angel, who follows in the
path of the conqueror, pours out on the devoted nations.

The Spaniards rarely experienced on their march either resistance or
annoyance from the inhabitants, who, instructed by the example of
Coaque, fled with their effects into the woods and neighboring
mountains.  No one came out to welcome the strangers and offer the rites
of hospitality, as on their last visit to the land.  For the white men were
no longer regarded as good beings that had come from heaven, but as
ruthless destroyers, who, invulnerable to the assaults of the Indians, were
borne along on the backs of fierce animals, swifter than the wind, with
weapons in their hands, that scattered fire and desolation as they went.
Such were the stories now circulated of the invaders, which, preceding
them everywhere on their march, closed the hearts, if not the doors, of
the natives against them.  Exhausted by the fatigue of travel and by
disease, and grievously disappointed at the poverty of the land, which
now offered no compensation for their toils, the soldiers of Pizarro
cursed the hour in which they had enlisted under his standard, and the
men of Nicaragua, in particular, says the old chronicler, calling to mind
their pleasant quarters in their luxurious land, sighed only to return to
their Mahometan paradise.23

At this juncture the army was gladdened by the sight of a vessel from
Panama, which brought some supplies, together with the royal treasurer,
the veedor or inspector, the comptroller, and other high officers
appointed by the Crown to attend the expedition.  They had been left in
Spain by Pizarro, in consequence of his abrupt departure from the
country; and the Council of the Indies, on learning the circumstance, had
sent instructions to Panama to prevent the sailing of his squadron from
that port.  But the Spanish government, with more wisdom,
countermanded the order, only requiring the functionaries to quicken
their own departure, and take their place without loss of time in the
expedition.

The Spaniards in their march along the coast had now advanced as far as
Puerto Viejo.  Here they were soon after joined by another small
reinforcement of about thirty men, under an officer named Belalcazar,
who subsequently rose to high distinction in this service.  Many of the
followers of Pizarro would now have halted at this spot and established a
colony there.  But that chief thought more of conquering than of
colonizing, at least for the present; and he proposed, as his first step, to
get possession of Tumbez, which he regarded as the gate of the Peruvian
empire.  Continuing his march, therefore, to the shores of what is now
called the Gulf of Guayaquil, he arrived off the little island of Puna,
lying at no great distance from the Bay of Tumbez.  This island, he
thought, would afford him a convenient place to encamp until he was
prepared to make his descent on the Indian city.

The dispositions of the islanders seemed to favor his purpose.  He had
not been long in their neighborhood, before a deputation of the natives,
with their cacique at their head, crossed over in their balsas to the main
land to welcome the Spaniards to their residence.  But the Indian
interpreters of Tumbez, who had returned with Pizarro from Spain, and
continued with the camp, put their master on his guard against the
meditated treachery of the islanders, whom they accused of designing to
destroy the Spaniards by cutting the ropes that held together the floats,
and leaving those upon them to perish in the waters.  Yet the cacique,
when charged by Pizarro with this perfidious scheme, denied it with such
an air of conscious innocence, that the Spanish commander trusted
himself and his followers, without further hesitation, to his conveyance,
and was transported in safety to the shores of Puna.

Here he was received in a hospitable manner, and his troops were
provided with comfortable quarters.  Well satisfied with his present
position, Pizarro resolved to occupy it until the violence of the rainy
season was passed, when the arrival of the reinforcements he expected
would put him in better condition for marching into the country of the
Inca.

The island, which lies in the mouth of the river of Guayaquil, and is
about eight leagues in length by four in breadth, at the widest part, was at
that time partially covered with a noble growth of timber.  But a large
portion of it was subjected to cultivation, and bloomed with plantations
of cacao, of the sweet potato, and the different products of a tropical
climes evincing agricultural knowledge as well as industry in the
population.  They were a warlike race; but had received from their
Peruvian foes the appellation of "perfidious." It was the brand fastened
by the Roman historians on their Carthaginian enemies,--with perhaps no
better reason.  The bold and independent islanders opposed a stubborn
resistance to the arms of the Incas; and, though they had finally yielded,
they had been ever since at feud, and often in deadly hostility, with their
neighbors of Tumbez.

The latter no sooner heard of Pizarro's arrival on the island than, trusting,
probably, to their former friendly relations with him, they came over in
some number to the Spanish quarters.  The presence of their detested
rivals was by no means grateful to the jealous inhabitants of Puna, and
the prolonged residence of the white men on their island could not be
otherwise than burdensome.  In their outward demeanor they still
maintained the same show of amity; but Pizarro's interpreters again put
him on his guard against the proverbial perfidy of their hosts.  With his
suspicions thus roused, the Spanish commander was informed that a
number of the chiefs had met together to deliberate on a plan of
insurrection.  Not caring to wait for the springing of the mine, he
surrounded the place of meeting with his soldiers and made prisoners of
the suspected chieftains.  According to one authority, they confessed
their guilt.24  This is by no means certain.  Nor is it certain that they
meditated an insurrection.  Yet the fact is not improbable, in itself;
though it derives little additional probability from the assertion of the
hostile interpreters.  It is certain, however, that Pizarro was satisfied of
the existence of a conspiracy; and, without further hesitation, he
abandoned his wretched prisoners, ten or twelve in number, to the tender
mercies of their rivals of Tumbez, who instantly massacred them before
his eyes.25

Maddened by this outrage, the people of Puna sprang to arms, and threw
themselves at once, with fearful yells and the wildest menaces of despair,
on the Spanish camp.  The odds of numbers were greatly in their favor,
for they mustered several thousand warriors.  But the more decisive odds
of arms and discipline were on the side of their antagonists; and, as the
Indians rushed forward in a confused mass to the assault, the Castilians
coolly received them on their long pikes, or swept them down by the
volleys of their musketry.  Their ill-protected bodies were easily cut to
pieces by the sharp sword of the Spaniard; and Hernando Pizarro, putting
himself at the head of the cavalry, charged boldly into the midst, and
scattered them far and wide over the field, until, panic-struck by the
terrible array of steel-clad horsemen, and the stunning reports and the
flash of fire-arms, the fugitives sought shelter in the depths of their
forests.  Yet the victory was owing, in some degree, at least,--if we may
credit the Conquerors,--to the interposition of Heaven; for St. Michael
and his legions were seen high in the air above the combatants,
contending with the arch-enemy of man, and cheering on the Christians
by their example! 26

Not more than three or four Spaniards fell in the fight; but many were
wounded, and among them Hernando Pizarro, who received a severe
injury in the leg from a javelin.  Nor did the war end here; for the
implacable islanders, taking advantage of the cover of night, or of any
remissness on the part of the invaders, were ever ready to steal out of
their fastnesses and spring on their enemy's camp, while, by cutting off
his straggling parties, and destroying his provisions, they kept him in
perpetual alarm.

In this uncomfortable situation, the Spanish commander was gladdened
by the appearance of two vessels off the island.  They brought a
reinforcement consisting of a hundred volunteers besides horses for the
cavalry.  It was commanded by Hernando de Soto, a captain afterwards
famous as the discoverer of the Mississippi, which still rolls its majestic
current over the place of his burial,--a fitting monument for his remains,
as it is of his renown.27

The reinforcement was most welcome to Pizarro, who had been long
discontented with his position on an island, where he found nothing to
compensate the life of unintermitting hostility which he was compelled to
lead.  With these recruits, he felt himself in sufficient strength to cross
over to the continent, and resume military operations in the proper
theatre for discovery and conquest.  From the Indians of Tumbez he
learned that the country had been for some time distracted by a civil war
between two sons of the late monarch, competitors for the throne.  This
intelligence he regarded as of the utmost importance, for he remembered
the use which Cortes had made of similar dissensions among the tribes of
Anahuac.  Indeed, Pizarro seems to have had the example of his great
predecessor before his eyes on more occasions than this.  But he fell far
short of his model; for, notwithstanding the restraint he sometimes put
upon himself, his coarser nature and more ferocious temper often
betrayed him into acts most repugnant to sound policy, which would
never have been countenanced by the Conqueror of Mexico.



Book 3

Chapter 2

Peru At The Time Of The Conquest--Reign Of Huayna Capac-
The Inca Brothers--Conquest For The Empire-
Triumph And Cruelties Of Atahuallpa

Before accompanying the march of Pizarro and his followers into the
country of the Incas, it is necessary to make the reader acquainted with
the critical situation of the kingdom at that time.  For the Spaniards
arrived just at the consummation of an important revolution,--at a crisis
most favorable to their views of conquest, and but for which, indeed, the
conquest, with such a handful of soldiers, could never have been
achieved.

In the latter part of the fifteenth century died Tupac Inca Yupanqui, one
of the most renowned of the "Children of the Sun," who, carrying the
Peruvian arms across the burning sands of Atacama, penetrated to the
remote borders of Chili, while in the opposite direction he enlarged the
limits of the empire by the acquisition of the southern provinces of
Quito.  The war in this quarter was conducted by his son Huayna Capac,
who succeeded his father on the throne, and fully equalled him in
military daring and in capacity for government.

Under this prince, the whole of the powerful state of Quito, which
rivalled that of Peru itself in wealth and refinement, was brought under
the sceptre of the Incas; whose empire received, by this conquest, the
most important accession yet made to it since the foundation of the
dynasty of Manco Capac.  The remaining days of the victorious monarch
were passed in reducing the independent tribes on the remote limits of
his territory, and, still more, in cementing his conquests by the
introduction of the Peruvian polity.  He was actively engaged in
completing the great works of his father, especially the high-roads which
led from Quito to the capital.  He perfected the establishment of posts,
took great pains to introduce the Quichua dialect throughout the empire,
promoted a better system of agriculture, and, in fine, encouraged the
different branches of domestic industry and the various enlightened plans
of his predecessors for the improvement of his people.  Under his sway,
the Peruvian monarchy reached its most palmy state; and under both him
and his illustrious father it was advancing with such rapid strides in the
march of civilization as would soon have carried it to a level with the
more refined despotisms of Asia, furnishing the world, perhaps, with
higher evidence of the capabilities of the American Indian than is
elsewhere to be found on the great western continent.--But other and
gloomier destinies were in reserve for the Indian races.

The first arrival of the white men on the South American shores of the
Pacific was about ten years before the death of Huayna Capac, when
Balboa crossed the Gulf of St. Michael, and obtained the first clear
report of the empire of the Incas.  Whether tidings of these adventurers
reached the Indian monarch's ears is doubtful.  There is no doubt,
however, that he obtained the news of the first expedition under Pizarro
and Almagro, when the latter commander penetrated as far as the Rio de
San Juan, about the fourth degree north.  The accounts which he received
made a strong impression on the mind of Huayna Capac.  He discerned
in the formidable prowess and weapons of the invaders proofs of a
civilization far superior to that of his own people.  He intimated his
apprehension that they would return, and that at some day, not far
distant, perhaps, the throne of the Incas might be shaken by these
strangers, endowed with such incomprehensible powers.1  To the vulgar
eye, it was a little speck on the verge of the horizon; but that of the
sagacious monarch seemed to descry in it the dark thunder-cloud, that
was to spread wider and wider till it burst in fury on his nation!

There is some ground for believing thus much.  But other accounts,
which have obtained a popular currency, not content with this, connect
the first tidings of the white men with predictions long extant in the
country, and with supernatural appearances, which filled the hearts of the
whole nation with dismay.  Comets were seen flaming athwart the
heavens.  Earthquakes shook the land; the moon was girdled with rings
of fire of many colors; a thunderbolt fell on one of the royal palaces and
consumed it to ashes; and an eagle, chased by several hawks, was seen,
screaming in the air, to hover above the great square of Cuzco, when,
pierced by the talons of his tormentors, the king of birds fell lifeless in
the presence of many of the Inca nobles, who read in this an augury of
their own destruction!  Huayna Capac himself, calling his great officers
around him, as he found he was drawing near his end, announced the
subversion of his empire by the race of white and bearded strangers, as
the consummation predicted by the oracles after the reign of the twelfth
Inca, and he enjoined it on his vassals not to resist the decrees of
Heaven, but to yield obedience to its messengers.2

Such is the report of the impressions made by the appearance of the
Spaniards in the country, reminding one of the similar feelings of
superstitious terror occasioned by their appearance in Mexico.  But the
traditions of the latter land rest on much higher authority than those of
the Peruvians, which, unsupported by contemporary testimony, rest
almost wholly on the naked assertion of one of their own nation, who
thought to find, doubtless, in the inevitable decrees of Heaven, the best
apology for the supineness of his countrymen.

It is not improbable that rumors of the advent of a strange and
mysterious race should have spread gradually among the Indian tribes
along the great table-land of the Cordilleras, and should have shaken the
hearts of the stoutest warriors with feelings of undefined dread, as of
some impending calamity.  In this state of mind, it was natural that
physical convulsions, to which that volcanic country is peculiarly
subject, should have made an unwonted impression on their minds; and
that the phenomena, which might have been regarded only as
extraordinary, in the usual seasons of political security, should now be
interpreted by the superstitious soothsayer as the handwriting on the
heavens, by which the God of the Incas proclaimed the approaching
downfall of their empire.

Huayna Capac had, as usual with the Peruvian princes, a multitude of
concubines, by whom he left a numerous posterity.  The heir to the
crown, the son of his lawful wife and sister, was named Huascar.3  At the
period of the history at which we are now arrived, he was about thirty
years of age.  Next to the heir-apparent, by another wife, a cousin of the
monarch's, came Manco Capac, a young prince who will occupy an
important place in our subsequent story.  But the best-beloved of the
Inca's children was Atahuallpa.  His mother was the daughter of the last
Scyri of Quito, who had died of grief, it was said, not long after the
subversion of his kingdom by Huayna Capac.  The princess was
beautiful, and the Inca, whether to gratify his passion, or, as the
Peruvians say, willing to make amends for the ruin of her parents,
received her among his concubines.  The historians of Quito assert that
she was his lawful wife; but this dignity, according to the usages of the
empire, was reserved for maidens of the Inca blood.

The latter years of Huayna Capac were passed in his new kingdom of
Quito.  Atahuallpa was accordingly brought up under his own eye,
accompanied him, while in his tender years, in his campaigns, slept in
the same tent with his royal father, and ate from the same plate.4  The
vivacity of the boy, his courage and generous nature, won the affections
of the old monarch to such a degree, that he resolved to depart from the
established usages of the realm, and divide his empire between him and
his elder brother Huascar.  On his death-bed, he called the great officers
of the crown around him, and declared it to be his will that the ancient
kingdom of Quito should pass to Atahuallpa, who might be considered as
having a natural claim on it, as the dominion of his ancestors.  The rest
of the empire he settled on Huascar; and he enjoined it on the two
brothers to acquiesce in this arrangement, and to live in amity with each
other.  This was the last act of the heroic monarch; doubtless, the most
impolitic of his whole life.  With his dying breath he subverted the
fundamental laws of the empire; and, while he recommended harmony
between the successors to his authority, he left in this very division of it
the seeds of inevitable discord.5

His death took place, as seems probable, at the close of 1525, not quite
seven years before Pizarro's arrival at Puna.6  The tidings of his decease
spread sorrow and consternation throughout the land; for, though stern
and even inexorable to the rebel and the long-resisting foe, he was a
brave and magnanimous monarch, and legislated with the enlarged views
of a prince who regarded every part of his dominions as equally his
concern.  The people of Quito, flattered by the proofs which he had
given of preference for them by his permanent residence in that country,
and his embellishment of their capital, manifested unfeigned sorrow at
his loss; and his subjects at Cuzco, proud of the glory which his arms and
his abilities had secured for his native land, held him in no less
admiration;7 while the more thoughtful and the more timid, in both
countries, looked with apprehension to the future, when the sceptre of
the vast empire, instead of being swayed by an old and experienced
hand, was to be consigned to rival princes, naturally jealous of one
another, and, from their age, necessarily exposed to the unwholesome
influence of crafty and ambitious counsellors.  The people testified their
regret by the unwonted honors paid to the memory of the deceased Inca.
His heart was retained in Quito, and his body, embalmed after the
fashion of the country, was transported to Cuzco, to take its place in the
great temple of the Sun, by the side of the remains of his royal ancestors.
His obsequies were celebrated with sanguinary splendor in both the
capitals of his far-extended empire; and several thousand of the imperial
concubines, with numerous pages and officers of the palace, are said to
have proved their sorrow, or their superstition, by offering up their own
lives, that they might accompany their departed lord to the bright
mansions of the Sun.8

For nearly five years after the death of Huayna Capac, the royal brothers
reigned, each over his allotted portion of the empire, without distrust of
one another, or, at least, without collision.  It seemed as if the wish of
their father was to be completely realized, and that the two states were to
maintain their respective integrity and independence as much as if they
had never been united into one.  But, with the manifold causes for
jealousy and discontent, and the swarms of courtly sycophants, who
would find their account in fomenting these feelings, it was easy to see
that this tranquil state of things could not long endure.  Nor would it
have endured so long, but for the more gentle temper of Huascar, the
only party who had ground for complaint.  He was four or five years
older than his brother, and was possessed of courage not to be doubted;
but he was a prince of a generous and easy nature, and perhaps, if left to
himself, might have acquiesced in an arrangement which, however
unpalatable, was the will of his deified father.  But Atahuallpa was of a
different temper.  Warlike, ambitious, and daring, he was constantly
engaged in enterprises for the enlargement of his own territory, though
his crafty policy was scrupulous not to aim at extending his acquisitions
in the direction of his royal brother.  His restless spirit, however, excited
some alarm at the court of Cuzco, and Huascar, at length, sent an envoy
to Atahuallpa, to remonstrate with him on his ambitious enterprises, and
to require him to render him homage for his kingdom of Quito.

This is one statement.  Other accounts pretend that the immediate cause
of rupture was a claim instituted by Huascar for the territory of
Tumebamba, held by his brother as part of his patrimonial inheritance.  It
matters little what was the ostensible ground of collision between
persons placed by circumstances in so false a position in regard to one
another, that collision must, at some time or other, inevitably occur.

The commencement, and, indeed, the whole course, of hostilities which
soon broke out between the rival brothers are stated with irreconcilable,
and, considering the period was so near to that of the Spanish invasion,
with unaccountable discrepancy.  By some it is said, that, in Atahuallpa's
first encounter with the troops of Cuzco, he was defeated and made
prisoner near Tumebamba, a favorite residence of his father in the
ancient territory of Quito, and in the district of Canaris.  From this
disaster he recovered by a fortunate escape from confinement, when,
regaining his capital, he soon found himself at the head of a numerous
army, led by the most able and experienced captains in the empire.  The
liberal manners of the young Atahuallpa had endeared him to the
soldiers, with whom, as we have seen, he served more than one campaign
in his father's lifetime.  These troops were the flower of the great army of
the Inca, and some of them had grown gray in his long military career,
which had left them at the north, where they readily transferred their
allegiance to the young sovereign of Quito.  They were commanded by
two officers of great consideration, both possessed of large experience in
military affairs, and high in the confidence of the late Inca.  One of them
was named Quizquiz; the other, who was the maternal uncle of
Atahuallpa, was called Chalicuchima.

With these practised warriors to guide him, the young monarch put
himself at the head of his martial array, and directed his march towards
the south.  He had not advanced farther than Ambato, about sixty miles
distant from his capital, when he fell in with a numerous host, which had
been sent against him by his brother, under the command of a
distinguished chieftain, of the Inca family.  A bloody battle followed,
which lasted the greater part of the day; and the theatre of combat was
the skirts of the mighty Chimborazo.9

The battle ended favorably for Atahuallpa, and the Peruvians were
routed with great slaughter, and the loss of their commander.  The prince
of Quito availed himself of his advantage to push forward his march until
he arrived before the gates of Tumebamba, which city, as well as the
whole district of Canaris, though an ancient dependency of Quito, had
sided with his rival in the contest.  Entering the captive city like a
conqueror, he put the inhabitants to the sword, and razed it with all its
stately edifices, some of which had been reared by his own father, to the
ground.  He carried on the same war of extermination, as he marched
through the offending district of Canaris.  In some places, it is said, the
women and children came out, with green branches in their hands, in
melancholy procession, to deprecate his wrath; but the vindictive
conqueror, deaf to their entreaties, laid the country waste with fire and
sword, sparing no man capable of bearing arms who fell into his
hands.10

The fate of Canaris struck terror into the hearts of his enemies, and one
place after another opened its gates to the victor, who held on his
triumphant march towards the Peruvian capital.  His arms experienced a
temporary check before the island of Puna, whose bold warriors
maintained the cause of his brother.  After some days lost before this
place, Atahuallpa left the contest to their old enemies, the people of
Tumbez, who had early given in their adhesion to him, while he resumed
his march and advanced as far as Caxamalca, about seven degrees south.
Here he halted with a detachment of the army, sending forward the main
body under the command of his two generals, with orders to move
straight upon Cuzco.  He preferred not to trust himself farther in the
enemy's country, where a defeat might be fatal.  By establishing his
quarters at Caxamalca, he would be able to support his generals, in case
of a reverse, or, at worst, to secure his retreat on Quito, until he was
again in condition to renew hostilities.

The two commanders, advancing by rapid marches, at length crossed the
Apurimac river, and arrived within a short distance of the Peruvian
capital.--Meanwhile, Huascar had not been idle.  On receiving tidings of
the discomfiture of his army at Ambato, he made every exertion to raise
levies throughout the country.  By the advice, it is said, of his priests--the
most incompetent advisers in times of danger--he chose to await the
approach of the enemy in his own capital; and it was not till the latter had
arrived within a few leagues of Cuzco, that the Inca, taking counsel of
the same ghostly monitors, sallied forth to give him battle.

The two armies met on the plains of Quipaypan, in the neighborhood of
the Indian metropolis.  Their numbers are stated with the usual
discrepancy; but Atahuallpa's troops had considerably the advantage in
discipline and experience, for many of Huascar's levies had been drawn
hastily together from the surrounding country.  Both fought, however,
with the desperation of men who felt that every thing was at stake.  It was
no longer a contest for a province, but for the possession of an empire.
Atahuallpa's troops, flushed with recent success, fought with the
confidence of those who relied on their superior prowess; while the loyal
vassals of the Inca displayed all the self-devotion of men who held their
own lives cheap in the service of their master.

The fight raged with the greatest obstinacy from sunrise to sunset; and
the ground was covered with heaps of the dying and the dead, whose
bones lay bleaching on the battle-field long after the conquest by the
Spaniards.  At length, fortune declared in favor of Atahuallpa; or rather,
the usual result of superior discipline and military practice followed.
The ranks of the Inca were thrown into irretrievable disorder, and gave
way in all directions.  The conquerors followed close on the heels of the
flying.  Huascar himself, among the latter, endeavored to make his
escape with about a thousand men who remained round his person.  But
the royal fugitive was discovered before he had left the field; his little
party was enveloped by clouds of the enemy, and nearly every one of the
devoted band perished in defence of their Inca.  Huascar was made
prisoner, and the victorious chiefs marched at once on his capital, which
they occupied in the name of their sovereign.11

These events occurred in the spring of 1532, a few months before the
landing of the Spaniards.  The tidings of the success of his arms and the
capture of his unfortunate brother reached Atahuallpa at Caxamalca.  He
instantly gave orders that Huascar should be treated with the respect due
to his rank, but that he should be removed to the strong fortress of
Xauxa, and held there in strict confinement.  His orders did not stop
here,--if we are to receive the accounts of Garcilasso de la Vega, himself
of the Inca race, and by his mother's side nephew of the great Huayna
Capac.

According to this authority, Atahuallpa invited the Inca nobles
throughout the country to assemble at Cuzco in order to deliberate on the
best means of partitioning the empire between him and his brother.
When they had met in the capital, they were surrounded by the soldiery
of Quito, and butchered without mercy.  The motive for this perfidious
act was to exterminate the whole of the royal family, who might each one
of them show a better title to the crown than the illegitimate Atahuallpa.
But the massacre did not end here.  The illegitimate offspring, like
himself, half-brothers of the monster, all, in short, who had any of the
Inca blood in their veins, were involved in it; and with an appetite for
carnage unparalleled in the annals of the Roman Empire or of the French
Republic, Atahuallpa ordered all the females of the blood royal, his
aunts, nieces, and cousins, to be put to death, and that, too, with the most
refined and lingering tortures.  To give greater zest to his revenge, many
of the executions took place in the presence of Huascar himself, who was
thus compelled to witness the butchery of his own wives and sisters,
while, in the extremity of anguish, they in vain called on him to protect
them! 12

Such is the tale told by the historian of the Incas, and received by him, as
he assures us, from his mother and uncle, who, being children at the
time, were so fortunate as to be among the few that escaped the massacre
of their house.13  And such is the account repeated by many a Castilian
writer since, without any symptom of distrust.  But a tissue of
unprovoked atrocities like these is too repugnant to the principles of
human nature,--and, indeed, to common sense, to warrant our belief in
them on ordinary testimony.

The annals of semi-civilized nations unhappily show that there have been
instances of similar attempts to extinguish the whole of a noxious race,
which had become the object of a tyrant's jealousy; though such an
attempt is about as chimerical as it would be to extirpate any particular
species of plant, the seeds of which had been borne on every wind over
the country.  But, if the attempt to exterminate the Inca race was actually
made by Atahuallpa, how comes it that so many of the pure descendants
of the blood royal--nearly six hundred in number--are admitted by the
historian to have been in existence seventy years after the imputed
massacre?  Why was the massacre, instead of being limited to the
legitimate members of the royal stock, who could show a better title to
the crown than the usurper, extended to all, however remotely, or in
whatever way, connected with the race?  Why were aged women and
young maidens involved in the proscription, and why were they
subjected to such refined and superfluous tortures, when it is obvious
that beings so impotent could have done nothing to provoke the jealousy
of the tyrant?  Why, when so many were sacrificed from some vague
apprehension of distant danger, was his rival Huascar, together with his
younger brother Manco Capac, the two men from whom the conqueror
had most to fear, suffered to live?  Why, in short, is the wonderful tale
not recorded by others before the time of Garcilasso, and nearer by half a
century to the events themselves?15

That Atahuallpa may have been guilty of excesses, and abused the rights
of conquest by some gratuitous acts of cruelty, may be readily believed;
for no one, who calls to mind his treatment of the Canaris,-which his own
apologists do not affect to deny,16--will doubt that he had a full measure
of the vindictive temper which belongs to

"Those souls of fire, and Children of the Sun,
With whom revenge was virtue."

But there is a wide difference between this and the monstrous and most
unprovoked atrocities imputed to him; implying a diabolical nature not to
be admitted on the evidence of an Indian partisan, the sworn foe of his
house, and repeated by Castilian chroniclers, who may naturally seek, by
blazoning the enormities of Atahuallpa, to find some apology for the
cruelty of their countrymen towards him.

The news of the great victory was borne on the wings of the wind to
Caxamalca; and loud and long was the rejoicing, not only in the camp of
Atahuallpa, but in the town and surrounding country; for all now came
in, eager to offer their congratulations to the victor, and do him homage.
The prince of Quito no longer hesitated to assume the scarlet borla, the
diadem of the Incas.  His triumph was complete.  He had beaten his
enemies on their own ground; had taken their capital; had set his foot on
the neck of his rival, and won for himself the ancient sceptre of the
Children of the Sun.  But the hour of triumph was destined to be that of
his deepest humiliation.  Atahuallpa was not one of those to whom, in the
language of the Grecian bard, "the Gods are willing to reveal
themselves." 17  He had not read the handwriting on the heavens.  The
small speck, which the clear-sighted eye of his father had discerned on
the distant verge of the horizon, though little noticed by Atahuallpa,
intent on the deadly strife with his brother, had now risen high towards
the zenith, spreading wider and wider, till it wrapped the skies in
darkness, and was ready to burst in thunders on the devoted nation.



Book3

Chapter 3

The Spaniards Land At Tumbez--Pizarro Reconnoitres The Country--
Foundation Of San Miguel--March Into The Interior-
Embassy From The Inca--Adventures On The March-
Reach The Foot Of The Andes

1532

We left the Spaniards at the island of Puna, preparing to make their
descent on the neighboring continent at Tumbez.  This port was but a
few leagues distant, and Pizarro, with the greater part of his followers,
passed over in the ships, while a few others were to transport the
commander's baggage and the military stores on some of the Indian
balsas.  One of the latter vessels which first touched the shore was
surrounded, and three persons who were on the raft were carried off by
the natives to the adjacent woods and there massacred.  The Indians then
got possession of another of the balsas containing Pizarro's wardrobe;
but, as the men who defended it raised loud cries for help, they reached
the ears of Hernando Pizarro, who, with a small body of horse, had
effected a landing some way farther down the shore.  A broad tract of
miry ground, overflowed at high water, lay between him and the party
thus rudely assailed by the natives.  The tide was out, and the bottom was
soft and dangerous.  With little regard to the danger, however, the bold
cavalier spurred his horse into the slimy depths, and followed by his
men, with the mud up to their saddle-girths, they plunged forward until
they came into the midst of the marauders, who, terrified by the strange
apparition of the horsemen, fled precipitately, without show of fight, to
the neighboring forests.

This conduct of the natives of Tumbez is not easy to be explained;
considering the friendly relations maintained with the Spaniards on their
preceding visit, and lately renewed in the island of Puna.  But Pizarro
was still more astonished, on entering their town, to find it not only
deserted, but, with the exception of a few buildings, entirely demolished.
Four or five of the most substantial private dwellings, the great temple,
and the fortress--and these greatly damaged, and wholly despoiled of
their interior decorations--alone survived to mark the site of the city, and
attest its former splendor.1  The scene of desolation filled the conquerors
with dismay; for even the raw recruits, who had never visited the coast
before, had heard the marvellous stories of the golden treasures of
Tumbez, and they had confidently looked forward to them as an easy
spoil after all their fatigues.  But the gold of Peru seemed only like a
deceitful phantom, which, after beckoning them on through toil and
danger, vanished the moment they attempted to grasp it.

Pizarro despatched a small body of troops in pursuit of the fugitives;
and, after some slight skirmishing, they got possession of several of the
natives, and among them, as it chanced, the curaca of the place.  When
brought before the Spanish commander, he exonerated himself from any
share in the violence offered to the white men, saying that it was done by
a lawless party of his people, without his knowledge at the time; and he
expressed his willingness to deliver them up to punishment, if they could
be detected.  He explained the dilapidated condition of the town by the
long wars carried on with the fierce tribes of Puna, who had at length
succeeded in getting possession of the place, and driving the inhabitants
into the neighboring woods and mountains.  The Inca, to whose cause
they were attached, was too much occupied with his own feuds to protect
them against their enemies.

Whether Pizarro gave any credit to the cacique's exculpation of himself
may be doubted.  He dissembled his suspicions, however, and, as the
Indian lord promised obedience in his own name, and that of his vassals,
the Spanish general consented to take no further notice of the affair.  He
seems now to have felt for the first time, in its full force, that it was his
policy to gain the good-will of the people among whom he had thrown
himself in the face of such tremendous odds.  It was, perhaps, the
excesses of which his men had been guilty in the earlier stages of the
expedition that had shaken the confidence of the people of Tumbez, and
incited them to this treacherous retaliation.

Pizarro inquired of the natives who now, under promise of impunity,
came into the camp, what had become of his two followers that remained
with them in the former expedition.  The answers they gave were obscure
and contradictory.  Some said, they had died of an epidemic; others, that
they had perished in the war with Puna; and others intimated, that they
had lost their lives in consequence of some outrage attempted on the
Indian women.  It was impossible to arrive at the truth.  The last account
was not the least probable.  But, whatever might be the cause, there was
no doubt they had both perished.

This intelligence spread an additional gloom over the Spaniards; which
was not dispelled by the flaming pictures now given by the natives of the
riches of the land, and of the state and magnificence of the monarch in
his distant capital among the mountains.  Nor did they credit the
authenticity of a scroll of paper, which Pizzaro had obtained from an
Indian, to whom it had been delivered by one of the white men left in the
country.  "Know, whoever you may be," said the writing, "that may
chance to set foot in this country, that it contains more gold and silver
than there is iron in Biscay." This paper, when shown to the soldiers,
excited only their ridicule, as a device of their captain to keep alive their
chimerical hopes.2

Pizarro now saw that it was not politic to protract his stay in his present
quarters, where a spirit of disaffection would soon creep into the ranks of
his followers, unless their spirits were stimulated by novelty or a life of
incessant action.  Yet he felt deeply anxious to obtain more particulars
than he had hitherto gathered of the actual condition of the Peruvian
empire, of its strength and resources, of the monarch who ruled over it,
and of his present situation.  He was also desirous, before taking any
decisive step for penetrating the country, to seek out some commodious
place for a settlement, which might afford him the means of a regular
communication with the colonies, and a place of strength, on which he
himself might retreat in case of disaster.

He decided, therefore, to leave part of his company at Tumbez, including
those who, from the state of their health, were least able to take the field,
and with the remainder to make an excursion into the interior, and
reconnoitre the land, before deciding on any plan of operations.  He set
out early in May, 1532; and, keeping along the more level regions
himself, sent a small detachment under the command of Hernando de
Soto to explore the skirts of the vast sierra.

He maintained a rigid discipline on the march, commanding his soldiers
to abstain from all acts of violence, and punishing disobedience in the
most prompt and resolute manner.3  The natives rarely offered
resistance.  When they did so, they were soon reduced, and Pizarro, far
from vindictive measures, was open to the first demonstrations of
submission.  By this lenient and liberal policy, he soon acquired a name
among the inhabitants which effaced the unfavorable impressions made
of him in the earlier part of the campaign.  The natives, as he marched
through the thick-settled hamlets which sprinkled the level region
between the Cordilleras and the ocean, welcomed him with rustic
hospitality, providing good quarters for his troops, and abundant
supplies, which cost but little in the prolific soil of the tierra caliente.
Everywhere Pizarro made proclamation that he came in the name of the
Holy Vicar of God and of the sovereign of Spain, requiring the
obedience of the inhabitants as true children of the Church, and vassals
of his lord and master.  And as the simple people made no opposition to
a formula, of which they could not comprehend a syllable, they were
admitted as good subjects of the Crown of Castile, and their act of
homage--or what was readily interpreted as such--was duly recorded and
attested by the notary.4

At the expiration of some three or four weeks spent in reconnoitring the
country, Pizarro came to the conclusion that the most eligible site for his
new settlement was in the rich valley of Tangarala, thirty leagues south
of Tumbez, traversed by more than one stream that opens a
communication with the ocean.  To this spot, accordingly, he ordered the
men left at Tumbez to repair at once in their vessels; and no sooner had
they arrived, than busy preparations were made for building up the town
in a manner suited to the wants of the colony.  Timber was procured
from the neighboring woods.  Stones were dragged from their quarries,
and edifices gradually rose, some of which made pretensions to strength,
if not to elegance.  Among them were a church, a magazine for public
stores, a hall of justice, and a fortress.  A municipal government was
organized, consisting of regidores, alcaldes, and the usual civic
functionaries.  The adjacent territory was parcelled out among the
residents, and each colonist had a certain number of the natives allotted
to assist him in his labors; for, as Pizarro's secretary remarks, "it being
evident that the colonists could not support themselves without the
services of the Indians, the ecclesiastics and the leaders of the expedition
all agreed that a repartimiento of the natives would serve the cause of
religion, and tend greatly to their spiritual welfare, since they would thus
have the opportunity of being initiated in the true faith." 5

Having made these arrangements with such conscientious regard to the
welfare of the benighted heathen, Pizarro gave his infant city the name of
San Miguel, in acknowledgment of the service rendered him by that saint
in his battles with the Indians of Puna.  The site originally occupied by
the settlement was afterward found to be so unhealthy, that it was
abandoned for another on the banks of the beautiful Piura.  The town is
still of some note for its manufactures, though dwindled from its ancient
importance; but the name of San Miguel de Piura, which it bears, still
commemorates the foundation of the first European colony in the empire
of the Incas.

Before quitting the new settlement, Pizarro caused the gold and silver
ornaments which he had obtained in different parts of the country to be
melted down into one mass, and a fifth to be deducted for the Crown.
The remainder, which belonged to the troops, he persuaded them to
relinquish for the present; under the assurance of being repaid from the
first spoils that fell into their hands.6  With these funds, and other
articles collected in the course of the campaign, he sent back the vessels
to Panama.  The gold was applied to paying off the ship-owners, and
those who had furnished the stores for the expedition.  That he should so
easily have persuaded his men to resign present possession for a future
contingency is proof that the spirit of enterprise was renewed in their
bosoms in all its former vigor, and that they looked forward with the
same buoyant confidence to the results.

In his late tour of observation, the Spanish commander had gathered
much important intelligence in regard to the state of the kingdom.  He
had ascertained the result of the struggle between the Inca brothers, and
that the victor now lay with his army encamped at the distance of only
ten or twelve days' journey from San Miguel.  The accounts he heard of
the opulence and power of that monarch, and of his great southern
capital, perfectly corresponded with the general rumors before received;
and contained, therefore, something to stagger the confidence, as well as
to stimulate the cupidity, of the invaders.

Pizarro would gladly have seen his little army strengthened by
reinforcements, however small the amount; and on that account
postponed his departure for several weeks.  But no reinforcement
arrived; and, as he received no further tidings from his associates, he
judged that longer delay would, probably, be attended with evils greater
than those to be encountered on the march; that discontents would
inevitably spring up in a life of inaction, and the strength and spirits of
the soldier sink under the enervating influence of a tropical climate.  Yet
the force at his command, amounting to less than two hundred soldiers in
all, after reserving fifty for the protection of the new settlement, seemed
but a small one for the conquest of an empire.  He might, indeed, instead
of marching against the Inca, take a southerly direction towards the rich
capital of Cuzco.  But this would only be to postpone the hour of
reckoning.  For in what quarter of the empire could he hope to set his
foot, where the arm of its master would not reach him? By such a course,
moreover, he would show his own distrust of himself.  He would shake
that opinion of his invincible prowess, which he had hitherto endeavored
to impress on the natives, and which constituted a great secret of his
strength; which, in short, held sterner sway over the mind than the
display of numbers and mere physical force.  Worse than all, such a
course would impair the confidence of his troops in themselves and their
reliance on himself.  This would be to palsy the arm of enterprise at
once.  It was not to be thought of.

But while Pizarro decided to march into the interior, it is doubtful
whether he had formed any more definite plan of action.  We have no
means of knowing his intentions, at this distance of time, otherwise than
as they are shown by his actions.  Unfortunately, he could not write, and
he has left no record, like the inestimable Commentaries of Cortes, to
enlighten us as to his motives.  His secretary, and some of his
companions in arms, have recited his actions in detail; but the motives
which led to them they were not always so competent to disclose.

It is possible that the Spanish general, even so early as the period of his
residence at San Miguel, may have meditated some daring stroke, some
effective coup-de-main, which, like that of Cortes, when he carried off
the Aztec monarch to his quarters, might strike terror into the hearts of
the people, and at once decide the fortunes of the day.  It is more
probable, however, that he now only proposed to present himself before
the Inca, as the peaceful representative of a brother monarch, and, by
these friendly demonstrations, disarm any feeling of hostility, or even of
suspicion.  When once in communication with the Indian prince, he
could regulate his future course by circumstances.

On the 24th of September, 1532, five months after landing at Tumbez,
Pizarro marched out at the head of his little body of adventurers from the
gates of San Miguel, having enjoined it on the colonists to treat their
Indian vassals with humanity, and to conduct themselves in such a
manner as would secure the good-will of the surrounding tribes.  Their
own existence, and with it the safety of the army and the success of the
undertaking, depended on this course.  In the place were to remain the
royal treasurer, the veedor, or inspector of metals, and other officers of
the crown; and the command of the garrison was intrusted to the
contador, Antonio Nayafro.7  Then putting himself at the head of his
troops, the chief struck boldly into the heart of the country in the
direction where, as he was informed, lay the camp of the Inca.  It was a
daring enterprise, thus to venture with a handful of followers into the
heart of a powerful empire, to present himself, face to face, before the
Indian monarch in his own camp, encompassed by the flower of his
victorious army!  Pizarro had already experienced more than once the
difficulty of maintaining his ground against the rude tribes of the north,
so much inferior in strength and numbers to the warlike legions of Peru.
But the hazard of the game, as I have already more than once had
occasion to remark, constituted its great charm with the Spaniard.  The
brilliant achievements of his countrymen, on the like occasions, with
means so inadequate, inspired him with confidence in his own good star;
and this confidence was one source of his success.  Had he faltered for a
moment, had he stopped to calculate chances, he must inevitably have
failed; for the odds were too great to be combated by sober reason.  They
were only to be met triumphantly by the spirit of the knight-errant.

After crossing the smooth waters of the Piura, the little army continued
to advance over a level district intersected by streams that descended
from the neighboring Cordilleras.  The face of the country was shagged
over with forests of gigantic growth, and occasionally traversed by ridges
of barren land, that seemed like shoots of the adjacent Andes breaking up
the surface of the region into little sequestered valleys of singular
loveliness.  The soil, though rarely watered by the rains of heaven, was
naturally rich, and wherever it was refreshed with moisture, as on the
margins of the streams, it was enamelled with the brightest verdure.  The
industry of the inhabitants, moreover, had turned these streams to the
best account, and canals and aqueducts were seen crossing the low lands
in all directions, and spreading over the country, like a vast network,
diffusing fertility and beauty around them.  The air was scented with the
sweet odors of flowers, and everywhere the eye was refreshed by the
sight of orchards laden with unknown fruits, and of fields waving with
yellow grain and rich in luscious vegetables of every description that
teem in the sunny clime of the equator.  The Spaniards were among a
people who had carried the refinements of husbandry to a greater extent
than any yet found on the American continent; and, as they journeyed
through this paradise of plenty, their condition formed a pleasing
contrast to what they had before endured in the dreary wilderness of the
mangroves.

Everywhere, too, they were received with confiding hospitality by the
simple people; for which they were no doubt indebted, in a great
measure, to their own inoffensive deportment.  Every Spaniard seemed
to be aware, that his only chance of success lay in conciliating the good
opinion of the inhabitants, among whom he had so recklessly cast his
fortunes.  In most of the hamlets, and in every place of considerable size,
some fortress was to be found, or royal caravansary, destined for the Inca
on his progresses, the ample halls of which furnished abundant
accommodations for the Spaniards; who were thus provided with
quarters along their route at the charge of the very government which
they were preparing to overturn.8

On the fifth day after leaving San Miguel, Pizarro halted in one of these
delicious valleys, to give his troops repose, and to make a more complete
inspection of them.  Their number amounted in all to one hundred and
seventy-seven, of which sixty-seven were cavalry.  He mustered only
three arquebusiers in his whole company, and a few crossbow-men,
altogether not exceeding twenty.9  The troops were tolerably well
equipped, and in good condition.  But the watchful eye of their
commander noticed with uneasiness, that, notwithstanding the general
heartiness, in the cause manifested by his followers, there were some
among them whose countenances lowered with discontent, and who,
although they did not give vent to it in open murmurs, were far from
moving with their wonted alacrity.

He was aware, that, if this spirit became contagious, it would be the ruin
of the enterprise; and he thought it best to exterminate the gangrene; at
once, and at whatever cost, than to wait until it had infected the whole
system.  He came to an extraordinary resolution.

Calling his men together, he told them that "a crisis had now arrived in
their affairs, which it demanded all their courage to meet.  No man
should think of going forward in the expedition, who could not do so
with his whole heart, or who had the least misgiving as to its success.  If
any repented of his share in it, it was not too late to turn back.  San
Miguel was but poorly garrisoned, and he should be glad to see it in
greater strength.  Those who chose might return to this place, and they
should be entitled to the same proportion of lands and Indian vassals as
the present residents.  With the rest, were they few or many, who chose
to take their chance with him, he should pursue the adventure to the
end."10

It was certainly a remarkable proposal for a commander, who was
ignorant of the amount of disaffection in his ranks, and who could not
safely spare a single man from his force, already far too feeble for the
undertaking.  Yet, by insisting on the wants of the little colony of San
Miguel, he afforded a decent pretext for the secession of the
malecontents, and swept away the barrier of shame which might have
still held them in the camp.  Notwithstanding the fair opening thus
afforded, there were but few, nine in all, who availed themselves of the
general's permission.  Four of these belonged to the infantry, and five to
the horse.  The rest loudly declared their resolve to go forward with their
brave leader; and, if there were some whose voices were faint amidst the
general acclamation, they, at least, relinquished the right of complaining
hereafter, since they had voluntarily rejected the permission to return.11
This stroke of policy in their sagacious captain was attended with the
best effects.  He had winnowed out the few grains of discontent, which,
if left to themselves, might have fermented in secret till the whole mass
had swelled into mutiny.  Cortes had compelled his men to go forward
heartily in his enterprise, by burning their vessels, and thus cutting off
the only means of retreat.  Pizarro, on the other hand, threw open the
gates to the disaffected and facilitated their departure.  Both judged right,
under their peculiar circumstances, and both were perfectly successful.

Feeling himself strengthened, instead of weakened, by his loss, Pizarro
now resumed his march, and, on the second day, arrived before a place
called Zaran, situated in a fruitful valley among the mountains.  Some of
the inhabitants had been drawn off to swell the levies of Atahuallpa.  The
Spaniards had repeated experience on their march of the oppressive
exactions of the Inca, who had almost depopulated some of the valleys to
obtain reinforcements for his army.  The curaca of the Indian town where
Pizarro now arrived, received him with kindness and hospitality, and the
troops were quartered as usual in one of the royal tambos or
caravansaries, which were found in all the principal places.12

Yet the Spaniards saw no signs of their approach to the royal
encampment, though more time had already elapsed than was originally
allowed for reaching it.  Shortly before entering Zaran, Pizarro had heard
that a Peruvian garrison was established in a place called Caxas, lying
among the hills, at no great distance from his present quarters.  He
immediately despatched a small party under Hernando de Soto in that
direction, to reconnoitre the ground, and bring him intelligence of the
actual state of things, at Zaran, where he would halt until his officer's
return.

Day after day passed on, and a week had elapsed before tidings were
received of his companions, and Pizarro was becoming seriously alarmed
for their fate, when on the eighth morning Soto appeared, bringing with
him an envoy from the Inca himself.  He was a person of rank, and was
attended by several followers of inferior condition.  He had met the
Spaniards at Caxas, and now accompanied them on their return, to
deliver his sovereign's message, with a present to the Spanish
commander.  The present consisted of two fountains, made of stone, in
the form of fortresses; some fine stuffs of woollen embroidered with gold
and silver; and a quantity of goose-flesh, dried and seasoned in a peculiar
manner, and much used as a perfume, in a pulverized state, by the
Peruvian nobles.13  The Indian ambassador came charged also with his
master's greeting to the strangers, whom Atahuallpa welcomed to his
country, and invited to visit him in his camp among the mountains.

Pizarro well understood that the Inca's object in this diplomatic visit was
less to do him courtesy, than to inform himself of the strength and
condition of the invaders.  But he was well pleased with the embassy,
and dissembled his consciousness of its real purpose.  He caused the
Peruvian to be entertained in the best manner the camp could afford, and
paid hint the respect, says one of the Conquerors, due to the ambassador
of so great a monarch.15  Pizarro urged him to prolong his visit for some
days, which the Indian envoy declined, but made the most of his time
while there, by gleaning all the information he could in respect to the
uses of every strange article which he saw, as well as the object of the
white men's visit to the land, and the quarter whence they came.

The Spanish captain satisfied his curiosity in all these particulars.  The
intercourse with the natives, it may be here remarked, was maintained by
means of two of the youths who had accompanied the Conquerors on
their return home from their preceding voyage.  They had been taken by
Pizarro to Spain, and, as much pains had been bestowed on teaching
them the Castilian, they now filled the office of interpreters, and opened
an easy communication with their countrymen.  It was of inestimable
service; and well did the Spanish commander reap the fruits of his
forecast.16

On the departure of the Peruvian messenger, Pizarro presented hint with
a cap of crimson cloth, some cheap but showy ornaments of glass, and
other toys, which he had brought for the purpose from Castile.  He
charged the envoy to tell his master, that the Spaniards came from a
powerful prince, who dwelt far beyond the waters; that they had heard
much of the fame of Atahuallpa's victories, and were come to pay their
respects to him, and to offer their services by aiding him with their arms
against his enemies; and he might be assured, they would not halt on the
road, longer than was necessary, before presenting themselves before
him.

Pizarro now received from Soto a full account of his late expedition.
That chief, on entering Caxas, found the inhabitants mustered in hostile
array, as if to dispute his passage.  But the cavalier soon convinced them
of his pacific intentions, and, laying aside their menacing attitude, they
received the Spaniards with the same courtesy which had been shown
them in most places on their march.

Here Soto found one of the royal officers, employed in collecting the
tribute for the government.  From this functionary he learned that the
Inca was quartered with a large army at Caxamalca, a place of
considerable size on the other side of the Cordillera, where he was
enjoying the luxury of the warm baths, supplied by natural springs, for
which it was then famous, as it is at the present day.  The cavalier
gathered, also, much important information in regard to the resources
and the general policy of government, the state maintained by the Inca,
and the stern severity with which obedience to the law was everywhere
enforced.  He had some opportunity of observing this for himself, as, on
entering the village, he saw several Indians hanging dead by their heels,
having been executed for some violence offered to the Virgins of the
Sun, of whom there was a convent in the neighborhood.17

From Caxas, De Soto had passed to the adjacent town of Guancabamba,
much larger, more populous, and better built than the preceding.  The
houses, instead of being made of clay baked in the sun, were many of
them constructed of solid stone, so nicely put together, that it was
impossible to detect the line of junction.  A river, which passed through
the town, was traversed by a bridge, and the high road of the Incas,
which crossed this district, was far superior to that which the Spaniards
had seen on the sea-board.  It was raised in many places, like a
causeway, paved with heavy stone flags, and bordered by trees that
afforded a grateful shade to the passenger, while streams of water were
conducted through aqueducts along the sides to slake his thirst. At
certain distances, also, they noticed small houses, which, they were told,
were for the accommodation of the traveller, who might thus pass,
without inconvenience, from one end of the kingdom to the other.18  In
another quarter they beheld one of those magazines destined for the
army, filled with grain, and with articles of clothing; and at the entrance
of the town was a stone building, occupied by a public officer, whose
business it was to collect the toils or duties on various commodities
brought into the place, or carried out of it.19  These accounts of De Soto
not only confirmed all that the Spaniards had heard of the Indian empire,
but greatly raised their ideas of its resources and domestic policy.  They
might well have shaken the confidence of hearts less courageous.

Pizarro, before leaving his present quarters, despatched a messenger to
San Miguel with particulars of his movements, sending, at the same time,
the articles received from the Inca, as well as those obtained at different
places on the route.  The skill shown in the execution of some of these
fabrics excited great admiration, when sent to Castile.  The fine woollen
cloths, especially, with their rich embroidery, were pronounced equal to
silk, from which it was not easy to distinguish them.  It was probably the
delicate wool of the vicuna, none of which had then been seen in
Europe.20

Pizarro, having now acquainted himself with the most direct route to
Caxamalca,--the Caxamarca of the present day,--resumed his march,
taking a direction nearly south.  The first place of any size at which he
halted was Motupe, pleasantly situated in a fruitful valley, among hills of
no great elevation, which cluster round the base of the Cordilleras.  The
place was deserted by its curaca, who, with three hundred of its warriors,
had gone to join the standard of their Inca.  Here the general,
notwithstanding his avowed purpose to push forward without delay,
halted four days.  The tardiness of his movements can be explained only
by the hope, which he may have still entertained of being joined by
further reinforcements before crossing the Cordilleras.  None such
appeared, however; and advancing across a country in which tracts of
sandy plain were occasionally relieved by a broad expanse of verdant
meadow, watered by natural streams and still more abundantly by those
brought through artificial channels, the troops at length arrived at the
borders of a river.  It was broad and deep, and the rapidity of the current
opposed more than ordinary difficulty to the passage.  Pizarro,
apprehensive lest this might be disputed by the natives on the opposite
bank, ordered his brother Hernando to cross over with a small
detachement under cover of night, and secure a safe landing for the rest
of the troops.  At break of day Pizarro made preparations for his own
passage, by hewing timber in the neighboring woods, and constructing a
sort of floating bridge, on which before nightfall the whole company
passed in safety, the horses swimming, being led by the bridle.  It was a
day of severe labor, and Pizarro took his own share in it freely, like a
common soldier, having ever a word of encouragement to say to his
followers.

On reaching the opposite side, they learned from their comrades that the
people of the country, instead of offering resistance, had fled in dismay.
One of them, having been taken and brought before Hernando Pizarro,
refused to answer the questions put to him respecting the Inca and his
army; till, being put to the torture, he stated that Atahuallpa was
encamped, with his whole force, in three separate divisions, occupying
the high grounds and plains of Caxamalca.  He further stated, that the
Inca was aware of the approach of the white men and of their small
number, and that he was purposely decoying them into his own quarters,
that he might have them more completely in his power.

This account, when reported by Hernando to his brother, caused the
latter much anxiety.  As the timidity of the peasantry, however, gradually
wore off, some of them mingled with the troops, and among them the
curaca or principal person of the village.  He had himself visited the
royal camp, and he informed the general that Atahuallpa lay at the strong
town of Guamachucho, twenty leagues or more south of Caxamalca, with
an army of at least fifty thousand men.

These contradictory statements greatly perplexed the chieftain; and he
proposed to one of the Indians who had borne him company during a
great part of the march, to go as a spy into the Inca's quarters, and bring
him intelligence of his actual position, and, as far as he could learn them,
of his intentions towards the Spaniards.  But the man positively declined
this dangerous service, though he professed his willingness to go as an
authorized messenger of the Spanish commander.

Pizarro acquiesced in this proposal, and instructed his envoy to assure
the Inca that he was advancing with all convenient speed to meet him.
He was to acquaint the monarch with the uniformly considerate conduct
of the Spaniards towards his subjects, in their progress through the land,
and to assure him that they were now coming in full confidence of
finding in him the same amicable feelings towards themselves.  The
emissary was particularly instructed to observe if the strong passes on the
road were defended, or if any preparations of a hostile character were to
be discerned.  This last intelligence he was to communicate to the
general by means of two or three nimble-footed attendants, who were to
accompany him on his mission.21

Having taken this precaution, the wary commander again resumed his
march, and at the end of three days reached the base of the mountain
rampart, behind which lay the ancient town of Caxamalca.  Before him
rose the stupendous Andes, rock piled upon rock, their skirts below dark
with evergreen forests, varied here and there by terraced patches of
cultivated garden, with the peasant's cottage clinging to their shaggy
sides, and their crests of snow glittering high in the heavens,--presenting
altogether such a wild chaos of magnificence and beauty as no other
mountain scenery in the world can show.  Across this tremendous
rampart, through a labyrinth of passes, easily capable of defence by a
handful of men against an army, the troops were now to march.  To the
right ran a broad and level road, with its border of friendly shades, and
wide enough for two carriages to pass abreast. It was one of the great
routes leading to Cuzco, and seemed by its pleasant and easy access to
invite the wayworn soldier to choose it in preference to the dangerous
mountain defiles.  Many were accordingly of opinion that the army
should take this course, and abandon the original destination to
Caxamalca.  But such was not the decision of Pizarro.

The Spaniards had everywhere proclaimed their purpose, he said, to visit
the Inca in his camp.  This purpose had been communicated to the Inca
himself.  To take an opposite direction now would only be to draw on
them the imputation of cowardice, and to incur Atahuallpa's contempt.
No alternative remained but to march straight across the sierra to his
quarters "Let every one of you," said the bold cavalier, "take heart and
go forward like a good soldier, nothing daunted by the smallness of your
numbers.  For in the greatest extremity God ever fights for his own; and
doubt not he will humble the pride of the heathen, and bring him to the
knowledge of the true faith, the great end and object of the Conquest."
22

Pizarro, like Cortes, possessed a good share of that frank and manly
eloquence which touches the heart of the soldier more than the parade of
rhetoric or the finest flow of elocution.  He was a soldier himself, and
partook in all the feelings of the soldier, his joys, his hopes, and his
disappointments.  He was not raised by rank and education above
sympathy with the humblest of his followers.  Every chord in their
bosoms vibrated with the same pulsations as his own, and the conviction
of this gave him a mastery over them.  "Lead on," they shouted, as he
finished his brief but animating address, "lead on wherever you think
best. We will follow with good-will, and you shall see that we can do our
duty in the cause of God and the King!" 23  There was no longer
hesitation.  All thoughts were now bent on the instant passage of the
Cordilleras.



Book 3

Chapter 4

Severe Passage Of The Andes--Embassies From Atahuallpa--
The Spaniards Reach Caxamalca--Embassy To The Inca--
Interview With The Inca--Despondency Of The Spaniards

1532

That night Pizarro held a council of his principal officers, and it was
determined that he should lead the advance, consisting of forty horse and
sixty foot, and reconnoitre the ground; while the rest of the company,
under his brother Hernando, should occupy their present position till they
received further orders.

At early dawn the Spanish general and his detachment were under arms,
and prepared to breast the difficulties of the sierra.  These proved even
greater than had been foreseen.  The path had been conducted in the
most judicious manner round the rugged and precipitous sides of the
mountains, so as best to avoid the natural impediments presented by the
ground.  But it was necessarily so steep, in many places, that the cavalry
were obliged to dismount, and, scrambling up as they could, to lead their
horses by the bridle.  In many places, too, where some huge crag or
eminence overhung the road, this was driven to the very verge of the
precipice; and the traveller was compelled to wind along the narrow
ledge of rock, scarcely wide enough for his single steed, where a misstep
would precipitate him hundreds, nay, thousands, of feet into the dreadful
abyss!  The wild passes of the sierra, practicable for the half-naked
Indian, and even for the sure and circumspect mule,--an animal that
seems to have been created for the roads of the Cordilleras,--were
formidable to the man-at-arms encumbered with his panoply of mail.
The tremendous fissures or quebradas, so frightful in this mountain
chain, yawned open, as if the Andes had been split asunder by some
terrible convulsion, showing a broad expanse of the primitive rock on
their sides, partially mantled over with the spontaneous vegetation of
ages; while their obscure depths furnished a channel for the torrents, that,
rising in the heart of the sierra, worked their way gradually into light, and
spread over the savannas and green valleys of the tierra caliente on their
way to the great ocean.

Many of these passes afforded obvious points of defence; and the
Spaniards, as they entered the rocky defiles, looked with apprehension
lest they might rouse some foe from his ambush.  This apprehension was
heightened, as, at the summit of a steep and narrow gorge, in which they
were engaged, they beheld a strong work, rising like a fortress, and
frowning, as it were, in gloomy defiance on the invaders.  As they drew
near this building, which was of solid stone, commanding an angle of the
road, they almost expected to see the dusky forms of the warriors rise
over the battlements, and to receive their tempest of missiles on their
bucklers; for it was in so strong a position, that a few resolute men might
easily have held there an army at bay.  But they had the satisfaction to
find the place untenanted, and their spirits were greatly raised by the
conviction that the Indian monarch did not intend to dispute their
passage, when it would have been easy to do so with success.

Pizarro now sent orders to his brother to follow without delay; and, after
refreshing his men, continued his toilsome ascent, and before nightfall
reached an eminence crowned by another fortress, of even greater
strength than the preceding.  It was built of solid masonry, the lower part
excavated from the living rock, and the whole work executed with skill
not inferior to that of the European architect.1

Here Pizarro took up his quarters for the night.  Without waiting for the
arrival of the rear, on the following morning he resumed his march,
leading still deeper into the intricate gorges of the sierra.  The climate
had gradually changed, and the men and horses, especially the latter,
suffered severely from the cold, so long accustomed as they had been to
the sultry climate of the tropics.2  The vegetation also had changed its
character; and the magnificent timber which covered the lower level of
the country had gradually given way to the funereal forest of pine, and,
as they rose still higher, to the stunted growth of numberless Alpine
plants, whose hardy natures found a congenial temperature in the icy
atmosphere of the more elevated regions.  These dreary solitudes seemed
to be nearly abandoned by the brute creation as well as by man.  The
light-looted vicuna, roaming in its native state, might be sometimes seen
looking down from some airy cliff, where the foot of the hunter dared not
venture.  But instead of the feathered tribes whose gay plumage sparkled
in the deep glooms of the tropical forests, the adventurers now beheld
only the great bird of the Andes, the loathsome condor, who, sailing high
above the clouds, followed with doleful cries in the track of the army, as
if guided by instinct in the path of blood and carnage.

At length they reached the crest of the Cordillera, where it spreads out
into a bold and bleak expanse, with scarce the vestige of vegetation,
except what is afforded by the pajonal, a dried yellow grass, which, as it
is seen from below, encircling the base of the snow-covered peaks,
looks, with its brilliant straw-color lighted up in the rays of an ardent
sun, like a setting of gold round pinnacles of burnished silver.  The land
was sterile, as usual in mining districts, and they were drawing near the
once famous gold quarries on the way to Caxamalca;

"Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines,
That on the high equator ridgy rise."

Here Pizarro halted for the coming up of the rear.  The air was sharp and
frosty; and the soldiers, spreading their tents, lighted fires, and, huddling
round them, endeavored to find some repose after their laborious
march.3

They had not been long in these quarters, when a messenger arrived, one
of those who had accompanied the Indian envoy sent by Pizarro to
Atahuallpa.  He informed the general that the road was free from
enemies, and that an embassy from the Inca was on its way to the
Castilian camp.  Pizarro now sent back to quicken the march of the rear,
as he was unwilling that the Peruvian envoy should find him with his
present diminished numbers.  The rest of the army were not far distant,
and not long after reached the encampment.

In a short time the Indian embassy also arrived, which consisted of one
of the Inca nobles and several attendants, bringing a welcome present of
llamas to the Spanish commander.  The Peruvian bore, also, the
greetings of his master, who wished to know when the Spaniards would
arrive at Caxamalca, that he might provide suitable refreshments for
them.  Pizarro learned that the Inca had left Guamachucho, and was now
lying with a small force in the neighborhood of Caxamalca, at a place
celebrated for its natural springs of warm water.  The Peruvian was an
intelligent person, and the Spanish commander gathered from him many
particulars respecting the late contests which had distracted the empire.

As the envoy vaunted in lofty terms the military prowess and resources
of his sovereign, Pizarro thought it politic to show that it had no power to
overawe him.  He expressed his satisfaction at the triumphs of
Atahuallpa, who, he acknowledged, had raised himself high in the rank
of Indian warriors.  But he was as inferior, he added with more policy
than politeness, to the monarch who ruled over the white men, as the
petty curacas of the country were inferior to him.  This was evident from
the ease with which a few Spaniards had overrun this great continent,
subduing one nation after another, that had offered resistance to their
arms.  He had been led by the fame of Atahuallpa to visit his dominions,
and to offer him his services in his wars; and, if he were received by the
Inca in the same friendly spirit with which he came, he was willing, for
the aid he could render him, to postpone awhile his passage across the
country to the opposite seas.  The Indian, according to the Castilian
accounts, listened with awe to this strain of glorification from the
Spanish commander.  Yet it is possible that the envoy was a better
diplomatist than they imagined; and that he understood it was only the
game of brag at which he was playing with his more civilized
antagonist.4

On the succeeding morning, at an early hour, the troops were again on
their march, and for two days were occupied in threading the airy defiles
of the Cordilleras.  Soon after beginning their descent on the eastern
side, another emissary arrived from the Inca, bearing a message of
similar import to the preceding, and a present, in like manner, of
Peruvian sheep.  This was the same noble that had visited Pizarro in the
valley.  He now came in more state, quaffing chicha--the fermented juice
of the maize-from golden goblets borne by his attendants, which sparkled
in the eyes of the rapacious adventurers.5

While he was in the camp, the Indian messenger, originally sent by
Pizarro to the Inca, returned, and no sooner did he behold the Peruvian,
and the honorable reception which he met with from the Spaniards, than
he was filled with wrath, which would have vented itself in personal
violence, but for the interposition of the by-standers.  It was hard, he
said, that this Peruvian dog should be thus courteously treated, when he
himself had nearly lost his life on a similar mission among his
countrymen.  On reaching the Inca's camp, he had been refused
admission to his presence, on the ground that he was keeping a fast and
could not be seen.  They had paid no respect to his assertion that he came
as an envoy from the white men, and would, probably, not have suffered
him to escape with life, if he had not assured them that any violence
offered to him would be retaliated in full measure on the persons of the
Peruvian envoys, now in the Spanish quarters.  There was no doubt, he
continued of the hostile intentions of Atahuallpa; for he was surrounded
with a powerful army, strongly encamped about a league from
Caxamalca, while that city was entirely evacuated by its inhabitants.

To all this the Inca's envoy coolly replied, that Pizarro's messenger might
have reckoned on such a reception as he had found, since he seemed to
have taken with him no credentials of his mission.  As to the Inca's fast,
that was true; and, although he would doubtless have seen the messenger,
had he known there was one from the strangers, yet it was not safe to
disturb him at these solemn seasons, when engaged in his religious
duties.  The troops by whom he was surrounded were not numerous,
considering that the Inca was at that time carrying on an important war;
and as to Caxamalca, it was abandoned by the inhabitants in order to
make room for the white men, who were so soon to occupy it.6

This explanation, however plausible, did not altogether satisfy the
general; for he had too deep a conviction of the cunning of Atahuallpa,
whose intentions towards the Spaniards he had long greatly distrusted As
he proposed, however, to keep on friendly relations with the monarch for
the present, it was obviously not his cue to manifest suspicion.
Affecting, therefore, to give full credit to the explanation of the envoy,
he dismissed him with reiterated assurances of speedily presenting
himself before the Inca.

The descent of the sierra, though the Andes are less precipitous on their
eastern side than towards the west, was attended with difficulties almost
equal to those of the upward march; and the Spaniards felt no little
satisfaction, when, on the seventh day, they arrived in view of the valley
of Caxamalca, which, enamelled with all the beauties of cultivation, lay
unrolled like a rich and variegated carpet of verdure, in strong contrast
with the dark forms of the Andes, that rose up everywhere around it.
The valley is of an oval shape, extending about five leagues in length by
three in breadth.  It was inhabited by a population of a superior character
to any which the Spaniards had met on the other side of the mountains,
as was argued by the superior style of their attire, and the greater
cleanliness and comfort visible both in their persons and dwellings.7  As
far as the eye could reach, the level tract exhibited the show of a diligent
and thrifty husbandry.  A broad river rolled through the meadows,
supplying facilities for copious irrigation by means of the usual canals
and subterraneous aqueducts.  The land, intersected by verdant hedge-
rows, was checkered with patches of various cultivation; for the soil was
rich, and the climate, if less stimulating than that of the sultry regions of
the coast, was more favorable to the hardy products of the temperate
latitudes.  Below the adventurers, with its white houses glittering in the
sun, lay the little city of Caxamalca, like a sparkling gem on the dark
skirts of the sierra.  At the distance of about a league farther, across the
valley, might be seen columns of vapor rising up towards the heavens,
indicating the place of the famous hot baths, much frequented by the
Peruvian princes.  And here, too, was a spectacle less grateful to the eyes
of the Spaniards; for along the slope of the hills a white cloud of
pavilions was seen covering the ground, as thick as snow-flakes, for the
space, apparently, of several miles.  "It filled us all with amazement,"
exclaims one of the Conquerors, "to behold the Indians occupying so
proud a position!  So many tents, so well appointed, as were never seen
in the Indies till now!  The spectacle caused something like confusion
and even fear in the stoutest bosom.  But it was too late to turn back, or
to betray the least sign of weakness, since the natives in our own
company would, in such case, have been the first to rise upon us.  So,
with as bold a countenance as we could, after coolly surveying the
ground, we prepared for our entrance into Caxamalca."8

What were the feelings of the Peruvian monarch we are not informed,
when he gazed on the martial cavalcade of the Christians, as, with
banners streaming, and bright panoplies glistening in the rays of the
evening sun, it emerged from the dark depths of the sierra, and advanced
in hostile array over the fair domain, which, to this period, had never
been trodden by other foot than that of the red man.  It might be, as
several of the reports had stated, that the Inca had purposely decoyed the
adventurers into the heart of his populous empire, that he might envelope
them with his legions, and the more easily become master of their
property and persons.9  Or was it from a natural feeling of curiosity, and
relying on their professions of friendship, that he had thus allowed them,
without any attempt at resistance, to come into his presence?  At all
events, he could hardly have felt such confidence in himself, as not to
look with apprehension, mingled with awe, on the mysterious strangers,
who, coming from an unknown world, and possessed of such wonderful
gifts, had made their way across mountain and valley, in spite of every
obstacle which man and nature had opposed to them.

Pizarro, meanwhile, forming his little corps into three divisions, now
moved forward, at a more measured pace, and in order of battle, down
the slopes that led towards the Indian city.  As he drew near, no one
came out to welcome him; and he rode through the streets without
meeting with a living thing, or hearing a sound, except the echoes, sent
back from the deserted dwellings, of the tramp of the soldiery.

It was a place of considerable size, containing about ten thousand
inhabitants, somewhat more, probably, than the population assembled at
this day within the walls of the modern city of Caxamalca.10  The
houses, for the most part, were built of clay, hardened in the sun; the
roofs thatched, or of timber.  Some of the more ambitious dwellings were
of hewn stone; and there was a convent in the place, occupied by the
Virgins of the Sun, and a temple dedicated to the same tutelar deity,
which last was hidden in the deep embowering shades of a grove on the
skirts of the city.  On the quarter towards the Indian camp was a square--
if square it might be called, which was almost triangular in form---of an
immense size, surrounded by low buildings.  These consisted of
capacious halls, with wide doors or openings communicating with the
square.  They were probably intended as a sort of barracks for the Inca's
soldiers.11  At the end of the plaza, looking towards the country, was a
fortress of stones with a stairway leading from the city, and a private
entrance from the adjoining suburbs.  There was still another fortress on
the rising ground which commanded the town, built of hewn stone, and
encompassed by three circular walls,--or rather one and the same wall,
which wound up spirally around it.  It was a place of great strength, and
the workmanship showed a better knowledge of masonry, and gave a
higher impression of the architectural science of the people, than
anything the Spaniards had yet seen.12

It was late in the afternoon of the fifteenth of November, 1532, when the
Conquerors entered the city of Caxamalca.  The weather, which had been
fair during the day, now threatened a storm, and some rain mingled with
hail--for it was unusually cold--began to fall.13  Pizarro, however, was
so anxious to ascertain the dispositions of the Inca, that he determined to
send an embassy, at once, to his quarters.  He selected for this, Hernando
de Soto with fifteen horse, and, after his departure, conceiving that the
number was too small, in case of any unfriendly demonstrations by the
Indians, he ordered his brother Hernando to follow with twenty
additional troopers.  This captain and one other of his party have left us
an account of the excursion.

Between the city and the imperial camp was a causeway, built in a
substantial manner across the meadow land that intervened.  Over this
the cavalry galloped at a rapid pace, and, before they had gone a league,
they came in front of the Peruvian encampment, where it spread along
the gentle slope of the mountains.  The lances of the warriors were fixed
in the ground before their tents, and the Indian soldiers were loitering
without, gazing with silent astonishment at the Christian cavalcade, as
with clangor of arms and shrill blast of trumpet it swept by, like some
fearful apparition, on the wings of the wind.

The party soon came to a broad but shallow stream, which, winding
through the meadow, formed a defence for the Inca's position.  Across it
was a wooden bridge; but the cavaliers, distrusting its strength, preferred
to dash through the waters, and without difficulty gained the opposite
bank.  At battalion of Indian warriors was drawn up under arms on the
farther side of the bridge, but they offered no molestation to the
Spaniards; and these latter had strict orders from Pizarro--scarcely
necessary in their present circumstances--to treat the natives with
courtesy.  One of the Indians pointed out the quarter occupied by the
Inca.15

It was an open court-yard, with a light building or pleasure-house in the
centre, having galleries running around it, and opening in the rear on a
garden.  The walls were covered with a shining plaster, both white and
colored, and in the area before the edifice was seen a spacious tank or
reservoir of stone, fed by aqueducts that supplied it with both warm and
cold water.16  A basin of hewn stone--it may be of a more recent
construction--still bears, on the spot, the name of the "Inca's bath." 17
The court was filled with Indian nobles, dressed in gayly ornamented
attire, in attendance on the monarch, and with women of the royal
household.  Amidst this assembly it was not difficult to distinguish the
person of Atahuallpa, though his dress was simpler than that of his
attendants.  But he wore on his head the crimson borla or fringe, which,
surrounding the forehead, hung down as low as the eyebrow.  This was
the well-known badge of Peruvian sovereignty, and had been assumed by
the monarch only since the defeat of his brother Huascar.  He was seated
on a low stool or cushion, somewhat after the Morisco or Turkish
fashion, and his nobles and principal officers stood around him, with
great ceremony, holding the stations suited to their rank.18

The Spaniards gazed with much interest on the prince, of whose cruelty
and cunning they had heard so much, and whose valor had secured to
him the possession of the empire.  But his countenance exhibited
neither the fierce passions nor the sagacity which had been ascribed to
him; and, though in his bearing he showed a gravity and a calm
consciousness of authority well becoming a king, he seemed to discharge
all expression from his features, and to discover only the apathy so
characteristic of the American races.  On the present occasion, this must
have been in part, at least, assumed.  For it is impossible that the Indian
prince should not have contemplated with curious interest a spectacle so
strange, and, in some respects, appalling, as that of these mysterious
strangers, for which no previous description could have prepared him.

Hernando Pizarro and Soto, with two or three only of their followers,
slowly rode up in front of the Inca; and the former, making a respectful
obeisance, but without dismounting, informed Atahuallpa that he came
as an ambassador from his brother, the commander of the white men, to
acquaint the monarch with their arrival in his city of Caxamalca.  They
were the subjects of a mighty prince across the waters, and had come, he
said, drawn thither by the report of his great victories, to offer their
services, and to impart to him the doctrines of the true faith which they
professed; and he brought an invitation from the general to Atahuallpa
that the latter would be pleased to visit the Spaniards in their present
quarters.

To all this the Inca answered not a word; nor did he make even a sign of
acknowledgment that he comprehended it; though it was translated for
him by Felipillo, one of the interpreters already noticed.  He remained
silent, with his eyes fastened on the ground; but one of his nobles,
standing by his side, answered, "It is well." 19  This was an embarrassing
situation for the Spaniards, who seemed to be as wide from ascertaining
the real disposition of the Peruvian monarch towards themselves, as
when the mountains were between them.

In a courteous and respectful manner, Hernando Pizarro again broke the
silence by requesting the Inca to speak to them himself, and to inform
them what was his pleasure.20  To this Atahuallpa condescended to
reply, while a faint smile passed over his features,--"Tell your captain
that I am keeping a fast, which will end tomorrow morning.  I will then
visit him, with my chieftains.  In the meantime, let him occupy the public
buildings on the square, and no other, till I come, when I will order what
shall be done." 21

Soto, one of the party present at this interview, as before noticed, was the
best mounted and perhaps the best rider in Pizarro's troop.  Observing
that Atahuallpa looked with some interest on the fiery steed that stood
before him, champing the bit and pawing the ground with the natural
impatience of a war-horse, the Spaniard gave him the rein, and, striking
his iron heel into his side, dashed furiously over the plain; then, wheeling
him round and round, displayed all the beautiful movements of his
charger, and his own excellent horsemanship.  Suddenly checking him in
full career, he brought the animal almost on his haunches, so near the
person of the Inca, that some of the foam that flecked his horse's sides
was thrown on the royal garments.  But Atahuallpa maintained the same
marble composure as before, though several of his soldiers, whom De
Soto passed in the course, were so much disconcerted by it, that they
drew back in manifest terror; an act of timidity for which they paid
dearly, if, as the Spaniards assert, Atahuallpa caused them to be put to
death that same evening for betraying such unworthy weakness to the
strangers.22

Refreshments were now offered by the royal attendants to the Spaniards,
which they declined, being unwilling to dismount.  They did not refuse,
however, to quaff the sparkling chicha from golden vases of
extraordinary size, presented to them by the dark-eyed beauties of the
harem.23  Taking then a respectful leave of the Inca, the cavaliers rode
back to Caxamalca, with many moody speculations on what they had
seen; on the state and opulence of the Indian monarch; on the strength of
his military array, their excellent appointments, and the apparent
discipline in their ranks,--all arguing a much higher degree of
civilization, and consequently of power, than anything they had
witnessed in the lower regions of the country.  As they contrasted all
this with their own diminutive force, too far advanced, as they now were,
for succour to reach them, they felt they had done rashly in throwing
themselves into the midst of so formidable an empire, and were filled
with gloomy forebodings of the result.24  Their comrades in the camp
soon caught the infectious spirit of despondency, which was not lessened
as night came on, and they beheld the watch-fires of the Peruvians
lighting up the sides of the mountains, and glittering in the darkness, "as
thick," says one who saw them, "as the stars of heaven." 25

Yet there was one bosom in that little host which was not touched with
the feeling either of fear or dejection.  That was Pizarro's, who secretly
rejoiced that he had now brought matters to the issue for which he had so
long panted.  He saw the necessity of kindling a similar fee