History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Part 2 of 3
by William Hickling Prescott
Prepared for Project Gutenberg by Mark Rehorst,
mrehorst@fmi.fujitsu.com February, 1998
Book 3 - Chapter 8 (continued)
It seemed probable, from the pertinacity and a certain order maintained
in the assault, that it was directed by some leader of military experience;
perhaps the Indian commander Quizquiz, who was said to be hanging
round the environs of Cuzco with a considerable force.
Notwithstanding the reasonable cause of apprehension for the morrow,
De Soto, like a stout-hearted cavalier, as he was, strove to keep up the
spirits of his followers. If they had beaten off the enemy when their
horses were jaded, and their own strength nearly exhausted, how much
easier it would be to come off victorious when both were restored by a
night's rest; and he told them to "trust in the Almighty, who would never
desert his faithful followers in their extremity." The event justified De
Soto's confidence in this seasonable succour.
From time to time, on his march, he had sent advices to Pizarro of the
menacing state of the country, till his commander, becoming seriously
alarmed, was apprehensive that the cavalier might be overpowered by the
superior numbers of the enemy. He accordingly detached Almagro with
nearly all the remaining horse, to his support,--unencumbered by
infantry, that he might move the lighter. That efficient leader advanced
by forced marches, stimulated by the tidings which met him on the road;
and was so fortunate as to reach the foot of the sierra of Vilcaconga the
very night of the engagement.
There hearing of the encounter, he pushed forward without halting,
though his horses were spent with travel. The night was exceedingly
dark, and Almagro, afraid of stumbling on the enemy's bivouac, and
desirous to give De Soto information of his approach, commanded his
trumpets to sound, till the notes, winding through the defiles of the
mountains, broke the slumbers of his countrymen, sounding like blithest
music in their ears. They quickly replied with their own bugles, and
soon had the satisfaction to embrace their deliverers.
Great was the dismay of the Peruvian host, when the morning light
discovered the fresh reinforcement of the ranks of the Spaniards. There
was no use in contending with an enemy who gathered strength from the
conflict, and who seemed to multiply his numbers at will. Without
further attempt to renew the fight, they availed themselves of a thick fog,
which hung over the lower slopes of the hills, to effect their retreat, and
left the passes open to the invaders. The two cavaliers then continued
their march until they extricated their forces from the sierra, when, taking
up a secure position, they proposed to await there the arrival of
Pizarro.15
The commander-in-chief, meanwhile, lay at Xauxa, where he was greatly
disturbed by the rumors which reached him of the state of the country.
His enterprise, thus far, had gone forward so smoothly, that he was no
better prepared than his lieutenant to meet with resistance from the
natives. He did not seem to comprehend that the mildest nature might at
last be roused by oppression; and that the massacre of their Inca, whom
they regarded with such awful veneration, would be likely, if any thing
could do it, to wake them from their apathy.
The tidings which he now received of the retreat of the Peruvians were
most welcome; and he caused mass to be said, and thanksgivings to be
offered up to Heaven, "which had shown itself thus favorable to the
Christians throughout this mighty enterprise." The Spaniard was ever a
Crusader. He was, in the sixteenth century, what Coeur de Lion and his
brave knights were in the twelfth, with this difference; the cavalier of that
day fought for the Cross and for glory, while gold and the Cross were the
watchwords of the Spaniard. The spirit of chivalry had waned somewhat
before the spirit of trade; but the fire of religious enthusiasm still burned
as bright under the quilted mail of the American Conqueror, as it did of
yore under the iron panoply of the soldier of Palestine.
It seemed probable that some man of authority had organized, or at least
countenanced, this resistance of the natives, and suspicion fell on the
captive chief Challcuchima, who was accused of maintaining a secret
correspondence with his confederate, Quizquiz. Pizarro waited on the
Indian noble, and, charging him with the conspiracy, reproached him, as
he had formerly done his royal master, with ingratitude towards the
Spaniards, who had dealt with him so liberally. He concluded by the
assurance, that, if he did not cause the Peruvians to lay down their arms,
and tender their submission at once, he should be burnt alive, so soon as
they reached Almagro's quarters.16
The Indian chief listened to the terrible menace with the utmost
composure. He denied having had any communication with his countrymen,
and said, that, in his present state of confinement, at least,
he could have no power to bring them to submission. He then remained
doggedly silent, and Pizarro did not press the matter further.17 But he
placed a strong guard over his prisoner, and caused him to be put in
irons. It was an ominous proceeding, and had been the precursor of the
death of Atahuallpa.
Before quitting Xauxa, a misfortune befell the Spaniards in the death of
their creature, the young Inca Toparca. Suspicion, of course, fell on
Challcuchima, now selected as the scape-goat for all the offences of his
nation.18 It was a disappointment to Pizarro, who hoped to find a
convenient shelter for his future proceedings under this shadow of
royalty.19
The general considered it most prudent not to hazard the loss of his
treasures by taking them on the march, and he accordingly left them at
Xauxa, under a guard of forty soldiers, who remained there in garrison.
No event of importance occurred on the road, and Pizarro, having
effected a junction with Almagro, their united forces soon entered the
vale of Xaquixaguana, about five leagues from Cuzco. This was one of
those bright spots, so often found embosomed amidst the Andes, the
more beautiful from contrast with the savage character of the scenery
around it. A river flowed through the valley, affording the means of
irrigating the soil, and clothing it in perpetual verdure; and the rich and
flowering vegetation spread out like a cultivated garden. The beauty of
the place and its delicious coolness commended it as a residence for the
Peruvian nobles, and the sides of the hills were dotted with their villas,
which afforded them a grateful retreat in the heats of summer.20 Yet
the centre of the valley was disfigured by a quagmire of some extent,
occasioned by the frequent overflowing of the waters; but the industry of
the Indian architects had constructed a solid causeway, faced with heavy
stone, and connected with the great road, which traversed the whole
breadth of the morass.21
In this valley Pizarro halted for several days, while he refreshed his
troops from the well-stored magazines of the Incas. His first act was to
bring Challcuchima to trial; if trial that could be called, where sentence
may be said to have gone hand in hand with accusation. We are not
informed of the nature of the evidence. It was sufficient to satisfy the
Spanish captains of the chieftain's guilt. Nor is it at all incredible that
Challcuchima should have secretly encouraged a movement among the
people, designed to secure his country's freedom and his own. He was
condemned to be burnt alive on the spot. "Some thought it a hard
measure," says Herrera; "but those who are governed by reasons of state
policy are apt to shut their eyes against every thing else." 22 Why this
cruel mode of execution was so often adopted by the Spanish
Conquerors is not obvious; unless it was that the Indian was an infidel,
and fire, from ancient date, seems to have been considered the fitting
doom of the infidel, as the type of that inextinguishable flame which
awaited him in the regions of the damned.
Father Valverde accompanied the Peruvian chieftain to the stake. He
seems always to have been present at this dreary moment, anxious to
profit by it, if possible, to work the conversion of the victim. He painted
in gloomy colors the dreadful doom of the unbeliever, to whom the
waters of baptism could alone secure the ineffable glories of paradise.23
It does not appear that he promised any commutation of punishment in
this world. But his arguments fell on a stony heart, and the chief coldly
replied, he "did not understand the religion of the white men." 24 He
might be pardoned for not comprehending the beauty of a faith which, as
it would seem, had borne so bitter fruits to him. In the midst of his
tortures, he showed the characteristic courage of the American Indian,
whose power of endurance triumphs over the power of persecution in his
enemies, and he died with his last breath invoking the name of
Pachacamac. His own followers brought the fagots to feed the flames
that consumed him .25
Soon after this tragic event, Pizarro was surprised by a visit from a
Peruvian noble, who came in great state, attended by a numerous and
showy retinue. It was the young prince Manco, brother of the
unfortunate Huascar, and the rightful successor to the crown. Being
brought before the Spanish commander, he announced his pretensions to
the throne, and claimed the protection of the strangers. It is said he had
meditated resisting them by arms, and had encouraged the assaults made
on them on their march; but, finding resistance ineffectual, he had taken
this politic course, greatly to the displeasure of his more resolute nobles.
However this may be, Pizarro listened to his application with singular
contentment, for he saw in this new scion of the true royal stock, a more
effectual instrument for his purposes than he could have found in the
family of Quito, with whom the Peruvians had but little sympathy. He
received the young man, therefore, with great cordiality, and did not
hesitate to assure him that he had been sent into the country by his
master, the Castilian sovereign, in order to vindicate the claims of
Huascar to the crown, and to punish the usurpation of his rival.26
Taking with him the Indian prince, Pizarro now resumed his march. It
was interrupted for a few hours by a party of the natives, who lay in wait
for him in the neighboring sierra. A sharp skirmish ensued, in which the
Indians behaved with great spirit, and inflicted some little injury on the
Spaniards; but the latter, at length, shaking them off, made good their
passage through the defile, and the enemy did not care to follow them
into the open country.
It was late in the afternoon when the Conquerors came in sight of
Cuzco.27 The descending sun was streaming his broad rays full on the
imperial city, where many an altar was dedicated to his worship. The
low ranges of buildings, showing in his beams like so many lines of
silvery light, filled up the bosom of the valley and the lower slopes of the
mountains, whose shadowy forms hung darkly over the fair city, as if to
shield it from the menaced profanation. It was so late, that Pizarro
resolved to defer his entrance till the following morning.
That night vigilant guard was kept in the camp, and the soldiers slept on
their arms. But it passed away without annoyance from the enemy, and
early on the following day, November 15, 1533, Pizarro prepared for his
entrance into the Peruvian capital.28
The little army was formed into three divisions, of which the centre, or
"battle," as it was called, was led by the general. The suburbs were
thronged with a countless multitude of the natives, who had flocked from
the city and the surrounding country to witness the showy, and, to them,
startling pageant. All looked with eager curiosity on the strangers, the
fame of whose terrible exploits had spread to the remotest parts of the
empire. They gazed with astonishment on their dazzling arms and fair
complexions, which seemed to proclaim them the true Children of the
Sun; and they listened with feelings of mysterious dread, as the trumpet
sent forth its prolonged notes through the streets of the capital, and the
solid ground shook under the heavy tramp of the cavalry.
The Spanish commander rode directly up the great square. It was
surrounded by low piles of buildings, among which were several palaces
of the Incas. One of these, erected by Huayna Capac, was surmounted
by a tower, while the ground-floor was occupied by one or more
immense halls, like those described in Caxamalca, where the Peruvian
nobles held their fetes in stormy weather. These buildings afforded
convenient barracks for the troops, though, during the first few weeks,
they remained under their tents in the open plaza, with their horses
picketed by their side, ready to repulse any insurrection of the
inhabitants.29
The capital of the Incas, though falling short of the El Dorado which had
engaged their credulous fancies, astonished the Spaniards by the beauty
of its edifices, the length and regularity of its streets, and the good order
and appearance of comfort, even luxury, visible in its numerous
population. It far surpassed all they had yet seen in the New World. The
population of the city is computed by one of the Conquerors at two
hundred thousand inhabitants, and that of the suburbs at as many
more.30 This account is not confirmed, as far as I have seen, by any
other writer. But however it may be exaggerated, it is certain that Cuzco
was the metropolis of a great empire, the residence of the Court and the
chief nobility; frequented by the most skilful mechanics and artisans of
every description, who found a demand for their ingenuity in the royal
precincts; while the place was garrisoned by a numerous soldiery, and
was the resort, finally, of emigrants from the most distant provinces. The
quarters whence this motley population came were indicated by their
peculiar dress, and especially their head-gear, so rarely found at all on
the American Indian, which, with its variegated colors, gave a
picturesque effect to the groups and masses in the streets. The habitual
order and decorum maintained in this multifarious assembly showed the
excellent police of the capital, where the only sounds that disturbed the
repose of the Spaniards were the noises of feasting and dancing, which
the natives, with happy insensibility, constantly prolonged to a late hour
of the night.31
The edifices of the better sort--and they were very numerous--were of
stone, or faced with stone.32 Among the principal were the royal
residences; as each sovereign built a new palace for himself, covering,
though low, a large extent of ground. The walls were sometimes stained
or painted with gaudy tints, and the gates, we are assured, were
sometimes of colored marble.33 "In the delicacy of the stone-work,"
says another of the Conquerors, "the natives far excelled the Spaniards,
though the roofs of their dwellings, instead of tiles, were only of thatch,
but put together with the nicest art." 34 The sunny climate of Cuzco did
not require a very substantial material for defence against the weather.
The most important building was the fortress, planted on a solid rock,
that rose boldly above the city. It was built of hewn stone, so finely
wrought that it was impossible to detect the line of junction between the
blocks; and the approaches to it were defended by three semicircular
parapets, composed of such heavy masses of rock, that it bore
resemblance to the kind of work known to architects as the Cyclopean.
The fortress was raised to a height rare in Peruvian architecture; and
from the summit of the tower the eye of the-spectator ranged over a
magnificent prospect, in which the wild features of the mountain scenery,
rocks, woods, and waterfalls, were mingled with the rich verdure of the
valley, and the shining city filling up the foreground,--all blended in
sweet harmony under the deep azure of a tropical sky.
The streets were long and narrow. They were arranged with perfect
regularity, crossing one another at right angles; and from the great square
diverged four principal streets connecting with the high roads of the
empire. The square itself, and many parts of the city, were paved with a
fine pebble.35 Through the heart of the capital ran a river of pure water,
if it might not be rather termed a canal, the banks or sides of which, for
the distance of twenty leagues, were faced with stone.36 Across this
stream, bridges, constructed of similar broad flags, were thrown, at
intervals, so as to afford an easy communication between the different
quarters of the capital.37
The most sumptuous edifice in Cuzco, in the times of the Incas, was
undoubtedly the great temple dedicated to the Sun, which, studded with
gold plates, as already noticed, was surrounded by convents and
dormitories for the priests, with their gardens and broad parterres
sparkling with gold. The exterior ornaments had been already removed
by the Conquerors,--all but the frieze of gold, which, imbedded in the
stones, still encircled the principal building. It is probable that the tales
of wealth, so greedily circulated among the Spaniards, greatly exceeded
the truth. If they did not, the natives must have been very successful in
concealing their treasures from the invaders. Yet much still remained,
not only in the great House of the Sun, but in the inferior temples which
swarmed in the capital.
Pizarro, on entering Cuzco, had issued an order forbidding any soldier to
offer violence to the dwellings of the inhabitants.38 But the palaces
were numerous, and the troops lost no time in plundering them of their
contents, as well as in despoiling the religious edifices. The interior
decorations supplied them with considerable booty. They stripped off
the jewels and rich ornaments that garnished the royal mummies in the
temple of Coricancha. Indignant at the concealment of their treasures,
they put the inhabitants, in some instances, to the torture, and endeavored
to extort from them a confession of their hiding-places.39 They invaded
the repose of the sepulchres, in which the Peruvians often deposited their
valuable effects, and compelled the grave to give up its dead. No place
was left unexplored by the rapacious Conquerors, and they occasionally
stumbled on a mine of wealth that rewarded their labors.
In a cavern near the city they found a number of vases of pure gold,
richly embossed with the figures of serpents, locusts, and other animals.
Among the spoil were four golden llamas and ten or twelve statues of
women, some of gold, others of silver, "which merely to see," says one
of the Conquerors, with some naivete, "was truly a great satisfaction."
The gold was probably thin, for the figures were all as large as life; and
several of them, being reserved for the royal fifth, were not recast, but
sent in their original form to Spain.40 The magazines were stored with
curious commodities; richly tinted robes of cotton and feather-work, gold
sandals, and slippers of the same material, for the women, and dresses
composed entirely of beads of gold.41 The grain and other articles of
food, with which the magazines were filled, were held in contempt by the
Conquerors, intent only on gratifying their lust for gold.42 The time
came when the grain would have been of far more value.
Yet the amount of treasure in the capital did not equal the sanguine
expectations that had been formed by the Spaniards. But the deficiency
was supplied by the plunder which they had collected at various places
on their march. In one place, for example, they met with ten planks or
bars of solid silver, each piece being twenty feet in length, one foot in
breadth, and two or three inches thick. They were intended to decorate
the dwelling of an Inca noble.43
The whole mass of treasure was brought into a common heap, as in
Caxamalca; and after some of the finer specimens had been deducted for
the Crown, the remainder was delivered to the Indian goldsmiths to be
melted down into ingots of a uniform standard. The division of the spoil
was made on the same principle as before. There were four hundred and
eighty soldiers, including the garrison of Xauxa, who were each to
receive a share, that of the cavalry being double that of the infantry. The
amount of booty is stated variously by those present at the division of it.
According to some it considerably exceeded the ransom of Atahuallpa.
Others state it as less. Pedro Pizarro says that each horseman got six
thousand pesos de oro, and each one of the infantry half that sum; 44
though the same discrimination was made by Pizarro as before, in
respect to the rank of the parties, and their relative services. But Sancho,
the royal notary, and secretary of the commander, estimates the whole
amount as far less,--not exceeding five hundred and eighty thousand and
two hundred pesos de oro, and two hundred and fifteen thousand marks
of silver.45 In the absence of the official returns, it is impossible to
determine which is correct. But Sancho's narrative is countersigned, it
may be remembered, by Pizarro and the royal treasurer Riquelme, and
doubtless therefore, shows the actual amount for which the Conquerors
accounted to the Crown.
Whichever statement we receive, the sum, combined with that obtained
at Caxamalca, might well have satisfied the cravings of the most
avaricious. The sudden influx of so much wealth, and that, too, in so
transferable a form, among a party of reckless adventurers little
accustomed to the possession of money, had its natural effect. it
supplied them with the means of gaming, so strong and common a
passion with the Spaniards, that it may be considered a national vice.
Fortunes were lost and won in a single day, sufficient to render the
proprietors independent for life; and many a desperate gamester, by an
unlucky throw of the dice or turn of the cards, saw himself stripped in a
few hours of the fruits of years of toil, and obliged to begin over again
the business of rapine. Among these, one in the cavalry service is
mentioned, named Leguizano, who had received as his share of the booty
the image of the Sun, which, raised on a plate of burnished gold, spread
over the walls in a recess of the great temple, and which, for some reason
or other,--perhaps because of its superior fineness,--was not recast like
the other ornaments. This rich prize the spendthrift lost in a single night;
whence it came to be a proverb in Spain, Juega el Sol antes que
amanezca, "Play away the Sun before sunrise." 46
The effect of such a surfeit of the precious metals was instantly felt on
prices. The most ordinary articles were only to be had for exorbitant
sums. A quire of paper sold for ten pesos de oro; a bottle of wine, for
sixty; a sword, for forty or fifty; a cloak, for a hundred,--sometimes
more; a pair of shoes cost thirty or forty pesos de oro, and a good horse
could not be had for less than twenty-five hundred.47 Some brought a
still higher price. Every article rose in value, as gold and silver, the
representatives of all, declined. Gold and silver, in short, seemed to be
the only things in Cuzco that were not wealth. Yet there were some few
wise enough to return contented with their present gains to their native
country. Here their riches brought them consideration and competence,
and while they excited the envy of their countrymen, stimulated them to
seek their own fortunes in the like path of adventure.
Book 3
Chapter 9
New Inca Crowned--Municipal Regulations--Terrible March Of Alvarado--
Interview With Pizarro--Foundation Of Lima--
Hernando Pizarro Reaches Spain--Sensation At Court--
Feuds Of Almagro And The Pizarros
1534--1535
The first care of the Spanish general, after the division of the booty, was
to place Manco on the throne, and to obtain for him the recognition of
his countrymen. He, accordingly, presented the young prince to them as
their future sovereign, the legitimate son of Huayna Capac, and the true
heir of the Peruvian sceptre. The annunciation was received with
enthusiasm by the people, attached to the memory of his illustrious
father, and pleased that they were still to have a monarch rule over them
of the ancient line of Cuzco.
Everything was done to maintain the illusion with the Indian population.
The ceremonies of a coronation were studiously observed. The young
prince kept the prescribed fasts and vigils; and on the appointed day, the
nobles and the people, with the whole Spanish soldiery, assembled in the
great square of Cuzco to witness the concluding ceremony. Mass was
publicly performed by Father Valverde, and the Inca Manco received the
fringed diadem of Peru, not from the hand of the high-priest of his
nation, but from his Conqueror, Pizarro. The Indian lords then tendered
their obeisance in the customary form; after which the royal notary read
aloud the instrument asserting the supremacy of the Castilian Crown, and
requiring the homage of all present to its authority. This address was
explained by an interpreter, and the ceremony of homage was performed
by each one of the parties waving the royal banner of Castile twice or
thrice with his hands. Manco then pledged the Spanish commander in a
golden goblet of the sparkling chicha; and, the latter having cordially
embraced the new monarch, the trumpets announced the conclusion of
the ceremony.1 But it was not the note of triumph, but of humiliation;
for it proclaimed that the armed foot of the stranger was in the halls of
the Peruvian Incas; that the ceremony of coronation was a miserable
pageant; that their prince himself was but a puppet in the hands of his
Conquerors; and that the glory of the Children of the Sun had departed
forever!
Yet the people readily gave in to the illusion, and seemed willing to
accept this image of their ancient independence. The accession of the
young monarch was greeted by all the usual fetes and rejoicings. The
mummies of his royal ancestors, with such ornaments as were still left to
them, were paraded in the great square. They were attended each by his
own numerous retinue, who performed all the menial offices, as if the
object of them were alive and could feel their import. Each ghostly form
took its seat at the banquet-table--now, alas! stripped of the magnificent
service with which it was wont to blaze at these high festivals--and the
guests drank deep to the illustrious dead. Dancing succeeded the
carousal, and the festivities, prolonged to a late hour, were continued
night after night by the giddy population, as if their conquerors had not
been intrenched in the capital!2 --What a contrast to the Aztecs in the
conquest of Mexico!
Pizarro's next concern was to organize a municipal government for
Cuzco, like those in the cities of the parent country. Two alcaldes were
appointed, and eight regidores, among which last functionaries were his
brothers Gonzalo and Juan. The oaths of office were administered with
great solemnity, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1534, in presence both
of Spaniards and Peruvians, in the public square; as if the general were
willing by this ceremony to intimate to the latter, that, while they
retained the semblance of their ancient institutions, the real power was
henceforth vested in their conquerors.3 He invited Spaniards to settle in
the place by liberal grants of land and houses, for which means were
afforded by the numerous palaces and public buildings of the Incas; and
many a cavalier, who had been too poor in his own country to find a
place to rest in, now saw himself the proprietor of a spacious mansion
that might have entertained the retinue of a prince.4 From this time, says
an old chronicler, Pizarro, who had hitherto been distinguished by his
military title of "Captain-General," was addressed by that of "Governor."
5 Both had been bestowed on him by the royal grant.
Nor did the chief neglect the interests of religion. Father Valverde,
whose nomination as Bishop of Cuzco not long afterwards received the
Papal sanction, prepared to enter on the duties of his office. A place was
selected for the cathedral of his diocese, facing the plaza. A spacious
monastery subsequently rose on the ruins of the gorgeous House of the
Sun; its walls were constructed of the ancient stones; the altar was raised
on the spot where shone the bright image of the Peruvian deity, and the
cloisters of the Indian temple were trodden by the friars of St. Dominic.6
To make the metamorphosis more complete, the House of the Virgins of
the Sun was replaced by a Roman Catholic nunnery.7 Christian churches
and monasteries gradually supplanted the ancient edifices, and such of
the latter as were suffered to remain, despoiled of their heathen insignia,
were placed under the protection of the Cross.
The Fathers of St. Dominic, the Brethren of the Order of Mercy, and
other missionaries, now busied themselves in the good work of
conversion. We have seen that Pizarro was required by the Crown to
bring out a certain number of these holy men in his own vessels; and
every succeeding vessel brought an additional reinforcement of
ecclesiastics. They were not all like the Bishop of Cuzco, with hearts so
seared by fanaticism as to be closed against sympathy with the
unfortunate natives.8 They were, many of them, men of singular
humility, who followed in the track of the conqueror to scatter the seeds
of spiritual truth, and, with disinterested zeal, devoted themselves to the
propagation of the Gospel. Thus did their pious labors prove them the
true soldiers of the Cross, and showed that the object so ostentatiously
avowed of carrying its banner among the heathen nations was not an
empty vaunt.
The effort to Christianize the heathen is an honorable characteristic of
the Spanish conquests. The Puritan, with equal religious zeal, did
comparatively little for the conversion of the Indian, content, as it would
seem, with having secured to himself the inestimable privilege of
worshipping God in his own way. Other adventurers who have occupied
the New World have often had too little regard for religion themselves,
to be very solicitous about spreading it among the savages. But the
Spanish missionary, from first to last, has shown a keen interest in the
spiritual welfare of the natives. Under his auspices, churches on a
magnificent scale have been erected, schools for elementary instruction
founded, and every rational means taken to spread the knowledge of
religious truth, while he has carried his solitary mission into remote and
almost inaccessible regions, or gathered his Indian disciples into
communities, like the good Las Casas in Cumana, or the Jesuits in
California and Paraguay. At all times, the courageous ecclesiastic has
been ready to lift his voice against the cruelty of the conqueror, and the
no less wasting cupidity of the colonist; and when his remonstrances, as
was too often the case, have proved unavailing, he has still followed to
bind up the broken-hearted, to teach the poor Indian resignation under
his lot, and light up his dark intellect with the revelation of a holier and
happier existence.--In reviewing the blood-stained records of Spanish
colonial history, it is but fair, and at the same time cheering, to reflect,
that the same nation which sent forth the hard-hearted conqueror from its
bosom sent forth the missionary to do the work of beneficence, and
spread the light of Christian civilization over the farthest regions of the
New World.
While the governor, as we are henceforth to style him, lay at Cuzco, he
received repeated accounts of a considerable force in the neighborhood,
under the command of Atahuallpa's officer, Quizquiz. He accordingly
detached Almagro, with a small body of horse and a large Indian force
under the Inca Manco, to disperse the enemy, and, if possible, to capture
their leader. Manco was the more ready to take part in the expedition, as
the enemy were soldiers of Quito, who, with their commander, bore no
good-will to himself.
Almagro, moving with his characteristic rapidity, was not long in coming
up with the Indian chieftain. Several sharp encounters followed, as the
army of Quito fell back on Xauxa, near which a general engagement
decided the fate of the war by the total discomfiture of the natives.
Quizquiz fled to the elevated plains of Quito, where he still held out with
undaunted spirit against a Spanish force in that quarter, till at length his
own soldiers, wearied by these long and ineffectual hostilities, massacred
their commander in cold blood.9 Thus fell the last of the two great
officers of Atahuallpa, who, if their nation had been animated by a spirit
equal to their own, might long have successfully maintained their soil
against the invader.
Some time before this occurrence, the Spanish governor, while in Cuzco,
received tidings of an event much more alarming to him than any Indian
hostilities. This was the arrival on the coast of a strong Spanish force,
under command of Don Pedro de Alvarado, the gallant officer who had
served under Cortes with such renown in the war of Mexico. That
cavalier, after forming a brilliant alliance in Spain, to which he was
entitled by his birth and military rank, had returned to his government of
Guatemala, where his avarice had been roused by the magnificent reports
he daily received of Pizarro's conquests. These conquests, he learned,
had been confined to Peru; while the northern kingdom of Quito, the
ancient residence of Atahuallpa, and, no doubt, the principal depository
of his treasures, yet remained untouched. Affecting to consider this
country as falling without the governor's jurisdiction, he immediately
turned a large fleet, which he had intended for the Spice Islands, in the
direction of South America; and in March, 1534, he landed in the bay of
Caraques, with five hundred followers, of whom half were mounted, and
all admirably provided with arms and ammunition. It was the best
equipped and the most formidable array that had yet appeared in the
southern seas.10
Although manifestly an invasion of the territory conceded to Pizarro by
the Crown, the reckless cavalier determined to march at once on Quito.
With the assistance of an Indian guide, he proposed to take the direct
route across the mountains, a passage of exceeding difficulty, even at the
most favorable season.
After crossing the Rio Dable, Alvarado's guide deserted him, so that he
was soon entangled in the intricate mazes of the sierra; and, as he rose
higher and higher into the regions of winter, he became surrounded with
ice and snow, for which his men, taken from the warm countries of
Guatemala, were but ill prepared. As the cold grew more intense, many
of them were so benumbed, that it was with difficulty they could
proceed. The infantry, compelled to make exertions, fared best. Many
of the troopers were frozen stiff in their saddles. The Indians, still more
sensible to the cold, perished by hundreds. As the Spaniards huddled
round their wretched bivouacs, with such scanty fuel as they could glean,
and almost without food, they waited in gloomy silence the approach of
morning. Yet the morning light, which gleamed coldly on the cheerless
waste, brought no joy to them. It only revealed more clearly the extent
of their wretchedness. Still struggling on through the winding Puertos
Nevados, or Snowy Passes, their track was dismally marked by
fragments of dress, broken harness, golden ornaments, and other
valuables plundered on their march,--by the dead bodies of men, or by
those less fortunate, who were left to die alone in the wilderness. As for
the horses, their carcasses were not suffered long to cumber the ground,
as they were quickly seized and devoured half raw by the starving
soldiers, who, like the famished condors, now hovering in troops above
their heads, greedily banqueted on the most offensive offal to satisfy the
gnawings of hunger.
Alvarado, anxious to secure the booty which had fallen into his hands at
an earlier part of his march, encouraged every man to take what gold he
wanted from the common heap, reserving only the royal fifth. But they
only answered, with a ghastly smile of derision, "that food was the only
gold for them." Yet in this extremity, which might seem to have
dissolved the very ties of nature, there are some affecting instances
recorded of self-devotion; of comrades who lost their lives in assisting
others, and of parents and husbands (for some of the cavaliers were
accompanied by their wives) who, instead of seeking their own safety,
chose to remain and perish in the snows with the objects of their love.
To add to their distress, the air was filled for several days with thick
clouds of earthy particles and cinders, which blinded the men, and made
respiration exceedingly difficult.11 This phenomenon, it seems
probable, was caused by an eruption of the distant Cotopaxi, which,
about twelve leagues southeast of Quito, rears up its colossal and
perfectly symmetrical cone far above the limits of eternal snow,--the
most beautiful and the most terrible of the American volcanoes.12 At
the time of Alvarado's expedition, it was in a state of eruption, the
earliest instance of the kind on record, though doubtless not the
earliest.13 Since that period, it has been in frequent commotion, sending
up its sheets of flame to the height of half a mile, spouting forth cataracts
of lava that have overwhelmed towns and villages in their career, and
shaking the earth with subterraneous thunders, that, at the distance of
more than a hundred leagues, sounded like the reports of artillery!
Alvarado's followers, unacquainted with the cause of the phenomenon, as
they wandered over tracts buried in snow,--the sight of which was
strange to them,--in an atmosphere laden with ashes, became bewildered
by this confusion of the elements, which Nature seemed to have
contrived purposely for their destruction. Some of these men were the
soldiers of Cortes, steeled by many a painful march, and many a sharp
encounter with the Aztecs. But this war of the elements, they now
confessed, was mightier than all.
At length, Alvarado, after sufferings, which even the most hardy,
probably, could have endured but a few days longer, emerged from the
Snowy Pass, and came on the elevated table-land, which spreads out, at
the height of more than nine thousand feet above the ocean, in the
neighborhood of Riobamba. But one fourth of his gallant army had been
left to feed the condor in the wilderness, besides the greater part, at least
two thousand, of his Indian auxiliaries. A great number of his horses,
too, had perished; and the men and horses that escaped were all of them
more or less injured by the cold and the extremity of suffering.--Such
was the terrible passage of the Puertos Nevados, which I have only
briefly noticed as an episode to the Peruvian conquest, but the account of
which, in all its details, though it occupied but a few weeks in duration,
would give one a better idea of the difficulties encountered by the
Spanish cavaliers, than volumes of ordinary narrative.15
As Alvarado, after halting some time to restore his exhausted troops,
began his march across the broad plateau, he was astonished by seeing
the prints of horses' hoofs on the soil. Spaniards, then, had been there
before him, and, after all his toil and suffering, others had forestalled him
in the enterprise against Quito! It is necessary to say a few words in
explanation of this.
When Pizarro quilted Caxamalca, being sensible of the growing
importance of San Miguel, the only port of entry then in the country, he
despatched a person in whom he had great confidence to take charge of
it. This person was Sebastian Benalcazar, a cavalier who afterwards
placed his name in the first rank of the South American conquerors, for
courage, capacity,--and cruelty. But this cavalier had hardly reached his
government, when, like Alvarado, he received such accounts of the
riches of Quito, that he determined, with the force at his command,
though without orders, to undertake its reduction.
At the head of about a hundred and forty soldiers, horse and foot, and a
stout body of Indian auxiliaries, he marched up the broad range of the
Andes, to where it spreads out into the table-land of Quito, by a road
safer and more expeditious than that taken by Alvarado. On the plains of
Riobamba, he encountered the Indian general Ruminavi. Several
engagements followed, with doubtful success, when, in the end, science
prevailed where courage was well matched, and the victorious
Benalcazar planted the standard of Castile on the ancient towers of
Atahuallpa. The city, in honor of his general, Francis Pizarro, he named
San Francisco del Quito. But great was his mortification on finding that
either the stories of its riches had been fabricated, or that these riches
were secreted by the natives. The city was all that he gained by his
victories,--the shell without the pearl of price which gave it its value.
While devouring his chagrin, as he best could, the Spanish captain
received tidings of the approach of his superior, Almagro.16
No sooner had the news of Alvarado's expedition reached Cuzco, than
Almagro left the place with a small force for San Miguel, proposing to
strengthen himself by a reinforcement from that quarter, and to march at
once against the invaders. Greatly was he astonished, on his arrival in
that city, to learn the departure of its commander. Doubting the loyalty
of his motives, Almagro, with the buoyancy of spirit which belongs to
youth, though in truth somewhat enfeebled by the infirmities of age, did
not hesitate to follow Benalcazar at once across the mountains.
With his wonted energy, the intrepid veteran, overcoming all the
difficulties of his march, in a few weeks placed himself and his little
company on the lofty plains which spread around the Indian city of
Riobamba; though in his progress he had more than one hot encounter
with the natives, whose courage and perseverance formed a contrast
sufficiently striking to the apathy of the Peruvians. But the fire only
slumbered in the bosom of the Peruvian. His hour had not yet come.
At Riobamba, Almagro was soon joined by the commander of San
Miguel, who disclaimed, perhaps sincerely, any disloyal intent in his
unauthorized expedition. Thus reinforced, the Spanish captain coolly
awaited the coming of Alvarado. The forces of the latter, though in a
less serviceable condition, were much superior in number and
appointments to those of his rival. As they confronted each other on the
broad plains of Riobamba, it seemed probable that a fierce struggle must
immediately follow, and the natives of the country have the satisfaction
to see their wrongs avenged by the very hands that inflicted them. But it
was Almagro's policy to avoid such an issue.
Negotiations were set on foot, in which each party stated his claims to
the country. Meanwhile Alvarado's men mingled freely with their
countrymen in the opposite army, and heard there such magnificent
reports of the wealth and wonders of Cuzco, that many of them were
inclined to change their present service for that of Pizarro. Their own
leader, too, satisfied that Quito held out no recompense worth the
sacrifices he had made, and was like to make, by insisting on his claim,
became now more sensible of the rashness of a course which must
doubtless incur the censure of his sovereign. In this temper, it was not
difficult for them to effect an adjustment of difficulties; and it was
agreed, as the basis of it, that the governor should pay one hundred
thousand pesos de oro to Alvarado, in consideration of which the latter
was to resign to him his fleet, his forces, and all his stores and munitions.
His vessels, great and small, amounted to twelve in number, and the sum
he received, though large, did not cover his expenses. This treaty being
settled, Alvarado proposed, before leaving the country, to have an
interview with Pizarro.17
The governor, meanwhile, had quitted the Peruvian capital for the
seacoast, from his desire to repel any invasion that might be attempted in
that direction by Alvarado, with whose real movements he was still
unacquainted. He left Cuzco in charge of his brother Juan, a cavalier
whose manners were such as, he thought, would be likely to gain the
good-will of the native population. Pizarro also left ninety of his troops,
as the garrison of the capital, and the nucleus of his future colony. Then,
taking the Inca Manco with him, he proceeded as far as Xauxa. At this
place he was entertained by the Indian prince with the exhibition of a
great national hunt,--such as has been already described in these pages,--
in which immense numbers of wild animals were slaughtered, and the
vicunas, and other races of Peruvian sheep, which roam over the
mountains, driven into inclosures and relieved of their delicate fleeces.18
The Spanish governor then proceeded to Pachacamac, where he received
the grateful intelligence of the accommodation with Alvarado; and not
long afterward he was visited by that cavalier himself, previously to his
embarkation.
The meeting was conducted with courtesy and a show, at least, of
goodwill, on both sides, as there was no longer real cause for jealousy
between the parties; and each, as may be imagined, looked on the other
with no little interest, as having achieved such distinction in the bold
path of adventure. In the comparison, Alvarado had somewhat the
advantage; for Pizarro, though of commanding presence, had not the
brilliant exterior, the free and joyous manner, which, no less than his
fresh complexion and sunny locks, had won for the conqueror of
Guatemala, in his campaigns against the Aztecs, the sobriquet of
Tonatiuh, or "Child of the Sun."
Blithe were the revels that now rang through the ancient city of
Pachacamac; where, instead of songs, and of the sacrifices so often seen
there in honor of the Indian deity, the walls echoed to the noise of
tourneys and Moorish tilts of reeds, with which the martial adventurers
loved to recall the sports of their native land. When these were
concluded, Alvarado reembarked for his government of Guatemala,
where his restless spirit soon involved him in other enterprises that cut
short his adventurous career. His expedition to Peru was eminently
characteristic of the man. It was founded in injustice, conducted with
rashness, and ended in disaster.19
The reduction of Peru might now be considered as, in a manner,
accomplished. Some barbarous tribes in the interior, it is true, still held
out, and Alonso de Alvarado, a prudent and able officer, was employed
to bring them into subjection. Benalcazar was still at Quito, of which he
was subsequently appointed governor by the Crown. There he was
laying deeper the foundation of the Spanish power, while he advanced
the line of conquest still higher towards the north. But Cuzco, the
ancient capital of the Indian monarchy, had submitted. The armies of
Atahuallpa had been beaten and scattered. The empire of the Incas was
dissolved; and the prince who now wore the Peruvian diadem was but
the shadow of a king, who held his commission from his conqueror.
The first act of the governor was to determine on the site of the future
capital of this vast colonial empire. Cuzco, withdrawn among the
mountains, was altogether too far removed from the sea-coast for a
commercial people. The little settlement of San Miguel lay too far to the
north. It was desirable to select some more central position, which could
be easily found in one of the fruitful valleys that bordered the Pacific.
Such was that of Pachacamac, which Pizarro now occupied. But, on
further examination, he preferred the neighboring valley of Rimac, which
lay to the north, and which took its name, signifying in the Qhichua
tongue "one who speaks," from a celebrated idol, whose shrine was
much frequented by the Indians for the oracles it delivered. Through the
valley flowed a broad stream, which, like a great artery, was made, as
usual by the natives, to supply a thousand finer veins that meandered
through the beautiful meadows.
On this river Pizarro fixed the site of his new capital, at somewhat less
than two leagues' distance from its mouth, which expanded into a
commodious haven for the commerce that the prophetic eye of the
founder saw would one day--and no very distant one---float on its waters.
The central situation of the spot recommended it as a suitable residence
for the Peruvian viceroy, whence he might hold easy communication
with the different parts of the country, and keep vigilant watch over his
Indian vassals. The climate was delightful, and, though only twelve
degrees south of the line, was so far tempered by the cool breezes that
generally blow from the Pacific, or from the opposite quarter down the
frozen sides of the Cordilleras, that the heat was less than in
corresponding latitudes on the continent. It never rained on the coast;
but this dryness was corrected by a vaporous cloud, which, through the
summer months, hung like a curtain over the valley, sheltering it from the
rays of a tropical sun, and imperceptibly distilling a refreshing moisture,
that clothed the fields in the brightest verdure.
   
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