History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Part 3 of 3
by William Hickling Prescott

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

Book 3 - Chapter 9 (continued)

The name bestowed on the infant capital was Ciudad de los Reyes, or
City of the Kings, in honor of the day, being the sixth of January, 1535, -
-the festival of Epiphany,--when it was said to have been founded, or
more probably when its site was determined, as its actual foundation
seems to have been twelve days later.20  But the Castilian name ceased
to be used even within the first generation, and was supplanted by that of
Lima, into which the original Indian name of Rimac was corrupted by the
Spaniards.21

The city was laid out on a very regular plan.  The streets were to be
much wider than usual in Spanish towns, and perfectly straight, crossing
one another at right angles, and so far asunder as to afford ample space
for gardens to the dwellings, and for public squares.  It was arranged in a
triangular form, having the river for its base, the waters of which were to
be carried, by means of stone conduits, through all the principal streets,
affording facilities for irrigating the grounds around the houses.

No sooner had the governor decided on the site and on the plan of the
city, than he commenced operations with his characteristic energy.  The
Indians were collected from the distance of more than a hundred miles to
aid in the work.  The Spaniards applied themselves with vigor to the
task, under the eye of their chief.  The sword was exchanged for the tool
of the artisan.  The camp was converted into a hive of diligent laborers;
and the sounds of war were succeeded by the peaceful hum of a busy
population.  The plaza, which was extensive, was to be surrounded by
the cathedral, the palace of the viceroy, that of the municipality, and
other public buildings; and their foundations were laid on a scale, and
with a solidity, which defied the assaults of time, and, in some instances,
even the more formidable shock of earthquakes, that, at different periods,
have laid portions of the fair capital in ruins.22

While these events were going on, Almagro, the Marshal, as he is usually
termed by chroniclers of the time, had gone to Cuzco, whither he was
sent by Pizarro to take command of that capital.  He received also
instructions to undertake, either by himself or by his captains, the
conquest of the countries towards the south, forming part of Chili.
Almagro, since his arrival at Caxamalca, had seemed willing to smother
his ancient feelings of resentment towards his associate, or, at least, to
conceal the expression of them, and had consented to take command
under him in obedience to the royal mandate.  He had even, in his
despatches, the magnanimity to make honorable mention of Pizarro, as
one anxious to promote the interests of government.  Yet he did not so
far trust his companion, as to neglect the precaution of sending a
confidential agent to represent his own services, when Hernando Pizarro
undertook his mission to the mother-country.

That cavalier, after touching at St. Domingo, had arrived without
accident at Seville, in January, 1534.  Besides the royal fifth, he took
with him gold, to the value of half a million of pesos, together with a
large quantity of silver, the property of private adventurers, some of
whom, satisfied with their gains, had returned to Spain in the same vessel
with himself.  The custom-house was filled with solid ingots, and with
vases of different forms, imitations of animals, flowers, fountains, and
other objects, executed with more or less skill, and all of pure gold, to
the astonishment of the spectators, who flocked from the neighboring
country to gaze on these marvellous productions of Indian art.23  Most
of the manufactured articles were the property of the Crown; and
Hernando Pizarro, after a short stay at Seville, selected some of the most
gorgeous specimens, and crossed the country to Calatayud, where the
emperor was holding the cortes of Aragon.

Hernando was instantly admitted to the royal presence, and obtained a
gracious audience.  He was more conversant with courts than either of
his brothers, and his manners, when in situations that imposed a restraint
on the natural arrogance of his temper, were graceful and even attractive,
In a respectful tone, he now recited the stirring adventures of his brother
and his little troop of followers, the fatigues they had endured, the
difficulties they had overcome, their capture of the Peruvian Inca, and
his magnificent ransom.  He had not to tell of the massacre of the
unfortunate prince, for that tragic event, which had occurred since his
departure from the country, was still unknown to him.  The cavalier
expatiated on the productiveness of the soil, and on the civilization of the
people, evinced by their proficiency in various mechanic arts; in proof of
which he displayed the manufactures of wool and cotton, and the rich
ornaments of gold and silver.  The monarch's eyes sparkled with delight
as he gazed on these last.  He was too sagacious not to appreciate the
advantages of a conquest which secured to him a country so rich in
agricultural resources.  But the returns from these must necessarily be
gradual and long deferred; and he may be excused for listening with still
greater satisfaction to Pizarro's tales of its mineral stores; for his
ambitious projects had drained the imperial treasury, and he saw in the
golden tide thus unexpectedly poured in upon him the immediate means
of replenishing it.

Charles made no difficulty, therefore, in granting the petitions of the
fortunate adventurer.  All the previous grants to Francis Pizarro and his
associates were confirmed in the fullest manner; and the boundaries of
the governor's jurisdiction were extended seventy leagues further
towards the south.  Nor did Almagro's services, this time, go unrequited.
He was empowered to discover and occupy the country for the distance
of two hundred leagues, beginning at the southern limit of Pizarro's
territory.24  Charles, in proof, still further, of his satisfaction, was
graciously pleased to address a letter to the two commanders, in which
he complimented them on their prowess, and thanked them for their
services.  This act of justice to Almagro would have been highly
honorable to Hernando Pizarro, considering the unfriendly relations in
which they stood to each other, had it not been made necessary by the
presence of the marshal's own agents at court, who, as already noticed,
stood ready to supply any deficiency in the statements of the emissary.

In this display of the royal bounty, the envoy, as will readily be believed,
did not go without his reward.  He was lodged as an attendant of the
Court; was made a knight of Santiago, the most prized of the chivalric
orders in Spain; was empowered to equip an armament, and to take
command of it; and the royal officers at Seville were required to aid him
in his views and facilitate his embarkation for the Indies.25

The arrival of Hernando Pizarro in the country, and the reports spread by
him and his followers, created a sensation among the Spaniards such as
had not been felt since the first voyage of Columbus.  The discovery of
the New World had filled the minds of men with indefinite expectations
of wealth, of which almost every succeeding expedition had proved the
fallacy.  The conquest of Mexico, though calling forth general
admiration as a brilliant and wonderful exploit, had as yet failed to
produce those golden results which had been so fondly anticipated.  The
splendid promises held out by Francis Pizarro on his recent visit to the
country had not revived the confidence of his countrymen, made
incredulous by repeated disappointment.  All that they were assured of
was the difficulties of the enterprise; and their distrust of its results was
sufficiently shown by the small number of followers, and those only of
the most desperate stamp, who were willing to take their chance in the
adventure.

But now these promises were realized.  It was no longer the golden
reports that they were to trust; but the gold itself, which was displayed in
such profusion before them.  All eyes were now turned towards the West.
The broken spendthrift saw in it the quarter where he was to repair his
fortunes as speedily as he had ruined them.  The merchant, instead of
seeking the precious commodities of the East, looked in the opposite
direction, and counted on far higher gains, where the most common
articles of life commanded so exorbitant prices.  The cavalier, eager to
win both gold and glory at the point of his lance, thought to find a fair
field for his prowess on the mountain plains of the Andes.  Ferdinand
Pizarro found that his brother had judged rightly in allowing as many of
his company as chose to return home, confident that the display of their
wealth would draw ten to his banner for every one that quitted it.

In a short time that cavalier saw himself at the head of one of the most
numerous and well-appointed armaments, probably, that had left the
shores of Spain since the great fleet of Ovando, in the time of Ferdinand
and Isabella.  It was scarcely more fortunate that this.  Hardly had
Ferdinand put to sea, when a violent tempest fell on the squadron, and
compelled him to return to port and refit.  At length he crossed the
ocean, and reached the little harbor of Nombre de Dios in safety.  But no
preparations had been made for his coming, and, as he was detained here
some time before he could pass the mountains, his company suffered
greatly from scarcity of food.  In their extremity, the most unwholesome
articles were greedily devoured, and many a cavalier spent his little
savings to procure himself a miserable subsistence.  Disease, as usual,
trod closely in the track of famine, and numbers of the unfortunate
adventurers, sinking under the unaccustomed heats of the climate,
perished on the very threshold of discovery.

It was the tale often repeated in the history of Spanish enterprise.  A few,
more lucky than the rest, stumble on some unexpected prize, and
hundreds, attracted by their success, press forward in the same path.  But
the rich spoil which lay on the surface has been already swept away by
the first comers, and those who follow are to win their treasure by long-
protracted and painful exertion.--Broken in spirit and in fortune, many
returned in disgust to their native shores, while others remained where
they were, to die in despair.  They thought to dig for gold; but they dug
only their graves.

Yet it fared not thus with all Pizarro's company.  Many of them, crossing
the Isthmus with him to Panama, came in time to Peru, where, in the
desperate chances of its revolutionary struggles, some few arrived at
posts of profit and distinction.  Among those who first reached the
Peruvian shore was an emissary sent by Almagro's agents to inform him
of the important grant made to him by the Crown.  The tidings reached
him just as he was making his entry into Cuzco, where he was received
with all respect by Juan and Gonzalo Pizarro, who, in obedience to their
brother's commands, instantly resigned the government of the capital into
the marshal's hands.  But Almagro was greatly elated on finding himself
now placed by his sovereign in a command that made him independent
of the man who had so deeply wronged him; and he intimated that in the
exercise of his present authority he acknowledged no superior.  In this
lordly humor he was confirmed by several of his followers, who insisted
that Cuzco fell to the south of the territory ceded to Pizarro, and
consequently came within that now granted to the marshal.  Among
these followers were several of Alvarado's men, who, though of better
condition than the soldiers of Pizarro, were under much worse discipline,
and had acquired, indeed, a spirit of unbridled license under that
unscrupulous chief.26  They now evinced little concern for the native
population of Cuzco; and, not content with the public edifices, seized on
the dwellings of individuals, where it suited their conveniences,
appropriating their contents without ceremony,--showing as little respect,
in short, for person or property, as if the place had been taken by
storm.27

While these events were passing in the ancient Peruvian capital, the
governor was still at Lima, where he was greatly disturbed by the
accounts he received of the new honors conferred on his associate.  He
did not know that his own jurisdiction had been extended seventy
leagues further to the south, and he entertained the same suspicion with
Almagro, that the capital of the Incas did not rightly come within his
present limits.  He saw all the mischief likely to result from this opulent
city falling into the hands of his rival, who would thus have an almost in
definite means of gratifying his own cupidity, and that of his followers.
He felt, that, under the present circumstances, it was not safe to allow
Almagro to anticipate the possession of power, to which, as yet, he had
no legitimate right; for the despatches containing the warrant for it still
remained with Hernando Pizarro, at Panama, and all that had reached
Peru was a copy of a garbled extract.

Without loss of time, therefore, he sent instructions to Cuzco for his
brothers to resume the government, while he defended the measure to
Almagro on the ground, that, when he should hereafter receive his
credentials, it would be unbecoming to be found already in possession of
the post.  He concluded by urging him to go forward without delay in his
expedition to the south.

But neither the marshal nor his friends were pleased with the idea of so
soon relinquishing the authority which they now considered as his right.
The Pizarros, on the other hand, were pertinacious in reclaiming it.  The
dispute grew warmer and warmer.  Each party had its supporters; the city
was split into factions; and the municipality, the soldiers, and even the
Indian population, took sides in the struggle for power.  Matters were
proceeding to extremity, menacing the capital with violence and
bloodshed, when Pizarro himself appeared among them.28

On receiving tidings of the fatal consequences of his mandates, he had
posted in all haste to Cuzco, where he was greeted with undisguised joy
by the natives, as well as by the more temperate Spaniards, anxious to
avert the impending storm.  The governor's first interview was with
Almagro, whom he embraced with a seeming cordiality in his manner;
and, without any show of resentment, inquired into the cause of the
present disturbances.  To this the marshal replied, by throwing the blame
on Pizarro's brothers; but, although the governor reprimanded them with
some asperity for their violence, it was soon evident that his sympathies
were on their side, and the dangers of a feud between the two associates
seemed greater than ever.  Happily, it was postponed by the intervention
of some common friends, who showed more discretion than their leaders.
With their aid a reconciliation was at length effected, on the grounds
substantially of their ancient compact.

It was agreed that their friendship should be maintained inviolate; and,
by a stipulation that reflects no great credit on the parties, it was
provided that neither should malign nor disparage the other, especially in
their despatches to the emperor; and that neither should hold
communication with the government without the knowledge of his
confederate; lastly, that both the expenditures and the profits of future
discovery should be shared equally by the associates.  The wrath of
Heaven was invoked by the most solemn imprecations on the head of
whichever should violate this compact, and the Almighty was implored
to visit the offender with loss of property and of life in this world, and
with eternal perdition in that to come! 29  The parties further bound
themselves to the observance of this contract by a solemn oath taken on
the sacrament, as it was held in the hands of Father Bartolome de
Segovia, who concluded the ceremony by performing mass.  The whole
proceeding, and the articles of agreement, were carefully recorded by the
notary, in an instrument bearing date June 12, 1535, and attested by a
long list of witnesses.30

Thus did these two ancient comrades, after trampling on the ties of
friendship and honor, hope to knit themselves to each other by the holy
bands of religion.  That it should have been necessary to resort to so
extraordinary a measure might have furnished them with the best proof
of its inefficacy.

Not long after this accommodation of their differences, the marshal
raised his standard for Chili; and numbers, won by his popular manners,
and by his liberal largesses,--liberal to prodigality,--eagerly joined in the
enterprise, which they fondly trusted would lead even to greater riches
than they had found in Peru.  Two Indians, Paullo Topa, a brother of the
Inca Manco, and Villac Umu, the high-priest of the nation, were sent in
advance, with three Spaniards, to prepare the way for the little army.  A
detachment of a hundred and fifty men, under an officer named
Saavedra, next followed.  Almagro remained behind to collect further
recruits; but before his levies were completed, he began his march,
feeling himself insecure, with his diminished strength, in the
neighborhood of Pizarro!  31  The remainder of his forces, when
mustered, were to follow him.

Thus relieved of the presence of his rival, the governor returned without
further delay to the coast, to resume his labors in the settlement of the
country.  Besides the principal city of "The Kings," he established others
along the Pacific, destined to become hereafter the flourishing marts of
commerce.  The most important of these, in honor of his birthplace, he
named Truxillo, planting it on a site already indicated by Almagro.32
He made also numerous repartimientos both of lands and Indians among
his followers, in the usual manner of the Spanish Conquerors; 33--though
here the ignorance of the real resources of the country led to very
different results from what he had intended, as the territory smallest in
extent, not unfrequently, from the hidden treasures in its bosom, turned
out greatest in value.34

But nothing claimed so much of Pizarro's care as the rising metropolis of
Lima; and, so eagerly did he press forward the work, and so well was he
seconded by the multitude of laborers at his command, that he had the
satisfaction to see his young capital, with its stately edifices and its pomp
of gardens, rapidly advancing towards completion.  It is pleasing to
contemplate the softer features in the character of the rude soldier, as he
was thus occupied with healing up the ravages of war, and laying broad
the foundations of an empire more civilized than that which he had
overthrown.  This peaceful occupation formed a contrast to the life of
incessant turmoil in which he had been hitherto engaged.  It seemed, too,
better suited to his own advancing age, which naturally invited to repose.
And, if we may trust his chroniclers, there was no part of his career in
which he took greater satisfaction.  It is certain there is no part which has
been viewed with greater satisfaction by posterity; and, amidst the woe
and desolation which Pizarro and his followers brought on the devoted
land of the Incas, Lima, the beautiful City of the Kings, still survives as
the most glorious work of his creation, the fairest gem on the shores of
the Pacific.



Book 3

Chapter 10

Escape Of The Inca--Return Of Hernando Pizarro-
Rising Of The Peruvians--Siege And Burning Of Cuzco-
Distresses Of The Spaniards--Storming Of The Fortress-
Pizarro's Dismay--The Inca Raises The Siege

1535--1536

While the absence of his rival Almagro relieved Pizarro from all
immediate disquietude from that quarter, his authority was menaced in
another, where he had least expected it.  This was from the native
population of the country.  Hitherto the Peruvians had shown only a tame
and submissive temper, that inspired their conquerors with too much
contempt to leave room for apprehension.  They had passively
acquiesced in the usurpation of the invaders; had seen one monarch
butchered, another placed on the vacant throne, their temples despoiled
of their treasures, their capital and country appropriated and parcelled
out among the Spaniards; but, with the exception of an occasional
skirmish in the mountain passes, not a blow had been struck in defence
of their rights.  Yet this was the warlike nation which had spread its
conquests over so large a part of the continent!

In his career, Pizarro, though he scrupled at nothing to effect his object,
had not usually countenanced such superfluous acts of cruelty as had too
often stained the arms of his countrymen in other parts of the continent,
and which, in the course of a few years, had exterminated nearly a whole
population in Hispaniola.  He had struck one astounding blow, by the
seizure of Atahuallpa; and he seemed willing to rely on this to strike
terror into the natives.  He even affected some respect for the institutions
of the country, and had replaced the monarch he had murdered by
another of the legitimate line.  Yet this was but a pretext.  The kingdom
had experienced a revolution of the most decisive kind.  Its ancient
institutions were subverted.  Its heaven-descended aristocracy was
levelled almost to the condition of the peasant.  The people became the
serfs of the Conquerors.  Their dwellings in the capital---at least, after
the arrival of Alvarado's officers--were seized and appropriated.  The
temples were turned into stables; the royal residences into barracks for
the troops.  The sanctity of the religious houses was violated.  Thousands
of matrons and maidens, who, however erroneous their faith, lived in
chaste seclusion in the conventual establishments, were now turned
inroad, and became the prey of a licentious soldiery.1  A favorite wife of
the young Inca was debauched by the Castilian officers.  The Inca,
himself treated with contemptuous indifference, found that he was a poor
dependant, if not a tool, in the hands of his conquerors.2

Yet the Inca Manco was a man of a lofty spirit and a courageous heart;
such a one as might have challenged comparison with the bravest of his
ancestors in the prouder days of the empire.  Stung to the quick by the
humiliations to which he was exposed, he repeatedly urged Pizarro to
restore him to the real exercise of power, as well as to the show of it.
But Pizarro evaded a request so incompatible with his own ambitious
schemes, or, indeed, with the policy of Spain, and the young Inca and his
nobles were left to brood over their injuries in secret, and await patiently
the hour of vengeance.

The dissensions among the Spaniards themselves seemed to afford a
favorable opportunity for this.  The Peruvian chiefs held many
conferences together on the subject, and the high-priest Villac Umu
urged the necessity of a rising so soon as Almagro had withdrawn his
forces from the city.  It would then be comparatively easy, by assaulting
the invaders on their several posts, scattered as they were over the
country, to overpower them by superior numbers, and shake off their
detested yoke before the arrival of fresh reinforcements should rivet it
forever on the necks of his countrymen.  A plan for a general rising was
formed, and it was in conformity to it that the priest was selected by the
Inca to bear Almagro company on the march, that he might secure the
cooperation of the natives in the country, and then secretly return--as in
fact he did--to take a part in the insurrection.

To carry their plans into effect, it became necessary that the Inca Manco
should leave the city and present himself among his people.  He found no
difficulty in withdrawing from Cuzco, where his presence was scarcely
heeded by the Spaniards, as his nominal power was held in little
deference by the haughty and confident Conquerors.  But in the capital
there was a body of Indian allies more jealous of his movements.  These
were from the tribe of the Canares, a warlike race of the north, too
recently reduced by the Incas to have much sympathy with them or their
institutions.  There were about a thousand of this people in the place,
and, as they had conceived some suspicion of the Inca's purposes, they
kept an eye on his movements, and speedily reported his absence to Juan
Pizarro.

That cavalier, at the head of a small body of horse, instantly marched in
pursuit of the fugitive, whom he was so fortunate as to discover in a
thicket of reeds, in which he sought to conceal himself, at no great
distance from the city.  Manco was arrested, brought back a prisoner to
Cuzco, and placed under a strong guard in the fortress.  The conspiracy
seemed now at an end; and nothing was left to the unfortunate Peruvians
but to bewail their ruined hopes, and to give utterance to their
disappointment in doleful ballads, which rehearsed the captivity of their
Inca, and the downfall of his royal house.3

While these things were in progress, Hernando Pizarro returned to
Ciudad de los Reyes, bearing with him the royal commission for the
extension of his brother's powers, as well as of those conceded to
Almagro.  The envoy also brought the royal patent conferring on
Francisco Pizarro the title of marques de los Atavillos,--a province in
Peru.  Thus was the fortunate adventurer placed in the ranks of the proud
aristocracy of Castile, few of whose members could boast--if they had
the courage to boast --their elevation from so humble an origin, as still
fewer could justify it by a show of greater services to the Crown.

The new marquess resolved not to forward the commission, at present, to
the marshal, whom he designed to engage still deeper in the conquest of
Chili, that his attention might be diverted from Cuzco which, however,
his brother assured him, now fell, without doubt, within the newly
extended limits of his own territory.  To make more sure of this
important prize, he despatched Hernando to take the government of the
capital into his own hands, as the one of his brothers on whose talents
and practical experience he placed greatest reliance.

Hernando, notwithstanding his arrogant bearing towards his countrymen,
had ever manifested a more than ordinary sympathy with the Indians.  He
had been the friend of Atahuallpa; to such a degree, indeed, that it was
said, if he had been in the camp at the time, the fate of that unhappy
monarch would probably have been averted.  He now showed a similar
friendly disposition towards his successor, Manco.  He caused the
Peruvian prince to be liberated from confinement, and gradually
admitted him into some intimacy with himself.  The crafty Indian availed
himself of his freedom to mature his plans for the rising, but with so
much caution, that no suspicion of them crossed the mind of Hernando.
Secrecy and silence are characteristic of the American, almost as
invariably as the peculiar color of his skin.  Manco disclosed to his
conqueror the existence of several heaps of treasure, and the places
where they had been secreted; and, when he had thus won his
confidence, he stimulated his cupidity still further by an account of a
statue of pure gold of his father Huayna Capac, which the wily Peruvian
requested leave to bring from a secret cave in which it was deposited,
among the neighboring Andes.  Hernando, blinded by his avarice,
consented to the Inca's departure.

He sent with him two Spanish soldiers, less as a guard than to aid him in
the object of his expedition.  A week elapsed, and yet he did not return,
nor were there any tidings to be gathered of him.  Hernando now saw his
error, especially as his own suspicions were confirmed by the
unfavorable reports of his Indian allies.  Without further delay, he
despatched his brother Juan, at the head of sixty horse, in quest of the
Peruvian prince, with orders to bring him back once more a prisoner to
his capital.

That cavalier, with his well-armed troops, soon traversed the environs of
Cuzco without discovering any vestige of the fugitive.  The country was
remarkably silent and deserted, until, as he approached the mountain
range that hems in the valley of Yucay, about six leagues from the city,
he was met by the two Spaniards who had accompanied Manco.  They
informed Pizarro that it was only at the point of the sword he could
recover the Inca, for the country was all in arms, and the Peruvian chief
at its head was preparing to march on the capital.  Yet he had offered no
violence to their persons, but had allowed them to return in safety.

The Spanish captain found this story fully confirmed when he arrived at
the river Yucay, on the opposite bank of which were drawn up the Indian
battalions to the number of many thousand men, who, with their young
monarch at their head, prepared to dispute his passage.  It seemed that
they could not feel their position sufficiently strong, without placing a
river, as usual, between them and their enemy.  The Spaniards were not
checked by this obstacle.  The stream, though deep, was narrow; and
plunging in, they swam their horses boldly across, amidst a tempest of
stones and arrows that rattled thick as hail on their harness, finding
occasionally some crevice or vulnerable point,--although the wounds
thus received only goaded them to more desperate efforts.  The
barbarians fell back as the cavaliers made good their landing; but,
without allowing the latter time to form, they returned with a spirit which
they had hitherto seldom displayed, and enveloped them on all sides with
their greatly superior numbers.  The fight now raged fiercely.  Many of
the Indians were armed with lances headed with copper tempered almost
to the hardness of steel, and with huge maces and battle-axes of the same
metal.  Their defensive armour, also, was in many respects excellent,
consisting of stout doublets of quilted cotton.  shields covered with skins,
and casques richly ornamented with gold and jewels, or sometimes made
like those of the Mexicans, in the fantastic shape of the heads of wild
animals, garnished with rows of teeth that grinned horribly above the
visage of the warrior.4   The whole army wore an aspect of martial
ferocity, under the control of much higher military discipline than the
Spaniards had before seen in the country.

The little band of cavaliers, shaken by the fury of the Indian assault, were
thrown at first into some disorder, but at length, cheering on one another
with the old war-cry of "St. Jago," they formed in solid column, and
charged boldly into the thick of the enemy.  The latter, incapable of
withstanding the shock, gave way, or were trampled down under the feet
of the horses, or pierced by the lances of the riders.  Yet their flight was
conducted with some order; and they turned at intervals, to let off a
volley of arrows, or to deal furious blows with their pole-axes and
warclubs.  They fought as if conscious that they were under the eye of
their Inca.

It was evening before they had entirely quitted the level ground, and
withdrawn into the fastnesses of the lofty range of hills which belt round
the beautiful valley of Yucay.  Juan Pizarro and his little troop encamped
on the level at the base of the mountains.  He had gained a victory, as
usual, over immense odds; but he had never seen a field so well disputed,
and his victory had cost him the lives of several men and horses, while
many more had been wounded, and were nearly disabled by the fatigues
of the day.  But he trusted the severe lesson he had inflicted on the
enemy, whose slaughter was great, would crush the spirit of resistance.
He was deceived.

The following morning, great was his dismay to see the passes of the
mountains filled up with dark lines of warriors, stretching as far as the
eye could penetrate into the depths of the sierra, while dense masses of
the enemy were gathered like thunder-clouds along the slopes and
sumrafts, as if ready to pour down in fury on the assailants.  The ground,
altogether unfavorable to the manoeuvres of cavalry, gave every
advantage to the Peruvians, who rolled down huge rocks from their
elevated position, and sent off incessant showers of missiles on the heads
of the Spaniards.  Juan Pizarro did not care to entangle himself further in
the perilous defile; and, though he repeatedly charged the enemy, and
drove them back with considerable loss, the second night found him with
men and horses wearied and wounded, and as little advanced in the
object of his expedition as on the preceding evening.  From this
embarrassing position, after a day or two more spent in unprofitable
hostilities, he was surprised by a summons from his brother to return
with all expedition to Cuzco, which was now besieged by the enemy!

Without delay, he began his retreat, recrossed the valley, the recent scene
of slaughter, swam the river Yucay, and, by a rapid countermarch,
closely followed by the victorious enemy, who celebrated their success
with songs or rather yells of triumph, he arrived before nightfall in sight
of the capital.

But very different was the sight which there met his eye from what he
had beheld on leaving it a few days before.  The extensive environs, as
far as the eye could reach, were occupied by a mighty host, which an
indefinite computation swelled to the number of two hundred thousand
warriors.5  The dusky lines of the Indian battalions stretched out to the
very verge of the mountains; while, all around, the eye saw only the
crests and waving banners of chieftains, mingled with rich panoplies of
feather-work, which reminded some few who had served under Cortes of
the military costume of the Aztecs.  Above all rose a forest of long lances
and battle-axes edged with copper, which, tossed to and fro in wild
confusion, glittered in the rays of the setting sun, like light playing on the
surface of a dark and troubled ocean.  It was the first time that the
Spaniards had beheld an Indian army in all its terrors; such an army as
the Incas led to battle, when the banner of the Sun was borne triumphant
over the land.

Yet the bold hearts of the cavaliers, if for a moment dismayed by the
sight, soon gathered courage as they closed up their files, and prepared to
open a way for themselves through the beleaguering host.  But the enemy
seemed to shun the encounter; and, falling back at their approach, left a
free entrance into the capital.  The Peruvians were, probably, not willing
to draw as many victims as they could into the toils, conscious that, the
greater the number, the sooner they would become sensible to the
approaches of famine.6

Hernando Pizarro greeted his brother with no little satisfaction; for he
brought an important addition to his force, which now, when all were
united, did not exceed two hundred, horse and foot,7 besides a thousand
Indian auxiliaries; an insignificant number, in comparison with the
countless multitudes that were swarming at the gates.  That night was
passed by the Spaniards with feelings of the deepest anxiety, as they
looked forward with natural apprehension to the morrow.  It was early in
February, 1536, when the siege of Cuzco commenced; a siege
memorable as calling out the most heroic displays of Indian and
European valor, and bringing the two races in deadlier conflict with each
other than had yet occurred in the conquest of Peru.

The numbers of the enemy seemed no less formidable during the night
than by the light of day; far and wide their watch-fires were to be seen
gleaming over valley and hill-top, as thickly scattered, says an
eyewitness, as "the stars of heaven in a cloudless summer night." 8
Before these fires had become pale in the light of the morning, the
Spaniards were roused by the hideous clamor of conch, trumpet, and
atabal, mingled with the fierce war-cries of the barbarians, as they let off
volleys of missiles of every description, most of which fell harmless
within the city.  But others did more serious execution.  These were
burning arrows, and redhot stones wrapped in cotton that had been
steeped in some bituminous substance, which, scattered long trains of
light through the air, fell on the roofs of the buildings, and speedily set
them on fire.9  These roofs, even of the better sort of edifices, were
uniformly of thatch, and were ignited as easily as tinder.  In a moment
the flames burst forth from the most opposite quarters of the city.  They
quickly communicated to the wood-work in the interior of the buildings,
and broad sheets of flame mingled with smoke rose up towards the
heavens, throwing a fearful glare over every object.  The rarefied
atmosphere heightened the previous impetuosity of the wind, which,
fanning the rising flames, they rapidly spread from dwelling to dwelling,
till the whole fiery mass, swayed to and fro by the tempest, surged and
roared with the fury of a volcano.  The heat became intense, and clouds
of smoke, gathering like a dark pall over the city, produced a sense of
suffocation and almost blindness in those quarters where it was driven by
the winds.10

The Spaniards were encamped in the great square, partly under awnings,
and partly in the hall of the Inca Viracocha, on the ground since covered
by the cathedral.  Three times in the course of that dreadful day, the roof
of the building was on fire; but, although no efforts were made to
extinguish it, the flames went out without doing much injury.  This
miracle was ascribed to the Blessed Virgin, who was distinctly seen by
several of the Christian combatants, hovering over the spot on which was
to be raised the temple dedicated to her worship.11

Fortunately, the open space around Hernando's little company separated
them from the immediate scene of conflagration.  It afforded a means of
preservation similar to that employed by the American hunter, who
endeavors to surround himself with a belt of wasted land, when
overtaken by a conflagration in the prairies.  All day the fire continued to
rage, and at night the effect was even more appalling; for by the lurid
flames the unfortunate Spaniards could read the consternation depicted
in each others' ghastly countenances, while in the suburbs, along the
slopes of the surrounding hills, might be seen the throng of besiegers,
gazing with fiendish exultation on the work of destruction.  High above
the town to the north, rose the gray fortress, which now showed ruddy in
the glare, looking grimly down on the ruins of the fair city which it was
no longer able to protect; and in the distance were to be discerned the
shadowy forms of the Andes, soaring up in solitary grandeur into the
regions of eternal silence, far beyond the wild tumult that raged so
fearfully at their base.

Such was the extent of the city, that it was several days before the fury of
the fire was spent.  Tower and temple, hut, palace, and hall, went down
before it.  Fortunately, among the buildings that escaped were the
magnificent House of the Sun and the neighboring Convent of the
Virgins.  Their insulated position afforded the means, of which the
Indians from motives of piety were willing to avail themselves, for their
preservation.12  Full one half of the capital, so long the chosen seat of
Western civilization, the pride of the Incas, and the bright abode of their
tutelar deity, was laid in ashes by the hands of his own children.  It was
some consolation for them to reflect, that it burned over the heads of its
conquerors,-their trophy and their tomb!

During the long period of the conflagration, the Spaniards made no
attempt to extinguish the flames.  Such an attempt would have availed
nothing.  Yet they did not tamely submit to the assaults of the enemy,
and they sallied forth from time to time to repel them.  But the fallen
timbers and scattered rubbish of the houses presented serious
impediments to the movements of horse; and, when these were partially
cleared away by the efforts of the infantry and the Indian allies, the
Peruvians planted stakes and threw barricades across the path, which
proved equally embarrassing.13  To remove them was a work of time
and no little danger, as the pioneers were exposed to the whole brunt of
the enemy's archery, and the aim of the Peruvian was sure.  When at
length the obstacles were cleared away, and a free course was opened to
the cavalry, they rushed with irresistible impetuosity on their foes, who,
falling back in confusion, were cut to pieces by the riders, or pierced
through with their lances.  The slaughter on these occasions was great;
but the Indians, nothing disheartened, usually returned with renewed
courage to the attack, and, while fresh reinforcements met the Spaniards
in front, others, lying in ambush among the ruins, threw the troops into
disorder by assailing them on the flanks.  The Peruvians were expert
both with bow and sling; and these encounters, notwithstanding the
superiority of their arms, cost the Spaniards more lives than in their
crippled condition they could afford to spare,--a loss poorly compensated
by that of tenfold the number of the enemy.  One weapon, peculiar to
South American warfare, was used with some effect by the Peruvians.
This was the lasso, a long rope with a noose at the end, which they
adroitly threw over the rider, or entangled with it the legs of his horse, so
as to bring them both to the ground.  More than one Spaniard fell into the
hands of the enemy by this expedient.

Thus harassed, sleeping on their arms, with their horses picketed by their
side, ready for action at any and every hour, the Spaniards had no rest by
night or by day.  To add to their troubles, the fortress which overlooked
the city, and completely commanded the great square in which they were
quartered, had been so feebly garrisoned in their false sense of security,
that, on the approach of the Peruvians, it had been abandoned without a
blow in its defence.  It was now occupied by a strong body of the enemy,
who, from his elevated position, sent down showers of missiles, from
time to time, which added greatly to the annoyance of the besieged.
Bitterly did their captain now repent the improvident security which had
led him to neglect a post so important.

Their distresses were still further aggravated by the rumors, which
continually reached their ears, of the state of the country.  The rising, it
was said, was general throughout the land; the Spaniards living on their
insulated plantations had all been massacred; Lima and Truxillo and the
principal cities were besieged, and must soon fall into the enemy's hands;
the Peruvians were in possession of the passes, and all communications
were cut off, so that no relief was to be expected from their countrymen
on the coast.  Such were the dismal stories, (which, however
exaggerated, had too much foundation in fact,) that now found their way
into the city from the camp of the besiegers.  And to give greater credit
to the rumors, eight or ten human heads were rolled into the plaza, in
whose blood-stained visages the Spaniards recognized with horror the
lineaments of their companions, who they knew had been dwelling in
solitude on their estates! 15

Overcome by these horrors, many were for abandoning the place at once,
as no longer tenable, and for opening a passage for themselves to the
coast with their own good swords.  There was a daring in the enterprise
which had a charm for the adventurous spirit of the Castilian.  Better,
they said, to perish in a manly struggle for life, than to die thus
ignominiously, pent up like foxes in their holes, to be suffocated by the
hunter!

But the Pizarros, De Rojas, and some other of the principal cavaliers,
refused to acquiesce in a measure which, they said, must cover them with
dishonor.16  Cuzco had been the great prize for which they had
contended; it was the ancient seat of empire, and, though now in ashes,
would again rise from its ruins as glorious as before.  All eyes would be
turned on them, as its defenders, and their failure, by giving confidence
to the enemy, might decide the fate of their countrymen throughout the
land.  They were placed in that post as the post of honor, and better
would it be to die there than to desert it.

There seemed, indeed, no alternative; for every avenue to escape was cut
off by an enemy who had perfect knowledge of the country, and
possession of all its passes.  But this state of things could not last long.
The Indian could not, in the long run, contend with the white man.  The
spirit of insurrection would die out of itself.  Their great army would
melt away, unaccustomed as the natives were to the privations incident to
a protracted campaign.  Reinforcements would be daily coming in from
the colonies; and, if the Castilians would be but true to themselves for a
season, they would be relieved by their own countrymen, who would
never suffer them to die like outcasts among the mountains.

The cheering words and courageous bearing of the cavaliers went to the
hearts of their followers; for the soul of the Spaniard readily responded
to the call of honor, if not of humanity.  All now agreed to stand by their
leader to the last.  But, if they would remain longer in their present
position, it was absolutely necessary to dislodge the enemy from the
fortress; and, before venturing on this dangerous service, Hernando
Pizarro resolved to strike such a blow as should intimidate the besiegers
from further attempt to molest his present quarters.

He communicated his plan of attack to his officers; and, forming his little
troop into three divisions, he placed them under command of his brother
Gonzalo, of Gabriel de Rojas, an officer in whom he reposed great
confidence, and Hernan Ponce de Leon.  The Indian pioneers were sent
forward to clear away the rubbish, and the several divisions moved
simultaneously up the principal avenues towards the camp of the
besiegers.  Such stragglers as they met in their way were easily cut to
pieces, and the three bodies, bursting impetuously on the disordered lines
of the Peruvians, took them completely by surprise.  For some moments
there was little resistance, and the slaughter was terrible.  But the Indians
gradually rallied, and, coming into something like order, returned to the
fight with the courage of men who had long been familiar with danger.
They fought hand to hand with their copper-headed war-clubs and pole-
axes, while a storm of darts, stones, and arrows rained on the well-
defended bodies of the Christians.

The barbarians showed more discipline than was to have been expected;
for which, it is said, they were indebted to some Spanish prisoners, from
several of whom, the Inca, having generously spared their lives, took
occasional lessons in the art of war.  The Peruvians had, also, learned to
manage with some degree of skill the weapons of their conquerors; and
they were seen armed with bucklers, helmets, and swords of European
workmanship, and even, in a few instances, mounted on the horses which
they had taken from the white men.17  The young Inca, in particular,
accoutred in the European fashion, rode a war-horse which he managed
with considerable address, and, with a long lance in his hand led on his
followers to the attack.--This readiness to adopt the superior arms and
tactics of the Conquerors intimates a higher civilization than that which
belonged to the Aztec, who, in his long collision with the Spaniards, was
never so far divested of his terrors for the horse as to venture to mount
him.

But a few days or weeks of training were not enough to give familiarity
with weapons, still less with tactics, so unlike those to which the
Peruvians had been hitherto accustomed.  The fight, on the present
occasion, though hotly contested, was not of long duration.  After a
gallant struggle in which the natives threw themselves fearlessly on the
horse men, endeavoring to tear them from their saddles, they were
obliged to give way before the repeated shock of their chargers.  Many
were trampled under foot, others cut down by the Spanish broadswords,
while the arquebusiers, supporting the cavalry, kept up a running fire that
did terrible execution on the flanks and rear of the fugitives.  At length,
sated with slaughter, and trusting that the chastisement he had inflicted
on the enemy would secure him from further annoyance for the present,
the Castilian general drew back his forces to their quarters in the
capital.18

His next step was the recovery of the citadel.  It was an enterprise of
danger.  The fortress, which overlooked the northern section of the city,
stood high on a rocky eminence, so steep as to be inaccessible on this
quarter, where it was defended only by a single wall.  Towards the open
country, it was more easy of approach; but there it was protected by two
semicircular walls, each about twelve hundred feet in length, and of great
thickness.  They were built of massive stones, or rather rocks, put
together without cement, so as to form a kind of rustic-work.  The level
of the ground between these lines of defence was raised up so as to
enable the garrison to discharge its arrows at the assailants, while their
own persons were protected by the parapet.  Within the interior wall was
the fortress, consisting of three strong towers, one of great height, which,
with a smaller one, was now held by the enemy, under the command of
an Inca noble, a warrior of well-tried valor, prepared to defend it to the
last extremity.

The perilous enterprise was intrusted by Hernando Pizarro to his brother
Juan, a cavalier in whose bosom burned the adventurous spirit of a
knight-errant of romance.  As the fortress was to be approached through
the mountain passes, it became necessary to divert the enemy's attention
to another quarter.  A little while before sunset Juan Pizarro left the city
with a picked corps of horsemen, and took a direction opposite to that of
the fortress, that the besieging army might suppose the object was a
foraging expedition.  But secretly countermarching in the night, he
fortunately found the passes unprotected, and arrived before the outer
wall of the fortress, without giving the alarm to the garrison.19

The entrance was through a narrow opening in the centre of the rampart;
but this was now closed up with heavy stones, that seemed to form one
solid work with the rest of the masonry.  It was an affair of time to
dislodge these huge masses, in such a manner as not to rouse the
garrison.  The Indian nations, who rarely attacked in the night, were not
sufficiently acquainted with the art of war even to provide against
surprise by posting sentinels.  When the task was accomplished, Juan
Pizarro and his gallant troop rode through the gateway, and advanced
towards the second parapet.

But their movements had not been conducted so secretly as to escape
notice, and they now found the interior court swarming with warriors,
who- as the Spaniards drew near, let off clouds of missiles that
compelled them to come to a halt.  Juan Pizarro, aware that no time was
to be lost, ordered one half of his corps to dismount, and, putting himself
at their head, prepared to make a breach as before in the fortifications.
He had been wounded some days previously in the jaw, so that, finding
his helmet caused him pain, he rashly dispensed with it, and trusted for
protection to his buckler.20  Leading on his men, he encouraged them in
the work of demolition, in the face of such a storm of stones, javelins,
and arrows, as might have made the stoutest heart shrink from
encountering it.  The good mail of the Spaniards did not always protect
them; but others took the place of such as fell, until a-breach was made,
and the cavalry, pouring in, rode down all who opposed them.

The parapet was now abandoned, and the enemy, hurrying with
disorderly flight across the inclosure, took refuge on a kind of platform
or terrace, commanded by the principal tower.  Here rallying, they shot
off fresh volleys of missiles against the Spaniards, while the garrison in
the fortress hurled down fragments of rock and timber on their heads.
Juan Pizarro, still among the foremost, sprang forward on the terrace,
cheering on his men by his voice and example; but at this moment he
was struck by a large stone on the head, not then protected by his
buckler, and was stretched on the ground.  The dauntless chief still
continued to animate his followers by his voice, till the terrace was
carried, and its miserable defenders were put to the sword.  His
sufferings were then too much for him, and he was removed to the town
below, where, notwithstanding every exertion to save him, he survived
the injury but a fortnight, and died in great agony.21--To say that he was
a Pizarro is enough to attest his claim to valor.  But it is his praise, that
his valor was tempered by courtesy.  His own nature appeared mild by
contrast with the haughty temper of his brothers, and his manners made
him a favorite of the army.  He had served in the conquest of Peru from
the first, and no name on the roll of its conquerors is less tarnished by the
reproach of cruelty, or stands higher in all the attributes of a true and
valiant knight.22

Though deeply sensible to his brother's disaster, Hernando Pizarro saw
that no time was to be lost in profiting by the advantages already gained.
Committing the charge of the town to Gonzalo, he put himself at the
head of the assailants, and laid vigorous siege to the fortresses.

One surrendered after a short resistance.  The other and more formidable
of the two still held out under the brave Inca noble who commanded it.
He was a man of an athletic frame, and might be seen striding along the
battlements, armed with a Spanish buckler and cuirass, and in his hand
wielding a formidable mace, garnished with points or knobs of copper.
With this terrible weapon he struck down all who attempted to force a
passage into the fortress.  Some of his own followers who proposed a
surrender he is said to have slain with his own hand.  Hernando prepared
to carry the place by escalade.  Ladders were planted against the walls,
but no sooner did a Spaniard gain the topmost round, than he was hurled
to the ground by the strong arm of the Indian warrior.  His activity was
equal to his strength; and he seemed to be at every point the moment that
his presence was needed.

The Spanish commander was filled with admiration at this display of
valor; for he could admire valor even in an enemy.  He gave orders that
the chief should not be injured, but be taken alive, if possible.23  This
was not easy.  At length, numerous ladders having been planted against
the tower, the Spaniards scaled it on several quarters at the same time,
and, leaping into the place, overpowered the few combatants who still
made a show of resistance.  But the Inca chieftain was not to be taken;
and, finding further resistance ineffectual, he sprang to the edge of the
battlements, and, casting away his war-club, wrapped his mantle around
him and threw himself headlong from the summit.24  He died like an
ancient Roman.  He had struck his last stroke for the freedom of his
country, and he scorned to survive her dishonor.--The Castilian
commander left a small force in garrison to secure his conquest, and
returned in triumph to his quarters.

Week after week rolled away, and no relief came to the beleaguered
Spaniards.  They had long since begun to feel the approaches of famine.
Fortunately, they were provided with water from the streams which
flowed through the city.  But, though they had well husbanded their
resources, their provisions were exhausted, and they had for some time
depended on such scanty supplies of grain as they could gather from the
ruined magazines and dwellings, mostly consumed by the fire, or from
the produce of some successful foray.25  This latter resource was
attended with no little difficulty; for every expedition led to a fierce
encounter with the enemy, which usually cost the lives of several
Spaniards, and inflicted a much heavier injury on the Indian allies.  Yet it
was at least one good result of such loss, that it left fewer to provide for.
But the whole number of the besieged was so small, that any loss greatly
increased the difficulties of defence by the remainder.

As months passed away without bringing any tidings of their
countrymen, their minds were haunted with still gloomier apprehensions
as to their fate.  They well knew that the governor would make every
effort to rescue them from their desperate condition.  That he had not
succeeded in this made it probable, that his own situation was no better
than theirs, or, perhaps, he and his followers had already fallen victims to
the fury of the insurgents.  It was a dismal thought, that they alone were
left in the land, far from all human succour, to perish miserably by the
hands of the barbarians among the mountains.

Yet the actual state of things, though gloomy in the extreme, was not
quite so desperate as their imaginations had painted it.  The insurrection,
it is true, had been general throughout the country, at least that portion of
it occupied by the Spaniards.  It had been so well concerted, that it broke
out almost simultaneously, and the Conquerors, who were living in
careless security on their estates, had been massacred to the number of
several hundreds.  An Indian force had sat down before Xauxa, and a
considerable army had occupied the valley of Rimac and laid siege to
Lima.  But the country around that capital was of an open, level
character, very favorable to the action of cavalry.  Pizarro no sooner saw
himself menaced by the hostile array, than he sent such a force against
the Peruvians as speedily put them to flight; and, following up his
advantage, he inflicted on them such a severe chastisement, that,
although they still continued to hover in the distance and cut off his
communications with the interior, they did not care to trust themselves
on the other side of the Rimac.

The accounts that the Spanish commander now received of the state of
the country filled him with the most serious alarm.  He was particularly
solicitous for the fate of the garrison at Cuzco, and he made repeated
efforts to relieve that capital.  Four several detachments, amounting to
more than four hundred men in all, half of them cavalry, were sent by
him at different times, under some of his bravest officers.  But none of
them reached their place of destination.  The wily natives permitted them
to march into the interior of the country, until they were fairly entangled
in the passes of the Cordilleras.  They then enveloped them with greatly
superior numbers, and, occupying the heights, showered down their fatal
missiles on the heads of the Spaniards, or crushed them under the weight
of fragments of rock which they rolled on them from the mountains.  In
some instances, the whole detachment was cut off to a man.  In others, a
few stragglers only survived to return and tell the bloody tale to their
countrymen at Lima.26

Pizarro was now filled with consternation.  He had the most dismal
forebodings of the fate of the Spaniards dispersed throughout the
country, and even doubted the possibility of maintaining his own
foothold in it without assistance from abroad.  He despatched a vessel to
the neighboring colony at Truxillo, urging them to abandon the place,
with all their effects, and to repair to him at Lima.  The measure was,
fortunately, not adopted.  Many of his men were for availing themselves
of the vessels which rode at anchor in the port to make their escape from
the country at once, and take refuge in Panama.  Pizarro would not
hearken to so dastardly a counsel, which involved the desertion of the
brave men in the interior who still looked to him for protection.  He cut
off the hopes of these timid spirits by despatching all the vessels then in
port on a very different mission.  He sent letters by them to the governors
of Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico, representing the gloomy
state of his affairs, and invoking their aid.  His epistle to Alvarado, then
established at Guatemala, is preserved.  He conjures him by every
sentiment of honor and patriotism to come to his assistance, and this
before it was too late.  Without assistance, the Spaniards could no longer
maintain their footing in Peru, and that great empire would be lost to the
Castilian Crown.  He finally engages to share with him such conquests as
they may make with their united arms.27--Such concessions, to the very
man whose absence from the country, but a few months before, Pizarro
would have been willing to secure at almost any price, are sufficient
evidence of the extremity of his distress.  The succours thus earnestly
solicited arrived in time, not to quell the Indian insurrection, but to aid
him in a struggle quite as formidable with his own countrymen.

It was now August.  More than five months had elapsed since the
commencement of the siege of Cuzco, yet the Peruvian legions still lay
encamped around the city.  The siege had been protracted much beyond
what was usual in Indian warfare, and showed the resolution of the
natives to exterminate the white men.  But the Peruvians themselves had
for some time been straitened by the want of provisions.  It was no easy
matter to feed so numerous a host; and the obvious resource of the
magazines of grain, so providently prepared by the Incas, did them but
little service, since their contents had been most prodigally used, and
even dissipated, by the Spaniards, on their first occupation of the
country.28  The season for planting had now arrived, and the Inca well
knew, that, if his followers were to neglect it, they would be visited by a
scourge even more formidable than their invaders.  Disbanding the
greater part of his forces, therefore, he ordered them to withdraw to their
homes, and, after the labors of the field were over, to return and resume
the blockade of the capital.  The Inca reserved a considerable force to
attend on his own person, with which he retired to Tambo, a strongly
fortified place south of the valley of Yucay, the favorite residence of his
ancestors.  He also posted a large body as a corps of observation in the
environs of Cuzco, to watch the movements of the enemy, and to
intercept supplies.

The Spaniards beheld with joy the mighty host, which had so long
encompassed the city, now melting away.  They were not slow in
profiling by the circumstance, and Hernando Pizarro took advantage of
the temporary absence to send out foraging parties to scour the country,
and bring back supplies to his famishing soldiers.  In this he was so
successful that on one occasion no less than two thousand head of cattle-
-the Peruvian sheep--were swept away from the Indian plantations and
brought safely to Cuzco.29 This placed the army above all apprehensions
on the score of want for the present.

Yet these forays were made at the point of the lance, and many a
desperate contest ensued, in which the best blood of the Spanish chivalry
was shed.  The contests, indeed, were not confined to large bodies of
troops, but skirmishes took place between smaller parties, which
sometimes took the form of personal combats.  Nor were the parties so
unequally matched as might have been supposed in these single
rencontres; and the Peruvian warrior, with his sling, his bow, and his
lasso, proved no contemptible antagonist for the mailed horseman, whom
he sometimes even ventured to encounter, hand to hand, with his
formidable battle-axe.  The ground around Cuzco became a battle-field,
like the vega of Granada, in which Christian and Pagan displayed the
characteristics of their peculiar warfare; and many a deed of heroism was
performed, which wanted only the song of the minstrel to shed around it
a glory like that which rested on the last days of the Moslem of Spain.30

But Hernando Pizarro was not content to act wholly on the defensive;
and he meditated a bold stroke, by which at once to put an end to the
war.  This was the capture of the Inca Manco, whom he hoped to surprise
in his quarters at Tambo.

For this service he selected about eighty of his best-mounted cavalry,
with a small body of foot; and, making a large detour through the less
frequented mountain defiles, he arrived before Tambo without alarm to
the enemy.  He found the place more strongly fortified than he had
imagined.  The palace, or rather fortress, of the Incas stood on a lofty
eminence, the steep sides of which, on the quarter where the Spaniards
approached, were cut into terraces, defended by strong walls of stone and
sunburnt brick.31  The place was impregnable on this side.  On the
opposite, it looked towards the Yucay, and the ground descended by a
gradual declivity towards the plain through which rolled its deep but
narrow current.32  This was the quarter on which to make the assault.

Crossing the stream without much difficulty, the Spanish commander
advanced up the smooth glacis with as little noise as possible.  The
morning light had hardly broken on the mountains; and Pizarro, as he
drew near the outer defences, which, as in the fortress of Cuzco,
consisted of a stone parapet of great strength drawn round the inclosure,
moved quickly forward, confident that the garrison were still buried in
sleep.  But thousands of eyes were upon him; and as the Spaniards came
within bowshot, a multitude of dark forms suddenly rose above the
rampart, while the Inca, with his lance in hand, was seen on horseback in
the inclosure, directing the operations of his troops.33  At the same
moment the air was darkened with innumerable missiles, stones, javelins,
and arrows, which fell like a hurricane on the troops, and the mountains
rang to the wild war-whoop of the enemy.  The Spaniards, taken by
surprise, and many of them sorely wounded, were staggered; and, though
they quickly rallied, and made two attempts to renew the assault, they
were at length obliged to fall back, unable to endure the violence of the
storm.  To add to their confusion, the lower level in their rear was
flooded by the waters, which the natives, by opening the sluices, had
diverted from the bed of the river, so that their position was no longer
tenable.34  A council of war was then held, and it was decided to
abandon the attack as desperate, and to retreat in as good order as
possible.

The day had been consumed in these ineffectual operations; and
Hernando, under cover of the friendly darkness, sent forward his infantry
and baggage, taking command of the centre himself, and trusting the rear
to his brother Gonzalo.  The river was happily recrossed without
accident, although the enemy, now confident in their strength, rushed out
of their defences, and followed up the retreating Spaniards, whom they
annoyed with repeated discharges of arrows.  More than once they
pressed so closely on the fugitives, that Gonzalo and his chivalry were
compelled to turn and make one of those desperate charges that
effectually punished their audacity, and stayed the tide of pursuit.  Yet
the victorious foe still hung on the rear of the discomfited cavaliers, till
they had emerged from the mountain passes, and come within sight of
the blackened walls of the capital.  It was the last triumph of the Inca.35


Among the manuscripts for which I am indebted to the liberality of that
illustrious Spanish scholar, the lamented Navarrete, the most remarkable,
in connection with this history, is the work of Pedro Pizarro; Relaciones
del Descubrimiento y Conquista de los Reynos del Peru.  But a single
copy of this important document appears to have been preserved, the
existence of which was but little known till it came into the hands of
Senior de Navarrete; though it did not escape the indefatigable
researches of Herrera, as is evident from the mention of several
incidents, some of them having personal relation to Pedro Pizarro
himself, which the historian of the Indies could have derived through no
other channel.  The manuscript has lately been given to the public as part
of the inestimable collection of historical documents now in process of
publication at Madrid, under auspices which, we may trust, will insure its
success.  As the printed work did not reach me till my present labors
were far advanced, I have preferred to rely on the manuscript copy for
the brief remainder of my narrative, as I had been compelled to do for
the previous portion of it.

Nothing, that I am aware of, is known respecting the author, but what is
to be gleaned from incidental notices of himself in his own history.  He
was born at Toledo in Estremadura, the fruitful province of adventurers
to the New World, whence the family of Francis Pizarro, to which Pedro
was allied, also emigrated.  When that chief came over to undertake the
conquest of Peru, after receiving his commission from the emperor in
1529, Pedro Pizarro, then only fifteen years of age, accompanied him in
quality of page.  For three years he remained attached to the house hold
of his commander, and afterwards continued to follow his banner as a
soldier of fortune.  He was present at most of the memorable events of
the Conquest, and seems to have possessed in a great degree the
confidence of his leader, who employed him on some difficult missions,
in which he displayed coolness and gallantry.  It is true, we must take the
author's own word for all this.  But he tells his exploits with an air of
honesty, and without any extraordinary effort to set them off in undue
relief.  He speaks of himself in the third person, and, as his manuscript
was not intended solely for posterity, he would hardly have ventured
on great misrepresentation, where fraud could so easily have been
exposed.

After the Conquest, our author still remained attached to the fortunes of
his commander, and stood by him through all the troubles which ensued;
and on the assassination of that chief, he withdrew to Arequipa, to enjoy
in quiet the repartimiento of lands and Indians, which had been bestowed
on him as the recompense of his services.  He was there on the breaking
out of the great rebellion under Gonzalo Pizarro.  But he was true to his
allegiance, and chose rather, as he tells us, to be false to his name and his
lineage than to his loyalty.  Gonzalo, in retaliation, seized his estates, and
would have proceeded to still further extremities against him, when
Pedro Pizarro had fallen into his hands at Lima, but for the interposition
of his lieutenant, the famous Francisco de Carbajal, to whom the
chronicler had once the good fortune to render an important service.
This, Carbajal requited by sparing his life on two occasions,--but on the
second coolly remarked, "No man has a right to a brace of lives; and if
you fall into my hands a third time, God only can grant you another."
Happily, Pizarro did not find occasion to put this menace to the test.
After the pacification of the country, he again retired to Arequipa; but,
from the querulous tone of his remarks, it would seem he was not fully
reinstated in the possessions he had sacrificed by his loyal devotion to
government.  The last we hear of him is in 1571, the date which he
assigns as that of the completion of his history.

Pedro Pizarro's narrative covers the whole ground of the Conquest, from
the date of the first expedition that sallied out from Panama, to the
troubles that ensued on the departure of President Gasca.  The first part
of the work was gathered from the testimony of others, and, of course,
cannot claim the distinction of rising to the highest class of evidence.
But all that follows the return of Francis Pizarro from Castile, all, in
short, which constitutes the conquest of the country, may be said to be
reported on his own observation, as an eyewitness and an actor.  This
gives to his narrative a value to which it could have no pretensions on the
score of its literary execution.  Pizarro was a soldier, with as little
education, probably, as usually falls to those who have been trained from
youth in this rough school,--the most unpropitious in the world to both
mental and moral progress.  He had the good sense, moreover, not to
aspire to an excellence which he could not reach.  There is no ambition
of fine writing in his chronicle; there are none of those affectations of
ornament which only make more glaring the beggarly condition of him
who assumes them.  His object was simply to tell the story of the
Conquest, as he had seen it.  He was to deal with facts, not with words,
which he wisely left to those who came into the field after the laborers
had quilted it, to garner up what they could at second hand.

Pizarro's situation may be thought to have necessarily exposed him to
party influences, and thus given an undue bias to his narrative.  It is not
difficult, indeed, to determine under whose banner he had enlisted.  He
writes like a partisan, and yet like an honest one, who is no further
warped from a correct judgment of passing affairs than must necessarily
come from preconceived opinions.  There is no management to work a
conviction in his reader on this side or the other, still less any obvious
perversion of fact.  He evidently believes what he says, and this is the
great point to be desired.  We can make allowance for the natural
influences of his position.  Were he more impartial than this, the critic of
the present day, by making allowance for a greater amount of prejudice
and partiality, might only be led into error.

Pizarro is not only independent, but occasionally caustic in his
condemnation of those under whom he acted.  This is particularly the
case where their measures bear too unfavorably on his own interests, or
those of the army.  As to the unfortunate natives, he no more regards
their sufferings than the Jews of old did those of the Philistines, whom
they considered as delivered up to their swords, and whose lands they
regarded as their lawful heritage.  There is no mercy shown by the hard
Conqueror in his treatment of the infidel.

Pizarro was the representative of the age in which he lived.  Yet it is too
much to cast such obloquy on the age.  He represented more truly the
spirit of the fierce warriors who overturned the dynasty of the Incas.  He
was not merely a crusader, fighting to extend the empire of the Cross
over the darkened heathen.  Gold was his great object; the estimate by
which he judged of the value of the Conquest; the recompense that he
asked for a life of toil and danger.  It was with these golden visions, far
more than with visions of glory, above all, of celestial glory, that the
Peruvian adventurer fed his gross and worldly imagination.  Pizarro did
not rise above his caste.  Neither did he rise above it in a mental view,
any more than in a moral.  His history displays no great penetration, or
vigor and comprehension of thought.  It is the work of a soldier, telling
simply his tale of blood.  Its value is, that it is told by him who acted it.
And this, to the modern compiler, renders it of higher worth than far
abler productions at second hand.  It is the rude ore, which, submitted to
the regular process of purification and refinement, may receive the
current stamp that fits it for general circulation.

Another authority, to whom I have occasionally referred, and whose
writings still slumber in manuscript, is the Licentiate Fernando
Montesinos.  He is, in every respect, the opposite of the military
chronicler who has just come under our notice.  He flourished about a
century after the Conquest.  Of course, the value of his writings as an
authority for historical facts must depend on his superior opportunities
for consulting original documents.  For this his advantages were great.
He was twice sent in an official capacity to Peru, which required him to
visit the different parts of the country.  These two missions occupied
fifteen years; so that, while his position gave him access to the colonial
archives and literary repositories, he was enabled to verify his
researches, to some extent, by actual observation of the country.

The result was his two historical works, Memorias Antiguas Historiales
del Peru, and his Annales, sometimes cited in these pages.  The former is
taken up with the early history of the country,--very early, it must be
admitted, since it goes back to the deluge.  The first part of this treatise is
chiefly occupied with an argument to show the identity of Peru with the
golden Ophir of Solomon's time!  This hypothesis, by no means original
with the author, may give no unfair notion of the character of his mind.
In the progress of his work he follows down the line of Inca princes,
whose exploits, and names even, by no means coincide with Garcilasso's
catalogue; a circumstance, however, far from establishing their
inaccuracy.  But one will have little doubt of the writer's title to this
reproach, that reads the absurd legends told in the grave tone of reliance
by Montesinos, who shared largely in the credulity and the love of the
marvellous which belong to an earlier and less enlightened age.

These same traits are visible in his Annals, which are devoted
exclusively to the Conquest.  Here, indeed, the author, after his cloudy
flight, has descended on firm ground, where gross violations of truth, or,
at least, of probability, are not to be expected.  But any one who has
occasion to compare his narrative with that of contemporary writers will
find frequent cause to distrust it.  Yet Montesinos has one merit.  In his
extensive researches, he became acquainted with original instruments,
which he has occasionally transferred to his own pages, and which it
would be now difficult to meet elsewhere.

His writings have been commended by some of his learned countrymen,
as showing diligent research and information.  My own experience
would not assign them a high rank as historical vouchers.  They seem to
me entitled to little praise, either for the accuracy of their statements, or
the sagacity of their reflections.  The spirit of cold indifference which
they manifest to the sufferings of the natives is an odious feature, for
which there is less apology in a writer of the seventeenth century than in
one of the primitive Conquerors, whose passions had been inflamed by
longprotracted hostility.  M. Ternaux-Compans has translated the
Memorias Antiguas with his usual elegance and precision, for his
collection of original documents relating to the New World.  He speaks
in the Preface of doing the same kind office to the Annales, at a future
time.  I am not aware that he has done this; and I cannot but think that
the excellent translator may find a better subject for his labors in some of
the rich collection of the Munoz manuscripts in his possession.



History of the Conquest of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

Book 4

Civil Wars Of The Conquerors

Chapter 1

Almagro's March To Chili--Suffering Of The Troops-
He Returns And Seizes Cuzco--Action Of Abancay-
Gaspar De Espinosa--Almagro Leaves Cuzco-
Negotiations With Pizarro

1535--1537

While the events recorded in the preceding chapter were passing, the
Marshal Almagro was engaged in his memorable expedition to Chili.  He
had set out, as we have seen, with only part of his forces, leaving his
lieutenant to follow him with the remainder.  During the first part of the
way, he profited by the great military road of the Incas, which stretched
across the table-land far towards the south.  But as he drew near to Chili,
the Spanish commander became entangled in the defiles of the
mountains, where no vestige of a road was to be discerned.  Here his
progress was impeded by all the obstacles which belong to the wild
scenery of the Cordilleras; deep and ragged ravines, round whose sides a
slender sheep-path wound up to a dizzy height over the precipices below;
rivers rushing in fury down the slopes of the mountains, and throwing
themselves in stupendous cataracts into the yawning abyss; dark forests
of pine that seemed to have no end, and then again long reaches of
desolate tableland, without so much as a bush or shrub to shelter the
shivering traveller from the blast that swept down from the frozen
summits of the sierra.

The cold was so intense, that many lost the nails of their fingers, their
fingers themselves, and sometimes their limbs.  Others were blinded by
the dazzling waste of snow, reflecting the rays of a sun made intolerably
brilliant in the thin atmosphere of these elevated regions.  Hunger came,
as usual, in the train of woes; for in these dismal solitudes no vegetation
that would suffice for the food of man was visible, and no living thing,
except only the great bird of the Andes, hovering over their heads in
expectation of his banquet.  This was too frequently afforded by the
number of wretched Indians, who, unable, from the scantiness of their
clothing, to encounter the severity of the climate, perished by the way.
Such was the pressure of hunger, that the miserable survivors fed on the
dead bodies of their countrymen, and the Spaniards forced a similar
sustenance from the carcasses of their horses, literally frozen to death in
the mountain passes.1--Such were the terrible penalties which Nature
imposed on those who rashly intruded on these her solitary and most
savage haunts.

Yet their own sufferings do not seem to have touched the hearts of the
Spaniards with any feeling of compassion for the weaker natives.  Their
path was everywhere marked by burnt and desolated hamlets, the
inhabitants of which were compelled to do them service as beasts of
burden.  They were chained together in gangs of ten or twelve, and no
infirmity or feebleness of body excused the unfortunate captive from his
full share of the common toil, till he sometimes dropped dead, in his very
chains, from mere exhaustion! 2  Alvarado's company are accused of
having been more cruel than Pizarro's; and many of Almagro's men, it
may be remembered, were recruited from that source.  The commander
looked with displeasure, it is said, on these enormities, and did what he
could to repress them.  Yet he did not set a good example in his own
conduct, if it be true that he caused no less than thirty Indian chiefs to be
burnt alive, for the massacre of three of his followers! 3  The heart
sickens at the recital of such atrocities perpetrated on an unoffending
people, or, at least, guilty of no other crime than that of defending their
own soil too well.

There is something in the possession of superior strength most
dangerous, in a moral view, to its possessor.  Brought in contact with
semicivilized man, the European, with his endowments and effective
force so immeasurably superior, holds him as little higher than the brute,
and as born equally for his service.  He feels that he has a natural right,
as it were, to his obedience, and that this obedience is to be measured,
not by the powers of the barbarian, but by the will of his conqueror.
Resistance becomes a crime to he washed out only in the blood of the
victim.  The tale of such atrocities is not confined to the Spaniard.
Wherever the civilized man and the savage have come in contact, in the
East or in the West, the story has been too often written in blood.

From the wild chaos of mountain scenery the Spaniards emerged on the
green vale of Coquimbo, about the thirtieth degree of south latitude.
Here they halted to refresh themselves in its abundant plains, after their
unexampled sufferings and fatigues.  Meanwhile Almagro despatched an
officer with a strong party in advance, to ascertain the character of the
country towards the south.  Not long after, he was cheered by the arrival
of the remainder of his forces under his lieutenant Rodrigo de Orgonez.
This was a remarkable person, and intimately connected with the
subsequent fortunes of Almagro.

He was a native of Oropesa, had been trained in the Italian wars, and
held the rank of ensign in the army of the Constable of Bourbon at the
famous sack of Rome.  It was a good school in which to learn his iron
trade, and to steel the heart against any too ready sensibility to human
suffering.  Orgonez was an excellent soldier; true to his commander,
prompt, fearless, and unflinching in the execution of his orders.  His
services attracted the notice of the Crown, and, shortly after this period,
he was raised to the rank of Marshal of New Toledo.  Yet it may be
doubted whether his character did not qualify him for an executive and
subordinate station rather than for one of higher responsibility.

Almagro received also the royal warrant, conferring on him his new
powers and territorial jurisdiction.  The instrument had been detained by
the Pizarros to the very last moment.  His troops, long since disgusted
with their toilsome and unprofitable march, were now clamorous to
return.  Cuzco, they said, undoubtedly fell within the limits of his
government, and it was better to take possession of its comfortable
quarters than to wander like outcasts in this dreary wilderness.  They
reminded their commander that thus only could he provide for the
interests of his son Diego.  This was an illegitimate son of Almagro, on
whom his father doated with extravagant fondness, justified more than
usual by the promising character of the youth.

After an absence of about two months, the officer sent on the exploring
expedition returned, bringing unpromising accounts of the southern
regions of Chili.  The only land of promise for the Castilian was one that
teemed with gold.4  He had penetrated to the distance of a hundred
leagues, to the limits, probably, of the conquests of the Incas on the river
Maule.5  The Spaniards had fortunately stopped short of the land of
Arauco, where the blood of their countrymen was soon after to be poured
out like water, and which still maintains a proud independence amidst
the general humiliation of the Indian races around it.

Almagro now yielded, with little reluctance, to the renewed importunities
of the soldiers, and turned his face towards the North.  It is unnecessary
to follow his march in detail.  Disheartened by the difficulty of the
mountain passage, he took the road along the coast, which led him across
the great desert of Atacama.  In crossing this dreary waste, which
stretches for nearly a hundred leagues to the northern borders of Chili,
with hardly a green spot in its expanse to relieve the fainting traveller,
Almagro and his men experienced as great sufferings, though not of the
same kind, as those which they had encountered in the passes of the
Cordilleras.  Indeed, the captain would not easily be found at this day,
who would venture to lead his army across this dreary region.  But the
Spaniard of the sixteenth century had a strength of limb and a buoyancy
of spirit which raised him to a contempt of obstacles, almost justifying
the boast of the historian, that "he contended indifferently, at the same
time, with man, with the elements, and with famine!" 6

After traversing the terrible desert, Almagro reached the ancient town of
Arequipa, about sixty leagues from Cuzco.  Here he learned with
astonishment the insurrection of the Peruvians, and further, that the
young Inca Manco still lay with a formidable force at no great distance
from the capital.  He had once been on friendly terms with the Peruvian
prince, and he now resolved, before proceeding farther, to send an
embassy to his camp, and arrange an interview with him in the
neighborhood of Cuzco.

Almagro's emissaries were well received by the Inca, who alleged his
grounds of complaint against the Pizarros, and named the vale of Yucay
as the place where he would confer with the marshal.  The Spanish
commander accordingly resumed his march, and, taking one half of his
force, whose whole number fell somewhat short of five hundred men, he
repaired in person to the place of rendezvous; while the remainder of his
army established their quarters at Urcos, about six leagues from the
capital.7

The Spaniards in Cuzco, startled by the appearance of this fresh body of
troops in their neighborhood, doubted, when they learned the quarter
whence they came, whether it betided them good or evil.  Hernando
Pizarro marched out of the city with a small force, and, drawing near to
Urcos, heard with no little uneasiness of Almagro's purpose to insist on
his pretensions to Cuzco.  Though much inferior in strength to his rival,
he determined to resist him.

Meanwhile, the Peruvians, who had witnessed the conference between
the soldiers of the opposite camps, suspected some secret understanding
between the parties, which would compromise the safety of the Inca.
They communicated their distrust to Manco, and the latter, adopting the
same sentiments, or perhaps, from the first, meditating a surprise of the
Spaniards, suddenly fell upon the latter in the valley of Yucay with a
body of fifteen thousand men.  But the veterans of Chili were too
familiar with Indian tactics to be taken by surprise.  And though a sharp
engagement ensued, which lasted more than an hour, in which Orgonez
had a horse killed under him, the natives were finally driven back with
great slaughter, and the Inca was so far crippled by the blow, that he was
not likely for the present to give further molestation.8

Almagro, now joining the division left at Urcos, saw no further
impediment to his operations on Cuzco.  He sent, at once, an embassy to
the municipality of the place, requiring the recognition of him as its
lawful governor, and presenting at the same time a copy of his
credentials from the Crown.  But the question of jurisdiction was not one
easy to be settled, depending, as it did, on a knowledge of the true
parallels of latitude, not very likely to be possessed by the rude followers
of Pizarro.  The royal grant had placed under his jurisdiction all the
country extending two hundred and seventy leagues south of the river at
Santiago, situated one degree and twenty minutes north of the equator.
Two hundred and seventy leagues on the meridian, by our measurement,
would fall more than a degree short of Cuzco, and, indeed, would barely
include the city of Lima itself.  But the Spanish leagues, of only
seventeen and a half to a degree,9 would remove the southern boundary
to nearly half a degree beyond the capital of the Incas, which would thus
fall within the jurisdiction of Pizarro.10  Yet the division-line ran so
close to the disputed ground, that the true result might reasonably be
doubted, where no careful scientific observations had been made to
obtain it; and each party was prompt to assert, as they always are in such
cases, that its own claim was clear and unquestionable.11

Thus summoned by Almagro, the authorities of Cuzco, unwilling to give
umbrage to either of the contending chiefs, decided that they must wait
until they could take counsel--which they promised to do at once--with
certain pilots better instructed than themselves in the position of the
Santiago.  Meanwhile, a truce was arranged between the parties, each
solemnly engaging to abstain from hostile measures, and to remain quiet
in their present quarters.

The weather now set in cold and rainy.  Almagro's soldiers, greatly
discontented with their position, flooded as it was by the waters, were
quick to discover that Hernando Pizarro was busily employed in
strengthening himself in the city, contrary to agreement.  They also
learned with dismay, that a large body of men, sent by the governor from
Lima, under command of Alonso de Alvarado, was on the march to
relieve Cuzco.  They exclaimed that they were betrayed, and that the
truce had been only an artifice to secure their inactivity until the arrival
of the expected succours.  In this state of excitement, it was not very
difficult to persuade their commander--too ready to surrender his own
judgment to the rash advisers around him--to violate the treaty, and take
possession of the capital.12

Under cover of a dark and stormy night (April 8th, 1537), he entered the
place without opposition, made himself master of the principal church,
established strong parties of cavalry at the head of the great avenues to
prevent surprise, and detached Orgonez with a body of infantry to force
the dwelling of Hernando Pizarro.  "That captain was lodged with his
brother Gonzalo in one of the large halls built by the Incas for public
diversions, with immense doors of entrance that opened on the plaza.  It
was garrisoned by about twenty soldiers, who, as the gates were burst
open, stood stoutly to the defence of their leader.  A smart struggle
ensued, in which some lives were lost, till at length Orgonez, provoked
by the obstinate resistance, set fire to the combustible roof of the
building.  It was speedily in flames, and the burning rafters falling on the
heads of the inmates, they forced their reluctant leader to an
unconditional surrender.  Scarcely had the Spaniards left the building,
when the whole roof fell in with a tremendous crash.13

Almagro was now master of Cuzco.  He ordered the Pizarros, with
fifteen or twenty of the principal cavaliers, to be secured and placed in
confinement.  Except so far as required for securing his authority, he
does not seem to have been guilty of acts of violence to the
inhabitants, and he installed one of Pizarro's most able officers,
Gabriel de Rojas, in the government of the city.  The municipality,
whose eyes were now open to the validity of Almagro's pretensions,
made no further scruple to recognize his title to Cuzco.

The marshal's first step was to send a message to Alonso de Alvarado's
camp, advising that officer of his occupation of the city, and requiring
his obedience to him as its legitimate master.  Alvarado was lying, with a
body of five hundred men, horse and foot, at Xauxa, about thirteen
leagues from the capital.  He had been detached several months
previously for the relief of Cuzco; but had, most unaccountably, and, as
it proved, most unfortunately for the Peruvian capital, remained at Xauxa
with the alleged motive of protecting that settlement and the surrounding
country against the insurgents.15  He now showed himself loyal to his
commander; and, when Almagro's ambassadors reached his camp, he put
them in irons, and sent advice of what had been done to the governor at
Lima.

Almagro, offended by the detention of his emissaries, prepared at once to
march against Alonso de Alvarado, and take more effectual means to
bring him to submission.  His lieutenant, Orgonez, strongly urged him
before his departure to strike off the heads of the Pizarros, alleging,
"that, while they lived, his commander's life would never be safe"; and
concluding with the Spanish proverb, "Dead men never bite." 16  But the
marshal, though he detested Hernando in his heart, shrunk from so
violent a measure; and, independently of other considerations, he had
still an attachment for his old associate, Francis Pizarro, and was
unwilling to sever the ties between them for ever.  Contenting himself,
therefore, with placing his prisoners trader strong guard in one of the
stone buildings belonging to the House of the Sun, he put himself at the
head of his forces, and left the capital in quest of Alvarado.

That officer had now taken up a position on the farther side of the Rio de
Abancay, where he lay, with the strength of his little army, in front of a
bridge, by which its rapid waters are traversed, while a strong
detachment occupied a spot commanding a ford lower down the river.
But in this detachment was a cavalier of much consideration in the army,
Pedro de Lerma, who, from some pique against his commander, had
entered into treasonable correspondence with the opposite party.  By his
advice, Almagro, on reaching the border of the river, established himself
against the bridge in face of Alvarado, as if prepared to force a passage,
thus concentrating his adversary's attention on that point.  But, when
darkness had set in, he detached a large body under Orgonez to pass the
ford, and operate in concert with Lerma.  Orgonez executed this
commission with his usual promptness.  The ford was crossed, though
the current ran so swiftly, that several of his men were swept away by it,
and perished in the waters.  Their leader received a severe wound
himself in the mouth, as he was gaining the opposite bank, but, nothing
daunted, he cheered on his men, and fell with fury on the enemy.  He was
speedily joined by Lerma, and such of the soldiers as he had gained over,
and, unable to distinguish friend from foe, the enemy's confusion was
complete.

Meanwhile, Alvarado, roused by the noise of the attack on this quarter,
hastened to the support of his officer, when Almagro, seizing the
occasion, pushed across the bridge, dispersed the small body left to
defend it, and, falling on Alvarado's rear, that general saw himself
hemmed in on all sides.  The struggle did not last long; and the
unfortunate chief, uncertain on whom he could rely, surrendered with all
his force,--those only excepted who had already-deserted to the enemy.
Such was the battle of Abancay, as it was called, from the river on whose
banks it was fought, on the twelfth of July, 1537.- Never was a victory
more complete, or achieved with less cost of life; and Almagro marched
back, with an array of prisoners scarcely inferior to his own army in
number, in triumph to Cuzco.17

While the events related in the preceding pages were passing, Francisco
Pizarro had remained at Lima, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the
reinforcements which he had requested, to enable him to march to the
relief of the beleaguered capital of the Incas.  His appeal had not been
unanswered.  Among the rest was a corps of two hundred and fifty men,
led by the Licentiate Gaspar de Espinosa, one of the three original
associates, it may be remembered, who engaged in the conquest of Peru.
He had now left his own residence at Panama, and came in person, for
the first time, it would seem, to revive the drooping fortunes of his
confederates.  Pizarro received also a vessel laden with provisions,
military stores, and other necessary supplies, besides a rich wardrobe for
himself, from Cortes, the Conqueror of Mexico, who generously
stretched forth his hand to aid his kinsman in the hour of need.18

With a force amounting to four hundred and fifty men, half of them
cavalry, the governor quitted Lima, and began his march on the Inca
capital.  He had not advanced far, when he received tidings of the return
of Almagro, the seizure of Cuzco, and the imprisonment of his brothers;
and, before he had time to recover from this astounding intelligence, he
learned the total defeat and capture of Alvarado.  Filled with
consternation at these rapid successes of his rival, he now returned in all
haste to Lima, which he put in the best posture of defence, to secure it
against the hostile movements, not unlikely, as he thought, to be directed
against that capital itself.  Meanwhile, far from indulging in impotent
sallies of resentment, or in complaints of his ancient comrade, he only
lamented that Almagro should have resorted to these violent measures
for the settlement of their dispute, and this less-if we may take his word
for it--from personal considerations than from the prejudice it might do
to the interests of the Crown.19

But, while busily occupied with warlike preparations, he did not omit to
try the effect of negotiation.  He sent an embassy to Cuzco, consisting of
several persons in whose discretion he placed the greatest confidence,
with Espinosa at their head, as the party most interested in an amicable
arrangement.

The licentiate, on his arrival, did not find Almagro in as favorable a
mood for an accommodation as he could have wished.  Elated by his
recent successes, he now aspired not only to the possession of Cuzco, but
of Lima itself, as falling within the limits of his jurisdiction.  It was in
vain that Espinosa urged the propriety, by every argument which
prudence could suggest, of moderating his demands.  His claims upon
Cuzco, at least, were not to be shaken, and he declared himself ready to
peril his life in maintaining them.  The licentiate coolly replied by
quoting the pithy Castilian proverb, El vencido vencido, y el vencidor
perdido; "The vanquished vanquished, and the victor undone."

What influence the temperate arguments of the licentiate might
eventually have had on the heated imagination of the soldier is doubtful;
but unfortunately for the negotiation, it was abruptly terminated by the
death of Espinosa himself, which took place most unexpectedly, though,
strange to say, in those times, without the imputation of poison.20  He
was a great loss to the parties in the existing fermentation of their minds;
for he had the weight of character which belongs to wise and moderate
counsels, and a deeper interest than any other man in recommending
them.

The name of Espinosa is memorable in history from his early connection
with the expedition to Peru, which, but for the seasonable, though secret,
application of his funds, could not then have been compassed.  He had
long been a resident in the Spanish colonies of Tierra Firme and Panama,
where he had served in various capacities, sometimes as a legal
functionary presiding in the courts of justice,21 and not unfrequently as
an efficient leader in the early expeditions of conquest and discovery.  In
these manifold vocations he acquired high reputation for probity,
intelligence, and courage, and his death at the present crisis was
undoubtedly the most unfortunate event that could befall the country.

All attempt at negotiation was now abandoned; and Almagro announced
his purpose to descend to the sea-coast, where he could plant a colony
and establish a port for himself.  This would secure him the means, so
essential, of communication with the mother-country, and here he would
resume negotiations for the settlement of his dispute with Pizarro.
Before quitting Cuzco, he sent Orgonez with a strong force against the
Inca, not caring to leave the capital exposed in his absence to further
annoyance from that quarter.

But the Inca, discouraged by his late discomfiture, and unable, perhaps,
to rally in sufficient strength for resistance, abandoned his stronghold at
Tambo, and retreated across the mountains.  He was hotly pursued by
Orgonez over hill and valley, till, deserted by his followers, and with
only one of his wives to bear him company, the royal fugitive took
shelter in the remote fastnesses of the Andes.22

Before leaving the capital, Orgonez again urged his commander to strike
off the heads of the Pizarros, and then march at once upon Lima.  By this
decisive step he would bring the war to an issue, and forever secure
himself from the insidious machinations of his enemies.  But, in the mean
time, a new friend had risen up to the captive brothers.  This was Diego
de Alvarado, brother of that Pedro, who, as mentioned in a preceding
chapter, had conducted the unfortunate expedition to Quito.  After his
brother's departure, Diego had attached himself to the fortunes of
Almagro, had accompanied him to Chili, and, as he was a cavalier of
birth, and possessed of some truly noble qualities, he had gained
deserved ascendency over his commander.  Alvarado had frequently
visited Hernando Pizarro in his confinement, where, to beguile the
tediousness of captivity, he amused himself with gaming,--the passion of
the Spaniard.  They played deep, and Alvarado lost the enormous sum of
eighty thousand gold castellanos.  He was prompt in paying the debt, but
Hernando Pizarro peremptorily declined to receive the money.  By this
politic generosity, he secured an important advocate in the council of
Almagro.  It stood him now in good stead.  Alvarado represented to the
marshal, that such a measure as that urged by Orgonez would not only
outrage the feelings of his followers, but would ruin his fortunes by the
indignation it must excite at court.  When Almagro acquiesced in these
views, as in truth most grateful to his own nature, Orgonez, chagrined at
his determination, declared that the day would come when he would
repent this mistaken lenity.  "A Pizarro," he said, "was never known to
forget an injury; and that which they had already received from Almagro
was too deep for them to forgive."  Prophetic words!

On leaving Cuzco, the marshal gave orders that Gonzalo Pizarro and the
other prisoners should be detained in strict custody.  Hernando he took
with him, closely guarded, on his march.  Descending rapidly towards
the coast, he reached the pleasant vale of Chincha in the latter part of
August.  Here he occupied himself with laying the foundations of a town
bearing his own name, which might serve as a counterpart to the City of
the Kings,--thus bidding defiance, as it were, to his rival on his own
borders.  While occupied in this manner, he received the unwelcome
tidings, that Gonzalo Pizarro, Alonso de Alvarado, and the other
prisoners, having tampered with their guards, had effected their escape
from Cuzco, and he soon after heard of their safe arrival in the camp of
Pizarro.

Chafed by this intelligence, the marshal was not soothed by the
insinuations of Orgonez, that it was owing to his ill-advised lenity; that it
might have gone hard with Hernando, but that Almagro's attention was
diverted by the negotiation which Francisco Pizarro now proposed to
resume.

After some correspondence between the parties, it was agreed to submit
the arbitration of the dispute to a single individual, Fray Francisco de
Bovadilla, a Brother of the Order of Mercy.  Though living in Lima, and,
as might be supposed, under the influence of Pizarro, he had a reputation
for integrity that disposed Almagro to confide the settlement of the
question exclusively to him.  In this implicit confidence in the friar's
impartiality, Orgonez, of a less sanguine temper than his chief, did not
participate.23

An interview was arranged between the rival chiefs.  It took place at
Mala, November 13th, 1537; but very different was the deportment of
the two commanders towards each other from that which they had
exhibited at their former meetings.  Almagro, indeed, doffing his bonnet,
advanced in his usual open manner to salute his ancient comrade; but
Pizarro, hardly condescending to return the salute, haughtily demanded
why the marshal had seized upon his city of Cuzco, and imprisoned his
brothers.  This led to a recrimination on the part of his associate.  The
discussion assumed the tone of an angry altercation, till Almagro, taking
a hint--or what he conceived to be such--from an attendant, that some
treachery was intended, abruptly quitted the apartment, mounted his
horse, and galloped back to his quarters at Chincha.24  The conference
closed, as might have been anticipated from the heated temper of their
minds when they began it, by widening the breach it was intended to
heal.  The friar, now left wholly to himself, after some deliberation, gave
his award.  He decided that a vessel, with a skilful pilot on board, should
be sent to determine the exact latitude of the river of Santiago, the
northern boundary of Pizarro's territory, by which all the measurements
were to be regulated.  In the mean time, Cuzco was to be delivered up by
Almagro, and Hernando Pizarro to be set at liberty, on condition of his
leaving the country in six weeks for Spain.  Both parties were to retire
within their undisputed territories, and to abandon all further
hostilities.25

This award, as may be supposed, highly satisfactory to Pizarro, was
received by Almagro's men with indignation and scorn.  They had been
sold, they cried, by their general, broken, as he was, by age and
infirmities.  Their enemies were to occupy Cuzco and its pleasant places,
while they were to be turned over to the barren wilderness of Charcas.
Little did they dream that under this poor exterior were hidden the rich
treasures of Potosi.  They denounced the umpire as a hireling of the
governor, and murmurs were heard among the troops, stimulated by
Orgonez, demanding the head of Hernando.  Never was that cavalier in
greater danger.  But his good genius in the form of Alvarado again
interposed to protect him.  His life in captivity was a succession of
reprieves.26

Yet his brother, the governor, was not disposed to abandon him to his
fate.  On the contrary, he was now prepared to make every concession to
secure his freedom.  Confessions, that politic chief well knew, cost little
to those who are not concerned to abide by them.  After some
preliminary negotiation, another award, more equitable, or, at all events,
more to the satisfaction of the discontented party, was given.  The
principal articles of it were, that, until the arrival of some definitive
instructions on the point from Castile, the city of Cuzco, with its
territory, should remain in the hands of Almagro; and that Hernando
Pizarro should be set at liberty, on the condition, above stipulated, of
leaving the country in six weeks.--When the terms of this agreement
were communicated to Orgonez, that officer intimated his opinion of
them, by passing his finger across his throat, and exclaiming, "What has
my fidelity to my commander cost me!" 27

Almagro, in order to do greater honor to his prisoner, visited him in
person, and announced to him that he was from that moment free.  He
expressed a hope, at the same time, that "all past differences would be
buried in oblivion, and that henceforth they should live only in the
recollection of their ancient friendship." Hernando replied, with apparent
cordiality, that "he desired nothing better for himself." He then swore in
the most solemn manner, and pledged his knightly honor,--the latter,
perhaps, a pledge of quite as much weight in his own mind as the
former,--that he would faithfully comply with the terms stipulated in the
treaty.  He was next conducted by the marshal to his quarters, where he
partook of a collation in company with the principal officers; several of
whom, together with Diego Almagro, the general's son, afterward
escorted the cavalier to his brother's camp, which had been transferred to
the neighboring town of Mala.  Here the party received a most cordial
greeting from the governor, who entertained them with a courtly
hospitality, and lavished many attentions, in particular, on the son of his
ancient associate.  In short, such, on their return, was the account of their
reception, that it left no doubt in the mind of Almagro that all was at
length amicably settled.28--He did not know Pizarro.



Book 4

Chapter 2

First Civil War--Almagro Retreats To Cuzco--Battle Of Las Salinas--
Cruelty Of The Conquerors--Trial And Execution Of Almagro-
His Character

1537--1538

Scarcely had Almagro's officers left the governor's quarters, when the
latter, calling his little army together, briefly recapitulated the many
wrongs which had been done him by his rival, the seizure of his capital,
the imprisonment of his brothers, the assault and defeat of his troops; and
he concluded with the declaration,--heartily echoed back by his military
audience,--that the time had now come for revenge.  All the while that
the negotiations were pending, Pizarro had been busily occupied with
military preparations.  He had mustered a force considerably larger than
that of his rival, drawn from various quarters, but most of them familiar
with service.  He now declared, that, as he was too old to take charge of
the campaign himself, he should devolve that duty on his brothers; and
he released Hernando from all his engagements to Almagro, as a
measure justified by necessity.  That cavalier, with graceful pertinacity,
intimated his design to abide by the pledges he had given, but, at length,
yielded a reluctant assent to the commands of his brother, as to a
measure imperatively demanded by his duty to the Crown.1

The governor's next step was to advise Almagro that the treaty was at an
end.  At the same time, he warned him to relinquish his pretensions to
Cuzco, and withdraw into his own territory, or the responsibility of the
consequences would lie on his own head.

Reposing in his false security, Almagro was now fully awakened to the
consciousness of the error he had committed; and the warning voice of
his lieutenant may have risen to his recollection.  The first part of the
prediction was fulfilled.  And what should prevent the latter from being
so?  To add to his distress, he was laboring at this time under a grievous
malady, the result of early excesses, which shattered his constitution, and
made him incapable alike of mental and bodily exertion.2

In this forlorn condition, he confided the management of his affairs to
Orgonez, on whose loyalty and courage he knew he might implicitly rely.
The first step was to secure the passes of the Guaitara, a chain of hills
that hemmed in the valley of Zangalla, where Almagro was at present
established.  But, by some miscalculation, the passes were not secured in
season; and the active enemy, threading the dangerous defiles, effected a
passage across the sierra, where a much inferior force to his own might
have taken him at advantage.  The fortunes of Almagro were on the
wane.

His thoughts were now turned towards Cuzco, and he was anxious to get
possession of this capital before the arrival of the enemy.  Too feeble to
sit on horseback, he was obliged to be carried in a litter; and, when he
reached the ancient town of Bilcas, not far from Guamanga, his
indisposition was so severe that he was compelled to halt and remain
there three weeks before resuming his march.

The governor and his brothers, in the mean time, after traversing the pass
of Guaitara, descended into the valley of Ica, where Pizarro remained a
considerable while, to get his troops in order and complete his
preparations for the campaign.  Then, taking leave of the army, he
returned to Lima, committing the prosecution of the war, as he had
before announced, to his younger and more active brothers.  Hernando,
soon after quitting Ica, kept along the coast as far as Nasca, proposing to
penetrate the country by a circuitous route in order to elude the enemy,
who might have greatly embarrassed him in some of the passes of the
Cordilleras.  But unhappily for him, this plan of operations, which would
have given him such manifest advantage, was not adopted by Almagro;
and his adversary, without any other impediment than that arising from
the natural difficulties of the march, arrived, in the latter part of April,
1538, in the neighborhood of Cuzco.

But Almagro was already in possession of that capital, which he had
reached ten days before.  A council of war was held by him respecting
the course to be pursued.  Some were for making good the defence of the
city.  Almagro would have tried what could be done by negotiation.  But
Orgonez bluntly replied,--"It is too late; you have liberated Hernando
Pizarro, and nothing remains but to fight him."  The opinion of Orgonez
finally prevailed, to march out and give the enemy battle on the plains.
The marshal, still disabled by illness from taking the command, devolved
it on his trusty lieutenant, who, mustering his forces, left the city, and
took up a position at Las Salinas, less than a league distant from Cuzco.
The place received its name from certain pits or vats in the ground, used
for the preparation of salt, that was obtained from a natural spring in the
neighborhood.  It was an injudicious choice of ground, since its broken
character was most unfavorable to the free action of cavalry, in which the
strength of Almagro's force consisted.  But, although repeatedly urged by
the officers to advance into the open country, Orgonez persisted in his
position, as the most favorable for defence, since the front was protected
by a marsh, and by a little stream that flowed over the plain.  His forces
amounted in all to about five hundred, more than half of them horse.  His
infantry was deficient in firearms, the place of which was supplied by the
long pike.  He had also six small cannon, or falconets, as they were
called, which, with his cavalry, formed into two equal divisions, he
disposed on the flanks of his infantry.  Thus prepared, he calmly awaited
the approach of the enemy.

It was not long before the bright arms and banners of the Spaniards
under Hernando Pizarro were seen emerging from the mountain passes,
The troops came forward in good order, and like men whose steady step
showed that they had been spared in the march, and were now fresh for
action.  They advanced slowly across the plain, and halted on the
opposite border of the little stream which covered the front of Orgonez.
Here Hernando, as the sun had set, took up his quarters for the night,
proposing to defer the engagement till daylight.3

The rumors of the approaching battle had spread far and wide over the
country; and the mountains and rocky heights around were thronged with
multitudes of natives, eager to feast their eyes on a spectacle, where,
whichever side were victorious, the defeat would fall on their enemies.4
The Castilian women and children, too, with still deeper anxiety, had
thronged out from Cuzco to witness the deadly strife in which brethren
and kindred were to contend for mastery.5  The whole number of the
combatants was insignificant; though not as compared with those usually
engaged in these American wars.  It is not, however, the number of the
players, but the magnitude of the stake, that gives importance and
interest to the game; and in this bloody game, they were to play for the
possession of an empire.

The night passed away in silence, unbroken by the vast assembly which
covered the surrounding hill-tops.  Nor did the soldiers of the hostile
camps, although keeping watch within hearing of one another, and with
the same blood flowing in their veins, attempt any communication.  So
deadly was the hate in their bosoms! 6

The sun rose bright, as usual in this beautiful climate, on Saturday, the
twenty-sixth day of April, 1538.7  But long before his beams were on the
plain, the trumpet of Hernando Pizarro had called his men to arms.  His
forces amounted in all to about seven hundred.  They were drawn from
various quarters, the veterans of Pizarro, the followers of Alonso de
Alvarado,--many of whom, since their defeat, had found their way back
to Lima,--and the late reinforcement from the isles, most of them
seasoned by many a toilsome march in the Indian campaigns, and many a
hard-fought field.  His mounted troops were inferior to those of
Almagro; but this was more than compensated by the strength of his
infantry, comprehending a well-trained corps of arquebusiers, sent from
St. Domingo, whose weapons were of the improved construction
recently introduced from Flanders.  They were of a large calibre, and
threw double-headed shot, consisting of bullets linked together by an
iron chain.  It was doubtless a clumsy weapon compared with modern
firearms, but, in hands accustomed to wield it, proved a destructive
instrument.8

Hernando Pizarro drew up his men in the same order of battle as that
presented by the enemy,--throwing his infantry into the centre, and
disposing his horse on the flanks; one corps of which he placed under
command of Alonso de Alvarado, and took charge of the other himself.
The infantry was headed by his brother Gonzalo, supported by Pedro de
Valdivia, the future hero of Arauco, whose disastrous story forms the
burden of romance as well as of chronicle.9

Mass was said, as if the Spaniards were about to fight what they deemed
the good fight of the faith, instead of imbruing their hands in the blood of
their countrymen.  Hernando Pizarro then made a brief address to his
soldiers.  He touched on the personal injuries he and his family had
received from Almagro; reminded his brother's veterans that Cuzco had
been wrested from their possession; called up the glow of shame on the
brows of Alvarado's men as he talked of the rout of Abancay, and,
pointing out the Inca metropolis that sparkled in the morning sunshine,
he told them that there was the prize of the victor.  They answered his
appeal with acclamations; and the signal being given, Gonzalo Pizarro,
heading his battalion of infantry, led it straight across the river.  The
water was neither broad nor deep, and the soldiers found no difficulty in
gaining a landing, as the enemy's horse was prevented by the marshy
ground from approaching the borders.  But, as they worked their way
across the morass, the heavy guns of Orgonez played with effect on the
leading files, and threw them into disorder.  Gonzalo and Valdivia threw
themselves into the midst of their followers, menacing some,
encouraging others, and at length led them gallantly forward to the firm
ground.  Here the arquebusiers, detaching themselves from the rest of the
infantry, gained a small eminence, whence, in their turn, they opened a
galling fire on Orgonez, scattering his array of spearmen, and sorely
annoying the cavalry on the flanks.

Meanwhile, Hernando, forming his two squadrons of horse into one
column, crossed under cover of this well-sustained fire, and, reaching the
firm ground, rode at once against the enemy.  Orgonez, whose infantry
was already much crippled, advancing his horse, formed the two
squadrons into one body, like his antagonist, and spurred at full gallop
against the assailants.  The shock was terrible; and it was hailed by the
swarms of Indian spectators on the surrounding heights with a fiendish
yell of triumph, that rose far above the din of battle, till it was lost in
distant echoes among the mountains.10

The struggle was desperate.  For it was not that of the white man against
the defenceless Indian, but of Spaniard against Spaniard; both parties
cheering on their comrades with their battlecries of "El Rey y Almagro,"
or "El Rey y Pizarro,"--while they fought with a hate, to which national
antipathy was as nothing; a hate strong in proportion to the strength of
the ties that had been rent asunder.

In this bloody field well did Orgonez do his duty, fighting like one to
whom battle was the natural element.  Singling out a cavalier, whom,
from the color of the sobre-vest on his armour, he erroneously supposed
to be Hernando Pizarro, he charged him in full career, and overthrew
him with his lance.  Another he ran through in like manner, and a third
he struck down with his sword as he was prematurely shouting
"Victory!"  But while thus doing the deeds of a paladin of romance, he
was hit by a chain-shot from an arquebuse, which, penetrating the bars of
his visor, grazed his forehead, and deprived him for a moment of reason.
Before he had fully recovered, his horse was killed under him, and
though the fallen cavalier succeeded in extricating himself from the
stirrups, he was surrounded, and soon overpowered by numbers.  Still
refusing to deliver up his sword, he asked "if there was no knight to
whom he could surrender."  One Fuentes, a menial of Pizarro, presenting
himself as such, Orgonez gave his sword into his hands,--and the dastard,
drawing his dagger, stabbed his defenceless prisoner to the heart!  His
head, then struck off, was stuck on a pike, and displayed, a bloody
trophy, in the great square of Cuzco, as the head of a traitor.11  Thus
perished as loyal a cavalier, as decided in council, and as bold in action,
as ever crossed to the shores of America.

The fight had now lasted more than an hour, and the fortune of the day
was turning against the followers of Almagro.  Orgonez being down,
their confusion increased.  The infantry, unable to endure the fire of the
arquebusiers, scattered and took refuge behind the stone-walls, that here
and there straggled across the country.  Pedro de Lerma, vainly striving
to rally the cavalry, spurred his horse against Hernando Pizarro, with
whom he had a personal feud.  Pizarro did not shrink from the encounter.
The lances of both the knights took effect.  That of Hernando penetrated
the thigh of his opponent, while Lerma's weapon, glancing by his
adversary's saddle-bow, struck him with such force above the groin, that
it pierced the joints of his mail, slightly wounding the cavalier, and
forcing his horse back on his haunches.  But the press of the fight soon
parted the combatants, and, in the turmoil that ensued, Lerma was
unhorsed, and left on the field covered with wounds.12

There was no longer order, and scarcely resistance, among the followers
of Almagro.  They fled, making the best of their way to Cuzco, and
happy was the man who obtained quarter when he asked it.  Almagro
himself, too feeble to sit so long on his horse, reclined on a litter, and
from a neighboring eminence surveyed the battle, watching its
fluctuations with all the interest of one who felt that honor, fortune, life
itself, hung on the issue.  With agony not to be described, he had seen
his faithful followers, after their hard struggle, borne down by their
opponents, till, convinced that all was lost, he succeeded in mounting a
mule, and rode off for a temporary refuge to the fortress of Cuzco.
Thither he was speedily followed, taken, and brought in triumph to the
capital, where, ill as he was, he was thrown into irons, and confined in
the same apartment of the stone building in which he had imprisoned the
Pizarros.

The action lasted not quite two hours.  The number of killed, variously
stated, was probably not less than a hundred and fifty,--one of the
combatants calls it two hundred,13--a great number, considering the
shortness of the time, and the small amount of forces engaged.  No
account is given of the wounded.  Wounds were the portion of the
cavalier.  Pedro de Lerma is said to have received seventeen, and yet was
taken alive from the field!  The loss fell chiefly on the followers of
Almagro.  But the slaughter was not confined to the heat of the action.
Such was the deadly animosity of the parties, that several were murdered
in cold blood, like Orgonez, after they had surrendered.  Pedro de Lerma
himself, while lying on his sick couch in the quarters of a friend in
Cuzco, was visited by a soldier, named Samaniego, whom he had once
struck for an act of disobedience.  This person entered the solitary
chamber of the wounded man took his place by his bed-side, and then,
upbraiding him for the insult, told him that he had come to wash it away
in his blood!  Lerma in vain assured him, that, when restored to health,
he would give him the satisfaction he desired.  The miscreant, exclaimed
"Now is the hour!" plunged his sword into his bosom.  He lived several
years to vaunt this atrocious exploit, which he proclaimed as a reparation
to his honor.  It is some satisfaction to know that the insolence of this
vaunt cost him his life. --Such anecdotes, revolting as they are,
illustrate not merely the spirit of the times, but that peculiarly ferocious
spirit which is engendered by civil wars,--the most unforgiving in their
character of any, but wars of religion.

In the hurry of the flight of one party, and the pursuit by the other, all
pouring towards Cuzco, the field of battle had been deserted.  But it soon
swarmed with plunderers, as the Indians, descending like vultures from
the mountains, took possession of the bloody ground, and, despoiling the
dead, even to the minutest article of dress, left their corpses naked on the
plain.15  It has been thought strange that the natives should not have
availed themselves of their superior numbers to fall on the victors after
they had been exhausted by the battle.  But the scattered bodies of the
Peruvians were without a leader; they were broken in spirits, moreover,
by recent reverses, and the Castilians, although weakened for the
moment by the struggle, were in far greater strength in Cuzco than they
had ever been before.

Indeed, the number of troops now assembled within its walls, amounting
to full thirteen hundred, composed, as they were, of the most discordant
materials, gave great uneasiness to Hernando Pizarro.  For there were
enemies glaring on each other and on him with deadly though smothered
rancor, and friends, if not so dangerous, not the less troublesome from
their craving and unreasonable demands.  He had given the capital up to
pillage, and his followers found good booty in the quarters of Almagro's
officers.  But this did not suffice the more ambitious cavaliers; and they
clamorously urged their services, and demanded to be placed in charge
of some expedition, nothing doubting that it must prove a golden one.
All were in quest of an El Dorado.  Hernando Pizarro acquiesced as far
as possible in these desires, most willing to relieve himself of such
importunate creditors.  The expeditions, it is true, usually ended in
disaster; but the country was explored by them.  It was the lottery of
adventure; the prizes were few, but they were splendid; and in the
excitement of the game, few Spaniards paused to calculate the chances of
success.

Among those who left the capital was Diego, the son of Almagro.
Hernando was mindful to send him, with a careful escort, to his brother
the governor, desirous to remove him at this crisis from the
neighborhood of his father.  Meanwhile the marshal himself was pining
away in prison under the combined influence of bodily illness and
distress of mind.  Before the battle of Salinas, it had been told to
Hernando Pizarro that Almagro was like to die.  "Heaven forbid," he
exclaimed, "that this should come to pass before he falls into my
hands!"16  Yet the gods seemed now disposed to grant but half of this
pious prayer, since his captive seemed about to escape him just as he had
come into his power.  To console the unfortunate chief, Hernando paid
him a visit in his prison, and cheered him with the assurance that he only
waited for the governor's arrival to set him at liberty; adding, "that, if
Pizarro did not come soon to the capital, he himself would assume the
responsibility of releasing him, and would furnish him with a conveyance
to his brother's quarters."  At the same time, with considerate attention to
his comfort, he inquired of the marshal "what mode of conveyance
would be best suited to his state of health."  After this he continued to
send him delicacies from his own table to revive his faded appetite.
Almagro, cheered by these kind attentions, and by the speedy prospect of
freedom, gradually mended in health and spirits.17

He little dreamed that all this while a process was industriously preparing
against him.  It had been instituted immediately on his capture, and every
one, however humble, who had any cause of complaint against the
unfortunate prisoner, was invited to present it.  The summons was readily
answered; and many an enemy now appeared in the hour of his fallen
fortunes, like the base reptiles crawling into light amidst the ruins of
some noble edifice; and more than one, who had received benefits from
his hands, were willing to court the favor of his enemy by turning on
their benefactor.  From these loathsome sources a mass of accusations
was collected which spread over two thousand folio pages!  Yet Almagro
was the idol of his soldiers! 18

Having completed the process, (July 8th, 1538,) it was not difficult to
obtain a verdict against the prisoner.  The principal charges on which he
was pronounced guilty were those of levying war against the Crown, and
thereby occasioning the death of many of his Majesty's subjects; of
entering into conspiracy with the Inca; and finally, of dispossessing the
royal governor of the city of Cuzco.  On these charges he was
condemned to suffer death as a traitor, by being publicly beheaded in
the great square of the city.  Who were the judges, or what was the
tribunal that condemned him, we are not informed.  Indeed, the whole
trial was a mockery; if that can be called a trial, where the accused
himself is not even aware of the accusation.

The sentence was communicated by a friar deputed for the purpose to
Almagro.  The unhappy man, who all the while had been unconsciously
slumbering on the brink of a precipice, could not at first comprehend the
nature of his situation.  Recovering from the first shock, "It was
impossible," he said, "that such wrong could be done him,--he would not
believe it."  He then besought Hernando Pizarro to grant him an
interview.  That cavalier, not unwilling, it would seem, to witness the
agony of his captive, consented: and Almagro was so humbled by his
misfortunes, that he condescended to beg for his life with the most
piteous supplications.  He reminded Hernando of his ancient relations
with his brother, and the good offices he had rendered him and his family
in the earlier part of their career.  He touched on his acknowledged
services to his country, and besought his enemy "to spare his gray hairs,
and not to deprive him of the short remnant of an existence from which
he had now nothing more to fear."--To this the other coldly replied, that
"he was surprised to see Almagro demean himself in a manner so
unbecoming a brave cavalier; that his fate was no worse than had
befallen many a soldier before him; and that, since God had given him
the grace to be a Christian, he should employ his remaining moments in
making up his account with Heaven!"19

But Almagro was not to be silenced.  He urged the service he had
rendered Hernando himself.  "This was a hard requital," he said, "for
having spared his life so recently under similar circumstances, and that,
too, when he had been urged again and again by those around him to
take it away."  And he concluded by menacing his enemy with the
vengeance of the emperor, who would never suffer this outrage on one
who had rendered such signal services to the Crown to go unrequited.  It
was all in vain; and Hernando abruptly closed the conference by
repeating, that "his doom was inevitable, and he must prepare to meet
it."20

Almagro, finding that no impression was to be made on his ironhearted
conqueror, now seriously addressed himself to the settlement of his
affairs.  By the terms of the royal grant he was empowered to name his
successor.  He accordingly devolved his office on his son, appointing
Diego de Alvarado, on whose integrity he had great reliance,
administrator of the province during his minority.  All his property and
possessions in Peru, of whatever kind, he devised to his master the
emperor, assuring him that a large balance was still due to him in his
unsettled accounts with Pizarro.  By this politic bequest, he hoped to
secure the monarch's protection for his son, as well as a strict scrutiny
into the affairs of his enemy.

The knowledge of Almagro's sentence produced a deep sensation in the
community of Cuzco.  All were amazed at the presumption with which
one, armed with a little brief authority, ventured to sit in judgment on a
person of Almagro's station.  There were few who did not call to mind
some generous or good-natured act of the unfortunate veteran.  Even
those who had furnished materials for the accusation, now startled by the
tragic result to which it was to lead, were heard to denounce Hernando's
conduct as that of a tyrant.  Some of the principal cavaliers, and among
them Diego de Alvarado, to whose intercession, as we have seen,
Hernando Pizarro, when a captive, had owed his own life, waited on that
commander, and endeavored to dissuade him from so highhanded and
atrocious a proceeding.  It was in vain.  But it had the effect of changing
the mode of execution, which, instead of the public square, was now to
take place in prison.21

On the day appointed, a strong corps of arquebusiers was drawn up in
the plaza.  The guards were doubled over the houses where dwelt the
principal partisans of Almagro.  The executioner, attended by a priest,
stealthily entered his prison; and the unhappy man, after confessing and
receiving the sacrament, submitted without resistance to the garrote.
Thus obscurely, in the gloomy silence of a dungeon, perished the hero of
a hundred battles!  His corpse was removed to the great square of the
city, where, in obedience to the sentence, the head was severed from the
body.  A herald proclaimed aloud the nature of the crimes for which he
had suffered; and his remains, rolled in their bloody shroud, were borne
to the house of his friend Hernan Ponce de Leon, and the next day laid
with all due solemnity in the church of Our Lady of Mercy.  The Pizarros
appeared among the principal mourners.  It was remarked, that their
brother had paid similar honors to the memory of Atahuallpa.22

Almagro, at the time of his death, was probably not far from seventy
years of age.  But this is somewhat uncertain; for Almagro was a
foundling, and his early history is lost in obscurity.23  He had many
excellent qualities by nature; and his defects, which were not few, may
reasonably be palliated by the circumstances of his situation.  For what
extenuation is not authorized by the position of a foundling,--without
parents, or early friends, or teacher to direct him,--his little bark set adrift
on the ocean of life, to take its chance among the rude billows and
breakers, without one friendly hand stretched forth to steer or to save it!
The name of "foundling" comprehends an apology for much, very much,
that is wrong in after life.24

He was a man of strong passions, and not too well used to control
them.25  But he was neither vindictive nor habitually cruel.  I have
mentioned one atrocious outrage which he committed on the natives.
But insensibility to the rights of the Indian he shared with many a better
instructed Spaniard.  Yet the Indians, after his conviction, bore testimony
to his general humanity, by declaring that they had no such friend among
the white men.26  Indeed, far from being vindictive, he was placable and
easily yielded to others.  The facility with which he yielded, the result of
good-natured credulity, made him too often the dupe of the crafty; and it
showed, certainly, a want of that self-reliance which belongs to great
strength of character.  Yet his facility of temper, and the generosity of his
nature, made him popular with his followers.  No commander was ever
more beloved by his soldiers.  His generosity was often carried to
prodigality.  When he entered on the campaign of Chili, he lent a
hundred thousand gold ducats to the poorer cavaliers to equip themselves
and afterwards gave them up the debt.27  He was profuse to ostentation.
But his extravagance did him no harm among the roving spirits of the
camp, with whom prodigality is apt to gain more favor than a strict and
well-regulated economy.

He was a good soldier, careful and judicious in his plans, patient and
intrepid in their execution.  His body was covered with the scars of his
battles, till the natural plainness of his person was converted almost into
deformity.  He must not be judged by his closing campaign, when,
depressed by disease, he yielded to the superior genius of his rival; but
by his numerous expeditions by land and by water for the conquest of
Peru and the remote Chili.  Yet it may be doubted whether he possessed
those uncommon qualities, either as a warrior or as a man, that, in
ordinary circumstances, would have raised him to distinction.  He was
one of the three, or, to speak more strictly, of the two associates, who
had the good fortune and the glory to make one of the most splendid
discoveries in the Western World.  He shares largely in the credit of this
with Pizarro; for, when he did not accompany that leader in his perilous
expeditions, he contributed no less to their success by his exertions in the
colonies.

Yet his connection with that chief can hardly be considered a fortunate
circumstance in his career.  A partnership between individuals for
discovery and conquest is not likely to be very scrupulously observed,
especially by men more accustomed to govern others than to govern
themselves.  If causes for discord do not arise before, they will be sure to
spring up on division of the spoil.  But this association was particularly
ill-assorted.  For the free, sanguine, and confiding temper of Almagro
was no match for the cool and crafty policy of Pizarro; and he was
invariably circumvented by his companion, whenever their respective
interests came in collision.

Still the final ruin of Almagro may be fairly imputed to himself.  He
made two capital blunders.  The first was his appeal to arms by the
seizure of Cuzco.  The determination of a boundary-line was not to be
settled by arms.  It was a subject for arbitration; and, if arbitrators could
not be trusted, it should have been referred to the decision of the Crown.
But, having once appealed to arms, he should not then have resorted to
negotiation,--above all, to negotiation with Pizarro.  This was his second
and greatest error.  He had seen enough of Pizarro to know that he was
not to be trusted.  Almagro did trust him, and he paid for it with his life.



Book 4

Chapter 3

Pizarro Revisits Cuzco--Hernando Returns To Castile-
His Long Imprisonment--Commissioner Sent To Peru-
Hostilities With The Inca--Pizarro's Active Administration-
Gonzalo Pizarro

1539--1540

On the departure of his brother in pursuit of Almagro, the Marquess
Francisco Pizarro, as we have seen, returned to Lima.  There he
anxiously awaited the result of the campaign; and on receiving the
welcome tidings of the victory of Las Salinas, he instantly made
preparations for his march to Cuzco.  At Xauxa, however, he was long
detained by the distracted state of the country, and still longer, as it
would seem, by a reluctance to enter the Peruvian capital while the trial
of Almagro was pending.

He was met at Xauxa by the marshal's son Diego, who had been sent to
the coast by Hernando Pizarro.  The young man was filled with the most
gloomy apprehensions respecting his father's fate, and he besought the
governor not to allow his brother to do him any violence.  Pizarro, who
received Diego with much apparent kindness, bade him take heart, as no
harm should come to his father;1 adding, that he trusted their ancient
friendship would soon be renewed.  The youth, comforted by these
assurances, took his way to Lima, where, by Pizarro's orders, he was
received into his house, and treated as a son.

The same assurances respecting the marshal's safety were given by the
governor to Bishop Valverde, and some of the principal cavaliers who
interested themselves in behalf of the prisoner.2  Still Pizarro delayed his
march to the capital; and when he resumed it, he had advanced no farther
than the Rio de Abancay when he received tidings of the death of his
rival.  He appeared greatly shocked by the intelligence, his whole frame
was agitated, and he remained for some time with his eyes bent on the
ground showing signs of strong emotion.3

Such is the account given by his friends.  A more probable version of the
matter represents him to have been perfectly aware of the state of things
at Cuzco.  When the trial was concluded, it is said he received a message
from Hernando, inquiring what was to be done with the prisoner.  He
answered in a few words :--"Deal with him so that he shall give us no
more trouble."4  It is also stated that Hernando, afterwards, when
laboring under the obloquy caused by Almagro's death, shielded himself
under instructions affirmed to have been received from the governor.5  It
is quite certain, that, during his long residence at Xauxa, the latter was in
constant communication with Cuzco; and that had he, as Valverde
repeatedly urged him,6 quickened his march to that capital, he might
easily have prevented the consummation of the tragedy.  As commander-
in-chief, Almagro's fate was in his hands; and, whatever his own
partisans may affirm of his innocence, the impartial judgment of history
must hold him equally accountable with Hernando for the death of his
associate.

Neither did his subsequent conduct show any remorse for these
proceedings.  He entered Cuzco, says one who was present there to
witness it, amidst the flourish of clarions and trumpets, at the head of his
martial cavalcade, and dressed in the rich suit presented him by Cortes,
with the proud bearing and joyous mien of a conqueror.7  When Diego
de Alvarado applied to him for the government of the southern
provinces, in the name of the young Almagro, whom his father, as we
have seen, had consigned to his protection, Pizarro answered, that "the
marshal, by his rebellion, had forfeited all claims to the government."
And, when he was still further urged by the cavalier, he bluntly broke off
the conversation by declaring that "his own territory covered all on this
side of Flanders"!8--intimating, no doubt, by this magnificent vaunt, that
he would endure no rival on this side of the water.

In the same spirit, he had recently sent to supersede Benalcazar, the
conqueror of Quito, who, he Was informed, aspired to an independent
government.  Pizarro's emissary had orders to send the offending captain
to Lima; but Benalcazar, after pushing his victorious career far into the
north, had returned to Castile to solicit his guerdon from the emperor.

To the complaints of the injured natives, who invoked his protection, he
showed himself strangely insensible, while the followers of Almagro he
treated with undisguised contempt.  The estates of the leaders were
confiscated, and transferred without ceremony to his own partisans.
Hernando had made attempts to conciliate some of the opposite faction
by acts of liberality, but they had refused to accept anything from the
man whose hands were stained with the blood of their commander.9  The
governor held to them no such encouragement; and many were reduced
to such abject poverty, that, too proud to expose their wretchedness to
the eyes of their conquerors, they withdrew from the city, and sought a
retreat among the neighboring mountains.10

For his own brothers he provided by such ample repartimientos, as
excited the murmurs of his adherents.  He appointed Gonzalo to the
command of a strong force destined to act against the natives of Charcas,
a hardy people occupying the territory assigned by the Crown to
Almagro.  Gonzalo met with a sturdy resistance, but, after some severe
fighting, succeeded in reducing the province to obedience.  He was
recompensed, together with Hernando, who aided him in the conquest,
by a large grant in the neighborhood of Porco, the productive mines of
which had been partially wrought under the Incas.  The territory, thus
situated, embraced part of those silver hills of Potosi which have since
supplied Europe with such stores of the precious metals.  Hernando
comprehended the capabilities of the ground, and he began working the
mines on a more extensive scale than that hitherto adopted, though it
does not appear that any attempt was then made to penetrate the rich
crust of Potosi.11  A few years more were to elapse before the Spaniards
were to bring to light the silver quarries that lay hidden in the bosom of
its mountains.12

It was now the great business of Hernando to collect a sufficient quantity
of treasure to take with him to Castile.  Nearly a year had elapsed since
Almagro's death; and it was full time that he should return and present
himself at court, where Diego de Alvarado and other friends of the
marshal, who had long since left Peru, were industriously maintaining
the claims of the younger Almagro, as well as demanding redress for the
wrongs done to his father.  But Hernando looked confidently to his gold
to dispel the accusations against him.

Before his departure, he counselled his brother to beware of the "men of
Chili," as Almagro's followers were called; desperate men, who would
stick at nothing, he said, for revenge.  He besought the governor not to
allow them to consort together in any number within fifty miles of his
person; if he did, it would be fatal to him.  And he concluded by
recommending a strong body-guard; "for I," he added, "shall not be here
to watch over you."  But the governor laughed at the idle fears, as he
termed them, of his brother, bidding the latter take no thought of him, "as
every hair in the heads of Almagro's followers was a guaranty for his
safety.''13  He did not know the character of his enemies so well as
Hernando.

The latter soon after embarked at Lima in the summer of 1539.  He did
not take the route of Panama, for he had heard that it was the intention of
the authorities there to detain him.  He made a circuitous passage,
therefore, by way of Mexico, landed in the Bay of Tecoantepec, and was
making his way across the narrow strip that divides the great oceans,
when he was arrested and taken to the capital.  But the Viceroy Mendoza
did not consider that he had a right to detain him, and he was suffered to
embark at Vera Cruz, and to proceed on his voyage.  Still he did not
deem it safe to trust himself in Spain without further advices.  He
accordingly put in at one of the Azores, where he remained until he
could communicate with home.  He had some powerful friends at court,
and by them he was encouraged to present himself before the emperor.
He took their advice, and shortly after, reached the Spanish coast in
safety.

The Court was at Valladolid; but Hernando, who made his entrance into
that city, with great pomp and a display of his Indian riches, met with a
reception colder than he had anticipated.15  For this he was mainly
indebted to Diego de Alvarado, who was then residing there, and who, as
a cavalier of honorable standing, and of high connections, had
considerable influence.  He had formerly, as we have seen, by his timely
interposition, more than once saved the life of Hernando; and he had
consented to receive a pecuniary obligation from him to a large amount.
But all were now forgotten in the recollection of the wrong done to his
commander; and, true to the trust reposed in him by that chief in his
dying hour, he had come to Spain to vindicate the claims of the young
Almagro.

But although coldly received at first, Hernando's presence, and his own
version of the dispute with Almagro, aided by the golden arguments
which he dealt with no stinted hand, checked the current of indignation,
and the opinion of his judges seemed for a time suspended.  Alvarado, a
cavalier more accustomed to the prompt and decisive action of a camp
than to the tortuous intrigues of a court, chafed at the delay, and
challenged Hernando to settle their quarrel by single combat.  But his
prudent adversary had no desire to leave the issue to such an ordeal;
and the affair was speedily terminated by the death of Alvarado himself,
which happened five days after the challenge.  An event so opportune
naturally suggested the suspicion of poison.16

But his accusations had not wholly fallen to the ground; and Hernando
Pizarro had carried measures with too high a hand, and too grossly
outraged public sentiment, to be permitted to escape.  He received no
formal sentence, but he was imprisoned in the strong fortress of Medina
del Campo, where he was allowed to remain for twenty years when in
1560, after a generation had nearly passed away, and time had, in some
measure, thrown its softening veil over the past, he was suffered to
regain his liberty.17  But he came forth an aged man, bent down with
infirmities and broken in spirit,--an object of pity, rather than
indignation.  Rarely has retributive justice been meted out in fuller
measure to offenders so high in authority,--most rarely in Castile.18

Yet Hernando bore this long imprisonment with an equanimity which,
had it been rounded on principle, might command our respect.  He saw
brothers and kindred, all on whom he leaned for support, cut off one
after another; his fortune, in part, confiscated, while he was involved in
expensive litigation for the remainder;19 his fame blighted, his career
closed in an untimely hour, himself an exile in the heart of his own
country;--yet he bore it all with the constancy of a courageous spirit.
Though very old when released, he still survived several years, and
continued to the extraordinary age of a hundred.20  He lived long
enough to see friends, rivals, and foes all called away to their account
before him.

Hernando Pizarro was in many respects a remarkable character.  He was
the eldest of the brothers, to whom he was related only by the father's
side, for he was born in wedlock, of honorable parentage on both sides
of his house.  In his early years, he received a good education,--good for
the time.  He was taken by his father, while quite young, to Italy, and
there learned the art of war under the Great Captain.  Little is known of
his history after his return to Spain; but, when his brother had struck out
for himself his brilliant career of discovery in Peru, Hernando consented
to take part in his adventures.

He was much deferred to by Francisco, not only as his elder brother, but
from his superior education and his knowledge of affairs.  He was ready
in his perceptions, fruitful in resources, and possessed of great vigor in
action.  Though courageous, he was cautious; and his counsels, when not
warped by passion, were wise and wary.  But he had other qualities,
which more than counterbalanced the good resulting from excellent parts
and attainments.  His ambition and avarice were insatiable.  He was
supercilious even to his equals; and he had a vindictive temper, which
nothing could appease.  Thus, instead of aiding his brother in the
Conquest, he was the evil genius that blighted his path.  He conceived
from the first an unwarrantable contempt for Almagro, whom he
regarded as his brother's rival, instead of what he then was, the faithful
partner of his fortunes.  He treated him with personal indignity, and, by
his intrigues at court, had the means of doing him sensible injury.  He
fell into Almagro's hands, and had nearly paid for these wrongs with his
life.  This was not to be forgiven by Hernando, and he coolly waited for
the hour of revenge.  Yet the execution of Almagro was a most impolitic
act; for an evil passion can rarely be gratified with impunity.  Hernando
thought to buy off justice with the gold of Peru.  He had studied human
nature on its weak and wicked side, and he expected to profit by it.
Fortunately, he was deceived.  He had, indeed, his revenge; but the hour
of his revenge was that of his ruin.

The disorderly state of Peru was such as to demand the immediate
interposition of government.  In the general license that prevailed there,
the rights of the Indian and of the Spaniard were equally trampled under
foot.  Yet the subject was one of great difficulty; for Pizarro's authority
was now firmly established over the country, which itself was too remote
from Castile to be readily controlled at home.  Pizarro, moreover, was a
man not easy to be approached, confident in his own strength, jealous of
interference, and possessed of a fiery temper, which would kindle into a
flame at the least distrust of the government.  It would not answer to send
out a commission to suspend him from the exercise of his authority until
his conduct could be investigated, as was done with Cortes, and other
great colonial officers, on whose rooted loyalty the Crown could
confidently rely.  Pizarro's loyalty sat, it was feared, too lightly on him to
be a powerful restraint on his movements; and there were not wanting
those among his reckless followers, who, in case of extremity, would be
prompt to urge him to throw off his allegiance altogether, and set up an
independent government for himself.

Some one was to be sent out, therefore, who should possess, in some
sort, a controlling, or, at least, concurrent power with the dangerous
chief, while ostensibly he should act only in subordination to him.  The
person selected for this delicate mission, was the Licentiate Vaca de
Castro, a member of the Royal Audience of Valladolid.  He was a
learned judge, a man of integrity and wisdom, and, though not bred to
arms, had so much address, and such knowledge of character, as would
enable him readily to turn the resources of others to his own account.

His commission was guarded in a way which showed the embarrassment
of the government.  He was to appear before Pizarro in the capacity of a
royal judge; to consult with him on the redress of grievances, especially
with reference to the unfortunate natives; to concert measures for the
prevention of future evils; and above all, to possess himself faithfully of
the condition of the country in all its details, and to transmit intelligence
of it to the Court of Castile.  But, in case of Pizarro's death, he was to
produce his warrant as royal governor, and as such to claim the
obedience of the authorities throughout the land.--Events showed the
wisdom of providing for this latter contingency.21

The licentiate, thus commissioned, quilted his quiet residence at
Valladolid, embarked at Seville, in the autumn of 1540, and, after a
tedious voyage across the Atlantic, he traversed the Isthmus, and,
encountering a succession of tempests on the Pacific, that had nearly sent
his frail bark to the bottom, put in with her, a mere wreck, at the
northerly port of Buenaventura.22  The affairs of the country were in a
state to require his presence.

The civil war which had lately distracted the land had left it in so
unsettled a state, that the agitation continued long after the immediate
cause had ceased.  This was especially the case among the natives.  In
the violent transfer of repartimientos, the poor Indian hardly knew to
whom he was to look as his master.  The fierce struggles between the
rival chieftains left him equally in doubt whom he was to regard as the
rulers of the land.  As to the authority of a common sovereign, across the
waters, paramount over all, he held that in still greater distrust; for what
was the authority which could not command the obedience even of its
own vassals?23  The Inca Manco was not slow in taking advantage of
this state of feeling.  He left his obscure fastnesses in the depths of the
Andes, and established himself with a strong body of followers in the
mountain country lying between Cuzco and the coast.  From this retreat,
he made descents on the neighboring plantations, destroying the houses,
sweeping off the cattle, and massacring the people.  He fell on travellers,
as they were journeying singly or in caravans from the coast, and put
them to death--it is told by his enemies--with cruel tortures.  Single
detachments were sent against him, from time to time, but without effect.
Some he eluded, others he defeated; and, on one occasion, cut off a party
of thirty troopers, to a man.24

At length, Pizarro found it necessary to send a considerable force under
his brother Gonzalo against the Inca.  The hardy Indian encountered his
enemy several times in the rough passes of the Cordilleras.  He was
usually beaten, and sometimes with heavy loss, which he repaired with
astonishing facility; for he always contrived to make his escape, and so
true were his followers, that, in defiance of pursuit and ambuscade, he
found a safe shelter in the secret haunts of the sierra.

Thus baffled, Pizarro determined to try the effect of pacific overtures.
He sent to the Inca, both in his own name, and in that of the Bishop of
Cuzco, whom the Peruvian prince held in reverence, to invite him to
enter into negotiation.25  Manco acquiesced, and indicated, as he had
formerly done with Almagro, the valley of Yucay, as the scene of it.  The
governor repaired thither, at the appointed time, well guarded, and, to
propitiate the barbarian monarch, sent him a rich present by the hands of
an African slave.  The slave was met on the route by a party of the Inca's
men, who, whether with or without their master's orders, cruelly
murdered him, and bore off the spoil to their quarters.  Pizarro resented
this outrage by another yet more atrocious.

Among the Indian prisoners was one of the Inca's wives, a young and
beautiful woman, to whom he was said to be fondly attached.  The
governor ordered her to be stripped naked, bound to a tree, and, in
presence of the camp, to be scourged with rods, and then shot to death
with arrows.  The wretched victim bore the execution of the sentence
with surprising fortitude.  She did not beg for mercy, where none was to
be found.  Not a complaint, scarcely a groan, escaped her under the
infliction of these terrible torments.  The iron Conquerors were amazed
at this power of endurance in a delicate woman, and they expressed their
admiration, while they condemned the cruelty of their commander,--in
their hearts.26  Yet constancy under the most excruciating tortures that
human cruelty can inflict is almost the universal characteristic of the
American Indian.

Pizarro now prepared, as the most effectual means of checking these
disorders among the natives, to establish settlements in the heart of the
disaffected country.  These settlements, which received the dignified
name of cities, might be regarded in the light of military colonies.  The
houses were usually built of stone, to which were added the various
public offices, and sometimes a fortress.  A municipal corporation was
organized.  Settlers were invited by the distribution of large tracts of land
in the neighborhood, with a stipulated number of Indian vassals to each.
The soldiers then gathered there, sometimes accompanied by their wives
and families; for the women of Castile seem to have disdained the
impediments of sex, in the ardor of conjugal attachment, or, it may be, of
romantic adventure.  A populous settlement rapidly grew up in the
wilderness, affording protection to the surrounding territory, and
furnishing a commercial depot for the country, and an armed force ready
at all times to maintain public order.

Such a settlement was that now made at Guamanga, midway between
Cuzco and Lima, which effectually answered its purpose by guarding the
communications with the coast.27  Another town was founded in the
mining district of Charcas, under the appropriate name of the Villa de la
Plato, the "City of Silver." And Pizarro, as he journeyed by a circuitous
route along the shores of the southern sea towards Lima, planted there
the city of Arequipa, since arisen to such commercial celebrity.

Once more in his favorite capital of Lima, the governor found abundant
occupation in attending to its municipal concerns, and in providing for
the expansive growth of its population.  Nor was he unmindful of the
other rising settlements on the Pacific.  He encouraged commerce with
the remoter colonies north of Peru, and took measures for facilitating
internal intercourse.  He stimulated industry in all its branches, paying
great attention to husbandry, and importing seeds of the different
European grains, which he had the satisfaction, in a short time, to see
thriving luxuriantly in a country where the variety of soil and climate
afforded a home for almost every product.28  Above all, he promoted the
working of the mines, which already began to make such returns, that the
most common articles of life rose to exorbitant prices, while the precious
metals themselves seemed the only things of little value.  But they soon
changed hands, and found their way to the mother-country, where they
rose to their true level as they mingled with the general currency of
Europe.  The Spaniards found that they had at length reached the land of
which they had been so long in search,--the land of gold and silver.
Emigrants came in greater numbers to the country, and, spreading over
its surface, formed in the increasing population the most effectual barrier
against the rightful owners of the soil.29

Pizarro, strengthened by the arrival of fresh adventurers, now turned his
attention to the remoter quarters of the country.  Pedro de Valdivia was
sent on his memorable expedition to Chili; and to his own brother
Gonzalo the governor assigned the territory of Quito, with instructions to
explore the unknown country towards the east, where, as report said,
grew the cinnamon.  As this chief, who had hitherto acted but a
subordinate part in the Conquest, is henceforth to take the most
conspicuous, it may be well to give some account of him.

Little is known of his early life, for he sprang from the same obscure
origin with Francisco, and seems to have been as little indebted as his
eider brother to the fostering care of his parents.  He entered early on the
career of a soldier; a career to which every man in that iron age, whether
cavalier or vagabond, seems, if left to himself, to have most readily
inclined.  Here he soon distinguished himself by his skill in martial
exercises, was an excellent horseman, and, when he came to the New
World, was esteemed the best lance in Peru.30

In talent and in expansion of views, he was inferior to his brothers.
Neither did he discover the same cool and crafty policy; but he was
equally courageous, and in the execution of his measures quite as
unscrupulous.  He lied a handsome person, with open, engaging features,
a free, soldier-like address, and a confiding temper, which endeared him
to his followers.  His spirit was high and adventurous, and, what was
equally important, he could inspire others with the same spirit, and thus
do much to insure the success of his enterprises.  He was an excellent
captain in guerilla warfare, an admirable leader in doubtful and difficult
expeditions; but he had not the enlarged capacity for a great military
chief, still less for a civil ruler.  It was his misfortune to be called to fill
both situations.



Book 4

Chapter 4

Gonzalo Pizarro's Expedition--Passage Across The Mountains--
Discovers The Napo--Incredible Sufferings-
Orellana Sails Down The Amazon--Despair Of The Spaniards-
The Survivors Return To Quito

1540--1542

Gonzalo Pizarro received the news of his appointment to the government
of Quito with undisguised pleasure; not so much for the possession that it
gave him of this ancient Indian province, as for the field that it opened
for discovery towards the east,--the fabled land of Oriental spices, which
had long captivated the imagination of the Conquerors.  He repaired to
his government without delay, and found no difficulty in awakening a
kindred enthusiasm to his own in the bosoms of his followers.  In a short
time, he mustered three hundred and fifty Spaniards, and four thousand
Indians.  One hundred and fifty of his company were mounted, and all
were equipped in the most thorough manner for the undertaking.  He
provided, moreover, against famine by a large stock of provisions, and
an immense drove of swine which followed in the rear.1

It was the beginning of 1540, when he set out on this celebrated
expedition.  The first part of the journey was attended with
comparatively little difficulty, while the Spaniards were yet in the land of
the Incas; for the distractions of Peru had not been felt in this distant
province, where the simple people still lived as under the primitive sway
of the Children of the Sun.  But the scene changed as they entered the
territory of Quixos, where the character of the inhabitants, as well as of
the climate, seemed to be of another description.  The country was
traversed by lofty ranges of the Andes, and the adventurers were soon
entangled in their deep and intricate passes.  As they rose into the more
elevated regions, the icy winds that swept down the sides of the
Cordilleras benumbed their limbs, and many of the natives found a
wintry grave in the wilderness.  While crossing this formidable barrier,
they experienced one of those tremendous earthquakes which, in these
volcanic regions, so often shake the mountains to their base.  In one
place, the earth was rent asunder by the terrible throes of Nature, while
streams of sulphurous vapor issued from the cavity, and a village with
some hundreds of houses was precipitated into the frightful abyss! 2

On descending the eastern slopes, the climate changed; and, as they came
on the lower level, the fierce cold was succeeded by a suffocating heat,
while tempests of thunder and lightning, rushing from out the gorges of
the sierra, poured on their heads with scarcely any intermission day or
night, as if the offended deities of the place were willing to take
vengeance on the invaders of their mountain solitudes.  For more than six
weeks the deluge continued unabated, and the forlorn wanderers, wet,
and weary with incessant toil, were scarcely able to drag their limbs
along the soil broken up and saturated with the moisture.  After some
months of toilsome travel, in which they had to cross many a morass and
mountain stream, they at length reached Canelas, the Land of
Cinnamon.3  They saw the trees bearing the precious bark, spreading out
into broad forests; yet, however valuable an article for commerce it
might have proved in accessible situations, in these remote regions it was
of little worth to them.  But, from the wandering tribes of savages whom
they occasionally met in their path, they learned that at ten days' distance
was a rich and fruitful land abounding with gold, and inhabited by
populous nations.  Gonzalo Pizarro had already reached the limits
originally proposed for the expedition.  But this intelligence renewed his
hopes, and he resolved to push the adventure farther.  It would have been
well for him and his followers, had they been content to return on their
footsteps.

Continuing their march, the country now spread out into broad savannas
terminated by forests, which, as they drew near, seemed to stretch on
every side to the very verge of the horizon.  Here they beheld trees of
that stupendous growth seen only in the equinoctial regions.  Some were
so large, that sixteen men could hardly encompass them with extended
arms! 4  The wood was thickly matted with creepers and parasitical
vines, which hung in gaudy-colored festoons from tree to tree, clothing
them in a drapery beautiful to the eye, but forming an impenetrable
network.  At every step of their way, they were obliged to hew open a
passage with their axes, while their garments, rotting from the effects of
the drenching rains to which they had been exposed, caught in every
bush and bramble, and hung about them in shreds.5  Their provisions,
spoiled by the weather, had long since failed, and the live stock which
they had taken with them had either been consumed or made their escape
in the woods and mountain passes.  They had set out with nearly a
thousand dogs, many of them of the ferocious breed used in hunting
down the unfortunate natives.  These they now gladly killed, but their
miserable carcasses furnished a lean banquet for the famishing travellers;
and, when these were gone, they had only such herbs and dangerous
roots as they could gather in the forest.6

At length the way-worn company came on a broad expanse of water
formed by the Napo, one of the great tributaries of the Amazon, and
which, though only a third or fourth rate river in America, would pass for
one of the first magnitude in the Old World.  The sight gladdened their
hearts, as, by winding along its banks, they hoped to find a safer and
more practicable route.  After traversing its borders for a considerable
distance, closely beset with thickets which it taxed their strength to the
utmost to overcome, Gonzalo and his party came within hearing of a
rushing noise that sounded like subterranean thunder.  The river, lashed
into fury, tumbled along over rapids with frightful velocity, and
conducted them to the brink of a magnificent cataract, which, to their
wondering fancies, rushed down in one vast volume of foam to the depth
of twelve hundred feet! 7  The appalling sounds which they had heard for
the distance of six leagues were rendered yet more oppressive to the
spirits by the gloomy stillness of the surrounding forests.  The rude
warriors were filled with sentiments of awe.  Not a bark dimpled the
waters.  No living thing was to be seen but the wild tenants of the
wilderness, the unwieldy boa, and the loathsome alligator basking on the
borders of the stream.  The trees towering in wide-spread magnificence
towards the heavens, the river rolling on in its rocky bed as it had rolled
for ages, the solitude and silence of the scene, broken only by the hoarse
fall of waters, or the faint rustling of the woods,--all seemed to spread
out around them in the same wild and primitive state as when they came
from the hands of the Creator.

For some distance above and below the falls, the bed of the river
contracted so that its width did not exceed twenty feet.  Sorely pressed
by hunger, the adventurers determined, at all hazards, to cross to the
opposite side, in hopes of finding a country that might afford them
sustenance.  A frail bridge was constructed by throwing the huge trunks
of trees across the chasm, where the cliffs, as if split asunder by some
convulsion of nature, descended sheer down a perpendicular depth of
several hundred feet.  Over this airy causeway the men and horses
succeeded in effecting their passage with the loss of a single Spaniard,
who, made giddy by heedlessly looking down, lost his footing and fell
into the boiling surges below.

Yet they gained little by the exchange.  The country wore the same
unpromising aspect, and the river-banks were studded with gigantic
trees, or fringed with impenetrable thickets.  The tribes of Indians, whom
they occasionally met in the pathless wilderness, were fierce and
unfriendly, and they were engaged in perpetual skirmishes with them.
From these they learned that a fruitful country was to be found down the
river at the distance of only a few days' journey, and the Spaniards held
on their weary way, still hoping and still deceived, as the promised land
flitted before them, like the rainbow, receding as they advanced.

At length, spent with toil and suffering, Gonzalo resolved to construct a
bark large enough to transport the weaker part of his company and his
baggage.  The forests furnished him with timber; the shoes of the horses
which had died on the road or been slaughtered for food, were converted
into nails; gum distilled from the trees took the place of pitch; and the
tattered garments of the soldiers supplied a substitute for oakum.  It was
a work of difficulty; but Gonzalo cheered his men in the task, and set an
example by taking part in their labors.  At the end of two months a
brigantine was completed, rudely put together, but strong and of
sufficient burden to carry half the company,--the first European vessel
that ever floated on these inland waters.

Gonzalo gave the command to Francisco de Orellana, a cavalier from
Truxillo, on whose courage and devotion to himself he thought he could
rely.  The troops now moved forward, still following the descending
course of the river, while the brigantine kept alongside; and when a bold
promontory or more impracticable country intervened, it furnished
timely aid by the transportation of the feebler soldiers.  In this way they
journeyed, for many a wearisome week, through the dreary wilderness on
the borders of the Napo.  Every scrap of provisions had been long since
consumed.  The last of their horses had been devoured.  To appease the
gnawings of hunger, they were fain to eat the leather of their saddles and
belts.  The woods supplied them with scanty sustenance, and they
greedily fed upon toads, serpents, and such other reptiles as they
occasionally found.8

They were now told of a rich district, inhabited by a populous nation,
where the Napo emptied into a still greater river that flowed towards the
east.  It was, as usual, at the distance of several days' journey; and
Gonzalo Pizarro resolved to halt where he was and send Orellana down
in his brigantine to the confluence of the waters to procure a stock of
provisions, with which he might return and put them in condition to
resume their march.  That cavalier, accordingly, taking with him fifty of
the adventurers, pushed off into the middle of the river, where the stream
ran swiftly, and his bark, taken by the current, shot forward with the
speed of an arrow, and was soon out of sight.

Days and weeks passed away, yet the vessel did not return; and no speck
was to be seen on the waters, as the Spaniards strained their eyes to the
farthest point, where the line of light faded away in the dark shadows of
the foliage on the borders.  Detachments were sent out, and, though
absent several days, came back without intelligence of their comrades.
Unable longer to endure this suspense, or, indeed, to maintain
themselves in their present quarters, Gonzalo and his famishing followers
now determined to proceed towards the junction of the rivers.  Two
months elapsed before they accomplished this terrible journey those of
them who did not perish on the way,--although the distance probably' did
not exceed two hundred leagues; and they at length reached the spot so
long desired, where the Napo pours its tide into the Amazon, that mighty
stream, which, fed by its thousand tributaries, rolls on towards the ocean,
for many hundred miles, through the heart of the great continent,--the
most majestic of American rivers.

But the Spaniards gathered no tidings of Orellana, while the country,
though more populous than the region they had left, was as little inviting
in its aspect, and was tenanted by a race yet more ferocious.  They now
abandoned the hope of recovering their comrades, who they supposed
must have miserably perished by famine or by the hands of the natives.
But their doubts were at length dispelled by the appearance of a white
man wandering half-naked in the woods, in whose famine stricken
countenance they recognized the features of one of their countrymen.  It
was Sanchez de Vargas, a cavalier of good descent, and much esteemed
in the army.  He had a dismal tale to tell.

Orellana, borne swiftly down the current of the Napo, had reached the
point of its confluence with the Amazon in less than three days;
accomplishing in this brief space of time what had cost Pizarro and his
company two months.  He had found the country altogether different
from what had been represented; and, so far from supplies for his
countrymen, he could barely obtain sustenance for himself.  Nor was it
possible for him to return as he had come, and make head against the
current of the river; while the attempt to journey by land was an alternative
scarcely less formidable.  In this dilemma, an idea flashed across his
mind.  It was to launch his bark at once on the bosom of the Amazon,
and descend its waters to its mouth.  He would then visit the rich and
populous nations that, as report said, lined its borders, sail out on the
great ocean, cross to the neighboring isles, and return to Spain to claim
the glory and the guerdon of discovery.  The suggestion was eagerly
taken up by his reckless companions, welcoming any course that would
rescue them from the wretchedness of their present existence, and fired
with the prospect of new and stirring adventure,--for the love of
adventure was the last feeling to become extinct in the bosom of the
Castilian cavalier.  They heeded little their unfortunate comrades, whom
they were to abandon in the wilderness! 9

This is not the place to record the circumstances of Orellana's
extraordinary expedition.  He succeeded in his enterprise.  But it is
marvellous that he should have escaped shippwreck in the perilous and
unknown navigation of that river.  Many times his vessel was nearly
dashed to pieces on its rocks and in its furious rapids;10 and he was in
still greater peril from the warlike tribes on its borders, who fell on his
little troop whenever he attempted to land, and followed in his wake for
miles in their canoes.  He at length emerged from the great river; and,
once upon the sea, Orellana made for the isle of Cubagua; thence passing
over to Spain, he repaired to court, and told the circumstances of his
voyage,--of the nations of Amazons whom he had found on the banks of
the river, the El Dorado which report assured him existed in the
neighborhood, and other marvels,--the exaggeration rather than the
coinage of a credulous fancy.  His audience listened with willing ears to
the tales of the traveller; and in an age of wonders, when the mysteries of
the East and West were hourly coming to light, they might be excused
for not discerning the true line between romance and reality.11

He found no difficulty in obtaining a commission to conquer and
colonize the realms he had discovered.  He soon saw himself at the head
of five hundred followers, prepared to share the perils and the profits of
his expedition.  But neither he, nor his country, was destined to realize
these profits.  He died on his outward passage, and the lands washed by
the Amazon fell within the territories of Portugal.  The unfortunate
navigator did not even enjoy the undivided honor of giving his name to
the waters he had discovered.  He enjoyed only the barren glory of the
discovery, surely not balanced by the iniquitous circumstances which
attended it.12

One of Orellana's party maintained a stout opposition to his proceedings,
as repugnant both to humanity and honor.  This was Sanchez de Vargas;
and the cruel commander was revenged on him by abandoning him to his
fate in the desolate region where he was now found by his
countrymen.13

The Spaniards listened with horror to the recital of Vargas, and their
blood almost froze in their veins as they saw themselves thus deserted in
the heart of this remote wilderness, and deprived of their only means of
escape from it.  They made an effort to prosecute their journey along the
banks, but, after some toilsome days, strength and spirits failed, and they
gave up in despair!

Then it was that the qualities of Gonzalo Pizarro, as a fit leader in the
hour of despondency and danger, shone out conspicuous.  To advance
farther was hopeless.  To stay where they were, without food or raiment,
without defence from the fierce animals of the forest and the fiercer
natives, was impossible.  One only course remained; it was to return to
Quito.  But this brought with it the recollection of the past, of sufferings
which they could too well estimate,---hardly to be endured even in
imagination.  They were now at least four hundred leagues from Quito,
and more than a year had elapsed since they had set out on their painful
pilgrimage.  How could they encounter these perils again! 

Yet there was no alternative.  Gonzalo endeavored to reassure his
followers by dwelling on the invincible constancy they had hitherto
displayed; adjuring them to show themselves still worthy of the name of
Castilians.  He reminded them of the glory they would for ever acquire
by their heroic achievement, when they should reach their own country.
He would lead them back, he said, by another route, and it could not be
but that they should meet somewhere with those abundant regions of
which they had so often heard.  It was something, at least, that every step
would take them nearer home; and as, at all events, it was clearly the
only course now left, they should prepare to meet it like men.  The spirit
would sustain the body; and difficulties encountered in the right spirit
were half vanquished already!

The soldiers listened eagerly to his words of promise and
encouragement.  The confidence of their leader gave life to the
desponding.  They felt the force of his reasoning, and, as they lent a
willing ear to his assurances, the pride of the old Castilian honor revived
in their bosoms, and every one caught somewhat of the generous
enthusiasm of their commander.  He was, in truth, entitled to their
devotion.  From the first hour of the expedition, he had freely borne his
part in its privations.  Far from claiming the advantage of his position, he
had taken his lot with the poorest soldier; ministering to the wants of the
sick, cheering up the spirits of the desponding, sharing his stinted
allowance with his famished followers, bearing his full part in the toil
and burden of the march, ever showing himself their faithful comrade, no
less than their captain.  He found the benefit of this conduct in a trying
hour like the present.

I will spare the reader the recapitulation of the sufferings endured by the
Spaniards on their retrograde march to Quito.  They took a more
northerly route than that by which they had approached the Amazon;
and, if it was attended with fewer difficulties, they experienced yet
greater distresses from their greater inability to overcome them.  Their
only nourishment was such scanty fare as they could pick up in the
forest, or happily meet with in some forsaken Indian settlement, or wring
by violence from the natives.  Some sickened and sank down by the way,
for there was none to help them.  Intense misery had made them selfish;
and many a poor wretch was abandoned to his fate, to die alone in the
wilderness, or, more probably, to be devoured, while living, by the wild
animals which roamed over it.

At length, in June, 1542, after somewhat more than a year consumed in
their homeward march, the way-worn company came on the elevated
plains in the neighborhood of Quito.  But how different their aspect from
that which they had exhibited on issuing from the gates of the same
capital, two years and a half before, with high romantic hope and in all
the pride of military array!  Their horses gone, their arms broken and
rusted, the skins of wild animals instead of clothes hanging loosely about
their limbs, their long and matted locks streaming wildly down their
shoulders, their faces burned and blackened by the tropical sun, their
bodies wasted by famine and sorely disfigured by scars,--it seemed as if
the charnel-house had given up its dead, as, with uncertain step, they
glided slowly onwards like a troop of dismal spectres!  More than half of
the four thousand Indians who had accompanied the expedition had
perished, and of the Spaniards only eighty, and many of these
irretrievably broken in constitution, returned to Quito.15

The few Christian inhabitants of the place, with their wives and children,
came out to welcome their countrymen.  They ministered to them all the
relief and refreshment in their power; and, as they listened to the sad
recital of their sufferings, they mingled their tears with those of the
wanderers.  The whole company then entered the capital, where their
first act--to their credit be it mentioned--was to go in a body to the
church, and offer up thanksgivings to the Almighty for their miraculous
preservation through their long and perilous pilgrimage.16  Such was the
end of the expedition to the Amazon; an expedition which, for its
dangers and hardships, the length of their duration, and the constancy
with which they were endured, stands, perhaps, unmatched in the annals
of American discovery.



Book 4

Chapter 5

The Almagro Faction--Their Desperate Condition-
Conspiracy Against Francisco Pizarro--Assassination Of Pizarro-
Acts Of The Conspirators--Pizarro's Character

1541

When Gonzalo Pizarro reached Quito, he received tidings of an event
which showed that his expedition to the Amazon had been even more
fatal to his interests than he had imagined.  A revolution had taken place
during his absence, which had changed the whole condition of things in
Peru.

In a preceding chapter we have seen, that, when Hernando Pizarro
returned to Spain, his brother the marquess repaired to Lima, where he
continued to occupy himself with building up his infant capital, and
watching over the general interests of the country.  While thus employed,
he gave little heed to a danger that hourly beset his path, and this, too, in
despite of repeated warnings from more circumspect friends.

After the execution of Almagro, his followers, to the number of several
hundred, remained scattered through the country; but, however scattered,
still united by a common sentiment of indignation against the Pizarros,
the murderers, as they regarded them, of their leader.  The governor was
less the object of these feelings than his brother Hernando, as having
been less instrumental in the perpetration of the deed.  Under these
circumstances, it was clearly Pizarro's policy to do one of two things; to
treat the opposite faction either as friends, or as open enemies.  He might
conciliate the most factious by acts of kindness, efface the remembrance
of past injury, if he could, by present benefits; in short, prove to them
that his quarrel had been with their leader, not with themselves, and that
it was plainly for their interest to come again under his banner.  This
would have been the most politic, as well as the most magnanimous
course; and, by augmenting the number of his adherents, would have
greatly strengthened his power in the land.  But, unhappily, he had not
the magnanimity to pursue it.  It was not in the nature of a Pizarro to
forgive an injury, or the man whom he had injured.  As he would not,
therefore, try to conciliate Almagro's adherents, it was clearly the
governor's policy to regard them as enemies, not the less so for being in
disguise,--and to take such measures as should disqualify them for doing
mischief.  He should have followed the counsel of his more prudent
brother Hernando, and distributed them in different quarters, taking care
that no great number should assemble at any one point, or, above all, in
the neighborhood of his own residence.

But the governor despised the broken followers of Almagro too heartily
to stoop to precautionary measures.  He suffered the son of his rival to
remain in Lima, where his quarters soon became the resort of the
disaffected cavaliers.  The young man was well known to most of
Almagro's soldiers, having been trained along with them in the camp
under his father's eye, and, now that his parent was removed, they
naturally transferred their allegiance to the son who survived him.

That the young Almagro, however, might be less able to maintain this
retinue of unprofitable followers, he was deprived by Pizarro of a great
part of his Indians and lands, while he was excluded from the
government of New Toledo, which had been settled on him by his
father's testament.1  Stripped of all means of support, without office or
employment of any kind, the men of Chili, for so Almagro's adherents
continued to be called, were reduced to the utmost distress.  So poor
were they, as is the story of the time, that twelve cavaliers, who lodged in
the same house, could muster only one cloak among them all; and, with
the usual feeling of pride that belongs to the poor hidalgo, unwilling to
expose their poverty, they wore this cloak by turns, those who had no
right to it remaining at home.2  Whether true or not, the anecdote well
illustrates the extremity to which Almagro's faction was reduced.  And
this distress was rendered yet more galling by the effrontery of their
enemies, who, enriched by their forfeitures, displayed before their eyes
all the insolent bravery of equipage and apparel that could annoy their
feelings.

Men thus goaded by insult and injury were too dangerous to be lightly
regarded.  But, although Pizarro received various intimations intended to
put him on his guard, he gave no heed to them.  "Poor devils!" he would
exclaim, speaking with contemptuous pity of the men of Chili; "they
have had bad luck enough.  We will not trouble them further."3  And so
little did he consider them, that he went freely about, as usual, riding
without attendants to all parts of the town and to its immediate
environs.4

News now reached the colony of the appointment of a judge by the
Crown to take cognizance of the affairs of Peru.  Pizarro, although
alarmed by the intelligence, sent orders to have him well entertained on
his landing, and suitable accommodations prepared for him on the route.
The spirits of Almagro's followers were greatly raised by the tidings.
They confidently looked to this high functionary for the redress of their
wrongs; and two of their body, clad in suits of mourning, were chosen to
go to the north, where the judge was expected to land, and to lay their
grievances before him.

But months elapsed, and no tidings came of his arrival, till, at length, a
vessel, coming into port, announced that most of the squadron had
foundered in the heavy storms on the coast, and that the commissioner
had probably perished with them.  This was disheartening intelligence to
the men of Chili, whose "miseries," to use the words of their young
leader, "had become too grievous to be borne."5  Symptoms of
disaffection had already begun openly to manifest themselves.  The
haughty cavaliers did not always doff their bonnets, on meeting the
governor in the street; and on one occasion, three ropes were found
suspended from the public gallows, with labels attached to them, bearing
the names of Pizarro, Velasquez the judge, and Picado the governor's
secretary.6  This last functionary was peculiarly odious to Almagro and
his followers.  As his master knew neither how to read nor write, all his
communications passed through Picado's hands; and, as the latter was of
a hard and arrogant nature, greatly elated by the consequence which his
position gave him, he exercised a mischievous influence on the
governor's measures.  Almagro's poverty-stricken followers were the
objects of his open ridicule, and he revenged the insult now offered him
by riding before their young leader's residence, displaying a tawdry
magnificence in his dress, sparkling with gold and silver, and with the
inscription, "For the Men of Chili," set in his bonnet.  It was a foolish
taunt; but the poor cavaliers who were the object of it, made morbidly
sensitive by their sufferings, had not the philosophy to despise it.7

At length, disheartened by the long protracted coming of Vaca de Castro,
and still more by the recent reports of his loss, Almagro's faction,
despairing of redress from a legitimate authority, determined to take it
into their own hands.  They came to the desperate resolution of
assassinating Pizarro.  The day named for this was Sunday, the twenty-
sixth of June, 1541- The conspirators, eighteen or twenty in number,
were to assemble in Almagro's house, which stood in the great square
next to the cathedral, and, when the governor was returning from mass,
they were to issue forth and fall on him in the street.  A white flag,
unfurled at the same time from an upper window in the house, was to be
the signal for the rest of their comrades to move to the support of those
immediately engaged in the execution of the deed.8

These arrangements could hardly have been concealed from Almagro,
since his own quarters were to be the place of rendezvous.  Yet there is
no good evidence of his having taken part in the conspiracy.9  He was,
indeed, too young to make it probable that he took a leading part in it.
He is represented by contemporary writers to have given promise of
many good qualities, though, unhappily, he was not placed in a situation
favorable for their development.  He was the son of an Indian woman of
Panama; but from early years had followed the troubled fortunes of his
father, to whom he bore much resemblance in his free and generous
nature, as well as in the violence of his passions.  His youth and
inexperience disqualified him from taking the lead in the perplexing
circumstances in which he was placed, and made him little more than a
puppet in the hands of others.10

The most conspicuous of his advisers was Juan de Herrada, or Rada, as
his name is more usually spelt,--a cavalier of respectable family, but
who, having early enlisted as a common soldier, had gradually risen to
the highest posts in the army by his military talents.  At this time he was
well advanced in years; but the fires of youth were not quenched in his
bosom, and he burned with desire to avenge the wrongs done to his
ancient commander.  The attachment which he had ever felt for the elder
Almagro he seems to have transferred in full measure to his son; and it
was apparently with reference to him, even more than to himself, that he
devised this audacious plot, and prepared to take the lead in the
execution of it.

There was one, however, in the band of conspirators who felt some
compunctions of conscience at the part he was acting, and who relieved
his bosom by revealing the whole plot to his confessor.  The latter lost no
time in reporting it to Picado, by whom in turn it was communicated to
Pizarro.  But, strange to say, it made little more impression on the
governor's mind than the vague warnings he had so frequently received.
"It is a device of the priest," said he; "he wants a mitre." 11  Yet he
repeated the story to the judge Velasquez, who, instead of ordering the
conspirators to be seized, and the proper steps taken for learning the
truth of the accusation, seemed to be possessed with the same infatuation
as Pizarro; and he bade the governor be under no apprehension, "for no
harm should come to him, while the rod of justice," not a metaphorical
badge of authority in Castile, "was in his hands." 12  Still, to obviate
every possibility of danger, it was deemed prudent for Pizarro to abstain
from going to mass on Sunday, and to remain at home on pretence of
illness.

On the day appointed, Rada and his companions met in Almagro's house,
and waited with anxiety for the hour when the governor should issue
from the church.  But great was their consternation, when they learned
that he was not there, but was detained at home, as currently reported, by
illness.  Little doubting that their design was discovered, they felt their
own ruin to be the inevitable consequence, and that, too, without
enjoying the melancholy consolation of having struck the blow for which
they had incurred it.  Greatly perplexed, some were for disbanding, in the
hope that Pizarro might, after all, be ignorant of their design.  But most
were for carrying it into execution at once, by assaulting him in his own
house.  The question was summarily decided by one of the party, who
felt that in this latter course lay their only chance of safety.  Throwing
open the doors, he rushed out, calling on his comrades "to follow him, or
he would proclaim the purpose for which they had met."  There was no
longer hesitation, and the cavaliers issued forth, with Rada at their head,
shouting, as they went, "Long live the king!  Death to the tyrant!" 13

It was the hour of dinner, which, in this primitive age of the Spanish
colonies, was at noon.  Yet numbers, roused by the cries of the
assailants, came out into the square to inquire the cause.  "They are
going to kill the marquess," some said very coolly; others replied, "It is
Picado."  No one stirred in their defence.  The power of Pizarro was not
seated in the hearts of his people.

As the conspirators traversed the plaza, one of the party made a circuit to
avoid a little pool of water that lay in their path.  "What!" exclaimed
Rada, "afraid of wetting your feet, when you are to wade up to your
knees in blood!"  And he ordered the man to give up the enterprise and
go home to his quarters.  The anecdote is characteristic.

The governor's palace stood on the opposite side of the square.  It was
approached by two courtyards.  The entrance to the outer one was
protected by a massive gate, capable of being made good against a
hundred men or more.  But it was left open, and the assailants, hurrying
through to the inner court, still shouting their fearful battle-cry, were met
by two domestics loitering in the yard.  One of these they struck down.
The other, flying in all haste towards the house, called out, "Help, help!
the men of Chili are all coming to murder the marquess!"

Pizarro at this time was at dinner, or, more probably, had just dined.  He
was surrounded by a party of friends, who had dropped in, it seems, after
mass, to inquire after the state of his health, some of whom had remained
to partake of his repast.  Among these was Don Martinez do Alcantara,
Pizarro's half-brother by the mother's side, the judge Velasquez, the
bishop elect of Quito, and several of the principal cavaliers in the place,
to the number of fifteen or twenty.  Some of them, alarmed by the uproar
in the court-yard, left the saloon, and, running down to the first landing
on the stairway, inquired into the cause of the disturbance.  No sooner
were they informed of it by the cries of the servant, than they retreated
with precipitation into the house; and, as they had no mind to abide the
storm unarmed, or at best imperfectly armed, as most of them were, they
made their way to a corridor that overlooked the gardens, into which
they easily let themselves down without injury.  Velasquez, the judge,
the better to have the use of his hands in the descent, held his rod of
office in his mouth, thus taking care, says a caustic old chronicler, not to
falsify his assurance, that "no harm should come to Pizarro while the rod
of justice was in his hands"! 15

Meanwhile, the marquess, learning the nature of the tumult, called out to
Francisco de Chaves, an officer high in his confidence, and who was in
the outer apartment opening on the staircase, to secure the door, while he
and his brother Alcantara buckled on their armour.  Had this order,
coolly given, been as coolly obeyed, it would have saved them all, since
the entrance could easily have been maintained against a much larger
force, till the report of the cavaliers who had fled had brought support to
Pizarro.  But unfortunately, Chaves, disobeying his commander, half
opened the door, and attempted to enter into a parley with the
conspirators.  The latter had now reached the head of the stairs, and cut
short the debate by running Chaves through the body, and tumbling his
corpse down into the area below.  For a moment they were kept at bay by
the attendants of the slaughtered cavalier, but these, too, were quickly
despatched; and Rada and his companions, entering the apartment,
hurried across it, shouting out, "Where is the marquess? Death to the
tyrant!"

Martinez de Alcantara, who in the adjoining room was assisting his
brother to buckle on his mail, no sooner saw that the entrance to the
antechamber had been gained, than he sprang to the doorway of the
apartment, and, assisted by two young men, pages of Pizarro, and by one
or two cavaliers in attendance, endeavored to resist the approach of the
assailants.  A desperate struggle now ensued.  Blows were given on both
sides, some of which proved fatal, and two of the conspirators were
slain, while Alcantara and his brave companions were repeatedly
wounded.

At length, Pizarro, unable, in the hurry of the moment, to adjust the
fastenings of his cuirass, threw it away, and, enveloping one arm in his
cloak, with the other seized his sword, and sprang to his brother's
assistance.  It was too late; for Alcantara was already staggering under
the loss of blood, and soon fell to the ground.  Pizarro threw himself on
his invaders, like a lion roused in his lair, and dealt his blows with as
much rapidity and force, as if age had no power to stiffen his limbs.
"What ho!" he cried, "traitors! have you come to kill me in my own
house?"  The conspirators drew back for a moment, as two of their body
fell under Pizarro's sword; but they quickly rallied, and, from their
superior numbers, fought at great advantage by relieving one another in
the assault.  Still the passage was narrow, and the struggle lasted for
some minutes, till both of Pizarro's pages were stretched by his side,
when Rada, impatient of the delay, called out, "Why are we so long
about it? Down with the tyrant!" and taking one of his companions,
Narvaez, in his arms, he thrust him against the marquess.  Pizarro,
instantly grappling with his opponent, ran him through with his sword.
But at that moment he received a wound in the throat, and reeling, he
sank on the floor, while the swords of Rada and several of the
conspirators were plunged into his body.  "Jesu!" exclaimed the dying
man, and, tracing a cross with his finger on the bloody floor, he bent
down his head to kiss it, when a stroke, more friendly than the rest, put
an end to his existence.16

The conspirators, having accomplished their bloody deed, rushed into
the street, and, brandishing their dripping weapons, shouted out, "The
tyrant is dead!  The laws are restored!  Long live our master the emperor,
and his governor, Almagro!"  The men of Chili, roused by the cheering
cry, now flocked in from every side to join the banner of Rada, who soon
found himself at the head of nearly three hundred followers, all armed
and prepared to support his authority.  A guard was placed over the
houses of the principal partisans of the late governor, and their persons
were taken into custody.  Pizarro's house, and that of his secretary
Picado, were delivered up to pillage and a large booty in gold and silver
was found in the former.  Picado himself took refuge in the dwelling of
Riquelme, the treasurer; but his hiding-place was detected, --betrayed,
according to some accounts, by the looks, though not the words, of the
treasurer himself,--and he was dragged forth and committed to a secure
prison.17  The whole city was thrown into consternation, as armed
bodies hurried to and fro on their several errands, and all who were not
in the faction of Almagro trembled test they should be involved in the
proscription of their enemies.  So great was the disorder, that the
Brothers of Mercy, turning out in a body, paraded the streets in solemn
procession, with the host elevated in the air, in hopes by the presence of
the sacred symbol to calm the passions of the multitude.

But no other violence was offered by Rada and his followers than to
apprehend a few suspected persons, and to seize upon horses and arms
wherever they were to be found.  The municipality was then summoned
to recognize the authority of Almagro; the refractory were ejected
without ceremony from their offices, and others of the Chili faction were
substituted.  The claims of the new aspirant were fully recognized; and
young Almagro, parading the streets on horseback, and escorted by a
well-armed body of cavaliers, was proclaimed by sound of trumpet
governor and captain-general of Peru.

Meanwhile, the mangled bodies of Pizarro and his faithful adherents
were left weltering in their blood.  Some were for dragging forth the
governor's corpse to the market-place, and fixing his head upon a gibbet.
But Almagro was secretly prevailed on to grant the entreaties of Pizarro's
friends, and allow his interment.  This was stealthily and hastily
performed, in the fear of momentary interruption.  A faithful attendant
and his wife, with a few black domestics, wrapped the body in a cotton
cloth and removed it to the cathedral.  A grave was hastily dug in an
obscure corner, the services were hurried through, and, in secrecy, and in
darkness dispelled only by the feeble glimmering of a few tapers
furnished by these humble menials, the remains of Pizarro, rolled in their
bloody shroud, were consigned to their kindred dust.  Such was the
miserable end of the Conqueror of Peru,--of the man who but a few
hours before had lorded it over the land with as absolute a sway as was
possessed by its hereditary Incas.  Cut off in the broad light of day, in the
heart of his own capital, in the very midst of those who had been his
companions in arms and shared with him his triumphs and his spoils, he
perished like a wretched outcast.  "There was none, even," in the
expressive language of the chronicler, "to say, God forgive him!" 18

A few years later, when tranquillity was restored to the country, Pizarro's
remains were placed in a sumptuous coffin and deposited under a
monument in a conspicuous part of the cathedral.  And in 1607, when
time had thrown its friendly mantle over the past, and the memory of his
errors and his crimes was merged in the consideration of the great
services he had rendered to the Crown by the extension of her colonial
empire, his bones were removed to the new cathedral, and allowed to
repose side by side with those of Mendoza, the wise and good viceroy of
Peru.19

Pizarro was, probably, not far from sixty-five years of age at the time of
his death; though this, it must be added, is but loose conjecture, since
there exists no authentic record of the date of his birth.20  He was never
married; but by an Indian princess of the Inca blood, daughter of
Atahuallpa and granddaughter of the great Huayna Capac, he had two
children, a son and a daughter.  Both survived him; but the son did not
live to manhood.  Their mother, after Pizarro's death, wedded a Spanish
cavalier, named Ampuero, and removed with him to Spain.  Her
daughter Francisca accompanied her, and was there subsequently
married to her uncle Hernando Pizarro, then a prisoner in the Mota del
Medina.  Neither the title nor estates of the Marquess Francisco
descended to his illegitimate offspring.  But in the third generation, in the
reign of Philip the Fourth, the title was revived in favor of Don Juan
Hernando Pizarro, who, out of gratitude for the services of his ancestor,
was created Marquess of the Conquest, Marques de la Conquista, with a
liberal pension from government.  His descendants, bearing the same
title of nobility, are still to be found, it is said, at Truxillo, in the ancient
province of Estremadura, the original birthplace of the Pizarros.21

Pizarro's person has been already described.  He was tall in stature, well-
proportioned, and with a countenance not unpleasing.  Bred in camps,
with nothing of the polish of a court, he had a soldier-like bearing, and
the air of one accustomed to command.  But though not polished, there
was no embarrassment or rusticity in his address, which, where it served
his purpose, could be plausible and even insinuating.  The proof of it is
the favorable impression made by him, on presenting himself, after his
second expedition--stranger as he was to all its forms and usages--at the
punctilious court of Castile.

Unlike many of his countrymen, he had no passion for ostentatious dress,
which he regarded as an incumbrance.  The costume which he most
affected on public occasions was a black cloak, with a white hat, and
shoes of the same color; the last, it is said, being in imitation of the Great
Captain, whose character he had early learned to admire in Italy, but to
which his own, certainly, bore very faint resemblance.22

He was temperate in eating, drank sparingly, and usually rose an hour
before dawn.  He was punctual in attendance to business, and shrunk
from no toil.  He had, indeed, great powers of patient endurance.  Like
most of his nation, he was fond of play, and cared little for the quality of
those with whom he played; though, when his antagonist could not afford
to lose, he would allow himself, it is said, to be the loser; a mode of
conferring an obligation much commended by a Castilian writer, for its
delicacy.23

Though avaricious, it was in order to spend and not to hoard.  His ample
treasures, more ample than those, probably, that ever before fell to the
lot of an adventurer,24 were mostly dissipated in his enterprises, his
architectural works, and schemes of public improvement, which, in a
country where gold and silver might be said to have lost their value from
their abundance, absorbed an incredible amount of money.  While he
regarded the whole country, in a manner, as his own, and distributed it
freely among his captains, it is certain that the princely grant of a
territory with twenty thousand vassals, made to him by the Crown, was
never carried into effect; nor did his heirs ever reap the benefit of it.25

To a man possessed of the active energies of Pizarro, sloth was the
greatest evil.  The excitement of play was in a manner necessary to a
spirit accustomed to the habitual stimulants of war and adventure.  His
uneducated mind had no relish for more refined, intellectual recreation.
The deserted foundling had neither been taught to read nor write.  This
has been disputed by some, but it is attested by unexceptionable
authorities.26  Montesinos says, indeed, that Pizarro, on his first voyage,
tried to learn to read; but the impatience of his temper prevented it, and
he contented himself with learning to sign his name.27  But Montesinos
was not a contemporary historian.  Pedro Pizarro, his companion in
arms, expressly tells us he could neither read nor write;28 and Zarate,
another contemporary, well acquainted with the Conquerors, confirms
this statement, and adds, that Pizarro could not so much as sign his
name.29  This was done by his secretary--Picado, in his latter years-
while the governor merely made the customary rubrica or flourish at the
sides of his name.  This is the case with the instruments I have examined,
in which his signature, written probably by his secretary, or his title of
Marques, in later life substituted for his name, is garnished with a
flourish at the ends, executed in as bungling a manner as if done by the
hand of a ploughman.  Yet we must not estimate this deficiency as we
should in this period of general illumination,--general, at least, in our
own fortunate country.  Reading and writing, so universal now, in the
beginning of the sixteenth century might be regarded in the light of
accomplishments; and all who have occasion to consult the autograph
memorials of that time will find the execution of them, even by persons
of the highest rank, too often such as would do little credit to a
schoolboy of the present day.

Though bold in action and not easily turned from his purpose, Pizarro
was slow in arriving at a decision.  This gave him an appearance of
irresolution foreign to his character.30  Perhaps the consciousness of this
led him to adopt the custom of saying "No," at first, to applicants for
favor; and afterwards, at leisure, to revise his judgment, and grant what
seemed to him expedient.  He took the opposite course from his comrade
Almagro, who, it was observed, generally said "Yes," but too often failed
to keep his promise.  This was characteristic of the careless and easy
nature of the latter, governed by impulse rather than principle.31

It is hardly necessary to speak of the courage of a man pledged to such a
career as that of Pizarro.  Courage, indeed, was a cheap quality among
the Spanish adventurers, for danger was their element.  But he possessed
something higher than mere animal courage, in that constancy of purpose
which was rooted too deeply in his nature to be shaken by the wildest
storms of fortune.  It was this inflexible constancy which formed the key
to his character, and constituted the secret of his success.  A remarkable
evidence of it was given in his first expedition, among the mangroves
and dreary marshes of Choco.  He saw his followers pining around him
under the blighting malaria, wasting before an invisible enemy, and
unable to strike a stroke in their own defence.  Yet his spirit did not
yield, nor did he falter in his enterprise.

There is something oppressive to the imagination in this war against
nature.  In the struggle of man against man, the spirits are raised by a
contest conducted on equal terms; but in a war with the elements, we
feel, that, however bravely we may contend, we can have no power to
control.  Nor are we cheered on by the prospect of glory in such a
contest; for, in the capricious estimate of human glory, the silent
endurance of privations, however painful, is little, in comparison with the
ostentatious trophies of victory.  The laurel of the hero---alas for
humanity that it should be so!--grows best on the battle-field.

This inflexible spirit of Pizarro was shown still more strongly, when, in
the little island of Gallo, he drew the line on the sand, which was to
separate him and his handful of followers from their country and from
civilized man.  He trusted that his own constancy would give strength to
the feeble, and rally brave hearts around him for the prosecution of his
enterprise.  He looked with confidence to the future, and he did not
miscalculate.  This was heroic, and wanted only a nobler motive for its
object to constitute the true moral sublime.

Yet the same feature in his character was displayed in a manner scarcely
less remarkable, when, landing on the coast, and ascertaining the real
strength and civilization of the Incas, he persisted in marching into the
interior at the head of a force of less than two hundred men.  In this he
undoubtedly proposed to himself the example of Cortes, so contagious to
the adventurous spirits of that day, and especially to Pizarro, engaged, as
he was, in a similar enterprise.  Yet the hazard assumed by Pizarro was
far greater than that of the Conqueror of Mexico, whose force was nearly
three times as large, while the terrors of the Inca name--however justified
by the result--were as widely spread as those of the Aztecs.

It was doubtless in imitation of the same captivating model, that Pizarro
planned the seizure of Atahuallpa.  But the situations of the two Spanish
captains were as dissimilar as the manner in which their acts of violence
were conducted.  The wanton massacre of the Peruvians resembled that
perpetrated by Alvarado in Mexico, and might have been attended with
consequences as disastrous, if the Peruvian character had been as fierce
as that of the Aztecs.32  But the blow which roused the latter to madness
broke the tamer spirits of the Peruvians.  It was a bold stroke, which left
so much to chance, that it scarcely merits the name of policy.

When Pizarro landed in the country, he found it distracted by a contest
for the crown.  It would seem to have been for his interest to play off one
party against the other, throwing his own weight into the scale that suited
him.  Instead of this, he resorted to an act of audacious violence which
crushed them both at a blow.  His subsequent career afforded no scope
for the profound policy displayed by Cortes, when he gathered
conflicting nations under his banner, and directed them against a
common foe.  Still less did he have the opportunity of displaying the
tactics and admirable strategy of his rival.  Cortes conducted his military
operations on the scientific principles of a great captain at the head of a
powerful host.  Pizarro appears only as an adventurer, a fortunate knight-
errant.  By one bold stroke, he broke the spell which had so long held the
land under the dominion of the Incas.  The spell was broken, and the airy
fabric of their empire, built on the superstition of ages, vanished at a
touch.  This was good fortune, rather than the result of policy.

Pizarro was eminently perfidious, Yet nothing is more opposed to sound
policy.  One act of perfidy fully established becomes the ruin of its
author.  The man who relinquishes confidence in his good faith gives up
the best basis for future operations.  Who will knowingly build on a
quicksand?  By his perfidious treatment of Almagro, Pizarro alienated the
minds of the Spaniards.  By his perfidious treatment of Atahuallpa, and
subsequently of the Inca Manco, he disgusted the Peruvians.  The name
of Pizarro became a by-word for perfidy.  Almagro took his revenge in a
civil war; Manco in an insurrection which nearly cost Pizarro his
dominion.  The civil war terminated in a conspiracy which cost him his
life.  Such were the fruits of his policy.  Pizarro may be regarded as a
cunning man; but not, as he has been often eulogized by his countrymen,
as a politic one.

When Pizarro obtained possession of Cuzco, he found a country well
advanced in the arts of civilization; institutions under which the people
lived in tranquillity and personal safety; the mountains and the uplands
whitened with flocks; the valleys teeming with the fruits of a scientific
husbandry; the granaries and warehouses filled to overflowing; the whole
land rejoicing in its abundance; and the character of the nation, softened
under the influence of the mildest and most innocent form of
superstition, well prepared for the reception of a higher and a Christian
civilization.  But, far from introducing this, Pizarro delivered up the
conquered races to his brutal soldiery; the sacred cloisters were
abandoned to their lust; the towns and villages were given up to pillage;
the wretched natives were parcelled out like slaves, to toil for their
conquerors in the mines; the flocks were scattered, and wantonly
destroyed, the granaries were dissipated; the beautiful contrivances for
the more perfect culture of the soil were suffered to fall into decay; the
paradise was converted into a desert.  Instead of profiting by the ancient
forms of civilization, Pizarro preferred to efface every vestige of them
from the land, and on their ruin to erect the institutions of his own
country.  Yet these institutions did little for the poor Indian, held in iron
bondage.  It was little to him that the shores of the Pacific were studded
with rising communities and cities, the marts of a flourishing commerce.
He had no share in the goodly heritage.  He was an alien in the land of
his fathers.

The religion of the Peruvian, which directed him to the worship of that
glorious luminary which is the best representative of the might and
beneficence of the Creator, is perhaps the purest form of superstition that
has existed among men.  Yet it was much, that, under the new order of
things, and through the benevolent zeal of the missionaries, some
glimmerings of a nobler faith were permitted to dawn on his darkened
soul.  Pizarro, himself, cannot be charged with manifesting any
overweening solicitude for the propagation of the Faith.  He was no
bigot, like Cortes.  Bigotry is the perversion of the religious principle;
but the principle itself was wanting in Pizarro.  The conversion of the
heathen was a predominant motive with Cortes in his expedition.  It was
not a vain boast.  He would have sacrificed his life for it at any time; and
more than once, by his indiscreet seal, he actually did place his life and
the success of his enterprise in jeopardy.  It was his great purpose to
purify the land from the brutish abominations of the Aztecs, by
substituting the religion of Jesus.  This gave to his expedition the
character of a crusade.  It furnished the best apology for the Conquest,
and does more than all other considerations towards enlisting our
sympathies on the side of the conquerors.

But Pizarro's ruling motives, so far as they can be scanned by human
judgment, were avarice and ambition.  The good missionaries, indeed,
followed in his train to scatter the seeds of spiritual truth, and the
Spanish government, as usual, directed its beneficent legislation to the
conversion of the natives.  But the moving power with Pizarro and his
followers was the lust of gold.  This was the real stimulus to their toil,
the price of perfidy, the true guerdon of their victories.  This gave a base
and mercenary character to their enterprise; and when we contrast the
ferocious cupidity of the conquerors with the mild and inoffensive
manners of the conquered, our sympathies, the sympathies even of the
Spaniard, are necessarily thrown into the scale of the Indian.33

But as no picture is without its lights, we must not, in justice to Pizarro,
dwell exclusively on the darker features of his portrait.  There was no
one of her sons to whom Spain was under larger obligations for extent of
empire; for his hand won for her the richest of the Indian jewels that
once sparkled in her imperial diadem.  When we contemplate the perils
he braved, the sufferings he patiently endured, the incredible obstacles
he overcame, the magnificent results he effected with his single arm, as it
were, unaided by the government,--though neither a good, nor a great
man in the highest sense of that term, it is impossible not to regard him
as a very extraordinary one.

Nor can we fairly omit to notice, in extenuation of his errors, the
circumstances of his early life; for, like Almagro, he was the son of sin
and sorrow, early cast upon the world to seek his fortunes as he might.
In his young and tender age he was to take the impression of those into
whose society he was thrown.  And when was it the lot of the needy
outcast to fall into that of the wise and the virtuous?  His lot was cast
among the licentious inmates of a camp, the school of rapine, whose only
law was the sword, and who looked on the wretched Indian and his
heritage as their rightful spoil.

Who does not shudder at the thought of what his own fate might have
been, trained in such a school?  The amount of crime does not necessarily
show the criminality of the agent.  History, indeed, is concerned with the
former, that it may be recorded as a warning to mankind; but it is He
alone who knoweth the heart, the strength of the temptations and the
means of resisting it, that can determine the measure of the guilt.



Book 4

Chapter 6

Movements Of The Conspirators--Advance Of Vaca De Castro--
Proceedings Of Almagro--Progress Of The Governor-
The Forces Approach Each Other--Bloody Plains Of Chupas-
Conduct Of Vaca De Castro

1541--1543

The first step of the conspirators, after securing possession of the capital,
was to send to the different cities, proclaiming the revolution which had
taken place, and demanding the recognition of the young Almagro as
governor of Peru.  Where the summons was accompanied by a military
force, as at Truxillo and Arequipa, it was obeyed without much cavil.
But in other cities a colder assent was given, and in some the requisition
was treated with contempt.  In Cuzco, the place of most importance next
to Lima, a considerable number of the Almagro faction secured the
ascendency of their party; and such of the magistracy as resisted were
ejected from their offices to make room for others of a more
accommodating temper.  But the loyal inhabitants of the city, dissatisfied
with this proceeding, privately sent to one of Pizarro's captains, named
Alvarez de Holguin, who lay with a considerable force in the
neighborhood; and that officer, entering the place, soon dispossessed the
new dignitaries of their honors, and restored the ancient capital to its
allegiance.

The conspirators experienced a still more determined opposition from
Alonso de Alvarado, one of the principal captains of Pizarro,-defeated,
as the reader will remember, by the elder Almagro at the bridge of
Abancay,--and now lying in the north with a corps of about two hundred
men, as good troops as any in the land.  That officer, on receiving tidings
of his general's assassination, instantly wrote to the Licentiate Vaca de
Castro, advising him of the state of affairs in Peru, and urging him to
quicken his march towards the south.1

This functionary had been sent out by the Spanish Crown, as noticed in a
preceding chapter, to cooperate with Pizarro in restoring tranquillity to
the country, with authority to assume the government himself, in case of
that commander's death.  After a long and tempestuous voyage, he had
landed, in the spring of 1541, at the port of Buena Ventura, and,
disgusted with the dangers of the sea, preferred to continue his
wearisome journey by land.  But so enfeebled was he by the hardships he
had undergone, that it was full three months before he reached Popayan
where he received the astounding tidings of the death of Pizarro.  This
was the contingency which had been provided for, with such judicious
forecast, in his instructions.  Yet he was sorely perplexed by the
difficulties of his situation.  He was a stranger in the land, with a very
imperfect knowledge of the country, without an armed force to support
him, without even the military science which might be supposed
necessary to avail himself of it.  He knew nothing of the degree of
Almagro's influence, or of the extent to which the insurrection had
spread,--nothing, in short, of the dispositions of the people among whom
he was cast.

In such an emergency, a feebler spirit might have listened to the counsels
of those who advised to return to Panama, and stay there until he had
mustered a sufficient force to enable him to take the field against the
insurgents with advantage.  But the courageous heart of Vaca de Castro
shrunk from a step which would proclaim his incompetency to the task
assigned him.  He had confidence in his own resources, and in the virtue
of the commission under which he acted.  He relied, too, on the habitual
loyalty of the Spaniards; and, after mature deliberation, he determined to
go forward, and trust to events for accomplishing the objects of his
mission.

He was confirmed in this purpose by the advices he now received from
Alvarado; and without longer delay, he continued his march towards
Quito.  Here he was well received by Gonzalo Pizarro's lieutenant, who
had charge of the place during his commander's absence on his
expedition to the Amazon.  The licentiate was also joined by Benalcazar,
the conqueror of Quito, who brought a small reinforcement, and offered
personally to assist him in the prosecution of his enterprise.  He now
displayed the royal commission, empowering him, on Pizarro's death, to
assume the government.  That contingency had arrived, and Vaca de
Castro declared his purpose to exercise the authority conferred on him.
At the same time, he sent emissaries to the principal cities, requiring
their obedience to him as the lawful representative of the Crown, --taking
care to employ discreet persons on the mission, whose character would
have weight with the citizens.  He then continued his march slowly
towards the south.2

He was willing by his deliberate movements to give time for his
summons to take effect, and for the fermentation caused by the late
extraordinary events to subside.  He reckoned confidently on the loyalty
which made the Spaniard unwilling, unless in cases of the last extremity,
to come into collision with the royal authority; and, however much this
popular sentiment might be disturbed by temporary gusts of passion, he
trusted to the habitual current of their feelings for giving the people a
right direction.  In this he did not miscalculate; for so deeprooted was the
principle of loyalty in the ancient Spaniard, that ages of oppression and
misrule could alone have induced him to shake off his allegiance.  Sad it
is, but not strange, that the length of time passed under a bad government
has not qualified him for devising a good one.

While these events were passing in the north, Almagro's faction at Lima
was daily receiving new accessions of strength.  For, in addition to those
who, from the first, had been avowedly of his father's party, there were
many others who, from some cause or other, had conceived a disgust for
Pizarro, and who now willingly enlisted under the banner of the chief
that had overthrown him.

The first step of the young general, or rather of Rada, who directed his
movements, was to secure the necessary supplies for the troops, most of
whom, having long been in indigent circumstances, were wholly
unprepared for service.  Funds to a considerable amount were raised, by
seizing on the moneys of the Crown in the hands of the treasurer.
Pizarro's secretary, Picado, was also drawn from his prison, and
interrogated as to the place where his master's treasures were deposited.
But, although put to the torture, he would not---or, as is probable, could
not --give information on the subject; and the conspirators, who had a
long arrear of injuries to settle with him, closed their proceedings by
publicly beheading him in the great square of Lima.3

Valverde, Bishop of Cuzco, as he himself assures us, vainly interposed in
his behalf.  It is singular, that, the last time this fanatical prelate appears
on the stage, it should be in the benevolent character of a supplicant for
mercy.4  Soon afterwards, he was permitted, with the judge, Velasquez,
and some other adherents of Pizarro, to embark from the port of Lima.
We have a letter from him, dated at Tumbez, in November, 1541; almost
immediately after which he fell into the hands of the Indians, and with
his companions was massacred at Puna.  A violent death not
unfrequently closed the stormy career of the American adventurer.
Valverde was a Dominican friar, and, like Father Olmedo in the suite of
Cortes, had been by his commander's side throughout the whole of his
expedition.  But he did not always, like the good Olmedo, use his
influence to stay the uplifted hand of the warrior.  At least, this was not
the mild aspect in which he presented himself at the terrible massacre of
Caxamalca.  Yet some contemporary accounts represent him, after he
had been installed in his episcopal office, as unwearied in his labors to
convert the natives, and to ameliorate their condition; and his own
correspondence with the government, after that period, shows great
solicitude for these praiseworthy objects.  Trained in the severest school
of monastic discipline, which too often closes the heart against the
common charities of life, he could not, like the benevolent Las Casas,
rise so far above its fanatical tenets as to regard the heathen as his
brother, while in the state of infidelity; and, in the true spirit of that
school, he doubtless conceived that the sanctity of the end justified the
means, however revolting in themselves.  Yet the same man, who thus
freely shed the blood of the poor native to secure the triumph of his faith,
would doubtless have as freely poured out his own in its defence.  The
character was no uncommon one in the sixteenth century.5

Almagro's followers, having supplied themselves with funds, made as
little scruple to appropriate to their own use such horses and arms, of
every description, as they could find in the city.  And this they did with
the less reluctance, as the inhabitants for the most part testified no good-
will to their cause.  While thus employed, Almagro received intelligence
that Holguin had left Cuzco with a force of near three hundred men, with
which he was preparing to effect a junction with Alvarado in the north.
It was important to Almagro's success that he should defeat this junction.
If to procrastinate was the policy of Vaca de Castro, it was clearly that of
Almagro to quicken operations, and to bring matters to as speedy an
issue as possible; to march at once against Holguin, whom he might
expect easily to overcome with his superior numbers; then to follow up
the stroke by the still easier defeat of Alvarado, when the new governor
would be, in a manner, at his mercy.  It would be easy to beat these
several bodies in detail, which, once united, would present formidable
odds.  Almagro and his party had already arrayed themselves against the
government by a proceeding too atrocious, and which struck too directly
at the royal authority, for its perpetrators to flatter themselves with the
hopes of pardon.  Their only chance was boldly to follow up the blow,
and, by success, to place them, selves in so formidable an attitude as to
excite the apprehensions of government.  The dread of its too potent
vassal might extort terms that would never be conceded to his prayers.

But Almagro and his followers shrunk from this open collision with the
Crown.  They had taken up rebellion because it lay in their path, not
because they had wished it.  They had meant only to avenge their
personal wrongs on Pizarro, and not to defy the royal authority.  When,
therefore, some of the more resolute, who followed things fearlessly to
their consequences, proposed to march at once against Vaca de Castro,
and, by striking at the head, settle the contest by a blow, it was almost
universally rejected; and it was not till after long debate that it was
finally determined to move against Holguin, and cut off his
communication with Alonso de Alvarado.

Scarcely had Almagro commenced his march on Xauxa, where he
proposed to give battle to his enemy, than he met with a severe
misfortune in the death of Juan de Rada.  He was a man somewhat
advanced in years; and the late exciting scenes, in which he had taken the
principal part, had been too much for a frame greatly shattered by a life
of extraordinary hardship.  He was thrown into a fever, of which he soon
after died.  By his death, Almagro sustained an inestimable loss; for,
besides his devoted attachment to his young leader, he was, by his large
experience, and his cautious though courageous character, better
qualified than any other cavalier in the army to conduct him safely
through the stormy sea on which he had led him to embark.

Among the cavaliers of highest consideration after Rada's death, the two
most aspiring were Christoval de Sotelo, and Garcia de Alvarado; both
possessed of considerable military talent, but the latter marked by a bold,
presumptuous manner, which might remind one of his illustrious
namesake, who achieved much higher renown under the banner of
Cortes.  Unhappily, a jealousy grew up between these two officers; that
jealousy, so common among the Spaniards, that it may seem a national
characteristic; an impatience of equality, founded on a false principle of
honor, which has ever been the fruitful source of faction among them,
whether under a monarchy or a republic.

This was peculiarly unfortunate for Almagro, whose inexperience led
him to lean for support on others, and who, in the present distracted state
of his council, knew scarcely where to turn for it.  In the delay
occasioned by these dissensions, his little army did not reach the valley
of Xauxa till after the enemy had passed it.  Almagro followed close,
leaving behind his baggage and artillery that he might move the lighter.
But the golden opportunity was lost.  The rivers, swollen by autumnal
rains, impeded his pursuit; and, though his light troops came up with a
few stragglers of the rear-guard, Holguin succeeded in conducting his
forces through the dangerous passes of the mountains, and in effecting a
junction with Alonso de Alvarado, near the northern seaport of Huaura.

Disappointed in his object, Almagro prepared to march on Cuzco,-the
capital, as he regarded it, of his own jurisdiction,--to get possession of
that city, and there make preparations to meet his adversary in the field.
Sotelo was sent forward with a small corps in advance.  He experienced
no opposition from the now defenceless citizens; the government of the
place was again restored to the hands of the men of Chili, and their
young leader soon appeared at the head of his battalions, and established
his winter-quarters in the Inca capital.

Here, the jealousy of the rival captains broke out into an open feud.  It
was ended by the death of Sotelo, treacherously assassinated in his own
apartment by Garcia de Alvarado.  Almagro, greatly outraged by this
atrocity, was the more indignant, as he felt himself too weak to punish
the offender.  He smothered his resentment for the present, affecting to
treat the dangerous officer with more distinguished favor.  But Alvarado
was not the dupe of this specious behaviour.  He felt that he had forfeited
the confidence of his commander.  In revenge, he laid a plot to betray
him; and Almagro, driven to the necessity of self-defence, imitated the
example of his officer, by entering his house with a party of armed men,
who, laying violent hands on the insurgent, slew him on the spot.6

This irregular proceeding was followed by the best consequences.  The
seditious schemes of Alvarado perished with him.  The seeds of
insubordination were eradicated, and from that moment Almagro
experienced only implicit obedience and the most loyal support from his
followers.  From that hour, too, his own character seemed to be changed;
he relied far less on others than on himself, and developed resources not
to have been anticipated in one of his years; for he had hardly reached
the age of twenty-two.7  From this time he displayed an energy and
forecast, which proved him, in despite of his youth, not unequal to the
trying emergencies of the situation in which it was his unhappy lot to be
placed.

He instantly set about providing for the wants of his men, and strained
every nerve to get them in good fighting order for the approaching
campaign.  He replenished his treasury with a large amount of silver
which he drew from the mines of La Plata.  Saltpetre, obtained in
abundance in the neighborhood of Cuzco, furnished the material for
gunpowder.  He caused cannon, some of large dimensions, to be cast
under the superintendence of Pedro de Candia, the Greek, who, it may be
remembered, had first come into the country with Pizarro, and who, with
a number of his countrymen,--Levantines, as they were called,-was well
acquainted with this manufacture.  Under their care, fire-arms were
made, together with cuirasses and helmets, in which silver was mingled
with copper,8 and of so excellent a quality, that they might vie, says an
old soldier of the time, with those from the workshops of Milan.9
Almagro received a seasonable supply, moreover, from a source scarcely
to have been expected.  This was from Manco, the wandering Inca, who
detesting the memory of Pizarro, transferred to the young Almagro the
same friendly feelings which he had formerly borne to his father;
heightened, it may be, by the consideration that Indian blood flowed in
the veins of the young commander.  From this quarter Almagro obtained
a liberal supply of swords, spears, shields, and arms and armour of every
description, chiefly taken by the Inca at the memorable siege of Cuzco.
He also received the gratifying assurance, that the latter would support
him with a detachment of native troops when he opened the campaign.

Before making a final appeal to arms, however, Almagro resolved to try
the effect of negotiation with the new governor.  In the spring, or early in
the summer, of 1542, he sent an embassy to the latter, then at Lima, in
which he deprecated the necessity of taking arms against an officer of the
Crown.  His only desire, he said, was to vindicate his own rights; to
secure the possession of New Toledo, the province bequeathed to him by
his father, and from which he had been most unjustly excluded by
Pizarro.  He did not dispute the governor's authority over New Castile, as
the country was designated which had been assigned to the marquess;
and he concluded by proposing that each party should remain within his
respective territory until the determination of the Court of Castile could
be made known to them.  To this application, couched in respectful
terms, Almagro received no answer.

Frustrated in his hopes of a peaceful accommodation, the young captain
now saw that nothing was left but the arbitrament of arms.  Assembling
his troops, preparatory to his departure from the capital, he made them a
brief address.  He protested that the step which he and his brave
companions were about to take was not an act of rebellion against the
Crown.  It was forced on them by the conduct of the governor himself.
The commission of that officer gave him no authority over the territory
of New Toledo, settled on Almagro's father, and by his father bequeathed
to him.  If Vaca de Castro, by exceeding the limits of his authority, drove
him to hostilities, the blood spill in the quarrel would lie on the head of
that commander, not on his.  "In the assassination of Pizarro," he
continued, "we took that justice into our own hands which elsewhere was
denied us.  It is the same now, in our contest with the royal governor.
We are as true-hearted and loyal subjects of the Crown as he is." And he
concluded by invoking his soldiers to stand by him heart and hand in the
approaching contest, in which they were all equally interested with
himself.

The appeal was not made to an insensible audience.  There were few
among them who did not feel that their fortunes were indissolubly
connected with those of their commander; and while they had little to
expect from the austere character of the governor, they were warmly
attached to the person of their young chief, who, with all the popular
qualities of his father, excited additional sympathy from the
circumstances of his age and his forlorn condition.  Laying their hands
on the cross, placed on an altar raised for the purpose, the officers and
soldiers severally swore to brave every peril with Almagro, and remain
true to him to the last.

In point of numbers, his forces had not greatly strengthened since his
departure from Lima.  He mustered but little more than five hundred in
all; but among them were his father's veterans, well seasoned by many an
Indian campaign.  He had about two hundred horse, many of them clad
in complete mail, a circumstance not too common in these wars, where a
stuffed doublet of cotton was often the only panoply of the warrior.  His
infantry, formed of pikemen and arquebusiers, was excellently armed.
But his strength lay in his heavy ordnance, consisting of sixteen pieces,
eight large and eight smaller guns, or falconets, as they were called,
forming, says one who saw it, a beautiful park of artillery, that would
have made a brave show on the citadel of Burgos.10  The little army, in
short, though not imposing from its numbers, was under as good
discipline, and as well appointed, as any that ever fought on the fields of
Peru; much better than any which Almagro's own father or Pizarro ever
led into the field and won their conquests with.  Putting himself at the
head of his gallant company, the chieftain sallied forth from the walls of
Cuzco about midsummer, in 1542, and directed his march towards the
coast in expectation of meeting the enemy.11

While the events detailed in the preceding pages were passing, Vaca de
Castro, whom we left at Quito in the preceding year, was advancing
slowly towards the south.  His first act, after leaving that city, showed his
resolution to enter into no compromise with the assassins of Pizarro.
Benalcazar, the distinguished officer whom I have mentioned as having
early given in his adherence to him, had protected one of the principal
conspirators, his personal friend, who had come into his power, and had
facilitated his escape.  The governor, indignant at the proceeding, would
listen to no explanation, but ordered the offending officer to return to his
own district of Popayan.  It was a bold step, in the precarious state of his
own fortunes.

As the governor pursued his march, he was well received by the people
on the way; and when he entered the cities of San Miguel and of
Truxillo, he was welcomed with loyal enthusiasm by the inhabitants, who
readily acknowledged his authority, though they showed little alacrity to
take their chance with him in the coming struggle.

After lingering a long time in each of these places, he resumed his march
and reached the camp of Alonso de Alvarado at Huaura, early in 1542.
Holguin had established his quarters at some little distance from his
rival; for a jealousy had sprung up, as usual, between these two captains,
who both aspired to the supreme command of Captain General of the
army.  The office of governor, conferred on Vaca de Castro, might seem
to include that of commander-in-chief of the forces.  But De Castro was
a scholar, bred to the law;.  and, whatever authority he might arrogate to
himself in civil matters, the two captains imagined that the military
department he would resign into the hands of others.  They little knew
the character of the man.

Though possessed of no more military science than belonged to every
cavalier in that martial age, the governor knew that to avow his
ignorance, and to resign the management of affairs into the hands of
others, would greatly impair his authority, if not bring him into contempt
with the turbulent spirits among whom he was now thrown.  He had both
sagacity and spirit, and trusted to be able to supply his own deficiencies
by the experience of others.  His position placed the services of the
ablest men m the country at his disposal, and with the aid of their
counsels he felt quite competent to decide on his plan of operations, and
to enforce the execution of it.  He knew, moreover, that the only way to
allay the jealousy of the two parties in the present crisis was to assume
himself the office which was the cause of their dissension.

Still he approached his ambitious officers with great caution; and the
representations, which he made through some judicious persons who had
the most intimate access to them, were so successful, that both were in a
short time prevailed on to relinquish their pretensions in his favor.
Holguin, the more unreasonable of the two, then waited on him in his
rival's quarters, where the governor had the further satisfaction to
reconcile him to Alonso de Alvarado.  It required some address, as their
jealousy of each other had proceeded to such lengths that a challenge had
passed between them.

Harmony being thus restored, the licentiate passed over to Holguin's
camp, where he was greeted with salvoes of artillery, and loud
acclamations of "Viva el Rey" from the loyal soldiery.  Ascending a
platform covered with velvet, he made an animated harangue to the
troops; his commission was read aloud by the secretary; and the little
army tendered their obedience to him as the representative of the Crown.

Vaca de Castro's next step was to send off the greater part of his force, in
the direction of Xauxa, while, at the head of a small corps, he directed
his march towards Lima.  Here he was received with lively
demonstrations of joy by the citizens, who were generally attached to the
cause of Pizarro, the founder and constant patron of their capital.
Indeed, the citizens had lost no time after Almagro's departure in
expelling his creatures from the municipality, and reasserting their
allegiance.  With these favorable dispositions towards himself, the
governor found no difficulty in obtaining a considerable loan of money
from the wealthier inhabitants, But he was less successful, at first, in his
application for horses and arms, since the harvest had been too faithfully
gleaned, already, by the men of Chili.  As, however, he prolonged his
stay some time in the capital, he obtained important supplies, before he
left it, both of arms and ammunition, while he added to his force by a
considerable body of recruits.12

As he was thus employed, he received tidings that the enemy had left
Cuzco, and was on his march towards the coast.  Quitting Los Reyes,
therefore, with his trusty followers, Vaca de Castro marched at once to
Xauxa, the appointed place of rendezvous.  Here he mustered his forces,
and found that they amounted to about seven hundred men.  The cavalry,
in which lay his strength, was superior in numbers to that of his
antagonist, but neither so well mounted or armed.  It included many
cavaliers of birth, and well-tried soldiers, besides a number who, having
great interests at stake, as possessed of large estates in the country, had
left them at the call of government, to enlist under its banners.13  His
infantry, besides pikes, was indifferently well supplied with firearms; but
he had nothing to show in the way of artillery except three or four ill-
mounted falconets.  Yet, notwithstanding these deficiencies, the royal
army, if so insignificant a force can deserve that name, was so far
superior in numbers to that of his rival, that the one might be thought, on
the whole, to be no unequal match for the other.

The reader, familiar with the large masses employed in European
warfare, may smile at the paltry forces of the Spaniards.  But in the New
World, where a countless host of natives went for little, five hundred
well-trained Europeans were regarded as a formidable body.  No army,
up to the period before us, had ever risen to a thousand.  Yet it is not
numbers, as I have already been led to remark, that give importance to a
conflict; but the consequences that depend on it,--the magnitude of the
stake, and the skill and courage of the players.  The more limited the
means, even, the greater may be the science shown in the use of them;
until, forgetting the poverty of the materials, we fix our attention on the
conduct of the actors, and the greatness of the results.

While at Xauxa, Vaca de Castro received an embassy from Gonzalo
Pizarro, returned from his expedition from the "Land of Cinnamon," in
which that chief made an offer of his services in the approaching contest.
The governor's answer showed that he was not wholly averse to an
accommodation with Almagro, provided it could be effected without
compromising the royal authority.  He was willing, perhaps, to avoid the
final trial by battle, when he considered, that, from the equality of the
contending forces, the issue must be extremely doubtful.  He knew that
the presence of Pizarro in the camp, the detested enemy of the
Almagrians, would excite distrust in their bosoms that would probably
baffle every effort at accommodation.  Nor is it likely that the governor
cared to have so restless a spirit introduced into his own councils.  He
accordingly sent to Gonzalo, thanking him for the promptness of his
support, but courteously declined it, while he advised him to remain in
his province, and repose after the fatigues of his wearisome expedition.
At the same time, he assured him that he would not fail to call for his
services when occasion required it.--The haughty cavalier was greatly
disgusted by the repulse.15

The governor now received such an account of Almagro's movements.
as led him to suppose that he was preparing to occupy Gaumanga, a
fortified place of considerable strength, about thirty leagues from
Xauxa.16  Anxious to secure this post, he broke up his encampment, and
by forced marches, conducted in so irregular a manner as must have
placed him in great danger if his enemy had been near to profit by it, he
succeeded in anticipating Almagro, and threw himself into the place
while his antagonist was at Bilcas, some ten leagues distant.

At Guamanga, Vaca de Castro received another embassy from Almagro,
of similar import with the former.  The young chief again deprecated the
existence of hostilities between brethren of the same family, and
proposed an accommodation of the quarrel on the same basis as before.
To these proposals the governor now condescended to reply.  It might be
thought, from his answer, that he felt some compassion for the youth and
inexperience of Almagro, and that he was willing to distinguish between
him and the principal conspirators, provided he could detach him from
their interests.  But it is more probable that he intended only to amuse his
enemy by a show of negotiation, while he gained time for tampering with
the fidelity of his troops.

He insisted that Almagro should deliver up to him all those immediately
implicated in the death of Pizarro, and should then disband his forces.
On these conditions the government would pass over his treasonable
practices, and he should be reinstated in the royal favor.  Together with
this mission, Vaca de Castro, it is reported, sent a Spaniard, disguised as
an Indian, who was instructed to communicate with certain officers in
Almagro's camp, and prevail on them, if possible, to abandon his cause
and return to their allegiance.  Unfortunately, the disguise of the
emissary was detected.  He was seized, put to the torture, and, having
confessed the whole of the transaction, was hanged as a spy.

Almagro laid the proceeding before his captains.  The terms proffered by
the governor were such as no man with a particle of honor in his nature
could entertain for a moment; and Almagro's indignation, as well as that
of his companions, was heightened by the duplicity of their enemy, who
could practise such insidious arts, while ostensibly engaged in a fair and
open negotiation.  Fearful, perhaps, lest the tempting offers of their
antagonist might yet prevail over the constancy of some of the weaker
spirits among them, they demanded that all negotiation should be broken
off, and that they should be led at once against the enemy.17

The governor, meanwhile, finding the broken country around Guamanga
unfavorable for his cavalry, on which he mainly relied, drew off his
forces to the neighboring lowlands, known as the Plains of Chupas.  It
was the tempestuous season of the year, and for several days the storm
raged wildly among the hills, and, sweeping along their sides into the
valley, poured down rain, sleet, and snow on the miserable bivouacs of
the soldiers, till they were drenched to the skin and nearly stiffened by
the cold.18  At length, on the sixteenth of September, 1542, the scouts
brought in tidings that Almagro's troops were advancing, with the
intention, apparently, of occupying the highlands around Chupas.  The
war of the elements had at last subsided, and was succeeded by one of
those brilliant days which are found only in the tropics.  The royal camp
was early in motion, as Vaca de Castro, desirous to secure the heights
that commanded the valley, detached a body of arquebusiers on that
service, supported by a corps of cavalry, which he soon followed with
the rest of the forces.  On reaching the eminence, news was brought that
the enemy had come to a halt, and established himself in a strong
position at less than a league's distance.

It was now late in the afternoon, and the sun was not more than two
hours above the horizon.  The governor hesitated to begin the action
when they must so soon be overtaken by night.  But Alonso de Alvarado
assured him that "now was the time; for the spirits of his men were hot
for fight, and it was better to take the benefit of it than to damp their
ardor by delay." The governor acquiesced, exclaiming at the same time, -
-"O for the might of Joshua, to stay the sun in his course!" 19  He then
drew up his little army in order of battle, and made his dispositions for
the attack.

In the centre he placed his infantry, consisting of arquebusiers and
pikemen, constituting the battle, as it was called.  On the flanks, he
established his cavalry, placing the right wing, together with the royal
standard, under charge of Alonso de Alvarado, and the left under
Holguin, supported by a gallant body of cavaliers.  His artillery, too
insignificant to be of much account, was also in the centre.  He proposed
himself to lead the van, and to break the first lance with the enemy; but
from this chivalrous display he was dissuaded by his officers, who
reminded him that too much depended on his life to have it thus
wantonly exposed.  The governor contented himself, therefore, with
heading a body of reserve, consisting of forty horse, to act on any quarter
as occasion might require.  This corps, comprising the flower of his
chivalry, was chiefly drawn from Alvarado's troop, greatly to the
discontent of that captain.  The governor himself rode a coal-black
charger, and wore a rich surcoat of brocade over his mail, through which
the habit and emblems of the knightly order of St. James, conferred on
him just before his departure from Castile, were conspicuous.20  It was a
point of honor with the chivalry of the period to court danger by
displaying their rank in the splendor of their military attire and the
caparisons of their horses.

Before commencing the assault, Vaca de Castro addressed a few remarks
to his soldiers, in order to remove any hesitation that some might yet
feel, who recollected the displeasure shown by the emperor to the victors
as well as the vanquished after the battle of Salinas.  He told them that
their enemies were rebels.  They were in arms against him.  the
representative of the Crown, and it was his duty to quell this rebellion
and punish the authors of it.  He then caused the law to be read aloud,
proclaiming the doom of traitors.  By this law, Almagro and his
followers had forfeited their lives and property, and the governor
promised to distribute the latter among such of his men as showed the
best claim to it by their conduct in the battle.  This last politic promise
vanquished the scruples of the most fastidious; and, having completed
his dispositions in the most judicious and soldier-like manner, Vaca de
Castro gave the order to advance.21

As the forces turned a spur of the hills, which had hitherto screened them
from their enemies, they came in sight of the latter, formed along the
crest of a gentle eminence, with their snow-white banners, the
distinguishing color of the Almagrians, floating above their heads, and
their bright arms flinging back the broad rays of the evening sun.
Almagro's disposition of his troops was not unlike that of his adversary.
In the centre was his excellent artillery, covered by his arquebusiers and
spearmen; while his cavalry rode on the flanks.  The troops on the left he
proposed to lead in person.  He had chosen his position with judgment,
as the character of the ground gave full play to his guns, which opened
an effective fire on the assailants as they drew near.  Shaken by the storm
of shot, Vaca de Castro saw the difficulty of advancing in open view of
the hostile battery.  He took the counsel, therefore, of Francisco de
Carbajal, who undertook to lead the forces by a circuitous, but safer,
route.  This is the first occasion on which the name of this veteran
appears in these American wars, where it was afterwards to acquire a
melancholy notoriety.  He had come to the country after the campaigns
of forty years in Europe, where he had studied the art of war under the
Great Captain, Gonsalvo de Cordova.  Though now far advanced in age,
he possessed all the courage and indomitable energy of youth, and well
exemplified the lessons he had studied under his great commander.

Taking advantage of a winding route that sloped round the declivity of
the hills, he conducted the troops in such a manner, that, until they
approached quite near the enemy, they were protected by the intervening
ground.  While thus advancing, they were assailed on the left flank by
the Indian battalions under Paullo, the Inca Manco's brother; but a corps
of musketeers, directing a scattering fire among them, soon rid the
Spaniards of this annoyance.  When, at length, the royal troops, rising
above the hill, again came into view of Almagro's lines, the artillery
opened on them with fatal effect.  It was but for a moment, however, as,
from some unaccountable cause, the guns were pointed as such an angle,
that, although presenting an obvious mark, by far the greater part of the
shot passed over their heads.  Whether this was the result of treachery, or
merely of awkwardness, is uncertain.  The artillery was under charge of
the engineer, Pedro de Candia.  This man, who, it" may be remembered,
was one of the thirteen that so gallantly stood by Pizarro in the island of
Gallo, had fought side by side with his leader through the whole of the
Conquest.  He had lately, however, conceived some disgust with him,
and had taken part with the faction of Almagro.  The death of his old
commander, he may perhaps have thought, had settled all their
differences, and he was now willing to return to his former allegiance.
At least, it is said, that, at this very time, he was in correspondence with
Vaca de Castro.  Almagro himself seems to have had no doubt of his
treachery.  For, after remonstrating in vain with him on his present
conduct, he ran him through the body, and the unfortunate cavalier fell
lifeless on the field.  Then, throwing himself on one of the guns,
Almagro gave it a new direction, and that so successfully, that, when it
was discharged, it struck down several of the cavalry.22

The firing now took better effect, and by one volley a whole file of the
royal infantry was swept off, and though others quickly stepped in to fill
up the ranks, the men, impatient of their sufferings, loudly called on the
troopers, who had halted for a moment, to quicken their advance.23
This delay had been caused by Carbajal's desire to bring his own guns to
bear on the opposite columns.  But the design was quickly abandoned;
the clumsy ordnance was left on the field, and orders were given to the
cavalry to charge; the trumpets sounded, and, crying their war-cries, the
bold cavaliers struck their spurs into their steeds, and rode at full speed
against the enemy.

Well had it been for Almagro, if he had remained firm on the post which
gave him such advantage.  But from a false point of honor, he thought it
derogatory to a brave knight passively to await the assault, and, ordering
his own men to charge, the hostile squadrons, rapidly advancing against
each other, met midway on the plain.  The shock was terrible.  Horse and
rider reeled under the force of it.  The spears flew into shivers;24 and the
cavaliers, drawing their swords, or wielding their maces and battle-axes,-
-though some of the royal troopers were armed only with a common
axe,--dealt their blows with all the fury of civil hate.  It was a fearful
struggle, not merely of man against man, but, to use the words of an
eyewitness, of brother against brother, and friend against friend.25  No
quarter was asked; for the wrench that had been strong enough to tear
asunder the dearest ties of kindred left no hold for humanity.  The
excellent arms of the Almagrians counterbalanced the odds of numbers;
but the royal partisans gained some advantage by striking at the horses
instead of the mailed bodies of their antagonists.

The infantry, meanwhile, on both sides, kept up a sharp cross-fire from
their arquebuses, which did execution on the ranks of the cavaliers, as
well as on one another.  But Almagro's battery of heavy guns, now well
directed, mowed down the advancing columns of foot.  The latter,
staggering, began to fall back from the terrible fire, when Francisco de
Carbajal, throwing himself before them, cried out, "Shame on you, my
men!  Do you give way now?  I am twice as good a mark for the enemy
as any of you!" He was a very large man; and, throwing off his steel
helmet and cuirass, that he might have no advantage over his followers,
he remained lightly attired in his cotton doublet, when, swinging his
partisan over his head, he sprang boldly forward through blinding
volumes of smoke and a tempest of musket-balls, and, supported by the
bravest of his troops, overpowered the gunners, and made himself master
of their pieces.

The shades of night had now, for some time been coming thicker and
thicker over the field.  But still the deadly struggle went on in the
darkness, as the red and white badges intimated the respective parties,
and their war-cries rose above the din,--"Vaca de Castro y el Rey,"--
"Almagro y el Rey,"--while both invoked the aid of their military apostle
St. James.  Holguin, who commanded the royalists on the left, pierced
through by two musket-balls, had been slain early in the action.  He had
made himself conspicuous by a rich sobre-vest of white velvet over his
armour.  Still a gallant band of cavaliers maintained the fight so valiantly
on that quarter, that the Almagrians found it difficult to keep their
ground.26

It fared differently on the right, where Alonso de Alvarado commanded.
He was there encountered by Almagro in person, who fought worthy of
his name.  By repeated charges on his opponent, he endeavored to bear
down his squadrons, so much worse mounted and worse armed than his
own.  Alvarado resisted with undiminished courage; but his numbers had
been thinned, as we have seen, before the battle, to supply the governor's
reserve, and, fairly overpowered by the superior strength of his
adversary, who had already won two of the royal banners, he was slowly
giving ground.  "Take, but kill not!" shouted the generous young chief,
who felt himself sure of victory.27

But at this crisis, Vaca de Castro, who, with his reserve, had occupied a
rising ground that commanded the field of action, was fully aware that
the time had now come for him to take part in the struggle.  He had long
strained his eyes through the gloom to watch the movements of the
combatants, and received constant tidings how the fight was going.  He
no longer hesitated, but, calling on his men to follow, led off boldly into
the thickest of the melee to the support of his stout-hearted officer.  The
arrival of a new corps on the field, all fresh for action, gave another turn
to the tide.28  Alvarado's men took heart and rallied.  Almagro's, though
driven back by the fury of the assault, quickly returned against their
assailants.  Thirteen of Vaca de Castro's cavaliers fell dead from their
saddles.  But it was the last effort of the Almagrians.  Their strength,
though not their spirit, failed them.  They gave way in all directions, and,
mingling together in the darkness, horse, foot, and artillery, they
trampled one another down, as they made the best of their way from the
press of their pursuers.  Almagro used every effort to stay them.  He
performed miracles of valor, says one who witnessed them; but he was
borne along by the tide, and, though he seemed to court death, by the
freedom with which he exposed his person to danger, yet he escaped
without a wound.

Others there were of his company, and among them a young cavalier
named Geronimo de Alvarado, who obstinately refused to quit the field;
and shouting out,--"We slew Pizarro!  we killed the tyrant!" they threw
themselves on the lances of their conquerors, preferring death on the
battle-field to the ignominious doom of the gibbet.29

It was nine o'clock when the battle ceased, though the firing was heard at
intervals over the field at a much later hour, as some straggling party of
fugitives were overtaken by their pursuers.  Yet many succeeded in
escaping in the obscurity of night, while some, it is said, contrived to
elude pursuit in a more singular way; tearing off the badges from the
corpses of their enemies, they assumed them for themselves, and,
mingling in the ranks as followers of Vaca de Castro, joined in the
pursuit.

That commander, at length, fearing some untoward accident, and that the
fugitives, should they rally again under cover of the darkness, might
inflict some loss on their pursuers, caused his trumpets to sound, and
recalled his scattered forces under their banners.  All night they remained
under arms on the field, which, so lately the scene of noisy strife, was
now hushed in silence, broken only by the groans of the wounded and the
dying.  The natives, who had hung, during the fight, like a dark cloud,
round the skirts of the mountains, contemplating with gloomy
satisfaction the destruction of their enemies, now availed themselves of
the obscurity to descend, like a pack of famished wolves, upon the
plains, where they stripped the bodies of the slain, and even of the living,
but disabled wretches, who had in vain dragged themselves into the
bushes for concealment.  The following morning, Vaca de Castro gave
orders that the wounded--those who had not perished in the cold damps
of the night--should be committed to the care of the surgeons, while the
priests were occupied with administering confession and absolution to
the dying.  Four large graves or pits were dug, in which the bodies of the
slain--the conquerors and the conquered--were heaped indiscriminately
together.  But the remains of Alvarez de Holguin and several other
cavaliers of distinction were transported to Guamanga, where they were
buried with the solemnities suited to their rank; and the tattered banners
won from their vanquished countrymen waved over their monuments, the
melancholy trophies of their victory.

The number of killed is variously reported,--from three hundred to five
hundred on both sides.30  The mortality was greatest among the
conquerors, who suffered more from the cannon of the enemy before the
action, than the latter suffered in the rout that followed it.  The number of
wounded was still greater; and full half of the survivors of Almagro's
party were made prisoners.  Many, indeed, escaped from the field to the
neighboring town of Guamanga, where they took refuge in the churches
and monasteries.  But their asylum was not respected, and they were
dragged forth and thrown into prison.  Their brave young commander
fled with a few followers only to Cuzco, where he was instantly arrested
by the magistrates whom he had himself placed over the city.31

At Guamanga, Vaca de Castro appointed a commission, with the
Licentiate de la Gama at its head, for the trial of the prisoners; and
justice was not satisfied, till forty had been condemned to death, and
thirty others--some of them with the loss of one or more of their
members-sent into banishment.32  Such severe reprisals have been too
common with the Spaniards in their civil feuds.  Strange that they should
so blindly plunge into these, with this dreadful doom for the vanquished!

From the scene of this bloody tragedy, the governor proceeded to Cuzco,
which he entered at the head of his victorious battalions, with all the
pomp and military display of a conqueror.  He maintained a
corresponding state in his way of living, at the expense of a sneer from
some, who sarcastically contrasted this ostentatious profusion with the
economical reforms he subsequently introduced into the finances.33  But
Vaca de Castro was sensible of the effect of this outward show on the
people generally, and disdained no means of giving authority to his
office.  His first act was to determine the fate of his prisoner, Almagro.
A council of war was held.  Some were for sparing the unfortunate chief,
in consideration of his youth, and the strong cause of provocation he had
received.  But the majority were of opinion that such mercy could not be
extended to the leader of the rebels, and that his death was indispensable
to the permanent tranquillity of the country.
When led to execution in the great square of Cuzco,--the same spot
where his father had suffered but a few years before,---Almagro
exhibited the most perfect composure, though, as the herald proclaimed
aloud the doom of the traitor, he indignantly denied that he was one.  He
made no appeal for mercy to his judges, but simply requested that his
bones might be laid by the side of his father's.  He objected to having his
eyes bandaged, as was customary on such occasions, and, after
confession, he devoutly embraced the cross, and submitted his neck to
the stroke of the executioner.  His remains, agreeably to his request, were
transported to the monastery of La Merced, where they were deposited
side by side with those of his unfortunate parent.34

There have been few names, indeed, in the page of history, more
unfortunate than that of Almagro.  Yet the fate of the son excites a
deeper sympathy than that of the father; and this, not merely on account
of his youth, and the peculiar circumstances of his situation.  He
possessed many of the good qualities of the elder Almagro, with a frank
and manly nature, in which the bearing of the soldier was somewhat
softened by the refinement of a better education than is to be found in the
license of a camp.  His career, though short, gave promise of
considerable talent, which required only a fair field for its development.
But he was the child of misfortune, and his morning of life was overcast
by clouds and tempests.  If his character, naturally benignant, sometimes
showed the fiery sparkles of the vindictive Indian temper, some apology
may be found, not merely in his blood, but in the circumstances of his
situation.  He was more sinned against than sinning; and, if conspiracy
could ever find a justification, it must be in a case like his, where, borne
down by injuries heaped on his parent and himself, he could obtain no
redress from the only quarter whence he had a right to look for it.  With
him, the name of Almagro became extinct, and the faction of Chili, so
long the terror of the land, passed away for ever.

While these events were occurring in Cuzco, the governor learned that
Gonzalo Pizarro had arrived at Lima, where he showed himself greatly
discontented with the state of things in Peru.  He loudly complained that
the government of the country, after his brother's death, had not been
placed in his hands; and, as reported by some, he was now meditating
schemes for getting possession of it.  Vaca de Castro well knew that
there would be no lack of evil counsellors to urge Gonzalo to this
desperate step; and, anxious to extinguish the spark of insurrection
before it had been fanned by these turbulent spirits into a flame, he
detached a strong body to Lima to secure that capital.  At the same time
he commanded the presence of Gonzalo Pizarro in Cuzco.

That chief did not think it prudent to disregard the summons; and shortly
after entered the Inca capital, at the head of a well-armed body of
cavaliers.  He was at once admitted into the governor's presence, when
the latter dismissed his guard, remarking that he had nothing to fear from
a brave and loyal knight like Pizarro.  He then questioned him as to his
late adventures in Canelas, and showed great sympathy for his
extraordinary sufferings.  He took care not to alarm his jealousy by any
allusion to his ambitious schemes, and concluded by recommending him,
now that the tranquillity of the country was reestablished, to retire and
seek the repose he so much needed, on his valuable estates at Charcas.
Gonzalo Pizarro, finding no ground opened for a quarrel with the coot
and politic governor, and probably feeling that he was, at least not now,
in sufficient strength to warrant it, thought it prudent to take the advice,
and withdrew to La Plata, where he busied himself in working those rich
mines of silver that soon put him in condition for more momentous
enterprise than any he had yet attempted.35

Thus rid of his formidable competitor, Vaca de Castro occupied himself
with measures for the settlement of the country.  He began with his army,
a part of which he had disbanded.  But many cavaliers still remained,
pressing their demands for a suitable recompense for their services.
These they were not disposed to undervalue, and the governor was happy
to rid himself of their importunities by employing them on distant
expeditions, among which was the exploration of the country watered by
the great Rio de la Plata.  The boiling spirits of the highmettled cavaliers,
without some such vent, would soon have thrown the whole country
again into a state of fermentation.

His next concern was to provide laws for the better government of the
colony.  He gave especial care to the state of the Indian population; and
established schools for teaching them Christianity.  By various
provisions, be endeavored to secure them from the exactions of their
conquerors, and he encouraged the poor natives to transfer their own
residence to the communities of the white men.  He commanded the
caciques to provide supplies for the tambos, or houses for the
accommodation of travellers, which lay in their neighborhood, by which
regulation he took away from the Spaniards a plausible apology for
rapine, and greatly promoted facility of intercourse.  He was watchful
over the finances, much dilapidated in the late troubles, and in several
instances retrenched what he deemed excessive repartimientos among the
Conquerors.  This last act exposed him to much odium from the objects
of it.  But his measures were so just and impartial, that he was supported
by public opinion.36

Indeed, Vaca de Castro's conduct, from the hour of his arrival in the
country, had been such as to command respect, and prove him competent
to the difficult post for which he had been selected.  Without funds,
without troops, he had found the country, on his landing, in a state of
anarchy; yet, by courage and address, he had gradually acquired
sufficient strength to quell the insurrection.  Though no soldier, he had
shown undaunted spirit and presence of mind in the hour of action, and
made his military preparations with a forecast and discretion that excited
the admiration of the most experienced veteran.

If he may be thought to have abused the advantages of victory by cruelty
towards the conquered, it must be allowed that he was not influenced by
any motives of a personal nature.  He was a lawyer, bred in high notions
of royal prerogative.  Rebellion he looked upon as an unpardonable
crime; and, if his austere nature was unrelenting in the exaction of
justice, he lived in an iron age, when justice was rarely tempered by
mercy.

In his subsequent regulations for the settlement of the country, he
showed equal impartiality and wisdom.  The colonists were deeply
sensible of the benefits of his administration, and afforded the best
commentary on his services by petitioning the Court of Castile to
continue him in the government of Peru.37 Unfortunately, such was not
the policy of the Crown.



Book 4

Chapter 7

Abuses By The Conquerors--Code For The Colonies-
Great Excitement In Peru--Blasco Nunez The Viceroy-
His Severe Policy--Opposed By Gonzalo Pizarro

1543--1544

Before continuing the narrative of events in Peru, we must turn to the
mother-country, where important changes were in progress in respect to
the administration of the colonies.

Since his accession to the Crown, Charles the Fifth had been chiefly
engrossed by the politics of Europe, where a theatre was opened more
stimulating to his ambition than could be found in a struggle with the
barbarian princes of the New World.  In this quarter, therefore, an
empire almost unheeded, as it were, had been suffered to grow up, until
it had expanded into dimensions greater than those of his European
dominions and destined soon to become far more opulent.  A scheme of
government had, it is true, been devised, and laws enacted from time to
time for the regulation of the colonies.  But these laws were often
accommodated less to the interests of the colonies themselves, than to
those of the parent country; and, when contrived in a better spirit, they
were but imperfectly executed; for the voice of authority, however loudly
proclaimed at home, too often died away in feeble echoes before it had
crossed the waters.

This state of things, and, indeed, the manner in which the Spanish
territories in the New World had been originally acquired, were most
unfortunate both for the conquered races and their masters.  Had the
provinces gained by the Spaniards been the fruit of peaceful acquisition,
--of barter and negotiation,--or had their conquest been achieved under
the immediate direction of government, the interests of the natives would
have been more carefully protected.  From the superior civilization of the
Indians in the Spanish American colonies, they still continued after the
Conquest to remain on the ground, and to mingle in the same
communities, with the white men; in this forming an obvious contrast to
the condition of our own aborigines, who, shrinking from the contact of
civilization, have withdrawn, as the latter has advanced, deeper and
deeper into the heart of the wilderness.  But the South American Indian
was qualified by his previous institutions for a more refined legislation
than could be adapted to the wild hunters of the forest; and, had the
sovereign been there in person to superintend his conquests, he could
never have suffered so large a portion of his vassals to be wantonly
sacrificed to the cupidity and cruelty of the handful of adventurers who
subdued them.

But, as it was, the affair of reducing the country was committed to the
hands of irresponsible individuals, soldiers of fortune, desperate
adventurers, who entered on conquest as a game, which they were to play
in the most unscrupulous manner, with little care but to win it.  Receiving
small encouragement from the government, they were indebted to their
own valor for success; and the right of conquest, they conceived,
extinguished every existing right in the unfortunate natives.  The lands,
the persons, of the conquered races were parcelled out and appropriated
by the victors as the legitimate spoils of victory; and outrages were
perpetrated every day, at the contemplation of which humanity shudders.

These outrages, though nowhere perpetrated on so terrific a scale as in
the islands, where, in a few years, they had nearly annihilated the native
population, were yet of sufficient magnitude in Peru to call down the
vengeance of Heaven on the heads of their authors; and the Indian might
feel that this vengeance was not long delayed, when he beheld his
oppressors, wrangling over their miserable spoil, and turning their
swords against each other.  Peru, as already mentioned, was subdued by
adventurers, for the most part, of a lower and more ferocious stamp than
those who followed the banner of Cortes.  The character of the followers
partook, in some measure, of that of the leaders in their respective
enterprises.  It was a sad fatality for the Incas; for the reckless soldiers of
Pizarro were better suited to contend with the fierce Aztec than with the
more refined and effeminate Peruvian.  Intoxicated by the unaccustomed
possession of power, and without the least notion of the responsibilities
which attached to their situation as masters of the land, they too often
abandoned themselves to the indulgence of every whim which cruelty or
caprice could dictate.  Not unfrequently, says an unsuspicious witness, I
have seen the Spaniards, long after the Conquest, amuse themselves by
hunting down the natives with bloodhounds for mere sport, or in order to
train their dogs to the game! 1  The most unbounded scope was given to
licentiousness.  The young maiden was torn without remorse from the
arms of her family to gratify the passion of her brutal conqueror.2  The
sacred houses of the Virgins of the Sun were broken open and violated,
and the cavalier swelled his harem with a troop of Indian girls making it
seem that the Crescent would have been a much more fitting symbol for
his banner than the immaculate Cross.3

But the dominant passion of the Spaniard was the lust of gold.  For this
he shrunk from no toil himself, and was merciless in his exactions of
labor from his Indian slave.  Unfortunately, Peru abounded in mines
which too well repaid this labor; and human life was the item of least
account in the estimate of the Conquerors.  Under his Incas, the Peruvian
was never suffered to be idle; but the task imposed on him was always
proportioned to his strength.  He had his seasons of rest and refreshment,
and was well protected against the inclemency of the weather.  Every
care was shown for his personal safety.  But the Spaniards, while they
taxed the strength of the native to the utmost, deprived him of the means
of repairing it, when exhausted.  They suffered the provident
arrangements of the Incas to fall into decay.  The granaries were
emptied; the flocks were wasted in riotous living.  They were slaughtered
to gratify a mere epicurean whim, and many a llama was destroyed solely
for the sake of the brains----a dainty morsel, much coveted by the
Spaniards.4  So reckless was the spirit of destruction after the Conquest,
says Ondegardo.  the wise governor of Cuzco, that in four years more of
these animals perished than in four hundred, in the times of the Incas.5
The flocks, once so numerous over the broad table-lands, were now
thinned to a scanty number, that sought shelter in the fastnesses of the
Andes.  The poor Indian, without food, without the warm fleece which
furnished him a defence against the cold, now wandered half-starved and
naked over the plateau.  Even those who had aided the Spaniards in the
conquest fared no better; and many an Inca noble roamed a mendicant
over the lands where he once held rule, and if driven, perchance, by his
necessities, to purloin something from the superfluity of his conquerors,
he expiated it by a miserable death.6

It is true, there were good men, missionaries, faithful to their calling,
who wrought hard in the spiritual conversion of the native, and who,
touched by his misfortunes, would gladly have interposed their arm to
shield him from his oppressors.7  But too often the ecclesiastic became
infected by the general spirit of licentiousness; and the religious
fraternities, who led a life of easy indulgence on the lands cultivated by
their Indian slaves, were apt to think less of the salvation of their souls
than of profiting by the labor of their bodies.8

Yet still there were not wanting good and wise men in the colonies, who,
from time to time, raised the voice of remonstrance against these abuses,
and who carried their complaints to the foot of the throne.  To the credit
of the government, it must also be confessed, that it was solicitous to
obtain such information as it could, both from its own officers, and from
commissioners deputed expressly for the purpose, whose voluminous
communications throw a flood of light on the internal condition of the
country, and furnish the best materials for the historian.9  But it was
found much easier to get this information than to profit by it.

In 1541, Charles the Fifth, who had been much occupied by the affairs of
Germany, revisited his ancestral dominions, where his attention was
imperatively called to the state of the colonies.  Several memorials in
relation to it were laid before him; but no one pressed the matter so
strongly on the royal conscience as Las Casas, afterwards Bishop of
Chiapa.  This good ecclesiastic, whose long life had been devoted to
those benevolent labors which gained him the honorable title of
Protector of the Indians, had just completed his celebrated treatise on the
Destruction of the Indies, the most remarkable record, probably, to be
found, of human wickedness, but which, unfortunately, loses much of its
effect from the credulity of the writer, and his obvious tendency to
exaggerate.

In 1542, Las Casas placed his manuscript in the hands of his royal aster.
That same year, a council was called at Valladolid, composed chiefly of
jurists and theologians, to devise a system of laws for the regulation of
the American colonies.

Las Casas appeared before this body, and made an elaborate argument,
of which a part only has been given to the public.  He there assumes, as a
fundamental proposition, that the Indians were by the law of nature free;
that, as vassals of the Crown, they had a right to its protection, and
should be declared free from that time, without exception and for ever.10
He sustains this proposition by a great variety of arguments,
comprehending the substance of most that has been since urged in the
same cause by the friends of humanity.  He touches on the ground of
expediency, showing, that, without the interference of government, the
Indian race must be gradually exterminated by the systematic oppression
of the Spaniards.  In conclusion, he maintains, that, if the Indians, as it
was pretended, would not labor unless compelled, the white man would
still find it for his interest to cultivate the soil; and that if he should not
be able to do so, that circumstance would give him no right over the
Indian, since God does not allow evil that good may come of it.11--This
lofty morality, it will be remembered, was from the lips of a Dominican,
in the sixteenth century, one of the order that rounded the Inquisition,
and in the very country where the fiery tribunal was then in most active
operation!12

The arguments of Las Casas encountered all the opposition naturally to
be expected from indifference, selfishness, and bigotry.  They were also
resisted by some persons of just and benevolent views in his audience,
who, while they admitted the general correctness of his reasoning, and
felt deep sympathy for the wrongs of the natives, yet doubted whether his
scheme of reform was not fraught with greater evils than those it was
intended to correct.  For Las Casas was the uncompromising friend of
freedom.  He intrenched himself strongly on the ground of natural right;
and, like some of the reformers of our own day, disdained to calculate
the consequences of carrying out the principle to its full and unqualified
extent.  His earnest eloquence, instinct with the generous love of
humanity, and fortified by a host of facts, which it was not easy to assail,
prevailed over his auditors.  The result of their deliberations was a code
of ordinances, which, however, far from being limited to the wants of the
natives, had particular reference to the European population, and the
distractions of the country.  It was of general application to all the
American colonies.  It will be necessary here only to point out some of
the provisions having immediate reference to Peru.

The Indians were declared true and loyal vassals of the Crown, and their
freedom as such was fully recognized.  Yet, to maintain inviolate the
guaranty of the government to the Conquerors, it was decided, that those
lawfully possessed of slaves might still retain them; but, at the death of
the present proprietors, they were to revert to the Crown.

It was provided, however, that slaves, in any event, should be forfeited
by all those who had shown themselves unworthy to hold them by
neglect or ill-usage; by all public functionaries, or such as had held
offices under the government; by ecclesiastics and religious
corporations; and lastly,--a sweeping clause,--by all who had taken a
criminal part in the feuds of Almagro and Pizarro.

It was further ordered, that the Indians should be moderately taxed; that
they should not be compelled to labor where they did not choose, and
that where, from particular circumstances, this was made necessary, they
should receive a fair compensation.  It was also decreed, that, as the
repartimientos of land were often excessive, they should in such cases be
reduced; and that, where proprietors had been guilty of a notorious abuse
of their slaves, their estates should be forfeited altogether.

As Peru had always shown a spirit of insubordination, which required a
more vigorous interposition of authority than was necessary in the other
colonies, it was resolved to send a viceroy to that country, who should
display a state, and be armed with powers, that might make him a more
fitting representative of the sovereign.  He was to be accompanied by a
Royal Audience, consisting of four judges, with extensive powers of
jurisdiction, both criminal and civil, who, besides a court of justice,
should constitute a sort of council to advise with and aid the viceroy.
The Audience of Panama was to be dissolved, and the new tribunal,
with the vice-king's court, was to be established at Los Reyes, or Lima,
as it now began to be called,---henceforth the metropolis of the Spanish
empire on the Pacific.13

Such were some of the principal features of this remarkable code, which,
touching on the most delicate relations of society, broke up the very
foundations of property, and, by a stroke of the pen, as it were, converted
a nation of slaves into freemen.  It would have required, we may
suppose, but little forecast to divine, that in the remote regions of
America, and especially in Peru, where the colonists had been hitherto
accustomed to unbounded license, a reform, so salutary in essential
points, could be enforced thus summarily only at the price of a
revolution.  Yet the ordinances received the sanction of the emperor that
same year, and in November, 1543, were published at Madrid.

No sooner was their import known than it was conveyed by numerous
letters to the colonists, from their friends in Spain.  The tidings flew like
wildfire over the land, from Mexico to Chili.  Men were astounded at the
prospect of the ruin that awaited them.  In Peru, particularly, there was
scarcely one that could hope to escape the operation of the law.  Few
there were who had not taken part, at some time or other, in the civil
feuds of Almagro and Pizarro; and still fewer of those that remained that
would not be entangled in some one or other of the insidious clauses that
seemed spread out, like a web, to ensnare them.

The whole country was thrown into commotion.  Men assembled
tumultuously in the squares and public places, and, as the regulations
were made known they were received with universal groans and hisses.
"Is this the fruit," they cried, "of all our toil?  Is it for this that we have
poured out our blood like water?  Now that we are broken down by
hardships and sufferings, to be left at the end of our campaigns as poor
as at the beginning!  Is this the way government rewards our services in
winning for it an empire?  The government has done little to aid us in
making the conquest, and for what we have we may thank our own good
swords; and with these same swords," they continued, warming into
menace, "we know how to defend it."  Then, stripping up his sleeve, the
war-worn veteran bared his arm, or, exposing his naked bosom, pointed
to his scars, as the best title to his estates.15

The governor, Vaca de Castro, watched the storm thus gathering from all
quarters, with the deepest concern.  He was himself in the very heart of
disaffection; for Cuzco, tenanted by a mixed and lawless population was
so far removed into the depths of the mountains, that it had much less
intercourse with the parent country, and was consequently much less
under her influence, than the great towns on the coast.  The people now
invoked the governor to protect them against the tyranny of the Court;
but he endeavored to calm the agitation by representing, that by these
violent measures they would only defeat their own object.  He counselled
them to name deputies to lay their petition before the Crown, stating the
impracticability of the present scheme of reform, and praying for the
repeal of it; and he conjured them to wait patiently for the arrival of the
viceroy, who might be prevailed on to suspend the ordinances till further
advices could be received from Castile.

But it was not easy to still the tempest; and the people now eagerly
looked for some one whose interests and sympathies might lie with
theirs, and whose position in the community might afford them
protection.  The person to whom they naturally turned in this crisis was
Gonzalo Pizarro, the last in the land of that family who had led the
armies of the Conquest,--a cavalier whose gallantry and popular manners
had made him always a favorite with the people.  He was now beset with
applications to interpose in their behalf with the government, and shield
them from the oppressive ordinances.

But Gonzalo Pizarro was at Charcas, busily occupied in exploring the
rich veins of Potosi, whose silver fountains, just brought into light, were
soon to pour such streams of wealth over Europe.  Though gratified with
this appeal to his protection, the cautious cavalier was more intent on
providing for the means of enterprise than on plunging prematurely into
it; and, while he secretly encouraged the malecontents, he did not
commit himself by taking part in any revolutionary movement.  At the
same period, he received letters from Vaca de Castro,--whose vigilant
eye watched all the aspects of the time,---cautioning Gonzalo and his
friends not to be seduced, by any wild schemes of reform, from their
allegiance.  And, to check still further these disorderly movements, he
ordered his alcaldes to arrest every man guilty of seditious language, and
bring him at once to punishment.  By this firm yet temperate conduct the
minds of the populace were overawed, and there was a temporary lull in
the troubled waters, while all looked anxiously for the coming of the
viceroy.16

The person selected for this critical post was a knight of Avila, named
Blasco Nunez Vela.  He was a cavalier of ancient family, handsome in
person, though now somewhat advanced in years, and reputed brave and
devout.  He had filled some offices of responsibility to the satisfaction of
Charles the Fifth, by whom he was now appointed to this post in Peru.
The selection did no credit to the monarch's discernment.

It may seem strange that this important place should not have been
bestowed on Vaca de Castro, already on the spot, and who had shown
himself so well qualified to fill it.  But ever since that officer's mission to
Peru, there had been a series of assassinations, insurrections, and civil
wars, that menaced the wretched colony with ruin; and, though his wise
administration had now brought things into order, the communication
with the Indies was so tardy, that the results of his policy were not yet
fully disclosed.  As it was designed, moreover, to make important
innovations in the government, it was thought better to send some one
who would have no personal prejudices to encounter, from the part he
had already taken, and who, coming directly from the Court, and clothed
with extraordinary powers, might present himself with greater authority
than could one who had become familiar to the people in an inferior
capacity.  The monarch, however, wrote a letter with his own hand to,
Vaca de Castro in which he thanked that officer for his past services, and
directed him, after aiding the new viceroy with the fruits of his large
experience, to return to Castile, and take his seat in the Royal Council.
Letters of a similar complimentary kind were sent to the loyal colonists
who had stood by the governor in the late troubles of the country.
Freighted with these testimonials, and with the ill-starred ordinances,
Blasco Nunez embarked at San Lucar, on the 3d of November, 1543.  He
was attended by the four judges of the Audience, and by a numerous
retinue, that he might appear in the state befitting his distinguished
rank.17

About the middle of the following January, 1544, the viceroy, after a
favorable passage, landed at Nombre de Dios.  He found there a vessel
laden with silver from the Peruvian mines, ready to sail for Spain.  His
first act was to lay an embargo on it for the government, as containing
the proceeds of slave labor.  After this extraordinary measure, taken in
opposition to the advice of the Audience, he crossed the Isthmus to
Panama.  Here he gave sure token of his future policy, by causing more
than three hundred Indians, who had been brought by their owners from
Peru, to be liberated and sent back to their own country.  This
highhanded measure created the greatest sensation in the city, and was
strongly resisted by the judges of the Audience.  They besought him not
to begin thus precipitately to execute his commission, but to wait till his
arrival in the colony, when he should have taken time to acquaint himself
somewhat with the country, and with the temper of the people.  But
Blasco Nunez coldly replied, that "he had come, not to tamper with the
laws, nor to discuss their merits, but to execute them,--and execute them
he would, to the letter, whatever might be the consequence."18  This
answer, and the peremptory tone in which it was delivered, promptly
adjourned the debate; for the judges saw that debate was useless with one
who seemed to consider all remonstrance as an attempt to turn him from
his duty, and whose ideas of duty precluded all discretionary exercise of
authority, even where the public good demanded it.

Leaving the Audience, as one of its body was ill, at Panama, the viceroy
proceeded on his way, and, coasting down the shores of the Pacific, on
the fourth of March he disembarked at Tumbez.  He was well received
by the loyal inhabitants; his authority was publicly proclaimed, and the
people were overawed by the display of a magnificence and state such as
had not till then been seen in Peru.  He took an early occasion to intimate
his future line of policy by liberating a number of Indian slaves on the
application of their caciques.  He then proceeded by land towards the
south, and showed his determination to conform in his own person to the
strict letter of the ordinances, by causing his baggage to be carried by
mules, where it was practicable; and where absolutely necessary to make
use of Indians, he paid them fairly for their services.19

The whole country was thrown into consternation by reports of the
proceedings of the viceroy, and of his conversations, most unguarded,
which were eagerly circulated, and, no doubt, often exaggerated.
Meetings were again called in the cities.  Discussions were held on the
expediency of resisting his further progress, and a deputation of citizens
from Cuzco, who were then in Lima, strongly urged the people to close
the gates of that capital against him.  But Vaca de Castro had also left
Cuzco for the latter city, on the earliest intimation of the viceroy's
approach, and, with some difficulty, he prevailed on the inhabitants not
to swerve from their loyalty, but to receive their new ruler with suitable
honors, and trust to his calmer judgment for postponing the execution of
the law till the case could be laid before the throne.

But the great body of the Spaniards, after what they had heard, had
slender confidence in the relief to be obtained from this quarter.  They
now turned with more eagerness than ever towards Gonzalo Pizarro; and
letters and addresses poured in upon him from all parts of the country,
inviting him to take on himself the office of their protector.  These
applications found a more favorable response than on the former
occasion.

There were, indeed, many motives at work to call Gonzalo into action.  It
was to his family, mainly, that Spain was indebted for this extension of
her colonial empire; and he had felt deeply aggrieved that the
government of the colony should be trusted to other hands than his.  He
had felt this on the arrival of Vaca de Castro, and much more so when
the appointment of a viceroy proved it to be the settled policy of the
Crown to exclude his family from the management of affairs.  His
brother Hernando still languished in prison, and he himself was now to
be sacrificed as the principal victim of the fatal ordinances.  For who had
taken so prominent a part in the civil war with the elder Almagro?  And
the viceroy was currently reported--it may have been scandal---to have
intimated that Pizarro would be dealt with accordingly.20  Yet there was
no one in the country who had so great a stake, who had so much to lose
by the revolution.  Abandoned thus by the government, he conceived that
it was now time to take care of himself.

Assembling together some eighteen or twenty cavaliers in whom he most
trusted, and taking a large amount of silver, drawn from the mines, he
accepted the invitation to repair to Cuzco.  As he approached this capital,
he was met by a numerous body of the citizens, who came out to
welcome him, making the air ring with their shouts, as they saluted him
with the title of Procurator-General of Peru.  The title was speedily
confirmed by the municipality of the city, who invited him to head a
deputation to Lima, in order to state their grievances to the viceroy, and
solicit the present suspension of the ordinances.

But the spark of ambition was kindled in the bosom of Pizarro.  He felt
strong in the affections of the people; and, from the more elevated
position in which he now stood, his desires took a loftier and more
unbounded range.  Yet, if he harbored a criminal ambition in his breast,
he skilfully veiled it from others--perhaps from himself.  The only object
he professed to have in view was the good of the people;21 a suspicious
phrase, usually meaning the good of the individual.  He now demanded
permission to raise and organize an armed force, with the further title of
Captain-General.  His views were entirely pacific; but it was not safe,
unless strongly protected, to urge them on a person of the viceroy's
impatient and arbitrary temper.  It was further contended by Pizarro's
friends, that such a force was demanded, to rid the country of their old
enemy, the Inca Manco, who hovered in the neighboring mountains with
a body of warriors, ready, at the first opportunity, to descend on the
Spaniards.  The municipality of Cuzco hesitated, as well it might, to
confer powers so far beyond its legitimate authority.  But Pizarro avowed
his purpose, in case of refusal, to decline the office of Procurator; and
the efforts of his partisans, backed by those of the people, at length
silenced the scruples of the magistrates, who bestowed on the ambitious
chief the military command to which he aspired.  Pizarro accepted it with
the modest assurance, that he did so "purely from regard to the interests
of the king, of the Indies, and, above all, of Peru!" 22



Book 4

Chapter 8

The Viceroy Arrives At Lima--Gonzalo Pizarro Marches From Cuzco--
Death Of The Inca Manco--Rash Conduct Of The Viceroy--
Seized And Deposed By The Audience--
Gonzalo Proclaimed Governor Of Peru

1544

While the events recorded in the preceding pages were in progress,
Blasco Nunez had been journeying towards Lima.  But the alienation
which his conduct had already caused in the minds of the colonists was
shown in the cold reception which he occasionally experienced on the
route, and in the scanty accommodations provided for him and his
retinue.  In one place where he took up his quarters, he found an ominous
inscription over the door:--"He that takes my property must expect to pay
for it with his life." 1  Neither daunted, nor diverted from his purpose,
the inflexible viceroy held on his way towards the capital, where the
inhabitants, preceded by Vaca de Castro and the municipal authorities,
came out to receive him.  He entered in great state, under a canopy of
crimson cloth, embroidered with the arms of Spain, and supported by
stout poles or staves of solid silver, which were borne by the members of
the municipality.  A cavalier, holding a mace, the emblem of authority,
rode before him; and after the oaths of office were administered in the
council-chamber, the procession moved towards the cathedral, where Te
Deum was sung, and Blasco Nunez was installed in his new dignity of
viceroy of Peru.2

His first act was to proclaim his determination in respect to the
ordinances.  He had no warrant to suspend their execution.  He should
fulfil his commission; but he offered to join the colonists in a memorial
to the emperor, soliciting the repeal of a code which he now believed
would be for the interests neither of the country nor of the Crown.3
With this avowed view of the subject, it may seem strange that Blasco
Nunez should not have taken the responsibility of suspending the law
until his sovereign could be assured of the inevitable consequences of
enforcing it.  The pacha of a Turkish despot, who had allowed himself
this latitude for the interests of his master, might, indeed, have reckoned
on the bowstring.  But the example of Mendoza, the prudent viceroy of
Mexico who adopted this course in a similar crisis, and precisely at the
same period, showed its propriety under existing circumstances.  The
ordinances were suspended by him till the Crown could be warned of the
consequences of enforcing them,--and Mexico was saved from
revolution.4  But Blasco Nunez had not the wisdom of Mendoza.

The public apprehension was now far from being allayed.  Secret cabals
were formed in Lima, and communications held with the different towns.
No distrust, however, was raised in the breast of the viceroy, and, when
informed of the preparations of Gonzalo Pizarro, he took no other step
than to send a message to his camp, announcing the extraordinary
powers with which he was himself invested, and requiring that chief to
disband his forces.  He seemed to think that a mere word from him
would be sufficient to dissipate rebellion.  But it required more than a
breath to scatter the iron soldiery of Peru.

Gonzalo Pizarro, meanwhile, was busily occupied in mustering his army.
His first step was to order from Guamanga sixteen pieces of artillery,
sent there by Vaca de Castro, who, in the present state of excitement,
was unwilling to trust the volatile people of Cuzco with these implements
of destruction.  Gonzalo, who had no scruples as to Indian labor,
appropriated six thousand of the natives to the service of transporting
this train of ordnance across the mountains.5

By his exertions and those of his friends, the active chief soon mustered
a force of nearly four hundred men, which, if not very imposing in the
outset, he conceived would be swelled, in his descent to the coast, by
tributary levies from the towns and villages on the way.  All his own
funds were expended in equipping his men and providing for the march;
and, to supply deficiencies, he made no scruple---since, to use his words,
it was for the public interest--to appropriate the moneys in the royal
treasury.  With this seasonable aid, his troops, well mounted and
thoroughly equipped, were put in excellent fighting order; and, after
making them a brief harangue, in which he was careful to insist on the
pacific character of his enterprise, somewhat at variance with its military
preparations, Gonzalo Pizarro sallied forth from the gates of the capital.

Before leaving it, he received an important accession of strength in the
person of Francisco de Carbajal, the veteran who performed so
conspicuous a part in the battle of Chupas.  He was at Charcas when the
news of the ordinances reached Peru; and he instantly resolved to quit
the country and return to Spain, convinced that the New World would be
no longer the land for him,--no longer the golden Indies.  Turning his
effects into money, he prepared to embark them on board the first ship
that offered.  But no opportunity occurred, and he could have little
expectation now of escaping the vigilant eye of the viceroy.  Yet, though
solicited by Pizarro to take command under him in the present
expedition, the veteran declined, saying, he was eighty years old, and had
no wish but to return home, and spend his few remaining days in quiet.6
Well had it been for him, had he persisted in his refusal.  But he yielded
to the importunities of his friend; and the short space that yet remained to
him of life proved long enough to brand his memory with perpetual
infamy.

Soon after quitting Cuzco, Pizarro learned the death of the Inca Manco.
He was massacred by a party of Spaniards, of the faction of Almagro,
who, on the defeat of their young leader, had taken refuge in the Indian
camp.  They, in turn, were all slain by the Peruvians.  It is impossible to
determine on whom the blame of the quarrel should rest, since no one
present at the time has recorded it.7

The death of Manco Inca, as he was commonly called, is an event not to
be silently passed over in Peruvian history; for he was the last of his race
that may be said to have been animated by the heroic spirit of the ancient
Incas.  Though placed on the throne by Pizarro, far from remaining a
mere puppet in his hands, Manco soon showed that his lot was not to be
cast with that of his conquerors.  With the ancient institutions of his
country lying a wreck around him, he yet struggled bravely, like
Guatemozin, the last of the Aztecs, to uphold her tottering fortunes, or to
bury his oppressors under her ruins.  By the assault on his own capital of
Cuzco, in which so large a portion of it was demolished, he gave a check
to the arms of Pizarro, and, for a season, the fate of the Conquerors
trembled in the balance.  Though foiled, in the end, by the superior
science of his adversary, the young barbarian still showed the same
unconquerable spirit as before.  He withdrew into the fastnesses of his
native mountains, whence sallying forth as occasion offered, he fell on
the caravan of the traveller, or on some scattered party of the military;
and, in the event of a civil war, was sure to throw his own weight into the
weaker scale, thus prolonging the contest of his enemies, and feeding his
revenge by the sight of their calamities.  Moving lightly from spot to
spot, he eluded pursuit amidst the wilds of the Cordilleras; and, hovering
in the neighborhood of the towns, or lying in ambush on the great
thoroughfares of the country, the Inca Manco made his name a terror to
the Spaniards.  Often did they hold out to him terms of accommodation;
and every succeeding ruler, down to Blasco Nunez, bore instructions
from the Crown to employ every art to conciliate the formidable warrior.
But Manco did not trust the promises of the white man; and he chose
rather to maintain his savage independence in the mountains, with the
few brave spirits around him, than to live a slave in the land which had
once owned the sway of his ancestors.

The death of the Inca removed one of the great pretexts for Gonzalo
Pizarro's military preparations; but it had little influence on him, as may
be readily imagined.  He was much more sensible to the desertion of
some of his followers, which took place early on the march.  Several of
the cavaliers of Cuzco, startled by his unceremonious appropriation of
the public moneys, and by the belligerent aspect of affairs, now for the
first time seemed to realize that they were in the path of rebellion.  A
number of these, including some principal men of the city, secretly
withdrew from the army, and, hastening to Lima, offered their services to
the viceroy.  The troops were disheartened by this desertion, and even
Pizarro for a moment faltered in his purpose, and thought of retiring with
some fifty followers to Charcas, and there making his composition with
government.  But a little reflection, aided by the remonstrances of the
courageous Carbajal, who never turned his back on an enterprise which
he had once assumed, convinced him that he had gone too far to recede,-
-that his only safety was to advance.

He was reassured by more decided manifestations, which he soon after
received, of the public opinion.  An officer named Puelles, who
commanded at Guanuco, joined him, with a body of horse with which he
had been intrusted by the viceroy.  This defection was followed by that
of others, and Gonzalo, as he descended the sides of the table-land,
found his numbers gradually swelled to nearly double the amount with
which he had left the Indian capital.

As he traversed with a freer step the bloody field of Chupas, Carbajal
pointed out the various localities of the battle-ground, and Pizarro might
have found food for anxious reflection, as he meditated on the fortunes
of a rebel.  At Guamanga he was received with open arms by the
inhabitants, many of whom eagerly enlisted under his banner; for they
trembled for their property, as they heard from all quarters of the
inflexible temper of the viceroy.8

That functionary began now to be convinced that he was in a critical
position.  Before Puelles's treachery, above noticed, had been
consummated, the viceroy had received some vague intimation of his
purpose.  Though scarcely crediting it, he detached one of his company,
named Diaz, with a force to intercept him.  But, although that cavalier
undertook the mission with alacrity, he was soon after prevailed on to
follow the example of his comrade, and, with the greater part of the men
under his command, went over to the enemy.  In the civil feuds of this
unhappy land, parties changed sides so lightly, that treachery to a
commander had almost ceased to be a stain on the honor of a cavalier.
Yet all, on whichever side they cast their fortunes, loudly proclaimed
their loyalty to the Crown.

Thus betrayed by his own men, by those apparently most devoted to his
service, Blasco Nunez became suspicious of every one around him.
Unfortunately, his suspicions fell on some who were most deserving of
his confidence.  Among these was his predecessor, Vaca de Castro.  That
officer had conducted himself, in the delicate situation in which he had
been placed, with his usual discretion, and with perfect integrity and
honor.  He had frankly communicated with the viceroy, and well had it
been for Blasco Nunez, if he had known how to profit by it.  But he was
too much puffed up by the arrogance of office, and by the conceit of his
own superior wisdom, to defer much to the counsels of his experienced
predecessor.  The latter was now suspected by the viceroy of maintaining
a secret correspondence with his enemies at Cuzco,--a suspicion which
seems to have had no better foundation than the personal friendship
which Vaca de Castro was known to entertain for these individuals.  But,
with Blasco Nunez, to suspect was to be convinced; and he ordered De
Castro to be placed under arrest, and confined on board of a vessel lying
in the harbor.  This high-handed measure was followed by the arrest and
imprisonment of several other cavaliers, probably on grounds equally
frivolous.9

He now turned his attention towards the enemy.  Notwithstanding his
former failure, he still did not altogether despair of effecting something
by negotiation, and he sent another embassy, having the bishop of Lima
at its head, to Gonzalo Pizarro's camp, with promises of a general
amnesty, and some proposals of a more tempting character to the
commander.  But this step, while it proclaimed his own weakness, had no
better success than the preceding.10

The viceroy now vigorously prepared for war.  His first care was to put
the capital in a posture of defence, by strengthening its fortifications, and
throwing barricades across the streets.  He ordered a general enrolment
of the citizens, and called in levies from the neighboring towns,-a call
not very promptly answered.  A squadron of eight or ten vessels was got
ready in the port to act in concert with the land forces.  The bells were
taken from the churches, and used in the manufacture of muskets;11 and
funds were procured from the fifths which had accumulated in the royal
treasury.  The most extravagant bounty was offered to the soldiers, and
prices were paid for mules and horses, which showed that gold, or rather
silver, was the commodity of least value in Peru.12  By these efforts, the
active commander soon assembled a force considerably larger than that
of his adversary.  But how could he confide in it?

While these preparations were going forward, the judges of the Audience
arrived at Lima.  They had shown, throughout their progress, no great
respect either for the ordinances, or the will of the viceroy; for they had
taxed the poor natives as freely and unscrupulously as any of the
Conquerors.  We have seen the entire want of cordiality subsisting
between them and their principal in Panama.  It became more apparent,
on their landing at Lima.  They disapproved of his proceedings in every
particular; of his refusal to suspend the ordinances,--although, in fact, he
had found no opportunity, of late, to enforce them; of his preparations
for defence, declaring that he ought rather trust to the effect of
negotiation; and, finally, of his imprisonment of so many loyal cavaliers,
which they pronounced an arbitrary act, altogether beyond the bounds of
his authority; and they did not scruple to visit the prison in person, and
discharge the captives from their confinement.13

This bold proceeding, while it conciliated the good-will of the people,
severed, at once, all relations with the viceroy.  There was in the
Audience a lawyer, named Cepeda, a cunning, ambitious man, with
considerable knowledge in the way of his profession, and with still
greater talent for intrigue.  He did not disdain the low arts of a
demagogue to gain the favor of the populace, and trusted to find his own
account in fomenting a misunderstanding with Blasco Nunez.  The latter,
it must be confessed, did all in his power to aid his counsellor in this
laudable design.

A certain cavalier in the place, named Suarez de Carbajal, who had long
held an office under government, fell under the viceroy's displeasure, on
suspicion of conniving at the secession of some of his kinsmen, who had
lately taken part with the malecontents.  The viceroy summoned Carbajal
to attend him at his palace, late at night; and when conducted to his
presence, he bluntly charged him with treason.  The latter stoutly denied
the accusation, in tones as haughty as those of his accuser.  The
altercation grew warm, until, in the heat of passion, Blasco Nunez struck
him with his poniard.  In an instant, the attendants, taking this as a signal,
plunged their swords into the body of the unfortunate man, who fell
lifeless on the floor.

Greatly alarmed for the consequences of his rash act,--for Carbajal was
much beloved in Lima,--Blasco Nunez ordered the corpse of the
murdered man to be removed by a private stairway from the house, and
carried to the cathedral, where, rolled in his bloody cloak, it was laid in a
grave hastily dug to receive it.  So tragic a proceeding, known to so
many witnesses, could not long be kept secret.  Vague rumors of the fact
explained the mysterious disappearance of Carbajal.  The grave was
opened, and the mangled remains of the slaughtered cavalier established
the guilt of the viceroy.15

From this hour Blasco Nunez was held in universal abhorrence; and his
crime, in this instance, assumed the deeper dye of ingratitude, since the
deceased was known to have had the greatest influence in reconciling the
citizens early to his government.  No one knew where the blow would
fall next, or how soon he might himself become the victim of the
ungovernable passions of the viceroy.  In this state of things, some
looked to the Audience, and yet more to Gonzalo Pizarro, to protect
them.

That chief was slowly advancing towards Lima, from which, indeed, he
was removed but a few days' march.  Greatly perplexed, Blasco Nunez
now felt the loneliness of his condition.  Standing aloof, as it were from
his own followers, thwarted by the Audience, betrayed by his soldiers, he
might well feel the consequences of his misconduct.  Yet there seemed
no other course for him, but either to march out and meet the enemy, or
to remain in Lima and defend it.  He had placed the town in a posture of
defence, which argued this last to have been his original purpose.  But he
felt he could no longer rely on his troops, and he decided on a third
course, most unexpected.

This was to abandon the capital, and withdraw to Truxillo, about eighty
leagues distant.  The women would embark on board the squadron, and,
with the effects of the citizens, be transported by water.  The troops, with
the rest of the inhabitants, would march by land, laying waste the country
as they proceeded.  Gonzalo Pizarro, when he arrived at Lima, would
find it without supplies for his army, and, thus straitened he would not
care to take a long march across a desert in search of his enemy.16

What the viceroy proposed to effect by this movement is not clear,
unless it were to gain time; and yet the more time he had gained, thus far,
the worse it had proved for him.  But he was destined to encounter a
decided opposition from the judges.  They contended that he had no
warrant for such an act, and that the Audience could not lawfully hold its
sessions out of the capital.  Blasco Nunez persisted in his determination,
menacing that body with force, if necessary.  The judges appealed to the
citizens to support them in resisting such an arbitrary measure.  They
mustered a force for their own protection, and that same day passed a
decree that the viceroy should be arrested.

Late at night, Blasco Nunez was informed of the hostile preparations of
the judges.  He instantly summoned his followers, to the number of more
than two hundred, put on his armour, and prepared to march out at the
head of his troops against the Audience.  This was the true course; for in
a crisis like that in which he was placed, requiring promptness and
decision, the presence of the leader is essential to insure success.  But,
unluckily, he yielded to the remonstrances of his brother and other
friends, who dissuaded him from rashly exposing his life in such a
venture.

What Blasco Nunez neglected to do was done by the judges.  They
sallied forth at the head of their followers, whose number, though small
at first, they felt confident would be swelled by volunteers as they
advanced.  Rushing forward, they cried out,--"Liberty!  Liberty!  Long
live the king and the Audience! " It was early dawn, and the inhabitants,
startled from their slumbers, ran to the windows and balconies, and,
learning the object of the movement, some snatched up their arms and
joined in it, while the women, waving their scarfs and kerchiefs, cheered
on the assault.

When the mob arrived before the viceroy's palace, they halted for a
moment, uncertain what to do.  Orders were given to fire on them from
the windows, and a volley passed over their heads.  No one was injured;
and the greater part of the viceroy's men, with most of the officers,
including some of those who had been so anxious for his personal safety,
--now openly joined the populace.  The palace was then entered, and
abandoned to pillage.  Blasco Nunez, deserted by all but a few faithful
adherents, made no resistance.  He surrendered to the assailants, was led
before the judges, and by them was placed in strict confinement.  The
citizens, delighted with the result, provided a collation for the soldiers;
and the affair ended without the loss of a single life.  Never was there so
bloodless a revolution.17

The first business of the judges was to dispose of the prisoner.  He was
sent, under a strong guard, to a neighboring island, till some measures
could be taken respecting him.  He was declared to be deposed from his
office; a provisional government was established, consisting of their own
body, with Cepeda at its head, as president; and its first act was to
pronounce the detested ordinances suspended, till instructions could be
received from Court.  It was also decided to send Blasco Nunez back to
Spain with one of their own body, who should explain to the emperor the
nature of the late disturbances, and vindicate the measures of the
Audience.  This was soon put in execution.  The Licentiate Alvarez was
the person selected to bear the viceroy company; and the unfortunate
commander, after passing several days on the desolate island, with
scarcely any food, and exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather,
took his departure for Panama.18

A more formidable adversary yet remained in Gonzalo Pizarro, who had
now advanced to Xauxa, about ninety miles from Lima.  Here he halted,
while numbers of the citizens prepared to join his banner, choosing
rather to take service under him than to remain under the selfconstituted
authority of the Audience.  The judges, meanwhile, who had tasted the
sweets of office too short a time to be content to resign them, after
considerable delay, sent an embassy to the Procurator.  They announced
to him the revolution that had taken place, and the suspension of the
ordinances.  The great object of his mission had been thus accomplished;
and, as a new government was now organized, they called on him to
show his obedience to it, by disbanding his forces, and withdrawing to
the unmolested enjoyment of his estates.  It was a bold demand, though
couched in the most courteous and complimentary phrase,--to make of
one in Pizarro's position.  It was attempting to scare away the eagle just
ready to stoop on his prey.  If the chief had faltered, however, he would
have been reassured by his lion-hearted lieutenant.  "Never show faint
heart," exclaimed the latter, "when you are so near the goal.  Success has
followed every step of your path.  You have now only to stretch forth
your hand, and seize the government.  Every thing else will follow."--
The envoy who brought the message from the judges was sent back with
the answer, that "the people had called Gonzalo Pizarro to the
government of the country, and, if the Audience did not at once invest
him with it, the city should be delivered up to pillage." 19

The bewildered magistrates were thrown into dismay by this decisive
answer.  Yet loth to resign, they took counsel in their perplexity of Vaca
de Castro, still detained on board of one of the vessels.  But that
commander had received too little favor at the hands of his successors to
think it necessary to peril his life on their account by thwarting the plans
of Pizarro.  He maintained a discreet silence, therefore, and left the
matter to the wisdom of the Audience.

Meanwhile, Carbajal was sent into the city to quicken their deliberations.
He came at night, attended only by a small party of soldiers, intimating
his contempt of the power of the judges.  His first act was to seize a
number of cavaliers, whom he dragged from their beds, and placed under
arrest.  They were men of Cuzco, the same already noticed as having left
Pizarro's ranks soon after his departure from that capital.  While the
Audience still hesitated as to the course they should pursue, Carbajal
caused three of his prisoners, persons of consideration and property, to
be placed on the backs of mules, and escorted out of town to the suburbs,
where, with brief space allowed for confession, he hung them all on the
branches of a tree.  He superintended the execution himself, and
tauntingly complimented one of his victims, by telling him, that, "in
consideration of his higher rank, he should have the privilege of selecting
the bough on which to be hanged!"20  The ferocious officer would have
proceeded still further in his executions, it is said, had it not been for
orders received from his leader.  But enough was done to quicken the
perceptions of the Audience as to their course, for they felt their own
lives suspended by a thread in such unscrupulous hands.  Without further
delay, therefore, they sent to invite Gonzalo Pizarro to enter the city,
declaring that the security of the country and the general good required
the government to be placed in his hands.21

That chief had now advanced within half a league of the capital, which
soon after, on the twenty-eighth of October, 1544, he entered in battle-
array.  His whole force was little short of twelve hundred Spaniards,
besides several thousand Indians, who dragged his heavy guns in the
advance.22  Then came the files of spearmen and arquebusiers, making a
formidable corps of infantry for a colonial army; and lastly, the cavalry,
at the head of which rode Pizarro himself, on a powerful charger, gaily
caparisoned.  The rider was in complete mail, over which floated a richly
embroidered surcoat, and his head was protected by a crimson cap,
highly ornamented,--his showy livery setting off his handsome,
soldierlike person to advantage.23  Before him was borne the royal
standard of Castile; for every one, royalist or rebel, was careful to fight
under that sign.  This emblem of loyalty was supported on the right by a
banner, emblazoned with the arms of Cuzco, and by another on the left,
displaying the armorial bearings granted by the Crown to the Pizarros.
As the martial pageant swept through the streets of Lima, the air was rent
with acclamations from the populace, and from the spectators in the
balconies.  The cannon sounded at intervals, and the bells of the city--
those that the viceroy had spared rang out a joyous peal, as if in honor of
a victory!

The oaths of office were duly administered by the judges of the Royal
Audience, and Gonzalo Pizarro was proclaimed Governor and Captain
General of Peru, till his Majesty's pleasure could be known in respect to
the government.  The new ruler then took up his quarters in the palace of
his brother,--where the stains of that brother's blood were not yet effaced.
Fetes, bull-fights, and tournaments graced the ceremony of inauguration,
and were prolonged for several days, while the giddy populace of the
capital abandoned themselves to jubilee, as if a new and more auspicious
order of things had commenced for Peru!  24



Book 4

Chapter 9

Measures Of Gonzalo Pizarro--Escape Of Vaca De Castro--
Reappearance Of The Viceroy--His Disastrous Retreat--
Defeat And Death Of The Viceroy--Gonzalo Pizarro Lord Of Peru

1544--1546

The first act of Gonzalo Pizarro was to cause those persons to be
apprehended who had taken the most active part against him in the late
troubles.  Several he condemned to death; but afterwards commuted the
sentence, and contented himself with driving them into banishment and
confiscating their estates.1  His next concern was to establish his
authority on a firm basis.  He filled the municipal government of Lima
with his own partisans.  He sent his lieutenants to take charge of the
principal cities.  He caused galleys to be built at Arequipa to secure the
command of the seas; and brought his forces into the best possible
condition, to prepare for future emergencies.

The Royal Audience existed only in name; for its powers were speedily
absorbed by the new ruler, who desired to place the government on the
same footing as under the marquess, his brother.  Indeed, the Audience
necessarily fell to pieces, from the position of its several members.
Alvarez had been sent with the viceroy to Castile.  Cepeda, the most
aspiring of the court, now that he had failed in his own schemes of
ambition, was content to become a tool in the hands of the military chief
who had displaced him.  Zarate, a third judge, who had, from the first,
protested against the violent measures of his colleagues, was confined to
his house by a mortal illness;2 and Tepeda, the remaining magistrate,
Gonzalo now proposed to send back to Castile with such an account of
the late transactions as should vindicate his own conduct in the eyes of
the emperor.  This step was opposed by Carbajal, who bluntly told his
commander that "he had gone too far to expect favor from the Crown;
and that he had better rely for his vindication on his pikes and muskets!"
3

But the ship which was to transport Tepeda was found to have suddenly
disappeared from the port.  It was the same in which Vaca de Castro was
confined; and that officer, not caring to trust to the forbearance of one
whose advances, on a former occasion, he had so unceremoniously
repulsed, and convinced, moreover, that his own presence could profit
nothing in a land where he held no legitimate authority, had prevailed on
the captain to sail with him to Panama.  He then crossed the Isthmus, and
embarked for Spain.  The rumors of his coming had already preceded
him, and charges were not wanting against him from some of those
whom he had offended by his administration.  He was accused of having
carried measures with a high hand, regardless of the rights, both of the
colonist and of the native; and, above all, of having embezzled the public
moneys, and of returning with his coffers richly freighted to Castile.
This last was an unpardonable crime.

No sooner had the governor set foot in his own country than he was
arrested, and hurried to the fortress of Arevalo; and, though he was
afterwards removed to better quarters, where he was treated with the
indulgence due to his rank, he was still kept a prisoner of state for twelve
years, when the tardy tribunals of Castile pronounced a judgment in his
favor.  He was acquitted of every charge that had been brought against
him, and, so far from peculation, was proved to have returned home no
richer than he went.  He was released from confinement, reinstated in his
honors and dignities, took his seat anew in the royal council, and Vaca
de Castro enjoyed, during the remainder of his days, the consideration to
which he was entitled by his deserts.4  The best eulogium on the wisdom
of his administration was afforded by the troubles brought on the
colonies by that of his successor.  The nation became gradually sensible
of the value of his services; though the manner in which they were
requited by the government must be allowed to form a cold commentary
on the gratitude of princes.

Gonzalo Pizarro was doomed to experience a still greater disappointment
than that caused by the escape of Vaca de Castro, in the return of Blasco
Nunez.  The vessel which bore him from the country had hardly left the
shore, when Alvarez, the judge, whether from remorse at the part which
he had taken, or apprehensive of the consequences of carrying back the
viceroy to Spain, presented himself before that dignitary, and announced
that he was no longer a prisoner.  At the same time he excused himself
for the part he had taken, by his desire to save the life of Blasco Nunez,
and extricate him from his perilous situation.  He now placed the vessel
at his disposal, and assured him it should take him wherever he chose.

The viceroy, whatever faith he may have placed in the judge's
explanation, eagerly availed himself of his offer.  His proud spirit
revolted at the idea of returning home in disgrace, foiled, as he had been,
in every object of his mission.  He determined to try his fortune again in
the land, and his only doubt was, on what point to attempt to rally his
partisans around him.  At Panama he might remain in safety, while he
invoked assistance from Nicaragua, and other colonies at the north.  But
this would be to abandon his government at once; and such a confession
of weakness would have a bad effect on his followers in Peru.  He
determined, therefore, to direct his steps towards Quito, which, while it
was within his jurisdiction, was still removed far enough from the theatre
of the late troubles to give him time to rally, and make head against his
enemies.

In pursuance of this purpose, the viceroy and his suite disembarked at
Tumbez, about the middle of October, 1544.  On landing, he issued a
manifesto setting forth the violent proceedings of Gonzalo Pizarro and
his followers, whom he denounced as traitors to their prince, and he
called on all true subjects in the colony to support him in maintaining the
royal authority.  The call was not unheeded; and volunteers came in,
though tardily, from San Miguel, Puerto Viejo, and other places on the
coast, cheering the heart of the viceroy with the conviction that the
sentiment of loyalty was not yet extinct in the bosoms of the Spaniards.

But, while thus occupied, he received tidings of the arrival of one of
Pizarro's captains on the coast, with a force superior to his own.  Their
number was exaggerated; but Blasco Nunez, without waiting to ascertain
the truth, abandoned his position at Tumbez, and, with as much
expedition as he could make across a wild and mountainous country half-
buried in snow, he marched to Quito.  But this capital, situated at the
northern extremity of his province, was not a favorable point for the
rendezvous of his followers; and, after prolonging his stay till he had
received assurance from Benalcazar, the loyal commander at Popayan,
that he would support him with all his strength in the coming conflict, he
made a rapid countermarch to the coast, and took up his position at the
town of San Miguel.  This was a spot well suited to his purposes, as lying
on the great high road along the shores of the Pacific, besides being the
chief mart for commercial intercourse with Panama and the north.

Here the viceroy erected his standard, and in a few weeks found himself
at the head of a force amounting to nearly five hundred in all, horse and
foot, ill provided with arms and ammunition, but apparently zealous in
the cause.  Finding himself in sufficient strength to commence active
operations, he now sallied forth against several of Pizarro's captains in
the neighborhood, over whom he obtained some decided advantages,
which renewed his confidence, and flattered him with the hopes of
reestablishing his ascendency in the country.5

During this time, Gonzalo Pizarro was not idle.  He had watched with
anxiety the viceroy's movements; and was now convinced that it was
time to act, and that, if he would not be unseated himself, he must
dislodge his formidable rival.  He accordingly placed a strong garrison
under a faithful officer in Lima, and, after sending forward a force of
some six hundred men by land to Truxillo, he embarked for the same
port himself, on the 4th of March, 1545, the very day on which the
viceroy had marched from Quito.

At Truxillo, Pizarro put himself at the head of his little army, and moved
without loss of time against San Miguel.  His rival, eager to bring their
quarrel to an issue, would fain have marched out to give him battle; but
his soldiers, mostly young and inexperienced levies, hastily brought
together, were intimidated by the name of Pizarro.  They loudly insisted
on being led into the upper country, where they would be reinforced by
Benalcazar; and their unfortunate commander, like the rider of some
unmanageable steed, to whose humors he is obliged to submit, was
hurried away in a direction contrary to his wishes.  It was the fate of
Blasco Nunez to have his purposes baffled alike by his friends and his
enemies.

On arriving before San Miguel, Gonzalo Pizarro found, to his great
mortification, that his antagonist had left it.  Without entering the town,
he quickened his pace, and, after traversing a valley of some extent,
reached the skirts of a mountain chain, into which Blasco Nunez had
entered but a few hours before.  It was late in the evening; but Pizarro,
knowing the importance of despatch, sent forward Carbajal with a party
of light troops to overtake the fugitives.  That captain succeeded in
coming up with their lonely bivouac among the mountains at midnight,
when the weary troops were buried in slumber.  Startled from their
repose by the blast of the trumpet, which, strange to say, their enemy had
incautiously sounded,6 the viceroy and his men sprang to their feet,
mounted their horses, grasped their arquebuses, and poured such a volley
into the ranks of their assailants, that Carbajal, disconcerted by his
reception, found it prudent, with his inferior force, to retreat.  The
viceroy followed, till, fearing an ambuscade in the darkness of the night,
he withdrew, and allowed his adversary to rejoin the main body of the
army under Pizarro.

This conduct of Carbajal, by which he allowed the game to slip through
his hands, from mere carelessness, is inexplicable.  It forms a singular
exception to the habitual caution and vigilance displayed in his military
career.  Had it been the act of any other captain, it would have cost him
his head.  But Pizarro, although greatly incensed, set too high a value on
the services and well-tried attachment of his lieutenant, to quarrel with
him.  Still it was considered of the last importance to overtake the
enemy, before he had advanced much farther to the north, where the
difficulties of the ground would greatly embarrass the pursuit.  Carbajal,
anxious to retrieve his error, was accordingly again placed at the head of
a corps of light troops, with instructions to harass the enemy's march, cut
off his stores, and keep him in check, if possible, till the arrival of
Pizarro.7

But the viceroy had profiled by the recent delay to gain considerably on
his pursuers.  His road led across the valley of Caxas, a broad,
uncultivated district, affording little sustenance for man or beast.  Day
after day, his troops held on their march through this dreary region,
intersected with barrancas and rocky ravines that added incredibly to
their toil.  Their principal food was the parched corn, which usually
formed the nourishment of the travelling Indians, though held of much
less account by the Spaniards; and this meagre fare was reinforced by
such herbs as they found on the way-side, which, for want of better
utensils, the soldiers were fain to boil in their helmets.8  Carbajal,
meanwhile, pressed on them so close, that their baggage, ammunition,
and sometimes their mules, fell into his hands.  The indefatigable warrior
was always on their track, by day and by night, allowing them scarcely
any repose.  They spread no tent, and lay down in their arms, with their
steeds standing saddled beside them; and hardly had the weary soldier
closed his eyes, when he was startled by the cry that the enemy was upon
him.9

At length, the harassed followers of Blasco Nunez reached the
depoblado, or desert of Paltos, which stretches towards the north for
many a dreary league.  The ground, intersected by numerous streams, has
the character of a great quagmire, and men and horses floundered about
in the stagnant waters, or with difficulty worked their way over the
marsh, or opened a passage through the tangled underwood that shot up
in rank luxuriance from the surface.  The wayworn horses, without food,
except such as they could pick up in the wilderness, were often spent
with travel, and, becoming unserviceable, were left to die on the road,
with their hamstrings cut, that they might be of no use to the enemy;
though more frequently they were despatched to afford a miserable
banquet to their masters.10  Many of the men now fainted by the way
from mere exhaustion, or loitered in the woods, unable to keep up with
the march.  And woe to the straggler who fell into the hands of Carbajal,
at least if he had once belonged to the party of Pizarro.  The mere
suspicion of treason sealed his doom with the unrelenting soldier.11

The sufferings of Pizarro and his troop were scarcely less than those of
the viceroy; though they were somewhat mitigated by the natives of the
country, who, with ready instinct, discerned which party was the
strongest, and, of course, the most to be feared.  But, with every
alleviation, the chieftain's sufferings were terrible.  It was repeating the
dismal scenes of the expedition to the Amazon.  The soldiers of the
Conquest must be admitted to have purchased their triumphs dearly.

Yet the viceroy had one source of disquietude, greater, perhaps, than any
arising from physical suffering.  This was the distrust of his own
followers.  There were several of the principal cavaliers in his suite
whom he suspected of being in correspondence with the enemy, and even
of designing to betray him into their hands.  He was so well convinced of
this, that he caused two of these officers to be put to death on the march;
and their dead bodies, as they lay by the roadside, meeting the eye of the
soldier, told him that there were others to be feared in these frightful
solitudes besides the enemy in his rear.12

Another cavalier, who held the chief command under the viceroy, was
executed, after a more formal investigation of his case, at the first place
where the army halted.  At this distance of time, it is impossible to
determine how far the suspicions of Blasco Nunez were founded on
truth.  The judgments of contemporaries are at variance.13  In times of
political ferment, the opinion of the writer is generally determined by the
complexion of his party.  To judge from the character of Blasco Nunez,
jealous and irritable, we might suppose him to have acted without
sufficient cause.  But this consideration is counterbalanced by that of the
facility with which his followers swerved from their allegiance to their
commander, who seems to have had so light a hold on their affections,
that they were shaken off by the least reverse of fortune.  Whether his
suspicions were well or ill founded, the effect was the same on the mind
of the viceroy.  With an enemy in his rear whom he dared not fight, and
followers whom he dared not trust, the cup of his calamities was nearly
full.

At length, he issued forth on firm ground, and, passing through
Tomebamba, Blasco Nunez reentered his northern capital of Quito.  But
his reception was not so cordial as that which he had before experienced.
He now came as a fugitive, with a formidable enemy in pursuit; and he
was soon made to feel that the surest way to receive support is not to
need it.

Shaking from his feet the dust of the disloyal city, whose superstitious
people were alive to many an omen that boded his approaching ruin,
the unfortunate commander held on his way towards Pastos, in the
jurisdiction of Benalcazar.  Pizarro and his forces entered Quito not long
after, disappointed, that, with all his diligence, the enemy still eluded his
pursuit.  He halted only to breathe his men, and, declaring that "he would
follow up the viceroy to the North Sea but he would overtake him," 15
he resumed his march.  At Pastos, he nearly accomplished his object.
His advance-guard came up with Blasco Nunez as the latter was halting
on the opposite bank of a rivulet.  Pizarro's men, fainting from toil and
heat, staggered feebly to the water-side, to slake their burning thirst, and
it would have been easy for the viceroy's troops, refreshed by repose, and
superior in number to their foes, to have routed them.  But Blasco Nunez
could not bring his soldiers to the charge.  They had fled so long before
their enemy, that the mere sight of him filled their hearts with panic, and
they would have no more thought of turning against him than the hare
would turn against the hound that pursues her.  Their safety, they felt,
was to fly, not to fight, and they profited by the exhaustion of their
pursuers only to quicken their retreat.

Gonzalo Pizarro continued the chase some leagues beyond Pastos; when,
finding himself carried farther than he desired into the territories of
Benalcazar, and not caring to encounter this formidable captain at
disadvantage, he came to a halt, and, notwithstanding his magnificent
vaunt about the North Sea, ordered a retreat, and made a rapid
countermarch on Quito.  Here he found occupation in repairing the
wasted spirits of his troops, and in strengthening himself with fresh
reinforcements, which much increased his numbers; though these were
again diminished by a body that he detached under Carbajal to suppress
an insurrection, which he now learned had broken out in the south.  It
was headed by Diego Centeno, one of his own officers, whom he had
established in La Plata, the inhabitants of which place had joined in the
revolt and raised the standard for the Crown.  With the rest of his forces,
Pizarro resolved to remain at Quito, waiting the hour when the viceroy
would reenter his dominions; as the tiger crouches by some spring in the
wilderness, patiently waiting the return of his victims.

Meanwhile Blasco Nunez had pushed forward his retreat to Popayan, the
capital of Benalcazar's province.  Here he was kindly received by the
people; and his soldiers, reduced by desertion and disease to one fifth of
their original number, rested from the unparalleled fatigues of a march
which had continued for more than two hundred leagues.16  It was not
long before he was joined by Cabrera, Benalcazar's lieutenant with a
stout reinforcement, and, soon after, by that chieftain himself.  His whole
force now amounted to near four hundred men, most of them in good
condition, and well trained in the school of American warfare.  His own
men were sorely deficient both in arms and ammunition; and he set about
repairing the want by building furnaces for manufacturing arquebuses
and pikes.17--One familiar with the history of these times is surprised to
see the readiness with which the Spanish adventurers turned their hands
to various trades and handicrafts usually requiring a long apprenticeship.
They displayed the dexterity so necessary to settlers in a new country,
where every man must become in some degree his own artisan.  But this
state of things, however favorable to the ingenuity of the artist, is not
very propitious to the advancement of the art; and there can be little
doubt that the weapons thus made by the soldiers of Blasco Nunez were
of the most rude and imperfect construction.

As week after week rolled away, Gonzalo Pizarro, though fortified with
the patience of a Spanish soldier, felt uneasy at the protracted stay of
Blasco Nunez in the north, and he resorted to stratagem to decoy him
from his retreat.  He marched out of Quito with the greater part of his
forces, pretending that he was going to support his lieutenant in the
south, while he left a garrison in the city under the command of Puelles,
the same officer who had formerly deserted from the viceroy.  These
tidings he took care should be conveyed to the enemy's camp.  The
artifice succeeded as he wished.  Blasco Nunez and his followers,
confident in their superiority over Puelles, did not hesitate for a moment
to profit by the supposed absence of Pizarro.  Abandoning Popayan, the
viceroy, early in January, 1546, moved by rapid marches towards the
south.  But before he reached the place of his destination, he became
appraised of the snare into which he had been drawn.  He communicated
the fact to his officers; but he had already suffered so much from
suspense, that his only desire now was, to bring his quarrel with Pizarro
to the final arbitrament of arms.

That chief, meanwhile, had been well informed, through his spies, of the
viceroy's movements.  On learning the departure of the latter from
Popayan, he had reentered Quito, joined his forces with those of Puelles,
and, issuing from the capital, had taken up a strong position about three
leagues to the north, on a high ground that commanded a stream, across
which the enemy must pass.  It was not long before the latter came in
sight, and Blasco Nunez, as night began to fall, established himself on
the opposite bank of the rivulet.  It was so near to the enemy's quarters,
that the voices of the sentinels could be distinctly heard in the opposite
camps, and they did not fail to salute one another with the epithet of
"traitors."  In these civil wars, as we have seen, each party claimed for
itself the exclusive merit of loyalty.18

But Benalcazar soon saw that Pizarro's position was too strong to be
assailed with any chance of success.  He proposed, therefore, to the
viceroy, to draw off his forces secretly in the night; and, making a detour
round the hills, to fall on the enemy's rear, where he would be least
prepared to receive them.  The counsel was approved; and, no sooner
were the two hosts shrouded from each other's eyes by the darkness,
than, leaving his camp-fires burning to deceive the enemy, Blasco Nunez
broke up his quarters, and began his circuitous march in the direction of
Quito.  But either he had been misinformed, or his guides misled him; for
the roads proved so impracticable, that he was compelled to make a
circuit of such extent, that dawn broke before he drew near the point of
attack.  Finding that he must now abandon the advantage of a surprise, he
pressed forward to Quito, where he arrived with men and horses sorely
fatigued by a night-march of eight leagues, from a point which, by the
direct route, would not have exceeded three.  It was a fatal error on the
eve of an engagement.19

He found the capital nearly deserted by the men.  They had all joined the
standard of Pizarro; for they had now caught the general spirit of
disaffection, and looked upon that chief as their protector from the
oppressive ordinances.  Pizarro was the representative of the people.
Greatly moved at this desertion, the unhappy viceroy, lifting his hands to
heaven, exclaimed, --"Is it thus, Lord, that you abandonest thy servants?"
The women and children came out, and in vain offered him food, of
which he stood obviously in need, asking him, at the same time, "Why he
had come there to die?"  His followers, with more indifference than their
commander, entered the houses of the inhabitants, and unceremoniously
appropriated whatever they could find to appease the cravings of
appetite.

Benalcazar, who saw the temerity of giving battle, in their present
condition, recommended the viceroy to try the effect of negotiation, and
offered himself to go to the enemy's camp, and arrange, if possible, terms
of accommodation with Pizarro.  But Blasco Nunez, if he desponded for
a moment, had now recovered his wonted constancy, and he proudly
replied,--"There is no faith to be kept with traitors.  We have come to
fight, not to parley; and we must do our duty like good and loyal
cavaliers.  I will do mine," he continued, "and be assured I will be the
first man to break a lance with the enemy." 20

He then called his troops together, and addressed to them a few words
preparatory to marching.  "You are all brave men," he said, "and loyal to
your sovereign.  For my own part, I hold life as little in comparison with
my duty to my prince.  Yet let us not distrust our success; the Spaniard,
in a good cause, has often overcome greater odds than these.  And we are
fighting for the right; it is the cause of God,--the cause of God," 21 he
concluded, and the soldiers, kindled by his generous ardor, answered him
with huzzas that went to the heart of the unfortunate commander, little
accustomed of late to this display of enthusiasm.

It was the eighteenth of January, 1546, when Blasco Nunez marched out
at the head of his array, from the ancient city of Quito.  He had
proceeded but a mile,22 when he came in view of the enemy, formed
along the crest of some high lands, which, by a gentle swell, rose
gradually from the plains of Anaquito.  Gonzalo Pizarro, greatly
chagrined on ascertaining the departure of the viceroy, early in the
morning, had broken up his camp, and directed his march on the capital,
fully resolved that his enemy should not escape him.

The viceroy's troops, now coming to a halt, were formed in order of
battle.  A small body of arquebusiers was stationed in the advance to
begin the fight.  The remainder of that corps was distributed among the
spearmen, who occupied the centre, protected on the flanks by the horse
drawn up in two nearly equal squadrons.  The cavalry amounted to about
one hundred and forty, being little inferior to that on the other side,
though the whole number of the viceroy's forces, being less than four
hundred, did not much exceed the half of his rival's.  On the right, and in
front of the royal banner, Blasco Nunez, supported by thirteen chosen
cavaliers, took his station, prepared to head the attack.

Pizarro had formed his troops in a corresponding manner with that of his
adversary.  They mustered about seven hundred in all, well appointed, in
good condition, and officered by the best knights in Peru.23  As,
notwithstanding his superiority of numbers, Pizarro, did not seem
inclined to abandon his advantageous position, Blasco Nunez gave
orders to advance.  The action commenced with the arquebusiers, and in
a few moments the dense clouds of smoke, rolling over the field,
obscured every object; for it was late in the day when the action began,
and the light was rapidly fading.

The infantry, now leveling their pikes, advanced under cover of the
smoke, and were soon hotly engaged with the opposite files of spearmen.
Then came the charge of the cavalry, which--notwithstanding they were
thrown into some disorder by the fire of Pizarro's arquebusiers, far
superior in number to their own--was conducted with such spirit that the
enemy's horse were compelled to reel and fall back before it.  But it was
only to recoil with greater violence, as, like an overwhelming wave,
Pizarro's troopers rushed on their foes, driving them along the slope, and
bearing down man and horse in indiscriminate ruin.  Yet these, in turn, at
length rallied, cheered on by the cries and desperate efforts of their
officers.  The lances were shivered, and they fought hand to hand with
swords and battle-axes mingled together in wild confusion.  But the
struggle was of no long duration; for, though the numbers were nearly
equal, the viceroy's cavalry, jaded by the severe march of the previous
night,24 were no match for their antagonists.  The ground was strewn
with the wreck of their bodies; and horses and riders, the dead and the
dying, lay heaped on one another.  Cabrera, the brave lieutenant of
Benalcazar, was slain, and that commander was thrown under his horse's
feet, covered with wounds, and left for dead on the field.  Alvarez, the
judge, was mortally wounded.  Both he and his colleague Cepeda were in
the action, though ranged on opposite sides, fighting as if they had been
bred to arms, not to the peaceful profession of the law.

Yet Blasco Nunez and his companions maintained a brave struggle on
the right of the field.  The viceroy had kept his word by being the first to
break his lance against the enemy, and by a well-directed blow had borne
a cavalier, named Alonso de Montalvo, clean out of his saddle.  But he
was at length overwhelmed by numbers, and, as his companions, one
after another, fell by his side, he was left nearly unprotected.  He was
already wounded, when a blow on the head from the battle-axe of a
soldier struck him from his horse, and he fell stunned on the ground.
Had his person been known, he might have been taken alive, but he wore
a sobre-vest of Indian cotton over his armour, which concealed the
military order of St. James, and the other badges of his rank.25

His person, however, was soon recognized by one of Pizarro's followers,
who, not improbably, had once followed the viceroy's banner.  The
soldier immediately pointed him out to the Licentiate Carbajal.  This
person was the brother of the cavalier whom, as the reader may
remember, Blasco Nunez had so rashly put to death in his palace at
Lima.  The licentiate had afterwards taken service under Pizarro, and,
with several of his kindred, was pledged to take vengeance on the
viceroy.  Instantly riding up, he taunted the fallen commander with the
murder of his brother, and was in the act of dismounting to despatch him
with his own hand, when Puelles remonstrating on this, as an act of
degradation, commanded one of his attendants, a black slave, to cut off
the viceroy's head.  This the fellow executed with a single stroke of his
sabre, while the wretched man, perhaps then dying of his wounds, uttered
no word, but with eyes imploringly turned up towards heaven, received
the fatal blow.26  The head was then borne aloft on a pike, and some
were brutal enough to pluck out the grey hairs from the beard and set
them in their caps, as grisly trophies of their victory.27  The fate of the
day was now decided.  Yet still the infantry made a brave stand, keeping
Pizarro's horse at bay with their bristling array of pikes.  But their
numbers were thinned by the arquebusiers; and, thrown into disorder,
they could no longer resist the onset of the horse, who broke into their
column, and soon scattered and drove them off the ground.  The pursuit
was neither long nor bloody; for darkness came on, and Pizarro bade his
trumpets sound, to call his men together under their banners.

Though the action lasted but a short time, nearly one third of the
viceroy's troops had perished.  The loss of their opponents was
inconsiderable.28  Several of the vanquished cavaliers took refuge in the
churches of Quito.  But they were dragged from the sanctuary, and some
---probably those who had once espoused the cause of Pizarro--were led
to execution, and others banished to Chili.  The greater part were
pardoned by the conqueror.  Benalcazar, who recovered from his
wounds, was permitted to return to his government, on condition of no
more bearing arms against Pizarro.  His troops were invited to take
service under the banner of the victor, who, however, never treated them
with the confidence shown to his ancient partisans.  He was greatly
displeased at the indignities offered to the viceroy; whose mangled
remains he caused to be buried with the honors due to his rank in the
cathedral of Quito.  Gonzalo Pizarro, attired in black, walked as chief
mourner in the procession.---It was usual with the Pizarros, as we have
seen, to pay these obituary honors to their victims.29

Such was the sad end of Blasco Nunez Vela, first viceroy of Peru.  It was
less than two years since he had set foot in the country, a period of
unmitigated disaster and disgrace.  His misfortunes may be imputed
partly to circumstances, and partly to his own character.  The minister of
an odious and oppressive law, he was intrusted with no discretionary
power in the execution of it.30  Yet every man may, to a certain extent,
claim the right to such a power; since, to execute a commission, which
circumstances show must certainly defeat the object for which it was
designed, would be absurd.  But it requires sagacity to determine the
existence of such a contingency, and moral courage to assume the
responsibility of acting on it.  Such a crisis is the severest test of
character.  To dare to disobey from a paramount sense of duty is a
paradox that a little soul can hardly comprehend.  Unfortunately, Blasco
Nunez was a pedantic martinet, a man of narrow views, who could not
feel himself authorized under any circumstances to swerve from the letter
of the law.  Puffed up by his brief authority, moreover, he considered
opposition to the ordinances as treason to himself; and thus, identifying
himself with his commission, he was prompted by personal feelings,
quite as much as by those of a public and patriotic nature.

Neither was the viceroy's character of a kind that tended to mitigate the
odium of his measures, and reconcile the people to their execution.  It
afforded a strong contrast to that of his rival, Pizarro, whose frank,
chivalrous bearing, and generous confidence in his followers, made him
universally popular, blinding their judgments, and giving to the worse
the semblance of the better cause.  Blasco Nunez, on the contrary,
irritable and suspicious, placed himself in a false position with all whom
he approached; for a suspicious temper creates an atmosphere of distrust
around it that kills every kindly affection.  His first step was to alienate
the members of the Audience who were sent to act in concert with him.
But this was their fault as well as his, since they were as much too lax, as
he was too severe, in the interpretation of the law.31  He next alienated
and outraged the people whom he was appointed to govern.  And, lastly,
he disgusted his own friends, and too often turned them into enemies; so
that, in his final struggle for power and for existence, he was obliged to
rely on the arm of the stranger.  Yet in the catalogue of his qualities we
must not pass in silence over his virtues.  There are two to the credit of
which he is undeniably entitled,--a loyalty, which shone the brighter
amidst the general defection around him, and a constancy under
misfortune, which might challenge the respect even of his enemies.  But
with the most liberal allowance for his merits, it can scarcely be doubted
that a person more incompetent to the task assigned him could not have
been found in Castile.32

The victory of Anaquito was received with general joy in the
neighboring capital; all the cities of Peru looked on it as sealing the
downfall of the detested ordinances, and the name of Gonzalo Pizarro
was sounded from one end of the country to the other as that of its
deliverer.  That chief continued to prolong his stay in Quito during the
wet season, dividing his time between the licentious pleasures of the
reckless adventurer and the cares of business that now pressed on him as
ruler of the state.  His administration was stained with fewer acts of
violence than might have been expected from the circumstances of his
situation.  So long as Carbajal, the counsellor in whom he unfortunately
placed greatest reliance, was absent, Gonzalo sanctioned no execution, it
was observed, but according to the forms of law.33  He rewarded his
followers by new grants of land, and detached several on expeditions, to
no greater distance, however, than would leave it in his power readily to
recall them.  He made various provisions for the welfare of the natives,
and some, in particular, for instructing them in the Christian faith.  He
paid attention to the faithful collection of the royal dues, urging on the
colonists that they should deport themselves so as to conciliate the
goodwill of the Crown, and induce a revocation of the ordinances.  His
administration, in short, was so conducted, that even the austere Gasca,
his successor, allowed "it was a good government,--for a tyrant." 34

At length, in July, 1546, the new governor bade adieu to Quito, and,
leaving there a sufficient garrison under his officer Puelles, began his
journey to the south.  It was a triumphal progress, and everywhere he
was received on the road with enthusiasm by the people.  At Truxillo, the
citizens came out in a body to welcome him, and the clergy chanted
anthems in his honor, extolling him as the "victorious prince," and
imploring the Almighty "to lengthen his days, and give him honor."35
At Lima, it was proposed to clear away some of the buildings, and open
a new street for his entrance, which might ever after bear the name of the
victor.  But the politic chieftain declined this flattering tribute, and
modestly preferred to enter the city by the usual way.  A procession was
formed of the citizens, the soldiers, and the clergy, and Pizarro made his
entry into the capital with two of his principal captains on foot, holding
the reins of his charger, while the archbishop of Lima, and the bishops of
Cuzco, Quito, and Bogota, the last of whom had lately come to the city
to be consecrated, rode by his side.  The streets were strewn with
boughs, the walls of the houses hung with showy tapestries, and
triumphal arches were thrown over the way in honor of the victor.  Every
balcony, veranda, and house-top was crowded with spectators, who sent
up huzzas, loud and long, saluting the victorious soldier with the titles of
"Liberator, and Protector of the people."  The bells rang out their joyous
peal, as on his former entrance into the capital; and amidst strains of
enlivening music, and the blithe sounds of jubilee, Gonzalo held on his
way to the palace of his brother.  Peru was once more placed under the
dynasty of the Pizarros.36

Deputies came from different parts of the country, tending the
congratulations of their respective cities; and every one eagerly urged his
own claims to consideration for the services he had rendered in the
revolution.  Pizarro, at the same time, received the welcome intelligence
of the success of his arms in the south.  Diego Centeno, as before stated,
had there raised the standard of rebellion, or rather, of loyalty to his
sovereign.  He had made himself master of La Plata, and the spirit of
insurrection had spread over the broad province of Charcas.  Carbajal,
who had been sent against him from Quito, after repairing to Lima, had
passed at once to Cuzco, and there, strengthening his forces, had
descended by rapid marches on the refractory district.  Centeno did not
trust himself in the field against this formidable champion.  He retreated
with his troops into the fastnesses of the sierra.  Carbajal pursued,
following on his track with the pertinacity of a bloodhound; over
mountain and moor, through forests and dangerous ravines, allowing him
no respite, by day or by night.  Eating, drinking, sleeping in his saddle,
the veteran, eighty years of age, saw his own followers tire one after
another, while he urged on the chase, like the wild huntsman of Burger,
as if endowed with an unearthly frame, incapable of fatigue!  During this
terrible pursuit, which continued for more than two hundred leagues over
a savage country, Centeno found himself abandoned by most of his
followers.  Such of them as fell into Carbajal's hands were sent to speedy
execution; for that inexorable chief had no mercy on those who had been
false to their party.37  At length, Centeno, with a handful of men, arrived
on the borders of the Pacific, and there, separating from one another,
they provided, each in the best way he could, for their own safety.  Their
leader found an asylum in a cave in the mountains, where he was secretly
fed by an Indian curaca, till the time again for him to unfurl the standard
of revolt.38

Carbajal, after some further decisive movements, which fully established
the ascendency of Pizarro over the south, returned in triumph to La Plata.
There he occupied himself with working the silver mines of Potosi, in
which a vein, recently opened, promised to make richer returns than any
yet discovered in Mexico or Peru;39 and he was soon enabled to send
large remittances to Lima, deducting no stinted commission for himself,-
-for the cupidity of the lieutenant was equal to his cruelty.

Gonzalo Pizarro was now undisputed master of Peru.  From Quito to the
northern confines of Chili, the whole country acknowledged his
authority.  His fleet rode triumphant on the Pacific, and gave him the
command of every city and hamlet on its borders.  His admiral,
Hinojosa, a discreet and gallant officer, had secured him Panama, and,
marching across the Isthmus, had since obtained for him the possession
of Nombre de Dios,--the principal key of communication with Europe.
His forces were on an excellent footing, including the flower of the
warriors who had fought under his brother, and who now eagerly rallied
under the name of Pizarro; while the tide of wealth that flowed in from
the mines of Potosi supplied him with the resources of an European
monarch.

The new governor now began to assume a state correspondent with his
full-blown fortunes.  He was attended by a body-guard of eighty soldiers.
He dined always in public, and usually with not less than a hundred
guests at table.  He even affected, it was said, the most decided etiquette
of royalty, giving his hand to be kissed, and allowing no one, of whatever
rank, to be seated in his presence.40  But this is denied by others.  It
would not be strange that a vain man like Pizarro, with a superficial,
undisciplined mind, when he saw himself thus raised from an humble
condition to the highest post in the land, should be somewhat intoxicated
by the possession of power, and treat with superciliousness those whom
he had once approached with deference.  But one who had often seen
him in his prosperity assures us, that it was not so, and that the governor
continued to show the same frank and soldierlike bearing as before his
elevation, mingling on familiar terms with his comrades, and displaying
the same qualities which had hitherto endeared him to the people.41

However this may be, it is certain there were not wanting those who
urged him to throw off his allegiance to the Crown, and set up an
independent government for himself.  Among these was his lieutenant,
Carbajal, whose daring spirit never shrunk from following things to their
consequences.  He plainly counselled Pizarro to renounce his allegiance
at once.  "In fact, you have already done so," he said.  "You have been in
arms against a viceroy, have driven him from the country, beaten and
slain him in battle.  What favor, or even mercy, can you expect from the
Crown?  You have gone too far either to halt, or to recede.  You must go
boldly on, proclaim yourself king; the troops, the people, will support
you."  And he concluded, it is said, by advising him to marry the Coya,
the female representative of the Incas, that the two races might
henceforth repose in quiet under a common sceptre! 42

The advice of the bold counsellor was, perhaps, the most politic that
could have been given to Pizarro under existing circumstances.  For he
was like one who had heedlessly climbed far up a dizzy precipice,--too
far to descend safely, while he had no sure hold where he was.  His only
chance was to climb still higher, till he had gained the summit.  But
Gonzalo Pizarro shrunk from the attitude, in which this placed him, of
avowed rebellion.  Notwithstanding the criminal course into which he
had been, of late, seduced, the sentiment of loyalty was too deeply
implanted in his bosom to be wholly eradicated.  Though in arms against
the measures and ministers of his sovereign, he was not prepared to raise
the sword against the sovereign himself.  He, doubtless, had conflicting
emotion in his bosom; like Macbeth, and many a less noble nature,

'"Would not play false,
And yet would wrongly win."

And however grateful to his vanity might be the picture of the airdrawn
sceptre thus painted to his imagination, he had not the audacity --we
may, perhaps, say, the criminal ambition--to attempt to grasp it.

Even at this very moment, when urged to this desperate extremity, he
was preparing a mission to Spain, in order to vindicate the course he had
taken, and to solicit an amnesty for the past, with a full confirmation of
his authority, as successor to his brother in the government of Peru.--
Pizarro did not read the future with the calm, prophetic eye of Carbajal.

Among the biographical notices of the writers on Spanish colonial
affairs, the name of Herrera, who has done more for this vast subject
than any other author, should certainly not be omitted.  His account of
Peru takes its proper place in his great work, the Historia General de las
lndias, according to the chronological plan on which that history is
arranged.  But as it suggests reflections not different in character from
those suggested by other portions of the work, I shall take the liberty to
refer the reader to the Postscript to Book Third of the Conquest of
Mexico, for a full account of these volumes and their learned author.

Another chronicler, to whom I have been frequently indebted in the
progress of the narrative, is Francisco Lopez de Gomara.  The reader
will also find a notice of this author in the Conquest of Mexico, Book 5,
Postscript.  But as the remarks on his writings are there confined to his
Cronica de Nueva Espana, it may be well to add here some reflections on
his greater work, Historia de las Indias, in which the Peruvian story bears
a conspicuous part.

The "History of the Indies" is intended to give a brief view of the whole
range of Spanish conquest in the islands and on the American continent,
as far as had been achieved by the middle of the sixteenth century.  For
this account, Gomara, though it does not appear that he ever visited the
New World, was in a situation that opened to him the best means of
information.  He was well acquainted with the principal men of the time,
and gathered the details of their history from their own lips; while, from
his residence at court, he was in possession of the state of opinion there,
and of the impression made by passing events on those most competent
to judge of them.  He was thus enabled to introduce into his work many
interesting particulars, not to be found in other records of the period.  His
range of inquiry extended beyond the mere doings of the Conquerors,
and led him to a survey of the general resources of the countries he
describes, and especially of their physical aspect and productions.  The
conduct of his work, no less than its diction, shows the cultivated
scholar, practised in the art of composition.  Instead of the naivete,
engaging, but childlike, of the old military chroniclers, Gomara handles
his various topics with the shrewd and piquant criticism of a man of the
world; while his descriptions are managed with a comprehensive brevity
that forms the opposite to the long-winded and rambling paragraphs of
the monkish annalist.  These literary merits, combined with the
knowledge of the writer's opportunities for information, secured his
productions from the oblivion which too often awaits the unpublished
manuscript; and he had the satisfaction to see them pass into more than
one edition in his own day.  Yet they do not bear the highest stamp of
authenticity.  The author too readily admits accounts into his pages
which are not supported by contemporary testimony.  This he does, not
from credulity, for his mind rather leans in an opposite direction, but
from a Want, apparently, of the true spirit of historic conscientiousness.
The imputation of carelessness in his statements--to use a temperate
phrase--was brought against Gomara in his own day; and Garcilasso tells
us, that, when called to account by some of the Peruvian cavaliers for
misstatements which bore hard on themselves, the historian made but an
awkward explanation.  This is a great blemish on his productions, and
renders them of far less value to the modern compiler, who seeks for the
well of truth undefiled, than many an humbler but less unscrupulous
chronicle.

There is still another authority used in this work, Gonzalo Fernandez de
Oviedo, of whom I have given an account elsewhere; and the reader
curious in the matter will permit me to refer him for a critical notice of
his life and writings to the Conquest of Mexico, Book 4, Postscript.--His
account of Peru is incorporated into his great work, Natural & General
Historia de las lndias, MS., where it forms the forty-sixth and forty-
seventh books.  It extends from Pizarro's landing at Tumbez to
Almagro's return from Chili, and thus covers the entire portion of what
may be called the conquest of the country.  The style of its execution,
corresponding with that of the residue of the work to which it belongs,
affords no ground for criticism different from that already passed on the
general character of Oviedo's writings.

This eminent person was at once a scholar and a man of the world.
Living much at court, and familiar with persons of the highest distinction
in Castile, he yet passed much of his time in the colonies, and thus added
the fruits of personal experience to what he had gained from the reports
of others.  His curiosity was indefatigable, extending to every department
of natural science, as well as to the civil and personal history of the
colonists.  He was, at once, their Pliny and their Tacitus.  His works
abound in portraitures of character, sketched with freedom and
animation.  His reflections are piquant, and often rise to a philosophic
tone, which discards the usual trammels of the age; and the progress of
the story is varied by a multiplicity of personal anecdotes, that give a
rapid insight into the characters of the parties.

With his eminent qualifications, and with a social position that
commanded respect, it is strange that so much of his writings-the whole
of his great Historia de las Indias, and his curious Quincuagenas--should
be so long suffered to remain in manuscript.  This is partly chargeable to
the caprice of fortune; for the History was more than once on the eve of
publication, and is even now understood to be prepared for the press.
Yet it has serious defects, which may have contributed to keep it in its
present form.  In its desultory and episodical style of composition, it
resembles rather notes for a great history, than history itself.  It may be
regarded in the light of commentaries, or as illustrations of the times.  In
that view his pages are of high worth, and have been frequently resorted
to by writers who have not too scrupulously appropriated the statements
of the old chronicler, with slight acknowledgments to their author.

It is a pity that Oviedo should have shown more solicitude to tell what
was new, than to ascertain how much of it was strictly true.  Among his
merits will scarcely be found that of historical accuracy.  And yet we
may find an apology for this, to some extent, in the fact, that his writings,
as already intimated, are not so much in the nature of finished
compositions, as of loose memoranda, where everything, rumor as well
as fact,--even the most contradictory rumors,--are all set down at
random, forming a miscellaneous heap of materials, of which the discreet
historian may avail himself to rear a symmetrical fabric on foundations
of greater strength and solidity.

Another author worthy of particular note is Pedro Cieza de Leon.  His
Cronica del Peru should more properly be styled an Itinerary, or rather
Geography, of Peru.  It gives a minute topographical view of the country
at the time of the Conquest; of its provinces and towns, both Indian and
Spanish; its flourishing sea-coast; its forests, valleys, and interminable
ranges of mountains in the interior; with many interesting particulars of
the existing population,--their dress, manners, architectural remains, and
public works, while, scattered here and there, may be found notices of
their early history and social polity.  It is, in short, a lively picture of the
country in its physical and moral relations, as it met the eye at the time of
the Conquest, and in that transition period when it was first subjected to
European influences.  The conception of a work, at so early a period, on
this philosophical plan, reminding us of that of Malte-Brun in our own
time,--parva componere magnis,-was, of itself, indicative of great
comprehensiveness of mind in its author.  It was a task of no little
difficulty, where there was yet no pathway opened by the labors of the
antiquarian; no hints from the sketch-book of the traveller, or the
measurements of the scientific explorer.  Yet the distances from place to
place are all carefully jotted down by the industrious compiler, and the
bearings of the different places and their peculiar features are exhibited
with sufficient precision, considering the nature of the obstacles he had
to encounter.  The literary execution of the work, moreover, is highly
respectable, sometimes even rich and picturesque; and the author
describes the grand and beautiful scenery of the Cordilleras with a
sensibility to its charms, not often found in the tasteless topographer, still
less often in the rude Conqueror.

Cieza de Leon came to the New World, as he informs us, at the early age
of thirteen.  But it is not till Gasca's time that we find his name enrolled
among the actors in the busy scenes of civil strife, when he accompanied
the president in his campaign against Gonzalo Pizarro.  His Chronicle,
or, at least, the notes for it, was compiled in such leisure as he could
snatch from his more stirring avocations; and after ten years from the
time he undertook it, the First Part--all we have---was completed in
1550, when the author had reached only the age of thirty-two.  It
appeared at Seville in 1553, and the following year at Antwerp; while an
Italian translation, printed at Rome, in 1555, attested the rapid celebrity
of the work.  The edition of Antwerp--the one used by me in this
compilation--is in the duodecimo form, exceedingly well printed, and
garnished with wood-cuts, in which Satan,-for the author had a full
measure of the ancient credulity,--with his usual bugbear
accompaniments frequently appears in bodily presence.  In the Preface,
Cieza announces his purpose to continue the work in three other parts,
illustrating respectively the ancient history of the country under the
Incas, its conquest by the Spaniards, and the civil wars which ensued.
He even gives, with curious minuteness, the contents of the several
books of the projected history.  But the First Part, as already noticed,
was alone completed; and the author, having returned to Spain, died
there in 1560, at the premature age of forty-two, without having covered
any portion of the magnificent ground-plan which he had thus
confidently laid out.  The deficiency is much to be regretted, considering
the talent of the writer, and his opportunities for personal observation.
But he has done enough to render us grateful for his labors.  By the vivid
delineation of scenes and scenery, as they were presented fresh to his
own eyes, he has furnished us with a background to the historic picture,--
the landscape, as it were, in which the personages of the time might be
more fitly portrayed.  It would have been impossible to exhibit the
ancient topography of the land so faithfully at a subsequent period, when
old things had passed away, and the Conqueror, breaking down the
landmarks of ancient civilization, had effaced many of the features even
of the physical aspect of the country, as it existed under the elaborate
culture of the Incas.



History of the Conquest of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

Book 5

Settlement Of The Country

Chapter 1

Great Sensation In Spain--Pedro De La Gasca--His Early Life-
His Mission To Peru--His Politic Conduct--His Offers To Pizarro-
Gains The Fleet

1545--1547

While the important revolution detailed in the preceding pages was going
forward in Peru, rumors of it, from time to time, found their way to the
mother-country; but the distance was so great, and opportunities for
communication so rare, that the tidings were usually very long behind the
occurrence of the events to which they related.  The government heard
with dismay of the troubles caused by the ordinances and the intemperate
conduct of the viceroy; and it was not long before it learned that this
functionary was deposed and driven from his capital, while the whole
country, under Gonzalo Pizarro, was arrayed in arms against him.  All
classes were filled with consternation at this alarming intelligence; and
many that had before approved the ordinances now loudly condemned
the ministers, who, without considering the inflammable temper of the
people, had thus rashly fired a train which menaced a general explosion
throughout the colonies.1  No such rebellion, within the memory of man,
had occurred in the Spanish empire.  It was compared with the famous
war of the comunidades, in the beginning of Charles the Fifth's reign.
But the Peruvian insurrection seemed the more formidable of the two.
The troubles of Castile, being under the eye of the Court, might be the
more easily managed; while it was difficult to make the same power felt
on the remote shores of the Indies.  Lying along the distant Pacific, the
principle of attraction which held Peru to the parent country was so
feeble, that this colony might, at any time, with a less impulse than that
now given to it, fly from its political orbit.

It seemed as if the fairest of its jewels was about to fall from the imperial
diadem!

Such was the state of things in the summer of 1545, when Charles the
Fifth was absent in Germany, occupied with the religious troubles of the
empire.  The government was in the hands of his son, who, under the
name of Philip the Second, was soon to sway the sceptre over the largest
portion of his father's dominions, and who was then holding his court at
Valladolid.  He called together a council of prelates, jurists, and military
men of greatest experience, to deliberate on the measures to be pursued
for restoring order in the colonies.  All agreed in regarding Pizarro's
movement in the light of an audacious rebellion; and there were few, at
first, who were not willing to employ the whole strength of government
to vindicate the honor of the Crown,--to quell the insurrection, and bring
the authors of it to punishment.2

But, however desirable this might appear, a very little reflection showed
that it was not easy to be done, if, indeed, it were practicable.  The great
distance of Peru required troops to be transported not merely across the
ocean, but over the broad extent of the great continent.  And how was
this to be effected, when the principal posts, the keys of communication
with the country, were in the hands of the rebels, while their fleet rode in
the Pacific, the mistress of its waters, cutting off all approach to the
coast?  Even if a Spanish force could be landed in Peru, what chance
would it have, unaccustomed, as it would be, to the country and the
climate, of coping with the veterans of Pizarro, trained to war in the
Indies and warmly attached to the person of their commander?  The new
levies thus sent out might become themselves infected with the spirit of
insurrection, and cast off their own allegiance.3

Nothing remained, therefore, but to try conciliatory measures.  The
government, however mortifying to its pride, must retrace its steps.  A
free grace must be extended to those who submitted, and such persuasive
arguments should be used, and such politic concessions made, as would
convince the refractory colonists that it was their interest, as well as their
duty, to return to their allegiance.

But to approach the people in their present state of excitement, and to
make those concessions without too far compromising the dignity and
permanent authority of the Crown, was a delicate matter, for the success
of which they must rely wholly on the character of the agent.  After much
deliberation, a competent person, as it was thought, was found in an
ecclesiastic, by the name of Pedro de la Gasca,--a name which, brighter
by contrast with the gloomy times in which it first appeared, still shines
with undiminished splendor after the lapse of ages.

Pedro de la Gasca was born, probably, towards the close of the fifteenth
century, in a small village in Castile named Barco de Avila.  He came,
both by father and mother's side, from an ancient and noble lineage;
ancient indeed, if, as his biographers contend, he derived his descent
from Casca, one of the conspirators against Julius Caesar!4  Having the
misfortune to lose his father early in life, he was placed by his uncle in
the famous seminary of Alcala de Henares, rounded by the great
Ximenes.  Here he made rapid proficiency in liberal studies, especially in
those connected with his profession, and at length received the degree of
Master of Theology.

The young man, however, discovered other talents than those demanded
by his sacred calling.  The war of the comunidades was then raging in the
country; and the authorities of his college showed a disposition to take
the popular side.  But Gasca, putting himself at the head of an armed
force, seized one of the gates of the city, and, with assistance from the
royal troops, secured the place to the interests of the Crown.  This early
display of loyalty was probably not lost on his vigilant sovereign.5

From Alcala, Gasca was afterwards removed to Salamanca; where he
distinguished himself by his skill in scholastic disputation, and obtained
the highest academic honors in that ancient university, the fruitful
nursery of scholarship and genius.  He was subsequently intrusted with
the management of some important affairs of an ecclesiastical nature,
and made a member of the Council of the Inquisition.

In this latter capacity he was sent to Valencia, about 1540, to examine
into certain alleged cases of heresy in that quarter of the country.  These
were involved in great obscurity; and, although Gasca had the assistance
of several eminent jurists in the investigation, it occupied him nearly two
years.  In the conduct of this difficult matter, he showed so much
penetration, and such perfect impartiality, that he was appointed by the
Cortes of Valencia to the office of visitador of that kingdom; a highly
responsible post, requiring great discretion in the person who filled it,
since it was his province to inspect the condition of the courts of justice
and of finance, throughout the land, with authority to reform abuses.  It
was proof of extraordinary consideration, that it should have been
bestowed on Gasca; since it was a departure from the established usage -
-and that in a nation most wedded to usage--to confer the office on any
but a subject of the Aragonese crown.6

Gasca executed the task assigned to him with independence and ability.
While he was thus occupied, the people of Valencia were thrown into
consternation by a meditated invasion of the French and the Turks, who,
under the redoubtable Barbarossa, menaced the coast and the
neighboring Balearic isles.  Fears were generally entertained of a rising
of the Morisco population; and the Spanish officers who had command
in that quarter, being left without the protection of a navy, despaired of
making head against the enemy.  In this season of general panic, Gasca
alone appeared calm and self-possessed.  He remonstrated with the
Spanish commanders on their unsoldierlike despondency; encouraged
them to confide in the loyalty of the Moriscos; and advised the
immediate erection of fortifications along the shores for their protection.
He was, in consequence, named one of a commission to superintend
these works, and to raise levies for defending the sea-coast; and so
faithfully was the task performed, that Barbarossa, after some ineffectual
attempts to make good his landing, was baffled at all points, and
compelled to abandon the enterprise as hopeless.  The chief credit of this
resistance must be assigned to Gasca, who superintended the
construction of the defences, and who was enabled to contribute a large
part of the requisite funds by the economical reforms he had introduced
into the administration of Valencia.7

It was at this time, the latter part of the year 1545, that the council of
Philip selected Gasca as the person most competent to undertake the
perilous mission to Peru.8  His character, indeed, seemed especially
suited to it.  His loyalty had been shown through his whole life.  With
great suavity of manners he combined the most intrepid resolution.
Though his demeanor was humble, as beseemed his calling, it was far
from abject; for he was sustained by a conscious rectitude of purpose,
that impressed respect on all with whom he had intercourse.  He was
acute in his perceptions, had a shrewd knowledge of character, and,
though bred to the cloister, possessed an acquaintance with affairs, and
even with military science, such as was to have been expected only from
one reared in courts and camps.

Without hesitation, therefore, the council unanimously recommended
him to the emperor, and requested his approbation of their proceedings.
Charles had not been an inattentive observer of Gasca's course.  His
attention had been particularly called to the able manner in which he had
conducted the judicial process against the heretics of Valencia.9  The
monarch saw, at once, that he was the man for the present emergency;
and he immediately wrote to him, with his own hand, expressing his
entire satisfaction at the appointment, and intimating his purpose to
testify his sense of his worth by preferring him to one of the principal
sees then vacant.

Gasca accepted the important mission now tendered to him without
hesitation; and, repairing to Madrid, received the instructions of the
government as to the course to be pursued.  They were expressed in the
most benign and conciliatory tone, perfectly in accordance with the
suggestions of his own benevolent temper.10  But, while he commended
the tone of the instructions, he considered the powers with which he was
to be intrusted as wholly incompetent to their object.  They were
conceived in the jealous spirit with which the Spanish government
usually limited the authority of its great colonial officers, whose distance
from home gave peculiar cause for distrust.  On every strange and
unexpected emergency, Gasca saw that he should be obliged to send
back for instructions.  This must cause delay, where promptitude was
essential to success.  The Court, moreover, as he represented to the
council, was, from its remoteness from the scene of action, utterly
incompetent to pronounce as to the expediency of the measures to be
pursued.  Some one should be sent out in whom the king could implicitly
confide, and who should be invested with powers competent to every
emergency; powers not merely to decide on what was best, but to carry
that decision into execution; and he boldly demanded that he should go
not only as the representative of the sovereign, but clothed with all the
authority of the sovereign himself.  Less than this would defeat the very
object for which he was to be sent.  "For myself," he concluded, "I ask
neither salary nor compensation of any kind.  I covet no display of state
or military array.  With my stoic and breviary I trust to do the work that
is committed to me.11  Infirm as I am in body, the repose of my own
home would have been more grateful to me than this dangerous mission;
but I will not shrink from it at the bidding of my sovereign, and if, as is
very probable, I may not be permitted again to see my native land, I
shall, at least, be cheered by the consciousness of having done my best to
serve its interests." 12

The members of the council, while they listened with admiration to the
disinterested avowal of Gasca, were astounded by the boldness of his
demands.  Not that they distrusted the purity of his motives, for these
were above suspicion.  But the powers for which he stipulated were so
far beyond those hitherto delegated to a colonial viceroy, that they felt
they had no warrant to grant them.  They even shrank from soliciting
them from the emperor, and required that Gasca himself should address
the monarch, and state precisely the grounds on which demands so
extraordinary were founded.

Gasca readily adopted the suggestion, and wrote in the most full and
explicit manner to his sovereign, who had then transferred his residence
to Flanders.  But Charles was not so tenacious, or, at least, so jealous, of
authority, as his ministers.  He had been too long in possession of it to
feel that jealousy; and, indeed, many years were not to elapse, before,
oppressed by its weight, he was to resign it altogether into the hands of
his son.  His sagacious mind, moreover, readily comprehended the
difficulties of Gasca's position.  He felt that the present extraordinary
crisis was to be met only by extraordinary measures.  He assented to the
force of his vassal's arguments, and, on the sixteenth of February, 1546,
wrote him another letter expressive of his approbation, and intimated his
willingness to grant him powers as absolute as those he had requested.

Gasca was to be styled President of the Royal Audience.  But, under this
simple title, he was placed at the head of every department in the colony,
civil, military, and judicial.  He was empowered to make new
repartimientos, and to confirm those already made.  He might declare
war, levy troops, appoint to all offices, or remove from them, at pleasure.
He might exercise the royal prerogative of pardoning offences, and was
especially authorized to grant an amnesty to all, without exception,
implicated in the present rebellion.  He was, moreover, to proclaim at
once the revocation of the odious ordinances.  These two last provisions
might be said to form the basis of all his operations.

Since ecclesiastics were not to be reached by the secular arm, and yet
were often found fomenting troubles in the colonies, Gasca was
permitted to banish from Peru such as he thought fit.  He might even
send home the viceroy, if the good of the country required it.  Agreeably
to his own suggestion, he was to receive no specified stipend; but he had
unlimited orders on the treasuries both of Panama and Peru.  He was
furnished with letters from the emperor to the principal authorities, not
only in Peru, but in Mexico and the neighboring colonies, requiring their
countenance and support; and, lastly, blank letters, bearing the royal
signature, were delivered to him, which he was to fill up at his
pleasure.13

While the grant of such unbounded powers excited the warmest
sentiments of gratitude in Gasca towards the sovereign who could repose
in him so much confidence, it seems--which is more extraordinary--not
to have raised corresponding feelings of envy in the courtiers.  They
knew well that it was not for himself that the good ecclesiastic had
solicited them.  On the contrary, some of the council were desirous that
he should be preferred to the bishopric, as already promised him, before
his departure; conceiving that he would thus go with greater authority
than as an humble ecclesiastic, and fearing, moreover, that Gasca
himself, were it omitted, might feel some natural disappointment.  But
the president hastened to remove these impressions.  "The honor would
avail me little," he said, "where I am going; and it would be manifestly
wrong to appoint me to an office in the Church, while I remain at such a
distance that I cannot discharge the duties of it.  The consciousness of
my insufficiency," he continued, "should I never return, would lie heavy
on my soul in my last moments."   The politic reluctance to accept the
mitre has passed into a proverb.  But there was no affectation here; and
Gasca's friends, yielding to his arguments, forbore to urge the matter
further.

The new president now went forward with his preparation.  They were
few and simple; for he was to be accompanied by a slender train of
followers, among whom the most conspicuous was Alonso de Alvarado,
the gallant officer who, as the reader may remember, long commanded
under Francisco Pizarro.  He had resided of late years at court; and now
at Gasca's request accompanied him to Peru, where his presence might
facilitate negotiations with the insurgents, while his military experience
would prove no less valuable in case of an appeal to arms.15  Some
delay necessarily occurred in getting ready his little squadron, and it was
not till the 26th of May, 1546, that the president and his suite embarked
at San Lucar for the New World.

After a prosperous voyage, and not a long one for that day, he landed,
about the middle of July, at the port of Santa Martha.  Here he received
the astounding intelligence of the battle of Ariaquito, of the defeat and
death of the viceroy, and of the manner in which Gonzalo Pizarro had
since established his absolute rule over the land.  Although these events
had occurred several months before Gasca's departure from Spain, yet,
so imperfect was the intercourse, no tidings of them had then reached
that country.

They now filled the president with great anxiety; as he reflected that the
insurgents, after so atrocious an act as the slaughter of the viceroy, might
well despair of grace, and become reckless of consequences.  He was
careful, therefore, to have it understood, that the date of his commission
was subsequent to that of the fatal battle, and that it authorized an entire
amnesty of all offences hitherto committed against the government.16

Yet, in some points of view, the death of Blasco Nunez might be
regarded as an auspicious circumstance for the settlement of the country.
Had he lived till Gasca's arrival, the latter would have been greatly
embarrassed by the necessity of acting in concert with a person so
generally detested in the colony, or by the unwelcome alternative of
sending him back to Castile.  The insurgents, moreover, would, in all
probability, be now more amenable to reason, since all personal
animosity might naturally be buried in the grave of their enemy.

The president was much embarrassed by deciding in what quarter he
should attempt to enter Peru.  Every port was in the hands of Pizarro, and
was placed under the care of his officers, with strict charge to intercept
any communications from Spain, and to detain such persons as bore a
commission from that country until his pleasure could be known
respecting them.  Gasca, at length, decided on crossing over to Nombre
de Dios, then held with a strong force by Hernan Mexia, an officer to
whose charge Gonzalo had committed this strong gate to his dominions,
as to a person on whose attachment to his cause he could confidently
rely.

Had Gasca appeared off this place in a menacing attitude, with a military
array, or, indeed, with any display of official pomp that might have
awakened distrust in the commander, he would doubtless have found it
no easy matter to effect a landing.  But Mexia saw nothing to apprehend
in the approach of a poor ecclesiastic, without an armed force, with
hardly even a retinue to support him, coming solely, as it seemed, on an
errand of mercy.  No sooner, therefore, was he acquainted with the
character of the envoy, and his mission, than he prepared to receive him
with the honors due to his rank, and marched out at the head of his
soldiers, together with a considerable body of ecclesiastics resident in the
place.  There was nothing in the person of Gasca, still less in his humble
clerical attire and modest retinue, to impress the vulgar spectator with
feelings of awe or reverence.  Indeed, the poverty-stricken aspect, as it
seemed, of himself and his followers, so different from the usual state
affected by the Indian viceroys, excited some merriment among the rude
soldiery, who did not scruple to break their coarse jests on his
appearance, in hearing of the president himself.17  "If this is the sort of
governor his Majesty sends over to us," they exclaimed, "Pizarro need
not trouble his head much about it."

Yet the president, far from being ruffled by this ribaldry, or from
showing resentment to its authors, submitted to it with the utmost
humility, and only seemed the more grateful to his own brethren, who, by
their respectful demeanor, appeared anxious to do him honor.

But, however plain and unpretending the manners of Gasca, Mexia, on
his first interview with him soon discovered that he had no common man
to deal with.  The president, after briefly explaining the nature of his
commission, told him that he had come as a messenger of peace; and that
it was on peaceful measures he relied for his success.  He then stated the
general scope of his commission, his authority to grant a free pardon to
all, without exception, who at once submitted to government, and,
finally, his purpose to proclaim the revocation of the ordinances.  The
objects of the revolution were thus attained.  To contend longer would be
manifest rebellion, and that without a motive; and he urged the
commander by every principle of loyalty and patriotism to support him
in settling the distractions of the country, and bringing it back to its
allegiance.

The candid and conciliatory language of the president, so different from
the arrogance of Blasco Nunez, and the austere demeanor of Vaca de
Castro, made a sensible impression on Mexia.  He admitted the force of
Gasca's reasoning, and flattered himself that Gonzalo Pizarro would not
be insensible to it.  Though attached to the fortunes of that leader, he was
loyal in heart, and, like most of the party, had been led by accident,
rather than by design, into rebellion; and now that so good an
opportunity occurred to do it with safety, he was not unwilling to retrace
his steps, and secure the royal favor by thus early returning to his
allegiance.  This he signified to the president, assuring him of his hearty
cooperation in the good work of reform.18

This was an important step for Gasca.  It was yet more important for him
to secure the obedience of Hinojosa, the governor of Panama, in the
harbor of which city lay Pizarro's navy, consisting of two-and-twenty
vessels.  But it was not easy to approach this officer.  He was a person of
much higher character than was usually found among the reckless
adventurers in the New World.  He was attached to the interests of
Pizarro, and the latter had requited him by placing him in command of
his armada and of Panama, the key to his territories on the Pacific.

The president first sent Mexia and Alonso de Alvarado to prepare the
way for his own coming, by advising Hinojosa of the purport of his
mission.  He soon after followed, and was received by that commander
with every show of outward respect.  But while the latter listened with
deference to the representations of Gasca, they failed to work the change
in him which they had wrought in Mexia; and he concluded by asking the
president to show him his powers, and by inquiring whether they gave
him authority to confirm Pizarro in his present post, to which he was
entitled no less by his own services than by the general voice of the
people.

This was an embarrassing question.  Such a concession would have been
altogether too humiliating to the Crown; but to have openly avowed this
at the present juncture to so stanch an adherent of Pizarro might have
precluded all further negotiation.  The president evaded the question,
therefore, by simply stating, that the time had not yet come for him to
produce his powers, but that Hinojosa might be assured they were such
as to secure an ample recompense to every loyal servant of his
country.19

Hinojosa was not satisfied; and he immediately wrote to Pizarro,
acquainting him with Gasca's arrival and with the object of his mission,
at the same time plainly intimating his own conviction that the president
had no authority to confirm him in the government.  But before the
departure of the ship, Gasca secured the services of a Dominican friar,
who had taken his passage on board for one of the towns on the coast.
This man he intrusted with manifestoes, setting forth the purport of his
visit, and proclaiming the abolition of the ordinances, with a free pardon
to all who returned to their obedience.  He wrote, also, to the prelates
and to the corporations of the different cities.  The former he requested
to cooperate with him in introducing a spirit of loyalty and subordination
among the people, while he intimated to the towns his purpose to confer
with them hereafter, in order to devise some effectual measures for the
welfare of the country.  These papers the Dominican engaged to
distribute, himself, among the principal cities of the colony; and he
faithfully kept his word, though, as it proved, at no little hazard of his
life.  The seeds thus scattered might many of them fall on barren ground.
But the greater part, the president trusted, would take root in the hearts
of the people; and he patiently waited for the harvest.

Meanwhile, though he failed to remove the scruples of Hinojosa, the
courteous manners of Gasca, and his mild, persuasive discourse, had a
visible effect on other individuals with whom he had daily intercourse.
Several of these, and among them some of the principal cavaliers in
Panama, as well as in the squadron, expressed their willingness to join
the royal cause, and aid the president in maintaining it.  Gasca profited
by their assistance to open a communication with the authorities of
Guatemala and Mexico, whom he advised of his mission, while he
admonished them to allow no intercourse to be carried on with the
insurgents on the coast of Peru.  He, at length, also prevailed on the
governor of Panama to furnish him with the means of entering into
communication with Gonzalo Pizarro himself; and a ship was despatched
to Lima, bearing a letter from Charles the Fifth, addressed to that chief,
with an epistle also from Gasca.

The emperor's communication was couched in the most condescending
and even conciliatory terms.  Far from taxing Gonzalo with rebellion, his
royal master affected to regard his conduct as in a manner imposed on
him by circumstances, especially by the obduracy of the viceroy Nunez
in denying the colonists the inalienable right of petition.  He gave no
intimation of an intent to confirm Pizarro in the government, or, indeed,
to remove him from it; but simply referred him to Gasca as one who
would acquaint him with the royal pleasure, and with whom he was to
cooperate in restoring tranquillity to the country.

Gasca's own letter was pitched on the same politic key.  He remarked,
however, that the exigencies which had hitherto determined Gonzalo's
line of conduct existed no longer.  All that had been asked was conceded.
There was nothing now to contend for; and it only remained for Pizarro
and his followers to show their loyalty and the sincerity of their
principles by obedience to the Crown.  Hitherto, the president said,
Pizarro had been in arms against the viceroy; and the people had
supported him as against a common enemy.  If he prolonged the contest,
that enemy must be his sovereign.  In such a struggle, the people would
be sure to desert him; and Gasca conjured him, by his honor as a
cavalier, and his duty as a loyal vassal, to respect the royal authority, and
not rashly provoke a contest which must prove to the world that his
conduct hitherto had been dictated less by patriotic motives than by
selfish ambition.

This letter, which was conveyed in language the most courteous and
complimentary to the subject of it, was of great length.  It was
accompanied by another much more concise, to Cepeda, the intriguing
lawyer, who, as Gasca knew, had the greatest influence over Pizarro, in
the absence of Carbajal, then employed in reaping the silver harvest from
the newly discovered mines of Potosi.20  In this epistle, Gasca affected
to defer to the cunning politician as a member of the Royal Audience,
and he conferred with him on the best manner of supplying a vacancy in
that body.  These several despatches were committed to a cavalier,
named Paniagua, a faithful adherent of the president, and one of those
who had accompanied him from Castile.  To this same emissary he also
gave manifestos and letters, like those intrusted to the Dominican, with
orders secretly to distribute them in Lima, before he quitted that
capital.21

Weeks and months rolled away, while the president still remained at
Panama, where, indeed, as his communications were jealously cut off
with Peru, he might be said to be detained as a sort of prisoner of state.
Meanwhile, both he and Hinojosa were looking with anxiety for the
arrival of some messenger from Pizarro, who should indicate the manner
in which the president's mission was to be received by that chief.  The
governor of Panama was not blind to the perilous position in which he
was himself placed, nor to the madness of provoking a contest with the
Court of Castile.  But he had a reluctance--not too often shared by the
cavaliers of Peru--to abandon the fortunes of the commander who had
reposed in him so great confidence.  Yet he trusted that this commander
would embrace the opportunity now offered, of placing himself and the
country in a state of permanent security.

Several of the cavaliers who had given in their adhesion to Gasca,
displeased by this obstinacy, as they termed it, of Hinojosa, proposed to
seize his person and then get possession of the armada.  But the president
at once rejected this offer.  His mission, he said, was one of peace, and
he would not stain it at the outset by an act of violence.  He even
respected the scruples of Hinojosa; and a cavalier of so honorable a
nature, he conceived, if once he could be gained by fair means, would be
much more likely to be true to his interests, than if overcome either by
force or fraud.  Gasca thought he might safely abide his time.  There was
policy, as well as honesty, in this; indeed, they always go together.

Meantime, persons were occasionally arriving from Lima and the
neighboring places, who gave accounts of Pizarro, varying according to
the character and situation of the parties.  Some represented him as
winning all hearts by his open temper and the politic profusion with
which, though covetous of wealth, he distributed repartimientos and
favors among his followers.  Others spoke of him as carrying matters
with a high hand, while the greatest timidity and distrust prevailed
among the citizens of Lima.  All agreed that his power rested on too
secure a basis to be shaken; and that, if the president should go to Lima,
he must either consent to become Pizarro's instrument and confirm him
in the government, or forfeit his own life.22

It was undoubtedly true, that Gonzalo, while he gave attention, as his
friends say, to the public business, found time for free indulgence in
those pleasures which wait on the soldier of fortune in his hour of
triumph.  He was the object of flattery and homage; courted even by
those who hated him.  For such as did not love the successful chieftain
had good cause to fear him; and his exploits were commemorated in
romances or ballads, as rivalling--it was not far from truth--those of the
most doughty paladins of chivalry.23

Amidst this burst of adulation, the cup of joy commended to Pizarro's
lips had one drop of bitterness in it that gave its flavor to all the rest; for,
notwithstanding his show of confidence, he looked with unceasing
anxiety to the arrival of tidings that might assure him in what light his
conduct was regarded by the government at home.  This was proved by
his jealous precautions to guard the approaches to the coast, and to
detain the persons of the royal emissaries.  He learned, therefore, with no
little uneasiness, from Hinojosa, the landing of President Gasca, and the
purport of his mission.  But his discontent was mitigated, when he
understood that the new envoy had come without military array, without
any of the ostentatious trappings of office to impose on the minds of the
vulgar, but alone, as it were, in the plain garb of an humble
missionary.24  Pizarro could not discern, that under this modest exterior
lay a moral power, stronger than his own steel-clad battalions, which,
operating silently on public opinion,--the more sure than it was silent,--
was even now undermining his strength, like a subterraneous channel
eating away the foundations of some stately edifice, that stands secure in
its pride of place!

But, although Gonzalo Pizarro could not foresee this result, he saw
enough to satisfy him that it would be safest to exclude the president
from Peru.  The tidings of his arrival, moreover, quickened his former
purpose of sending an embassy to Spain to vindicate his late
proceedings, and request the royal confirmation of his authority.  The
person placed at the head of this mission was Lorenzo de Aldana, a
cavalier of discretion as well as courage, and high in the confidence of
Pizarro, as one of his most devoted partisans.  He had occupied some
important posts under that chief, one secret of whose successes was the
sagacity he showed in the selection of his agents.

Besides Aldana and one or two cavaliers, the bishop of Lima was joined
in the commission, as likely, from his position, to have a favorable
influence on Gonzalo's fortunes at court.  Together with the despatches
for the government, the envoys were intrusted with a letter to Gasca from
the inhabitants of Lima; in which, after civilly congratulating the
president on his arrival, they announce their regret that he had come too
late.  The troubles of the country were now settled by the overthrow of
the viceroy, and the nation was reposing in quiet under the rule of
Pizarro.  An embassy, they stated, was on its way to Castile, not to solicit
pardon, for they had committed no crime,25 but to petition the emperor
to confirm their leader in the government, as the man in Peru best
entitled to it by his virtues.26  They expressed the conviction that
Gasca's presence would only serve to renew the distractions of the
country, and they darkly intimated that his attempt to land would
probably cost him his life.--The language of this singular document was
more respectful than might be inferred from its import.  It was dated the
th of October, 1546, and was subscribed by seventy of the principal
cavaliers in the city.  It was not improbably dictated by Cepeda, whose
hand is visible in most of the intrigues of Pizarro's little court.  It is also
said, --the authority is somewhat questionable,--that Aldana received
instructions from Gonzalo secretly to offer a bribe of fifty thousand
pesos de oro to the president, to prevail on him to return to Castile; and
in case of his refusal, some darker and more effectual way was to be
devised to rid the country of his presence.27

Aldana, fortified with his despatches, sped swiftly on his voyage to
Panama.  Through him the governor learned the actual state of feeling in
the councils of Pizarro; and he listened with regret to the envoy's
conviction, that no terms would be admitted by that chief or his
companions, that did not confirm him in the possession of Peru.28

Aldana was soon admitted to an audience by the president.  It was
attended with very different results from what had followed from the
conferences with Hinojosa; for Pizarro's envoy was not armed by nature
with that stubborn panoply which had hitherto made the other proof
against all argument.  He now learned with surprise the nature of Gasca's
powers, and the extent of the royal concessions to the insurgents.  He had
embarked with Gonzalo Pizarro on a desperate venture, and he found
that it had proved successful.  The colony had nothing more, in reason,
to demand; and, though devoted in heart to his leader, he did not feel
bound by any principle of honor to take part with him, solely to gratify
his ambition, in a wild contest with the Crown that must end in inevitable
ruin.  He consequently abandoned his mission to Castile, probably never
very palatable to him, and announced his purpose to accept the pardon
proffered by government, and support the president in settling the affairs
of Peru.  He subsequently wrote, it should be added, to his former
commander in Lima, stating the course he had taken, and earnestly
recommending the latter to follow his example.

The influence of this precedent in so important a person as Aldana,
aided, doubtless, by the conviction that no change was now to be
expected in Pizarro, while delay would be fatal to himself, at length
prevailed over Hinojosa's scruples, and he intimated to Gasca his
willingness to place the fleet under his command.  The act was
performed with great pomp and ceremony.  Some of Pizarro's stanchest
partisans were previously removed from the vessels; and on the
nineteenth of November, 1546, Hinojosa and his captains resigned their
commissions into the hands of the president.  They next took the oaths of
allegiance to Castile; a free pardon for all past offences was proclaimed
by the herald from a scaffold erected in the great square of the city; and
the president, greeting them as true and loyal vassals of the Crown,
restored their several commissions to the cavaliers.  The royal standard
of Spain was then unfurled on board the squadron, and proclaimed that
this stronghold of Pizarro's power had passed away from him for ever.29

The return of their commissions to the insurgent captains was a politic
act in Gasca.  It secured the services of the ablest officers in the country,
and turned against Pizarro the very arm on which he had most leaned for
support.  Thus was this great step achieved, without force or fraud, by
Gasca's patience and judicious forecast.  He was content to bide his time;
and he now might rely with well-grounded confidence on the ultimate
success of his mission.



Book 5

Chapter 2

Gasca Assembles His Forces--Defection Of Pizarro's Followers--
He Musters His Levies--Agitation In Lima--He Abandons The City--
Gasca Sails From Panama--Bloody Battle Of Huarina

1547

No sooner was Gasca placed in possession of Panama and the fleet, than
he entered on a more decisive course of policy than he had been hitherto
allowed to pursue.  He raised levies of men, and drew together supplies
from all quarters.  He took care to discharge the arrears already due to
the soldiers, and promised liberal pay for the future; for, though mindful
that his personal charges should cost little to the Crown, he did not stint
his expenditure when the public good required it.  As the funds in the
treasury were exhausted, he obtained loans on the credit of the
government from the wealthy citizens of Panama, who, relying on his
good faith, readily made the necessary advances.  He next sent letters to
the authorities of Guatemala and Mexico, requiring their assistance in
carrying on hostilities, if necessary, against the insurgents; and he
despatched a summons, in like manner, to Benalcazar, in the provinces
north of Peru, to meet him, on his landing in that country, with his whole
available force.

The greatest enthusiasm was shown by the people of Panama in getting
the little navy in order for his intended voyage; and prelates and
commanders did not disdain to prove their loyalty by taking part in the
good work, along with the soldiers and sailors.1  Before his own
departure, however, Gasca proposed to send a small squadron of four
ships under Aldana, to cruise off the port of Lima, with instructions to
give protection to those well affected to the royal cause, and receive
them, if need be, on board his vessels.  He was also intrusted with
authenticated copies of the president's commission, to be delivered to
Gonzalo Pizarro, that the chief might feel, there was yet time to return
before the gates of mercy were closed against him.2

While these events were going on, Gasca's proclamations and letters
were doing their work in Peru.  It required but little sagacity to perceive
that the nation at large, secured in the protection of person and property,
had nothing to gain by revolution.  Interest and duty, fortunately, now lay
on the same side; and the ancient sentiment of loyalty, smothered for a
time, but not extinguished, revived in the breasts of the people.  Still this
was not manifested, at once, by any overt act; for, under a strong military
rule, men dared hardly think for themselves, much less communicate
their thoughts to one another.  But changes of public opinion, like
changes in the atmosphere that come on slowly and imperceptibly, make
themselves more and more widely felt, till, by a sort of silent sympathy,
they spread to the remotest corners of the land.  Some intimations of
such a change of sentiment at length found their way to Lima, although
all accounts of the president's mission had been jealously excluded from
that capital.  Gonzalo Pizarro himself became sensible of these
symptoms of disaffection, though almost too faint and feeble, as yet, for
the most experienced eye to descry in them the coming tempest.

Several of the president's proclamations had been forwarded to Gonzalo
by his faithful partisans; and Carbajal, who had been summoned from
Potosi, declared they were "more to be dreaded than the lances of
Castile." 3  Yet Pizarro did not, for a moment, lose his confidence in his
own strength; and with a navy like that now in Panama at his command,
he felt he might bid defiance to any enemy on his coasts.  He had implicit
confidence in the fidelity of Hinojosa.

It was at this period that Paniagua arrived off the port with Gasca's
despatches to Pizarro, consisting of the emperor's letter and his own.
They were instantly submitted by that chieftain to his trusty counsellors,
Carbajal and Cepeda, and their opinions asked as to the course to be
pursued.  It was the crisis of Pizarro's fate.

Carbajal, whose sagacious eye fully comprehended the position in which
they stood, was in favor of accepting the royal grace on the terms
proposed; and he intimated his sense of their importance by declaring,
that "he would pave the way for the bearer of them into the capital with
ingots of gold and silver." 4  Cepeda was of a different way of thinking.
He was a judge of the Royal Audience; and had been sent to Peru as the
immediate counsellor of Blasco Nunez.  But he had turned against the
viceroy, had encountered him in battle, and his garments might be said to
be yet wet with his blood!  What grace was there, then, for him?
Whatever respect might be shown to the letter of the royal provisions, in
point of fact, he must ever live under the Castilian rule a ruined man.  He
accordingly, strongly urged the rejection of Gasca's offers.  "They will
cost you your government," he said to Pizarro; "the smooth-tongued
priest is not so simple a person as you take him to be.  He is deep and
politic.5  He knows well what promises to make; and, once master of the
country, he will know, too, how to keep them."

Carbajal was not shaken by the arguments or the sneers of his
companions; and as the discussion waxed warm, Cepeda taxed his
opponent with giving counsel suggested by fears for his own safety,--a
foolish taunt, sufficiently disproved by the whole life of the doughty old
warrior, Carbajal did not insist further on his own views, however, as he
found them unwelcome to Pizarro, and contented himself with coolly
remarking, that "he had, indeed, no relish for rebellion; but he had as
long a neck for a halter, he believed, as any of his companions; and as he
could hardly expect to live much longer, at any rate, it was, after all, of
little moment to him." 6

Pizarro, spurred on by a fiery ambition that overleaped every obstacle,7
did not condescend to count the desperate chances of a contest with the
Crown.  He threw his own weight into the scale with Cepeda.  The offer
of grace was rejected; and he thus cast away the last tie which held him
to his country, and, by the act, proclaimed himself a rebel.8

It was not long after the departure of Paniagua, that Pizarro received
tidings of the defection of Aldana and Hinojosa, and of the surrender of
the fleet, on which he had expended an immense sum, as the chief
bulwark of his power.  This unwelcome intelligence was followed by
accounts of the further defection of some of the principal towns in the
north, and of the assassination of Puelles, the faithful lieutenant to whom
he had confided the government of Quito.  It was not very long, also,
before he found his authority assailed in the opposite quarter at Cuzco;
for Centeno, the loyal chieftain who, as the reader may remember, had
been driven by Carbajal to take refuge in a cave near Arequipa, had
issued from his concealment after remaining there a year, and, on
learning the arrival of Gasca, had again raised the royal standard.  Then
collecting a small body of followers, and falling on Cuzco by night, he
made himself master of that capital, defeated the garrison who held it,
and secured it for the Crown.  Marching soon after into the province of
Charcas, the bold chief allied himself with the officer who commanded
for Pizarro in La Plata; and their combined forces, to the number of a
thousand, took up a position on the borders of Lake Titicaca, where the
two cavaliers coolly waited an opportunity to take the field against their
ancient commander.

Gonzalo Pizarro, touched to the heart by the desertion of those in whom
he most confided, was stunned by the dismal tidings of his losses coming
so thick upon him.  Yet he did not waste his time in idle crimination or
complaint; but immediately set about making preparations to meet the
storm with all his characteristic energy.  He wrote, at once to such of his
captains as he believed still faithful, commanding them to be ready with
their troops to march to his assistance at the shortest notice.  He
reminded them of their obligations to him, and that their interests were
identical with his own.  The president's commission, he added, had been
made out before the news had reached Spain of the battle of Ariaquito,
and could never cover a pardon to those concerned in the death of the
viceroy.9

Pizarro was equally active in enforcing his levies in the capital, and in
putting them in the best fighting order.  He soon saw himself at the head
of a thousand men, beautifully equipped, and complete in all their
appointments; "as gallant an array," says an old writer, "though so small
in number, as ever trod the plains of Italy,"--displaying in the excellence
of their arms, their gorgeous uniforms, and the caparisons of their horses,
a magnificence that could be furnished only by the silver of Peru.10
Each company was provided with a new stand of colors, emblazoned
with its peculiar device.  Some bore the initials and arms of Pizarro, and
one or two of these were audaciously surmounted by a crown, as if to
intimate the rank to which their commander might aspire.11

Among the leaders most conspicuous on this occasion was Cepeda,
"who," in the words of a writer of his time, "had exchanged the robe of
the licentiate for the plumed casque and mailed harness of the warrior."
12  But the cavalier to whom Pizarro confided the chief care of
organizing his battalions was the veteran Carbajal, who had studied the
art of war under the best captains of Europe, and whose life of adventure
had been a practical commentary on their early lessons.  It was on his
arm that Gonzalo most leaned in the hour of danger; and well had it been
for him, if he had profiled by his counsels at an earlier period.

It gives one some idea of the luxurious accommodations of Pizarro's
forces, that he endeavored to provide each of his musketeers with a
horse.  The expenses incurred by him were enormous.  The immediate
cost of his preparations, we are told, was not less than half a million of
pesos de oro; and his pay to the cavaliers, and, indeed, to the common
soldiers, in his little army, was on an extravagant scale, nowhere to be
met with but on the silver soil of Peru.13

When his own funds were exhausted, he supplied the deficiency by fines
imposed on the rich citizens of Lima as the price of exemption from
service, by forced loans, and various other schemes of military
exaction.  From this time, it is said, the chieftain's temper underwent a
visible change.15  He became more violent in his passions, more
impatient of control, and indulged more freely in acts of cruelty and
license.  The desperate cause in which he was involved made him
reckless of consequences.  Though naturally frank and confiding, the
frequent defection of his followers filled him with suspicion.  He knew
not in whom to confide.  Every one who showed himself indifferent to
his cause, or was suspected of being so, was dealt with as an open
enemy.  The greatest distrust prevailed in Lima.  No man dared confide
in his neighbor.  Some concealed their effects; others contrived to elude
the vigilance of the sentinels, and hid themselves in the neighboring
woods and mountains.16  No one was allowed to enter or leave the city
without a license.  All commerce, all intercourse, with other places was
cut off.  It was long since the fifth belonging to the Crown had been
remitted to Castile; as Pizarro had appropriated them for his own use.
He now took possession of the mints, broke up the royal stamps, and
issued a debased coin, emblazoned with his own cipher.17  It was the
most decisive act of sovereignty.

At this gloomy period, the lawyer Cepeda contrived a solemn farce, the
intent of which was to give a sort of legal sanction to the rebel cause in
the eyes of the populace.  He caused a process to be prepared against
Gasca, Hinojosa, and Aldana, in which they were accused of treason
against the existing government of Peru, were convicted, and condemned
to death.  This instrument he submitted to a number of jurists in the
capital, requiring their signatures.  But they had no mind thus inevitably
to implicate themselves, by affixing their names to such a paper; and
they evaded it by representing, that it would only serve to cut off all
chance, should any of the accused be so disposed, of their again
embracing the cause they had deserted.  Cepeda was the only man who
signed the document.  Carbajal treated the whole thing with ridicule.
"What is the object of your process?" said he to Cepeda.  "Its object,"
replied the latter, "is to prevent delay, that, if taken at any time, the guilty
party may be at once led to execution." "I cry you mercy," retorted
Carbajal; "I thought there must be some virtue in the instrument, that
would have killed them outright.  Let but one of these same traitors fall
into my hands, and I will march him off to execution, without waiting for
the sentence of a court, I promise you!" 18

While this paper war was going on, news was brought that Aldana's
squadron was off the port of Callao.  That commander had sailed from
Panama, the middle of February, 1547.  On his passage down the coast
he had landed at Truxillo, where the citizens welcomed him with
enthusiasm, and eagerly proclaimed their submission to the royal
authority.  He received, at the same time, messages from several of
Pizarro's officers in the interior, intimating their return to their duty, and
their readiness to support the president.  Aldana named Caxamalca as a
place of rendezvous, where they should concentrate their forces, and wait
the landing of Gasca.  He then continued his voyage towards Lima.

No sooner was Pizarro informed of his approach, than, fearful lest it
might have a disastrous effect in seducing his followers from their
fidelity, he marched them about a league out of the city, and there
encamped.  He was two leagues from the coast, and he posted a guard on
the shore to intercept all communication with the vessels.  Before leaving
the capital, Cepeda resorted to an expedient for securing the inhabitants
more firmly, as he conceived, in Pizarro's interests.  He caused the
citizens to be assembled, and made them a studied harangue, in which he
expatiated on the services of their governor, and the security which the
country had enjoyed under his rule.  He then told them that every man
was at liberty to choose for himself; to remain under the protection of
their present ruler, or, if they preferred, to transfer their allegiance to his
enemy.  He invited them to speak their minds, but required every one
who would still continue under Pizarro to take an oath of fidelity to his
cause, with the assurance, that, if any should be so false hereafter as to
violate this pledge, he should pay for it with his life.19  There was no
one found bold enough--with his head thus in the lion's mouth--to swerve
from his obedience to Pizarro; and every man took the oath prescribed,
which was administered in the most solemn and imposing form by the
licentiate.  Carbajal, as usual, made a jest of the whole proceeding.
"How long," he asked his companion, "do you think these same oaths
will stand?  The first wind that blows off the coast after we are gone will
scatter them in air!" His prediction was soon verified.

Meantime, Aldana anchored off the port, where there was no vessel of
the insurgents to molest him.  By Cepeda's advice, some four or five had
been burnt a short time before, during the absence of Carbajal, in order
to cut off all means by which the inhabitants could leave the place.  This
was deeply deplored by the veteran soldier on his return.  "It was
destroying," he said, "the guardian angels of Lima." 20  And certainly,
under such a commander, they might now have stood Pizarro in good
stead; but his star was on the wane.

The first act of Aldana was to cause the copy of Gasca's powers, with
which he had been intrusted, to be conveyed to his ancient commander,
by whom it was indignantly torn in pieces.  Aldana next contrived, by
means of his agents, to circulate among the citizens, and even the
soldiers of the camp, the president's manifestoes.  They were not long in
producing their effect.  Few had been at all aware of the real purport of
Gasca's mission, of the extent of his powers, or of the generous terms
offered by government.  They shrunk from the desperate course into
which they had been thus unwarily seduced, and they sought only in what
way they could, with least danger, extricate themselves from their
present position, and return to their allegiance.  Some escaped by night
from the camp, eluded the vigilance of the sentinels, and effected their
retreat on board the vessels.  Some were taken, and found no quarter at
the hands of Carbajal and his merciless ministers.  But, where the spirit
of disaffection was abroad, means of escape were not wanting.

As the fugitives were cut off from Lima and the neighboring coast, they
secreted themselves in the forests and mountains, and watched their
opportunity for making their way to Truxilla and other ports at a
distance; and so contagious was the example, that it not unfrequently
happened that the very soldiers sent in pursuit of the deserters joined
with them.  Among those that fled was the Licentiate Carbajal, who must
not be confounded with his military namesake.  He was the same cavalier
whose brother had been put to death in Lima by Blasco Nunez, and who
revenged himself, as we have seen, by imbruing his own hands in the
blood of the viceroy.  That a person thus implicated should trust to the
royal pardon showed that no one need despair of it; and the example
proved most disastrous to Pizarro.21

Carbajal, who made a jest of every thing, even of the misfortunes which
pinched him the sharpest, when told of the desertion of his comrades,
amused himself by humming the words of a popular ditty:--

"The wind blows the hairs off my head, mother; Two at a time, it blows
them away!" 22

But the defection of his followers made a deeper impression on Pizarro,
and he was sorely distressed as he beheld the gallant array, to which he
had so confidently looked for gaining his battles, thus melting away like
a morning mist.  Bewildered by the treachery of those in whom he had
most trusted, he knew not where to turn, nor what course to take.  It was
evident that he must leave his present dangerous quarters without loss of
time.  But whither should he direct his steps?  In the north, the great
towns had abandoned his cause, and the president was already marching
against him; while Centeno held the passes of the south, with a force
double his own.  In this emergency, he at length resolved to occupy
Arequipa, a seaport still true to him, where he might remain till he had
decided on some future course of operations.

After a painful but rapid march, Gonzalo arrived at this place, where he
was speedily joined by a reinforcement that he had detached for the
recovery of Cuzco.  But so frequent had been the desertions from both
companies,--though in Pizarro's corps these had greatly lessened since
the departure from the neighborhood of Lima,--that his whole number
did not exceed five hundred men, less than half of the force which he had
so recently mustered in the capital.  To such humble circumstances was
the man now reduced, who had so lately lorded it over the land with
unlimited sway!  Still the chief did not despond.  He had gathered new
spirit from the excitement of his march and his distance from Lima; and
he seemed to recover his former confidence, as he exclaimed,--"It is
misfortune that teaches us who are our friends.  If but ten only remain
true to me, fear not but I will again be master of Peru!" 23

No sooner had the rebel forces withdrawn from the neighborhood of
Lima, than the inhabitants of that city, little troubled, as Carbajal had
predicted, by their compulsory oaths of allegiance to Pizarro, threw open
their gates to Aldana, who took possession of this important place in the
name of the president.  That commander, meanwhile, had sailed with his
whole fleet from Panama, on the tenth of April, 1547.  The first part of
his voyage was prosperous; but he was soon perplexed by contrary
currents, and the weather became rough and tempestuous.  The violence
of the storm continuing day after day, the sea was lashed into fury, and
the fleet was tossed about on the billows, which ran mountain high, as if
emulating the wild character of the region they bounded.  The rain
descended in torrents, and the lightning was so incessant, that the
vessels, to quote the lively language of the chronicler, "seemed to be
driving through seas of flame!" 24  The hearts of the stoutest mariners
were filled with dismay.  They considered it hopeless to struggle against
the elements, and they loudly demanded to return to the continent, and
postpone the voyage till a more favorable season of the year.

But the president saw in this the ruin of his cause, as well as of the loyal
vassals who had engaged, on his landing, to support it.  "I am willing to
die," he said, "but not to return"; and, regardless of the remonstrances of
his more timid followers, he insisted on carrying as much sail as the
ships could possibly bear, at every interval of the storm.25  Meanwhile,
to divert the minds of the seamen from their present danger, Gasca
amused them by explaining some of the strange phenomena exhibited by
the ocean in the tempest, which had filled their superstitious minds with
mysterious dread.26

Signals had been given for the ships to make the best of their way, each
for itself, to the island of Gorgona.  Here they arrived, one after another,
with but a single exception, though all more or less shattered by the
weather.  The president waited only for the fury of the elements to spend
itself, when he again embarked, and, on smoother waters, crossed over to
Manta.  From this place he soon after continued his voyage to Tumbez,
and landed at that port on the thirteenth of June.  He was everywhere
received with enthusiasm, and all seemed anxious to efface the
remembrance of the past by professions of future fidelity to the Crown.
Gasca received, also, numerous letters of congratulation from cavaliers
in the interior, most of whom had formerly taken service under Pizarro.
He made courteous acknowledgments for their offers of assistance, and
commanded them to repair to Caxamalca, the general place of
rendezvous.

To this same spot he sent Hinojosa, so soon as that officer had
disembarked with the land forces from the fleet, ordering him to take
command of the levies assembled there, and then join him at Xauxa.
Here he determined to establish his headquarters.  It lay in a rich and
abundant territory, and by its central position afforded a point for acting
with greatest advantage against the enemy.

He then moved forward, at the head of a small detachment of cavalry,
along the level road on the coast towards Truxillo.  After halting for a
short time in that loyal city, he traversed the mountain range on the
southeast, and soon entered the fruitful valley of Xauxa.  There he was
presently joined by reinforcements from the north, as well as from the
principal places on the coast; and, not long after his arrival, received a
message from Centeno, informing him that he held the passes by which
Gonzalo Pizarro was preparing to make his escape from the country, and
that the insurgent chief must soon fall into his hands.

The royal camp was greatly elated by these tidings.  The war, then, was
at length terminated, and that without the president having been called
upon so much as to lift his sword against a Spaniard.  Several of his
counsellors now advised him to disband the greater part of his forces, as
burdensome and no longer necessary.  But the president was too wise to
weaken his strength before he had secured the victory.  He consented,
however, to countermand the requisition for levies from Mexico and the
adjoining colonies, as now feeling sufficiently strong in the general
loyalty of the country.  But, concentrating his forces at Xauxa, he
established his quarters in that town, as he had first intended, resolved to
await there tidings of the operations in the south.  The result was
different from what he had expected.27

Pizarro, meanwhile, whom we left at Arequipa, had decided, after much
deliberation, to evacuate Peru, and pass into Chili.  In this territory,
beyond the president's jurisdiction, he might find a safe retreat, The
fickle people, he thought, would soon weary of their new ruler; and he
would then rally in sufficient strength to resume active operations for the
recovery of his domain.  Such were the calculations of the rebel
chieftain.  But how was he to effect his object, while the passes among
the mountains, where his route lay, were held by Centeno with a force
more than double his own?  He resolved to try negotiation; for that
captain had once served under him, and had, indeed, been most active in
persuading Pizarro to take on himself the office of procurator.
Advancing, accordingly, in the direction of Lake Titicaca, in the
neighborhood of which Centeno had pitched his camp, Gonzalo
despatched an emissary to his quarters to open a negotiation.  He called
to his adversary's recollection the friendly relations that had once
subsisted between them; and reminded him of one occasion in particular,
in which he had spared his life, when convicted of a conspiracy against
himself.  He harbored no sentiments of unkindness, he said, for
Centeno's recent conduct, and had not now come to seek a quarrel with
him.  His purpose was to abandon Peru; and the only favor he had to
request of his former associate was to leave him a free passage across the
mountains.

To this communication Centeno made answer in terms as courtly as
those of Pizarro himself, that he was not unmindful of their ancient
friendship.  He was now ready to serve his former commander in any
way not inconsistent with honor, or obedience to his sovereign.  But he
was there in arms for the royal cause, and he could not swerve from his
duty.  If Pizarro would but rely on his faith and surrender himself up, he
pledged his knightly word to use all his interest with the government, to
secure as favorable terms for him and his followers as had been granted
to the rest of their countrymen.--Gonzalo listened to the smooth promises
of his ancient comrade with bitter scorn depicted in his countenance,
and, snatching the letter from his secretary, cast it away from him with
indignation.  There was nothing left but an appeal to arms.28

He at once broke up his encampment, and directed his march on the
borders of Lake Titicaca, near which lay his rival.  He resorted, however,
to stratagem, that he might still, if possible, avoid an encounter.  He sent
forward his scouts in a different direction from that which he intended to
take, and then quickened his march on Huarina.  This was a small town
situated on the southeastern extremity of Lake Titicaca, the shores of
which, the seat of the primitive civilization of the Incas, were soon to
resound with the murderous strife of their more civilized conquerors!

But Pizarro's movements had been secretly communicated to Centeno,
and that commander, accordingly, changing his ground, took up a
position not far from Huarina, on the same day on which Gonzalo
reached this place.  The videttes of the two camps came in sight of each
other that evening, and the rival forces, lying on their arms, prepared for
action on the following morning.

It was the twenty-sixth of October, 1547, when the two commanders,
having formed their troops in order of battle, advanced to the encounter
on the plains of Huarina.  The ground, defended on one side by a bold
spur of the Andes, and not far removed on the other from the waters of
Titicaca, was an open and level plain, well suited to military
manoeuvres.  It seemed as if prepared by Nature as the lists for an
encounter.

Centeno's army amounted to about a thousand men.  His cavalry
consisted of near two hundred and fifty, well equipped and mounted.
Among them were several gentlemen of family, some of whom had once
followed the banners of Pizarro; the whole forming an efficient corps, in
which rode some of the best lances of Peru.  His arquebusiers were less
numerous, not exceeding a hundred and fifty, indifferently provided with
ammunition.  The remainder, and much the larger part of Centeno's
army, consisted of spearmen, irregular levies hastily drawn together, and
possessed of little discipline.29

This corps of infantry formed the centre of his line, flanked by the
arquebusiers in two nearly equal divisions, while his cavalry were also
disposed in two bodies on the right and left wings.  Unfortunately,
Centeno had been for the past week ill of a pleurisy,--so ill, indeed, that
on the preceding day he had been bled several times.  He was now too
feeble to keep his saddle, but was carried in a litter, and when he had
seen his men formed in order, he withdrew to a distance from the field,
unable to take part in the action.  But Solano, the militant bishop of
Cuzco, who, with several of his followers, took part in the engagement,--
a circumstance, indeed, of no strange occurrence,--rode along the ranks
with the crucifix in his hand, bestowing his benediction on the soldiers,
and exhorting each man to do his duty.

Pizarro's forces were less than half of his rival's, not amounting to more
than four hundred and eighty men.  The horse did not muster above
eighty-five in all, and he posted them in a single body on the right of his
battalion.  The strength of his army lay in his arquebusiers, about three
hundred and fifty in number.  It was an admirable corps, commanded by
Carbajal, by whom it had been carefully drilled.  Considering the
excellence of its arms, and its thorough discipline, this little body of
infantry might be considered as the flower of the Peruvian soldiery, and
on it Pizarro mainly relied for the success of the day.30  The remainder
of his force, consisting of pikemen, not formidable for their numbers,
though, like the rest of the infantry, under excellent discipline, he
distributed on the left of his musketeers, so as to repel the enemy's horse.

Pizarro himself had charge of the cavalry, taking his place, as usual, in
the foremost rank.  He was superbly accoutred.  Over his shining mail he
wore a sobre-vest of slashed velvet of a rich crimson color; and he rode a
high-mettled charger, whose gaudy caparisons, with the showy livery of
his rider, made the fearless commander the most conspicuous object in
the field.

His lieutenant, Carbajal, was equipped in a very different style.  He wore
armor of proof of the most homely appearance, but strong and
serviceable; and his steel bonnet, with its closely barred visor of the
same material, protected his head from more than one desperate blow on
that day.  Over his arms he wore a surcoat of a greenish color, and he
rode an active, strong-boned jennet, which, though capable of enduring
fatigue, possessed neither grace nor beauty.  It would not have been easy
to distinguish the veteran from the most ordinary cavalier.

The two hosts arrived within six hundred paces of each other, when they
both halted.  Carbajal preferred to receive the attack of the enemy, rather
than advance further; for the ground he now occupied afforded a free
range for his musketry, unobstructed by the trees or bushes that were
sprinkled over some other parts of the field.  There was a singular
motive, in addition, for retaining his present position.  The soldiers were
encumbered, some with two, some with three, arquebuses each, being the
arms left by those who, from time to time, had deserted the camp.  This
uncommon supply of muskets, however serious an impediment on a
march, might afford great advantage to troops waiting an assault; since,
from the imperfect knowledge as well as construction of fire-arms at that
day, much time was wasted in loading them.31

Preferring, therefore, that the enemy should begin the attack, Carbajal
came to a halt, while the opposite squadron, after a short respite,
continued their advance a hundred paces farther.  Seeing that they then
remained immovable.  Carbajal detached a small party of skirmishers to
the front, in order to provoke them; but it was soon encountered by a
similar party of the enemy, and some shots were exchanged, though with
little damage to either side.  Finding this manoeuvre fail, the veteran
ordered his men to advance a few paces, still hoping to provoke his
antagonist to the charge.  This succeeded.  "We lose honor," exclaimed
Centeno's soldiers; who, with a bastard sort of chivalry, belonging to
undisciplined troops, felt it a disgrace to await an assault.  In vain their
officers called out to them to remain at their post.  Their commander was
absent, and they were urged on by the cries of a frantic friar, named
Damingo Ruiz, who, believing the Philistines were delivered into their
hands, called out,-- "Now is the time!  Onward, onward, fall on the
enemy!" 32  There needed nothing further, and the men rushed forward
in tumultuous haste, the pikemen carrying their levelled weapons so
heedlessly as to interfere with one another, and in some instances to
wound their comrades.  The musketeers, at the same time, kept up a
disorderly fire as they advanced, which, from their rapid motion and the
distance, did no execution.

Carbajal was well pleased to see his enemies thus wasting their
ammunition, Though he allowed a few muskets to be discharged, in
order to stimulate his opponents the more, he commanded the great body
of his infantry to reserve their fire till every shot could take effect.  As he
knew the tendency of marksmen to shoot above the mark, he directed his
men to aim at the girdle, or even a little below it; adding, that a shot that
fell short might still do damage, while one that passed a hair's breadth
above the head was wasted.33

The veteran's company stood calm and unmoved, as Centeno's rapidly
advanced; but when the latter had arrived within a hundred paces of their
antagonists, Carbajal gave the word to fire.  An instantaneous volley ran
along the line, and a tempest of balls was poured into the ranks of the
assailants, with such unerring aim, that more than a hundred fell, dead on
the field, while a still greater number were wounded.  Before they could
recover from their disorder, Carbajal's men, snatching up their remaining
pieces, discharged them with the like dreadful effect into the thick of the
enemy.  The confusion of the latter was now complete, Unable to sustain
the incessant shower of balls which fell on them from the scattering fire
kept up by the arquebusiers, they were seized with a panic, and fled,
scarcely making a show of further fight, from the field.

But very different was the fortune of the day in the cavalry combat.
Gonzalo Pizarro had drawn up his troop somewhat in the rear of
Carbajal's right, in order to give the latter a freer range for the play of his
musketry.  When the enemy's horse on the left galloped briskly against
him, Pizarro, still favoring Carbajal,--whose fire, moreover, inflicted
some loss on the assailants,--advanced but a few rods to receive the
charge.  Centeno's squadron, accordingly, came thundering on in full
career, and, notwithstanding the mischief sustained from their enemy's
musketry, fell with such fury on their adversaries as to overturn them,
man and horse, in the dust; "riding over their prostrate bodies," says the
historian, "as if they had been a flock of sheep!" 34  The latter, with
great difficulty recovering from the first shock, attempted to rally and
sustain the fight on more equal terms.

Yet the chief could not regain the ground he had lost.  His men were
driven back at all points.  Many were slain, many more wounded, on
both sides, and the ground was covered with the dead bodies of men and
horses.  But the loss fell much the most heavily on Pizarro's troop; and
the greater part of those who escaped with life were obliged to surrender
as prisoners.  Cepeda, who fought with the fury of despair, received a
severe cut from a sabre across the face, which disabled him and forced
him to yield.35  Pizarro, after seeing his best and bravest fall round him,
was set upon by three or four cavaliers at once.  Disentangling himself
from the melee, he put spurs to his horse, and the noble animal, bleeding
from a severe wound across the back, outstripped all his pursuers except
one, who stayed him by seizing the bridle.  It would have gone hard with
Gonzalo, but, grasping a light battle-axe, which hung by his side, he
dealt such a blow on the head of his enemy's horse that he plunged
violently, and compelled his rider to release his held.  A number of
arquebusiers, in the mean time, seeing Pizarro's distress, sprang forward
to his rescue, slew two of his assailants who had now come up with him,
and forced the others to fly in their turn.36

The rout of the cavalry was complete; and Pizarro considered the day as
lost, as he heard the enemy's trumpet sending forth the note of victory.
But the sounds had scarcely died away, when they were taken up by the
opposite side.  Centeno's infantry had been discomfited, as we have seen,
and driven off the ground.  But his cavalry on the right had charged
Carbajal's left, consisting of spearmen mingled with arquebusiers.  The
horse rode straight against this formidable phalanx.  But they were
unable to break through the dense array of pikes, held by the steady
hands of troops who stood firm and fearless on their post; while, at the
same time, the assailants were greatly annoyed by the galling fire of the
arquebusiers in the rear of the spearmen.  Finding it impracticable to
make a breach, the horsemen rode round the flanks in much disorder, and
finally joined themselves with the victorious squadron of Centeno's
cavalry in the rear.  Both parties now attempted another charge on
Carbajal's battalion.  But his men facing about with the promptness and
discipline of well-trained soldiers, the rear was converted into the front.
The same forest of spears was presented to the attack; while an incessant
discharge of balls punished the audacity of the cavaliers, who, broken
and completely dispirited by their ineffectual attempt, at length imitated
the example of the panic-struck foot, and abandoned the field.

Pizarro and a few of his comrades still fit for action followed up the
pursuit for a short distance only, as, indeed, they were in no condition
themselves, nor sufficiently strong in numbers, long to continue it.  The
victory was complete, and the insurgent chief took possession of the
deserted tents of the enemy, where an immense booty was obtained in
silver;37 and where he also found the tables spread for the refreshment
of Centeno's soldiers after their return from the field.  So confident were
they of success!  The repast now served the necessities of their
conquerors.  Such is the fortune of war!  It was, indeed, a most decisive
action; and Gonzalo Pizarro, as he rode over the field strewed with the
corpses of his enemies, was observed several times to cross himself and
exclaim,--"Jesu! What a victory!"

No less than three hundred and fifty of Centeno's followers were killed,
and the number of wounded was even greater.  More than a hundred of
these are computed to have perished from exposure during the following
night; for, although the climate in this elevated region is temperate, yet
the night winds blowing over the mountains are sharp and piercing, and
many a wounded wretch, who might have been restored by careful
treatment, was chilled by the damps, and found a stiffened corpse at
sunrise.  The victory was not purchased without a heavy loss on the part
of the conquerors, a hundred or more of whom were left on the field.
Their bodies lay thick on that part of the ground occupied by Pizarro's
cavalry, where the fight raged hottest.  In this narrow space were found,
also, the bodies of more than a hundred horses, the greater part of which,
as well as those of their riders, usually slain with them, belonged to the
victorious army.  It was the most fatal battle that had yet been fought on
the blood-stained soil of Peru.38

The glory of the day--the melancholy glory--must be referred almost
wholly to Carbajal and his valiant squadron.  The judicious arrangements
of the old warrior, with the thorough discipline and unflinching courage
of his followers, retrieved the fortunes of the fight, when it was nearly
lost by the cavalry, and secured the victory.

Carbajal, proof against all fatigue, followed up the pursuit with those of
his men that were in condition to join him.  Such of the unhappy
fugitives as fell into his hands--most of whom had been traitors to the
cause of Pizarro--were sent to instant execution.  The laurels he had won
in the field against brave men in arms, like himself, were tarnished by
cruelty towards his defenceless captives.  Their commander, Centeno,
more fortunate, made his escape.  Finding the battle lost, he quitted his
litter, threw himself upon his horse, and, notwithstanding his illness,
urged on by the dreadful doom that awaited him, if taken, he succeeded
in making his way into the neighboring sierra.  Here he vanished from
his pursuers, and, like a wounded stag, with the chase close upon his
track, he still contrived to elude it, by plunging into the depths of the
forests, till, by a circuitous route, he miraculously succeeded in effecting
his escape to Lima.  The bishop of Cuzco, who went off in a different
direction, was no less fortunate.  Happy for him that he did not fall into
the hands of the ruthless Carbajal, who, as the bishop had once been a
partisan of Pizarro, would, to judge from the little respect he usually
showed those of his cloth, have felt as little compunction in sentencing
him to the gibbet as if he had been the meanest of the common file.39

On the day following the action, Gonzalo Pizarro caused the bodies of
the soldiers, still lying side by side on the field where they had been so
lately engaged together in mortal strife, to be deposited in a common
sepulchre.  Those of higher rank--for distinctions of rank were not to be
forgotten in the grave--were removed to the church of the village of
Huarina, which gave its name to the battle.  There they were interred
with all fitting solemnity.  But in later times they were transported to the
cathedral church of La Paz, "The City of Peace," and laid under a
mausoleum erected by general subscription in that quarter.  For few there
were who had not to mourn the loss of some friend or relative on that
fatal day.

The victor now profited by his success to send detachments to Arequipa,
La Plata, and other cities in that part of the country, to raise funds and
reinforcements for the war.  His own losses were more than compensated
by the number of the vanquished party who were content to take service
under his banner.  Mustering his forces, he directed his march to Cuzco,
which capital, though occasionally seduced into a display of loyalty to
the Crown, had early manifested an attachment to his cause.

Here the inhabitants were prepared to receive him in triumph, under
arches thrown across the streets, with bands of music, and minstrelsy
commemorating his successes.  But Pizarro, with more discretion,
declined the honors of an ovation while the country remained in the
hands of his enemies.  Sending forward the main body of his troops, he
followed on foot, attended by a slender retinue of friends and citizens,
and proceeded at once to the cathedral, where thanksgivings were
offered up, and Te Deum was chanted in honor of his victory.  He then
withdrew to his residence, announcing his purpose to establish his
quarters, for the present, in the venerable capital of the Incas.40

All thoughts of a retreat into Chili were abandoned; for his recent
success had kindled new hopes in his bosom, and revived his ancient
confidence.  He trusted that it would have a similar effect on the
vacillating temper of those whose fidelity had been shaken by fears for
their own safety, and their distrust of his ability to cope with the
president.  They would now see that his star was still in the ascendant.
Without further apprehensions for the event, he resolved to remain in
Cuzco, and there quietly await the hour when a last appeal to arms
should decide which of the two was to remain master of Peru.



Book 5

Chapter 3

Dismay In Gasca's Camp--His Winter Quarters--Resumes His March--
Crosses The Apurimac--Pizarro's Conduct In Cuzco--
He Encamps Near The City--Rout Of Xaquixaguana

1547--1548

While the events recorded in the preceding chapter were passing,
President Gasca had remained at Xauxa, awaiting further tidings from
Centeno, little doubting that they would inform him of the total
discomfiture of the rebels.  Great was his dismay, therefore, on learning
the issue of the fatal conflict in Haurina,--that the royalists had been
scattered far and wide before the sword of Pizarro, while their
commander had vanished like an apparition,1 leaving the greatest
uncertainty as to his fate.

The intelligence spread general consternation among the soldiers,
proportioned to their former confidence; and they felt it was almost
hopeless to contend with a man who seemed protected by a charm that
made him invincible against the greatest odds.  The president, however
sore his disappointment, was careful to conceal it, while he endeavored
to restore the spirits of his followers.  "They had been too sanguine," he
said, "and it was in this way that Heaven rebuked their persumption.  Yet
it was but in the usual course of events that Providence, when it designed
to humble the guilty, should allow him to reach as high an elevation as
possible, that his fall might be the greater!"

But while Gasca thus strove to reassure the superstitious and the timid,
he bent his mind, with his usual energy, to repair the injury which the
cause had sustained by the defeat at Huarina.  He sent a detachment
under Alvarado to Lima, to collect such of the royalists as had fled
thither from the field of battle, and to dismantle the ships of their cannon,
and bring them to the camp.  Another body was sent to Guamanga, about
sixty leagues from Cuzco, for the similar purpose of protecting the
fugitives, and also of preventing the Indian caciques from forwarding
supplies to the insurgent army in Cuzco.  As his own forces now
amounted to considerably more than any his opponent could bring
against him, Gasca determined to break up his camp without further
delay, and march on the Inca capital.2

Quitting Xauxa, December 29, 1547, he passed through Guamanga, and
after a severe march, rendered particularly fatiguing by the inclement
state of the weather and the badness of the roads, he entered the province
of Andaguaylas.  It was a fair and fruitful country, and since the road
beyond would take him into the depths of a gloomy sierra, scarcely
passable in the winter snows, Gasca resolved to remain in his present
quarters until the severity of the season was mitigated.  As many of the
troops had already contracted diseases from exposure to the incessant
rains, he established a camp hospital; and the good president personally
visited the quarters of the sick, ministering to their wants, and winning
their hearts by his sympathy.3

Meanwhile, the royal camp was strengthened by the continual arrival of
reinforcements; for notwithstanding the shock that was caused
throughout the country by the first tidings of Pizarro's victory, a little
reflection convinced the people that the right was the strongest, and must
eventually prevail.  There came, also, with these levies, several of the
most distinguished captains in the country.  Centeno, burning to retrieve
his late disgrace, after recovering from his illness, joined the camp with
his followers from Lima.  Benalcazar, the conqueror of Quito, who, as
the reader will remember, had shared in the defeat of Blasco Nunez in
the north, came with another detachment; and was soon after followed by
Valdivia, the famous conqueror of Chili, who, having returned to Peru to
gather recruits for his expedition, had learned the state of the country,
and had thrown himself, without hesitation, into the same scale with the
president, though it brought him into collision with his old friend and
comrade, Gonzalo Pizarro.  The arrival of this last ally was greeted with
general rejoicing by the camp; for Valdivia, schooled in the Italian wars,
was esteemed the most accomplished soldier in Peru; and Gasca
complimented him by declaring "he would rather see him than a
reinforcement of eight hundred men!" 4

Besides these warlike auxiliaries, the president was attended by a train of
ecclesiastics and civilians, such as was rarely found in the martial fields
of Peru.  Among them were the bishops of Quito, Cuzco, and Lima, the
four judges of the new Audience, and a considerable number of
churchmen and monkish missionaries.5  However little they might serve
to strengthen his arm in battle, their presence gave authority and
something of a sacred character to the cause, which had their effect on
the minds of the soldiers.

The wintry season now began to give way before the mild influence of
spring, which makes itself early felt in these tropical, but from their
elevation temperate, regions; and Gasca, after nearly three months
detention in Andaguaylas, mustered his levies for the final march upon
Cuzco.6  Their whole number fell little short of two thousand,--the
largest European force yet assembled in Peru.  Nearly half were provided
with fire-arms; and infantry were more available than horse in the
mountain countries which they were to traverse.  But his cavalry was also
numerous, and he carried with him a train of eleven heavy guns.  The
equipment and discipline of the troops were good; they were well
provided with ammunition and military stores; and were led by officers
whose names were associated with the most memorable achievements in
the New World.  All who had any real interest in the weal of the country
were to be found, in short, under the president's banner, making a
striking contrast to the wild and reckless adventurers who now swelled
the ranks of Pizarro.

Gasca, who did not affect a greater knowledge of military affairs than he
really possessed, had given the charge of his forces to Hinojosa, naming
the Marshal Alvarado as second in command.  Valdivia, who came after
these dispositions had been made, accepted a colonel's commission, with
the understanding that he was to be consulted and employed in all
matters of moment.7--Having completed his arrangements, the president
broke up his camp in March, 1548, and moved upon Cuzco.

The first obstacle of his progress was the river Abancay, the bridge ever
which had been broken down by the enemy.  But as there was no force to
annoy them on the opposite bank, the army was not long in preparing a
new bridge, and throwing it across the stream, which in this place had
nothing formidable in its character.  The road now struck into the heart
of a mountain region, where woods, precipices, and ravines were
mingled together in a sort of chaotic confusion, with here and there a
green and sheltered valley, glittering like an island of verdure amidst the
wild breakers of a troubled ocean!  The bold peaks of the Andes, rising
far above the clouds, were enveloped in snow, which, descending far
down their sides, gave a piercing coldness to the winds that swept over
their surface, until men and horses were benumbed and stiffened under
their influence.  The roads, in these regions, were in some places so
narrow and broken, as to be nearly impracticable for cavalry.  The
cavaliers were compelled to dismount; and the president, with the rest,
performed the journey on foot, so hazardous, that, even in later times, it
has been no uncommon thing for the sure-footed mule to be precipitated,
with its cargo of silver, thousands of feet down the sheer sides of a
precipice.8

By these impediments of the ground, the march was so retarded, that the
troops seldom accomplished more than two leagues a day.9  Fortunately,
the distance was not great; and the president looked with more
apprehension to the passage of the Apurimac, which he was now
approaching.  This river, one of the most formidable tributaries of the
Amazon, rolls its broad waters through the gorges of the Cordilleras, that
rise up like an immense rampart of rock on either side, presenting a
natural barrier which it would be easy for an enemy to make good
against a force much superior to his own.  The bridges over this river, as
Gasca learned before his departure from Andaguaylas, had been all
destroyed by Pizarro.  The president, accordingly, had sent to explore the
banks of the stream, and determine the most eligible spot for
reestablishing communications with the opposite side.

The place selected was near the Indian village of Cotapampa, about nine
leagues from Cuzco; for the river, though rapid and turbulent from being
compressed within more narrow limits, was here less than two hundred
paces in width; a distance, however, not inconsiderable.  Directions had
been given to collect materials in large quantities in the neighborhood of
this spot as soon as possible; and at the same time, in order to perplex the
enemy and compel him to divide his forces, should he be disposed to
resist, materials in smaller quantities were assembled on three other
points of the river.  The officer stationed in the neighborhood of
Cotapampa was instructed not to begin to lay the bridge, till the arrival
of a sufficient force should accelerate the work, and insure its success.

The structure in question, it should be remembered, was one of those
suspension bridges formerly employed by the Incas, and still used in
crossing the deep and turbulent rivers of South America.  They are made
of osier withes, twisted into enormous cables, which, when stretched
across the water, are attached to heavy blocks of masonry, or, where it
will serve, to the natural rock.  Planks are laid transversely across these
cables, and a passage is thus secured, which, notwithstanding the light
and fragile appearance of the bridge, as it swings at an elevation
sometimes of several hundred feet above the abyss, affords a tolerably
safe means of conveyance for men, and even for such heavy burdens as
artillery.10

Notwithstanding the peremptory commands of Gasca, the officer
intrusted with collecting the materials for the bridge was so anxious to
have the honor of completing the work himself, that he commenced it at
once.  The president, greatly displeased at learning this, quickened his
march, in order to cover the work with his whole force.  But, while
toiling through the mountain labyrinth, tidings were brought him that a
party of the enemy had demolished the small portion of the bridge
already made, by cutting the cables on the opposite bank.  Valdivia,
accordingly, hastened forward at the head of two hundred arquebusiers,
while the main body of the army followed with as much speed as
practicable.

That officer, on reaching the spot, found that the interruption had been
caused by a small party of Pizarro's followers, not exceeding twenty in
number, assisted by a stronger body of Indians.  He at once caused
balsas, broad and clumsy barks, or rather rafts, of the country, to be
provided, and by this means passed his men over, without opposition, to
the other side of the river.  The enemy, disconcerted by the arrival of
such a force, retreated and made the best of their way to report the affair
to their commander at Cuzco.  Meanwhile, Valdivia, who saw the
Importance of every moment in the present crisis, pushed forward the
work with the greatest vigor.  Through all that night his weary troops
continued the labor, which was already well advanced, when the
president and his battalions, emerging from the passes of the Cordilleras,
presented themselves at sunrise on the opposite bank.

Little time was given for repose, as all felt assured that the success of
their enterprise hung on the short respite now given them by the
improvident enemy.  The president, with his principal officers, took part
in the labor with the common soldiers;11 and before ten o'clock in the
evening, Gasca had the satisfaction to see the bridge so well secured, that
the leading files of the army, unencumbered by their baggage, might
venture to cross it.  A short time sufficed to place several hundred men
on the other bank.  But here a new difficulty, not less formidable than
that of the river, presented itself to the troops.  The ground rose up with
an abrupt, almost precipitous, swell from the river-side, till, in the
highest peaks, it reached an elevation of several thousand feet.  This
steep ascent, though not to its full height, indeed, was now to be
surmounted.  The difficulties of the ground, broken up into fearful
chasms and water-courses, and tangled with thickets, were greatly
increased by the darkness of the night; and the soldiers, as they toiled
slowly upward, were filled with apprehension, akin to fear, from the
uncertainty whether each successive step might not bring them into an
ambuscade, for which the ground was so favorable.  More than once, the
Spaniards were thrown into a panic by false reports that the enemy were
upon them.  But Hinojosa and Valdivia were at hand to rally their men,
and cheer them on, until, at length, before dawn broke, the bold cavaliers
and their followers placed themselves on the highest point traversed by
the road, where they waited the arrival of the president.  This was not
long delayed; and in the course of the following morning, the royalists
were already in sufficient strength to bid defiance to their enemy.

The passage of the river had been effected with less loss than might have
been expected, considering the darkness of the night, and the numbers
that crowded over the aerial causeway.  Some few, indeed, fell into the
water, and were drowned; and more than sixty horses, in the attempt to
swim them across the river, were hurried down the current, and dashed
against the rocks below.12  It still required time to bring up the heavy
train of ordnance and the military wagons; and the president encamped
on the strong ground which he now occupied, to await their arrival, and
to breathe his troops after their extraordinary efforts.  In these quarters
we must leave him, to acquaint the reader with the state of things in the
insurgent army, and with the cause of its strange remissness in guarding
the passes of the Apurimac.13

From the time of Pizarro's occupation of Cuzco, he had lived in careless
luxury in the midst of his followers, like a soldier of fortune in the hour
of prosperity; enjoying the present, with as little concern for the future as
if the crown of Peru were already fixed irrevocably upon his head.  It
was otherwise with Carbajal.  He looked on the victory at Huarina as the
commencement, not the close, of the struggle for empire; and he was
indefatigable in placing his troops in the best condition for maintaining
their present advantage.  At the first streak of dawn, the veteran might be
seen mounted on his mule, with the garb and air of a common soldier,
riding about in the different quarters of the capital, sometimes
superintending the manufacture of arms, or providing military stores, and
sometimes drilling his men, for he was most careful always to maintain
the strictest discipline.  His restless spirit seemed to find no pleasure
but in incessant action; living, as he had always done, in the turmoil of
military adventure, he had no relish for any thing unconnected with war,
and in the city saw only the materials for a well organized camp.

With these feelings, he was much dissatisfied at the course taken by his
younger leader, who now professed his intention to abide where he was,
and, when the enemy advanced, to give him battle.  Carbajal advised a
very different policy.  He had not that full confidence, it would seem, in
the loyalty of Pizarro's partisans, at least, not of those who had once
followed the banner of Centeno.  These men, some three hundred in
number, had been in a manner compelled to take service under Pizarro.
They showed no heartiness in the cause, and the veteran strongly urged
his commander to disband them at once; since it was far better to go to
battle with a few faithful followers than with a host of the false and faint-
hearted.

But Carbajal thought, also, that his leader was not sufficiently strong in
numbers to encounter his opponent, supported as he was by the best
captains of Peru.  He advised, accordingly, that he should abandon
Cuzco, carrying off all the treasure, provisions, and stores of every kind
from the city, which might, in any way, serve the necessities of the
royalists.  The latter, on their arrival, disappointed by the poverty of a
place where they had expected to find so much booty, would become
disgusted with the service.  Pizarro, meanwhile, might take refuge with
his men in the neighboring fastnesses, where, familiar with the ground, it
would be easy to elude the enemy; and if the latter persevered in the
pursuit, with numbers diminished by desertion, it would not be difficult
in the mountain passes to find an opportunity for assailing him at
advantage.--Such was the wary counsel of the old warrior.  But it was not
to the taste of his fiery commander, who preferred to risk the chances of
a battle, rather than turn his back on a foe.

Neither did Pizarro show more favor to a proposition, said to have been
made by the Licentiate Cepeda,--that he should avail himself of his late
success to enter into negotiations with Gasca.  Such advice, from the
man who had so recently resisted all overtures of the president, could
only have proceeded from a conviction, that the late victory placed
Pizarro on a vantage-ground for demanding terms far better than would
have been before conceded to him.  It may be that subsequent experience
had also led him to distrust the fidelity of Gonzalo's followers, or,
possibly, the capacity of their chief to conduct them through the present
crisis.  Whatever may have been the motives of the slippery counsellor,
Pizarro gave little heed to the suggestion, and even showed some
resentment, as the matter was pressed on him.  In every contest, with
Indian or European, whatever had been the odds, he had come off
victorious.  He was not now for the first time to despond; and he
resolved to remain in Cuzco, and hazard all on the chances of a battle.
There was something in the hazard itself captivating to his bold and
chivalrous temper.  In this, too, he was confirmed by some of the
cavaliers who had followed him through all his fortunes; reckless young
adventurers, who, like himself, would rather risk all on a single throw of
the dice, than adopt the cautious, and, as it seemed to them, timid, policy
of graver counsellors.  It was by such advisers, then, that Pizarro's future
course was to be shaped.15

Such was the state of affairs in Cuzco, when Pizarro's soldiers returned
with the tidings, that a detachment of the enemy had crossed the
Apurimac, and were busy in reestablishing the bridge.  Carbajal saw at
once the absolute necessity of maintaining this pass.  "It is my affair," he
said; "I claim to be employed on this service.  Give me but a hundred
picked men, and I will engage to defend the pass against an army, and
bring back the chaplain--the name by which the president was known in
the rebel camp---a prisoner to Cuzco." 16  "I cannot spare you, father,"
said Gonzalo, addressing him by this affectionate epithet, which he
usually applied to his aged follower,17 "I cannot spare you so far from
my own person"; and he gave the commission to Juan de Acosta, a
young cavalier warmly attached to his commander, and who had given
undoubted evidence of his valor on more than one occasion, but who, as
the event proved, was signally deficient in the qualities demanded for
so critical an undertaking as the present.  Acosta, accordingly, was
placed at the head of two hundred mounted musketeers, and, after much
wholesome counsel from Carbajal, set out on his expedition.

But he soon forgot the veteran's advice, and moved at so dull a pace over
the difficult roads, that, although the distance was not more than nine
leagues, he found, on his arrival, the bridge completed, and so large a
body of the enemy already crossed, that he was in no strength to attack
them.  Acosta did, indeed, meditate an ambuscade by night; but the
design was betrayed by a deserter, and he contented himself with
retreating to a safe distance, and sending for a further reinforcement from
Cuzco.  Three hundred men were promptly detached to his support; but
when they arrived, the enemy was already planted in full force on the
crest of the eminence.  The golden opportunity was irrecoverably lost;
and the disconsolate cavalier rode back in all haste to report the failure
of his enterprise to his commander in Cuzco.18

The only question now to be decided was as to the spot where Gonzalo
'Pizarro should give battle to his enemies.  He determined at once to
abandon the capital, and wait for his opponents in the neighboring valley
of Xaquixaguana.  It was about five leagues distant, and the reader may
remember it as the place where Francis Pizarro burned the Peruvian
general Challcuchima, on his first occupation of Cuzco.  The valley,
fenced round by the lofty rampart of the Andes, was, for the most part,
green and luxuriant, affording many picturesque points of view; and,
from the genial temperature of the climate, had been a favorite summer
residence of the Indian nobles, many of whose pleasure-houses still
dotted the sides of the mountains.  A river, or rather stream, of no great
volume, flowed through one end of this inclosure, and the neighboring
soil was so wet and miry as to have the character of a morass.

Here the rebel commander arrived, after a tedious march over roads not
easily traversed by his train of heavy wagons and artillery.  His forces
amounted in all to about nine hundred men, with some half-dozen pieces
of ordnance.  It was a well-appointed body, and under excellent
discipline, for it had been schooled by the strictest martinet in the
Peruvian service.  But it was the misfortune of Pizarro that his army was
composed, in part, at least, of men on whose attachment to his cause he
could not confidently rely.  This was a deficiency which no courage nor
skill in the leader could supply.

On entering the valley, Pizarro selected the eastern quarter of it, towards
Cuzco, as the most favorable spot for his encampment.  It was crossed by
the stream above mentioned, and he stationed his army in such a manner,
that, while one extremity of the camp rested on a natural barrier formed
by the mountain cliffs that here rose up almost perpendicularly, the other
was protected by the river.  While it was scarcely possible, therefore, to
assail his flanks, the approaches in front were so extremely narrowed by
these obstacles, that it would not be easy to overpower him by numbers
in that direction.  In the rear, his communications remained open with
Cuzco, furnishing a ready means for obtaining supplies.  Having secured
this strong position, he resolved patiently to wait the assault of the
enemy.19

Meanwhile, the royal army had been toiling up the steep sides of the
Cordilleras, until, at the close of the third day, the president had the
satisfaction to find himself surrounded by his whole force, with their
guns and military stores.  Having now sufficiently refreshed his men, he
resumed his march, and all went forward with the buoyant confidence of
bringing their quarrel with the tyrant, as Pizarro was called, to a speedy
issue.

Their advance was slow, as in the previous part of the march, for the
ground was equally embarrassing.  It was not long, however, before the
president learned that his antagonist had pitched his camp in the
neighboring valley of Xaquixaguana.  Soon afterward, two friars, sent by
Gonzalo himself, appeared in the army, for the ostensible purpose of
demanding a sight of the powers with which Gasca was intrusted.  But as
their conduct gave reason to suspect they were spies, the president
caused the holy men to be seized, and refused to allowed them to return
to Pizarro.  By an emissary of his own, whom he despatched to the rebel
chief, he renewed the assurance of pardon already given him, in case he
would lay down his arms and submit.  Such an act of generosity, at this
late hour, must be allowed to be highly creditable to Gasca, believing, as
he probably did, that the game was in his own hands.--It is a pity that the
anecdote does not rest on the best authority.20

After a march of a couple of days, the advanced guard of the royalists
came suddenly on the outposts of the insurgents, from whom they had
been concealed by a thick mist, and a slight skirmish took place between
them.  At length, on the morning of the eighth of April, the royal army,
turning the crest of the lofty range that belts round the lovely valley of
Xaquixaguana, beheld far below on the opposite side the glittering lines
of the enemy, with their white pavilions, looking like clusters of wild
fowl nestling among the cliffs of the mountains.  And still further off
might be descried a host of Indian warriors, showing gaudily in their
variegated costumes; for the natives, in this part of the country, with little
perception of their true interests, manifested great zeal in the cause of
Pizarro.

Quickening their step, the royal army now hastily descended the steep
sides of the sierra; and notwithstanding every effort of their officers, they
moved in so little order, each man picking his way as he could, that the
straggling column presented many a vulnerable point to the enemy; and
the descent would not have been accomplished without considerable
loss, had Pizarro's cannon been planted on any of the favorable positions
which the ground afforded.  But that commander, far from attempting to
check the president's approach, remained doggedly in the strong position
he had occupied, with the full confidence that his adversaries would not
hesitate to assail it, strong as it was, in the same manner as they had done
at Huarina.21

Yet he did not omit to detach a corps of arquebusiers to secure a
neighboring eminence or spur of the Cordilleras, which in the hands of
the enemy might cause some annoyance to his own camp, while it
commanded still more effectually the ground soon to be occupied by the
assailants.  But his manoeuvre was noticed by Hinojosa; and he defeated
it by sending a stronger detachment of the royal musketeers, who
repulsed the rebels, and, after a short skirmish, got possession of the
heights.  Gasca's general profited by this success to plant a small battery
of cannon on the eminence, from which, although the distance was too
great for him to do much execution, he threw some shot into the hostile
camp.  One ball, indeed, struck down two men, one of them Pizarro's
page, killing a horse, at the same time, which he held by the bridle; and
the chief instantly ordered the tents to be struck, considering that they
afforded too obvious a mark for the artillery.22

Meanwhile, the president's forces had descended into the valley, and as
they came on the plain were formed into line by their officers.  The
ground occupied by the army was somewhat lower than that of their
enemy, whose shot, as discharged, from time to time, from his batteries,
passed over their heads.  Information was now brought by a deserter, one
of Centeno's old followers, that Pizarro was getting ready for a night
attack.  The president, in consequence, commanded his whole force to be
drawn up in battle array, prepared, at any instant, to repulse the assault.
But if such were meditated by the insurgent chief, he abandoned it,--and,
as it is said, from a distrust of the fidelity of some of the troops, who,
under cover of the darkness, he feared, would go over to the opposite
side.  If this be true, he must have felt the full force of Carbajal's
admonition, when too late to profit by it.  The unfortunate commander
was in the situation of some bold, high-mettled cavalier, rushing to battle
on a war-horse whose tottering joints threaten to give way under him at
every step, and leave his rider to the mercy of his enemies!

The president's troops stood to their arms the greater part of the night,
although the air from the mountains was so keen, that it was with
difficulty they could hold their lances in their hands.23  But before the
rising sun had kindled into a glow the highest peaks of the sierra, both
camps were in motion, and busily engaged in preparations for the
combat.  The royal army was formed into two battalions of infantry, one
to attack the enemy in front, and the other, if possible, to operate on his
flank.  These battalions were protected by squadrons of horse on the
wings and in the rear, while reserves both of horse and arquebusiers were
stationed to act as occasion might require.  The dispositions were made
in so masterly a manner, as to draw forth a hearty eulogium from old
Carbajal, who exclaimed, "Surely the Devil or Valdivia must be among
them!" an undeniable compliment to the latter, since the speaker was
ignorant of that commander's presence in the camp.24

Gasca, leaving the conduct of the battle to his officers, withdrew to the
rear with his train of clergy and licentiates, the last of whom did not
share in the ambition of their rebel brother, Cepeda, to break a lance in
the field.

Gonzalo Pizarro formed his squadron in the same manner as he had done
on the plains of Huarina; except that the increased number of his horse
now enabled him to cover both flanks of his infantry.  It was still on his
fire-arms, however, that he chiefly relied.  As the ranks were formed, he
rode among them, encouraging his men to do their duty like brave
cavaliers, and true soldiers of the Conquest.  Pizarro was superbly
armed, as usual, and wore a complete suit of mail, of the finest
manufacture, which, as well as his helmet, was richly inlaid with gold.25
He rode a chestnut horse of great strength and spirit, and as he galloped
along the line, brandishing his lance, and displaying his easy
horsemanship.  he might be thought to form no bad personification of the
Genius of Chivalry.  To complete his dispositions he ordered Cepeda to
lead up the infantry for the licentiate seems to have had a larger share in
the conduct of his affairs of late, or at least in the present military
arrangements, than Carbajal.  The latter, indeed, whether from disgust at
the course taken by his leader, or from a distrust, which, it is said, he did
not affect to conceal, of the success of the present operations, disclaimed
all responsibility for them, and chose to serve rather as a private cavalier
than as a commander.26  Yet Cepeda, as the event showed, was no less
shrewd in detecting the coming ruin.

When he had received his orders from Pizarro he rode forward as if to
select the ground for his troops to occupy; and in doing so disappeared
for a few moments behind a projecting cliff.  He soon reappeared,
however, and was seen galloping at full speed across the plain.  His men
looked with astonishment, yet not distrusting his motives, till, as he
continued his course direct towards the enemy's lines, his treachery
became apparent.  Several pushed forward to overtake him, and among
them a cavalier, better mounted than Cepeda.  The latter rode a horse of
no great strength or speed, quite unfit for this critical manoeuvre of his
master.  The animal, was, moreover, encumbered by the weight of the
caparisons with which his ambitious rider had loaded him, so that, on
reaching a piece of miry ground that lay between the armies, his pace
was greatly retarded.27  Cepeda's pursuers rapidly gained on him, and
the cavalier above noticed came, at length, so near as to throw a lance at
the fugitive, which, wounding him in the thigh, pierced his horse's flank,
and they both came headlong to the ground.  It would have fared ill with
the licentiate, in this emergency, but fortunately a small party of troopers
on the other side, who had watched the chase, now galloped briskly
forward to the rescue, and, beating off his pursuers, they recovered
Cepeda from the mire, and bore him to the president's quarters.

He was received by Gasca with the greatest satisfaction,--so great, that,
according to one chronicler, he did not disdain to show it by saluting the
licentiate on the cheek.28  The anecdote is scarcely reconcilable with the
characters and relations of the parties, or with the president's subsequent
conduct.  Gasca, however, recognized the full value of his prize, and the
effect which his desertion at such a time must have on the spirits of the
rebels.  Cepeda's movement, so unexpected by his own party, was the
result of previous deliberation, as he had secretly given assurance, it is
said, to the prior of Arequipa, then in the royal camp, that, if Gonzalo
Pizarro could not be induced to accept the pardon offered him, he would
renounce his cause.29  The time selected by the crafty counsellor for
doing so was that most fatal to the interests of his commander.

The example of Cepeda was contagious.  Garcilasso de la Vega, father of
the historian, a cavalier of old family, and probably of higher
consideration than any other in Pizarro's party, put spurs to his horse, at
the same time with the licentiate, and rode over to the enemy.  Ten or a
dozen of the arquebusiers followed in the same direction, and succeeded
in placing themselves under the protection of the advanced guard of the
royalists.

Pizarro stood aghast at this desertion, in so critical a juncture, of those in
whom he had most trusted.  He was, for a moment, bewildered.  The very
ground on which he stood seemed to be crumbling beneath him.  With
this state of feeling among his soldiers, he saw that every minute of delay
was fatal.  He dared not wait for the assault, as he had intended, in his
strong position, but instantly gave the word to advance.  Gasca's general,
Hinojosa, seeing the enemy in motion, gave similar orders to his own
troops.  Instantly the skirmishers and arquebusiers on the flanks moved
rapidly forward, the artillery prepared to open their fire, and "the whole
army," says the president in his own account of the affair, "advanced
with steady step and perfect determination." 30

But before a shot was fired, a column of arquebusiers, composed chiefly
of Centeno's followers, abandoned their post, and marched directly over
to the enemy.  A squadron of horse, sent in pursuit of them, followed
their example.  The president instantly commanded his men to halt,
unwilling to spill blood unnecessarily, as the rebel host was like to fall to
pieces of itself.

Pizarro's faithful adherents were seized with a panic, as they saw
themselves and their leader thus betrayed into the enemy's hands.
Further resistance was useless.  Some threw down their arms and fled in
the direction of Cuzco.  Others sought to escape to the mountains; and
some crossed to the opposite side, and surrendered themselves prisoners,
hoping it was not too late to profit by the promises of grace.  The Indian
allies, on seeing the Spaniards falter, had been the first to go off the
ground.31

Pizarro, amidst the general wreck, found himself left with only a few
cavaliers who disdained to fly.  Stunned by the unexpected reverse of
fortune, the unhappy chief could hardly comprehend his situation.
"What remains for us?" said he to Acosta, one of those who still adhered
to him.  "Fall on the enemy, since nothing else is left," answered the non-
hearted soldier, "and die like Romans!" "Better to die like Christians,"
replied his commander; and, slowly turning his horse, he rode off in the
direction of the royal army.32

He had not proceeded far, when he was met by an officer, to whom, after
ascertaining his name and rank, Pizarro delivered up his sword, and
yielded himself prisoner.  The officer, overjoyed at his prize, conducted
him, at once, to the president's quarters.  Gasca was on horseback,
surrounded by his captains, some of whom, when they recognized the
person of the captive, had the grace to withdraw, that they might not
witness his humiliation.33  Even the best of them, with a sense of right
on their side, may have felt some touch of compunction at the thought
that their desertion had brought their benefactor to this condition.

Pizarro kept his seat in his saddle, but, as he approached, made a
respectful obeisance to the president, which the latter acknowledged by a
cold salute.  Then, addressing his prisoner in a tone of severity, Gasca
abruptly inquired,--"Why he had thrown the country into such confusion;
--raising the banner of revolt; killing the viceroy; usurping the
government; and obstinately refusing the offers of grace that had been
repeatedly made him?"

Gonzalo attempted to justify himself by referring the fate of the viceroy
to his misconduct, and his own usurpation, as it was styled, to the free
election of the people, as well as that of the Royal Audience.  "It was my
family," he said, "who conquered the country; and, as their
representative here, I felt I had a right to the government."  To this Gasca
replied, in a still severer tone, "Your brother did, indeed, conquer the
land; and for this the emperor was pleased to raise both him and you
from the dust.  He lived and died a true and loyal subject; and it only
makes your ingratitude to your sovereign the more heinous."  Then,
seeing his prisoner about to reply, the president cut short the conference,
ordering him into close confinement.  He was committed to the charge of
Centeno, who had sought the office, not from any unworthy desire to
gratify his revenge,--for he seems to have had a generous nature,--but for
the honorable purpose of ministering to the comfort of the captive.
Though held in strict custody by this officer, therefore, Pizarro was
treated with the deference due to his rank, and allowed every indulgence
by his keeper, except his freedom.34

In this general wreck of their fortunes, Francisco de Carbajal fared no
better than his chief.  As he saw the soldiers deserting their posts and
going over to the enemy, one after another, he coolly hummed the words
of his favorite old ballad,--

"The wind blows the hairs off my head, mother!"

But when he found the field nearly empty, and his stout-hearted
followers vanished like a wreath of smoke, he felt it was time to provide
for his own safety.  He knew there could be no favor for him; and,
putting spurs to his horse, he betook himself to flight with all the speed
he could make.  He crossed the stream that flowed, as already
mentioned, by the camp, but, in scaling the opposite bank, which was
steep and stony, his horse, somewhat old, and oppressed by the weight of
his rider, who was large and corpulent, lost his footing and fell with him
into the water.  Before he could extricate himself, Carbajal was seized by
some of his own followers, who hoped, by such a prize, to make their
peace with the victor, and hurried off towards the president's quarters.

The convoy was soon swelled by a number of the common file from the
royal army, some of whom had long arrears to settle with the prisoner;
and, not content with heaping reproaches and imprecations on his head,
they now threatened to proceed to acts of personal violence, which
Carbajal, far from deprecating, seemed rather to court, as the speediest
way of ridding himself of life.35  When he approached the president's
quarters, Centeno, who was near, rebuked the disorderly rabble, and
compelled them to give way.  Carbajal, on seeing this, with a respectful
air demanded to whom he was indebted for this courteous protection.  To
which his ancient comrade replied, "Do you not know me?  Diego
Centeno!" "I crave your pardon," said the veteran, sarcastically alluding
to his long flight in the Charcas, and his recent defeat at Huarina; "it is so
long since I have seen any thing but your back, that I had forgotten your
face!" 36

Among the president's suite was the martial bishop of Cuzco, who, it will
be remembered, had shared with Centeno in the disgrace of his defeat.
His brother had been taken by Carbajal, in his flight from the field, and
instantly hung up by that fierce chief, who, as we have had more than
one occasion to see, was no respecter of persons.  The bishop now
reproached him with his brother's murder, and, incensed by his cool
replies, was ungenerous enough to strike the prisoner on the face.
Carbajal made no attempt at resistance.  Nor would he return a word to
the queries put to him by Gasca; but, looking haughtily round on the
circle, maintained a contemptuous silence.  The president, seeing that
nothing further was to be gained from his captive, ordered him, together
with Acosta, and the other cavaliers who had surrendered, into strict
custody, until their fate should be decided.37

Gasca's next concern was to send an officer to Cuzco, to restrain his
partisans from committing excesses in consequence of the late victory, if
victory that could be called, where not a blow had been struck.  Every
thing belonging to the vanquished, their tents, arms, ammunition, and
military stores, became the property of the victors.  Their camp was well
victualled, furnishing a seasonable supply to the royalists, who had
nearly expended their own stock of provisions.  There was, moreover,
considerable booty in the way of plate and money; for Pizarro's men, as
was not uncommon in those turbulent times, went, many of them, to the
war with the whole of their worldly wealth, not knowing of any safe
place in which to bestow it.  An anecdote is told of one of Gasca's
soldiers, who, seeing a mule running over the field, with a large pack on
his back, seized the animal, and mounted him, having first thrown away
the burden, supposing it to contain armour, or something of little worth.
Another soldier, more shrewd, picked up the parcel, as his share of the
spoil, and found it contained several thousand gold ducats!   It was the
fortune of war.38

Thus terminated the battle, or rather rout, of Xaquixaguana.  The number
of killed and wounded--for some few perished in the pursuit-was not
great; according to most accounts, not exceeding fifteen killed on the
rebel side, and one only on that of the royalists!  and that one by the
carelessness of a comrade.39  Never was there a cheaper victory; so
bloodless a termination of a fierce and bloody rebellion!  It was gained
not so much by the strength of the victors as by the weakness of the
vanquished.  They fell to pieces of their own accord, because they had no
sure ground to stand on.  The arm, not nerved by the sense of right,
became powerless in the hour of battle.  It was better that they should
thus be overcome by moral force than by a brutal appeal to arms.  Such a
victory was more in harmony with the beneficent character of the
conqueror and of his cause.  It was the triumph of order; the best homage
to law and justice.


Book 5

Chapter 4

Execution Of Carbajal--Gonzalo Pizarro Beheaded--Spoils Of Victory-
Wise Reforms By Gasca--He Returns To Spain-
His Death And Character

1548--1550

It was now necessary to decide on the fate of the prisoners; and Alonso
de Alvarado, with the Licentiate Cianca, one of the new Royal Audience,
was instructed to prepare the process.  It did not require a long time.  The
guilt of the prisoners was too manifest, taken, as they had been, with
arms in their hands.  They were all sentenced to be executed, and their
estates were confiscated to the use of the Crown.  Gonzalo Pizarro was
to be beheaded, and Carbajal to be drawn and quartered.  No mercy was
shown to him who had shown none to others.  There was some talk of
deferring the execution till the arrival of the troops in Cuzco; but the fear
of disturbances from those friendly to Pizarro determined the president
to carry the sentence into effect the following day, on the field of battle.1

When his doom was communicated to Carbajal, he heard it with his
casual indifference.  "They can but kill me," he said, as if he had already
settled the matter in his own mind.2  During the day, many came to see
him in his confinement; some to upbraid him with his cruelties; but most,
from curiosity to see the fierce warrior who had made his name so
terrible through the land.  He showed no unwillingness to talk with them,
though it was in those sallies of caustic humor in which he usually
indulged at the expense of his hearer.  Among these visitors was a
cavalier of no note, whose life, it appears, Carbajal had formerly spared,
when in his power.  This person expressed to the prisoner his strong
desire to serve him; and as he reiterated his professions, Carbajal cut
them short by exclaiming,--"And what service can you do me?  Can you
set me free?  If you cannot do that, you can do nothing.  If I spared your
life, as you say, it was probably because I did not think it worth while to
take it."

Some piously disposed persons urged him to see a priest, if it were only
to unburden his conscience before leaving the world.  "But of what use
would that be?" asked Carbajal.  "I have nothing that lies heavy on my
conscience, unless it be, indeed, the debt of half a real to a shopkeeper in
Seville, which I forgot to pay before leaving the country!" 3

He was carried to execution on a hurdle, or rather in a basket, drawn by
two mules.  His arms were pinioned, and, as they forced his bulky body
into this miserable conveyance, he exclaimed,---"Cradles for infants, and
a cradle for the old man too, it seems!" 4  Notwithstanding the
disinclination he had manifested to a confessor, he was attended by
several ecclesiastics on his way to the gallows; and one of them
repeatedly urged him to give some token of penitence at this solemn
hour, if it were only by repeating the Pater Noster and Ave Maria.
Carbajal, to rid himself of the ghostly father's importunity, replied by
coolly repeating the words, "Pater Noster," "Ave Maria"!  He then
remained obstinately silent.  He died, as he had lived, with a jest, or
rather a scoff, upon his lips.5

Francisco de Carbajal was one of the most extraordinary characters of
these dark and turbulent times; the more extraordinary from his great
age; for, at the period of his death, he was in his eighty-fourth year;--an
age when the bodily powers, and, fortunately, the passions, are usually
blunted; when, in the witty words of the French moralist, "We flatter
ourselves we are leaving our vices, whereas it is our vices that are
leaving us." 6  But the fires of youth glowed fierce and unquenchable in
the bosom of Carbajal.

The date of his birth carries us back towards the middle of the fifteenth
century, before the times of Ferdinand and Isabella.  He was of obscure
parentage, and born, as it is said, at Arevalo.  For forty years he served in
the Italian wars, under the most illustrious captains of the day, Gonsalvo
de Cordova, Navarro, and the Colonnas.  He was an ensign at the battle
of Ravenna; witnessed the capture of Francis the First at Pavia; and
followed the banner of the ill-starred Bourbon at the sack of Rome.  He
got no gold for his share of the booty, on this occasion, but simply the
papers of a notary's office, which, Carbajal shrewdly thought, would be
worth gold to him.  And so it proved; for the notary was fain to redeem
them at a price which enabled the adventurer to cross the seas to Mexico,
and seek his fortune in the New World.  On the insurrection of the
Peruvians, he was sent to the support of Francis Pizarro, and was
rewarded by that chief with a grant of land in Cuzco.  Here he remained
for several years, busily employed in increasing his substance; for the
love of lucre was a ruling passion in his bosom.  On the arrival of Vaca
de Castro, we find him doing good service under the royal banner; and at
the breaking out of the great rebellion under Gonzalo Pizarro, he
converted his property into gold, and prepared to return to Castile.  He
seemed to have a presentiment that to remain where he was would be
fatal.  But, although he made every effort to leave Peru, he was
unsuccessful, for the viceroy had laid an embargo on the shipping.7  He
remained in the country, therefore, and took service, as we have seen,
though reluctantly, under Pizarro.  It was his destiny.

The tumultuous life on which he now entered roused all the slumbering
passions of his soul, which lay there, perhaps unconsciously to himself;
cruelty, avarice, revenge.  He found ample exercise for them in the war
with his countrymen; for civil war is proverbially the most sanguinary
and ferocious of all.  The atrocities recorded of Carbajal, in his new
career, and the number of his victims, are scarcely credible.  For the
honor of humanity, we may trust the accounts are greatly exaggerated;
but that he should have given rise to them at all is sufficient to consign
his name to infamy.8

He even took a diabolical pleasure, it is said, in amusing himself with the
sufferings of his victims, and in the hour of execution would give
utterance to frightful jests, that made them taste more keenly the
bitterness of death!  He had a sportive vein, if such it could be called,
which he freely indulged on every occasion.  Many of his sallies were
preserved by the soldiery; but they are, for the most part, of a coarse,
repulsive character, flowing from a mind familiar with the weak and
wicked side of humanity, and distrusting every other.  He had his jest for
every thing,--for the misfortunes of others, and for his own.  He looked
on life as a farce,--though he too often made it a tragedy.

Carbajal must be allowed one virtue; that of fidelity to his party.  This
made him less tolerant to perfidy in others.  He was never known to
show mercy to a renegade.  This undeviating fidelity, though to a bad
cause, may challenge something like a feeling of respect, where fidelity
was so rare.9

As a military man, Carbajal takes a high rank among the soldiers of the
New World.  He was strict, even severe, in enforcing discipline, so that
he was little loved by his followers.  Whether he had the genius for
military combinations requisite for conducting war on an extended scale
may be doubted; but in the shifts and turns of guerilla warfare he was
unrivalled.  Prompt, active, and persevering, he was insensible to danger
or fatigue, and, after days spent in the saddle, seemed to attach little
value to the luxury of a bed.10

He knew familiarly every mountain pass, and, such were the sagacity and
the resources displayed in his roving expeditions, that he was vulgarly
believed to be attended by a familiar.11  With a character so
extraordinary, with powers prolonged so far beyond the usual term of
humanity, and passions so fierce in one tottering on the verge of the
grave, it was not surprising that many fabulous stories should be eagerly
circulated respecting him, and that Carbajal should be clothed with
mysterious terrors as a sort of supernatural being,--the demon of the
Andes!

Very different were the circumstances attending the closing scene of
Gonzalo Pizarro.  At his request, no one had been allowed to visit him in
his confinement.  He was heard pacing his tent during the greater part of
the day, and when night came, having ascertained from Centeno that his
execution was to take place on the following noon, he laid himself down
to rest.  He did not sleep long, however, but soon rose, and continued to
traverse his apartment, as if buried in meditation, till dawn.  He then sent
for a confessor, and remained with him till after the hour of noon, taking
little or no refreshment.  The officers of justice became impatient; but
their eagerness was sternly rebuked by the soldiery, many of whom,
having served under Gonzalo's banner, were touched with pity for his
misfortunes.

When the chieftain came forth to execution, he showed in his dress the
same love of magnificence and display as in happier days.  Over his
doublet he wore a superb cloak of yellow velvet, stiff with gold
embroidery, while his head was protected by a cap of the same materials,
richly decorated, in like manner, with ornaments of gold.12  In this
gaudy attire he mounted his mule, and the sentence was so far relaxed
that his arms were suffered to remain unshackled.  He was escorted by a
goodly number of priests and friars, who held up the crucifix before his
eyes, while he carried in his own hand an image of the Virgin.  She had
ever been the peculiar object of Pizarro's devotion; so much so, that
those who knew him best in the hour of his prosperity were careful, when
they had a petition, to prefer it in the name of the blessed Mary.

Pizarro's lips were frequently pressed to the emblem of his divinity,
while his eyes were bent on the crucifix in apparent devotion, heedless of
the objects around him.  On reaching the scaffold, he ascended it with a
firm step, and asked leave to address a few words to the soldiery
gathered round it.  "There are many among you," said he, "who have
grown rich on my brother's bounty, and my own.  Yet, of all my riches,
nothing remains to me but the garments I have on; and even these are not
mine, but the property of the executioner.  I am without means, therefore,
to purchase a mass for the welfare of my soul; and I implore you, by the
remembrance of past benefits, to extend this charity to me when I am
gone, that it may be well with you in the hour of death."  A profound
silence reigned throughout the martial multitude, broken only by sighs
and groans, as they listened to Pizarro's request; and it was faithfully
responded to, since, after his death, masses were said in many of the
towns for the welfare of the departed chieftain.

Then, kneeling down before a crucifix placed on a table, Pizarro
remained for some minutes absorbed in prayer; after which, addressing
the soldier who was to act as the minister of justice, he calmly bade him
"do his duty with a steady hand"  He refused to have his eyes bandaged,
and, bending forward his neck, submitted it to the sword of the
executioner, who struck off the head with a single blow, so true that the
body remained for some moments in the same erect posture as in life.13
The head was taken to Lima, where it was set in a cage or frame, and
then fixed on a gibbet by the side of Carbajal's.  On it was placed a label,
bearing,-"This is the head of the traitor Gonzalo Pizarro, who rebelled
in Peru against his sovereign, and battled in the cause of tyranny and
treason against the royal standard in the valley of Xaquixaguana." 
His large estates, including the rich mines in Potosi, were confiscated;
his mansion in Lima was razed to the ground, the place strewed with salt,
and a stone pillar set up, with an inscription interdicting any one from
building on a spot which had been profaned by the residence of a traitor.

Gonzalo's remains were not exposed to the indignities inflicted on
Carbajal's, whose quarters were hung in chains on the four great roads
leading to Cuzco.  Centeno saved Pizarro's body from being stripped, by
redeeming his costly raiment from the executioner, and in this sumptuous
shroud it was laid in the chapel of the convent of Our Lady of Mercy in
Cuzco.  It was the same spot where, side by side, lay the bloody remains
of the Almagros, father and son, who in like manner had perished by the
hand of justice, and were indebted to private charity for their burial.  All
these were now consigned "to the same grave," says the historian, with
some bitterness, "as if Peru could not afford land enough for a burial-
place to its conquerors." 15

Gonzalo Pizarro had reached only his forty-second year at the time of his
death,--being just half the space allotted to his follower Carbajal.  He
was the youngest of the remarkable family to whom Spain was indebted
for the acquisition of Peru.  He came over to the country with his brother
Francisco, on the return of the latter from his visit to Castile.  Gonzalo
was present in all the remarkable passages of the Conquest.  He
witnessed the seizure of Atahuallpa, took an active part in suppressing
the insurrection of the Incas, and especially in the reduction of Charcas.
He afterwards led the disastrous expedition to the Amazon; and, finally,
headed the memorable rebellion which ended so fatally to himself.
There are but few men whose lives abound in such wild and romantic
adventure, and, for the most part, crowned with success.  The space
which he occupies in the page of history is altogether disproportioned to
his talents.  It may be in some measure ascribed to fortune, but still more
to those showy qualities which form a sort of substitute for mental talent,
and which secured his popularity with the vulgar.

He had a brilliant exterior; excelled in all martial exercises; rode well,
fenced well, managed his lance to perfection, was a first-rate marksman
with the arquebuse, and added the accomplishment of being an excellent
draughtsman.  He was bold and chivalrous, even to temerity; courted
adventure, and was always in the front of danger.  He was a knight-
errant, in short, in the most extravagant sense of the term, and, "mounted
on his favorite charger," says one who had often seen him, "made no
more account of a squadron of Indians than of a swarm of flies."16

While thus, by his brilliant exploits and showy manners, he captivated
the imaginations of his countrymen, he won their hearts no less by his
soldier-like frankness, his trust in their fidelity,--too often abused,-and
his liberal largesses; for Pizarro, though avaricious of the property of
others, was, like the Roman conspirator, prodigal of his own.  This was
his portrait in happier days, when his heart had not been corrupted by
success; for that some change was wrought on him by his prosperity is
well attested.  His head was made giddy by his elevation; and it is proof
of a want of talent equal to his success, that he knew not how to profit by
it.  Obeying the dictates of his own rash judgment, he rejected the
warnings of his wisest counsellors, and relied with blind confidence on
his destiny.  Garcilasso imputes this to the malignant influence of the
stars.17  But the superstitious chronicler might have better explained it
by a common principle of human nature; by the presumption nourished
by success; the insanity, as the Roman, or rather Grecian, proverb calls
it, with which the gods afflict men when they design to ruin them.18

Gonzalo was without education, except such as he had picked up in the
rough school of war.  He had little even of that wisdom which springs
from natural shrewdness and insight into character.  In all this he was
inferior to his elder brothers, although he fully equalled them in
ambition.  Had he possessed a tithe of their sagacity, he would not have
madly persisted in rebellion, after the coming of the president.  Before
this period, he represented the people.  Their interests and his were
united.  He had their support, for he was contending for the redress of
their wrongs.  When these were redressed by the government, there was
nothing to contend for.  From that time, he was battling only for himself.
The people had no part nor interest in the contest.  Without a common
sympathy to bind them together, was it strange that they should fall off
from him, like leaves in winter, and leave him exposed, a bare and
sapless trunk, to the fury of the tempest?

Cepeda, more criminal than Pizarro, since he had both superior
education and intelligence, which he employed only to mislead his
commander, did not long survive him.  He had come to the country in an
office of high responsibility.  His first step was to betray the viceroy
whom he was sent to support; his next was to betray the Audience with
whom he should have acted; and lastly, he betrayed the leader whom he
most affected to serve.  His whole career was treachery to his own
government.  His life was one long perfidy.

After his surrender, several of the cavaliers, disgusted at his coldblooded
apostasy, would have persuaded Gasca to send him to execution along
with his commander; but the president refused, in consideration of the
signal service he had rendered the Crown by his defection.  He was put
under arrest, however, and sent to Castile.  There he was arraigned for
high-treason.  He made a plausible defence, and as he had friends at
court, it is not improbable he would have been acquitted; but, before the
trial was terminated, he died in prison.  It was the retributive justice not
always to be found in the affairs of this world.19

Indeed, it so happened, that several of those who had been most forward
to abandon the cause of Pizarro survived their commander but a short
time.  The gallant Centeno, and the Licentiate Carbajal, who deserted
him near Lima, and bore the royal standard on the field of
Xaquixaguana, both died within a year after Pizarro.  Hinojosa was
assassinated but two years later in La Plata; and his old comrade
Valdivia, after a series of brilliant exploits in Chili, which furnished her
most glorious theme to the epic Muse of Castile, was cut off by the
invincible warriors of Arauco.  The Manes of Pizarro were amply
avenged.

Acosta, and three or four other cavaliers who surrendered with Gonzalo,
were sent to execution on the same day with their chief; and Gasca, on
the morning following the dismal tragedy, broke up his quarters and
marched with his whole army to Cuzco, where he was received by the
politic people with the same enthusiasm which they had so recently
shown to his rival.  He found there a number of the rebel army who bad
taken refuge in the city after their late defeat, where they were
immediately placed under arrest.  Proceedings, by Gasca's command,
were instituted against them.  The principal cavaliers, to the number of
ten or twelve, were executed; others were banished or sent to the galleys.
The same rigorous decrees were passed against such as had fled and
were not yet taken; and the estates of all were confiscated.  The estates of
the rebels supplied a fund for the recompense of the loyal.20  The
execution of justice may seem to have been severe; but Gasca was
willing that the rod should fall heavily on those who had so often
rejected his proffers of grace.  Lenity was wasted on a rude, licentious
soldiery, who hardly recognized the existence of government, unless they
felt its rigor.

A new duty now devolved on the president,--that of rewarding his
faithful followers,--not less difficult, as it proved, than that of punishing
the guilty.  The applicants were numerous; since every one who had
raised a finger in behalf of the government claimed his reward.  They
urged their demands with a clamorous importunity which perplexed the
good president, and consumed every moment of his time.

Disgusted with this unprofitable state of things, Gasca resolved to rid
himself of the annoyance at once, by retiring to the valley of
Guaynarima, about twelve leagues distant from the city, and there
digesting, in quiet, a scheme of compensation, adjusted to the merits of
the parties.  He was accompanied only by his secretary, and by Loaysa,
now archbishop of Lima, a man of sense, and well acquainted with the
affairs of the country.  In this seclusion the president remained three
months, making a careful examination into the conflicting claims, and
apportioning the forfeitures among the parties according to their
respective services.  The repartimientos, it should be remarked, were
usually granted only for life, and, on the death of the incumbent, reverted
to the Crown, to be reassigned or retained at its pleasure.

When his arduous task was completed, Gasca determined to withdraw to
Lima, leaving the instrument of partition with the archbishop, to be
communicated to the army.  Notwithstanding all the care that had been
taken for an equitable adjustment, Gasca was aware that it was
impossible to satisfy the demands of a jealous and irritable soldiery,
where each man would be likely to exaggerate his own deserts, while he
underrated those of his comrades; and he did not care to expose himself
to importunities and complaints that could serve no other purpose than to
annoy him.

On his departure, the troops were called together by the archbishop in
the cathedral, to learn the contents of the schedule intrusted to him.  A
discourse was first preached by a worthy Dominican, the prior of
Arequipa, in which the reverend father expatiated on the virtue of
contentment, the duty of obedience, and the folly, as well as wickedness,
of an attempt to resist the constituted authorities,--topics, in short, which
he conceived might best conciliate the good-will and conformity of his
audience.

A letter from the president was then read from the pulpit.  It was
addressed to the officers and soldiers of the army.  The writer began with
briefly exposing the difficulties of his task, owing to the limited amount
of the gratuities, and the great number and services of the claimants.  He
had given the matter the most careful consideration, he said, and
endeavored to assign to each his share, according to his deserts, without
prejudice or partiality.  He had, no doubt, fallen into errors, but he
trusted his followers would excuse them, when they reflected that he had
done according to the best of his poor abilities; and all, he believed,
would do him the justice to acknowledge he had not been influenced by
motives of personal interest.  He bore emphatic testimony to the services
they had rendered to the good cause, and concluded with the most
affectionate wishes for their future prosperity and happiness.  The letter
was dated at Guaynarima, August 17, 1548, and bore the simple
signature of the Licentiate Gasca.21

The archbishop next read the paper containing the president's award.
The annual rent of the estates to be distributed amounted to a hundred
and thirty thousand pesos ensayados;22 a large amount, considering the
worth of money in that day,--in any other country than Peru, where
money was a drug.23

The repartimientos thus distributed varied in value from one hundred to
thirty-five hundred pesos of yearly rent; all, apparently, graduated with
the nicest precision to the merits of the parties.  The number of
pensioners was about two hundred and fifty; for the fund would not have
sufficed for general distribution, nor were the services of the greater part
deemed worthy of such a mark of consideration.24

The effect produced by the document, on men whose minds were filled
with the most indefinite expectations, was just such as had been
anticipated by the president.  It was received with a general murmur of
disapprobation.  Even those who had got more than they expected were
discontented, on comparing their condition with that of their comrades,
whom they thought still better remunerated in proportion to their deserts.
They especially inveighed against the preference shown to the old
partisans of Gonzalo Pizarro--as Hinojosa, Centeno, and Aldana-over
those who had always remained loyal to the Crown.  There was some
ground for such a preference; for none had rendered so essential services
in crushing the rebellion; and it was these services that Gasca proposed
to recompense.  To reward every man who had proved himself loyal,
simply for his loyalty, would have frittered away the donative into
fractions that would be of little value to any.25

It was in vain, however, that the archbishop, seconded by some of the
principal cavaliers, endeavored to infuse a more contented spirit into the
multitude.  They insisted that the award should be rescinded, and a new
one made on more equitable principles; threatening, moreover, that, if
this were not done by the president, they would take the redress of the
matter into their own hands.  Their discontent, fomented by some
mischievous persons who thought to find their account in it, at length
proceeded so far as to menace a mutiny; and it was not suppressed till the
commander of Cuzco sentenced one of the ringleaders to death, and
several others to banishment.  The iron soldiery of the Conquest required
an iron hand to rule them.

Meanwhile, the president had continued his journey towards Lima; and
on the way was everywhere received by the people with an enthusiasm,
the more grateful to his heart that he felt he had deserved it.  As he drew
near the capital, the loyal inhabitants prepared to give him a magnificent
reception.  The whole population came forth from the gates, led by the
authorities of the city, with Aldana as corregidor at their head.  Gasca
rode on a mule, dressed in his ecclesiastical robes.  On his right, borne
on a horse richly caparisoned, was the royal seal, in a box curiously
chased and ornamented.  A gorgeous canopy of brocade was supported
above his head by the officers of the municipality, who, in their robes of
crimson velvet, walked bareheaded by his side.  Gay troops of dancers,
clothed in fantastic dresses of gaudy-colored silk, followed the
procession, strewing flowers and chanting verses as they went, in honor
of the president.  They were designed as emblematical of the different
cities of the colony; and they bore legends or mottoes in rhyme on their
caps, intimating their loyal devotion to the Crown, and evincing much
more loyalty in their composition, it may be added, than poetical
merit.26  In this way, without beat of drum, or noise of artillery, or any
of the rude accompaniments of war, the good president made his
peaceful entry into the City of the Kings, while the air was rent with the
acclamations of the people, who hailed him as their "Father and
Deliverer, the Saviour of their country!" 27

But, however grateful was this homage to Gasca's heart, he was not a
man to waste his time in idle vanities.  He now thought only by what
means he could eradicate the seeds of disorder which shot up so readily
in this fruitful soil, and how he could place the authority of the
government on a permanent basis.  By virtue of his office, he presided
over the Royal Audience, the great judicial, and, indeed, executive
tribunal of the colony; and he gave great despatch to the business, which
had much accumulated during the late disturbances.  In the unsettled
state of property, there was abundant subject for litigation; but,
fortunately, the new Audience was composed of able, upright judges,
who labored diligently with their chief to correct the mischief caused by
the misrule of their predecessors.

Neither was Gasca unmindful of the unfortunate natives; and he occupied
himself earnestly with that difficult problem,--the best means practicable
of ameliorating their condition.  He sent a number of commissioners, as
visitors, into different parts of the country, whose business it was to
inspect the encomiendas, and ascertain the manner in which the Indians
were treated, by conversing not only with the proprietors, but with the
natives themselves.  They were also to learn the nature and extent of the
tributes paid in former times by the vassals of the Incas.28

In this way, a large amount of valuable information was obtained, which
enabled Gasca, with the aid of a council of ecclesiastics and jurists, to
digest a uniform system of taxation for the natives, lighter even than that
imposed on them by the Peruvian princes.  The president would gladly
have relieved the conquered races from the obligations of personal
service; but, on mature consideration, this was judged impracticable in
the present state of the country, since the colonists, more especially in
the tropical regions, looked to the natives for the performance of labor,
and the latter, it was found from experience, would not work at all,
unless compelled to do so.  The president, however, limited the amount
of service to be exacted with great precision, so that it was in the nature
of a moderate personal tax.  No Peruvian was to be required to change
his place of residence, from the climate to which he had been
accustomed, to another; a fruitful source of discomfort, as well as of
disease, in past times.  By these various regulations, the condition of the
natives, though not such as had been contemplated by the sanguine
philanthropy of Las Casas, was improved far more than was compatible
with the craving demands of the colonists; and all the firmness of the
Audience was required to enforce provisions so unpalatable to the latter.
Still they were enforced.  Slavery, in its most odious sense, was no
longer tolerated in Peru.  The term "slave" was not recognized as having
relation to her institutions; and the historian of the Indies makes the
proud boast,--it should have been qualified by the limitations I have
noticed, --that every Indian vassal might aspire to the rank of a
freeman.29

Besides these reforms, Gasca introduced several in the municipal
government of the cities, and others yet more important in the
management of the finances, and in the mode of keeping the accounts.
By these and other changes in the internal economy of the colony, he
placed the administration on a new basis, and greatly facilitated the way
for a more sure and orderly government by his successors.  As a final
step, to secure the repose of the country after he was gone, he detached
some of the more aspiring cavaliers on distant expeditions, trusting that
they would draw off the light and restless spirits, who might otherwise
gather together and disturb the public tranquillity; as we sometimes see
the mists which have been scattered by the genial influence of the sun
become condensed, and settle into a storm, on his departure.30

Gasca had been now more than fifteen months in Lima, and nearly three
years had elapsed since his first entrance into Peru.  In that time, he had
accomplished the great objects of his mission.  When he landed, he
found the colony in a state of anarchy, or rather organized rebellion
under a powerful and popular chief.  He came without funds or forces to
support him.  The former he procured through the credit which he
established in his good faith; the latter he won over by argument and
persuasion from the very persons to whom they had been confided by his
rival.  Thus he turned the arms of that rival against himself.  By a calm
appeal to reason he wrought a change in the hearts of the people; and,
without costing a drop of blood to a single loyal subject, he suppressed a
rebellion which had menaced Spain with the loss of the wealthiest of her
provinces.  He had punished the guilty, and in their spoils found the
means to recompense the faithful.  He had, moreover, so well husbanded
the resources of the country, that he was enabled to pay off the large loan
he had negotiated with the merchants of the colony, for the expenses of
the war, exceeding nine hundred thousand pesos de oro.31  Nay, more,
by his economy he had saved a million and a half of ducats for the
government, which for some years had received nothing from Peru; and
he now proposed to carry back this acceptable treasure to swell the royal
coffers.32  All this had been accomplished without the cost of out-fit or
salary, or any charge to the Crown except that of his own frugal
expenditure.33  The country was now in a state of tranquillity.  Gasca
felt that his work was done; and that he was free to gratify his natural
longing to return to his native land.

Before his departure, he arranged a distribution of those repartimientos
which had lapsed to the Crown during the past year by the death of the
incumbents.  Life was short in Peru; since those who lived by the sword,
if they did not die by the sword, too often fell early victims to the
hardships incident to their adventurous career.  Many were the applicants
for the new bounty of government; and, as among them were some of
those who had been discontented with the former partition, Gasca was
assailed by remonstrances, and sometimes by reproaches couched in no
very decorous or respectful language.  But they had no power to disturb
his equanimity; he patiently listened, and replied to all in the mild tone of
expostulation best calculated to turn away wrath; "by this victory over
himself," says an old writer, "acquiring more real glory, than by all his
victories over his enemies." 34

An incident occurred on the eve of his departure, touching in itself, and
honorable to the parties concerned.  The Indian caciques of the
neighboring country, mindful of the great benefits he had rendered their
people, presented him with a considerable quantity of plate in token of
their gratitude.  But Gasca refused to receive it, though in doing so he
gave much concern to the Peruvians, who feared they had unwittingly
fallen under his displeasure.

Many of the principal colonists, also, from the same wish to show their
sense of his important services, sent to him, after he had embarked, a
magnificent donative of fifty thousand gold castellanos.  "As he had
taken leave of Peru," they said, "there could be no longer any ground for
declining it."  But Gasca was as decided in his rejection of this present,
as he had been of the other.  "He had come to the country," he remarked,
"to serve the king, and to secure the blessings of peace to the inhabitants;
and now that, by the favor of Heaven, he had been permitted to
accomplish this, he would not dishonor the cause by any act that might
throw suspicion on the purity of his motives."  Notwithstanding his
refusal, the colonists contrived to secrete the sum of twenty thousand
castellanos on board his vessel, with the idea, that, once in his own
country, with his mission concluded, the president's scruples would be
removed.  Gasca did, indeed, accept the donative; for he felt that it
would be ungracious to send it back; but it was only till he could
ascertain the relatives of the donors, when he distributed it among the
most needy.35

Having now settled all his affairs, the president committed the
government, until the arrival of a viceroy, to his faithful partners of the
Royal Audience; and in January, 1550 he embarked with the royal
treasure on board of a squadron for Panama.  He was accompanied to the
shore by a numerous crowd of the inhabitants, cavaliers and common
people, persons of all ages and conditions, who followed to take their
last look of their benefactor, and watch with straining eyes the vessel that
bore him away from their land.

His voyage was prosperous, and early in March the president reached his
destined port.  He stayed there only till he could muster horses and mules
sufficient to carry the treasure across the mountains; for he knew that this
part of the country abounded in wild, predatory spirits, who would be
sorely tempted to some act of violence by a knowledge of the wealth
which he had with him.  Pushing forward, therefore, he crossed the
rugged Isthmus, and, after a painful march, arrived in safety at Nombre
de Dios.

The event justified his apprehensions.  He had been gone but three days,
when a ruffian horde, after murdering the bishop of Guatemala, broke
into Panama with the design of inflicting the same fate on the president,
and of seizing the booty.  No sooner were the tidings communicated to
Gasca, than, with his usual energy, he levied a force and prepared to
march to the relief of the invaded capital.  But Fortune--or, to speak
more correctly, Providence--favored him here, as usual; and, on the eve
of his departure, he learned that the marauders had been met by the
citizens, and discomfited with great slaughter.  Disbanding his forces,
therefore, he equipped a fleet of nineteen vessels to transport himself and
the royal treasure to Spain, where he arrived in safety, entering the
harbor of Seville after a little more than four years from the period when
he had sailed from the same port.36

Great was the sensation throughout the country caused by his arrival.
Men could hardly believe that results so momentous had been
accomplished in so short a time by a single individual,--a poor
ecclesiastic, who, unaided by government, had, by his own strength, as it
were, put down a rebellion which had so long set the arms of Spain at
defiance!

The emperor was absent in Flanders.  He was overjoyed on learning the
complete success of Gasca's mission; and not less satisfied with the
tidings of the treasure he had brought with him; for the exchequer, rarely
filled to overflowing, had been exhausted by the recent troubles in
Germany.  Charles instantly wrote to the president, requiring his
presence at court, that he might learn from his own lips the particulars of
his expedition.  Gasca, accordingly, attended by a numerous retinue of
nobles and cavaliers,--for who does not pay homage to him whom the
king delighteth to honor?--embarked at Barcelona, and, after a favorable
voyage, joined the Court in Flanders.

He was received by his royal master, who fully appreciated his services,
in a manner most grateful to his feelings; and not long afterward he was
raised to the bishopric of Palencia,--a mode of acknowledgment best
suited to his character and deserts.  Here he remained till 1561, when he
was promoted to the vacant see of Siguenza.  The rest of his days he
passed peacefully in the discharge of his episcopal functions; honored by
his sovereign, and enjoying the admiration and respect of his
countrymen.37

In his retirement, he was still consulted by the government in matters of
importance relating to the Indies.  The disturbances of that unhappy land
were renewed, though on a much smaller scale than before, soon after
the president's departure.  They were chiefly caused by discontent with
the repartimientos, and with the constancy of the Audience in enforcing
the benevolent restrictions as to the personal services of the natives.  But
these troubles subsided, after a very few years, under the wise rule of the
Mendozas,--two successive viceroys of that illustrious house which has
given so many of its sons to the service of Spain.  Under their rule, the
mild yet determined policy was pursued, of which Gasca had set the
example.  The ancient distractions of the country were permanently
healed.  With peace, prosperity returned within the borders of Peru; and
the consciousness of the beneficent results of his labors may have shed a
ray of satisfaction, as it did of glory, over the evening of the president's
life.

That life was brought to a close in November, 1567, at an age, probably,
not far from the one fixed by the sacred writer as the term of human
existence.38  He died at Valladolid, and was buried in the church of
Santa Maria Magdalena, in that city, which he had built and liberally
endowed.  His monument, surmounted by the sculptured effigy of a
priest in his sacerdotal robes, is still to be seen there, attracting the
admiration of the traveller by the beauty of its execution.  The banners
taken from Gonzalo Pizarro on the field of Xaquixaguana were
suspended over his tomb, as the trophies of his memorable mission to
Peru.39  The banners have long since mouldered into dust, with the
remains of him who slept beneath them; but the memory of his good
deeds will endure for ever.40

Gasca was plain in person, and his countenance was far from comely, He
was awkward and ill-proportioned; for his limbs were too long for his
body,--so that when he rode, he appeared to be much shorter than he
really was.41  His dress was humble, his manners simple, and there was
nothing imposing in his presence.  But, on a nearer intercourse, there was
a charm in his discourse that effaced every unfavorable impression
produced by his exterior, and won the hearts of his hearers.

The president's character may be thought to have been sufficiently
portrayed in the history already given of his life.  It presented a
combination of qualities which generally serve to neutralize each other,
but which were mixed in such proportions in him as to give it additional
strength.  He was gentle, yet resolute; by nature intrepid, yet preferring to
rely on the softer arts of policy.  He was frugal in his personal
expenditure, and economical in the public; yet caring nothing for riches
on his own account, and never stinting his bounty when the public good
required it.  He was benevolent and placable, yet could deal sternly with
the impenitent offender; lowly in his deportment, yet with a full measure
of that self-respect which springs from conscious rectitude of purpose;
modest and unpretending, yet not shrinking from the most difficult
enterprises; deferring greatly to others, yet, in the last resort, relying
mainly on himself; moving with deliberation,--patiently waiting his time;
but, when that came, bold, prompt, and decisive.

Gasca, was not a man of genius, in the vulgar sense of that term.  At
least, no one of his intellectual powers seems to have received an
extraordinary development, beyond what is found in others.  He was not
a great writer, nor a great orator, nor a great general.  He did not affect to
be either.  He committed the care of his military matters to military men;
of ecclesiastical to the clergy; and his civil and judicial concerns he
reposed on the members of the Audience.  He was not one of those little
great men who aspire to do every thing themselves, under the conviction
that nothing can be done so well by others.  But the president was a keen
judge of character.  Whatever might be the office, he selected the best
man for it.  He did more.  He assured himself of the fidelity of his agents,
presided at their deliberations; dictated a general line of policy, and thus
infused a spirit of unity into their plans, which made all move in concert
to the accomplishment of one grand result.

A distinguishing feature of his mind was his common sense,--the best
substitute for genius in a ruler who has the destinies of his fellow-men at
his disposal, and more indispensable than genius itself.  In Gasca, the
different qualities were blended in such harmony, that there was no room
for excess.  They seemed to regulate each other.  While his sympathy
with mankind taught him the nature of their wants, his reason suggested
to what extent these were capable of relief, as well as the best mode of
effecting it.  He did not waste his strength on illusory schemes of
benevolence, like Las Casas, on the one hand; nor did he countenance
the selfish policy of the colonists, on the other.  He aimed at the
practicable,--the greatest good practicable.

In accomplishing his objects, he disclaimed force equally with fraud.  He
trusted for success to his power over the convictions of his hearers; and
the source of this power was the confidence he inspired in his own
integrity.  Amidst all the calumnies of faction, no imputation was ever
cast on the integrity of Gasca.42  No wonder that a virtue so rare should
be of high price in Peru.

There are some men whose characters have been so wonderfully adapted
to the peculiar crisis in which they appeared, that they seem to have been
specially designed for it by Providence.  Such was Washington, in our
own country, and Gasca in Peru.  We can conceive of individuals with
higher qualities, at least with higher intellectual qualities, than belonged
to either of these great men.  But it was the wonderful conformity of their
characters to the exigencies of their situation, the perfect adaptation of
the means to the end, that constituted the secret of their success; that
enabled Gasca so gloriously to crush revolution, and Washington still
more gloriously to achieve it.

Gasca's conduct on his first coming to the colonies affords the best
illustration of his character.  Had he come backed by a military array, or
even clothed in the paraphernalia of authority, every heart and hand
would have been closed against him.  But the humble ecclesiastic excited
no apprehension; and his enemies were already disarmed, before he had
begun his approaches.  Had Gasca, impatient of Hinojosa's tardiness,
listened to the suggestions of those who advised his seizure, he would
have brought his cause into jeopardy by this early display of violence
But he wisely chose to win over his enemy by operating on his
conviction.

In like manner, he waited his time for making his entry into Peru.  He
suffered his communications to do their work in the minds of the people,
and was careful not to thrust in the sickle before the harvest was ripe.

In this way, wherever he went, every thing was prepared for his coming;
and when he set foot in Peru, the country was already his own.

After the dark and turbulent spirits with which we have been hitherto
occupied, it is refreshing to dwell on a character like that of Gasca.  In
the long procession which has passed in review before us, we have seen
only the mail-clad cavalier, brandishing his bloody lance, and mounted
on his war-horse, riding over the helpless natives, or battling with his
own friends and brothers; fierce, arrogant, and cruel, urged on by the lust
of gold, or the scarce more honorable love of a bastard glory.  Mingled
with these qualities, indeed, we have seen sparkles of the chivalrous and
romantic temper which belongs to the heroic age of Spain.  But, with
some honorable exceptions, it was the scum of her chivalry that resorted
to Peru, and took service under the banner of the Pizarros.  At the close
of this long array of iron warriors, we behold the poor and humble
missionary coming into the land on an errand of mercy, and everywhere
proclaiming the glad tidings of peace.  No warlike trumpet heralds his
approach, nor is his course to be tracked by the groans of the wounded
and the dying.  The means he employs are in perfect harmony with his
end.  His weapons are argument and mild persuasion.  It is the reason he
would conquer, not the body.  He wins his way by conviction, not by
violence.  It is a moral victory to which he aspires, more potent, and
happily more permanent, than that of the blood-stained conqueror.  As he
thus calmly, and imperceptibly, as it were, comes to his great results, he
may remind us of the slow, insensible manner in which Nature works out
her great changes in the material world, that are to endure when the
ravages of the hurricane are passed away and forgotten.

With the mission of Gasca terminates the history of the Conquest of
Peru.  The Conquest, indeed, strictly terminates with the suppression of
the Peruvian revolt, when the strength, if not the spirit, of the Inca race
was crushed for ever.  The reader, however, might feel a natural curiosity
to follow to its close the fate of the remarkable family who achieved the
Conquest.  Nor would the story of the invasion itself be complete without
some account of the civil wars which grew out of it; which serve,
moreover, as a moral commentary on preceding events, by showing that
the indulgence of fierce, unbridled passions is sure to recoil, sooner or
later, even in this life, on the heads of the guilty.

It is true, indeed, that the troubles of the country were renewed on the
departure of Gasca.  The waters had been too fearfully agitated to be
stilled, at once, into a calm; but they gradually subsided, under the
temperate rule of his successors, who wisely profited by his policy and
example.  Thus the influence of the good president remained after he was
withdrawn from the scene of his labors; and Peru, hitherto so distracted,
continued to enjoy as large a share of repose as any portion of the
colonial empire of Spain.  With the benevolent mission of Gasca, then,
the historian of the Conquest may be permitted to terminate his labors, -
with feelings not unlike those of the traveller who, having long journeyed
among the dreary forests and dangerous defiles of the mountains, at
length emerges on some pleasant landscape smiling in tranquillity and
peace.

Augustin de Zarate--a highly respectable authority, frequently cited in
the later portion of this work--was Contador de Mercedes, Comptroller
of Accounts, for Castile.  This office he filled for fifteen years; after
which he was sent by the government to Peru to examine into the state of
the colonial finances, which had been greatly deranged by the recent
troubles, and to bring them, if possible, into order.

Zarate went out accordingly in the train of the viceroy Blasco Nunez,
and found himself, through the passions of his imprudent leader,
entangled, soon after his arrival, in the inextricable meshes of civil
discord.  In the struggle which ensued, he remained with the Royal
Audience; and we find him in Lima, on the approach of Gonzalo Pizarro
to that capital, when Zarate was deputed by the judges to wait on the
insurgent chief, and require him to disband his troops and withdraw to
his own estates.  The historian executed the mission, for which he seems
to have had little relish, and which certainly was not without danger.
From this period, we rarely hear of him in the troubled scenes that
ensued.  He probably took no further part in affairs than was absolutely
forced on him by circumstances; but the unfavorable bearing of his
remarks on Gonzalo Pizarro intimates, that, however he may have been
discontented with the conduct of the viceroy, he did not countenance, for
a moment, the criminal ambition of his rival.  The times were certainly
unpropitious to the execution of the financial reforms for which Zarate
had come to Peru.  But he showed so much real devotion to the interests
of the Crown, that the emperor, on his return, signified his satisfaction by
making him Superintendent of the Finances in Flanders.

Soon after his arrival in Peru, he seems to have conceived the idea of
making his countrymen at home acquainted with the stirring events
passing in the colony, which, moreover, afforded some striking passages
for the study of the historian.  Although he collected notes and diaries, as
he tells us, for this purpose, he did not dare to avail himself of them till
his return to Castile.  "For to have begun the history in Peru," he says,
"would have alone been enough to put my life in jeopardy; since a
certain commander, named Francisco de Carbajal, threatened to take
vengeance on any one who should be so rash as to attempt the relation of
his exploits, ---far less deserving, as they were, to be placed on record,
than to be consigned to eternal oblivion."  In this same commander, the
reader will readily recognize the veteran lieutenant of Gonzalo Pizarro.

On his return home, Zarate set about the compilation of his work.  His
first purpose was to confine it to the events that followed the arrival of
Blasco Nunez; but he soon found, that, to make these intelligible, he
must trace the stream of history higher up towards its sources.  He
accordingly enlarged his plan, and, beginning with the discovery of Peru,
gave an entire view of the conquest and subsequent occupation of the
country, bringing the narrative down to the close of Gasca's mission.  For
the earlier portion of the story, he relied on the accounts of persons who
took a leading part in the events.  He disposes more summarily of this
portion than of that in which he himself was both a spectator and an
actor; where his testimony, considering the advantages his position gave
him for information, is of the highest value.

Alcedo in his Biblioteca Americana, MS., speaks of Zarate's work as
"containing much that is good, but as not entitled to the praise of
exactness."  He wrote under the influence of party heat, which
necessarily operates to warp the fairest mind somewhat from its natural
bent.  For this we must make allowance, in perusing accounts of
conflicting parties.  But there is no intention, apparently, to turn the truth
aside in support of his own cause; and his access to the best sources of
knowledge often supplies us with particulars not within the reach of
other chroniclers.  His narrative is seasoned, moreover, with sensible
reflections and passing comments, that open gleams of light into the dark
passages of that eventful period.  Yet the style of the author can make
but moderate pretensions to the praise of elegance or exactness; while
the sentences run into that tedious, interminable length which belongs to
the garrulous compositions of the regular thoroughbred chronicler of the
olden time.

The personalities, necessarily incident, more or less, to such a work, led
its author to shrink from publication, at least during his life.  By the
jealous spirit of the Castilian cavalier, "censure," he says, "however
light, is regarded with indignation, and even praise is rarely dealt out in a
measure satisfactory to the subject of it."  And he expresses his
conviction that those do wisely, who allow their accounts of their own
times to repose in the quiet security of manuscript, till the generation that
is to be affected by them has passed away.  His own manuscript,
however, was submitted to the emperor; and it received such
commendation from this royal authority, that Zarate, plucking up a more
courageous spirit, consented to give it to the press.  It accordingly
appeared at Antwerp, in 1555, in octavo; and a second edition was
printed, in folio, at Seville, in 1577.  It has since been incorporated in
Barcia's valuable collection; and, whatever indignation or displeasure it
may have excited among contemporaries, who smarted under the author's
censure, or felt themselves defrauded of their legitimate guerdon,
Zarate's work has taken a permanent rank among the most respectable
authorities for a history of the time.

The name of Zarate naturally suggests that of Fernandez, for both were
laborers in the same field of history.  Diego Fernandez de Palencia, or
Palentino, as he is usually called, from the place of his birth, came over
to Peru, and served as a private in the royal army raised to quell the
insurrections that broke out after Gasca's return to Castile.  Amidst his
military occupations, he found leisure to collect materials for a history of
the period, to which he was further urged by the viceroy, Mendoza,
Marques de Canete, who bestowed on him, as he tells us, the post of
Chronicler of Peru.  This mark of confidence in his literary capacity
intimates higher attainments in Fernandez than might be inferred from
the humble station that he occupied.  With the fruits of his researches the
soldier-chronicler returned to Spain, and, after a time, completed his
narrative of the insurrection of Giron.

The manuscript was seen by the President of the Council of the Indies,
and he was so much pleased with its execution, that he urged the author
to write the account, in like manner, of Gonzalo Pizarro's rebellion, and
of the administration of Gasca.  The historian was further stimulated, as
he mentions in his dedication to Philip the Second, by the promise of a
guerdon from that monarch, on the completion of his labors; a very
proper, as well as politic, promise, but which inevitably suggests the idea
of an influence not altogether favorable to severe historic impartiality.
Nor will such an inference be found altogether at variance with truth; for
while the narrative of Fernandez studiously exhibits the royal cause in
the most favorable aspect to the reader, it does scanty justice to the
claims of the opposite party.  It would not be meet, indeed, that an
apology for rebellion should be found in the pages of a royal pensioner;
but there are always mitigating circumstances, which, however we may
condemn the guilt, may serve to lessen our indignation towards the
guilty.  These circumstances are not to be found in the pages of
Fernandez.  It is unfortunate for the historian of such events, that it is so
difficult to find one disposed to do even justice to the claims of the
unsuccessful rebel.  Yet the Inca Garcilasso has not shrunk from this, in
the case of Gonzalo Pizarro; and even Gomara, though living under the
shadow, or rather in the sunshine, of the Court, has occasionally ventured
a generous protest in his behalf.

The countenance thus afforded to Fernandez from the highest quarter
opened to him the best fountains of intelligence,--at least, on the
government side of the quarrel.  Besides personal communication with
the royalist leaders, he had access to their correspondence, diaries, and
official documents.  He industriously profiled by his opportunities; and
his narrative, taking up the story of the rebellion from its birth, continues
it to its final extinction, and the end of Gasca's administration.  Thus the
First Part of his work, as it was now called, was brought down to the
commencement of the Second, and the whole presented a complete
picture of the distractions of the nation, till a new order of things was
introduced, and tranquillity was permanently established throughout the
country.

The diction is sufficiently plain, not aspiring to rhetorical beauties
beyond the reach of its author, and out of keeping with the simple
character of a chronicle, The sentences are arranged with more art than
in most of the unwieldy compositions of the time; and, while there is no
attempt at erudition or philosophic speculation, the current of events
flows on in an orderly manner, tolerably prolix, it is true, but leaving a
clear and intelligible impression on the mind of the reader.  No history of
that period compares with it in the copiousness of its details; and it has
accordingly been resorted to by later compilers, as an inexhaustible
reservoir for the supply of their own pages; a circumstance that may be
thought of itself to bear no slight testimony to the general fidelity, as well
as fulness, of the narrative.--The Chronicle of Fernandez, thus arranged
in two parts, under the general title of Historia del Peru, was given to the
world in the author's lifetime, at Seville, in 1571 in one volume, folio,
being the edition used in the preparation of this work.


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