History Of The Conquest Of Peru .....................................................................................................................1

The most brilliant passages in the history of Spanish adventure in the New World are undoubtedly afforded

by the conquests of Mexico and Peruthe two states which combined with the largest extent of empire a

refined social polity, and considerable progress in the arts of civilization. Indeed, so prominently do they

stand out on the great canvas of history, that the name of the one, notwithstanding the contrast they exhibit in

their respective institutions, most naturally suggests that of the other; and when I sent to Spain to collect

materials for an account of the Conquest of Mexico, I included in my researches those relating to the

The larger part of the documents, in both cases, was obtained from the same great repository,the archives

of the Royal Academy of History at Madrid; a body specially intrusted with the preservation of whatever may

serve to illustrate the Spanish colonial annals. The richest portion of its collection is probably that furnished

by the papers of Munoz. This eminent scholar, historiographer of the Indies, employed nearly fifty years of

his life in amassing materials for a history of Spanish discovery and conquest in America. For this, as he

acted under the authority of the government, every facility was afforded him; and public offices and private

depositories, in all the principal cities of the empire, both at home and throughout the wide extent of its

colonial possessions, were freely opened to his inspection. The result was a magnificent collection of

manuscripts, many of which he patiently transscribed with his own hand. But he did not live to reap the fruits

of his persevering industry. The first volume, relative to the voyages of Columbus, were scarcely finished

when he died; and his manuscripts, at least that portion of them which have reference to Mexico and Peru,

were destined to serve the uses of another, an inhabitant of that New World to which they related.

Another scholar, to whose literary stores I am largely indebted, is Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrette, late

Director of the Royal Academy of History. Through the greater part of his long life he was employed in

assembling original documents to illustrate the colonial annals. Many of these have been incorporated in his

great work, "Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos," which, although far from being completed after

the original plan of its author, is of inestimable service to the historian. In following down the track of

discovery, Navarrete turned aside from the conquests of Mexico and Peru, to exhibit the voyages of his

countrymen in the Indian seas. His manuscripts, relating to the two former countries, he courteously allowed

to be copied for me. Some of them have since appeared in print, under the auspices of his learned coadjutors,

Salva and Baranda, associated with him in the Academy; but the documents placed in my hands form a most

The death of this illustrious man, which occurred some time after the present work was begun, has left a void

in his country not easy to be filled; for he was zealously devoted to letters, and few have done more to extend

the knowledge of her colonial history. Far from an exclusive solicitude for his own literary projects, he was

ever ready to extend his sympathy and assistance to those of others. His reputation as a scholar was enhanced

by the higher qualities which he possessed as a man,by his benevolence, his simplicity of manners, and

unsullied moral worth. My own obligations to him are large; for from the publication of my first historical

work, down to the last week of his life, I have constantly received proofs from him of his hearty and most

efficient interest in the prosecution of my historical labors; and I now the more willingly pay this

wellmerited tribute to his deserts, that it must be exempt from all suspicion of flattery.

In the list of those to whom I have been indebted for materials, I must, also, include the name of M.

TernauxCompans, so well known by his faithful and elegant French versions of the Munoz manuscripts; and

that of my friend Don Pascual de Gayangos, who, under the modest dress of translation, has furnished a most

acute and learned commentary on Spanish Arabian history,securing for himself the foremost rank in that

difficult department of letters, which has been illumined by the labors of a Masdeu, a Casiri, and a Conde.

To the materials derived from these sources, I have added some manuscripts of an important character from

the library of the Escurial. These, which chiefly relate to the ancient institutions of Peru, formed part of the

splendid collection of Lord Kingsborough, which has unfortunately shared the lot of most literary collections,

and been dispersed since the death of its noble author. For these I am indebted to that industrious

bibliographer, Mr. O. Rich, now resident in London. Lastly, I must not omit to mention my obligations, in

another way, to my friend Charles Folsom, Esq., the learned librarian of the Boston Athenaeum; whose

minute acquaintance with the grammatical structure and the true idiom of our English tongue has enabled me

to correct many inaccuracies into which I had fallen in the composition both of this and of my former works.

From these different sources I have accumulated a large amount of manuscripts, of the most various

character, and from the most authentic sources; royal grants and ordinances, instructions of the Court, letters

of the Emperor to the great colonial officers, municipal records, personal diaries and memoranda, and a mass

of private correspondence of the principal actors in this turbulent drama. Perhaps it was the turbulent state of

the country which led to a more frequent correspondence between the government at home and the colonial

officers. But, whatever be the cause, the collection of manuscript materials in reference to Peru is fuller and

more complete than that which relates to Mexico; so that there is scarcely a nook or corner so obscure, in the

path of the adventurer, that some light has not been thrown on it by the written correspondence of the period.

The historian has rather had occasion to complain of the embarras des richesses; for, in the multiplicity of

contradictory testimony, it is not always easy to detect the truth, as the multiplicity of crosslights is apt to

The present History has been conducted on the same general plan with that of the Conquest of Mexico. In an

Introductory Book, I have endeavored to portray the institutions of the Incas, that the reader may be

acquainted with the character and condition of that extraordinary race, before he enters on the story of their

subjugation. The remaining books are occupied with the narrative of the Conquest. And here, the subject, it

must be allowed, notwithstanding the opportunities it presents for the display of character, strange, romantic

incident, and picturesque scenery, does not afford so obvious advantages to the historian, as the Conquest of

Mexico. Indeed, few subjects can present a parallel with that, for the purposes either of the historian or the

poet. The natural development of the story, there, is precisely what would be prescribed by the severest rules

of art. The conquest of the country is the great end always in the view of the reader. From the first landing of

the Spaniards on the soil, their subsequent adventures, their battles and negotiations, their ruinous retreat,

their rally and final siege, all tend to this grand result, till the long series is closed by the downfall of the

capital. In the march of events, all moves steadily forward to this consummation. It is a magnificent epic, in

In the "Conquest of Peru," the action, so far as it is founded on the subversion of the Incas, terminates long

before the close of the narrative. The remaining portion is taken up with the fierce feuds of the Conquerors,

which would seem, from their very nature, to be incapable of being gathered round a central point of interest.

To secure this, we must look beyond the immediate overthrow of the Indian empire. The conquest of the

natives is but the first step, to be followed by the conquest of the Spaniards,the rebel Spaniards,

themselves,till the supremacy of the Crown is permanently established over the country. It is not till this

period, that the acquisition of this Transatlantic empire can be said to be completed; and, by fixing the eye on

this remoter point, the successive steps of the narrative will be found leading to one great result, and that

unity of interest preserved which is scarcely less essential to historic than dramatic composition. How far this

has been effected, in the present work, must be left to the judgment of the reader.

No history of the conquest of Peru, founded on original documents, and aspiring to the credit of a classic

composition, like the "Conquest of Mexico" by Solis, has been attempted, as far as I am aware, by the

Spaniards. The English possess one of high value, from the pen of Robertson, whose masterly sketch

occupies its due space in his great work on America. It has been my object to exhibit this same story, in all its

romantic details; not merely to portray the characteristic features of the Conquest, but to fill up the outline

with the coloring of life, so as to present a minute and faithful picture of the times. For this purpose, I have, in

the composition of the work, availed myself freely of my manuscript materials, allowed the actors to speak as

much as possible for themselves, and especially made frequent use of their letters; for nowhere is the heart

more likely to disclose itself, than in the freedom of private correspondence. I have made liberal extracts from

these authorities in the notes, both to sustain the text, and to put in a printed form those productions of the

eminent captains and statesmen of the time, which are not very accessible to Spaniards themselves.

M. Amedee Pichot, in the Preface to the French translation of the "Conquest of Mexico," infers from the plan

of the composition, that I must have carefully studied the writings of his countryman, M. de Barante. The

acute critic does me but justice in supposing me familiar with the principles of that writer's historical theory,

so ably developed in the Preface to his "Ducs de Bourgogne." And I have had occasion to admire the skilful

manner in which he illustrates this theory himself, by constructing out of the rude materials of a distant time a

monument of genius that transports us at once into the midst of the Feudal Ages,and this without the

incongruity which usually attaches to a modernantique. In like manner, I have attempted to seize the

characteristic expression of a distant age, and to exhibit it in the freshness of life. But in an essential

particular, I have deviated from the plan of the French historian. I have suffered the scaffolding to remain

after the building has been completed. In other words, I have shown to the reader the steps of the process by

which I have come to my conclusions. Instead of requiring him to take my version of the story on trust, I have

endeavored to give him a reason for my faith. By copious citations from the original authorities, and by such

critical notices of them as would explain to him the influences to which they were subjected, I have

endeavored to put him in a position for judging for himself, and thus for revising, and, if need be, reversing,

the judgments of the historian. He will, at any rate, by this means, be enabled to estimate the difficulty of

arriving at truth amidst the conflict of testimony; and he will learn to place little reliance on those writers who

pronounce on the mysterious past with what Fontenelle calls "a frightful degree of certainty,"a spirit the

Yet it must be admitted, that the chronicler who records the events of an earlier age has some obvious

advantages in the store of manuscript materials at his command,the statements of friends, rivals, and

enemies, furnishing a wholesome counterpoise to each other; and also, in the general course of events, as they

actually occurred, affording the best commentary on the true motives of the parties. The actor, engaged in the

heat of the strife, finds his view bounded by the circle around him and his vision blinded by the smoke and

dust of the conflict: while the spectator, whose eye ranges over the ground from a more distant and elevated

point, though the individual objects may lose somewhat of their vividness, takes in at a glance all the

operations of the field. Paradoxical as it may appear, truth rounded on contemporary testimony would seem,

after all, as likely to be attained by the writer of a later day, as by contemporaries themselves.

Before closing these remarks, I may be permitted to add a few of a personal nature. In several foreign notices

of my writings, the author has been said to be blind; and more than once I have had the credit of having lost

my sight in the composition of my first history. When I have met with such erroneous accounts, I have

hastened to correct them. But the present occasion affords me the best means of doing so; and I am the more

desirous of this, as I fear some of my own remarks, in the Prefaces to my former histories, have led to the

While at the University, I received an injury in one of my eyes, which deprived me of the sight of it. The

other, soon after, was attacked by inflammation so severely, that, for some time, I lost the sight of that also;

and though it was subsequently restored, the organ was so much disordered as to remain permanently

debilitated, while twice in my life, since, I have been deprived of the use of it for all purposes of reading and

writing, for several years together. It was during one of these periods that I received from Madrid the

materials for the "History of Ferdinand and Isabella," and in my disabled condition, with my Transatlantic

treasures lying around me, I was like one pining from hunger in the midst of abundance. In this state, I

resolved to make the ear, if possible, do the work of the eye. I procured the services of a secretary, who read

to me the various authorities; and in time I became so far familiar with the sounds of the different foreign

languages (to some of which, indeed, I had been previously accustomed by a residence abroad), that I could

comprehend his reading without much difficulty. As the reader proceeded, I dictated copious notes; and,

when these had swelled to a considerable amount, they were read to me repeatedly, till I had mastered their

contents sufficiently for the purposes of composition. The same notes furnished an easy means of reference to

Still another difficulty occurred, in the mechanical labor of writing, which I found a severe trial to the eye.

This was remedied by means of a writingcase, such as is used by the blind, which enabled me to commit my

thoughts to paper without the aid of sight, serving me equally well in the dark as in the light. The characters

thus formed made a near approach to hieroglyphics; but my secretary became expert in the art of deciphering,

and a fair copywith a liberal allowance for unavoidable blunderswas transcribed for the 'use of the

printer. I have described the process with more minuteness, as some curiosity has been repeatedly expressed

in reference to my modus operandi under my privations, and the knowledge of it may be of some assistance

Though I was encouraged by the sensible progress of my work, it was necessarily slow. But in time the

tendency to inflammation diminished, and the strength of the eye was confirmed more and more. It was at

length so far restored, that I could read for several hours of the day though my labors in this way necessarily

terminated with the daylight. Nor could I ever dispense with the services of a secretary, or with the

writingcase; for, contrary to the usual experience, I have found writing a severer trial to the eye than

reading,a remark, however, which does not apply to the reading of manuscript; and to enable myself

therefore, to revise my composition more carefully, I caused a copy of the "History of Ferdinand and

Isabella" to be printed for my own inspection, before it was sent to the press for publication. Such as I have

described was the improved state of my health during the preparation of the "Conquest of Mexico"; and,

satisfied with being raised so nearly to a level with the rest of my species, I scarcely envied the superior good

fortune of those who could prolong their studies into the evening, and the later hours of the night.

But a change has again taken place during the last two years. The sight of my eye has become gradually

dimmed, while the sensibility of the nerve has been so far increased, that for several weeks of the last year I

have not opened a volume, and through the whole time I have not had the use of it, on an average, for more

than an hour a day. Nor can I cheer myself with the delusive expectation, that, impaired as the organ has

become, from having been tasked, probably, beyond its strength, it can ever renew its youth, or be of much

service to me hereafter in my literary researches. Whether I shall have the heart to enter, as I had proposed,

on a new and more extensive field of historical labor, with these impediments, I cannot say. Perhaps long

habit, and a natural desire to follow up the career which I have so long pursued, may make this, in a manner,

From this statementtoo long, I fear, for his patiencethe reader, who feels any curiosity about the matter,

will understand the real extent of my embarrassments in my historical pursuits. That they have not been very

light will be readily admitted, when it is considered that I have had but a limited use of my eye, in its best

state, and that much of the time I have been debarred from the use of it altogether. Yet the difficulties I have

had to contend with are very far inferior to those which fall to the lot of a blind man. I know of no historian,

now alive, who can claim the glory of having overcome such obstacles, but the author of "La Conquete de

l'Angleterre par les Normands"; who, to use his own touching and beautiful language, "has made himself the

friend of darkness"; and who, to a profound philosophy that requires no light but that from within, unites a

capacity for extensive and various research, that might well demand the severest application of the student.

The remarks into which I have been led at such length will, I trust, not be set down by the reader to an

unworthy egotism, but to their true source, a desire to correct a misapprehension to which I may have

unintentionally given rise myself, and which has gained me the credit with somefar from grateful to my

feelings, since undeservedof having surmounted the incalculable obstacles which lie in the path of the

Of the numerous nations which occupied the great American continent at the time of its discovery by the

Europeans, the two most advanced in power and refinement were undoubtedly those of Mexico and Peru.

But, though resembling one another in extent of civilization, they differed widely as to the nature of it; and

the philosophical student of his species may feel a natural curiosity to trace the different steps by which these

two nations strove to emerge from the state of barbarism, and place themselves on a higher point in the scale

of humanity.In a former work I have endeavored to exhibit the institutions and character of the ancient

Mexicans, and the story of their conquest by the Spaniards. The present will be devoted to the Peruvians; and,

if their history shall be found to present less strange anomalies and striking contrasts than that of the Aztecs,

it may interest us quite as much by the pleasing picture it offers of a wellregulated government and sober

The empire of Peru, at the period of the Spanish invasion, stretched along the Pacific from about the second

degree north to the thirtyseventh degree of south latitude; a line, also, which describes the western

boundaries of the modern republics of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chili. Its breadth cannot so easily be

determined; for, though bounded everywhere by the great ocean on the west, towards the east it spread out, in

many parts, considerably beyond the mountains, to the confines of barbarous states, whose exact position is

undetermined, or whose names are effaced from the map of history. It is certain, however, that its breadth

The topographical aspect of the country is very remarkable. A strip of land, rarely exceeding twenty leagues

in width, runs along the coast, and is hemmed in through its whole extent by a colossal range of mountains,

which, advancing from the Straits of Magellan, reaches its highest elevationindeed, the highest on the

American continentabout the seventeenth degree south, 2 and, after crossing the line, gradually subsides

into hills of inconsiderable magnitude, as it enters the isthmus of Panama. This is the famous Cordillera of the

Andes, or "copper mountains," 3 as termed by the natives, though they might with more reason have been

called "mountains of gold." Arranged sometimes in a single line, though more frequently in two or three lines

running parallel or obliquely to each other, they seem to the voyager on the ocean but one continuous chain;

while the huge volcanoes, which to the inhabitants of the tableland look like solitary and independent masses,

appear to aim only like so many peaks of the same vast and magnificent range. So immense is the scale on

which Nature works in these regions, that it is only when viewed from a great distance, that the spectator can,

in any degree, comprehend the relation of the several parts to the stupendous whole. Few of the works of

Nature, indeed, are calculated to produce impressions of higher sublimity than the aspect of this coast, as it is

gradually unfolded to the eye of the mariner sailing on the distant waters of the Pacific; where mountain is

seen to rise above mountain, and Chimborazo, with its glorious canopy of snow, glittering far above the

The face of the country would appear to be peculiarly unfavorable to the purposes both of agriculture and of

internal communication. The sandy strip along the coast, where rain never falls, is fed only by a few scanty

streams, that furnish a remarkable contrast to the vast volumes of water which roll down the eastern sides of

the Cordilleras into the Atlantic. The precipitous steeps of the sierra, with its splintered sides of porphyry and

granite, and its higher regions wrapped in snows that never melt under the fierce sun of the equator, unless it

be from the desolating action of its own volcanic fires, might seem equally unpropitious to the labors of the

husbandman. And all communication between the parts of the long extended territory might be thought to

be precluded by the savage character of the region, broken up by precipices, furious torrents, and impassable

quebradas,those hideous rents in the mountain chain, whose depths the eye of the terrified traveller, as he

winds along his aerial pathway, vainly endeavors to fathom.5 Yet the industry, we might almost say, the

genius, of the Indian was sufficient to overcome all these impediments of Nature.

By a judicious system of canals and subterraneous aqueducts, the waste places on the coast were refreshed by

copious streams, that clothed them in fertility and beauty. Terraces were raised upon the steep sides of the

Cordillera; and, as the different elevations had the effect of difference of latitude, they exhibited in regular

gradation every variety of vegetable form, from the stimulated growth of the tropics, to the temperate

products of a northern clime; while flocks of llamasthe Peruvian sheepwandered with their shepherds

over the broad, snowcovered wastes on the crests of the sierra, which rose beyond the limits of cultivation.

An industrious population settled along the lofty regions of the plateaus, and towns and hamlets, clustering

amidst orchards and widespreading gardens, seemed suspended in the air far above the ordinary elevation of

the clouds. 6 Intercourse was maintained between these numerous settlements by means of great roads which

traversed the mountain passes, and opened an easy communication between the capital and the remotest

The source of this civilization is traced to the valley of Cuzco, the central region of Peru, as its name

implies.7 The origin of the Peruvian empire, like the origin of all nations, except the very few which, like our

own, have had the good fortune to date from a civilized period and people, is lost in the mists of fable, which,

in fact, have settled as darkly round its history as round that of any nation, ancient or modern, in the Old

World. According to the tradition most familiar to the European scholar, the time was, when the ancient races

of the continent were all plunged in deplorable barbarism; when they worshipped nearly every object in

nature indiscriminately; made war their pastime, and feasted on the flesh of their slaughtered captives. The

Sun, the great luminary and parent of mankind, taking compassion on their degraded condition, sent two of

his children, Manco Capac and Mama Oello Huaco, to gather the natives into communities, and teach them

the arts of civilized life. The celestial pair, brother and sister, husband and wife, advanced along the high

plains in the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca, to about the sixteenth degree south. They bore with them a

golden wedge, and were directed to take up their residence on the spot where the sacred emblem should

without effort sink into the ground. They proceeded accordingly but a short distance, as far as the valley of

Cuzco, the spot indicated by the performance of the miracle, since there the wedge speedily sank into the

earth and disappeared for ever. Here the children of the Sun established their residence, and soon entered

upon their beneficent mission among the rude inhabitants of the country; Manco Capac teaching the men the

arts of agriculture, and Mama Oello 8 initiating her own sex in the mysteries of weaving and spinning. The

simple people lent a willing ear to the messengers of Heaven, and, gathering together in considerable

numbers, laid the foundations of the city of Cuzco. The same wise and benevolent maxims, which regulated

the conduct of the first Incas, 9 descended to their successors, and under their mild sceptre a community

gradually extended itself along the broad surface of the tableland, which asserted its superiority over the

surrounding tribes. Such is the pleasing picture of the origin of the Peruvian monarchy, as portrayed by

Garcilasso de la Vega, the descendant of the Incas, and through him made familiar to the European reader.10

But this tradition is only one of several current among the Peruvian Indians, and probably not the one most

generally received. Another legend speaks of certain white and bearded men, who, advancing from the shores

of Lake Titicaca, established an ascendancy over the natives, and imparted to them the blessings of

civilization. It may remind us of the tradition existing among the Aztecs in respect to Quetzalcoatl, the good

deity, who with a similar garb and aspect came up the great plateau from the east on a like benevolent

mission to the natives. The analogy is the more remarkable, as there is no trace of any communication with,

The date usually assigned for these extraordinary events was about four hundred years before the coming of

the Spaniards, or early in the twelfth century.12 But, however pleasing to the imagination, and however

popular, the legend of Manco Capac, it requires but little reflection to show its improbability, even when

divested of supernatural accompaniments. On the shores of Lake Titicaca extensive ruins exist at the present

day, which the Peruvians themselves acknowledge to be of older date than the pretended advent of the Incas,

and to have furnished them with the models of their architecture.13 The date of their appearance, indeed, is

manifestly irreconcilable with their subsequent history. No account assigns to the Inca dynasty more than

thirteen princes before the Conquest. But this number is altogether too small to have spread over four

hundred years, and would not carry back the foundations of the monarchy, on any probable computation,

beyond two centuries and a half,an antiquity not incredible in itself, and which, it may be remarked, does

not precede by more than half a century the alleged foundation of the capital of Mexico. The fiction of Manco

Capac and his sisterwife was devised, no doubt, at a later period, to gratify the vanity of the Peruvian

monarchs, and to give additional sanction to their authority by deriving it from a celestial origin.

We may reasonably conclude that there existed in the country a race advanced in civilization before the time

of the Incas; and, in conformity with nearly every tradition, we may derive this race from the neighborhood

of Lake Titicaca; 14 a conclusion strongly confirmed by the imposing architectural remains which still

endure, after the lapse of so many years, on its borders. Who this race were, and whence they came, may

afford a tempting theme for inquiry to the speculative antiquarian. But it is a land of darkness that lies far

The same mists that hang round the origin of the Incas continue to settle on their subsequent annals; and, so

imperfect were the records employed by the Peruvians, and so confused and contradictory their traditions,

that the historian finds no firm footing on which to stand till within a century of the Spanish conquest.16 At

first, the progress of the Peruvians seems to have been slow, and almost imperceptible. By their wise and

temperate policy, they gradually won over the neighboring tribes to their dominion, as these latter became

more and more convinced of the benefits of a just and wellregulated government. As they grew stronger,

they were enabled to rely more directly on force; but, still advancing under cover of the same beneficent

pretexts employed by their predecessors, they proclaimed peace and civilization at the point of the sword.

The rude nations of the country, without any principle of cohesion among themselves, fell one after another

before the victorious arm of the Incas. Yet it was not till the middle of the fifteenth century that the famous

Topa Inca Yupanqui, grandfather of the monarch who occupied the throne at the coming of the Spaniards, led

his armies across the terrible desert of Atacama, and, penetrating to the southern region of Chili, fixed the

permanent boundary of his dominions at the river Maule. His son, Huayna Capac, possessed of ambition and

military talent fully equal to his father's, marched along the Cordillera towards the north, and, pushing his

conquests across the equator, added the powerful kingdom of Quito to the empire of Peru.17

The ancient city of Cuzco, meanwhile, had been gradually advancing in wealth and population, till it had

become the worthy metropolis of a great and flourishing monarchy. It stood in a beautiful valley on an

elevated region of the plateau, which, among the Alps, would have been buried in eternal snows, but which

within the tropics enjoyed a genial and salubrious temperature. Towards the north it was defended by a lofty

eminence, a spur of the great Cordillera; and the city was traversed by a river, or rather a small stream, over

which bridges of timber, covered with heavy slabs of stone, furnished an easy means of communication with

the opposite banks. The streets were long and narrow; the houses low, and those of the poorer sort built of

clay and reeds. But Cuzco was the royal residence, and was adorned with the ample dwellings of the great

nobility; and the massy fragments still incorporated in many of the modern edifices bear testimony to the size

The health of the city was promoted by spacious openings and squares, in which a numerous population from

the capital and the distant country assembled to celebrate the high festivals of their religion. For Cuzco was

the "Holy City"; 19 and the great temple of the Sun, to which pilgrims resorted from the furthest borders of

the empire, was the most magnificent structure in the New World, and unsurpassed, probably, in the

Towards the north, on the sierra or rugged eminence already noticed, rose a strong fortress, the remains of

which at the present day, by their vast size, excite the admiration of the traveller.20 It was defended by a

single wall of great thickness, and twelve hundred feet long on the side facing the city, where the precipitous

character of the ground was of itself almost sufficient for its defence. On the other quarter, where the

approaches were less difficult, it was protected by two other semicircular walls of the same length as the

preceding. They were separated, a considerable distance from one another and from the fortress; and the

intervening ground was raised so that the walls afforded a breastwork for the troops stationed there in times

of assault. The fortress consisted of three towers, detached from one another. One was appropriated to the

Inca, and was garnished with the sumptuous decorations befitting a royal residence, rather than a military

post. The other two were held by the garrison, drawn from the Peruvian nobles, and commanded by an officer

of the blood royal; for the position was of too great importance to be intrusted to inferior hands. The hill was

excavated below the towers, and several subterraneous galleries communicated with the city and the palaces

The fortress, the walls, and the galleries were all built of stone, the heavy blocks of which were not laid in

regular courses, but so disposed that the small ones might fill up the interstices between the great. They

formed a sort of rustic work, being roughhewn except towards the edges, which were finely wrought; and,

though no cement was used, the several blocks were adjusted with so much exactness and united so closely,

that it was impossible to introduce even the blade of a knife between them.22 Many of these stones were of

vast size; some of them being full thirtyeight feet long, by eighteen broad, and six feet thick.23

We are filled with astonishment, when we consider, that these enormous masses were hewn from their native

bed and fashioned into shape, by a people ignorant of the use of iron; that they were brought from quarries,

from four to fifteen leagues distant, 24 without the aid of beasts of burden; were transported across rivers and

ravines, raised to their elevated position on the sierra, and finally adjusted there with the nicest accuracy,

without the knowledge of tools and machinery familiar to the European. Twenty thousand men are said to

have been employed on this great structure, and fifty years consumed in the building.25 However this may

be, we see in it the workings of a despotism which had the lives and fortunes of its vassals at its absolute

disposal, and which, however mild in its general character, esteemed these vassals, when employed in its

The fortress of Cuzco was but part of a system of fortifications established throughout their dominions by the

Incas. This system formed a prominent feature in their military policy; but before entering on this latter, it

will be proper to give the reader some view of their civil institutions and scheme of government.

The sceptre of the Incas, if we may credit their historian, descended in unbroken succession from father to

son, through their whole dynasty. Whatever we may think of this, it appears probable that the right of

inheritance might be claimed by the eldest son of the Coya, or lawful queen, as she was styled, to distinguish

her from the host of concubines who shared the affections of the sovereign.26 The queen was further

distinguished, at least in later reigns, by the circumstance of being selected from the sisters of the Inca, an

arrangement which, however revolting to the ideas of civilized nations, was recommended to the Peruvians

by its securing an heir to the crown of the pure heavenborn race, uncontaminated by any mixture of earthly

In his early years, the royal offspring was intrusted to the care of the amautas, or "wise men," as the teachers

of Peruvian science were called, who instructed him in such elements of knowledge as they possessed, and

especially in the cumbrous ceremonial of their religion, in which he was to take a prominent part. Great care

was also bestowed on his military education, of the last importance in a state which, with its professions of

In this military school he was educated with such of the Inca nobles as were nearly of his own age; for the

sacred name of Incaa fruitful source of obscurity in their annalswas applied indifferently to all who

descended by the male line from the founder of the monarchy.28 At the age of sixteen the pupils underwent a

public examination, previous to their admission to what may be called the order of chivalry. This examination

was conducted by some of the oldest and most illustrious Incas. The candidates were required to show their

prowess in the athletic exercises of the warrior; in wrestling and boxing, in running such long courses as fully

tried their agility and strength, in severe fasts of several days' duration, and in mimic combats, which,

although the weapons were blunted, were always attended with wounds, and sometimes with death. During

this trial, which lasted thirty days, the royal neophyte fared no better than his comrades, sleeping on the bare

ground, going unshod, and wearing a mean attire,a mode of life, it was supposed, which might tend to

inspire him with more sympathy with the destitute. With all this show of impartiality, however, it will

probably be doing no injustice to the judges to suppose that a politic discretion may have somewhat

At the end of the appointed time, the candidates selected as worthy of the honors of their barbaric chivalry

were presented to the sovereign, who condescended to take a principal part in the ceremony of inauguration.

He began with a brief discourse, in which, after congratulating the young aspirants on the proficiency they

had shown in martial exercises, he reminded them of the responsibilities attached to their birth and station;

and, addressing them affectionately as "children of the Sun," he exhorted them to imitate their great

progenitor in his glorious career of beneficence to mankind. The novices then drew near, and, kneeling one

by one before the Inca, he pierced their ears with a golden bodkin; and this was suffered to remain there till

an opening had been made large enough for the enormous pendants which were peculiar to their order, and

which gave them, with the Spaniards, the name of orejones.29 This ornament was so massy in the ears of the

sovereign, that the cartilage was distended by it nearly to the shoulder, producing what seemed a monstrous

deformity in the eyes of the Europeans, though, under the magical influence of fashion, it was regarded as a

When this operation was performed, one of the most venerable of the nobles dressed the feet of the

candidates in the sandals worn by the order, which may remind us of the ceremony of buckling on the spurs

of the Christian knight. They were then allowed to assume the girdle or sash around the loins, corresponding

with the toga virilis of the Romans, and intimating that they had reached the season of manhood. Their heads

were adorned with garlands of flowers, which, by their various colors, were emblematic of the clemency and

goodness that should grace the character of every true warrior; and the leaves of an evergreen plant were

mingled with the flowers, to show that these virtues should endure without end.30 The prince's head was

further ornamented by a fillet, or tasselled fringe, of a yellow color, made of the fine threads of the vicuna

wool, which encircled the forehead as the peculiar insignia of the heir apparent. The great body of the Inca

nobility next made their appearance, and, beginning with those nearest of kin, knelt down before the prince,

and did him homage as successor to the crown. The whole assembly then moved to the great square of the

capital, where songs, and dances, and other public festivities closed the important ceremonial of the

The reader will be less surprised by the resemblance which this ceremonial bears to the inauguration of a

Christian knight in the feudal ages, if he reflects that a similar analogy may be traced in the institutions of

other people more or less civilized; and that it is natural that nations, occupied with the one great business of

war, should mark the period, when the preparatory education for it was ended, by similar characteristic

ceremonies. Having thus honorably passed through his ordeal, the heirapparent was deemed worthy to sit in

the councils of his father, and was employed in offices of trust at home, or, more usually, sent on distant

expeditions to practise in the field the lessons which he had hitherto studied only in the mimic theatre of war.

His first campaigns were conducted under the renowned commanders who had grown grey in the service of

his father; until, advancing in years and experience, he was placed in command himself, and, like Huayna

Capac, the last and most illustrious of his line, carried the banner of the rainbow, the armorial ensign of his

The government of Peru was a despotism, mild in its character, but in its form a pure and unmitigated

despotism. The sovereign was placed at an immeasurable distance above his subjects. Even the proudest of

the Inca nobility, claiming a descent from the same divine original as himself, could not venture into the royal

presence, unless barefoot, and bearing a light burden on his shoulders in token of homage.32 As the

representative of the Sun, he stood at the head of the priesthood, and presided at the most important of the

religious festivals.33 He raised armies, and usually commanded them in person. He imposed taxes, made

laws, and provided for their execution by the appointment of judges, whom he removed at pleasure. He was

the source from which every thing flowed, all dignity, all power, all emolument. He was, in short, in the

The Inca asserted his claims as a superior being by assuming a pomp in his manner of living well calculated

to impose on his people. His dress was of the finest wool of the vicuna, richly dyed, and ornamented with a

profusion of gold and precious stones. Round his head was wreathed a turban of manycolored folds, called

the llautu; and a tasselled fringe, like that worn by the prince, but of a scarlet color, with two feathers of a rare

and curious bird, called the coraquenque, placed upright in it, were the distinguishing insignia of royalty. The

birds from which these feathers were obtained were found in a desert country among the mountains; and it

was death to destroy or to take them, as they were reserved for the exclusive purpose of supplying the royal

headgear. Every succeeding monarch was provided with a new pair of these plumes, and his credulous

subjects fondly believed that only two individuals of the species had ever existed to furnish the simple

Although the Peruvian monarch was raised so far above the highest of his subjects, he condescended to

mingle occasionally with them, and took great pains personally to inspect the condition of the humbler

classes. He presided at some of the religious celebrations, and on these occasions entertained the great nobles

at his table, when he complimented them, after the fashion of more civilized nations, by drinking the health of

But the most effectual means taken by the Incas for communicating with their people were their progresses

through the empire. These were conducted, at intervals of several years, with great state and magnificence.

The sedan, or litter, in which they travelled, richly emblazoned with gold and emeralds, was guarded by a

numerous escort. The men who bore it on their shoulders were provided by two cities, specially appointed for

the purpose. It was a post to be coveted by no one, if, as is asserted, a fall was punished by death.37 They

travelled with ease and expedition, halting at the tambos, or inns, erected by government along the route, and

occasionally at the royal palaces, which in the great towns afforded ample accommodations to the whole of

the monarch's retinue. The noble roads which traversed the tableland were lined with people who swept

away the stones and stubble from their surface, strewing them with sweetscented flowers, and vying with

each other in carrying forward the baggage from one village to another. The monarch halted from time to

time to listen to the grievances of his subjects, or to settle some points which had been referred to his decision

by the regular tribunals. As the princely train wound its way along the mountain passes, every place was

thronged with spectators eager to catch a glimpse of their sovereign; and, when he raised the curtains of his

litter, and showed himself to their eyes, the air was rent with acclamations as they invoked blessings on his

head.38 Tradition long commemorated the spots at which he halted, and the simple people of the country held

The royal palaces were on a magnificent scale, and, far from being confined to the capital or a few principal

towns, were scattered over all the provinces of their vast empire.40 The buildings were low, but covered a

wide extent of ground. Some of the apartments were spacious, but they were generally small, and had no

communication with one another, except that they opened into a common square or court. The walls were

made of blocks of stone of various sizes, like those described in the fortress of Cuzco, roughhewn, but

carefully wrought near the line of junction, which was scarcely visible to the eye. The roofs were of wood or

rushes, which have perished under the rude touch of time, that has shown more respect for the walls of the

edifices. The whole seems to have been characterized by solidity and strength, rather than by any attempt at

But whatever want of elegance there may have been in the exterior of the imperial dwellings, it was amply

compensated by the interior, in which all the opulence of the Peruvian princes was ostentatiously displayed.

The sides of the apartments were thickly studded with gold and silver ornaments. Niches, prepared in the

walls, were filled with images of animals and plants curiously wrought of the same costly materials; and even

much of the domestic furniture, including the utensils devoted to the most ordinary menial services, displayed

the like wanton magnificence! 42 With these gorgeous decorations were mingled richly colored stuffs of the

delicate manufacture of the Peruvian wool, which were of so beautiful a texture, that the Spanish sovereigns,

with all the luxuries of Europe and Asia at their command, did not disdain to use them.43 The royal

household consisted of a throng of menials, supplied by the neighboring towns and villages, which, as in

Mexico, were bound to furnish the monarch with fuel and other necessaries for the consumption of the

But the favorite residence of the Incas was at Yucay, about four leagues distant from the capital. In this

delicious valley, locked up within the friendly arms of the sierra, which sheltered it from the rude breezes of

the east, and refreshed by gushing fountains and streams of running water, they built the most beautiful of

their palaces. Here, when wearied with the dust and toil of the city, they loved to retreat, and solace

themselves with the society of their favorite concubines, wandering amidst groves and airy gardens, that shed

around their soft, intoxicating odors, and lulled the senses to voluptuous repose. Here, too, they loved to

indulge in the luxury of their baths, replenished by streams of crystal water which were conducted through

subterraneous silver channels into basins of gold. The spacious gardens were stocked with numerous varieties

of plants and flowers that grew without effort in this temperate region of the tropics, while parterres of a more

extraordinary kind were planted by their side, glowing with the various forms of vegetable life skilfully

imitated in gold and silver! Among them the Indian corn, the most beautiful of American grains, is

particularly commemorated, and the curious workmanship is noticed with which the golden ear was half

disclosed amidst the broad leaves of silver, and the light tassel of the same material that floated gracefully

If this dazzling picture staggers the faith of the reader, he may reflect that the Peruvian mountains teemed

with gold; that the natives understood the art of working the mines, to a considerable extent; that none of the

ore, as we shall see hereafter, was converted into coin, and that the whole of it passed into the hands of the

sovereign for his own exclusive benefit, whether for purposes of utility or ornament. Certain it is that no fact

is better attested by the Conquerors themselves, who had ample means of information, and no motive for

misstatement.The Italian poets, in their gorgeous pictures of the gardens of Alcina and Morgana, came

Our surprise, however, may reasonably be excited, when we consider that the wealth displayed by the

Peruvian princes was only that which each had amassed individually for himself. He owed nothing to

inheritance from his predecessors. On the decease of an Inca, his palaces were abandoned, all his treasures,

except what were employed in his obsequies, his furniture and apparel, were suffered to remain as he left

them, and his mansions, save one, were closed up for ever. The new sovereign was to provide himself with

every thing new for his royal state. The reason of this was the popular belief, that the soul of the departed

monarch would return after a time to reanimate his body on earth; and they wished that he should find every

When an Inca died, or, to use his own language, "was called home to the mansions of his father, the Sun," 46

his obsequies were celebrated with great pomp and solemnity. The bowels were taken from the body, and

deposited in the temple of Tampu, about five leagues from the capital. A quantity of his plate and jewels was

buried with them, and a number of his attendants and favorite concubines, amounting sometimes, it is said, to

a thousand, were immolated on his tomb.47 Some of them showed the natural repugnance to the sacrifice

occasionally manifested by the victims of a similar superstition in India. But these were probably the menials

and more humble attendants; since the women have been known, in more than one instance, to lay violent

hands on themselves, when restrained from testifying their fidelity by this act of conjugal martyrdom. This

melancholy ceremony was followed by a general mourning throughout the empire. At stated intervals, for a

year, the people assembled to renew the expressions of their sorrow, processions were made, displaying the

banner of the departed monarch; bards and minstrels were appointed to chronicle his achievements, and their

songs continued to be rehearsed at high festivals in the presence of the reigning monarch,thus stimulating

The body of the deceased Inca was skilfully embalmed, and removed to the great temple of the Sun at Cuzco.

There the Peruvian sovereign, on entering the awful sanctuary, might behold the effigies of his royal

ancestors, ranged in opposite files,the men on the right, and their queens on the left, of the great luminary

which blazed in refulgent gold on the walls of the temple. The bodies, clothed in the princely attire which

they had been accustomed to wear, were placed on chairs of gold, and sat with their heads inclined

downward, their hands placidly crossed over their bosoms, their countenances exhibiting their natural dusky

hue,less liable to change than the fresher coloring of a European complexion,and their hair of raven

black, or silvered over with age, according to the period at which they died! It seemed like a company of

solemn worshippers fixed in devotion,so true were the forms and lineaments to life. The Peruvians were as

successful as the Egyptians in the miserable attempt to perpetuate the existence of the body beyond the limits

They cherished a still stranger illusion in the attentions which they continued to pay to these insensible

remains, as if they were instinct with life. One of the houses belonging to a deceased Inca was kept open and

occupied by his guard and attendants, with all the state appropriate to royalty. On certain festivals, the

revered bodies of the sovereigns were brought out with great ceremony into the public square of the capital.

Invitations were sent by the captains of the guard of the respective Incas to the different nobles and officers of

the court; and entertainments were provided in the names of their masters, which displayed all the profuse

magnificence of their treasures,and "such a display," says an ancient chronicler, "was there in the great

square of Cuzco, on this occasion, of gold and silver plate and jewels, as no other city in the world ever

witnessed." 50 The banquet was served by the menials of the respective households, and the guests partook of

the melancholy cheer in the presence of the royal phantom with the same attention to the forms of courtly

The nobility of Peru consisted of two orders, the first and by far the most important of which was that of the

Incas, who, boasting a common descent with their sovereign, lived, as it were, in the reflected light of his

glory. As the Peruvian monarchs availed themselves of the right of polygamy to a very liberal extent, leaving

behind them families of one or even two hundred children, 52 the nobles of the blood royal, though

comprehending only their descendants in the male line, came in the course of years to be very numerous.53

They were divided into different lineages, each of which traced its pedigree to a different member of the royal

They were distinguished by many exclusive and very important privileges; they wore a peculiar dress; spoke

a dialect, if we may believe the chronicler, peculiar to themselves; 54 and had the choicest portion of the

public domain assigned for their support. They lived, most of them, at court, near the person of the prince,

sharing in his counsels, dining at his board, or supplied from his table. They alone were admissible to the

great offices in the priesthood. They were invested with the command of armies, and of distant garrisons,

were placed over the provinces, and, in short, filled every station of high trust and emolument.55 Even the

laws, severe in their general tenor, seem not to have been framed with reference to them; and the people,

investing the whole order with a portion of the sacred character which belonged to the sovereign, held that an

The other order of nobility was the Curacas, the caciques of the conquered nations, or their descendants. They

were usually continued by the government in their places, though they were required to visit the capital

occasionally, and to allow their sons to be educated there as the pledges of their loyalty. It is not easy to

define the nature or extent of their privileges. They were possessed of more or less power, according to the

extent of their patrimony, and the number of their vassals. Their authority was usually transmitted from father

to son, though sometimes the successor was chosen by the people.57 They did not occupy the highest posts of

state, or those nearest the person of the sovereign, like the nobles of the blood. Their authority seems to have

been usually local, and always in subordination to the territorial jurisdiction of the great provincial governors,

It was the Inca nobility, indeed, who constituted the real strength.of the Peruvian monarchy. Attached to their

prince by ties of consanguinity, they had common sympathies and, to a considerable extent, common interests

with him. Distinguished by a peculiar dress and insignia, as well as by language and blood, from the rest of

the community, they were never confounded with the other tribes and nations who were incorporated into the

great Peruvian monarchy. After the lapse of centuries, they still retained their individuality as a peculiar

people. They were to the conquered races of the country what the Romans were to the barbarous hordes of

the Empire, or the Normans to the ancient inhabitants of the British Isles. Clustering around the throne, they

formed an invincible phalanx, to shield it alike from secret conspiracy and open insurrection. Though living

chiefly in the capital, they were also distributed throughout the country in all its high stations and strong

military posts, thus establishing lines of communication with the court, which enabled the sovereign to act

simultaneously and with effect on the most distant quarters of his empire. They possessed, moreover, an

intellectual preeminence, which, no less than their station, gave them authority with the people. Indeed, it

may be said to have been the principal foundation of their authority. The crania of the Inca race show a

decided superiority over the other races of the land in intellectual power; 59 and it cannot be denied that it

was the fountain of that peculiar civilization and social polity, which raised the Peruvian monarchy above

every other state in South America. Whence this remarkable race came, and what was its early history, are

among those mysteries that meet us so frequently in the annals of the New World, and which time and the

If we are surprised at the peculiar and original features of what may be called the Peruvian aristocracy, we

shall be still more so as we descend to the lower orders of the community, and see the very artificial character

of their institutions,as artificial as those of ancient Sparta, and, though in a different way, quite as

repugnant to the essential principles of our nature. The institutions of Lycurgus, however, were designed for a

petty state, while those of Peru, although originally intended for such, seemed, like the magic tent in the

Arabian tale, to have an indefinite power of expansion, and were as well suited to the most flourishing

condition of the empire as to its infant fortunes. In this remarkable accommodation to change of

circumstances we see the proofs of a contrivance that argues no slight advance in civilization.

The name of Peru was not known to the natives. It was given by the Spaniards, and originated, it is said, in a

misapprehension of the Indian name of "river."1 However this may be, it is certain that the natives had no

other epithet by which to designate the large collection of tribes and nations who were assembled under the

sceptre of the Incas, than that of Tavantinsuyu, or "four quarters of the world."2 This will not surprise a

citizen of the United States, who has no other name by which to class himself among nations than what is

borrowed from a quarter of the globe.3 The kingdom, conformably to its name, was divided into four parts,

distinguished each by a separate title, and to each of which ran one of the four great roads that diverged from

Cuzco, the capital or navel of the Peruvian monarchy. The city was in like manner divided into four quarters;

and the various races, which gathered there from the distant parts of the empire, lived each in the quarter

nearest to its respective province. They all continued to wear their peculiar national costume, so that it was

easy to determine their origin; and the same order and system of arrangement prevailed in the motley

population of the capital, as in the great provinces of the empire. The capital, in fact, was a miniature image

The four great provinces were each placed under a viceroy or governor, who ruled over them with the

assistance of one or more councils for the different departments. These viceroys resided, some portion of

their time, at least, in the capital, where they constituted a sort of council of state to the Inca.5 The nation at

large was distributed into decades, or small bodies of ten; and every tenth man, or head of a decade, had

supervision of the rest,being required to see that they enjoyed the rights and immunities to which they

were entitled, to solicit aid in their behalf from government, when necessary, and to bring offenders to justice.

To this last they were stimulated by a law that imposed on them, in case of neglect, the same penalty that

would have been incurred by the guilty party. With this law hanging over his head, the magistrate of Peru, we

The people were still further divided into bodies of fifty, one hundred, five hundred, and a thousand, with

each an officer having general supervision over those beneath, and the higher ones possessing, to a certain

extent, authority in matters of police. Lastly, the whole empire was distributed into sections or departments of

ten thousand inhabitants, with a governor over each, from the Inca nobility, who had control over the curacas

and other territorial officers in the district. There were, also, regular tribunals of justice, consisting of

magistrates in each of the towns or small communities, with jurisdiction over petty offences, while those of a

graver character were carried before superior judges, usually the governors or rulers of the districts. These

judges all held their authority and received their support from the Crown, by which they were appointed and

removed at pleasure. They were obliged to determine every suit in five days from the time it was brought

before them; and there was no appeal from one tribunal to another. Yet there were important provisions for

the security of justice. A committee of visitors patrolled the kingdom at certain times to investigate the

character and conduct of the magistrates; and any neglect or violation of duty was punished in the most

exemplary manner. The inferior courts were also required to make monthly returns of their proceedings to the

higher ones, and these made reports in like manner to the viceroys; so that the monarch, seated in the centre

of his dominions, could look abroad, as it were, to the most distant extremities, and review and rectify any

The laws were few and exceedingly severe. They related almost wholly to criminal matters. Few other laws

were needed by a people who had no money, little trade, and hardly any thing that could be called fixed

property. The crimes of theft, adultery, and murder were all capital; though it was wisely provided that some

extenuating circumstances might be allowed to mitigate the punishment.8 Blasphemy against the Sun, and

malediction of the Inca,offences, indeed, of the same complexion were also punished with death.

Removing landmarks, turning the water away from a neighbor's land into one's own, burning a house, were

all severely punished. To burn a bridge was death. The inca allowed no obstacle to those facilities of

communication so essential to the maintenance of public order. A rebellious city or province was laid waste,

and its inhabitants exterminated. Rebellion against the "Child of the Sun," was the greatest of all crimes.9

The simplicity and severity of the Peruvian code may be thought to infer a state of society but little advanced;

which had few of those complex interests and relations that grow up in a civilized community, and which had

not proceeded far enough in the science of legislation to economize human suffering by proportioning

penalties to crimes. But the Peruvian institutions must be regarded from a different point of view from that in

which we study those of other nations. The laws emanated from the sovereign, and that sovereign held a

divine commission, and was possessed of a divine nature. To violate the law was not only to insult the

majesty of the throne, but it was sacrilege. The slightest offence, viewed in this light, merited death; and the

gravest could incur no heavier penalty.10 Yet, in the infliction of their punishments, they showed no

unnecessary cruelty; and the sufferings of the victim were not prolonged by the ingenious torments so

These legislative provisions may strike us as very defective, even as compared with those of the

semicivilized races of Anahuac, where a gradation of courts, moreover, with the fight of appeal, afforded a

tolerable security for justice. But in a country like Peru, where few but criminal causes were known, the right

of appeal was of less consequence. The law was simple, its application easy; and, where the judge was

honest, the case was as likely to be determined correctly on the first hearing as on the second. The inspection

of the board of visitors, and the monthly returns of the tribunals, afforded no slight guaranty for their

integrity. The law which required a decision within five days would seem little suited to the complex and

embarrassing litigation of a modern tribunal. But, in the simple questions submitted to the Peruvian judge,

delay would have been useless; and the Spaniards, familiar with the evils growing out of longprotracted

suits, where the successful litigant is too often a ruined man, are loud in their encomiums of this

The fiscal regulations of the Incas, and the laws respecting property, are the most remarkable features in the

Peruvian polity. The whole territory of the empire was divided into three parts, one for the Sun, another for

the Inca, and the last for the people. Which of the three was the largest is doubtful. The proportions differed

materially in different provinces. The distribution, indeed, was made on the same general principle, as each

new conquest was added to the monarchy; but the propertion varied according to the amount of population,

and the greater or less amount of land consequently required for the support of the inhabirants.13

The lands assigned to the Sun furnished a revenue to support the temples, and maintain the costly ceremonial

of the Peruvian worship and the multitudinous priesthood. Those reserved for the Inca went to support the

royal state, as well as the numerous members of his household and his kindred, and supplied the various

exigencies of government. The remainder of the lands was divided, per capita, in equal shares among the

people. It was provided by law, as we shall see hereafter, that every Peruvian should marry at a certain age.

When this event took place, the community or district in which he lived furnished him with a dwelling,

which, as it was constructed of humble materials, was done at little cost. A lot of land was then assigned to

him sufficient for his own maintenance and that of his wife. An additional portion was granted for every

child, the amount allowed for a son being the double of that for a daughter. The division of the soil was

renewed every year, and the possessions of the tenant were increased or diminished according to the numbers

in his family.14 The same arrangement was observed with reference to the curacas, except only that a domain

was assigned to them corresponding with the superior dignity of their stations.15

A more thorough and effectual agrarian law than this cannot be imagined. In other countries where such a law

has been introduced, its operation, after a time, has given way to the natural order of events, and, under the

superior intelligence and thrift of some and the prodigality of others, the usual vicissitudes of fortune have

been allowed to take their course, and restore things to their natural inequality. Even the iron law of Lycurgus

ceased to operate after a time, and melted away before the spirit of luxury and avarice. The nearest approach

to the Peruvian constitution was probably in Judea, where, on the recurrence of the great national jubilee, at

the close of every halfcentury, estates reverted to their original proprietors. There was this important

difference in Peru; that not only did the lease, if we may so call it, terminate with the year, but during that

period the tenant had no power to alienate or to add to his possessions. The end of the brief term found him in

precisely the same condition that he was in at the beginning. Such a state of things might be supposed to be

fatal to any thing like attachment to the soil, or to that desire of improving it, which is natural to the

permanent proprietor, and hardly less so to the holder of a long lease. But the practical operation of the law

seems to have been otherwise; and it is probable, that, under the influence of that love of order and aversion

to change which marked the Peruvian institutions, each new partition of the soil usually confirmed the

occupant in his possession, and the tenant for a year was converted into a proprietor for life.

The territory was cultivated wholly by the people. The lands belonging to the Sun were first attended to. They

next tilled the lands of the old, of the sick, of the widow and the orphan, and of soldiers engaged in actual

service; in short, of all that part of the community who, from bodily infirmity or any other cause, were unable

to attend to their own concerns. The people were then allowed to work on their own ground, each man for

himself, but with the general obligation to assist his neighbor, when any circumstancethe burden of a

young and numerous family, for examplemight demand it.16 Lastly, they cultivated the lands of the Inca.

This was done, with great ceremony, by the whole population in a body. At break of day, they were

summoned together by proclamation from some neighboring tower or eminence, and all the inhabitants of the

district, men, women, and children, appeared dressed in their gayest apparel, bedecked with their little store

of finery and ornaments, as if for some great jubilee. They went through the labors of the day with the same

joyous spirit, chanting their popular ballads which commemorated the heroic deeds of the Incas, regulating

their movements by the measure of the chant, and all mingling in the chorus, of which the word hailli, or

"triumph," was usually the burden. These national airs had something soft and pleasing in their character, that

recommended them to the Spaniards; and many a Peruvian song was set to music by them after the Conquest,

and was listened to by the unfortunate natives with melancholy satisfaction, as it called up recollections of the

A similar arrangement prevailed with respect to the different manufactures as to the agricultural products of

the country. The flocks of llamas, or Peruvian sheep, were appropriated exclusively to the Sun and to the

Inca.18 Their number was immense. They were scattered over the different provinces, chiefly in the colder

regions of the country, where they were intrusted to the care of experienced shepherds, who conducted them

to different pastures according to the change of season. A large number was every year sent to the capital for

the consumption of the Court, and for the religious festivals and sacrifices. But these were only the males, as

no female was allowed to be killed. The regulations for the care and breeding of these flocks were prescribed

with the greatest minuteness, and with a sagacity which excited the admiration of the Spaniards, who were

familiar with the management of the great migratory flocks of merinos in their own country.19

At the appointed season, they were all sheared, and the wool was deposited in the public magazines. It was

then dealt out to each family in such quantities as sufficed for its wants, and was consigned to the female part

of the household, who were well instructed in the business of spinning and weaving. When this labor was

accomplished, and the family was provided with a coarse but warm covering, suited to the cold climate of the

mountains,for, in the lower country, cotton, furnished in like manner by the Crown, took the place, to a

certain extent, of wool, the people were required to labor for the Inca. The quantity of the cloth needed, as

well as the peculiar kind and quality of the fabric, was first determined at Cuzco. The work was then

apportioned among the different provinces. Officers, appointed for the purpose, superintended the distribution

of the wool, so that the manufacture of the different articles should be intrusted to the most competent

hands.20 They did not leave the matter here, but entered the dwellings, from time to time, and saw that the

work was faithfully executed. This domestic inquisition was not confined to the labors for the Inca. It

included, also, those for the several families; and care was taken that each household should employ the

materials furnished for its own use in the manner that was intended, so that no one should be unprovided with

necessary apparel.21 In this domestic labor all the female part of the establishment was expected to join.

Occupation was found for all, from the child five years old to the aged matron not too infirm to hold a distaff.

No one, at least none but the decrepit and the sick, was allowed to eat the bread of idleness in Peru. Idleness

was a crime in the eye of the law, and, as such, severely punished; while industry was publicly commended

The like course was pursued with reference to the other requisitions of the government. All the mines in the

kingdom belonged to the Inca. They were wrought exclusively for his benefit, by persons familiar with this

service, and selected from the districts where the mines were situated.23 Every Peruvian of the lower class

was a husbandman, and, with the exception of those already specified, was expected to provide for his own

support by the cultivation of his land. A small portion of the community, however, was instructed in

mechanical arts; some of them of the more elegant kind, subservient to the purposes of luxury and ornament.

The demand for these was chiefly limited to the sovereign and his Court; but the labor of a larger number of

hands was exacted for the execution of the great public works which covered the land. The nature and amount

of the services required were all determined at Cuzco by commissioners well instructed in the resources of

This information was obtained by an admirable regulation, which has scarcely a counterpart in the annals of a

semicivilized people. A register was kept of all the births and deaths throughout the country, and exact

returns of the actual population were made to government every year, by means of the quipus, a curious

invention, which will be explained hereafter.25 At certain intervals, also, a general survey of the country was

made, exhibiting a complete view of the character of the soil, its fertility, the nature of its products, both

agricultural and mineral, in short, of all that constituted the physical resources of the empire.26 Furnished

with these statistical details, it was easy for the government, after determining the amount of requisitions, to

distribute the work among the respective provinces best qualified to execute it. The task of apportioning the

labor was assigned to the local authorities, and great care was taken that it should be done in such a manner,

that, while the most competent hands were selected, it should not fall disproportionately heavy on any.27

The different provinces of the country furnished persons peculiarly suited to different employments, which,

as we shall see hereafter, usually descended from father to son. Thus, one district supplied those most skilled

in working the mines, another the most curious workers in metals, or in wood, and so on.28 The artisan was

provided by government with the materials; and no one was required to give more than a stipulated portion of

his time to the public service. He was then succeeded by another for the like term; and it should be observed,

that all who were engaged in the employment of the governmentand the remark applies equally to

agricultural laborwere maintained, for the time, at the public expense.29 By this constant rotation of labor,

it was intended that no one should be overburdened, and that each man should have time to provide for the

demands of his own household. It was impossiblein the judgment of a high Spanish authorityto improve

on the system of distribution, so carefully was it accommodated to the condition and comfort of the artisan.30

The security of the working classes seems to have been ever kept in view in the regulations of the

government; and these were so discreetly arranged, that the most wearing and unwholesome labors, as those

of the mines, occasioned no detriment to the health of the laborer; a striking contrast to his subsequent

A part of the agricultural produce and manufactures was transported to Cuzco, to minister to the immediate

demands of the Inca and his Court. But far the greater part was stored in magazines scattered over the

different provinces. These spacious buildings, constructed of stone, were divided between the Sun and the

Inca, though the greater share seems to have been appropriated by the monarch. By a wise regulation, any

deficiency in the contributions of the Inca might be supplied from the granaries of the Sun.32 But such a

necessity could rarely have happened; and the providence of the government usually left a large surplus in the

royal depositories, which was removed to a third class of magazines, whose design was to supply the people

in seasons of scarcity, and, occasionally, to furnish relief to individuals, whom sickness or misfortune had

reduced to poverty; thus, in a manner, justifying the assertion of a Castilian document, that a large portion of

the revenues of the Inca found its way back again, through one channel or another, into the hands of the

people.33 These magazines were found by the Spaniards, on their arrival, stored with all the various products

and manufactures of the country,with maize, coca, quinua, woolen and cotton stuffs of the finest quality,

with vases and utensils of gold, silver, and copper, in short, with every article of luxury or use within the

compass of Peruvian skill.34 The magazines of grain, in particular, would frequently have sufficed for the

consumption of the adjoining district for several years.35 An inventory of the various products of the country,

and the quarters whence they were obtained, was every year taken by the royal officers, and recorded by the

quipucamayus on their registers, with surprising regularity and precision. These registers were transmitted to

the capital, and submitted to the Inca, who could thus at a glance, as it were, embrace the whole results of the

national industry, and see how far they corresponded with the requisitions of government.36

Such are some of the most remarkable features of the Peruvian institutions relating to property, as delineated

by writers who, however contradictory in the details, have a general conformity of outline. These institutions

are certainly so remarkable, that it is hardly credible they should ever have been enforced throughout a great

empire, and for a long period of years. Yet we have the most unequivocal testimony to the fact from the

Spaniards, who landed in Peru in time to witness their operation; some of whom, men of high judicial station

and character, were commissioned by the government to make investigations into the state of the country

The impositions on the Peruvian people seem to have been sufficiently heavy. On them rested the whole

burden of maintaining, not only their own order, but every other order in the state. The members of the royal

house, the great nobles, even the public functionaries, and the numerous body of the priesthood, were all

exempt from taxation.37 The whole duty of defraying the expenses of the government belonged to the

people. Yet this was not materially different from the condition of things formerly existing in most parts of

Europe, where the various privileged classes claimed exemptionnot always with success, indeedfrom

bearing part of the public burdens. The great hardship in the case of the Peruvian was, that he could not better

his condition. His labors were for others, rather than for himself. However industrious, he could not add a

rood to his own possessions, nor advance himself one hair's breadth in the social scale. The great and

universal motive to honest industry, that of bettering one's lot, was lost upon him. The great law of human

progress was not for him. As he was born, so he was to die. Even his time he could not properly call his own.

Without money, with little property of any kind, he paid his taxes in labor.38 No wonder that the government

should have dealt with sloth as a crime. It was a crime against the state, and to be wasteful of time was, in a

manner, to rob the exchequer. The Peruvian, laboring all his life for others, might be compared to the convict

in a treadmill, going the same dull round of incessant toil, with the consciousness, that, however profitable

But this is the dark side of the picture. If no man could become rich in Peru, no man could become poor. No

spendthrift could waste his substance in riotous luxury. No adventurous schemer could impoverish his family

by the spirit of speculation. The law was constantly directed to enforce a steady industry and a sober

management of his affairs. No mendicant was tolerated in Peru. When a man was reduced by poverty or

misfortune, (it could hardly be by fault,) the arm of the law was stretched out to minister relief; not the stinted

relief of private charity, nor that which is doled out, drop by drop, as it were, from the frozen reservoirs of

"the parish," but in generous measure, bringing no humiliation to the object of it, and placing him on a level

No man could be rich, no man could be poor, in Peru; but all might enjoy, and did enjoy, a competence.

Ambition, avarice, the love of change, the morbid spirit of discontent, those passions which most agitate the

minds of men, found no place in the bosom of the Peruvian. The very condition of his being seemed to be at

war with change. He moved on in the same unbroken circle in which his fathers had moved before him, and

in which his children were to follow. It was the object of the Incas to infuse into their subjects a spirit of

passive obedience and tranquillity,a perfect acquiescence in the established order of things. In this they

fully succeeded. The Spaniards who first visited the country are emphatic in their testimony, that no

government could have been better suited to the genius of the people; and no people could have appeared

Those who may distrust the accounts of Peruvian industry will find their doubts removed on a visit to the

country. The traveller still meets, especially in the central regions of the tableland, with memorials of the

past, remains of temples, palaces, fortresses, terraced mountains, great military roads, aqueducts, and other

public works, which, whatever degree of science they may display in their execution, astonish him by their

number, the massive character of the materials, and the grandeur of the design. Among them, perhaps the

most remarkable are the great roads, the broken remains of which are still in sufficient preservation to attest

their former magnificence. There were many of these roads, traversing different parts of the kingdom; but the

most considerable were the two which extended from Quito to Cuzco, and, again diverging from the capital,

One of these roads passed over the grand plateau, and the other along the lowlands on the borders of the

ocean. The former was much the more difficult achievement, from the character of the country. It was

conducted over pathless sierras buried in snow; galleries were cut for leagues through the living rock; rivers

were crossed by means of bridges that swung suspended in the air; precipices were scaled by stairways hewn

out of the native bed; ravines of hideous depth were filled up with solid masonry; in short, all the difficulties

that beset a wild and mountainous region, and which might appall the most courageous engineer of modern

times, were encountered and successfully overcome. The length of the road, of which scattered fragments

only remain, is variously estimated, from fifteen hundred to two thousand miles; and stone pillars, in the

manner of European milestones, were erected at stated intervals of somewhat more than a league, all along

the route. Its breadth scarcely exceeded twenty feet.41 It was built of heavy flags of freestone, and in some

parts, at least, covered with a bituminous cement, which time has made harder than the stone itself. In some

places, where the ravines had been filled up with masonry, the mountain torrents, wearing on it for ages, have

gradually eaten a way through the base, and left the superincumbent masssuch is the cohesion of the

Over some of the boldest streams it was necessary to construct suspension bridges, as they are termed, made

of the tough fibres of the maguey, or of the osier of the country, which has an extraordinary degree of

tenacity and strength. These osiers were woven into cables of the thickness of a man's body. The huge ropes,

then stretched across the water, were conducted through rings or holes cut in immense buttresses of stone

raised on the opposite banks of the river, and there secured to heavy pieces of timber. Several of these

enormous cables, bound together, formed a bridge, which, covered with planks, well secured and defended by

a railing of the same osier materials on the sides, afforded a safe passage for the traveller. The length of this

aerial bridge, sometimes exceeding two hundred feet, caused it, confined, as it was, only at the extremities, to

dip with an alarming inclination towards the centre, while the motion given to it by the passenger occasioned

an oscillation still more frightful, as his eye wandered over the dark abyss of waters that foamed and tumbled

many a fathom beneath. Yet these light and fragile fabrics were crossed without fear by the Peruvians, and

are still retained by the Spaniards over those streams which, from the depth or impetuosity of the current,

would seem impracticable for the usual modes of conveyance. The wider and more tranquil waters were

crossed on balsasa kind of raft still much used by the nativesto which sails were attached, furnishing the

The other great road of the Incas lay through the level country between the Andes and the ocean. It was

constructed in a different manner, as demanded by the nature of the ground, which was for the most part low,

and much of it sandy. The causeway was raised on a high embankment of earth, and defended on either side

by a parapet or wall of clay; and trees and odoriferous shrubs were planted along the margin, regaling the

sense of the traveller with their perfumes, and refreshing him by their shades, so grateful under the burning

sky of the tropics. In the strips of sandy waste, which occasionally intervened, where the light and volatile

soil was incapable of sustaining a road, huge piles, many of them to be seen at this day, were driven into the

All along these highways, caravansaries, or tambos, as they were called, were erected, at the distance of ten

or twelve miles from each other, for the accommodation, more particularly, of the Inca and his suite, and

those who journeyed on the public business. There were few other travellers in Peru. Some of these buildings

were on an extensive scale, consisting of a fortress, barracks, and other military works, surrounded by a

parapet of stone, and covering a large tract of ground. These were evidently destined for the accommodation

of the imperial armies, when on their march across the country. The care of the great roads was committed to

the districts through which they passed, and a large number of hands was constantly employed under the

Incas to keep them in repair. This was the more easily done in a country where the mode of travelling was

altogether on foot; though the roads are said to have been so nicely constructed, that a carriage might have

rolled over them as securely as on any of the great roads of Europe.45 Still, in a region where the elements of

fire and water are both actively at work in the business of destruction, they must, without constant

supervision, have gradually gone to decay. Such has been their fate under the Spanish conquerors, who took

no care to enforce the admirable system for their preservation adopted by the Incas. Yet the broken portions

that still survive, here and there, like the fragments of the great Roman roads scattered over Europe, bear

evidence to their primitive grandeur, and have drawn forth the eulogium from a discriminating traveller,

usually not too profuse in his panegyric, that "the roads of the Incas were among the most useful and

The system of communication through their dominions was still further improved by the Peruvian sovereigns,

by the introduction of posts, in the same manner as was done by the Aztecs. The Peruvian posts, however,

established on all the great routes that conducted to the capital, were on a much more extended plan than

those in Mexico. All along these routes, small buildings were erected, at the distance of less than five miles

asunder,47 in each of which a number of runners, or chasquis, as they were called, were stationed to carry

forward the despatches of government.48 These despatches were either verbal, or conveyed by means of

quipus, and sometimes accompanied by a thread of the crimson fringe worn round the temples of the Inca,

which was regarded with the same implicit deference as the signet ring of an Oriental despot.49

The chasquis were dressed in a peculiar livery, intimating their profession. They were all trained to the

employment, and selected for their speed and fidelity. As the distance each courier had to perform was small,

and as he had ample time to refresh himself at the stations, they tart over the ground with great swiftness, and

messages were carried through the whole extent of the long routes, at the rate of a hundred and fifty miles a

day. The office of the chasquis was not limited to carrying despatches. They frequently brought various

articles for the use of the Court; and in this way, fish from the distant ocean, fruits, game, and different

commodities from the hot regions on the coast, were taken to the capital in good condition, and served fresh

at the royal table.50 It is remarkable that this important institution should have been known to both the

Mexicans and the Peruvians without any correspondence with one another; and that it should have been

found among two barbarian nations of the New World, long before it was introduced among the civilized

By these wise contrivances of the Incas, the most distant parts of the longextended empire of Peru were

brought into intimate relations with each other. And while the capitals of Christendom, but a few hundred

miles apart, remained as far asunder as if seas had rolled between them, the great capitals Cuzco and Quito

were placed by the high roads of the Incas in immediate correspondence. Intelligence from the numerous

provinces was transmitted on the wings of the wind to the Peruvian metropolis, the great focus to which all

the lines of communication converged. Not an insurrectionary movement could occur, not an invasion, on the

remotest frontier, before the tidings were conveyed to the capital, and the imperial armies were on their

march across the magnificent roads of the country to suppress it. So admirable was the machinery contrived

by the American despots for maintaining tranquillity throughout their dominions! It may remind us of the

similar institutions of ancient Rome, when, under the Caesars, she was mistress of half the world.

A principal design of the great roads was to serve the purposes of military communication. It formed an

important item of their military policy, which is quite as well worth studying as their municipal.

Notwithstanding the pacific professions of the Incas, and the pacific tendency, indeed, of their domestic

institutions, they were constantly at war. It was by war that their paltry territory had been gradually enlarged

to a powerful empire. When this was achieved, the capital, safe in its central position, was no longer shaken

by these military movements, and the country enjoyed, in a great degree, the blessings of tranquillity and

order. But, however tranquil at heart, there is not a reign upon record in which the nation was not engaged in

war against the barbarous nations on the frontier. Religion furnished a plausible pretext for incessant

aggression, and disguised the lust of conquest in the Incas, probably, from their own eyes, as well as from

those of their subjects. Like the followers of Mahomet, bearing the sword in one hand and the Koran in the

other, the Incas of Peru offered no alternative but the worship of the Sun or war.

It is true, their fanaticismor their policyshowed itself in a milder form than was found in the

descendants of the Prophet. Like the great luminary which they adored, they operated by gentleness more

potent than violence.52 They sought to soften the hearts of the rude tribes around them, and melt them by acts

of condescension and kindness. Far from provoking hostilities, they allowed time for the salutary example of

their own institutions to work its effect, trusting that their less civilized neighbors would submit to their

sceptre, from a conviction of the blessings it would secure to them. When this course failed, they employed

other measures, but still of a pacific character; and endeavored by negotiation, by conciliatory treatment, and

by presents to the leading men, to win them over to their dominion. In short, they practised all the arts

familiar to the most subtle politician of a civilized land to secure the acquisition of empire. When all these

Their levies were drawn from all the different provinces; though from some, where the character of the

people was particularly hardy, more than from others.53 It seems probable that every Peruvian, who had

reached a certain age, might be called to bear arms. But the rotation of military service, and the regular drills,

which took place twice or thrice in a month, of the inhabitants of every village, raised the soldiers generally

above the rank of a raw militia. The Peruvian army, at first inconsiderable, came, with the increase of

population, in the latter days of the empire, to be very large, so that their monarchs could bring into the field,

as contemporaries assure us, a force amounting to two hundred thousand men. They showed the same skill

and respect for order in their military organization, as in other things. The troops were divided into bodies

corresponding with our battalions and companies, led by officers, that rose, in regular gradation, from the

lowest subaltern to the Inca noble, who was intrusted with the general command.54

Their arms consisted of the usual weapons employed by nations, whether civilized or uncivilized, before the

invention of powder,bows and arrows, lances, darts, a short kind of sword, a battleaxe or partisan, and

slings, with which they were very expert. Their spears and arrows were tipped with copper, or, more

commonly, with bone, and the weapons of the Inca lords were frequently mounted with gold or silver. Their

heads were protected by casques made either of wood or of the skins of wild animals, and sometimes richly

decorated with metal and with precious stones, surmounted by the brilliant plumage of the tropical birds.

These, of course, were the ornaments only of the higher orders. The great mass of the soldiery were dressed

in the peculiar costume of their provinces, and their heads were wreathed with a sort of turban or roll of

different colored cloths, that produced a gay and animating effect. Their defensive armor consisted of a

shield or buckler, and a close tunic of quilted cotton, in the same manner as with the Mexicans. Each

company had its particular banner, and the imperial standard, high above all, displayed the glittering device

and the rainbow,the armorial ensign of the Incas, intimating their claims as children of the skies.55

By means of the thorough system of communication established in the country, a short time sufficed to draw

the levies together from the most distant quarters. The army was put under the direction of some experienced

chief, of the blood royal, or, more frequently, headed by the Inca in person. The march was rapidly

performed, and with little fatigue to the soldier; for, all along the great routes, quarters were provided for him,

at regular distances, where he could find ample accommodations. The country is still covered with the

remains of military works, constructed of porphyry or granite, which tradition assures us were designed to

At regular intervals, also, magazines were established, filled with grain, weapons, and the different munitions

of war, with which the army was supplied on its march. It was the especial care of the government to see that

these magazines, which were furnished from the stores of the Incas, were always well filled. When the

Spaniards invaded the country, they supported their own armies for a long time on the provisions found in

them.57 The Peruvian soldier was forbidden to commit any trespass on the property of the inhabitants whose

territory lay in the line of march. Any violation of this order was punished with death.58 The soldier was

clothed and fed by the industry of the people, and the Incas rightly re solved that he should not repay this by

violence. Far from being a tax on the labors of the husbandman, or even a burden on his hospitality, the

imperial armies traversed the country, from one extremity to the other, with as little inconvenience to the

inhabitants, as would be created by a procession of peaceful burghers, or a muster of holiday soldiers for a

From the moment war was proclaimed, the Peruvian monarch used all possible expedition in assembling his

forces, that he might anticipate the movements of his enemies, and prevent a combination with their allies. It

was, however, from the neglect of such a principle of combination, that the several nations of the country,

who might have prevailed by confederated strength, fell one after another under the imperial yoke. Yet, once

in the field the Inca did not usually show any disposition to push his advantages to the utmost, and urge his

foe to extremity. In every stage of the war, he was open to propositions for peace; and although he sought to

reduce his enemies by carrying off their harvests and distressing them by famine, he allowed his troops to

commit no unnecessary outrage on person or property. "We must spare our enemies," one of the Peruvian

princes is quoted as saying, "or it will be our loss, since they and all that belong to them must soon be ours."

59 It was a wise maxim, and, like most other wise maxims, founded equally on benevolence and prudence.

The Incas adopted the policy claimed for the Romans by their countryman, who tells us that they gained more

In the same considerate spirit, they were most careful to provide for the security and comfort of their own

troops; and, when a war was long protracted, or the climate proved unhealthy, they took care to relieve their

men by frequent reinforcements, allowing the earlier recruits to return to their homes.61 But while thus

economical of life, both in their own followers and in the enemy, they did not shrink from sterner measures

when provoked by the ferocious or obstinate character of the resistance; and the Peruvian annals contain

more than one of those sanguinary pages which cannot be pondered at the present day without a shudder. It

should be added, that the beneficent policy, which I have been delineating as characteristic of the Incas, did

not belong to all; and that there was more than one of the royal line who displayed a full measure of the bold

The first step of the government, after the reduction of a country, was to introduce there the worship of the

Sun. Temples were erected, and placed under the care of a numerous priesthood, who expounded to the

conquered people the mysteries of their new faith, and dazzled them by the display of its rich and stately

ceremonial.62 Yet the religion of the conquered was not treated with dishonor. The Sun was to be

worshipped above all; but the images of their gods were removed to Cuzco and established in one of the

temples, to hold their rank among the inferior deities of the Peruvian Pantheon. Here they remained as

hostages, in some sort, for the conquered nation, which would be the less inclined to forsake its allegiance,

The Incas provided for the settlement of their new conquests, by ordering a census to be taken of the

population, and a careful survey to be made of the country, ascertaining its products, and the character and

capacity of its soil.64 A division of the territory was then made on the same principle with that adopted

throughout their own kingdom; and their respective portions were assigned to the Sun, the sovereign, and the

people. The amount of the last was regulated by the amount of the population, but the share of each

individual was uniformly the same. It may seem strange, that any people should patiently have acquiesced in

an arrangement which involved such a total surrender of property. But it was a conquered nation that did so,

held in awe, on the least suspicion of meditating resistance, by armed garrisons, who were established at

various commanding points throughout the country.65 It is probable, too, that the Incas made no greater

changes than was essential to the new arrangement, and that they assigned estates, as far as possible, to their

former proprietors. The curacas, in particular, were confirmed in their ancient authority; or, when it was

found expedient to depose the existing curaca, his rightful heir was allowed to succeed him.66 Every respect

was shown to the ancient usages and laws of the land, as far as was compatible with the fundamental

institutions of the Incas. It must also be remembered, that the conquered tribes were, many of them, too little

advanced in civilization to possess that attachment to the soil which belongs to a cultivated nation.67 But, to

whatever it be referred, it seems probable that the extraordinary institutions of the Incas were established with

Yet the Peruvian sovereigns did not trust altogether to this show of obedience in their new vassals; and, to

secure it more effectually, they adopted some expedients too remarkable to be passed by in silence.

Immediately after a recent conquest, the curacas and their families were removed for a time to Cuzco. Here

they learned the language of the capital, became familiar with the manners and usages of the court, as well as

with the general policy of government, and experienced such marks of favor from the sovereign as would be

most grateful to their feelings, and might attach them most warmly to his person. Under the influence of these

sentiments, they were again sent to rule over their vassals, but still leaving their eldest sons in the capital, to

remain there as a guaranty for their own fidelity, as well as to grace the court of the Inca.69

Another expedient was of a bolder and more original character. This was nothing less than to revolutionize

the language of the country. South America, like North, was broken up into a great variety of dialects, or

rather languages, having little affinity with one another. This circumstance occasioned great embarrassment

to the government in the administration of the different provinces, with whose idioms they were

unacquainted. It was determined, therefore, to substitute one universal language, the Quichua,the language

of the court, the capital, and the surrounding country,the richest and most comprehensive of the South

American dialects. Teachers were provided in the towns and villages throughout the land, who were to give

instruction to all, even the humblest classes; and it was intimated at the same time, that no one should be

raised to any office of dignity or profit, who was unacquainted with this tongue. The curacas and other chiefs,

who attended at the capital became familiar with this dialect in their intercourse with the Court and, on their

return home, set the example of conversing in it among themselves. This example was imitated by their

followers, and the Quichua gradually became the language of elegance and fashion, in the same manner as

the Norman French was affected by all those who aspired to any consideration in England, after the

Conquest. By this means, while each province retained its peculiar tongue, a beautiful medium of

communication was introduced, which enabled the inhabitants of one part of the country to hold intercourse

with every other, and the Inca and his deputies to communicate with all. This was the state of things on the

arrival of the Spaniards. It must be admitted, that history furnishes few examples of more absolute authority

than such a revolution in the language of an empire, at the bidding of a master.70

Yet little less remarkable was another device of the Incas for securing the loyalty of their subjects. When any

portion of the recent conquests showed a pertinacious spirit of disaffection, it was not uncommon to cause a

part of the population, amounting, it might be, to ten thousand inhabitants or more, to remove to a distant

quarter of the kingdom, occupied by ancient vassals of undoubted fidelity to the crown. A like number of

these last was transplanted to the territory left vacant by the emigrants. By this exchange, the population was

composed of two distinct races, who regarded each other with an eye of jealousy, that served as an effectual

check on any mutinous proceeding. In time, the influence of the well affected prevailed, supported, as they

were, by royal authority, and by the silent working of the national institutions, to which the strange races

became gradually accustomed. A spirit of loyalty sprang up by degrees in their bosoms, and, before a

generation had passed away, the different tribes mingled in harmony together as members of the same

community.71 Yet the different races continued to be distinguished by difference of dress; since, by the law

of the land, every citizen was required to wear the costume of his native province.72 Neither could the

colonist, who had been thus unceremoniously transplanted, return to his native district for, by another law, it

was forbidden to any one to change his residence without license.73 He was settled for life. The Peruvian

government ascribed to every man his local habitation, his sphere of action, nay, the very nature and quality

of that action. He ceased to be a free agent; it might be almost said, that it relieved him of personal

In following out this singular arrangement, the Incas showed as much regard for the comfort and convenience

of the colonist as was compatible with the execution of their design. They were careful that the mitimaes, as

these emigrants were styled, should be removed to climates most congenial with their own. The inhabitants of

the cold countries were not transplanted to the warm, nor the inhabitants of the warm countries to the cold.74

Even their habitual occupations were consulted, and the fisherman was settled in the neighborhood of the

ocean, or the great lakes; while such lands were assigned to the husbandman as were best adapted to the

culture with which he was most familiar.75 And, as migration by many, perhaps by most, would be regarded

as a calamity, the government was careful to show particular marks of favor to the mitimaes, and, by various

privileges and immunities, to ameliorate their condition, and thus to reconcile them, if possible, to their lot.76

The Peruvian institutions, though they may have been modified and matured under successive sovereigns, all

bear the stamp of the same original,were all cast in the same mould. The empire, strengthening and

enlarging at every successive epoch of its history, was, in its latter days, but the development, on a great

scale, of what it was in miniature at its commencement, as the infant germ is said to contain within itself all

the ramifications of the future monarch of the forest. Each succeeding Inca seemed desirous only to tread in

the path, and carry out the plans, of his predecessor. Great enterprises, commenced under one, were continued

by another, and completed by a third. Thus, while all acted on a regular plan, without any of the eccentric or

retrograde movements which betray the agency of different individuals, the state seemed to be under the

direction of a single hand, and steadily pursued, as if through one long reign, its great career of civilization

The ultimate aim of its institutions was domestic quiet. But it seemed as if this were to be obtained only by

foreign war. Tranquillity in the heart of the monarchy, and war on its borders, was the condition of Peru. By

this war it gave occupation to a part of its people, and, by the reduction and civilization of its barbarous

neighbors, gave security to all. Every Inca sovereign, however mild and benevolent in his domestic rule, was

a warrior, and led his armies in person. Each successive reign extended still wider the boundaries of the

empire. Year after year saw the victorious monarch return laden with spoils, and followed by a throng of

tributary chieftains to his capital. His reception there was a Roman triumph. The whole of its numerous

population poured out to welcome him, dressed in the gay and picturesque costumes of the different

provinces, With banners waving above their heads, and strewing branches and flowers along the path of the

conqueror. The Inca, borne aloft in his golden chair on the shoulders of his nobles, moved in solemn

procession, under the triumphal arches that were thrown across the way, to the great temple of the Sun.

There, without attendants,for all but the monarch were excluded from the hallowed precincts,the

victorious prince, stripped of his royal insignia, barefooted, and with all humility, approached the awful

shrine, and offered up sacrifice and thanksgiving to the glorious Deity who presided over the fortunes of the

Incas. This ceremony concluded, the whole population gave itself up to festivity; music, revelry, and dancing

were heard in every quarter of the capital, and illuminations and bonfires commemorated the victorious

In this celebration we see much of the character of a religious festival. Indeed, the character of religion was

impressed on all the Peruvian wars. The life of an Inca was one long crusade against the infidel, to spread

wide the worship of the Sun, to reclaim the benighted nations from their brutish superstitions, and impart to

them the blessings of a wellregulated government. This, in the favorite phrase of our day, was the "mission"

of the Inca. It was also the mission of the Christian conqueror who invaded the empire of this same Indian

potentate. Which of the two executed his mission most faithfully, history must decide.

Yet the Peruvian monarchs did not show a childish impatience in the acquisition of empire. They paused after

a campaign, and allowed time for the settlement of one conquest before they undertook another; and, in this

interval, occupied themselves with the quiet administration of their kingdom, and with the long progresses,

which brought them into nearer intercourse with their people. During this interval, also, their new vassals had

begun to accommodate themselves to the strange institutions of their masters. They learned to appreciate the

value of a government which raised them above the physical evils of a state of barbarism, secured them

protection of person, and a full participation in all the privileges enjoyed by their conquerors; and, as they

became more familiar with the peculiar institutions of the country, habit, that second nature, attached them

the more strongly to these institutions, from their very peculiarity. Thus, by degrees, and without violence,

arose the great fabric of the Peruvian empire, composed of numerous independent and even hostile tribes, yet,

under the influence of a common religion, common language, and common government, knit together as one

nation, animated by a spirit of love for its institutions and devoted loyalty to its sovereign. What a contrast to

the condition of the Aztec monarchy, on the neighboring continent, which, composed of the like

heterogeneous materials, without any internal principle of cohesion, was only held together by the stern

pressure, from without, of physical force !Why the Peruvian monarchy should have fared no better than its

rival, in its conflict with European civilization, will appear in the following pages.

It is a remarkable fact, that many, if not most, of the rude tribes inhabiting the vast American continent,

however disfigured their creeds may have been in other respects by a childish superstition, had attained to the

sublime conception of one Great Spirit, the Creator of the Universe, who, immaterial in his own nature, was

not to be dishonored by an attempt at visible representation, and who, pervading all space, was not to be

circumscribed within the walls of a temple. Yet these elevated ideas, so far beyond the ordinary range of the

untutored intellect, do not seem to have led to the practical consequences that might have been expected; and

few of the American nations have shown much solicitude for the maintenance of a religious worship, or

But, with progress in civilization, ideas more akin to those of civilized communities were gradually unfolded;

a liberal provision was made, and a separate order instituted, for the services of religion, which were

conducted with a minute and magnificent ceremonial, that challenged comparison, in some respects, with that

of the most polished nations of Christendom. This was the case with the nations inhabiting the table land of

North America, and with the natives of Bogota, Quito, Peru, and the other elevated regions on the great

Southern continent. It was, above all, the case with the Peruvians, who claimed a divine original for the

founders of their empire, whose laws all rested on a divine sanction, and whose domestic institutions and

foreign wars were alike directed to preserve and propagate their faith. Religion was the basis of their polity,

the very condition, as it were, of their social existence. The government of the Incas, in its essential

Yet, though religion entered so largely into the fabric and conduct of the political institutions of the people,

their mythology, that is, the traditionary legends by which they affected to unfold the mysteries of the

universe, was exceedingly mean and puerile. Scarce one of their traditionsexcept the beautiful one

respecting the founders of their royal dynastyis worthy of note, or throws much light on their own

antiquities, or the primitive history of man. Among the traditions of importance is one of the deluge, which

they held in common with so many of the nations in all parts of the globe, and which they related with some

Their ideas in respect to a future state of being deserve more attention. They admitted the existence of a soul

hereafter, and connected with this a belief in the resurrection of the body. They assigned two distinct places

for the residence of the good and of the wicked, the latter of which they fixed in the centre of the earth. The

good they supposed were to pass a luxurious life of tranquillity and ease, which comprehended their highest

notions of happiness. The wicked were to expiate their crimes by ages of wearisome labor. They associated

with these ideas a belief in an evil principle or spirit, bearing the name of Cupay, whom they did not attempt

to propitiate by sacrifices, and who seems to have been only a shadowy personification of sin, that exercised

It was this belief in the resurrection of the body, which led them to preserve the body with so much

solicitude, by a simple process, however, that, unlike the elaborate embalming of the Egyptians, consisted in

exposing it to the action of the cold, exceedingly dry, and highly rarefied atmosphere of the mountains.3 As

they believed that the occupations in the future world would have great resemblance to those of the present,

they buried with the deceased noble some of his apparel, his utensils, and, frequently, his treasures; and

completed the gloomy ceremony by sacrificing his wives and favorite domestics, to bear him company and

do him service in the happy regions beyond the clouds.4 Vast mounds of an irregular, or, more frequently,

oblong shape, penetrated by galleries running at right angles to each other, were raised over the dead, whose

dried bodies or mummies have been found in considerable numbers, sometimes erect, but more often in the

sitting posture, common to the Indian tribes of both continents. Treasures of great value have also been

occasionally drawn from these monumental deposits, and have stimulated, speculators to repeated

excavations with the hope of similar goodfortune. It was a lottery like that of searching after mines, but

The Peruvians, like so many other of the Indian races, acknowledged a Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler

of the Universe, whom they adored under the different names of Pachacamac and Viracocha.6 No temple was

raised to this invisible Being, save one only in the valley which took its name from the deity himself, not far

from the Spanish city of Lima. Even this temple had existed there before the country came under the sway of

the Incas, and was the great resort of Indian pilgrims from remote parts of the land; a circumstance which

suggests the idea, that the worship of this Great Spirit, though countenanced, perhaps, by their

The deity whose worship they especially inculcated, and which they never failed to establish wherever their

banners were known to penetrate, was the Sun. It was he, who, in a particular manner, presided over the

destinies of man; gave light and warmth to the nations, and life to the vegetable world; whom they reverenced

as the father of their royal dynasty, the founder of their empire; and whose temples rose in every city and

almost every village throughout the land, while his altars smoked with burnt offerings,a form of sacrifice

Besides the Sun, the Incas acknowledged various objects of worship in some way or other connected with

this principal deity. Such was the Moon, his sisterwife; the Stars, revered as part of her heavenly train,

though the fairest of them, Venus, known to the Peruvians by the name of Chasca, or the "youth with the long

and curling locks," was adored as the page of the Sun, whom he attends so closely in his rising and in his

setting. They dedicated temples also to the Thunder and Lightning,9 in whom they recognized the Sun's dread

ministers, and to the Rainbows whom they worshipped as a beautiful emanation of their glorious deity.10

In addition to these, the subjects of the Incas enrolled among their inferior deities many objects in nature, as

the elements, the winds, the earth, the air, great mountains and rivers, which impressed them with ideas of

sublimity and power, or were supposed in some way or other to exercise a mysterious influence over the

destinies of man.11 They adopted also a notion, not unlike that professed by some of the schools of ancient

philosophy, that every thing on earth had its archetype or idea, its mother, as they emphatically styled it,

which they held sacred, as, in some sort, its spiritual essence.12 But their system, far from being limited even

to these multiplied objects of devotion, embraced within its ample folds the numerous deities of the

conquered nations, whose images were transported to the capital, where the burdensome charges of their

worship were defrayed by their respective provinces. It was a rare stroke of policy in the Incas, who could

But the worship of the Sun constituted the peculiar care of the Incas, and was the object of their lavish

expenditure. The most ancient of the many temples dedicated to this divinity was in the Island of Titicaca,

whence the royal founders of the Peruvian line were said to have proceeded. From this circumstance, this

sanctuary was held in peculiar veneration. Every thing which belonged to it, even the broad fields of maize,

which Surrounded the temple, and formed part of its domain, imbibed a portion of its sanctity. The yearly

produce was distributed among the different public magazines, in small quantities to each, as something that

would sanctify the remainder of the store. Happy was the man who could secure even an ear of the blessed

But the most renowned of the Peruvian temples, the pride of the capital, and the wonder of the empire, was at

Cuzco, where, under the munificence of successive sovereigns, it had become so enriched, that it received the

name of Coricancha, or "the Place of Gold." It consisted of a principal building and several chapels and

inferior edifices, covering a large extent of ground in the heart of the city, and completely encompassed by a

wall, which, with the edifices, was all constructed of stone. The work was of the kind already described in the

other public buildings of the country, and was so finely executed, that a Spaniard, who saw it in its glory,

assures us, he could call to mind only two edifices in Spain, which, for their workmanship, were at all to be

compared with it.15 Yet this substantial, and, in some respects, magnificent structure, was thatched with

The interior of the temple was the most worthy of admiration. It was literally a mine of gold. On the western

wall was emblazoned a representation of the deity, consisting of a human countenance, looking forth from

amidst innumerable rays of light, which emanated from it in every direction, in the same manner as the sun is

often personified with us. The figure was engraved on a massive plate of gold of enormous dimensions,

thickly powdered with emeralds and precious stones.16 It was so situated in front of the great eastern portal,

that the rays of the morning sun fell directly upon it at its rising, lighting up the whole apartment with an

effulgence that seemed more than natural, and which was reflected back from the golden ornaments with

which the walls and ceiling were everywhere in crusted. Gold, in the figurative language of the people was

"the tears wept by the sun," 17 and every part of the interior of the temple glowed with burnished plates and

studs of the precious metal. The cornices, which surrounded the walls of the sanctuary, were of the same

costly material; and a broad belt or frieze of gold, let into the stonework, encompassed the whole exterior of

Adjoining the principal structure were several chapels of smaller dimensions. One of them was consecrated to

the Moon, the deity held next in reverence, as the mother of the Incas. Her effigy was delineated in the same

manner as that of the Sun, on a vast plate that nearly covered one side of the apartment. But this plate, as well

as all the decorations of the building, was of silver, as suited to the pale, silvery light of the beautiful planet.

There were three other chapels, one of which was dedicated to the host of Stars, who formed the bright court

of the Sister of the Sun; another was consecrated to his dread ministers of vengeance, the Thunder and the

Lightning; and a third, to the Rainbow, whose manycolored arch spanned the walls of the edifice with hues

almost as radiant as its own. There were besides several other buildings, or insulated apartments, for the

accommodation of the numerous priests who officiated in the services of the temple.19

All the plate, the ornaments, the utensils of every description, appropriated to the uses of religion, were of

gold or silver. Twelve immense vases of the latter metal stood on the floor of the great saloon, filled with

grain of the Indian corn;20 the censers for the perfumes, the ewers which held the water for sacrifice, the

pipes which conducted it through subterraneous channels into the buildings, the reservoirs that received it,

even the agricultural implements used in the gardens of the temple, were all of the same rich materials. The

gardens, like those described, belonging to the royal palaces, sparkled with flowers of gold and silver, and

various imitations of the vegetable kingdom. Animals, also, were to be found there,among which the

llama, with its golden fleece, was most conspicuous,executed in the same style, and with a degree of skill,

which, in this instance, probably, did not surpass the excellence of the material.21

If the reader sees in this fairy picture only the romantic coloring of some fabulous El Dorado, he must recall

what has been said before in reference to the palaces of the Incas, and consider that these "Houses of the

Sun," as they were styled, were the common reservoir into which flowed all the streams of public and private

benefaction throughout the empire. Some of the statements, through credulity, and others, in the desire of

exciting admiration, may be greatly exaggerated; but, in the coincidence of contemporary testimony, it is not

easy to determine the exact line which should mark the measure of our skepticism. Certain it is, that the

glowing picture I have given is warranted by those who saw these buildings in their pride, or shortly after

they had been despoiled by the cupidity of their countrymen. Many of the costly articles were buried by the

natives, or thrown into the waters of the rivers and the lakes; but enough remained to attest the unprecedented

opulence of these religious establishments. Such things as were in their nature portable were speedily

removed, to gratify the craving of the Conquerors, who even tore away the solid cornices and frieze of gold

from the great temple, filling the vacant places with the cheaper, butsince it affords no temptation to

avaricemore durable, material of plaster. Yet even thus shorn of their splendor, the venerable edifices still

presented an attraction to the spoiler, who found in their dilapidated walls an inexhaustable quarry for the

erection of other buildings. On the very ground once crowned by the gorgeous Coricancha rose the stately

church of St. Dominic, one of the most magnificent structures of the New World. Fields of maize and lucerne

now bloom on the spot which glowed with the golden gardens of the temple; and the friar chants his orisons

Besides the great temple of the Sun, there was a large number of inferior temples and religious houses in the

Peruvian capital and its environs, amounting, as is stated, to three or four hundred.23 For Cuzco was a

sanctified spot, venerated not only as the abode of the Incas, but of all those deities who presided over the

motley nations of the empire. It was the city beloved of the Sun; where his worship was maintained in its

splendor; "where every fountain, pathway, and wall," says an ancient chronicler, "was regarded as a holy

mystery." 24 And unfortunate was the Indian noble who, at some period or other of his life, had not made his

Other temples and religious dwellings were scattered over the provinces; and some of them constructed on a

scale of magnificence, that almost rivalled that of the metropolis. The attendants on these composed an army

of themselves. The whole number of functionaries, including those of the sacerdotal order, who officiated at

At the head of all, both here and throughout the land, stood the great HighPriest, or Villac Vmu, as he was

called. He was second only to the Inca in dignity, and was usually chosen from his brothers or nearest

kindred. He was appointed by the monarch, and held his office for life; and he, in turn, appointed to all the

subordinate stations of his own order. This order was very numerous. Those members of it who officiated in

the House of the Sun, in Cuzco, were taken exclusively from the sacred race of the Incas. The ministers in the

provincial temples were drawn from the families of the curacas; but the office of highpriest in each district

was reserved for one of the blood royal. It was designed by this regulation to preserve the faith in its purity,

and to guard against any departure from the stately ceremonial which it punctiliously prescribed.26

The sacerdotal order, though numerous, was not distinguished by any peculiar badge or costume from the rest

of the nation. Neither was it the sole depository of the scanty science of the country, nor was it charged with

the business of instruction, nor with those parochial duties, if they may so be called, which bring the priest in

contact with the great body of the people,as was the case in Mexico. The cause of this peculiarity may

probably be traced to the existence of a superior order, like that of the Inca nobles, whose sanctity of birth so

far transcended all human appointments, that they in a manner engrossed whatever there was of religious

veneration in the people. They were, in fact, the holy order of the state. Doubtless, any of them might, as very

many of them did, take on themselves the sacerdotal functions; and their own insignia and peculiar privileges

were too well understood to require any further badge to separate them from the people.

The duties of the priest were confined to ministration in the temple. Even here his attendance was not

constant, as he was relieved after a stated interval by other brethren of his order, who succeeded one another

in regular rotation. His science was limited to an acquaintance with the fasts and festivals of his religion, and

the appropriate ceremonies which distinguished them. This, however frivolous might be its character, was no

easy acquisition; for the ritual of the Incas involved a routine of observances, as complex and elaborate as

ever distinguished that of any nation, whether pagan or Christian. Each month had its appropriate festival, or

rather festivals. The four principal had reference to the Sun, and commemorated the great periods of his

annual progress, the solstices and equinoxes. Perhaps the most magnificent of all the national solemnities was

the feast of Raymi, held at the period of the summer solstice, when the Sun, having touched the southern

extremity of his course, retraced his path, as if to gladden the hearts of his chosen people by his presence. On

this occasion, the Indian nobles from the different quarters of the country thronged to the capital to take part

For three days previous, there was a general fast, and no fire was allowed to be lighted in the dwellings.

When the appointed day arrived, the Inca and his court, followed by the whole population of the city,

assembled at early dawn in the great square to greet the rising of the Sun. They were dressed in their gayest

apparel, and the Indian lords vied with each other in the display of costly ornaments and jewels on their

persons, while canopies of gaudy featherwork and richly tinted stuffs, borne by the attendants over their

heads, gave to the great square, and the streets that emptied into it, the appearance of being spread over with

one vast and magnificent awning. Eagerly they watched the coming of their deity, and, no sooner did his first

yellow rays strike the turrets and loftiest buildings of the capital, than a shout of gratulation broke forth from

the assembled multitude, accompanied by songs of triumph, and the wild melody of barbaric instruments, that

swelled louder and louder as his bright orb, rising above the mountain range towards the east, shone in full

splendor on his votaries. After the usual ceremonies of adoration, a libation was offered to the great deity by

the Inca, from a huge golden vase, filled with the fermented liquor of maize or of maguey, which, after the

monarch had tasted it himself, he dispensed among his royal kindred. These ceremonies completed, the vast

assembly was arranged in order of procession, and took its way towards the Coricancha.27

As they entered the street of the sacred edifice, all divested themselves of their sandals, except the Inca and

his family, who did the same on passing through the portals of the temple, where none but these august

personages were admitted.28 After a decent time spent in devotion, the sovereign, attended by his courtly

train, again appeared, and preparations were made to commence the sacrifice. This, with the Peruvians,

consisted of animals, grain, flowers, and sweetscented gums; sometimes of human beings, on which

occasions a child or beautiful maiden was usually selected as the victim. But such sacrifices were rare, being

reserved to celebrate some great public event, as a coronation, the birth of a royal heir, or a great victory.

They were never followed by those cannibal repasts familiar to the Mexicans, and to many of the fierce tribes

conquered by the Incas. Indeed, the conquests of these princes might well be deemed a blessing to the Indian

nations, if it were only from their suppression of cannibalism, and the diminution, under their rule, of human

At the feast of Raymi, the sacrifice usually offered was that of the llama; and the priest, after opening the

body of his victim, sought in the appearances which it exhibited to read the lesson of the mysterious future. If

the auguries were unpropitious, a second victim was slaughtered, in the hope of receiving some more

comfortable assurance. The Peruvian augur might have learned a good lesson of the Roman,to consider

A fire was then kindled by means of a concave mirror of polished metal, which, collecting the rays of the sun

into a focus upon a quantity of dried cotton, speedily set it on fire. It was the expedient used on the like

occasions in ancient Rome, at least under the reign of the pious Numa. When the sky was overcast, and the

face of the good deity was hidden from his worshippers, which was esteemed a bad omen, fire was obtained

by means of friction. The sacred flame was intrusted to the care of the Virgins of the Sun, and if, by any

neglect, it was suffered to go out in the course of the year, the event was regarded as a calamity that boded

some strange disaster to the monarchy.31 A burnt offering of the victims was then made on the altars of the

deity. This sacrifice was but the prelude to the slaughter of a great number of llamas, part of the flocks of the

Sun, which furnished a banquet not only for the Inca and his Court, but for the people, who made amends at

these festivals for the frugal fare to which they were usually condemned. A fine bread or cake, kneaded of

maize flour by the fair hands of the Virgins of the Sun, was also placed on the royal board, where the Inca,

presiding over the feast, pledged his great nobles in generous goblets of the fermented liquor of the country,

and the long revelry of the day was closed at night by music and dancing. Dancing and drinking were the

favorite pastimes of the Peruvians. These amusements continued for several days, though the sacrifices

terminated on the first.Such was the great festival of Raymi; and the recurrence of this and similar

festivities gave relief to the monotonous routine of toil prescribed to the lower orders of the community.32

In the distribution of bread and wine at this high festival, the orthodox Spaniards, who first came into the

country, saw a striking resemblance to the Christian communion; 33 as in the practice of confession and

penance, which, in a most irregular form, indeed, seems to have been used by the Peruvians, they discerned a

coincidence with another of the sacraments of the Church.34 The good fathers were fond of tracing such

coincidences, which they considered as the contrivance of Satan, who thus endeavored to delude his victims

by counterfeiting the blessed rites of Christianity.35 Others, in a different vein, imagined that they saw in

such analogies the evidence, that some of the primitive teachers of the Gospel, perhaps an apostle himself,

had paid a visit to these distant regions, and scattered over them the seeds of religious truth.36 But it seems

hardly necessary to invoke the Prince of Darkness, or the intervention of the blessed saints, to account for

coincidences which have existed in countries far removed from the light of Christianity, and in ages, indeed,

when its light had not yet risen on the world. It is much more reasonable to refer such casual points of

resemblance to the general constitution of man, and the necessities of his moral nature.37

Another singular analogy with Roman Catholic institutions is presented by the Virgins of the Sun, the "elect,"

as they were called,38 to whom I have already had occasion to refer. These were young maidens, dedicated to

the service of the deity, who, at a tender age, were taken from their homes, and introduced into convents,

where they were placed under the care of certain elderly matrons, mamaconas, who had grown grey within

their walls.39 Under these venerable guides, the holy virgins were instructed in the nature of their religious

duties. They were employed in spinning and embroidery, and, with the fine hair of the vicuna wove the

hangings for the temples, and the apparel for the Inca and his household.40 It was their duty, above all, to

watch over the sacred fire obtained at the festival of Raymi. From the moment they entered the establishment,

they were cut off from all connection with the world, even with their own family and friends. No one but the

Inca, and the Coya or queen, might enter the consecrated precincts. The greatest attention was paid to their

morals, and visitors were sent every year to inspect the institutions, and to report on the state of their

discipline.41 Woe to the unhappy maiden who was detected in an intrigue! By the stern law of the Incas, she

was to be buried alive, her lover was to be strangled, and the town or village to which he belonged was to be

razed to the ground, and "sowed with stones," as if to efface every memorial of his existence.42 One is

astonished to find so close a resemblance between the institutions of the American Indian, the ancient

Roman, and the modern Catholic! Chastity and purity of life are virtues in woman, that would seem to be of

equal estimation with the barbarian and with the civilized.Yet the ultimate destination of the inmates of

The great establishment at Cuzco consisted wholly of maidens of the royal blood, who amounted, it is said, to

no less than fifteen hundred. The provincial convents were supplied from the daughters of the curacas and

inferior nobles, and, occasionally, where a girl was recommended by great personal attractions, from the

lower classes of the people.43 The "Houses of the Virgins of the Sun" consisted of low ranges of stone

buildings, covering a large extent of ground, surrounded by high walls, which excluded those within entirely

from observation. They were provided with every accommodation for the fair inmates, and were embellished

in the same sumptuous and costly manner as the palaces of the Incas, and the temples; for they received the

particular care of government, as an important part of the religious establishment.44

Yet the career of all the inhabitants of these cloisters was not confined within their narrow walls. Though

Virgins of the Sun, they were brides of the Inca, and, at a marriageable age, the most beautiful among them

were selected for the honors of his bed, and transferred to the royal seraglio. The full complement of this

amounted in time not only to hundreds, but thousands, who all found accommodations in his different palaces

throughout the country. When the monarch was disposed to lessen the number of his establishment, the

concubine with whose society he was willing to dispense returned, not to her former monastic residence, but

to her own home; where, however humble might be her original condition, she was maintained in great state,

and, far from being dishonored by the situation she had filled, was held in universal reverence as the Inca's

The great nobles of Peru were allowed, like their sovereign, a plurality of wives. The people, generally,

whether by law, or by necessity stronger than law, were more happily limited to one. Marriage was conducted

in a manner that gave it quite as original a character as belonged to the other institutions of the country. On an

appointed day of the year, all those of a marriageable agewhich, having reference to their ability to take

charge of a family, in the males was fixed at not less than twentyfour years, and in the women at eighteen or

twentywere called together in the great squares of their respective towns and villages, throughout the

empire. The Inca presided in person over the assembly of his own kindred, and taking the hands of the

different couples who were to be united, he placed them within each other, declaring the parties man and

wife. The same was done by the curacas towards all persons of their own or inferior degree in their several

districts. This was the simple form of marriage in Peru. No one was allowed to select a wife beyond the

community to which he belonged, which generally comprehended all his own kindred; 46 nor was any but the

sovereign authorized to dispense with the law of natureor at least, the usual law of nationsso far as to

marry his own sister.47 No marriage was esteemed valid without the consent of the parents; and the

preference of the parties, it is said, was also to be consulted; though, considering the barriers imposed by the

prescribed age of the candidates, this must have been within rather narrow and whimsical limits. A dwelling

was got ready for the new married pair at the charge of the district, and the prescribed portion of land

assigned for their maintenance. The law of Peru provided for the future, as well as for the present. It left

nothing to chance.The simple ceremony of marriage was followed by general festivities among the friends

of the parties, which lasted several days; and as every wedding took place on the same day, and as there were

few families who had not someone of their members or their kindred personally interested, there was one

The extraordinary regulations respecting marriage under the Incas are, eminently characteristic of the genius

of the government; which, far from limiting itself to matters of public concern, penetrated into the most

private recesses of domestic life, allowing no man, however humble, to act for himself, even in those personal

matters in which none but himself, or his family at most, might be supposed to be interested. No Peruvian

was too low for the fostering vigilance of government. None was so high that he was not made to feel his

dependence upon it in every act of his life. His very existence as an individual was absorbed in that of the

community. His hopes and his fears, his joys and his sorrows, the tenderest sympathies of his nature, which

would most naturally shrink from observation, were all to be regulated by law. He was not allowed even to be

happy in his own way. The government of the Incas was the mildest, but the most searching of despotisms.

"Science was not intended for the people; but for those of generous blood. Persons of low degree are only

puffed up by it, and rendered vain and arrogant. Neither should such meddle with the affairs of government;

for this would bring high offices into disrepute, and cause detriment to the state.1 Such was the favorite

maxim, often repeated, of Tupac Inca Yupanqui, one of the most renowned of the Peruvian sovereigns. It

may seem strange that such a maxim should ever have been proclaimed in the New World, where popular

institutions have beer established on a more extensive scale than was ever before witnessed; where

government rests wholly on the people; and educationat least, in the great northern division of the

continentis mainly directed to qualify the people for the duties of government. Yet this maxim was strictly

conformable to the genius of the Peruvian monarchy, and may serve as a key to its habitual policy; since,

while it watched with unwearied solicitude over its subjects, provided for their physical necessities, was

mindful of their morals, and showed, throughout, the affectionate concern of a parent for his children, it yet

regarded them only as children, who were never to emerge from the state of pupilage, to act or to think for

themselves, but whose whole duty was comprehended in the obligation of implicit obedience.

Such was the humiliating condition of the people under the Incas: while the numerous families of the blood

royal enjoyed the benefit of all the light of education, which the civilization of the country could afford; and,

long after the Conquest, the spots continued to be pointed out where the seminaries had existed for their

instruction. These were placed under the care of the amautas, or "wise men," who engrossed the scanty stock

of scienceif science it could be calledpossessed by the Peruvians, and who were the sole teachers of

youth. It was natural that the monarch should take a lively interest in the instruction of the young nobility, his

own kindred. Several of the Peruvian princes are said to have built their palaces in the neighborhood of the

schools, in order that they might the more easily visit them and listen to the lectures of the amautas, which

they occasionally reinforced by a homily of their own.2 In these schools, the royal pupils were instructed in

all the different kinds of knowledge in which their teachers were versed, with especial reference to the

stations they were to occupy in afterlife. They studied the laws, and the principles of administering the

government, in which many of them were to take part. They were initiated in the peculiar rites of their

religion, most necessary to those who were to assume the sacerdotal functions. They learned also to emulate

the achievements of their royal ancestors by listening to the chronicles compiled by the amautas. They were

taught to speak their own dialect with purity and elegance; and they became acquainted with the mysterious

science of the quipus, which supplied the Peruvians with the means of communicating their ideas to one

The quipu was a cord about two feet long, composed of different colored threads tightly twisted together,

from which a quantity of smaller threads were suspended in the manner of a fringe. The threads were of

different colors and were tied into knots. The word quipu, indeed, signifies a knot. The colors denoted

sensible objects; as, for instance, white represented silver, and yellow, gold. They sometimes also stood for

abstract ideas. Thus, white signified peace, and red, war. But the quipus were chiefly used for arithmetical

purposes. The knots served instead of ciphers, and could be combined in such a manner as to represent

numbers to any amount they required. By means of these they went through their calculations with great

rapidity, and the Spaniards who first visited the country bear testimony to their accuracy.4

Officers were established in each of the districts, who, under the title of quipucamayus, Or "keepers of the

quipus," were required to furnish the government with information on various important matters. One had

charge of the revenues, reported the quantity of raw material distributed among the laborers, the quality and

quantity of the fabrics made from it, and the amount of stores, of various kinds, paid into the royal magazines.

Another exhibited the register of births and deaths, the marriages, the number of those qualified to bear arms,

and the like details in reference to the population of the kingdom. These returns were annually forwarded to

the capital, where they were submitted to the inspection of officers acquainted with the art of deciphering

these mystic records. The government was thus provided with a valuable mass of statistical information, and

the skeins of manycolored threads, collected and carefully preserved, constituted what might be called the

But, although the quipus sufficed for all the purposes of arithmetical computation demanded by the

Peruvians, they were incompetent to represent the manifold ideas and images which are expressed by writing,

Even here, however, the invention was not without its use. For, independently of the direct representation of

simple objects, and even of abstract ideas, to a very limited extent, as above noticed, it afforded great help to

the memory by way of association. The peculiar knot or color, in this way, suggested what it could not

venture to represent; in the same mannerto borrow the homely illustration of an old writeras the number

of the Commandment calls to mind the Commandment itself. The quipus, thus used, might be regarded as the

Annalists were appointed in each of the principal communities, whose business it was to record the most

important events which occurred in them. Other functionaries of a higher character, usually the amautas, were

intrusted with the history of the empire, and were selected to chronicle the great deeds of the reigning Inca, or

of his ancestors.6 The narrative, thus concocted, could be communicated only by oral tradition; but the quipus

served the chronicler to arrange the incidents with method, and to refresh his memory. The story, once

treasured up in the mind, was indelibly impressed there by frequent repetition. It was repeated by the amauta

to his pupils, and in this way history, conveyed partly by oral tradition, and partly by arbitrary signs, was

handed down from generation to generation, with sufficient discrepancy of details, but with a general

The Peruvian quipus were, doubtless, a wretched substitute for that beautiful contrivance, the alphabet,

which, employing a few simple characters as the representatives of sounds, instead of ideas, is able to convey

the most delicate shades of thought that ever passed through the mind of man. The Peruvian invention,

indeed, was far below that of the hieroglyphics, even below the rude picturewriting of the Aztecs; for the

latter art, however incompetent to convey abstract ideas, could depict sensible objects with tolerable

accuracy. It is evidence of the total ignorance in which the two nations remained of each other, that the

Peruvians should have borrowed nothing of the hieroglyphical system of the Mexicans, and this,

notwithstanding that the existence of the maguey plant agave, in South America might have furnished them

It is impossible to contemplate without interest the struggles made by different nations, as they emerge from

barbarism, to supply themselves with some visible symbols of thought,that mysterious agency by which

the mind of the individual may be put in communication with the minds of a whole community. The want of

such a symbol is itself the greatest impediment to the progress of civilization. For what is it but to imprison

the thought, which has the elements of immortality, within the bosom of its author, or of the small circle who

come in contact with him, instead of sending it abroad to give light to thousands, and to generations yet

unborn! Not only is such a symbol an essential element of civilization, but it may be assumed as the very

criterion of civilization; for the intellectual advancement of a people will keep pace pretty nearly with its

Yet we must be careful not to underrate the real value of the Peruvian system; nor to suppose that the quipus

were as awkward an instrument, in the hand of a practised native, as they would be in ours. We know the

effect of habit in all mechanical operations, and the Spaniards bear constant testimony to the adroitness and

accuracy of the Peruvians in this. Their skill is not more surprising than the facility with which habit enables

us to master the contents of a printed page, comprehending thousands of separate characters, by a single

glance, as it were, though each character must require a distinct recognition by the eye, and that, too, without

breaking the chain of thought in the reader's mind. We must not hold the invention of the quipus too lightly,

when we reflect that they supplied the means of calculation demanded for the affairs of a great nation, and

that, however insufficient, they afforded no little help to what aspired to the credit of literary composition.

The office of recording the national annals was not wholly confined to the amautas. It was assumed in part by

the haravecs, or poets, who selected the most brilliant incidents for their songs or ballads, which were chanted

at the royal festivals and at the table of the Inca.8 In this manner, a body of traditional minstrelsy grew up,

like the British and Spanish ballad poetry, by means of which the name of many a rude chieftain, that might

have perished for want of a chronicler, has been borne down the tide of rustic melody to later generations.

Yet history may be thought not to gain much by this alliance with poetry; for the domain of the poet extends

over an ideal realm peopled with the shadowy forms of fancy, that bear little resemblance to the rude realities

of life. The Peruvian annals may be deemed to show somewhat of the effects of this union, since there is a

tinge of the marvellous spread over them down to the very latest period, which, like a mist before the reader's

The poet found a convenient instrument for his purposes in the beautiful Quichua dialect. We have already

seen the extraordinary measures taken by the Incas for propagating their language throughout their empire.

Thus naturalized in the remotest provinces, it became enriched by a variety of exotic words and idioms,

which, under the influence of the Court and of poetic culture, if I may so express myself, was gradually

blended, like some finished mosaic made up of coarse and disjointed materials, into one harmonious whole.

The Quichua became the most comprehensive and various, as well as the most elegant, of the South

Besides the compositions already noticed, the Peruvians, it is said, showed some talent for theatrical

exhibitions; not those barren pantomimes which, addressed simply to the eye, have formed the amusement of

more than one rude nation. The Peruvian pieces aspired to the rank of dramatic compositions, sustained by

character and dialogue, founded sometimes on themes of tragic interest, and at others on such as, from their

light and social character, belong to comedy.10 Of the execution of these pieces we have now no means of

judging. It was probably rude enough, as befitted an unformed people. But, whatever may have been the

execution, the mere conception of such an amusement is a proof of refinement that honorably distinguishes

the Peruvian from the other American races, whose pastime was war, or the ferocious sports that reflect the

The intellectual character of the Peruvians, indeed, seems to have been marked rather by a tendency to

refinement than by those hardier qualities which insure success in the severer walks of science. In these they

were behind several of the semicivilized nations of the New World. They had some acquaintance with

geography, so far as related to their own empire, which was indeed extensive; and they constructed maps with

lines raised on them to denote the boundaries and localities, on a similar principle with those formerly used

by the blind. In astronomy, they appear to have made but moderate proficiency. They divided the year into

twelve lunar months, each of which, having its own name, was distinguished by its appropriate festival.11

They had, also, weeks; but of what length, whether of seven, nine, or ten days, is uncertain. As their lunar

year would necessarily fall short of the true time, they rectified their calendar by solar observations made by

means of a number of cylindrical columns raised on the high lands round Cuzco, which served them for

taking azimuths; and, by measuring their shadows, they ascertained the exact times of the solstices. The

period of the equinoxes they determined by the help of a solitary pillar, or gnomon, placed in the centre of a

circle, which was described in the area of the great temple, and traversed by a diameter that was drawn from

east to west. When the shadows were scarcely visible under the noontide rays of the sun, they said that "the

god sat with all his light upon the column." 12 Quito which lay immediately under the equator, where the

vertical rays of the sun threw no shadow at noon, was held in especial veneration as the favored abode of the

great deity. The period of the equinoxes was celebrated by public rejoicings. The pillar was crowned by the

golden chair of the Sun, and, both then and at the solstices, the columns were hung with garlands, and

offerings of flowers and fruits were made, while high festival was kept throughout the empire. By these

periods the Peruvians regulated their religious rites and ceremonial, and prescribed the nature of their

agricultural labors. The year itself took its departure from the date of the winter solstice.13

This meagre account embraces nearly all that has come down to us of Peruvian astronomy. It may seem

strange that a nation, which had proceeded thus far in its observations, should have gone no farther; and that,

notwithstanding its general advance in civilization, it should in this science have fallen so far short, not only

of the Mexicans, but of the Muyscas, inhabiting the same elevated regions of the great southern plateau with

themselves. These latter regulated their calendar on the same general plan of cycles and periodical series as

the Aztecs, approaching yet nearer to the system pursued by the people of Asia.14

It might have been expected that the Incas, the boasted children of the Sun, would have made a particular

study of the phenomena of the heavens, and have constructed a calendar on principles as scientific as that of

their semicivilized neighbors. One historian, indeed, assures us that they threw their years into cycles of ten,

a hundred, and a thousand years, and that by these cycles they regulated their chronology.15 But this

assertionnot improbable in itselfrests on a writer but little gifted with the spirit of criticism, and is

counterbalanced by the silence of every higher and earlier authority, as well as by the absence of any

monument, like those found among other American nations, to attest the existence of such a calendar. The

inferiority of the Peruvians may be, perhaps, in part explained by the fact of their priesthood being drawn

exclusively from the body of the Incas, a privileged order of nobility, who had no need, by the assumption of

superior learning, to fence themselves round from the approaches of the vulgar. The little true science

possessed by the Aztec priest supplied him with a key to unlock the mysteries of the heavens, and the false

system of astrology which he built upon it gave him credit as a being who had something of divinity in his

own nature. But the Inca noble was divine by birth. The illusory study of astrology, so captivating to the

unenlightened mind, engaged no share of his attention. The only persons in Peru, who claimed the power of

reading the mysterious future, were the diviners, men who, combining with their pretensions some skill in the

healing art, resembled the conjurors found among many of the Indian tribes. But the office was held in little

repute, except among the lower classes, and was abandoned to those whose age and infirmity disqualified

The Peruvians had knowledge of one or two constellations, and watched the motions of the planet Venus, to

which, as we have seen, they dedicated altars. But their ignorance of the first principles of astronomical

science is shown by their ideas of eclipses, which, they supposed, denoted some great derangement of the

planet; and when the moon labored under one of these mysterious infirmities, they sounded their instruments,

and filled the air with shouts and lamentations, to rouse her from her lethargy. Such puerile conceits as these

form a striking contrast with the real knowledge of the Mexicans, as displayed in their hieroglyphical maps,

But, if less successful in exploring the heavens, the Incas must be admitted to have surpassed every other

American race in their dominion over the earth. Husbandry was pursued by them on principles that may be

truly called scientific. It was the basis of their political institutions. Having no foreign commerce, it was

agriculture that furnished them with the means of their internal exchanges, their subsistence, and their

revenues. We have seen their remarkable provisions for distributing the land in equal shares among the

people, while they required every man, except the privileged orders, to assist in its cultivation. The Inca

himself did not disdain to set the example. On one of the great annual festivals, he proceeded to the environs

of Cuzco, attended by his Court, and, in the presence of all the people, turned up the earth with a golden

plough,or an instrument that served as such,thus consecrating the occupation of the husbandman as one

The patronage of the government did not stop with this cheap display of royal condescension, but was shown

in the most efficient measures for facilitating the labors of the husbandman. Much of the country along the

seacoast suffered from want of water, as little or no rain fell there, and the few streams, in their short and

hurried course from the mountains, exerted only a very limited influence on the wide extent of territory. The

soil, it is true, was, for the most part, sandy and sterile; but many places were capable of being reclaimed,

and, indeed, needed only to be properly irrigated to be susceptible of extraordinary production. To these spots

water was conveyed by means of canals and subterraneous aqueducts, executed on a noble scale. They

consisted of large slabs of freestone nicely fitted together without cement, and discharged a volume of water

sufficient, by means of latent ducts or sluices, to moisten the lands in the lower level, through which they

passed. Some of these aqueducts were of great length. One that traversed the district of Condesuyu measured

between four and five hundred miles. They were brought from some elevated lake or natural reservoir in the

heart of the mountains, and were fed at intervals by other basins which lay in their route along the slopes of

the sierra. In this descent, a passage was sometimes to be opened through rocks,and this without the aid of

iron tools; impracticable mountains were to be turned; rivers and marshes to be crossed; in short, the same

obstacles were to be encountered as in the construction of their mighty roads. But the Peruvians seemed to

take pleasure in wrestling with the difficulties of nature. Near Caxamarca, a tunnel is still visible, which they

excavated in the mountains, to give an outlet to the waters of a lake, when these rose to a height in the rainy

Most of these beneficent works of the Incas were suffered to go to decay by their Spanish conquerors. In

some spots, the waters are still left to flow in their silent, subterraneous channels, whose windings and whose

sources have been alike unexplored. Others, though partially dilapidated, and closed up with rubbish and the

rank vegetation of the soil, still betray their course by occasional patches of fertility. Such are the remains in

the valley of Nasca, a fruitful spot that lies between long tracts of desert; where the ancient watercourses of

the Incas, measuring four or five feet in depth by three in width, and formed of large blocks of uncemented

The greatest care was taken that every occupant of the land through which these streams passed should enjoy

the benefit of them. The quantity of water alloted to each was prescribed by law; and royal overseers

superintended the distribution, and saw that it was faithfully applied to the irrigation of the ground.20

The Peruvians showed a similar spirit of enterprise in their schemes for introducing cultivation into the

mountainous parts of their domain. Many of the hills, though covered with a strong soil, were too precipitous

to be tilled. These they cut into terraces, faced with rough stone, diminishing in regular gradation towards the

summit; so that, while the lower strip, or anden, as it was called by the Spaniards, that belted round the base

of the mountain, might comprehend hundreds of acres, the uppermost was only large enough to

accommodate a few rows of Indian corn.21 Some of the eminences presented such a mess of solid rock, that,

after being hewn into terraces, they were obliged to be covered deep with earth, before they could serve the

purpose of the husbandman. With such patient toil did the Peruvians combat the formidable obstacles

presented by the face of their country! Without the use of tools or the machinery familiar to the European,

each individual could have done little; but acting in large masses, and under a common direction, they were

enabled by indefatigable perseverance to achieve results, to have attempted which might have filled even the

In the same spirit of economical husbandry which redeemed the rocky sierra from the curse of sterility, they

dug below the arid soil of the valleys, and sought for a stratum where some natural moisture might be found.

These excavations, called by the Spaniards hoyas, or "pits," were made on a great scale, comprehending

frequently more than an acre, sunk to the depth of fifteen or twenty feet, and fenced round within by a wall of

adobes, or bricks baked in the sun. The bottom of the excavation, well prepared by a rich manure of the

sardines,a small fish obtained in vast quantities along the coast,was planted with some kind or grain or

The Peruvian farmers were well acquainted with the different kinds of manures, and made large use of them;

a circumstance rare in the rich lands of the tropics, and probably not elsewhere practised by the rude tribes of

America. They made great use of guano, the valuable deposit of seafowl, that has attracted so much

attention, of late, from the agriculturists both of Europe and of our own country, and the stimulating and

nutritious properties of which the Indians perfectly appreciated. This was found in such immense quantities

on many of the little islands along the coast, as to have the appeaarnce of lofty hills, which, covered with a

white saline incrustation, led the Conquerors to give them the name of the sierra nevada, or "snowy

The Incas took their usual precautions for securing the benefits of this important article to the husbandman.

They assigned the small islands on the coast to the use of the respective districts which lay adjacent to them.

When the island was large, it was distributed among several districts, and the boundaries for each were

clearly defined. All encroachment on the rights of another was severely punished. And they secured the

preservation of the fowl by penalties as stern as those by which the Norman tyrants of England protected their

own game. No one was allowed to set foot on the island during the season for breeding, under pain of death;

With this advancement in agricultural science, the Peruvians might be supposed to have had some knowledge

of the plough, in such general use among the primitive nations of the eastern continent. But they had neither

the iron ploughshare of the Old World, nor had they animals for .draught, which, indeed, were nowhere found

in the New. The instrument which they used was a strong, sharppointed stake, traversed by a horizontal

piece, ten or twelve inches from the point, on which the ploughman might set his foot and force it into the

ground. Six or eight strong men were attached by ropes to the stake, and dragged it forcibly along, pulling

together, and keeping time as they moved by chanting their national songs, in which they were accompanied

by the women who followed in theirtrain, to break up the sods with their rakes. The mellow soil offered

slight resistance; and the laborer., by long practice, acquired a dexterity which enabled him to turn up the

ground to the requisite depth with astonishing facility. This substitute for the plough was but a clumsy

contrivance; yet it is curious as the only specimen of the kind among the American aborigines, and was

perhaps not much inferior to the wooden instrument introduced in its stead by the European conquerors .25

It was frequently the policy of the Incas, after providing a deserted tract with the means for irrigation, and

thus fitting it for the labors of the husbandman, to transplant there a colony of mitimaes, who brought it under

cultivation by raising the crops best suited to the soil. While the peculiar character and capacity of the lands

were thus consulted, a means of exchange of the different products was afforded to the neighboring

provinces, which, from the formation of the country, varied much more than usual within the same limits. To

facilitate these agricultural exchanges, fairs were instituted, which took place three times a month in some of

the most populous places, where, as money was unknown, a rude kind of commerce was kept up by the barter

of their respective products. These fairs afforded so many holidays for the relaxation of the industrious

Such were the expedients adopted by the Incas for the improvement of their territory; and, although

imperfect, they must be allowed to show an acquaintance with the principles of agricultural science, that

gives them some claim to the rank of a civilized people. Under their patient and discriminating culture, every

inch of good soil was tasked to its greatest power of production; while the mostunpromising spots were

compelled to contribute something to the subsistence of the people. Everywhere the land teemed with

evidence of agricultural wealth, from the smiling valleys along the coast to the terraced steeps of the sierra,

which, rising into pyramids of verdure, glowed with all the splendors of tropical vegetation.

The formation of the country was particularly favorable, as already remarked, to an infinite variety of

products, not so much from its extent as from its various elevations, which, more remarkable, even, than

those in Mexico, comprehend every degree of latitude from the equator to the polar regions. Yet, though the

temperature changes in this region with the degree of elevation, it remains nearly the same in the same spots

throughout the year; and the inhabitant feels none of those grateful vicissitudes of season which belong to the

temperate latitudes of the globe. Thus, while the summer lies in full power on the burning regions of the palm

and the cocoatree that fringe the borders of the ocean, the broad surface of the tableland blooms with the

freshness of perpetual spring, and the higher summits of the Cordilleras are white with everlasting winter.

The Peruvians turned this fixed variety of climate, if I may so say, to the best account by cultivating the

productions appropriate to each; and they particularly directed their attention to those which afforded the

most nutriment to man. Thus, in the lower level were to be found the cassavatree and the banana, that

bountiful plant, which seems to have relieved man from the primeval curseif it were not rather a

blessingof toiling for his sustenance.27 As the banana faded from the landscape, a good substitute was

found in the maize, the great agricultural staple of both the northern and southern divisions of the American

continent; and which, after its exportation to the Old World, spread so rapidly there, as to suggest the idea of

its being indigenous to it.28 The Peruvians were well acquainted with the different modes of preparing this

useful vegetable, though it seems they did not use it for bread, except at festivals; and they extracted a sort of

honey from the stalk, and made an intoxicating liquor from the fermented grain, to which, like the Aztecs,

The temperate climate of the tableland furnished them with the maguey, agave Americana, many of the

extraordinary qualities of which they comprehended, though not its most important one of affording a

material for paper. Tobacco, too, was among the products of this elevated region. Yet the Peruvians differed

from every other Indian nation to whom it was known, by using it only for medicinal purposes, in the form of

snuff.30 They may have found a substitute for its narcotic qualities in the coco (Erythroxylum Peruvianurn),

or cuca, as called by the natives. This is a shrub which grows to the height of a man. The leaves when

gathered are dried in the sun, and, being mixed with a little lime, form a preparation for chewing, much like

the betelleaf of the East.31 With a small supply of this cuca in his pouch, and a handful of roasted maize,

the Peruvian Indian of our time performs his wearisome journeys, day ,after day, without fatigue, or, at least,

without complaint. Even food the most invigorating is less grateful to him than his loved narcotic. Under the

Incas, it is said to have been exclusively reserved for the noble orders. If so, the people gained one luxury by

the Conquest; and, after that period, it was so extensively used by them, that this article constituted a most

important item of the colonial revenue of Spain.32 Yet, with the soothing charms of an opiate, this weed so

much vaunted by the natives, when used to excess, is said to be attended with all the mischievous effects of

Higher up on the slopes of the Cordilleras, beyond the limits of the maize and of the quinoa,a grain bearing

some resemblance to rice, and largely cultivated by the Indians,was to be found the potato, the

introduction of which into Europe has made an era in the history of agriculture. Whether indigenous to Peru,

or imported from the neighboring country of Chili, it formed the great staple of the more elevated plains,

under the Incas, and its culture was continued to a height in the equatorial regions which reached many

thousand feet above the limits of perpetual snow in the temperate latitudes of Europe.34 Wild specimens of

the vegetable might be seen still higher, springing up spontaneously amidst the stunted shrubs that clothed the

lofty sides of the Cordilleras till these gradually subsided into the mosses and the short yellow grass: pajonal,

which, like a golden carpet, was unrolled around the base of the mighty cones, that rose far into the regions of

A Nation which had made such progress in agriculture might be reasonably expected to have made, also,

some proficiency in the mechanical artsespecially when, as in the case of the Peruvians, their agricultural

economy demanded in itself no inconsiderable degree of mechanical skill. Among most nations, progress in

manufactures has been found to have an intimate connection with the progress of husbandry. Both arts are

directed to the same great object of supplying the necessaries, the comforts, or, in a more refined condition of

society, the luxuries of life; and when the one is brought to a perfection that infers a certain advance in

civilization, the other must naturally find a corresponding development under the increasing demands and

capacities of such a state. The subjects of the Incas, in their patient and tranquil devotion to the more humble

occupations of industry which bound them to their native soil, bore greater resemblance to the Oriental

nations, as the Hindoos and Chinese, than they bore to the members of the great AngloSaxon family whose

hardy temper has driven them to seek their fortunes on the stormy ocean, and to open a commerce with the

most distant regions of the globe. The Peruvians, though lining a long extent of seacoast, had no foreign

They had peculiar advantages for domestic manufacture in a material incomparably superior to anything

possessed by the other races of the Western continent. They found a good substitute for linen in a fabric

which, like the Aztecs, they knew how to weave from the tough thread of the maguey. Cotton grew

luxuriantly on the low, sultry level of the coast, and furnished them with a clothing suitable to the milder

latitudes of the country. But from the llama and the kindred species of Peruvian sheep they obtained a fleece

adapted to the colder climate of the table]and, "more estimable," to quote the language of a wellinformed

writer, "than the down of the Canadian beaver, the fleece of the brebis des Calmoucks, or of the Syrian goat."

Of the four varieties of the Peruvian sheep, the llama, the one most familiarly known, is the least valuable on

account of its wool. It is chiefly employed as a beast of burden, for which, although it is somewhat larger than

any of the other varieties, its diminutive size and strength would seem to disqualify it. It carries a load of little

more than a hundred pounds, and cannot travel above three or four leagues in a day. But all this is

compensated by the little care and cost required for its management and its maintenance. It picks up an easy

subsistence from the moss and stunted herbage that grow scantily along the withered sides and the steeps of

the Cordilleras. The structure of its stomach, like that of the camel, is such as to enable it to dispense with any

supply of water for weeks, nay, months together. Its spongy hoof, armed with a claw or pointed talon to

enable it to take secure hold on the ice, never requires to be shod; and the load laid upon its back rests

securely in its bed of wool, without the aid of girth or saddle. The llamas move in troops of five hundred or

even a thousand, and thus, though each individual carries but little, the aggregate is considerable. The whole

caravan travels on at its regular pace, passing the night in the open air without suffering from the coldest

temperature, and marching in perfect order, and in obedience to the voice of the driver. It is only when

overloaded that the spirited little animal refuses to stir, and neither blows nor caresses can induce him to rise

from the ground. He is as sturdy in asserting his rights on this occasion, as he is usually docile and

The employment of domestic animals distinguished the Peruvians from the other races of the New World.

This economy of human labor by the substitution of the brute is an important element of civilization, interior

only to what is gained by the substitution of machinery for both. Yet the ancient Peruvians seem to have

made much less account of it than their Spanish conquerors, and to have valued the llama, in common with

the other animals of that genus, chiefly for its fleece. Immense herds of these "large cattle," as they were

called, and of the "smaller cattle," 3 or alpacas, were held by the government, as already noticed, and placed

under the direction of shepherds, who conducted them from one quarter of the country to another, according

to the changes of the season. These migrations were regulated with all the precision with which the code of

the mesta determined the migrations of the vast merino flocks in Spain; and the Conquerors, when they

landed in Peru, were amazed at finding a race of animals so similar to their own in properties and habits, and

under the control of a system of legislation which might seem to have been imported from their native land.4

But the richest store of wool was obtained, not from these domesticated animals, but from the two other

species, the huanacos and the vicunas, which roamed in native freedom over the frozen ranges of the

Cordilleras; where not unfrequently they might be seen scaling the snow covered peaks which no living

thing inhabits save the condor, the huge bird of the Andes, whose broad pinions bear him up in the

atmosphere to the height of more than twenty thousand feet above the level of the sea.5 In these rugged

pastures, "the flock without a fold" finds sufficient sustenance in the ychu, a species of grass which is found

scattered all along the great ridge of the Cordilleras, from the equator to the southern limits of Patagonia. And

as these limits define the territory traversed by the Peruvian sheep, which rarely, if ever, venture north of the

line, it seems not improbable that this mysterious little plant is so important to their existence, that the

absence of it is the principal reason why they have not penetrated to the northern latitudes of Quito and New

But, although thus roaming without a master over the boundless wastes of the Cordilleras, the Peruvian

peasant was never allowed to hunt these wild animals, which were protected by laws as severe as were the

sleek herds that grazed on the more cultivated slopes of the plateau. The wild game of the forest and the

mountain was as much the property of the government, as if it had been inclosed within a park, or penned

within a fold.7 It was only on stated occasions, at the great hunts, which took place once a year, under the

personal superintendence of the Inca or his principal officers, that the game was allowed to be taken. These

hunts. were not repeated in the same quarter of the country oftener than once. in four years, that time might

be allowed for the waste occasioned by them to be replenished. At the appointed time, all those living in the

district and its neighborhood, to the number, it might be, of fifty or sixty thousand men,8 were distributed

round, so as to form a cordon of immense extent, that should embrace the whole country which was to be

hunted over. The men were armed with long poles and spears, with which they beat up game of every

description lurking in the woods, the valleys, and the mountains, killing the beasts of prey without mercy, and

driving the others, consisting chiefly of the deer of the country, and the huanacos and vicunas, towards the

centre of the wideextended circle; until, as this gradually contracted, the timid inhabitants of the forest were

concentrated on some spacious plain, where the eye of the hunter might range freely over his victims, who

The male deer and some of the coarser kind of the Peruvian sheep were slaughtered; their skins were reserved

for the various useful manufactures to which they are ordinarily applied, and their flesh, cut into thin slices,

was distributed among the people, who converted it into charqui, the dried meat of the country, which

constituted then the sole, as it has since the principal, animal food of the lower classes of Peru.9

But nearly the whole of the sheep, amounting usually to thirty or forty thousand, or even a larger number,

after being carefully sheared, were suffered to escape and regain their solitary haunts among the mountains.

The wool thus collected was deposited in the royal magazines, whence, in due time, it was dealt out to the

people. The coarser quality was worked up into garments for their own use, and the finer for the Inca; for

The Peruvians showed great skill in the manufacture of different articles for the royal household from this

delicate material, which, under the name of vigonia wool, is now familiar to the looms of Europe. It was

wrought into shawls, robes, and other articles of dress for the monarch, and into carpets, coverlets, and

hangings for the imperial palaces and the temples. The cloth was finished on both sides alike; 11 the delicacy

of the texture was such as to give it the lustre of silk; and the brilliancy of the dyes excited the admiration and

the envy of the European artisan.12 The Peruvians produced also an article of great strength and durability by

mixing the hair of animals with wool; and they were expert in the beautiful featherwork, which they held of

less account than the Mexicans from the superior quality of the materials for other fabrics, which they had at

The natives showed a skill in other mechanical arts similar to that displayed by their manufactures of cloth.

Every man in Peru was expected to be acquainted with the various handicrafts essential to domestic comfort.

No long apprenticeship was required for this, where the wants were so few as among the simple peasantry of

the Incas. But, if this were all, it would imply but a very moderate advancement in the arts. There were

certain individuals, however, carefully trained to those occupations which minister to the demands of the

more opulent classes of society. These occupations, like every other calling and office in Peru, always

descended from father to son.14 The division of castes, in this particular, was as precise as that which existed

in Egypt or Hindostan. If this arrangement be unfavorable to originality, or to the development of the peculiar

talent of the individual, it at least conduces to an easy and finished execution by familiarizing the artist with

The royal magazines and the huacas or tombs of the Incas have been found to contain many specimens of

curious and elaborate workmanship. Among these are vases of gold and silver, bracelets, collars, and other

ornaments for the person; utensils of every description, some of fine clay, and many more of copper; mirrors

of a hard, polished stone, or burnished silver, with a great variety of other articles made frequently on a

whimsical pattern, evincing quite as much ingenuity as taste or inventive talent.16 The character of the

Peruvian mind led to imitation, in fact, rather than invention, to delicacy and minuteness of finish, rather than

That they should have accomplished these difficult works with such tools as they possessed, is truly

wonderful. It was comparativeIy easy to cast and even sculpture metallic substances, both of which they did

with consummate skill. But that they should have shown the like facility in cutting the hardest substances, as

emeralds and other precious stones, is not easy to explain. Emeralds they obtained in considerable quantity

from the barren district of Atacames, and this inflexible material seems to have been almost as ductile in the

hands of the Peruvian artist as if it had been made of clay.17 Yet the natives were unacquainted with the use

of iron, though the soil was largely impregnated with it.18 The tools used were of stone, or more frequently

of copper. But the material on which they relied for the execution of their most difficult tasks was formed by

combining a very small portion of tin with copper.19 This composition gave a hardness to the metal which

seems to have been little inferior to that of steel. With the aid of it, not only did the Peruvian artisan hew into

shape porphyry and granite, but by his patient industry accomplished works which the European would not

have ventured to undertake. Among the remains of the monuments of Cannar may be seen movable rings in

the muzzles of animals, all nicely sculptured of one entire block of granite.20 It is worthy of remark, that the

Egyptians, the Mexicans, and the Peruvians, in their progress towards civilization, should never have detected

the use of iron, which lay around them in abundance; and that they should each, without any knowledge of

the other, have found a substitute for it in such a curious composition of metals as gave to their tools almost

the temper of steel; 21 a secret that has been lostor, to speak more correctly, has never been discoveredby

I have already spoken of the large quantity of gold and silver wrought into various articles of elegance and

utility for the Incas; though the amount was inconsiderable, in comparison with what could have been

afforded by the mineral riches of the land, and with what has since been obtained by the more sagacious and

unscrupulous cupidity of the white .man. Gold was gathered by the Incas from the deposits of the streams.

They extracted the ore also in considerable quantities from the valley of Curimayo, northeast of Caxamarca,

as well as from other places; and the silver mines of Porco, in particular, yielded them considerable returns.

Yet they did not attempt to penetrate into the bowels of the earth 'by sinking a shaft, but simply excavated a

cavern in the steep sides of the mountain, or, at most, opened a horizonal vein of moderate depth. They were

equally deficient in the knowledge of the best means of detaching the precious metal from the dross with

which it was united, and had no idea of the virtues of quicksilver,a mineral not rare in Peru, as an amalgam

to effect this decomposition.22 Their method of smelting the ore was by means of furnaces built in elevated

and exposed situations, where they might be fanned by the strong breezes of the mountains. The subjects of

the Incas, in short, with all their patient perseverance, did little more than penetrate below the crust, the outer

rind, as it were, formed over those golden caverns which lie hidden in the dark depths of the Andes. Yet what

they gleaned from the surface was more than adequate for all their demands. For they were not a commercial

people, and had no knowledge of money.23 In this they differed from the ancient Mexicans, who had an

established currency of a determinate value. In one respect, however, they were superior to their American

rivals, since they made use of weights to determine the quantity of their commodities, a thing wholly

unknown to the Aztecs. This fact is ascertained by the discovery of silver balances, adjusted with perfect

But the surest test of the civilization of a peopleat least, as sure as any afforded by mechanical art is to

be found in their architecture, which presents so noble a field for the display of the grand and the beautiful,

and which, at the same time, is so intimately connected with the essential comforts of life. There is no object

on which the resources of the wealthy are more freely lavished, or which calls out more effectually the

inventive talent of the artist. The painter and the sculptor may display their individual genius in creations of

surpassing excellence, but it is the great monuments of architectural taste and magnificence that are stamped

in a peculiar manner by the genius of the nation. The Greek, the Egyptian, the Saracen, the Gothic,what a

key do their respective styles afford to the character and condition of the people! The monuments of China, of

Hindostan, and of Central America are all indicative of an immature period, in which the imagination has not

been disciplined by study, and which, therefore, in its best results, betrays only the illregulated aspirations

The Peruvian architecture, bearing also the general characteristics of an imperfect state of refinement, had

still its peculiar character; and so uniform was that character, that the edifices throughout the country seem to

have been all cast in the same mould.25 They were usually built of porphyry or granite; not unfrequently of

brick. This, which was formed into blocks or squares of much larger dimensions than our brick, was made of

a tenacious earth mixed up with reeds or tough grass, and acquired a degree of hardness with age that made it

insensible alike to the storms and the more trying sun of the tropics.26 The walls were of great thickness, but

low, seldom reaching to more than twelve or fourteen feet in height. It is rare to meet with accounts of a

The apartments had no communication with one another, but usually opened into a court; and, as they were

unprovided with windows, or apertures that served for them, the only light from without must have been

admitted by the doorways. These were made with the sides approaching each other towards the top, so that

the lintel was considerably narrower than the threshold, a peculiarity, also, in Egyptian architecture. The roofs

have for the most part disappeared with time. Some few survive in the less ambitious edifices, of a singular

bellshape, and made of a composition of earth and pebbles. They are supposed, however, to have been

generally formed of more perishable materials, of wood or straw. It is certain that some of the most

considerable stone buildings were thatched with straw. Many seem to have been constructed without the aid

of cement; and writers have contended that the Peruvians were unacquainted with the use of mortar, or

cement of any kind.28 But a close, tenacious mould, mixed with lime, may be discovered filling up the

interstices of the granite in some buildings; and in others, where the wellfitted blocks leave no room for this

coarser material, the eye of the antiquary has detected a fine bituminous glue, as hard as the rock itself.29

The greatest simplicity is observed in the construction of the buildings. which are usually free from outward

ornament; though in some the huge stones are shaped into a convex form with great regularity, and adjusted

with such nice precision to one another, that it would be impossible, but for the flutings, to determine the line

of junction. In others, the stone is rough, as it was taken from the quarry, in the most irregular forms, with the

edges nicely wrought and fitted to each other. There is no appearance of columns or of arches; though there is

some contradiction as to the latter point. But it is not to be doubted, that, although they may have made some

approach to this mode of construction by the greater or less inclination of the walls, the Peruvian architects

were wholly unacquainted with the true principle of the circular arch reposing on its keystone.30

The architecture of the Incas is characterized, says an eminent traveller, "by simplicity, symmetry, and

solidity."31 It may seem unphilosophical to condemn the peculiar fashion of a nation as indicating want of

taste, because its standard of taste differs from our own. Yet there is an incongruity in the composition of the

Peruvian buildings which argues a very imperfect acquaintance with the first principles of architecture. While

they put together their bulky masses of porphyry and granite with the nicest art, they were incapable of

mortising their timbers, and, in their ignorance of iron, knew no better way of holding the beams together that

tying them with thongs of maguey. In the same incongruous spirit, the building that was thatched with straw,

and unilluminated by a window, was glowing with tapestries of gold and silver! These are the inconsistencies

of a rude people, among whom the arts are but partially developed. It might not be difficult to find examples

of like inconsistency in the architecture and domestic arrangements of our AngloSaxon, and, at a still later

Yet the buildings of the Incas were accommodated to the character of the climate, and were well fitted to

resist those terrible convulsions which belong to the land of volcanoes. The wisdom of their plan is attested

by the number which still survive, while the more modern constructions of the Conquerors have been buried

in ruins. The hand of the Conquerors, indeed, has fallen heavily on these venerable monuments, and, in their

blind and superstitious search for hidden treasure, has caused infinitely more ruin than time or the

earthquake.32 Yet enough of these monuments still remain to invite the researches of the antiquary. Those

only in the most conspicuous situations have been hitherto examined. But, by the testimony of travellers,

many more are to be found in the less frequented parts of the country; and we may hope they will one day

call forth a kindred spirit of enterprise to that which has so successfully explored the mysterious recesses of

I cannot close this analysis of the Peruvian institutions without a few reflections on their general character

and tendency, which, if they involve some repetition of previous remarks, may, I trust, be excused, from my

desire to leave a correct and consistent impression on the reader. In this survey, we cannot but be struck with

the total dissimilarity between these institutions and those of the Aztecs,the other great nation who led in

the march of civilization on this western continent, and whose empire in the northern portion of it was as

conspicuous as that of the Incas in the south. Both nations came on the plateau, and commenced their career

of conquest, at dates, it may be, not far removed from each other.33 And it is worthy of notice, that, in

America, the elevated region along the crests of the great mountain ranges should have been the chosen seat

Very different was the policy pursued by the two races in their military career. The Aztecs, animated by the

most ferocious spirit, carried on a war of extermination, signalizing their triumphs by the sacrifice of

hecatombs of captives; while the Incas, although they pursued the game of conquest with equal pertinacity,

preferred a milder policy, substituting negotiation and intrigue for violence, and dealt with their antagonists

so that their future resources should not be crippled, and that they should come as friends, not as foes, into the

Their policy toward the conquered forms a contrast no less striking to that pursued by the Aztecs. The

Mexican vassals were ground by excessive imposts and military conscriptions. No regard was had to their

welfare, and the only limit to oppression was the power of endurance. They were overawed by fortresses

and armed garrisons, and were made to feel every hour that they were not part and parcel of the nation, but

held only in subjugation as a conquered people. The Incas, on the other hand, admitted their new subjects at

once to all the rights enjoyed by the rest of the community; and, though they made them conform to the

established laws and usages of the empire, they watched over their personal security and comfort with a sort

of parental solicitude. The motley population, thus bound together by common interest, was animated by a

common feeling of loyality, which gave greater strength and stability to the empire, as it became more and

more widely extended; while the various tribes who successively came under the Mexican sceptre, being held

together only by the pressure of external force, were ready to fall asunder the moment that that force was

withdrawn. The policy of the two nations displayed the principle of fear as contrasted with the principle of

The characteristic features of their religious systems had as little resemblance to each other. The whole Aztec

pantheon partook more or less of the sanguinary spirit of the terrible wargod who presided over it, and their

frivolous ceremonial almost always terminated with human sacrifice and cannibal orgies. But the rites of the

Peruvians were of a more innocent cast, as they tended to a more spiritual worship. For the worship of the

Creator is most nearly approached by that of the heavenly bodies, which, as they revolve in their bright orbits,

In the minuter mechanical arts, both showed considerable skill; but in the construction of important public

works, of roads, aqueducts, canals, and in agriculture in all its details, the Peruvians were much superior.

Strange that they should have fallen so far below their rivals in their efforts after a higher intellectual culture,

in astronomical science, more especially, and in the art of communicating thought by visible symbols. When

we consider the greater refinement of the Incas, their inferiority to the Aztecs in these particulars can be

explained only by the fact, that the latter in all probability were indebted for their science to the race who

preceded them in the land,that shadowy race whose origin and whose end are alike veiled from the eye of

the inquirer, but who possibly may have sought a refuge from their ferocious invaders in those regions of

Central America the architectural remains of which now supply us with the most pleasing monuments of

Indian civilization. It is with this more polished race, to whom the Peruvians seem to have borne some

resemblance in their mental and moral organization, that they should be compared. Had the empire of the

Incas been permitted to extend itself with the rapid strides with which it was advancing at the period of the

Spanish conquest, the two races might have come into conflict, or, perhaps, into alliance with one another.

The Mexicans and Peruvians, so different in the character of their peculiar civilization, were, it seems

probable, ignorant of each other's existence; and it may appear singular, that, during the simultaneous

continuance of their empires, some of the seeds of science and of art, which pass so imperceptibly from one

people to another, should not have found their way across the interval which separated the two nations. They

furnish an interesting example of the opposite directions which the human mind may take in its struggle to

A closer resemblanceas I have more than once taken occasion to noticemay be found between the

Peruvian institutions and some of the despotic governments of Eastern Asia; those governments where

despotism appears in its more mitigated form, and the whole people, under the patriarchal sway of its

sovereign, seem to be gathered together like the members of one vast family. Such were the Chinese, for

example, whom the Peruvians resembled in their implicit obedience to authority, their mild yet somewhat

stubborn temper, their solicitude for forms, their reverence for ancient usage, their skill in the minuter

manufactures, their imitative rather than inventive cast of mind, and their invincible patience, which serves

instead of a more adventurous spirit for the execution of difficult undertakings.34

A still closer analogy may be found with the natives of Hindostan in their division into castes, their worship

of the heavenly bodies and the elements of nature, and their acquaintance with the scientific principles of

husbandry. To the ancient Egyptians, also, they bore considerable resemblance in the same particulars, as

well as in those ideas of a future existence which led them to attach so much importance to the permanent

But we shall look in vain in the history of the East for a parallel to the absolute control exercised by the Incas

over their subjects. In the East, this was rounded on physical power,on the external resources of the

government. The authority of the Inca might be compared with that of the Pope in the day of his might, when

Christendom trembled at the thunders of the Vatican, and the successor of St. Peter set his foot on the necks

of princes. But the authority of the Pope was founded on opinion. His temporal power was nothing. The

empire of the Incas rested on both. It was a theocracy more potent in its operation than that of the Jews; for,

though the sanction of the law might be as great among the latter, the law was expounded by a human

lawgiver, the servant and representative of Divinity. But the Inca was both the lawgiver and the law. He was

not merely the representative of Divinity, or, like the Pope, its vicegerent, but he was Divinity itself. The

violation of his ordinance was sacrilege. Never was there a scheme of government enforced by such terrible

sanctions, or which bore so oppressively on the subjects of it. For it reached not only to the visible acts, but to

It added not a little to the efficacy of the government, that, below the sovereign, there was an order of

hereditary nobles of the same divine original with himself, who, placed far below himself, were still

immeasurably above the rest of the community, not merely by descent, but, as it would seem, by their

intellectual nature. These were the exclusive depositaries of power, and, as their long hereditary training

made them familiar with their vocation, and secured them implicit deference from the multitude, they became

the prompt and wellpractised agents for carrying out the executive measures of the administration. All that

communicationpassed in review, as it were, before the eyes of the monarch, and a thousand hands, armed

with irresistible authority, stood ready in every quarter to do his bidding. Was it not, as we have said, the

It was the mildest, from the very circumstance, that the transcendent rank of the sovereign, and the humble,

nay, superstitious, devotion to his will make it superfluous to assert this will be acts of violence or rigor. The

great mass of the people may have appeared to his eyes as but little removed above the condition of the brute,

formed to minister to his pleasures. But, from their very helplessness, he regarded them with feelings of

commiseration, like those which a kind master might feel for the poor animals committed to his charge,

orto do justice to the beneficent character attributed to many of the Incasthat a parent might feel for his

young and impotent offspring. The laws were carefully directed to their preservation and personal comfort.

The people were not allowed to be employed on works pernicious to their health, nor to pine a sad contrast

to their subsequent destinyunder the imposition of tasks too heavy for their powers. They were never made

the victims of public or private extortion; and a benevolent forecast watched carefully over their necessities,

and provided for their relief in seasons of infirmity, and for their sustenance in health. The government of the

Yet in this there was nothing cheering to the dignity of human nature. What the people had was conceded as a

boon, not as a right. When a nation was brought under the sceptre of the Incas, it resigned every personal

right, even the rights dearest to humanity. Under this extraordinary polity, a people advanced in many of the

social refinements, well skilled in manufactures and agriculture, were unacquainted, as we have seen, with

money. They had nothing that deserved to be called property. They could follow no craft, could engage in no

labor, no amusement, but such as was specially provided by law. They could not change their residence or

their dress without a license from the government. They could not even exercise the freedom which is

conceded to the most abject in other countries, that of selecting their own wives. The imperative spirit of

despotism would not allow them to be happy or miserable in any way but that established by law. The power

of free agencythe inestimable and inborn right of every human beingwas annihilated in Peru.

The astonishing mechanism of the Peruvian polity could have resulted only from the combined authority of

opinion and positive power in the ruler to an extent unprecedented in the history of man. Yet that it should

have so successfully gone into operation, and so long endured, in opposition to the taste, the prejudices, and

the very principles of our nature, is a strong proof of a generally wise and temperate administration of the

The policy habitually pursued by the Incas for the prevention of evils that might have disturbed the order of

things is well exemplified in their provisions against poverty and idleness. In these they rightly discerned the

two great causes of disaffection in a populous community. The industry of the people was secured not only

by their compulsory occupations at home, but by their employment on those great public works which

covered every part of the country, and which still bear testimony in their decay to their primitive grandeur.

Yet it may well astonish us to find, that the natural difficulty of these undertakings, sufficiently great in itself,

considering the imperfection of their tools and machinery, was inconceivably enhanced by the politic

contrivance of government. The royal edifices of Quito, we are assured by the Spanish conquerors, were

constructed of huge masses of stone, many of which were carried all the way along the mountain roads from

Cuzco, a distance of several hundred leagues.35 The great square of the capital was filled to a considerable

depth with mould brought with incredible labor up the steep slopes of the Cordilleras from the distant shores

of the Pacific Ocean.36 Labor was regarded not only as a means, but as an end, by the Peruvian law.

With their manifold provisions against poverty the reader has already been made acquainted. They were so

perfect, that, in their wide extent of territory,much of it smitten with the curse of barrenness,no man,

however humble, suffered from the want of food and clothing. Famine, so common a scourge in every other

American nation, so common at that period in every country of civilized Europe, was an evil unknown in the

The most enlightened of the Spaniards who first visited Peru, struck with the general appearance of plenty

and prosperity, and with the astonishing order with which every thing throughout the country was regulated,

are loud in their expressions of admiration. No better government, in their opinion, could have been devised

for the people. Contented with their condition, and free from vice, to borrow the language of an eminent

authority of that early day, the mild and docile character of the Peruvians would have well fitted them to

receive the teachings of Christianity, had the love of conversion, instead of gold, animated the breasts of the

Conquerors.37 And a philosopher of a later time, warmed by the contemplation of the picturewhich his

own fancy had coloredof public prosperity and private happiness under the rule of the Incas, pronounces

Yet such results are scarcely reconcilable with the theory of the government I have attempted to analyze.

Where there is no free agency, there can be no morality. Where there is no temptation, there can be little

claim to virtue. Where the routine is rigorously prescribed by law, the law, and not the man, must have the

credit of the conduct. if that government is the best, which is felt the least, which encroaches on the natural

liberty of the subject only so far as is essential to civil subordination, then of all governments devised by man

It is not easy to comprehend the genius and the full import of institutions so opposite to those of our own free

republic, where every man, however humble his condition, may aspire to the highest honors of the

state,may select his own career, and carve out his fortune in his own way; where the light of knowledge,

instead of being concentrated on a chosen few, is shed abroad like the light of day, and suffered to fall

equally on the poor and the rich; where the collision of man with man wakens a generous emulation that calls

out latent talent and tasks the energies to the utmost; where consciousness of independence gives a feeling of

selfreliance unknown to the timid subjects of a despotism; where, in short, the government is made for

man,not as in Peru, where man seemed to be made only for the government. The New World is the theatre

in which these two political systems, so opposite in their character, have been carried into operation. The

empire of the Incas has passed away and left no trace. The other great experiment is still going on,the

experiment which is to solve the problem, so long contested in the Old World, of the capacity of man for

The testimony of the Spanish conquerors is not uniform m respect to the favorable influence exerted by the

Peruvian institutions on the character of the people. Drinking and dancing are said to have been the

pleassures to which they were immoderately addicted. Like the slaves and serfs in other lands, whose position

excluded them from more serious and ennobling occupations, they found a substitute in frivolous or sensual

indulgence. Lazy, luxurious, and licentious, are the epithets bestowed on them by one of those who saw them

at the Conquest, but whose pen was not too friendly to the Indian.39 Yet the spirit of independence could

hardly be strong in a people who had no interest in the soil, no personal rights to defend; and the facility with

which they yielded to the Spanish invaderafter every allowance for their comparative inferiorityargues a

deplorable destitution of that patriotic feeling which holds life as little in comparison with freedom.

But we must not judge too hardly of the unfortunate native, because he quailed before the civilization of the

European. We must not be insensible to the really great results that were achieved by the government of the

Incas. We must not forget, that, under their rule, the meanest of the people enjoyed a far greater degree of

personal comfort, at least, a greater exemption from physical suffering, than was possessed by similar classes

in other nations on the American continent,greater, probably, than was possessed by these classes in most

of the countries of feudal Europe. Under their sceptre, the higher orders of the state had made advances in

many of the arts that belong to a cultivated community. The foundations of a regular government were laid,

which, in an age of rapine, secured to its subjects the inestimable blessings of tranquillity and safety. By the

wellsustained policy of the Incas, the rude tribes of the forest were gradually drawn from their fastnesses,

and gathered within the folds of civilization; and of these materials was constructed a flourishing and

populous empire, such as was to be found in no other quarter of the American continent. The defects of this

government were those of overrefinement in legislation,the last defects to have been looked for, certainly,

Note. I have not thought it necessary to swell this Introduction by an inquiry into the origin of the Peruvian

civilization, like that appended to the history of the Mexican. The Peruvian history doubtless suggests

analogies with more than one nation in the East, some of which have been briefly adverted to in the preceding

pages; although these analogies are adduced there not as evidence of a common origin, but as showing the

coincidences which might naturally spring up among different nations under the same phase of civilization.

Such coincidences are neither so numerous nor so striking as those afforded by the Aztec history. The

correspondence presented by the astronomical science of the Mexicans is alone of more importance than all

the rest, Yet the light of analogy, afforded by the institutions of the Incas, seems to point, as far as it goes,

towards the same direction; and as the investigation could present but little substantially to confirm, and still

less to confute, the views taken in the former disquisition, I have not thought it best to fatigue the reader with

Two of the prominent authorities on whom I have relied in this Introductory portion of the work, are Juan de

Sarmiento and the Licentiate Ondegardo. Of the former I have been able to collect no information beyond

what is afforded by his own writings. In the title prefixed to his manuscript, he is styled President of the

Council of the Indies, a post of high authority, which infers a weight of character in the party, and means of

These means of information were much enlarged by Sarmiento's visit to the colonies, during the

administration of Gasca. Having conceived the design of compiling a history of the ancient Peruvian

institutions, he visited Cuzco, as he tells us, in 1550, and there drew from the natives themselves the materials

for his narrative. His position gave him access to the most authentic sources of knowledge, and from the lips

of the Inca nobles, the best instructed of the conquered race, he gathered the traditions of their national

history and institutions. The quipus formed, as we have seen, an imperfect system of mnemonics, requiring

constant attention, and much inferior to the Mexican hieroglyphics. It was only by diligent instruction that

they were made available to historical purposes; and this instruction was so far neglected after the Conquest,

that the ancient annals of the country would have perished with the generation which was the sole depositary

of them, had it not been for the efforts of a few intelligent scholars, like Sarmiento, who saw the importance,

at this critical period, of cultivating an intercourse with the natives, and drawing from them their hidden

To give still further authenticity to his work, Sarmiento travelled over the country, examined the principal

objects of interest with his own eyes, and thus verified the accounts of the natives as far as possible by

personal observation. The result of these labors was his work entitled, "Relacion de la sucesion y govierno de

las Yngas Senores naturales que fueron de las Provincias del Peru y otras cosas tocantes a aquel Reyno, para

It is divided into chapters, and embraces about four hundred folio pages in manuscript. The introductory

portion of the work is occupied with the traditionary tales of the origin and early period of the Incas; teeming,

as usual, in the antiquities of a barbarous people, with legendary fables of the most wild and monstrous

character. Yet these puerile conceptions afford an inexhaustible mine for the labors of the antiquarian, who

endeavors to unravel the allegorical web which a cunning priesthood had devised as symbolical of those

mysteries of creation that it was beyond their power to comprehend. But Sarmiento happily confines himself

to the mere statement of traditional fables, without the chimerical ambition to explain them.

From this region of romance, Sarmiento passes to the institutions of the Peruvians, describes their ancient

polity, their religion, their progress in the arts, especially agriculture; and presents, in short, an elaborate

picture of the civilization which they reached under the Inca dynasty. This part of his work, resting, as it does,

on the best authority, confirmed in many instances by his own observation, is of unquestionable value, and is

written with an apparent respect for truth, that engages the confidence of the reader. The concluding portion

of the manuscript is occupied with the civil history of the country. The reigns of the early Incas, which lie

beyond the sober province of history. he despatches with commendable brevity. But on the three last reigns,

and fortunately of the greatest princes who occupied the Peruvian throne, he is more diffuse. This was

comparatively firm ground for the chronicler, for the events were too recent to be obscured by the vulgar

legends that gather like moss round every incident of the older time. His account stops with the Spanish

invasion: for this story, Sarmiento felt, might be safely left to his contemporaries who acted a part in it, but

whose taste and education had qualified them but indifferently for exploring the antiquities and social

Sarmiento's work is composed in a simple, perspicuous style, without that ambition of rhetorical display too

common with his countrymen. He writes with honest candor, and while he does ample justice to the merits

and capacity of the conquered races, be notices with indignation the atrocities of the Spaniards and the

demoralizing tendency of the Conquest. It may be thought, indeed, that he forms too high an estimate of the

attainments of the nation under the Incas. And it is not improbable, that, astonished by the vestiges it afforded

of an original civilization, he became enamoured of his subject, and thus exhibited it in colors somewhat too

glowing to the eye of the European. But this was an amiable failing, not too largely shared by the stern

Conquerors, who subverted the institutions of the country, and saw little to admire in it, save its gold. It must

be further admitted, that Sarmiento has no design to impose on his reader, and that he is careful to distinguish

between what he reports on hearsay, and what on personal experience. The Father of History himself does not

Neither is the Spanish historian to be altogether vindicated from the superstition which belongs to his time;

and we often find him referring to the immediate interposition of Satan those effects which might quite as

well be charged on the perverseness of man. But this was common to the age, and to the wisest men in it; and

it is too much to demand of a man to be wiser than his generation. It is sufficient praise of Sarmiento, that, in

an age when superstition was too often allied with fanaticism, he seems to have had no tincture of bigotry in

his nature. His heart opens with benevolent fulness to the unfortunate native; and his language, while it is not

kindled into the religious glow of the missionary, is warmed by a generous ray of philanthropy that embraces

Notwithstanding the great value of Sarmiento's work for the information it affords of Peru under the Incas, it

is but little known, has been rarely consulted by historians, and still remains among the unpublished

manuscripts which lie, like uncoined bullion, in the secret chambers of the Escurial.

The other authority to whom I have alluded, the Licentiate Polo de Ondegardo, was a highly respectable

jurist, whose name appears frequently in the affairs of Peru. I find no account of the period when he first

came into the country. But he was there on the arrival of Gasca, and resided at Lima under the usurpation of

Gonzalo Pizarro. When the artful Cepeda endeavored to secure the signatures of the inhabitants to the

instrument proclaiming the sovereignty of his chief, we find Ondegardo taking the lead among those of his

profession in resisting it. On Gasca's arrival, he consented to take a commission in his army. At the close of

the rebellion he was made corregidor of La Plata, and subsequently of Cuzco, in which honorable station he

seems to have remained several years. In the exercise of his magisterial functions, he was brought into

familiar intercourse with the natives, and had ample opportunity for studying their laws and ancient customs.

He conducted himself with such prudence and moderation, that he seems to have won the confidence not only

of his countrymen but of the Indians; while the administration was careful to profit by his large experience in

The Relaciones, so often cited in this History, were prepared at the suggestion of the viceroys, the first being

addressed to the Marques de Canete, in 1561, and the second, ten years later, to the Conde de Nieva. The two

cover about as much ground as Sarmiento's manuscript; and the second memorial, written so long after the

first, may be thought to intimate the advancing age of the author, in the greater carelessness and diffuseness

As these documents are in the nature of answers to the interrogatories propounded by government the range

of topics might seem to be limited within narrower bounds than the modern historian would desire. These

queries, indeed, had particular reference to the revenues, tributes,the financial administration, in short, of

the Incas; and on these obscure topics the communication of Ondegardo is particularly full. But the

enlightened curiosity of government embraced a far wider range; and the answers necessarily implied an

acquaintance with the domestic policy of the Incas, with their laws, social habits, their religion, science, and

arts, in short, with all that make up the elements of civilization. Ondegardo's memoirs, therefore, cover the

In the management of these various subjects, Ondegardo displays both acuteness and erudition. He never

shrinks from the discussion, however difficult; and while he gives his conclusions with an air of modesty, it is

evident that he feels conscious of having derived his information through the most authentic channels. He

rejects the fabulous with disdain; decides on the probabilities of such facts as he relates, and candidly exposes

the deficiency of evidence. Far from displaying the simple enthusiasm of the wellmeaning but credulous

missionary, he proceeds with the cool and cautious step of a lawyer accustomed to the conflict of testimony

and the uncertainty of oral tradition. This circumspect manner of proceeding, and the temperate character of

his judgments, entitle Ondegardo to much higher consideration as an authority than most of his countrymen

There runs through his writings a vein of humanity, shown particularly in his tenderness to the unfortunate

natives, to whose ancient civilization he does entire, but not extravagant, justice; while, like Sarmiento, he

fearlessly denounces the excesses of his own countrymen, and admits the dark reproach they had brought on

the honor of the nation. But while this censure forms the strongest ground for condemnation of the

Conquerors, since it comes from the lips of a Spaniard like themselves, it proves, also, that Spain in this age

of violence could send forth from her bosom wise and good men who refused to make common cause with

the licentious rabble around them. Indeed, proof enough is given in these very memorials of the unceasing

efforts of the colonial government, from the good viceroy Mendoza downwards, to secure protection and the

benefit of a mild legislation to the unfortunate natives. But the iron Conquerors, and the colonist whose heart

softened only to the touch of gold, presented a formidable barrier to improvement.

Ondegardo's writings are honorably distinguished by freedom from that superstition which is the debasing

characteristic of the times; a superstition shown in the easy credit given to the marvellous, and this equally

whether in heathen or in Christian story; for in the former the eye of credulity could discern as readily the

direct interposition of Satan, as in the latter the hand of the Almighty. It is this ready belief in a spiritual

agency, whether for good or for evil, which forms one of the most prominent features in the writings of the

sixteenth century. Nothing could be more repugnant to the true spirit of philosophical inquiry or more

irreconcilable with rational criticism. Far from betraying such weakness, Ondegardo writes in a direct and

businesslike manner, estimating things for what they are worth by the plain rule of common sense. He

keeps the main object of his argument ever in view, without allowing himself, like the garrulous chroniclers

of the period, to be led astray into a thousand rambling episodes that bewilder the reader and lead to nothing.

Ondegardo's memoirs deal not only with the antiquities of the nation, but with its actual condition, and with

the best means for redressing the manifold evils to which it was subjected under the stern rule of its

conquerors. His suggestions are replete with wisdom, and a merciful policy, that would reconcile the interests

of government with the prosperity and happiness of its humblest vassal. Thus, while his contemporaries

gathered light from his suggestions as to the present condition of affairs, the historian of later times is no less

indebted to him for information in respect to the past. His manuscript was freely consulted by Herrera and the

reader, as he peruses the pages of the learned historian of the Indies, is unconsciously enjoying the benefit of

the researches of Ondegardo. His valuable Relaciones thus had their uses for future generations, though they

have never been admitted to the honors of the press. The copy in my possession, like that of Sarmiento's

manuscript, for which I am indebted to that industrious bibliographer, Mr. Rich formed part of the

magnificent collection of Lord Kingsborough,a name ever to be held in honor by the scholar for his

Ondegardo's manuscripts, it should be remarked, do not bear his signature. But they contain allusions to

several actions of the writer's life, which identify them, beyond any reasonable doubt, as his production. In

the archives of Simancas is a duplicate copy of the first memorial, Relacion Primera, though, like the one in

the Escurial, without its author's name. Munoz assigns it to the pen of Gabriel de Rojas, a distinguished

cavalier of the Conquest. This is clearly an error; for the author of the manuscript identifies himself with

Ondegardo, by declaring, in his reply to the fifth interrogatory, that he was the person who discovered the

mummies of the Incas in Cuzco; an act expressly referred both by Acosta and Garcilasso, to the Licentiate

Polo de Ondegardo, when corregidor of that city.Should the savans of Madrid hereafter embrace among

the publications of valuable manuscripts these Relaciones, they should be careful not to be led into an error

here, by the authority of a critic like Munoz whose criticism is rarely at fault.

Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the comparative merle of the ancients and the moderns in the

arts, in poetry, eloquence, and all that depends on imagination, there can be no doubt that in science the

moderns have eminently the advantage. It could not be otherwise. In the early ages of the world, as in the

early period of life, there was the freshness of a morning existence, when the gloss of novelty was on every

thing that met the eye; when the senses, not blunted by familiarity, were more keenly alive to the beautiful,

and the mind, under the influence of a healthy and natural taste, was not perverted by philosophical theory;

when the simple was necessarily connected with the beautiful, and the epicurean intellect, sated by repetition,

had not begun to seek for stimulants in the fantastic and capricious. The realms of fancy were all untravelled,

and its fairest flowers had not been gathered, nor its beauties despoiled, by the rude touch of those who

affected to cultivate them. The wing of genius was not bound to the earth by the cold and conventional rules

of criticism, but was permitted to take its flight far and wide over the broad expanse of creation.

But with science it was otherwise. No genius could suffice for the creation of facts,hardly for their

detection. They were to be gathered in by painful industry; to be collected from careful observation and

experiment. Genius, indeed, might arrange and combine these facts into new forms, and elicit from their

combinations new and important inferences; and in this process might almost rival in originality the creations

of the poet and the artist. But if the processes of science are necessarily slow, they are sure. There is no

retrograde movement in her domain. Arts may fade, the Muse become dumb, a moral lethargy may lock up

the faculties of a nation. the nation itself may pass away and leave only the memory of its existence but the

stores of science it has garnered up will endure for ever. As other nations come upon the stage, and new

forms of civilization arise. the monuments of art and of imagination, productions of an older time, will lie as

an obstacle in the path of improvement. They cannot be built upon; they occupy the ground which the new

aspirant for immortality would cover. The whole work is to be gone over again, and other forms of

beautywhether higher or lower in the scale of merit, but unlike the pastmust arise to take a place by

their side. But, in science, every stone that has been laid remains as the foundation for another. The coming

generation takes up the work where the preceding left it. There is no retrograde movement. The individual

nation may recede, but science still advances. Every step that has been gained makes the ascent easier for

those who come after. Every step carries the patient inquirer after truth higher and higher towards heaven,

and unfolds to him, as he rises, a wider horizon, and new and more magnificent views of the universe.

Geography partook of the embarrassments which belonged to every other department of science in the

primitive ages of the world. The knowledge of the earth could come only from an extended commerce; and

commerce is founded on artificial wants or an enlightened curiosity, hardly compatible with the earlier

condition of society. In the infancy of nations, the different tribes, occupied with their domestic feuds, found

few occasions to wander beyond the mountain chain or broad stream that formed the natural boundary of

their domains. The Phoenicians, it is true, are said to have sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and to have

launched out on the great western ocean. But the adventures of these ancient voyagers belong to the mythic

The Greeks, quick and adventurous. skilled in mechanical art, had many of the qualities of successful

navigators, and within the limits of their little inland sea ranged fearlessly and freely. But the conquests of

Alexander did more to extend the limits of geographical science, and opened an acquaintance with the remote

countries of the East. Yet the march of the conqueror is slow in comparison with the movements of the

unencumbered traveller. The Romans were still less enterprising than the Greeks, were less commercial in

their character. The contributions to geographical knowledge grew with the slow acquisitions of empire. But

their system was centralizing in its tendency; and instead of taking an outward direction and looking abroad

for discovery, every part of the vast imperial domain turned towards the capital at its head and central point

of attraction. The Roman conqueror pursued his path by land, not by sea. But the water is the great highway

between nations, the true element for the discoverer. The Romans were not a maritime people. At the close of

their empire, geographical science could hardly be said to extend farther than to an acquaintance with

Europe,and this not its more northern division,together with a portion of Asia and Africa; while they

had no other conception of a world beyond the western waters than was to be gathered from the fortunate

Then followed the Middle Ages; the dark ages, as they are called, though in their darkness were matured

those seeds of knowledge, which, in fulness of time, were to spring up into new and more glorious forms of

civilization. The organization of society became more favorable to geographical science. Instead of one

overgrown, lethargic empire, oppressing every thing by its colossal weight, Europe was broken up into

various independent communities, many of which, adopting liberal forms of government, felt all the impulses

natural to freemen; and the petty republics on the Mediterranean and the Baltic sent forth their swarms of

seamen in a profitable commerce, that knit together the different countries scattered along the great European

But the improvements which took place in the art of navigation, the more accurate measurement of time, and,

above all, the discovery of the polarity of the magnet, greatly advanced the cause of geographical knowledge.

Instead of creeping timidly along the coast, or limiting his expeditions to the narrow basins of inland waters,

the voyager might now spread his sails boldly on the deep, secure of a guide to direct his bark unerringly

across the illimitable waste. The consciousness of this power led thought to travel in a new direction; and the

mariner began to look with earnestness for another path to the Indian Spiceislands than that by which the

Eastern caravans had traversed the continent of Asia. The nations on whom the spirit of enterprise, at this

crisis, naturally descended, were Spain and Portugal, placed, as they were, on the outposts of the European

Both countries felt the responsibility of their new position. The crown of Portugal was constant in its efforts,

through the fifteenth century, to find a passage round the southern point of Africa into the Indian Ocean;

though so timid was the navigation, that every fresh headland became a formidable barrier; and it was not till

the latter part of the century that the adventurous Diaz passed quite round the Stormy Cape, as he termed it,

but which John the Second, with happier augury, called the Cape of Good Hope. But, before Vasco de Gama

had availed himself of this discovery to spread his sails in the Indian seas, Spain entered on her glorious

The object of the great navigator was still the discovery of a route to India, but by the west instead of the east.

He had no expectation of meeting with a continent in his way, and, after repeated voyages, he remained in his

original error, dying, as is well known, in the conviction that it was the eastern shore of Asia which he had

reached. It was the same object which directed the nautical enterprises of those who followed in the Admiral's

track; and the discovery of a strait into the Indian Ocean was the burden of every order from the government,

and the design of many an expedition to different points of the new continent, which seemed to stretch its

leviathan length along from one pole to the other. The discovery of an Indian passage is the true key to the

maritime movements of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth centuries. It was the great leading idea

It is not easy at this time to comprehend the impulse given to Europe by the discovery of America. It was not

the gradual acquisition of some border territory, a province or a kingdom that had been gained, but a New

World that was now thrown open to the Europeans. The races of animals, the mineral treasures, the vegetable

forms, and the varied aspects of nature, man in the different phases of civilization, filled the mind with

entirely new sets of ideas, that changed the habitual current of thought and stimulated it to indefinite

conjecture. The eagerness to explore the wonderful secrets of the new hemisphere became so active, that the

principal cities of Spain were, in a manner, depopulated, as emigrants thronged one after another to take their

chance upon the deep.2 It was a world of romance that was thrown open; for, whatever might be the luck of

the adventurer, his reports on his return were tinged with a coloring of romance that stimulated still higher the

sensitive fancies of his countrymen, and nourished the chimerical sentiments of an age of chivalry. They

listened with attentive ears to tales of Amazons which seemed to realize the classic legends of antiquity, to

stories of Patagonian giants, to flaming pictures of an El Dorado, where the sands sparkled with gems, and

Yet that the adventurers were no impostors, but dupes, too easy dupes of their own credulous fancies, is

shown by the extravagant character of their enterprises; by expeditions in search of the magical Fountain of

Health, of the golden Temple of Doboyba, of the golden sepulchres of Zenu; for gold was ever floating

before their distempered vision, and the name of Castilla del Oro, Golden Castile, the most unhealthy and

unprofitable region of the Isthmus, held out a bright promise to the unfortunate settler, who too frequently,

In this realm of enchantment, all the accessories served to maintain the illusion. The simple natives, with their

defenceless bodies and rude weapons, were no match for the European warrior armed to the teeth in mail.

The odds were as great as those found in any legend of chivalry, where the lance of the good knight

overturned hundreds at a touch. The perils that lay in the discoverer's path, and the sufferings he had to

sustain, were scarcely inferior to those that beset the knighterrant. Hunger and thirst and fatigue, the deadly

effluvia of the morass with its swarms of venomous insects, the cold of mountain snows, and the scorching

sun of the tropics, these were the lot of every cavalier who came to seek his fortunes in the New World. It

was the reality of romance. The life of the Spanish adventurer was one chapter moreand not the least

The character of the warrior took somewhat of the exaggerated coloring shed over his exploits. Proud and

vainglorious, swelled with lofty anticipations of his destiny, and an invincible confidence in his own

resources, no danger could appall and no toil could tire him. The greater the danger, indeed, the higher the

charm; for his soul revelled in excitement, and the enterprise without peril wanted that spur of romance which

was necessary to rouse his energies into action. Yet in the motives of action meaner influences were strangely

mingled with the loftier, the temporal with the spiritual. Gold was the incentive and the recompense, and in

the pursuit of it his inflexible nature rarely hesitated as to the means. His courage was sullied with cruelty, the

cruelty that flowed equallystrange as it may seemfrom his avarice and his religion; religion as it was

understood in that age,the religion of the Crusader. It was the convenient cloak for a multitude of sins,

which covered them even from himself. The Castilian, too proud for hypocrisy, committed more cruelties in

the name of religion than were ever practised by the pagan idolater or the fanatical Moslem. The burning of

the infidel was a sacrifice acceptable to Heaven, and the conversion of those who survived amply atoned for

the foulest offences. It is a melancholy and mortifying consideration, that the most uncompromising spirit of

intolerancethe spirit of the Inquisitor at home, and of the Crusader abroadshould have emanated from a

What a contrast did these children of Southern Europe present to the AngloSaxon races who scattered

themselves along the great northern division of the western hemisphere! For the principle of action with these

latter was not avarice, nor the more specious pretext of proselytism; but independenceindependence

religious and political. To secure this, they were content to earn a bare subsistence by a life of frugality and

toil. They asked nothing from the soil, but the reasonable returns of their own labor. No golden visions threw

a deceitful halo around their path and beckoned them onwards through seas of blood to the subversion of an

unoffending dynasty. They were content with the slow but steady progress of their social polity. They

patiently endured the privations of the wilderness, watering the tree of liberty with their tears and with the

sweat of their brow, till it took deep root in the land and sent up its branches high towards the heavens; while

the communities of the neighboring continent, shooting up into the sudden splendors of a tropical vegetation,

It would seem to have been especially ordered by Providence that the discovery of the two great divisions of

the American hemisphere should fall to the two races best fitted to conquer and colonize them. Thus the

northern section was consigned to the AngloSaxon race, whose orderly, industrious habits found an ample

field for development under its colder skies and on its more rugged soil; while the southern portion, with its

rich tropical products and treasures of mineral wealth, held out the most attractive bait to invite the enterprise

of the Spaniard. How different might have been the result, if the bark of Columbus had taken a more

northerly direction, as he at one time meditated, and landed its band of adventurers on the shores of what is

Under the pressure of that spirit of nautical enterprise which filled the maritime communities of Europe in the

sixteenth century, the whole extent of the mighty continent, from Labrador to Terra del Fuego, was explored

in less than thirty years after its discovery; and in 1521, the Portuguese Maghellan, sailing under the Spanish

flag, solved the problem of the strait, and found a westerly way to the long sought Spice islands of

India,greatly to the astonishment of the Portuguese, who, sailing from the opposite direction, there met

their rivals, face to face, at the antipodes. But while the whole eastern coast of the American continent had

been explored, and the central portion of it colonized, even after the brilliant achievement of the Mexican

conquest,the veil was not yet raised that hung over the golden shores of the Pacific.

Floating rumors had reached the Spaniards, from time to time, of countries in the far west, teeming with the

metal they so much coveted; but the first distinct notice of Peru was about the year 1511, when Vasco Nunez

de Balboa, the discoverer of the Southern Sea, was weighing some gold which he had collected from the

natives. A young barbarian chieftain, who was present, struck the scales with his fist, and, scattering the

glittering metal around the apartment, exclaimed,"If this is what you prize so much that you are willing to

leave your distant homes, and risk even life itself for it, I can tell you of a land where they eat and drink out

of golden vessels, and gold is as cheap as iron is with you." It was not long after this startling intelligence that

Balboa achieved the formidable adventure of scaling the mountain rampart of the Isthmus which divides the

two mighty oceans from each other; when, armed with sword and buckler, he rushed into the waters of the

Pacific, and cried out, in the true chivalrous vein, that "he claimed this unknown sea with all that it contained

for the king of Castile, and that he would make good the claim against all, Christian or infidel, who dared to

gainsay it!"3 All the broad continent and sunny isles washed by the waters of the Southern Ocean! Little did

On this spot he received more explicit tidings of the Peruvian empire, heard proofs recounted of its

civilization, and was shown drawings of the llama, which, to the European eye, seemed a species of the

Arabian camel. Bat, although he steered his caravel for these golden realms, and even pushed his discoveries

some twenty leagues south of the Gulf of St. Michael, the adventure was not reserved for him. The illustrious

discoverer was doomed to fall a victim to that miserable jealousy with which a little spirit regards the

The Spanish colonial domain was broken up into a number of petty governments, which were dispensed

sometimes to court favorites, though, as the duties of the post, at this early period, were of an arduous nature,

they were more frequently reserved for men of some practical talent and enterprise. Columbus, by virtue of

his original contract with the Crown, had jurisdiction over the territories discovered by himself, embracing

some of the principal islands, and a few places on the continent. This jurisdiction differed from that of other

functionaries, inasmuch as it was hereditary; a privilege found in the end too considerable for a subject, and

commuted, therefore, for a title and a pension. These colonial governments were multiplied with the increase

of empire, and by the year 1524, the period at which our narrative properly commences, were scattered over

the islands, along the Isthmus of Darien, the broad tract of Terra Firma, and the recent conquests of Mexico.

Some of these governments were of no great extent. Others, like that of Mexico, were of the dimensions of a

kingdom; and most had an indefinite range for discovery assigned to them in their immediate neighborhood,

by which each of the petty potentates might enlarge his territorial sway, and enrich his followers and himself.

This politic arrangement best served the ends of the Crown, by affording a perpetual incentive to the spirit of

enterprise. Thus living on their own little domains at a long distance from the mother country, these military

rulers held a sort of viceregal sway, and too frequently exercised it in the most oppressive and tyrannical

manner; oppressive to the native, and tyrannical towards their own followers. It was the natural consequence,

when men, originally low in station, and unprepared by education for office, were suddenly called to the

possession of a brief, but in its nature irresponsible, authority. It was not till after some sad experience of

these results, that measures were taken to hold these petty tyrants in check by means of regular tribunals, or

Royal Audiences, as they were termed, which, composed of men of character and learning, might interpose

the arm of the law, or, at least, the voice of remonstrance, for the protection of both colonist and native.

Among the colonial governors, who were indebted for their situation to their rank at home, was Don Pedro

Arias de Avila, or Pedrarias, as usually called. He was married to a daughter of Dona Beatriz de Bobadilla,

the celebrated Marchioness of Moya, best known as the friend of Isabella the Catholic. He was a man of some

military experience and considerable energy of character. But, as it proved, he was of a malignant temper;

and the base qualities, which might have passed unnoticed in the obscurity of private life, were made

conspicuous, and perhaps created in some measure, by sudden elevation to power; as the sunshine, which

operates kindly on a generous soil, and stimulates it to production, calls forth from the unwholesome marsh

only foul and pestilent vapors. This man was placed over the territory of Castilla del Oro, the ground selected

by Nunez de Balboa for the theatre of his discoveries. Success drew on this latter the jealousy of his superior,

for it was crime enough in the eyes of Pedrarias to deserve too well. The tragical history of this cavalier

belongs to a period somewhat earlier than that with which we are to be occupied. It has been traced by abler

hands than mine, and, though brief, forms one of the most brilliant passages in the annals of the American

But though Pedrarias was willing to cut short the glorious career of his rival, he was not insensible to the

important consequences of his discoveries. He saw at once the unsuitableness of Darien for prosecuting

expeditions on the Pacific, and, conformably to the original suggestion of Balboa, in 1519, he caused his

rising capital to be transferred from the shores of the Atlantic to the ancient site of Panama, some distance

east of the present city of that name.5 This most unhealthy spot, the cemetery of many an unfortunate

colonist, was favorably situated for the great object of maritime enterprise; and the port, from its central

position, afforded the best point of departure for expeditions, whether to the north or south, along the wide

range of undiscovered coast that lined the Southern Ocean. Yet in this new and more favorable position,

several years were suffered to elapse before the course of discovery took the direction of Peru. This was

turned exclusively towards the north, or rather west, in' obedience to the orders of government, which had

ever at heart the detection of a strait that, as was supposed, must intersect some part or other of the

longextended Isthmus. Armament after armament was fitted out with this chimerical object; and Pedrarias

saw his domain extending every year farther and farther without deriving any considerable advantage from

his acquisitions. Veragua, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, were successively occupied; and his brave cavaliers forced

a way across forest and mountain and warlike tribes of savages, till, at Honduras, they came in collision with

the companions of Cortes, the Conquerors of Mexico, who had descended from the great northern plateau on

the regions of Central America, and thus completed the survey of this wild and mysterious land.

It was not till 1522 that a regular expedition was despatched in the direction south of Panama, under the

conduct of Pascual de Andagoya, a cavalier of much distinction in the colony. But that officer penetrated only

to the Puerto de Pinas, the limit of Balboa's discoveries, when the bad state of his health compelled him to

Yet the floating rumors of the wealth and civilization of a mighty nation at the South were continually

reaching the ears and kindling the dreamy imaginations of the colonists; and it may seem astonishing that an

expedition in that direction should have been so long deferred. But the exact position and distance of this

fairy realm were matter of conjecture. The long tract of intervening country was occupied by rude and

warlike races; and the little experience which the Spanish navigators had already had of the neighboring coast

and its inhabitants, and still more, the tempestuous character of the seasfor their expeditions had taken

place at the most unpropitious seasons of the yearenhanced the apparent difficulties of the undertaking,

Such was the state of feeling in the little community of Panama for several years after its foundation.

Meanwhile, the dazzling conquest of Mexico gave a new impulse to the ardor of discovery, and, in 1524,

three men were found in the colony, in whom the spirit of adventure triumphed over every consideration of

difficulty and danger that obstructed the prosecution of the enterprise. One among them was selected as fitted

by his character to conduct it to a successful issue. That man was Francisco Pizarro; and as he held the same

conspicuous post in the Conquest of Peru that was occupied by Cortes in that of Mexico it will be necessary

Francisco Pizarro was born at Truxillo, a city of Estremadura, in Spain. The period of his birth is uncertain;

but probably it was not far from 1471.1 He was an illegitimate child, and that his parents should not have

taken pains to perpetuate the date of his birth is not surprising. Few care to make a particular record of their

transgressions. His father, Gonzalo Pizarro, was a colonel of infantry, and served with some distinction in the

Italian campaigns under the Great Captain, and afterwards in the wars of Navarre. His mother, named

But little is told of Francisco's early years, and that little not always deserving of credit. According to some,

he was deserted by both his parents, and left as a foundling at the door of one of the principal churches of the

city. It is even said that he would have perished, had he not been nursed by a sow.3 This is a more

discreditable fountain of supply than that assigned to the infant Romulus. The early history of men who have

made their names famous by deeds in afterlife, like the early history of nations, affords a fruitful field for

It seems certain that the young Pizarro received little care from either of his parents, and was suffered to grow

up as nature dictated. He was neither taught to read nor write, and his principal occupation was that of a

swineherd. But this torpid way of life did not suit the stirring spirit of Pizarro, as he grew older, and listened

to the tales, widely circulated and se captivating to a youthful fancy, of the New World. He shared in the

popular enthusiasm, and availed himself of a favorable moment to abandon his ignoble charge, and escape to

Seville, the port where the Spanish adventurers embarked to seek their fortunes in the West. Few of them

could have turned their backs on their native land with less cause for regret than Pizarro.4

In what year this important change in his destiny took place we are not informed. The first we hear of him in

the New World is at the island of Hispaniola, in 1510, where he took part in the expedition to Uraba in Terra

Firma, under Alonzo de Ojeda, a cavalier whose character and achievements find no parallel but in the pages

of Cervantes. Hernando Cortes, whose mother was a Pizarro, and related, it is said, to the father of Francis,

was then in St. Domingo, and prepared to accompany Ojeda's expedition, but was prevented by a temporary

lameness. Had he gone, the fall of the Aztec empire might have been postponed for some time longer, and the

sceptre of Montezuma have descended in peace to his posterity. Pizarro shared in the disastrous fortunes of

Ojeda's colony, and, by his discretion, obtained so far the confidence of his commander, as to be left in

charge of the settlement, when the latter returned for supplies to the islands. The lieutenant continued at his

perilous post for nearly two months, waiting deliberately until death should have thinned off the colony

sufficiently to allow the miserable remnant to be embarked in the single small vessel that remained to it.5

After this, we find him associated with Balboa, the discoverer of the Pacific, and cooperating with him in

establishing the settlement at Darien. He had the glory of accompanying this gallant cavalier in his terrible

march across the mountains, and of being among the first Europeans, therefore, whose eyes were greeted with

After the untimely death of his commander, Pizarro attached himself to the fortunes of Pedrarias, and was

employed by that governor in several military expeditions, which, if they afforded nothing else, gave him the

requisite training for the perils and privations that lay in the path of the future Conqueror of Peru.

In 1515, he was selected, with another cavalier named Morales, to cross the Isthmus and traffic with the

natives on the shores of the Pacific. And there, while engaged in collecting his booty of gold and pearls from

the neighbouring islands, as his eye ranged along the shadowy line of coast till it faded in the distance, his

imagination may have been first fired with the idea of, one day, attempting the conquest of the mysterious

regions beyond the mountains. On the removal of the seat of government across the Isthmus to Panama,

Pizarro accompanied Pedrarias, and his name became conspicuous among the cavaliers who extended the line

of conquest to the north over the martial tribes of Veragua. But all these expeditions, whatever glory they

may have brought him, were productive of very little gold; and, at the age of fifty, the captain Pizarro found

himself in possession only of a tract of unhealthy land in the neighborhood of the capital, and of such

repartimientos of the natives as were deemed suited to his military services.6 The New World was a lottery,

where the great prizes were so few that the odds were much against the player; yet in the game he was

Such was Pizarro's situation when, in 1522, Andagoya returned from his unfinished enterprise to the south of

Panama, bringing back with him more copious accounts than any hitherto received of the opulence and

grandeur of the countries that lay beyond.7 It was at this time, too, that the splendid achievements of Cortes

made their impression on the public mind, and gave a new impulse to the spirit of adventure. The southern

expeditions became a common topic of speculation among the colonists of Panama. But the region of gold, as

it lay behind the mighty curtain of the Cordilleras, was still veiled in obscurity. No idea could be formed of

its actual distance; and the hardships and difficulties encountered by the few navigators who had sailed in that

direction gave a gloomy character to the undertaking, which had hitherto deterred the most daring from

embarking in it. There is no evidence that Pizarro showed any particular alacrity in the cause. Nor were his

own funds such as to warrant any expectation of success without great assistance from others. He found this

in two individuals of the colony, who took too important a part in the subsequent transactions not to be

One of them, Diego de Almagro, was a soldier of fortune somewhat older, it seems probable, than Pizarro;

though little is known of his birth, and even the place of it is disputed. It is supposed to have been the town of

Almagro in New Castile, whence his own name, for want of a better source was derived; for, like Pizarro, he

was a foundling.8 Few particulars are known of him till the present period of our history; for he was one of

those whom the working of turbulent times first throws upon the surface,less fortunate, perhaps, than if left

in their original obscurity. In his military career, Almagro had earned the reputation of a gallant soldier. He

was frank and liberal in his disposition, somewhat hasty and ungovernable in his passions, but, like men of a

sanguine temperament, after the first sallies had passed away, not difficult to be appeased. He had, in short,

the good qualities and the defects incident to an honest nature, not improved by the discipline of early

The other member of the confederacy was Hernando de Luque, a Spanish ecclesiastic, who exercised the

functions of vicar at Panama, and had formerly filled the office of schoolmaster in the Cathedral of Darien.

He seems to have been a man of singular prudence and knowledge of the world; and by his respectable

qualities had acquired considerable influence in the little community to which he belonged, as well as the

control of funds, which made his cooperation essential to the success of the present enterprise.

It was arranged among the three associates, that the two cavaliers should contribute their little stock towards

defraying the expenses of the armament, but by far the greater part of the funds was to be furnished by

Luque. Pizarro was to take command of the expedition, and the business of victualling and equipping the

vessels was assigned to Almagro. The associates found no difficulty in obtaining the consent of the governor

to their undertaking. After the return of Andagoya, he had projected another expedition, but the officer to

whom it was to be intrusted died. Why he did not prosecute his original purpose, and commit the affair to an

experienced captain like Pizarro, does not appear. He was probably not displeased that the burden of the

enterprise should be borne by others, so long as a good share of the profits went into his own coffers. This he

Thus fortified with the funds of Luque, and the consent of the governor, Almagro was not slow to make

preparations for the voyage. Two small vessels were purchased, the larger of which had been originally built

by Balboa, for himself, with a view to this same expedition. Since his death, it had lain dismantled in the

harbor of Panama. It was now refitted as well as circumstances would permit, and put in order for sea, while

the stores and provisions were got on board with an alacrity which did more credit, as the event proved, to

There was more difficulty in obtaining the necessary complement of hands; for a general feeling of distrust

had gathered round expeditions in this direction, which could not readily be overcome. But there were many

idle hangerson in the colony, who had come out to mend their fortunes, and were willing to take their

chance of doing so, however desperate. From such materials as these, Almagro assembled a body of

somewhat more than a hundred men;10 and every thing being ready, Pizarro assumed the command, and,

weighing anchor, took his departure from the little port of Panama, about the middle of November, 1524..

Almagro was to follow in a second vessel of inferior size, as soon as it could be fitted out.11

The time of year was the most unsuitable that could have been selected for the voyage; for it was the rainy

season, when the navigation to the south, impeded by contrary winds, is made doubly dangerous by the

tempests that sweep over the coast. But this was not understood by the adventurers. After touching at the Isle

of Pearls, the frequent resort of navigators, at a few leagues' distance from Panama, Pizarro hold his way

across the Gulf of St. Michael, and steered almost due south for the Puerto de Pinas, a headland in the

province of Biruquete, which marked the limit of Andagoya's voyage. Before his departure, Pizarro had

obtained all the information which he could derive from that officer in respect to the country, and the route he

was to follow. But the cavalier's own experience had been too limited to enable him to be of much assistance.

Doubling the Puerto de Pinas, the little vessel entered the river Biru, the misapplication of which name is

supposed by some to have given rise to that of the empire of the Incas.12 After sailing up this stream for a

couple of leagues, Pizarro came to anchor, and disembarking his whole force except the sailors, proceeded at

the head of it to explore the country. The land spread out into a vast swamp, where the heavy rains had settled

in pools of stagnant water, and the muddy soil afforded no footing to the traveller. This dismal morass was

fringed with woods, through whose thick and tangled undergrowth they found it difficult to penetrate and

emerging from them, they came out on a hilly country, so rough and rocky in its character, that their feet were

cut to the bone, and the weary soldier, encumbered with his heavy mail or thickpadded doublet of cotton,

found it difficult to drag one foot after the other. The heat at times was oppressive; and, fainting with toil and

famished for want of food, they sank down on the earth from mere exhaustion. Such was the ominous

Pizarro, however, did not lose heart. He endeavored to revive the spirits of his men, and besought them not to

be discouraged by difficulties which a brave heart would be sure to overcome, reminding them of the golden

prize which awaited those who persevered. Yet it was obvious that nothing was to be gained by remaining

longer in this desolate region. Returning to their vessel, therefore, it was suffered to drop down the river and

After coasting a few leagues, Pizarro anchored off a place not very inviting in its appearance, where he took

in a supply of wood and water. Then, stretching more towards the open sea, he held on in the same direction

towards the south. But in this he was baffled by a succession of heavy tempests, accompanied with such

tremendous peals of thunder and floods of rain as are found only in the terrible storms of the tropics. The sea

was lashed into fury, and, swelling into mountain billows, threatened every moment to overwhelm the crazy

little bark, which opened at every seam. For ten days the unfortunate voyagers were tossed about by the

pitiless elements, and it was only by incessant exertionsthe exertions of despairthat they preserved the

ship from foundering. To add to their calamities, their provisions began to fail, and they were short of water,

of which they had been furnished only with a small number of casks; for Almagro had counted on their

recruiting their scanty supplies, from time to time, from the shore. Their meat was wholly consumed, and

they were reduced to the wretched allowance of two ears of Indian corn a day for each man.

Thus harassed by hunger and the elements, the battered voyagers were too happy to retrace their course and

regain the port where they had last taken in supplies of wood and water. Yet nothing could be more

unpromising than the aspect of the country. It had the same character of low, swampy soil, that distinguished

the former landingplace; while thickmatted forests, of a depth which the eye could not penetrate, stretched

840 the wearied Spaniards endeavored to thread the mazes of this tangled thicket, where the creepers and

flowering vines, that shoot up luxuriant in a hot and humid atmosphere, had twined themselves round the

huge trunks of the foresttrees, and made a network that could be opened only with the axe. The rain, in the

mean time, rarely slackened, and the ground, strewed with leaves and saturated with moisture, seemed to slip

Nothing could be more dreary and disheartening than the aspect of these funereal forests; where the

exhalations from the overcharged surface of the ground poisoned the air, and seemed to allow no life, except

that, indeed, of myriads of insects, whose enamelled wings glanced to and fro, like sparks of fire, in every

opening of the woods. Even the brute creation appeared instinctively to have shunned the fatal spot, and

neither beast nor bird of any description was seen by the wanderers. Silence reigned unbroken in the heart of

these dismal solitudes; at least, the only sounds that could be heard were the plashing of the raindrops on the

Entirely discouraged by the aspect of the country, the Spaniards began to comprehend that they had gained

nothing by changing their quarters from sea to shore, and they felt the most serious apprehensions of

perishing from famine in a region which afforded nothing but such unwholesome berries as they could pick

up here and there in the woods. They loudly complained of their hard lot, accusing their commander as the

author of all their troubles, and as deluding them with promises of a fairy land, which seemed to recede in

proportion as they advanced. It was of no use, they said, to contend against fate, and it was better to take their

chance of regaining the port of Panama in time to save their lives, than to wait where they were to die of

But Pizarro was prepared to encounter much greater evils than these, before returning to Panama, bankrupt in

credit, an object of derision as a vainglorious dreamer, who had persuaded others to embark in an adventure

which he had not the courage to carry through himself. The present was his only chance. To return would be

ruin. He used every argument, therefore, that mortified pride or avarice could suggest to turn his followers

from their purpose; represented to them that these were the troubles that necessarily lay in the path of the

discoverer; and called to mind the brilliant successes of their countrymen in other quarters, and the repeated

reports, which they had themselves received, of the rich regions along the coast, of which it required only

courage and constancy on their part to become the masters. Yet, as their present exigencies were pressing, he

resolved to send back the vessel to the Isle of Pearls, to lay in a fresh stock of provisions for his company,

which might enable them to go forward with renewed confidence. The distance was not great, and in a few

days they would all be relieved from their perilous position. The officer detached on this service was named

Montenegro; and taking with him nearly half the company, after receiving Pizarro's directions, he instantly

On the departure of his vessel, the Spanish commander made an attempt to explore the country, and see if

some Indian settlement might not be found, where he could procure refreshments for his followers. But his

efforts were vain, and no trace was visible of a human dwelling; though, in the dense and impenetrable

foliage of the equatorial regions, the distance of a few rods might suffice to screen a city from observation.

The only means of nourishment left to the unfortunate adventurers were such shellfish as they occasionally

picked up on the shore, or the bitter buds of the palmtree, and such berries and unsavory herbs as grew wild

in the woods. Some of these were so poisonous, that the bodies of those who ate them swelled up and were

tormented with racking pains. Others, preferring famine to this miserable diet, pined away from weakness

and actually died of starvation. Yet their resolute leader strove to maintain his own cheerfulness and to keep

up the drooping spirits of his men. He freely shared with them his scanty stock of provisions, was unwearied

in his endeavors to procure them sustenance, tended the sick, and ordered barracks to be constructed for their

accommodation, which might, at least, shelter them from the drenching storms of the season. By this ready

sympathy with his followers in their sufferings, he obtained an ascendency over their rough natures, which

the assertion of authority, at least in the present extremity, could never have secured to him.

Day after day, week after week, had now passed away, and no tidings were heard of the vessel that was to

bring relief to the wanderers. In vain did they strain their eyes over the distant waters to catch a glimpse of

their coming friends. Not a speck was to be seen in the blue distance, where the canoe of the savage dared not

venture, and the sail of the white man was not yet spread. Those who had borne up bravely at first now gave

way to despondency, as they felt themselves abandoned by their countrymen on this desolate shore. They

pined under that sad feeling which "maketh the heart sick." More than twenty of the little band had already

At this crisis reports were brought to Pizarro of a light having been seen through a distant opening in the

woods. He hailed the tidings with eagerness, as intimating the existence of some settlement in the

neighborhood; and, putting himself at the head of a small party, went in the direction pointed out, to

reconnoitre. He was not disappointed, and, after extricating himself from a dense wilderness of underbrush

and foliage, he emerged into an open space, where a small Indian village was planted. The timid inhabitants,

on the sudden apparition of the strangers, quitted their huts in dismay; and the famished Spaniards, rushing

in, eagerly made themselves masters of their contents. These consisted of different articles of food, chiefly

maize and cocoanuts. The supply, though small, was too seasonable not to fill them with rapture.

The astonished natives made no attempt at resistance. But, gathering more confidence as no violence was

offered to their persons, they drew nearer the white men, and inquired, "Why they did not stay at home and

till their own lands, instead of roaming about to rob others who had never harmed them?"15 Whatever may

have been their opinion as to. the question of right, the Spaniards, no doubt, felt then that it would have been

wiser to do so. But the savages wore about their persons gold ornaments of some size, though of clumsy

workmanship. This furnished the best reply to their demand. It was the golden bait which lured the Spanish

adventurer to forsake his pleasant home for the trials of the wilderness. From the Indians Pizarro gathered a

confirmation of the reports he had so often received of a rich country lying farther south; and at the distance

of ten days' journey across the mountains, they told him, there dwelt a mighty monarch whose dominions had

been invaded by another still more powerful, the Child of the Sun.16 It may have been the invasion of Quito

that was meant, by the valiant Inca Huayna Capac, which took place some years previous to Pizarro's

At length, after the expiration of more than six weeks, the Spaniards beheld with delight the return of the

wandering bark that had borne away their comrades, and Montenegro sailed into port with an ample supply of

provisions for his famishing countrymen. Great was his horror at the aspect presented by the latter, their wild

and haggard countenances and wasted frames,so wasted by hunger and disease, that their old companions

found it difficult to recognize them. Montenegro accounted for his delay by incessant head winds and bad

weather; and he himself had also a doleful tale to tell of the distress to which he and his crew had been

reduced by hunger, on their passage to the Isle of Pearls.It is minute incidents like these with which we

have been occupied, that enable one to comprehend the extremity of suffering to which the Spanish

Revived by the substantial nourishment to which they had so long been strangers, the Spanish cavaliers, with

the buoyancy that belongs to men of a hazardous and roving life, forgot their past distresses in their eagerness

to prosecute their enterprise. Reembarking therefore on board his vessel, Pizarro bade adieu to the scene of so

much suffering, which he branded with the appropriate name of Puerto de la Hambre, the Port of Famine, and

again opened his sails to a favorable breeze that bore him onwards towards the south.

Had he struck boldly out into the deep, instead of hugging the inhospitable shore, where he had hitherto

found so little to recompense him, he might have spared himself the repetition of wearisome and unprofitable

adventures, and reached by a shorter route the point of his destination. But the Spanish mariner groped his

way along these unknown coasts, landing at every convenient headland, as if fearful lest some fruitful region

or precious mine might be overlooked, should a single break occur in the line of survey. Yet it should be

remembered, that, though the true point of Pizarro's destination is obvious to us, familiar with the topography

of these countries, he was wandering in the dark, feeling his way along, inch by inch, as it were, without chart

to guide him, without knowledge of the seas or of the bearings of the coast, and even with no better defined

idea of the object at which he aimed than that of a land teeming with gold, that lay somewhere at the south! It

was a hunt after an El Dorado; on information scarcely more circumstantial or authentic than that which

furnished the basis of so many chimerical enterprises in this land of wonders. Success only, the best argument

with the multitude, redeemed the expeditions of Pizarro from a similar imputation of extravagance.

Holding on his southerly course under the lee of the shore, Pizarro, after a short run, found himself abreast of

an open reach of country, or at least one less encumbered with wood, which rose by a gradual swell, as it

receded from the coast. He landed with a small body of men, and, advancing a short distance into the interior,

fell in with an Indian hamlet. It was abandoned by the inhabitants, who, on the approach of the invaders, had

betaken themselves to the mountains; and the Spaniards, entering their deserted dwellings, found there a good

store of maize and other articles of food, and rude ornaments of gold of considerable value. Food was not

more necessary for their bodies than was the sight of gold, from time to time, to stimulate their appetite for

adventure. One spectacle, however, chilled their blood with horror. This was the sight of human flesh, which

they found roasting before the fire, as the barbarians had left it, preparatory to their obscene repast. The

Spaniards, conceiving that they had fallen in with a tribe of Caribs, the only race in that part of the New

World known to be cannibals, retreated precipitately to their vessel.17 They were not steeled by sad

The weather, which had been favorable, now set in tempestuous, with heavy squalls, accompanied by

incessant thunder and lightning, and the rain, as usual in these tropical tempests, descended not so much in

drops as in unbroken sheets of water. The Spaniards, however, preferred to take their chance on the raging

element rather than remain in the scene of such brutal abominations. But the fury of the storm gradually

subsided, and the little vessel held on her way along the coast, till, coming abreast of a bold point of land

named by Pizarro Punts Quemada, he gave orders to anchor. The margin of the shore was fringed with a deep

belt of mangrovetrees, the long roots of which, interlacing one another, formed a kind of submarine

latticework that made the place difficult of approach. Several avenues, opening through this tangled thicket,

led Pizarro to conclude that the country must be inhabited, and he disembarked, with the greater part of his

He had not penetrated more than a league, when he found his conjecture verified by the sight of an Indian

town of larger size than those he had hitherto seen, occupying the brow of an eminence, and well detended by

palisades. The inhabitants, as usual, had fled; but left in their dwellings a good supply of provisions and some

gold trinkets, which the Spaniards made no difficulty of appropriating to themselves. Pizarro's flimsy bark

had been strained by the heavy gales it had of late encountered, so that it was unsafe to prosecute the voyage

further without more thorough repairs than could be given to her on this desolate coast. He accordingly

determined to send her back with a few hands to be careened at Panama, and meanwhile to establish his

quarters in his present position, which was so favorable for defence. But first he despatched a small party

under Montenegro to reconnoitre the country, and, if possible, to open a communication with the natives.

The latter were a warlike race. They had left their habitations in order to place their wives and children in

safety. But they had kept an eye on the movements of the invaders, and, when they saw their forces divided,

they resolved to fall upon each body singly before it could communicate with the other. So soon, therefore, as

Montenegro had penetrated through the defiles of the lofty hills, which shoot out like spurs of the Cordilleras

along this part of the coast, the Indian warriors, springing from their ambush, sent off a cloud of arrows and

other missiles that darkened the air, while they made the forest ring with their shrill warwhoop. The

Spaniards, astonished at the appearance of the savages, with their naked bodies gaudily painted, and

brandishing their weapons as they glanced among the trees and straggling underbrush that choked up the

defile, were taken by surprise and thrown for a moment into disarray. Three of their number were killed and

several wounded. Yet, speedily rallying, they returned the discharge of the assailants with their

crossbows,for Pizarro's troops do not seem to have been provided with muskets on this expedition,and

then gallantly charging the enemy, sword in hand, succeeded in driving them back into the fastnesses of the

mountains. But it only led them to shift their operations to another quarter, and make an assault ,,n Pizarro

Availing themselves of their superior knowledge of the passes, they reached that commander's quarters long

before Montenegro, who had commenced a countermarch in the same direction. And issuing from the woods,

the bold savages saluted the Spanish garrison with a tempest of darts and arrows, some of which found their

way through the joints of the harness and the quilted mail of the cavaliers. But Pizarro was too well practised

a soldier to be off his guard. Calling his men about him, he resolved not to abide the assault tamely in the

works, but to sally out, and meet the enemy on their own ground. The barbarians, who had advanced near the

defences, fell back as the Spaniards burst forth with their valiant leader at their head. But, soon returning with

admirable ferocity to the charge, they singled out Pizarro, whom, by his bold bearing and air of authority,

they easily recognized as the chief; and, hurling at him a storm of missiles, wounded him, in spite of his

Driven back by the fury of the assault directed against his own person, the Spanish commander retreated

down the slope of the hill, still defending himself as he could with sword and buckler, when his foot slipped

and he fell. The enemy set up a fierce yell of triumph, and some of the boldest sprang forward to despatch

him. But Pizarro was on his feet in an instant, and, striking down two of the foremost with his strong arm,

held the rest at bay till his soldiers could come to the rescue. The barbarians, struck with admiration at his

valor, began to falter, when Montenegro luckily coming on the ground at the moment, and falling on their

rear, completed their confusion; and, abandoning the field, they made the best of their way into the recesses

of the mountains. The ground was covered with their slain; but the victory was dearly purchased by the death

A council of war was then called. The position had lost its charm in the eyes of the Spaniards, who had met

here with the first resistance they had yet experienced on their expedition. It was necessary to place the

wounded in some secure spot, where their injuries could be attended to. Yet it was not safe to proceed farther,

in the crippled state of their vessel. On the whole, it was decided to return and report their proceedings to the

governor; and, though the magnificent hopes of the adventurers had not been realized, Pizarro trusted that

enough had been done to vindicate the importance of the enterprise, and to secure the countenance of

Yet Pizarro could not make up his mind to present himself, in the present state of the undertaking, before the

governor. He determined, therefore, to be set on shore with the principal part of his company at Chicarea, a

place on the main land, at a short distance west of Panama From this place, which he reached without any

further accident, he despatched the vessel, and in it his treasurer, Nicolas de Ribera, with the gold he had

collected, and with instructions to lay before the governor in full account of his discoveries, and the result of

While these events were passing, Pizarro's associate, Almagro, had been busily employed in fitting out

another vessel for the expedition at the port of Panama. It was not till long after his friend's departure that he

was prepared to follow him. With the assistance of Luque, he at length succeeded in equipping a small

caravel and embarking a body of between sixty and seventy adventurers, mostly of the lowest order of the

colonists. He steered in the track of his comrade, with the intention of overtaking him as soon as possible. By

a signal previously concerted of notching the trees, he was able to identify the spots visited by Pizarro,

Puerto de Pinas, Puerto de la Hambre, Pueblo Quemadotouching successively at every point of the coast

explored by his countrymen, though in a much shorter time. At the lastmentioned place he was received by

the fierce natives with the same hostile demonstrations as Pizarro, though in the present encounter the Indians

did not venture beyond their defences. But the hot blood of Almagro was so exasperated by this check, that

he assaulted the place and carried it sword in hand, setting fire to the outworks and dwellings, and driving the

His victory cost him dear. A wound from a javelin on the head caused an inflammation in one of his eyes,

which, after great anguish, ended in the loss of it. Yet the intrepid adventurer did not hesitate to pursue his

voyage, and, after touching at several places on the coast, some of which rewarded him with a considerable

booty in gold, he reached the mouth of the Rio de San Juan, about the fourth degree of north latitude. He was

struck with the beauty of the stream, and with the cultivation on its borders, which were sprinkled with Indian

cottages showing some skill in their construction, and altogether intimating a higher civilization than any

Still his mind was filled with anxiety for the fate of Pizarro and his followers. No trace of them had been

found on the coast for a long time, and it was evident they must have foundered at sea, or made their way

back to Panama. This last he deemed most probable; as the vessel might have passed him unnoticed under the

Impressed with this belief, he felt no heart to continue his voyage of discovery, for which, indeed, his single

bark, with its small complement of men, was altogether inadequate. He proposed, therefore, to return without

delay. On his way, he touched at the Isle of Pearls, and there learned the result of his friend's expedition, and

the place of his present residence. Directing his course, at once, to Chicama, the two cavaliers soon had the

satisfaction of embracing each other, and recounting their several exploits and escapes. Almagro returned

even better freighted with gold than his confederate, and at every step of his progress he had collected fresh

confirmation of the existence of some great and opulent empire in the South. The confidence of the two

friends was much strengthened by their discoveries; and they unhesitatingly pledged themselves to one

The best means of obtaining the levies requisite for so formidable an undertakingmore formidable, as it

now appeared to them, than before were made the subject of long and serious discussion. It was at length

decided that Pizarro should remain in his present quarters, inconvenient and even unwholesome as they were

rendered by the humidity of the climate, and the pestilent swarms of insects that filled the atmosphere.

Almagro would pass over to Panama, lay the case before the governor, and secure, if possible, his goodwill

towards the prosecution of the enterprise. If no obstacle were thrown in their way from this quarter, they

might hope, with the assistance of Luque, to raise the necessary supplies; while the results of the recent

expedition were sufficiently encouraging to draw adventurers to their standard in a community which had a

craving for excitement that gave even danger a charm, and which held life cheap in comparison with gold.

On his arrival at Panama, Almagro found that events had taken a turn less favorable to his views than he had

anticipated. Pedrarias, the governor, was preparing to lead an expedition in person against a rebellious officer

in Nicaragua; and his temper, naturally not the most amiable, was still further soured by this defection of his

lieutenant, and the necessity it imposed on him of a long and perilous march. When, therefore, Almagro

appeared before him with the request that he might be permitted to raise further levies to prosecute his

enterprise, the governor received him with obvious dissatisfaction, listened coldly to the narrative of his

losses, turned an incredulous ear to his magnificent promises for the future, and bluntly demanded an account

of the lives, which had been sacrificed by Pizarro's obstinacy, but which, had they been spared, might have

stood him in good stead in his present expedition to Nicaragua. He positively declined to countenance the

rash schemes of the two adventurers any longer, and the conquest of Peru would have been crushed in the

bud, but for the efficient interposition of the remaining associate, Fernando de Luque.

This sagacious ecclesiastic had received a very different impression from Almagro's narrative, from that

which had been made on the mind of the irritable governor. The actual results of the enterprise in gold and

silver, thus far, indeed, had been small,forming a mortifying contrast to the magnitude of their

expectations. But, in another point of view, they were of the last importance; since the intelligence which the

adventurers had gained in every successive stage of their progress confirmed, in the strongest manner, the

previous accounts, received from Andogoya and others, of a rich Indian empire at the south, which might

repay the trouble of conquering it as well as Mexico had repaid the enterprise of Cortes. Fully entering,

therefore, into the feelings of his military associates, he used all his influence with the governor to incline

him to a more favorable view of Almagro's petition; and no one in the little community of Panama exercised

greater influence over the councils of the executive than Father Luque, for which he was indebted no less to

But while Pedrarias, overcome by the arguments or importunity of the churchman, yielded a reluctant assent

to the application, he took care to testify his displeasure with Pizarro, on whom he particularly charged the

loss of his followers, by naming Almagro as his equal in command in the proposed expedition. This

mortification sunk deep into Pizarro's mind. He suspected his comrade, with what reason does not appear, of

soliciting this boon from the governor. A temporary coldness arose between them, which subsided, in

outward show, at least, on Pizarro's reflecting that it was better to have this authority conferred on a friend

than on a stranger, perhaps an enemy. But the seeds of permanent distrust were left in his bosom, and lay

Pedrarias had been originally interested in the enterprise, at least, so far as to stipulate for a share of the gains,

though he had not contributed, as it appears, a single ducat towards the expenses. He was at length, however,

induced to relinquish all right to a share of the contingent profits. But, in his manner of doing so, he showed a

mercenary spirit, better becoming a petty trader than a high officer of the Crown. He stipulated that the

associates should secure to him the sum of one thousand pesos de oro in requital of his goodwill, and they

eagerly closed with his proposal, rather than be encumbered with his pretensions. For so paltry a

consideration did he resign his portion of the rich spoil of the Incas! 2 But the governor was not gifted with

the eye of a prophet. His avarice was of that shortsighted kind which defeats itself. He had sacrificed the

chivalrous Balboa just as that officer was opening to him the conquest of Peru, and he would now have

quenched the spirit of enterprise, that was taking the same direction, in Pizarro and his associates.

Not long after this, in the following year, he was succeeded in his government by Don Pedro de los Rios, a

cavalier of Cordova. It was the policy of the Castilian Crown to allow no one of the great colonial officers to

occupy the same station so long as to render himself formidable by his authority.3 It had, moreover, many

particular causes of disgust with Pedrarias. The functionary they sent out to succeed him was fortified with

ample instructions for the good of the colony, and especially of the natives, whose religious conversion was

urged as a capital object, and whose personal freedom was unequivocally asserted, as loyal vassals of the

Crown. It is but justice to the Spanish government to admit that its provisions were generally guided by a

humane and considerate policy, which was as regularly frustrated by the cupidity of the colonist, and the

capricious cruelty of the conqueror. The few remaining years of Pedrarias were spent in petty squabbles, both

of a personal and official nature; for he was still continued in office, though in one of less consideration than

that which he had hitherto filled. He survived but a few years, leaving behind him a reputation not to be

envied, of one who united a pusillanimous spirit with uncontrollable passions; who displayed,

notwithstanding, a certain energy of character, or, to speak more correctly, an impetuosity of purpose, which

might have led to good results had it taken a right direction. Unfortunately, his lack of discretion was such,

Having settled their difficulties with the governor, and obtained his sanction to their enterprise, the

confederates lost no time in making the requisite preparations for it. Their first step was to execute the

memorable contract which served as the basis of their future arrangements; and, as Pizarro's name appears in

this, it seems probable that that chief had crossed over to Panama so soon as the favorable disposition of

Pedrarias had been secured.4 The instrument, after invoking in the most solemn manner the names of the

Holy Trinity and Our Lady the Blessed Virgin, sets forth, that, whereas the parties have full authority to

discover and subdue the countries and provinces lying south of the Gulf, belonging to the empire of Peru, and

as Fernando de Luque had advanced the funds for the enterprise in bars of gold of the value of twenty

thousand pesos, they mutually bind themselves to divide equally among them the whole of the conquered

territory. This stipulation is reiterated over and over again, particularly with reference to Luque, who, it is

declared, is to be entitled to one third of all lands, repartimientos, treasures of every kind, gold, silver, and

precious stones, to one third even of all vassals, rents, and emoluments arising from such grants as may be

conferred by the Crown on either of his military associates, to be held for his own use, or for that of his heirs,

The two captains solemnly engage to devote themselves exclusively to the present undertaking until it is

accomplished; and, in case of failure in their part of the covenant, they pledge themselves to reimburse Luque

for his advances, for which all the property they possess shall be held responsible, and this declaration is to be

a sufficient warrant for the execu. tion of judgment against them, in the same manner as if it had proceed. ed

The commanders, Pizarro and Almagro, made oath, in the name of God and the Holy Evangelists, sacredly to

keep this covenant, swearing it on the missal, on which they traced with their own hands the sacred emblem

of the cross. To give still greater efficacy to the compact, Father Luque administered the sacrament to the

parties, dividing the consecrated wafer into three portions, of which each one of them partook; while the

bystanders, says an historian, were affected to tears by this spectacle of the solemn ceremonial with which

these men voluntarily devoted themselves to a sacrifice that seemed little short of insanity.5

The instrument, which was dated March 10, 1526, was subscribed by Luque, and attested by three respectable

citizens of Panama, one of whom signed on behalf of Pizarro, and the other for Almagro; since neither of

these parties, according to the avowal of the instrument, was able to subscribe his own name.6

Such was the singular compact by which three obscure individuals coolly carved out and partitioned among

themselves, an empire of whose extent, power, and resources, of whose situation, of whose existence, even,

they had no sure or precise knowledge. The positive and unhesitating manner in which they speak of the

grandeur of this empire, of its stores of wealth, so conformable to the event, but of which they could have

really known so little, forms a striking contrast with the general skepticism and indifference manifested by

The religious tone of the instrument is not the least remarkable feature in it, especially when we contrast this

with the relentless policy, pursued by the very men who were parties to it, in their conquest of the country.

"In the name of the Prince of Peace," says the illustrious historian of America, "they ratified a contract of

which plunder and bloodshed were the objects."8 The reflection seems reasonable. Yet, in criticizing what is

done, as well as what is written, we must take into account the spirit of the times.9 The invocation of Heaven

was natural, where the object of the undertaking was, in part, a religious one. Religion entered, more or less,

into the theory, at least, of the Spanish conquests in the New World. That motives of a baser sort mingled

largely with these higher ones, and in different proportions according to the character of the individual, no

one will deny. And few are they that have proposed to themselves a long career of action without the

intermixture of some vulgar personal motive, fame, honors, or emolument. Yet that religion furnishes a

key to the American crusades, however rudely they may have been conducted, is evident from the history of

their origin; from the sanction openly given to them by the Head of the Church; from the throng of

selfdevoted missionaries, who followed in the track of the conquerors to garner up the rich harvest of souls;

from the reiterated instructions of the Crown, the great object of which was the conversion of the natives;

from those superstitious acts of the ironhearted soldiery themselves, which, however they may be set down

to fanaticism, were clearly too much in earnest to leave any ground for the charge of hypocrisy. It was indeed

a fiery cross that was borne over the devoted land, scathing and consuming it in its terrible progress; but it

was still the cross, the sign of man's salvation, the only sign by which generations and generations yet unborn

It is a remarkable fact, which has hitherto escaped the notice of the historian, that Luque was not the real

party to this contract. He represented another, who placed in his hands the funds required for the undertaking.

This appears from an instrument signed by Luque himself and certified before the same notary that prepared

the original contract. The instrument declares that the whole sum of twenty thousand pesos advanced for the

expedition was furnished by the Licentiate Gaspar de Espinosa, then at Panama; that the vicar acted only as

his agent and by his authority; and that, in consequence, the said Espinosa and no other was entitled to a third

of all the profits and acquisitions resulting from the conquest of Peru. This instrument, attested by three

persons, one of them the same who had witnessed the original contract, was dated on the 6th of August,

1531.10 The Licentiate Espinosa was a respectable functionary, who had filled the office of principal alcalde

in Darien, and since taken a conspicuous part in the conquest and settlement of Tierra Firme. He enjoyed

much consideration for his personal character and station; and it is remarkable that so little should be known

of the manner in which the covenant, so solemnly made, was executed in reference to him. As in the case of

Columbus, it is probable that the unexpected magnitude of the results was such as to prevent a faithful

adherence to the original stipulation; and yet, from the same consideration, one can hardly doubt that the

twenty thousand pesos of the bold speculator must have brought him a magnificent return. Nor did the worthy

Having completed these preliminary arrangements, the three associates lost no time in making preparations

for the voyage. Two vessels were purchased, larger and every way better than those employed on the former

occasion. Stores were laid in, as experience dictated, on a larger scale than before, and proclamation was

made of "an expedition to Peru." But the call was not readily answered by the skeptical citizens of Panama.

Of nearly two hundred men who had embarked on the former cruise, not more than three fourths now

remained.11 This dismal mortality, and the emaciated, povertystricken aspect of the survivors, spoke more

eloquently than the braggart promises and magnificent prospects held out by the adventurers. Still there were

men in the community of such desperate circumstances, that any change seemed like a chance of bettering

their condition. Most of the former company also, strange to say, felt more pleased to follow up the adventure

to the end than to abandon it, as they saw the light of a better day dawning upon them. From these sources the

two captains succeeded in mustering about one hundred and sixty men, making altogether a very inadequate

force for the conquest of an empire. A few horses were also purchased, and a better supply of ammunition

and military stores than before, though still on a very limited scale. Considering their funds, the only way of

accounting for this must be by the difficulty of obtaining supplies at Panama, which, recently founded, and on

the remote coast of the Pacific, could be approached only by crossing the rugged barrier of mountains, which

made the transportation of bulky articles extremely difficult. Even such scanty stock of materials as it

possessed was probably laid under heavy contribution, at the present juncture, by the governor's preparations

Thus indifferently provided, the two captains, each in his own vessel, again took their departure from

Panama, under the direction of Bartholomew Ruiz, a sagacious and resolute pilot, well experienced in the

navigation of the Southern Ocean. He was a native of Moguer, in Andalusia, that little nursery of nautical

enterprise, which furnished so many seamen for the first voyages of Columbus. Without touching at the

intervening points of the coast, which offered no attraction to the voyagers, they stood farther out to sea,

steering direct for the Rio de San Juan, the utmost limit reached by Almagro. The season was better selected

than on the former occasion, and they were borne along by favorable breezes to the place of their destination,

which they reached without accident in a few days. Entering the mouth of the river, they saw the banks well

lined with Indian habitations; and Pizarro, disembarking, at the head of a party of soldiers, succeeded in

surprising a small village and carrying off a considerable booty of gold ornaments found in the dwellings,

Flushed with their success, the two chiefs were confident that the sight of the rich spoil so speedily obtained

could not fall to draw adventurers to their standard in Panama; and, as they felt more than ever the necessity

of a stronger force to cope with the thickening population of the country which they were now to penetrate, it

was decided that Almagro should return with the treasure and beat up for reinforcements, while the pilot

Ruiz, in the other vessel, should reconnoitre the country towards the south, and obtain such information as

might determine their future movements. Pizarro, with the rest of the force, would remain in the

neighborhood of the river, as he was assured by the Indian prisoners, that not far in the interior was an open

reach of country, where he and his men could find comfortable quarters. This arrangement was instantly put

in execution. We will first accompany the intrepid pilot in his cruise towards the south.

Coasting along the great continent, with his canvas still spread to favorable winds, the first place at which

Ruiz cast anchor was off the little island of Gallo, about two degrees north. The inhabitants, who were not

numerous, were prepared to give him a hostile reception,for tidings of the invaders had preceded them

along the country, and even reached this insulated spot. As the object of Ruiz was to explore, not conquer, he

did not care to entangle himself in hostilities with the natives; so, changing his purpose of landing, he

weighed anchor, and ran down the coast as far as what is now called the Bay of St. Matthew. The country,

which, as he advanced, continued to exhibit evidence of a better culture as well as of a more dense population

than the parts hitherto seen, was crowded, along the shores, with spectators, who gave no signs of fear or

hostility. They stood gazing on the vessel of the white men as it glided smoothly into the crystal waters of the

bay, fancying it, says an old writer, some mysterious being descended from the skies.

Without staying long enough on this friendly coast to undeceive the simple people, Ruiz, standing off shore,

struck out into the deep sea; but he had not sailed far in that direction, when he was surprised by the sight of a

vessel, seeming in the distance like a caravel of considerable size, traversed by a large sail that carried it

sluggishly over the waters. The old navigator was not a little perplexed by this phenomenon, as he was

confident no European bark could have been before him in these latitudes, and no Indian nation, yet

discovered, not even the civilized Mexican, was acquainted with the use of sails in navigation. As he drew

near, he found it was a large vessel, or rather raft, called balsa by the natives, consisting of a number of huge

timbers of a light, porous wood, tightly lashed together, with a frail flooring of reeds raised on them by way

of deck. Two masts or sturdy poles, erected in the middle of the vessel, sustained a large squaresail of

cotton, while a rude kind of rudder and a movable keel, made of plank inserted between the logs, enabled the

mariner to give a direction to the floating fabric, which held on its course without the aid of oar or paddle.13

The simple architecture of this craft was sufficient for the purposes of the natives, and indeed has continued

to answer them to the present day; for the balsa, surmounted by small thatched huts or cabins, still supplies

the most commodious means for the transportation of passengers and luggage on the streams and along the

On coming alongside, Ruiz found several Indians, both men and women, on board, some with rich ornaments

on their persons, besides several articles wrought with considerable skill in gold and silver, which they were

carrying for purposes of traffic to the different places along the coast. But what most attracted his attention

was the woollen cloth of which some of their dresses were made. It was of a fine texture, delicately

embroidered with figures of birds and flowers, and dyed in brilliant colors. He also observed in the boat a pair

of balances made to weigh the precious metals.14 His astonishment at these proofs of ingenuity and

civilization, so much higher than anything he had ever seen in the country, was heightened by the intelligence

which he collected from some of these Indians. Two of them had come from Tumbez, a Peruvian port, some

degrees to the south; and they gave him to understand, that in their neighborhood the fields were covered with

large flocks of the animals from which the wool was obtained, and that gold and silver were almost as

common as wood in the palaces of their monarch. The Spaniards listened greedily to reports which

harmonized so well with their fond desires. Though half distrusting the exaggeration, Ruiz resolved to detain

some of the Indians, including the natives of Tumbez, that they might repeat the wondrous tale to his

commander, and at the same time, by learning the Castilian, might hereafter serve as interpreters with their

countrymen. The rest of the party he suffered to proceed without further interruption on their voyage. Then

holding on his course, the prudent pilot, without touching at any other point of the coast, advanced as far as

the Punta de Pasado, about half a degree south, having the glory of being the first European who, sailing in

this direction on the Pacific, had crossed the equinoctial line. This was the limit' of his discoveries; on

reaching which he tacked about, and standing away to the north, succeeded, after an absence of several

It was high time; for the spirits of that little band had been sorely tried by the perils they had encountered. On

the departure of his vessels, Pizarro marched into the interior, in the hope of finding the pleasant champaign

country which had been promised him by the natives. But at every step the forests seemed to grow denser and

darker, and the trees towered to a height such as he had never seen, even in these fruitful regions, where

Nature works on so gigantic a scale.16 Hill continued to rise above hill, as he advanced, rolling onward, as it

were, by successive waves to join that colossal barrier of the Andes, whose frosty sides, far away above the

clouds, spread out like a curtain of burnished silver, that seemed to connect the heavens with the earth.

On crossing these woody eminences, the forlorn adventurers would plunge into ravines of frightful depth,

where the exhalations of a humid soil steamed up amidst the incense of sweetscented flowers, which shone

through the deep glooms in every conceivable variety of color. Birds. especially of the parrot tribe, mocked

this fantastic variety of nature with tints as brilliant as those of the vegetable world. Monkeys chattered in

crowds above their heads, and made grimaces like the fiendish spirits of these solitudes; while hideous

reptiles, engendered in the slimy depths of the pools, gathered round the footsteps of the wanderers. Here was

seen the gigantic boa, coiling his unwieldy folds about the trees, so as hardly to be distinguished from their

trunks, till he was ready to dart upon his prey; and alligators lay basking on the borders of the streams, or,

gliding under the waters, seized their incautious victim before he was aware of their approach.17 Many of the

Spaniards perished miserably in this way, and others were waylaid by the natives, who kept a jealous eye on

their movements, and availed themselves of every opportunity to take them at advantage. Fourteen of

Pizarro's men were cut off at once in a canoe which had stranded on the bank of a stream.18

Famine came in addition to other troubles, and it was with difficulty that they found the means of sustaining

life on the scanty fare of the forest, occasionally the potato, as it grew without cultivation, or the wild

cocoa nut, or, on the shore, the salt and bitter fruit of the mangrove; though the shore was less tolerable than

the forest, from the swarms of mosquitos which compelled the wretched adventurers to bury their bodies up

to their very faces in the sand. In this extremity of suffering, they thought only of return; and all schemes of

avarice and ambitionexcept with Pizarro and a few dauntless spiritswere exchanged for the one craving

It was at this crisis that the pilot Ruiz returned with the report of his brilliant discoveries; and, not long after,

Almagro sailed into port with his vessel laden with refreshments, and a considerable reinforcement of

volunteers. The voyage of that commander had been prosperous. When he arrived at Panama, he found the

government in the hands of Don Pedro de los Rios; and he came to anchor in the harbor, unwilling to trust

himself on shore, till he had obtained from Father Luque some account of the dispositions of the executive.

These were sufficiently favorable; for the new governor had particular instructions fully to carry out the

arrangements made by his predecessor with the associates. On learning Almagro's arrival, he came down to

the port to welcome him, professing his willingness to afford every facility for the execution of his designs.

Fortunately, just before this period, a small body of military adventurers had come to Panama from the

mother country, burning with desire to make their fortunes in the New World. They caught much more

eagerly than the old and wary colonists at the golden bait held out to them; and with their addition, and that of

a few supernumerary stragglers who hung about the town, Almagro found himself at the head of a

reinforcement of at least eighty men, with which, having laid in a fresh supply of stores, he again set sail for

The arrival of the new recruits all eager to follow up the expedition, the comfortable change in their

circumstances produced by an ample supply of refreshments, and the glowing pictures of the wealth that

awaited them in the south, all had their effect on the dejected spirits of Pizarro's followers. Their late toils and

privations were speedily forgotten, and, with the buoyant and variable feelings incident to a freebooter's life,

they now called as eagerly on their commander to go forward in the voyage, as they had before called on him

to abandon it. Availing themselves of the renewed spirit of enterprise, the captains embarked on board their

vessels, and, under the guidance of the veteran pilot, steered in the same track he had lately pursued.

But the favorable season for a southern course, which in these latitudes lasts but a few months in the year,

had been suffered to escape. The breezes blew steadily towards the north, and a strong current, not far from

shore, set in the same direction. The winds frequently rose into tempests, and the unfortunate voyagers were

tossed about, for many days, in the boiling surges, amidst the most awful storms of thunder and lightning,

until, at length, they found a secure haven in the island of Gallo, already visited by Ruiz. As they were now

too strong in numbers to apprehend an assault, the crews landed, and, experiencing no molestation from the

natives, they continued on the island for a fortnight, refitting their damaged vessels, and recruiting themselves

after the fatigues of the ocean. Then, resuming their voyage, the captains stood towards the south until they

reached the Bay of St. Matthew. As they advanced along the coast, they were struck, as Ruiz had been before,

with the evidences of a higher civilization constantly exhibited in the general aspect of the country and its

inhabitants. The hand of cultivation was visible in every quarter. The natural appearance of the coast, too, had

something in it more inviting; for, instead of the eternal labyrinth of mangrovetrees, with their complicated

roots snarled into formidable coils under the water, as if to waylay and entangle the voyager, the low margin

of the sea was covered with a stately growth of ebony, and with a species of mahogany, and other hard woods

that take the most brilliant and variegated polish. The sandalwood, and many balsamic trees of unknown

names, scattered their sweet odors far and wide, not in an atmosphere tainted with vegetable corruption, but

on the pure breezes of the ocean, bearing health as well as fragrance on their wings. Broad patches of

cultivated land intervened, disclosing hillsides covered with the yellow maize and the potato, or checkered,

The villages became more numerous; and, as the vessels rode at anchor off the port of Tacamez, the

Spaniards saw before them a town of two thousand houses or more, laid out into streets, with a numerous

population clustering around it in the suburbs.20 The men and women displayed many ornaments of gold and

precious stones about their persons, which may seem strange, considering that the Peruvian Incas claimed a

monopoly of jewels for themselves and the nobles on whom they condescended to bestow them. But,

although the Spaniards had now reached the outer limits of the Peruvian empire, it was not Peru, but Quito,

and that portion of it but recently brought under the sceptre of the Incas, where the ancient usages of the

people could hardly have been effaced under the oppressive system of the American despots. The adjacent

country was, moreover, particularly rich in gold, which, collected from the washings of the streams, still

forms one of the staple products of Barbacoas. Here, too, was the fair River of Emeralds, so called from the

quarries of the beautiful gem on its borders, from which the Indian monarchs enriched their treasury.21

The Spaniards gazed with delight on these undeniable evidences of wealth, and saw in the careful cultivation

of the soil a comfortable assurance that they had at length reached the land which had so long been seen in

brilliant, though distant, perspective before them. But here again they were doomed to be disappointed by the

warlike spirit of the people, who, conscious of their own strength, showed no disposition to quail before the

invaders. On the contrary, several of their canoes shot out, loaded with warriors, who, displaying a gold mask

as their ensign, hovered round the vessels with looks of defiance, and, when pursued, easily took shelter

A more formidable body mustered along the shore, to the number, according to the Spanish accounts, of at

least ten thousand warriors, eager, apparently, to come to close action with the invaders. Nor could Pizarro,

who had landed with a party of his men in the hope of a conference with the natives, wholly prevent

hostilities; and it might have gone hard with the Spaniards, hotly pressed by their resolute enemy so superior

in numbers, but for a ludicrous accident reported by the historians as happening to one of the cavaliers. This

was a fall from his horse, which so astonished the barbarians, who were not prepared for this division of what

seemed one and the same being into two, that, filled with consternation, they fell back, and left a way open

A council of war was now called. It was evident that the forces of the Spaniards were unequal to a contest

with so numerous and well appointed a body of natives; and, even if they should prevail here, they could

have no hope of stemming the torrent which must rise against them in their progressfor the country was

becoming more and more thickly settled, and towns and hamlets started into view at every new headland

which they doubled. It was better, in the opinion of some,the faint hearted,to abandon the enterprise at

once, as beyond their strength. But Almagro took a different view of the affair. "To go home," he said, "with

nothing done, would be ruin, as well as disgrace. There was scarcely one but had left creditors at Panama,

who looked for payment to the fruits of this expedition. To go home now would be to deliver themselves at

once into their hands. It would be to go to prison. Better to roam a freeman, though in the wilderness, than to

lie bound with fetters in the dungeons of Panama.24 The only course for them," he concluded, "was the one

lately pursued. Pizarro might find some more commodious place where he could remain with part of the force

while he himself went back for recruits to Panama. The story they had now to tell of the riches of the land, as

they had seen them with their own eyes, would put their expedition in a very different light, and could not fail

But this recommendation, however judicious, was not altogether to the taste of the latter commander, who did

not relish the part, which constantly fell to him, of remaining behind in the swamps and forests of this wild

country. "It is all very well," he said to Almagro, "for you, who pass your time pleasantly enough, careering

to and fro in your vessel, or snugly sheltered in a land of plenty at Panama; but it is quite another matter for

those who stay behind to droop and die of hunger in the wilderness.25 To this Almagro retorted with some

heat, professing his own willingness to take charge of the brave men who would remain with him, if Pizarro

declined it. The controversy assuming a more angry and menacing tone, from words they would have soon

come to blows, as both, laying their hands on their swords, were preparing to rush on each other, when the

treasurer Ribera, aided by the pilot Ruiz, succeeded in pacifying them. It required but little effort on the part

of these cooler counsellors to convince the cavaliers of the folly of a conduct which must at once terminate

the expedition in a manner little creditable to its projectors. A reconciliation consequently took place,

sufficient, at least in outward show, to allow the two commanders to act together in concert. Almagro's plan

was then adopted; and it only remained to find out the most secure and convenient spot for Pizarro's quarters.

Several days were passed in touching at different parts of the coast, as they retraced their course; but

everywhere the natives appeared to have caught the alarm, and assumed a menacing, and from their numbers

a formidable, aspect. The more northerly region, with its unwholesome fens and forests, where nature wages

a war even more relentless than man, was not to be thought of. In this perplexity, they decided on the little

island of Gallo, as being, on the whole, from its distance from the shore, and from the scantiness of its

population, the most eligible spot for them in their forlorn and destitute condition.26

But no sooner was the resolution of the two captains made known, than a feeling of discontent broke forth

among their followers, especially those who were to remain with Pizarro on the island, "What!" they

exclaimed, "were they to be dragged to that obscure spot to die by hunger? The whole expedition had been a

cheat and a failure, from beginning to end. The golden countries, so much vaunted, had seemed to fly before

them as they advanced; and the little gold they had been fortunate enough to glean had all been sent back to

Panama to entice other fools to follow their example. What had they got in return for all their sufferings? The

only treasures they could boast were their bows and arrows, and they were now to be left to die on this dreary

island, without so much as a rood of consecrated ground to lay their bones in!27

In this exasperated state of feeling, several of the soldiers wrote back to their friends, informing them of their

deplorable condition, and complaining of the coldblooded manner in which they were to be sacrificed to the

obstinate cupidity of their leaders. But the latter were wary enough to anticipate this movement, and Almagro

defeated it by seizing all the letters in the vessels, and thus cutting off at once the means of communication

with their friends at home. Yet this act of unscrupulous violence, like most other similar acts, fell short of its

purpose; for a soldier named Sarabia had the ingenuity to evade it by introducing a letter into a ball of cotton,

which was to be taken to Panama as a specimen of the products of the country, and presented to the

The letter, which was signed by several of the disaffected soldiery besides the writer, painted in gloomy

colors the miseries of their condition, accused the two commanders of being the authors of this, and called on

the authorities of Panama to interfere by sending a vessel to take them from the desolate spot, while some of

them might still be found surviving the horrors of their confinement. The epistle concluded with a stanza, in

which the two leaders were stigmatized as partners in a slaughterhouse; one being employed to drive in the

cattle for the other to butcher. The verses, which had a currency in their day among the colonists to which

they were certainly not entitled by their poetical merits, may be thus rendered into corresponding doggerel:

"Look out, Senor Governor, For the drover while he's near; Since he goes home to get the sheep For the

Not long after Almagro's departure, Pizarro sent off the remaining vessel, under the pretext of its being put in

repair at Panama. It probably relieved him of a part of his followers, whose mutinous spirit made them an

obstacle rather than a help in his forlorn condition, and with whom he was the more willing to part from the

Great was the dismay occasioned by the return of Almagro and his followers, in the little community of

Panama; for the letter, surreptitiously conveyed in the ball of cotton, fell into the hands for which it was

intended, and the contents soon got abroad with usual quantity of exaggeration. The haggard and dejected

mien of the adventurers, of itself, told a tale sufficiently disheartening, and it was soon generally believed that

the few illfated survivors of the expedition were detained against their will by Pizarro, to end their days with

Pedro de los Rios, the governor, was so much incensed at the result of the expedition, and the waste of life it

had occasioned to the colony, that he turned a deaf ear to all the applications of Luque and Almagro for

further countenance in the affair; he derided their sanguine anticipations of the future, and finally resolved to

send an officer to the isle of Gallo, with orders to bring back every Spaniard whom he should find still living

in that dreary abode. Two vessels were immediately despatched for the purpose, and placed under charge of a

Meanwhile Pizarro and his followers were experiencing all the miseries which might have been expected

from the character of the barren spot on which they were imprisoned. They were, indeed, relieved from all

apprehensions of the natives, since these had quitted the island on its occupation by the white men; but they

had to endure the pains of hunger even in a greater degree than they had formerly experienced in the wild

woods of the neighboring continent. Their principal food was crabs and such shellfish as they could scantily

pick up along the shores. Incessant storms of thunder and lightning, for it was the rainy season, swept over

the devoted island, and drenched them with a perpetual flood. Thus, halfnaked, and pining with famine, there

were few in that little company who did not feel the spirit of enterprise quenched within them, or who looked

for any happier termination of their difficulties than that afforded by a return to Panama. The appearance of

Tafur, therefore, with his two vessels, well stored with provisions, was greeted with all the rapture that the

crew of a sinking wreck might feel on the arrival of some unexpected succour; and the only thought, after

satisfying the immediate cravings of hunger, was to embark and leave the detested isle forever.

But by the same vessel letters came to Pizarro from his two confederates, Luque and Almagro, beseeching

him not to despair in his present extremity, but to hold fast to his original purpose. To return under the

present circumstances would be to seal the fate of the expedition; and they solemnly engaged, if he would

remain firm at his post, to furnish him in a short time with the necessary means for going forward.1

A ray of hope was enough for the courageous spirit of Pizarro. It does not appear that he himself had

entertained, at any time, thoughts of returning. If he had, these words of encouragement entirely banished

them from his bosom, and he prepared to stand the fortune of the cast on which he had so desperately

ventured. He knew, however, that solicitations or remonstrances would avail little with the companions of his

enterprise; and he probably did not care to win over the more timid spirits who, by perpetually looking back,

would only be a clog on his future movements. He announced his own purpose, however, in a laconic but

decided manner, characteristic of a man more accustomed to act than to talk, and well calculated to make an

Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand from east to west. Then turning towards the south,

"Friend and comrades!" he said, "on that side are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and

death; on this side, ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches; here, Panama, and its poverty. Choose,

each man, what best becomes a brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south." So saying, he stepped across

the line.2 He was followed by the brave pilot Ruiz; next by Pedro de Candia, a cavalier, born, as his name

imports, in one of the isles of Greece. Eleven others successively crossed the line, thus intimating their

willingness to abide the fortunes of their leader, for good or for evil.3 Fame, to quote the enthusiastic

language of an ancient chronicler, has commemorated the names of this little band, "who thus, in the face or

difficulties unexampled in history, with death rather than riches for their reward, preferred it all to

abandoning their honor, and stood firm by their leader as an example of loyalty to future ages." 4

But the act excited no such admiration in the mind of Tafur, who looked on it as one of gross disobedience to

the commands of the governor, and as little better than madness, involving the certain destruction of the

parties engaged in it. He refused to give any sanction to it himself by leaving one of his vessels with the

adventurers to prosecute their voyage, and it was with great difficulty that he could be persuaded even to

allow them a part of the stores which he had brought for their support. This had no influence on their

determination, and the little party, bidding adieu to their returning comrades, remained unshaken in their

There is something striking to the imagination in the spectacle of these few brave spirits, thus consecrating

themselves to a daring enterprise, which seemed as far above their strength as any recorded in the fabulous

annals of knighterrantry. A handful of men, without food, without clothing, almost without arms, without

knowledge of the land to which they were bound, without vessel to transport them, were here left on a lonely

rock in the ocean with the avowed purpose of carrying on a crusade against a powerful empire, staking their

lives on its success. What is there in the legends of chivalry that surpasses it? This was the crisis of Pizarro's

fate. There are moments in the lives of men, which, as they are seized or neglected, decide their future

destiny.6 Had Pizarro faltered from his strong purpose, and yielded to the occasion, now so temptingly

presented, for extricating himself and his broken band from their desperate position, his name would have

been buried with his fortunes, and the conquest of Peru would have been left for other and more successful

adventurers. But his constancy was equal to the occasion, and his conduct here proved him competent to the

perilous post he had assumed, and inspired others with a confidence in him which was the best assurance of

In the vessel that bore back Tafur and those who seceded from the expedition the pilot Ruiz was also

permitted to return, in order to cooperate with Luque and Almagro in their application for further succour.

Not long after the departure of the ships, it was decided by Pizarro to abandon his present quarters, which had

little to recommend them, and which, he reflected, might now be exposed to annoyance from the original

inhabitants, should they take courage and return, on learning the diminished number of the white men. The

Spaniards, therefore, by his orders, constructed a rude boat or raft, on which they succeeded in transporting

themselves to the little island of Gorgona, twentyfive leagues to the north of their present residence. It lay

about five leagues from the continent, and was uninhabited. It had some advantages over the isle of Gallo; for

it stood higher above the sea, and was partially covered with wood, which afforded shelter to a species of

pheasant, and the hare or rabbit of the country, so that the Spaniards, with their cross bows, were enabled to

procure a tolerable supply of game. Cool streams that issued from the living rock furnished abundance of

water, though the drenching rains that fell, without intermission, left them in no danger of perishing by thirst.

From this annoyance they found some protection in the rude huts which they constructed; though here, as in

their former residence, they suffered from the no less intolerable annoyance of venomous insects, which

multiplied and swarmed in the exhalations of the rank and stimulated soil. In this dreary abode Pizarro

omitted no means by which to sustain the drooping spirits of his men. Morning prayers were duly said, and

the evening hymn to the Virgin was regularly chanted; the festivals of the church were carefully

commemorated, and every means taken by their commander to give a kind of religious character to his

enterprise, and to inspire his rough followers with a confidence in the protection of Heaven, that might

In these uncomfortable quarters, their chief employment was to keep watch on the melancholy ocean, that

they might hail the first signal of the anticipated succour. But many a tedious month passed away, and no

sign of it appeared. All around was the same wide waste of waters, except to the eastward, where the frozen

crest of the Andes, touched with the ardent sun of the equator, glowed like a ridge of fire along the whole

extent of the great continent. Every speck in the distant horizon was carefully noticed, and the drifting timber

or masses of seaweed, heaving to and fro on the bosom of the waters, was converted by their imaginations

into the promised vessel; till, sinking under successive disappointments, hope gradually gave way to doubt,

Meanwhile the vessel of Tafur had reached the port of Panama. The tidings which she brought of the

inflexible obstinacy of Pizarro and his followers filled the governor with indignation. He could look on it in

no other light than as an act of suicide, and steadily refused to send further assistance to men who were

obstinately bent on their own destruction. Yet Luque and Almagro were true to their engagements. They

represented to the governor, that, if the conduct of their comrade was rash, it was at least in the service of the

Crown, and in prosecuting the great work of discovery. Rios had been instructed, on his taking the

government, to aid Pizarro in the enterprise; and to desert him now would be to throw away the remaining

chance of success, and to incur the responsibility of his death and that of the brave men who adhered to him.

These remonstrances, at length, so far operated on the mind of that functionary, that he reluctantly consented

that a vessel should be sent to the island of Gorgona, but with no more hands than were necessary to work

her, and with positive instructions to Pizarro to return in six months and report himself at Panama, whatever

Having thus secured the sanction of the executive, the two associates lost no time in fitting out a small vessel

with stores and a supply of arms and ammunition, and despatched it to the island. The unfortunate tenants of

this little wilderness, who had now occupied it for seven months,9 hardly dared to trust their senses when

they descried the white sails of the friendly bark coming over the waters. And although, when the vessel

anchored off the shore, Pizarro was disappointed to find that it brought no additional recruits for the

enterprise, yet he greeted it with joy, as affording the means of solving the great problem of the existence of

the rich southern empire, and of thus opening the way for its future conquest. Two of his men were so ill, that

it was determined to leave them in the care of some of the friendly Indians who had continued with him

through the whole of his sojourn, and to call for them on his return. Taking with him the rest of his hardy

followers and the natives of Tumbez, he embarked, and, speedily weighing anchor, bade adieu to the "Hell,"

as it was called by the Spaniards, which had been the scene of so much suffering and such undaunted

Every heart was now elated with hope, as they found themselves once more on the waters, under the guidance

of the good pilot Ruiz, who, obeying the directions of the Indians, proposed to steer for the land of Tumbez,

which would bring them at once into the golden empire of the Incas, the El Dorado, of which they had

been so long in pursuit. Passing by the dreary isle of Gallo, which they had such good cause to remember,

they stood farther out to sea until they made point Tacumez, near which they had landed on their previous

voyage. They did not touch at any part of the coast, but steadily held on their way, though considerably

impeded by the currents, as well as by the wind, which blew with little variation from the south. Fortunately,

the wind was light, and, as the weather was favorable, their voyage, though slow, was not uncomfortable. In a

few days, they came in sight of Point Pasado, the limit of the pilot's former navigation; and, crossing the line,

the little bark entered upon those unknown seas which had never been ploughed by European keel before.

The coast, they observed, gradually declined from its former bold and rugged character, gently sloping

towards the shore, and spreading out into sandy plains, relieved here and there by patches of uncommon

richness and beauty; while the white cottages of the natives glistening along the margin of the sea, and the

smoke that rose among the distant hills, intimated the increasing population of the country.

At length, after the lapse of twenty days from their departure from the island, the adventurous vessel rounded

the point of St. Helena, and glided smoothly into the waters of the beautiful gulf of Guayaquil. The country

was here studded along the shore with towns and villages, though the mighty chain of the Cordilleras,

sweeping up abruptly from the coast, left but a narrow strip of emerald verdure, through which numerous

The voyagers were now abreast of some of the most stupendous heights of this magnificent range;

Chimborazo, with its broad round summit, towering like the dome of the Andes, and Cotopaxi, with its

dazzling cone of silvery white, that knows no change except from the action of its own volcanic fires; for this

mountain is the most terrible of the American volcanoes, and was in formidable activity at no great distance

from the period of our narrative. Well pleased with the signs of civilization that opened on them at every

league of their progress, the Spaniards, at length, came to anchor, off the island of Santa Clara, lying at the

The place was uninhabited, but was recognized by the Indians on board, as occasionally resorted to by the

warlike people of the neighboring isle of Puna, for purposes of sacrifice and worship. The Spaniards found on

the spot a few bits of gold rudely wrought into various shapes, and probably designed as offerings to the

Indian deity. Their hearts were cheered, as the natives assured them they would see abundance of the same

The following morning they stood across the bay for this place. As they drew near, they beheld a town of

considerable size, with many of the buildings apparently of stone and plaster, situated in the bosom of a

fruitful meadow, which seemed to have been redeemed from the sterility of the surrounding country by

careful and minute irrigation. When at some distance from shore, Pizarro saw standing towards him several

large balsas, which were found to be filled with warriors going on an expedition against the island of Puna.

Running alongside of the Indian flotilla, he invited some of the chiefs to come on board of his vessel. The

Peruvians gazed with wonder on every object which met their eyes, and especially on their own countrymen,

whom they had little expected to meet there. The latter informed them in what manner they had fallen into the

hands of the strangers, whom they described as a wonderful race of beings, that had come thither for no harm,

but solely to be made acquainted with the country and its inhabitants. This account was confirmed by the

Spanish commander, who persuaded the Indians to return in their balsas and report what they had learned to

their townsmen, requesting them at the same time to provide his vessel with refreshments, as it was his desire

The people of Tumbez were gathered along the shore, and were gazing with unutterable amazement on the

floating castle, which, now having dropped anchor, rode lazily at its moorings in their bay. They eagerly

listened to the accounts of their countrymen, and instantly reported the affair to the curaca or ruler of the

district, who, conceiving that the strangers must be beings of a superior order, prepared at once to comply

with their request. It was not long before several balsas were seen steering for the vessel laden with bananas,

plantains, yuca, Indian corn, sweet potatoes, pineapples, cocoanuts, and other rich products of the

bountiful vale of Tumbez. Game and fish, also, were added, with a number of llamas, of which Pizarro had

seen the rude drawings belonging to Balboa, but of which till now he had met with no living specimen. He

examined this curious animal, the Peruvian sheep,or, as the Spaniards called it, the "little camel" of the

Indians,with much interest, greatly admiring the mixture of wool and hair which supplied the natives with

At that time there happened to be at Tumbez an Inca noble, or orejon, for so, as I have already noticed,

men of his rank were called by the Spaniards, from the huge ornaments of gold attached to their ears. He

expressed great curiosity to see the wonderful strangers, and had, accordingly, come out with the balsas for

the purpose. It was easy to perceive from the superior quality of his dress, as well as from the deference paid

to him by the others, that he was a person of consideration, and Pizarro received him with marked distinction.

He showed him the different parts of the ship, explaining to him the uses of whatever engaged his attention,

and answering his numerous queries, as well as he could, by means of the Indian interpreters. The Peruvian

chief was especially desirous of knowing whence and why Pizarro and his followers had come to these

shores. The Spanish captain replied, that he was the vassal of a great prince, the greatest and most powerful in

the world, and that he had come to this country to assert his master's lawful supremacy over it. He had further

come to rescue the inhabitants from the darkness of unbelief in which they were now wandering. They

worshipped an evil spirit, who would sink their souls into everlasting perdition; and he would give them the

knowledge of the true and only God, Jesus Christ, since to believe in him was eternal salvation.12

The Indian prince listened with deep attention and apparent wonder; but answered nothing. It may be, that

neither he nor his interpreters had any very distinct ideas of the doctrines thus abruptly revealed to them. It

may be that he did not believe there was any other potentate on earth greater than the Inca; none, at least, who

had a better right to rule over his dominions. And it is very possible he was not disposed to admit that the

great luminary whom he worshipped was inferior to the God of the Spaniards. But whatever may have passed

in the untutored mind of the barbarian, he did not give vent to it, but maintained a discreet silence, without

He remained on board the vessel till the hour of dinner, of which he partook with the Spaniards, expressing

his satisfaction at the strange dishes, and especially pleased with the wine, which he pronounced far superior

to the fermented liquors of his own country. On taking leave, he courteously pressed the Spaniards to visit

Tumbez, and Pizarro dismissed him with the present, among other things, of an iron hatchet, which had

greatly excited his admiration; for the use of iron, as we have seen, was as little known to the Peruvians as to

On the day following, the Spanish captain sent one of his own men, named Alonso de Molina, on shore,

accompanied by a negro who had come in the vessel from Panama, together with a present for the curaca of

some swine and poultry, neither of which were indigenous to the New World. Towards evening his emissary

returned with a fresh supply of fruits and vegetables, that the friendly people sent to the vessel. Molina had a

wondrous tale to tell. On landing, he was surrounded by the natives, who expressed the greatest astonishment

at his dress, his fair complexion, and his long beard. The women, especially, manifested great curiosity in

respect to him, and Molina seemed to be entirely won by their charms and captivating manners. He probably

intimated his satisfaction by his demeanor, since they urged him to stay among them, promising in that case

Their surprise was equally great at the complexion of his sable companion. They could not believe it was

natural, and tried to rub off the imaginary dye with their hands. As the African bore all this with characteristic

goodhumor, displaying at the same time his rows of ivory teeth, they were prodigiously delighted.13 The

animals were no less above their comprehension; and, when the cock crew, the simple people clapped their

hands, and inquired what he was saying.14 Their intellects were so bewildered by sights so novel, that they

Molina was then escorted to the residence of the curaca, whom he found living in much state, with porters

stationed at his doors, and with a quantity of gold and silver vessels, from which he was served. He was then

taken to different parts of the Indian city, saw a fortress built of rough stone, and, though low, spreading over

a large extent of ground.15 Near this was a temple; and the Spaniard's description of its decorations. blazing

with gold and silver, seemed so extravagant, that Pizarro, distrusting his whole account, resolved to send a

The person selected was Pedro de Candia, the Greek cavalier mentioned as one of the first who intimated his

intention to share the fortunes of his commander. He was sent on shore, dressed in complete mail as became a

good knight, with his sword by his side, and his arquebuse on his shoulder. The Indians were even more

dazzled by his appearance than by Molina's, as the sun fell brightly on his polished armour, and glanced from

his military weapons. They had heard much of the formidable arquebuse from their townsmen who had come

in the vessel, and they besought Candia "to let it speak to them." He accordingly set up a wooden board as a

target, and, taking deliberate aim, fired off the musket. The flash of the powder and the startling report of the

piece, as the board, struck by the ball, was shivered into splinters, filled the nativeswith dismay. Some fell on

the ground, covering their faces with their hands, and others approached the cavalier with feelings of awe,

which were gradually dispelled by the assurance they received from the smiling expression of his

They then showed him the same hospitable attentions which they had paid to Molina; and his description of

the marvels of the place, on his return, fell nothing short of his predecessor's. The fortress, which was

surrounded by a triple row of wall, was strongly garrisoned. The temple he described as literally tapestried

with plates of gold and silver. Adjoining this structure was a sort of convent appropriated to the Inca's

destined brides, who manifested great curiosity to see him. Whether this was gratified is not clear; but Candia

described the gardens of the convent, which he entered, as glowing with imitations of fruits and vegetables all

in pure gold and silver!18 He had seen a number of artisans at work, whose sole business seemed to be to

The reports of the cavalier may have been somewhat overcolored.19 It was natural that men coming from

the dreary wilderness, in which they had been buried the last six months, should have been vividly impressed

by the tokens of civilization which met them on the Peruvian coast. But Tumbez was a favorite city of the

Peruvian princes. It was the most important place on the northern borders of the empire, contiguous to the

recent acquisition of Quito. The great Tupac Yupanqui had established a strong fortress there, and peopled it

with a colony of mitimaes. The temple, and the house occupied by the Virgins of the Sun, had been erected

by Huayna Capac, and were liberally endowed by that Inca, after the sumptuous fashion of the religious

establishments of Peru. The town was well supplied with water by numerous aqueducts, and the fruitful

valley in which it was embosomed, and the ocean which bathed its shores, supplied ample means of

subsistence to a considerable population. But the cupidity of the Spaniards, after the Conquest, was not stow

in despoiling the place of its glories; and the site of its proud towers and temples, in less than half a century

after that fatal period, was to be traced only by the huge mass of ruins that encumbered the ground.20

The Spaniards were nearly mad with joy, says an old writer, at receiving these brilliant tidings of the

Peruvian city. All their fond dreams were now to be realized, and they had at length reached the realm which

had so long flitted in visionary splendor before them. Pizarro expressed his gratitude to Heaven for having

crowned his labors with so glorious a result; but he bitterly lamented the hard fate which, by depriving him of

his followers, denied him, at such a moment, the means of availing himself of his success. Yet he had no

cause for lamentation; and the devout Catholic saw in this very circumstance a providential interposition

which prevented the attempt at conquest, while such attempts would have been premature. Peru was not yet

torn asunder by the dissensions of rival candidates for the throne; and, united and strong under the sceptre of

a warlike monarch, she might well have bid defiance to all the forces that Pizarro could muster. "It was

manifestly the work of Heaven," exclaims a devout son of the Church, "that the natives of the country should

have received him in so kind and loving a spirit, as best fitted to facilitate the conquest; for it was the Lord's

hand which led him and his followers to this remote region for the extension of the holy faith, and for the

Having now collected all the information essential to his object, Pizarro, after taking leave of the natives of

Tumbez, and promising a speedy return, weighed anchor, and again turned his prow towards the south. Still

keeping as near as possible to the coast, that no place of importance might escape his observation, he passed

Cape Blanco, and, after sailing about a degree and a half, made the port of Payta. The inhabitants, who had

notice of his approach, came out in their balsas to get sight of the wonderful strangers, bringing with them

stores of fruits, fish, and vegetables, with the same hospitable spirit shown by their countrymen at Tumbez.

After staying here a short time, and interchanging presents of trifling value with the natives, Pizarro

continued his cruise; and, sailing by the sandy plains of Sechura for an extent of near a hundred miles, he

doubled the Punta de Aguja, and swept down the coast as it fell off towards the east, still carried forward by

light and somewhat variable breezes. The weather now became unfavorable, and the voyagers encountered a

succession of heavy gales, which drove them some distance out to sea, and tossed them about for many days.

But they did not lose sight of the mighty ranges of the Andes, which, as they proceeded towards the south,

were still seen, at nearly the same distance from the shore, rolling onwards, peak after peak, with their

stupendous surges of ice, like some vast ocean, that had been suddenly arrested and frozen up in the midst of

its wild and tumultuous career. With this landmark always in view, the navigator had little need of star or

As soon as the tempest had subsided, Pizarro stood in again for the continent, touching at the principal points

as he coasted along. Everywhere he was received with the same spirit of generous hospitality; the natives

coming out in their balsas to welcome him, laden with their little cargoes of fruits and vegetables, of all the

luscious varieties that grow in the tierra caliente. All were eager to have a glimpse of the strangers, the

"Children of the Sun," as the Spaniards began already to be called, from their fair complexions, brilliant

armour, and the thunderbolts which they bore in their hands.22 The most favorable reports, too, had preceded

them, of the urbanity and gentleness of their manners, thus unlocking the hearts of the simple natives, and

disposing them to confidence and kindness. The ironhearted soldier had not yet disclosed the darker side of

In every place Pizarro received the same accounts of a powerful monarch who ruled over the land, and held

his court on the mountain plains of the interior, where his capital was depicted as blazing with gold and

silver, and displaying all the profusion of an Oriental satrap. The Spaniards, except at Tumbez, seem to have

met with little of the precious metals among the natives on the coast. More than one writer asserts that they

did not covet them, or, at least, by Pizarro's orders, affected not to do so. He would not have them betray their

appetite for gold, and actually refused gifts when they were proffered!23 It is more probable that they saw

little display of wealth, except in the embellishments of the temples and other sacred buildings, which they

did not dare to violate. The precious metals, reserved for the uses of religion and for persons of high degree,

Yet the Spaniards met with sufficient evidence of general civilization and power to convince them that there

was much foundation for the reports of the natives. Repeatedly they saw structures of stone and plaster, and

occasionally showing architectural skill in the execution, if not elegance of design. Wherever they cast

anchor, they beheld green patches of cultivated country redeemed from the sterility of nature, and blooming

with the variegated vegetation of the tropics; while a refined system of irrigation, by means of aqueducts and

canals, seemed to be spread like a network over the surface of the country, making even the desert to

blossom as the rose. At many places where they landed they saw the great road of the Incas which traversed

the seacoast, often, indeed, lost in the volatile sands, where no road could be maintained, but rising into a

broad and substantial causeway, as it emerged on a firmer soil. Such a provision for internal communication

Still beating to the south, Pizarro passed the site of the future flourishing city of Truxillo, founded by himself

some years later, and pressed on till he rode off the port of Santa. It stood on the banks of a broad and

beautiful stream; but the surrounding country was so exceedingly arid that it was frequently selected as a

burialplace by the Peruvians, who found the soil most favorable for the preservation of their mummies. So

numerous, indeed, were the Indian guacas, that the place might rather be called the abode of the dead than of

Having reached this point, about the ninth degree of southern latitude, Pizarro's followers besought him not to

prosecute the voyage farther. Enough and more than enough had been done, they said, to prove the existence

and actual position of the great Indian empire of which they had so long been in search. Yet, with their

slender force, they had no power to profit by the discovery. All that remained, therefore, was to return and

report the success of their enterprise to the governor at Panama. Pizarro acquiesced in the reasonableness of

this demand. He had now penetrated nine degrees farther than any former navigator in these southern seas,

and, instead of the blight which, up to this hour, had seemed to hang over his fortunes, he could now return in

triumph to his countrymen. Without hesitation, therefore, he prepared to retrace his course, and stood again

On his way, he touched at several places where he had before landed. At one of these, called by the Spaniards

Santa Cruz, he had been invited on shore by an Indian woman of rank, and had promised to visit her on his

return. No sooner did his vessel cast anchor off the village where she lived, than she came on board, followed

by a numerous train of attendants. Pizarro received her with every mark of respect, and on her departure

presented her with some trinkets which had a real value in the eyes of an Indian princess. She urged the

Spanish commander and his companions to return the visit, engaging to send a number of hostages on board,

as security for their good treatment. Pizarro assured her that the frank confidence she had shown towards

them proved that this was unnecessary. Yet, no sooner did he put off in his boat, the following day, to go on

shore, than several of the principal persons in the place came alongside of the ship to be received as hostages

during the absence of the Spaniards,a singular proof of consideration for the sensitive apprehensions of her

Pizarro found that preparations had been made for his reception in a style of simple hospitality that evinced

some degree of taste. Arbours were formed of luxuriant and widespreading branches, interwoven with

fragrant flowers and shrubs that diffused a delicious perfume through the air. A banquet was provided,

teeming with viands prepared in the style of the Peruvian cookery, and with fruits and vegetables of tempting

hue and luscious to the taste, though their names and nature were unknown to the Spaniards. After the

collation was ended, the guests were entertained with music and dancing by a troop of young men and

maidens simply attired, who exhibited in their favorite national amusement all the agility and grace which the

supple limbs of the Peruvian Indians so well qualified them to display. Before his departure, Pizarro stated to

his kind host the motives of his visit to the country, in the same manner as he had done on other occasions,

and he concluded by unfurling the royal banner of Castile, which he had brought on shore, requesting her and

her attendants to raise it in token of their allegiance to his sovereign. This they did with great goodhumor,

laughing all the while, says the chronicler, and making it clear that they had a very imperfect conception of

the serious nature of the ceremony. Pizarro was contented with this outward display of loyalty, and returned

to his vessel well satisfied with the entertainment he had received, and meditating, it may be, on the best

mode of repaying it, hereafter, by the subjugation and conversion of the country.

The Spanish commander did not omit to touch also at Tumbez, on his homeward voyage. Here some of his

followers, won by the comfortable aspect of the place and the manners of the people, intimated a wish to

remain, conceiving, no doubt, that it would be better to live where they would be persons of consequence

than to return to an obscure condition in the community of Panama. One of these men was Alonso de Molina,

the same who had first gone on shore at this place, and been captivated by the charms of the Indian beauties.

Pizarro complied with their wishes, thinking it would not be amiss to find, on his return, some of his own

followers who would be instructed in the language and usages of the natives. He was also allowed to carry

back in his vessel two or three Peruvians, for the similar purpose of instructing them in the Castilian. One of

them, a youth named by the Spaniards Felipillo, plays a part of some importance in the history of subsequent

On leaving Tumbez, the adventurers steered directly for Panama, touching only, on their way, at the illfated

island of Gorgona to take on board their two companions who were left there too ill to proceed with them.

One had died, and, receiving the other, Pizarro and his gallant little band continued their voyage; and, after an

absence of at least eighteen months, found themselves once more safely riding at anchor in the harbor of

The sensation caused by their arrival was great, as might have been expected. For there were few, even

among the most sanguine of their friends, who did not imagine that they had long since paid for their

temerity, and fallen victims to the climate or the natives, or miserably perished in a watery grave. Their joy

was proportionably great, therefore, as they saw the wanderers now returned, not only in health and safety,

but with certain tidings of the fair countries which had so long eluded their grasp. It was a moment of proud

satisfaction to the three associates, who, in spite of obloquy, derision, and every impediment which the

distrust of friends or the coldness of government could throw in their way, had persevered in their great

enterprise until they had established the truth of what had been so generally denounced as a chimera. It is the

misfortune of those daring spirits who conceive an idea too vast for their own generation to comprehend, or,

at least, to attempt to carry out, that they pass for visionary dreamers. Such had been the fate of Luque and his

associates. The existence of a rich Indian empire at the south, which, in their minds, dwelling long on the

same idea and alive to all the arguments in its favor, had risen to the certainty of conviction, had been derided

by the rest of their countrymen as a mere mirage of the fancy, which, on nearer approach, would melt into air;

while the projectors, who staked their fortunes on the adventure, were denounced as madmen. But their hour

Yet the governor, Pedro de los Rios, did not seem, even at this moment, to be possessed with a conviction of

the magnitude of the discovery,or, perhaps, he was discouraged by its very magnitude. When the

associates, now with more confidence, applied to him for patronage in an undertaking too vast for their

individual resources, he coldly replied, "He had no desire to build up other states at the expense of his own;

nor would he be led to throw away more lives than had already been sacrificed by the cheap display of gold

Sorely disheartened by this repulse from the only quarter whence effectual aid could be expected, the

confederates, without funds, and with credit nearly exhausted by their past efforts, were perplexed in the

extreme. Yet to stop now,what was it but to abandon the rich mine which their own industry and

perseverance had laid open, for others to work at pleasure? In this extremity the fruitful mind of Luque

suggested the only expedient by which they could hope for success. This was to apply to the Crown itself. No

one was so much interested in the result of the expedition. It was for the government, indeed, that discoveries

were to be made, that the country was to be conquered. The government alone was competent to provide the

requisite means, and was likely to take a much broader and more liberal view of the matter than a petty

But who was there qualified to take charge of this delicate mission? Luque was chained by his professional

duties to Panama; and his associates, unlettered soldiers, were much better fitted for the business of the camp

than of the court. Almagro, blunt, though somewhat swelling and ostentatious in his address, with a

diminutive stature and a countenance naturally plain, now much disfigured by the loss of an eye, was not so

well qualified for the mission as his companion in arms, who, possessing a good person and altogether a

commanding presence, was plausible, and, with all his defects of education, could, where deeply interested,

be even eloquent in discourse. The ecclesiastic, however, suggested that the negotiation should be committed

to the Licentiate Corral, a respectable functionary, then about to return on some public business to the mother

country. But to this Almagro strongly objected. No one, he said, could conduct the affair so well as the party

interested in it. He had a high opinion of Pizarro's prudence, his discernment of character, and his cool,

deliberate policy.27 He knew enough of his comrade to have confidence that his presence of mind would not

desert him, even in the new, and therefore embarrassing, circumstances in which he would be placed at court.

No one, he said, could tell the story of their adventures with such effect, as the man who had been the chief

actor in them. No one could so well paint the unparalleled sufferings and sacrifices which they had

encountered; no other could tell so forcibly what had been done, what yet remained to do, and what

assistance would be necessary to carry it into execution. He concluded, with characteristic frankness, by

Pizarro felt the force of Almagro's reasoning, and, though with undisguised reluctance, acquiesced in a

measure which was less to his taste than an expedition to the wilderness. But Luque came into the

arrangement with more difficulty. "God grant, my children," exclaimed the ecclesiastic, "that one of you may

not defraud the other of his blessing!" 28 Pizarro engaged to consult the interests of his associates equally

There was some difficulty in raising the funds necessary for putting the envoy in condition to make a suitable

appearance at court; so low had the credit of the confederates fallen, and so little confidence was yet placed in

the result of their splendid discoveries. Fifteen hundred ducats were at length raised; and Pizarro, in the

spring of 1528, bade adieu to Panama, accompanied by Pedro de Candia.29 He took with him, also, some of

the natives, as well as two or three llamas, various nice fabrics of cloth, with many ornaments and vases of

gold and silver, as specimens of the civilization of the country, and vouchers for his wonderful story.

Of all the writers on ancient Peruvian history, no one has acquired so wide celebrity, or been so largely

referred to by later compilers, as the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega. He was born at Cuzco, in 1540; and was a

mestizo, that is of mixed descent, his father being European, and his mother Indian. His father, Garcilasso de

la Vega, was one of that illustrious family whose achievements, both in arms and letters, shed such lustre

over the proudest period of the Castilian annals. He came to Peru, in the suite of Pedro de Alvarado, soon

after the country had been gained by Pizarro. Garcilasso attached himself to the fortunes of this chief, and,

after his death, to those of his brother Gonzalo,remaining. constant to the latter, through his rebellion, up to

the hour of his rout at Xaquixaguana, when Garcilasso took the same course with most of his faction, and

passed over to the enemy. But this demonstration of loyalty, though it saved his life, was too late to redeem

his credit with the victorious party; and the obloquy which he incurred by his share in the rebellion threw a

cloud over his subsequent fortunes, and even over those of his son, as it appears, in after years.

The historian's mother was of the Peruvian blood royal. She was niece of Huayna Capac, and granddaughter

of the renowned Tupac Inca Yupanqui. Garcilasso, while he betrays obvious satisfaction that the blood of the

civilized European flows in his veins shows himself not a little proud of his descent from the royal dynasty of

Peru; and this he intimated by combining with his patronymic the distinguishing title of the Peruvian

His early years were passed in his native land, where he was reared in the Roman Catholic faith, and received

the benefit of as good an education as could be obtained, amidst the incessant din of arms and civil

commotion. In 1560, when twenty years of age, he left America, and from that time took up his residence in

Spain. Here he entered the military service, and held a captain's commission in the war against the Moriscos,

and, afterwards, under Don John of Austria. Though he acquitted himself honorably in his adventurous

career, he does not seem to have been satisfied with the manner in which his services were requited by the

government. The old reproach of the father's disloyalty still clung to the son and Garcilasso assures us that

this circumstance defeated all his efforts to recover the large inheritance of landed property belonging to his

mother, which had escheated to the Crown. "Such were the prejudices against me," says he, "that I could not

urge my ancient claims or expectations; and I left the army so poor and so much in debt, that I did not care to

show myself again at court; but was obliged to withdraw into an obscure solitudes where I lead a tranquil life

for the brief space that remains to me, no longer deluded by the world or its vanities."

The scene of this obscure retreat was not, however, as the reader might imagine from this tone of philosophic

resignation, in the depths of some rural wilderness, but in Cordova, once the gay capital of Moslem science,

and still the busy haunt of men. Here our philosopher occupied himself with literary labors, the more sweet

and soothing to his wounded spirit, that they tended to illustrate the faded glories of his native land, and

exhibit them in their primitive splendor to the eyes of his adopted countrymen. "And I have no reason to

regret," he says in his Preface to his account of Florida, "that Fortune has not smiled on me, since this

circumstance has opened a literary career which, I trust, will secure to me a wider and more enduring fame

In 1609, he gave to the world the First Part of his great work, the Commentarios Reales, devoted to the

history of the country under the Incas; and in 1616, a few months before his death, he finished the Second

Part, embracing the story of the Conquest, which was published at Cordova the following year. The

chronicler, who thus closed his labors with his life, died at the ripe old age of seventysix. He left a

considerabe sum for the purchase of masses for his soul, showing that the complaints of his poverty are not to

be taken literally. His remains were interred in the cathedral church of Cordova, in a chapel which bears the

name of Garcilasso; and an inscription was placed on his monument, intimating the high respect in which the

The First Part of the Commentarios Reales is occupied, as already noticed, with the ancient history of the

country, presenting a complete picture of its civilization under the Incas,far more complete than has been

given by any other writer. Garcilasso's mother was but ten years old at the time of her cousin Atahuallpa's

accession, or rather usurpation, as it is called by the party of Cuzco. She had the good fortune to escape the

massacre which, according to the chroniclers befell most of her kindred, and with her brother continued to

reside in their ancient capital after the Conquest. Their conversations naturally turned to the good old times of

the Inca rule, which, colored by their fond regrets, may be presumed to have lost nothing as seen through the

magnifying medium of the past. The young Garcilasso Listened greedily to the stories which recounted the

magnificence and prowess of his royal ancestors, and though he made no use of them at the time, they sunk

deep into his memory, to be treasured up for a future occasion. When he prepared, after the lapse of many

years, in his retirement at Cordova, to compose the history of his country, he wrote to his old companions and

schoolfellows, of the Inca family, to obtain fuller information than he could get in Spain on various matters of

historical interest. He had witnessed in his youth the ancient ceremonies and usages of his countrymen,

understood the science of their quipus, and mastered many of their primitive traditions. With the assistance he

now obtained from his Peruvian kindred, he acquired a familiarity with the history of the great Inca race, and

of their national institutions, to an extent that no person could have possessed, unless educated in the midst of

them, speaking the same language, and with the same Indian blood flowing in his veins. Garcilasso, in short,

was the representative of the conquered race; and we might expect to find the lights and shadows of the

picture disposed under his pencil so as to produce an effect very different from that which they had hitherto

Such, to a certain extent, is the fact; and this circumstance affords a means of comparison which would alone

render his works of great value in arriving at just historic conclusions. But Garcilasso wrote late in life, after

the story had been often told by Castilian writers. He naturally deferred much to men, some of whom enjoyed

high credit on the score both of their scholarship and their social position. His object, he professes, was not so

much to add any thing new of his own, as to correct their errors and the misconceptions into which they had

been brought by their ignorance of the Indian languages and the usages of his people. He does, in fact,

however, go far beyond this; and the stores of information which he has collected have made his work a large

repository, whence later laborers in the same field have drawn copious materials. He writes from the fulness

of his heart, and illuminates every topic that he touches with a variety and richness of illustration, that leave

little to be desired by the most importunate curiosity. The difference between reading his Commentaries and

the accounts of European writers is the difference that exists between reading a work in the original and in a

Yet his Commentaries are open to a grave objection,and one naturally suggested by his position.

Addressing himself to the cultivated European, he was most desirous to display the ancient glories of his

people, and still more of the Inca race, in their most imposing form. This, doubtless, was the great spur to his

literary labors, for which previous education, however good for the evil time on which he was cast, had far

from qualified him. Garcilasso, therefore, wrote to effect a particular object. He stood forth as counsel for his

unfortunate countrymen, pleading the cause of that degraded race before the tribunal of posterity. The

exaggerated tone of panegyric consequent on this becomes apparent in every page of his work. He pictures

forth a state of society such as an Utopian philosopher would hardly venture to depict. His royal ancestors

became the types of every imaginery excellence, and the golden age is revived for a nation, which, while the

war of proselytism is raging on its borders, enjoys within all the blessings of tranquillity and peace. Even the

material splendors of the monarchy, sufficiently great in this land of gold, become heightened, under the

glowing imagination of the Inca chronicler, into the gorgeous illusions of a fairy tale.

Yet there is truth at the bottom of his wildest conceptions, and it would be unfair to the Indian historian to

suppose that he did not himself believe most of the magic marvels which he describes. There is no credulity

like that of a Christian convert,one newly converted to the faith. From long dwelling in the darkness of

paganism, his eyes, when first opened to the light of truth, have not acquired the power of discriminating the

just proportions of objects, of distinguishing between the real and the imaginary. Garcilasso was not a convert

indeed, for he was bred from infancy in the Roman Catholic faith. But he was surrounded by converts and

neophytes,by those of his own blood, who, after practising all their lives the rites of paganism, were now

first admitted into the Christian fold. He listened to the teachings of the missionary, learned from him to give

implicit credit to the marvellous legends of the Saints, and the no less marvellous accounts of his own

victories in his spiritual warfare for the propagation of the faith. Thus early accustomed to such large drafts

on his credulity, his reason lost its heavenly power of distinguishing truth from error, and he became so

Yet, while large deductions are to be made on this account from the chronicler's reports, there is always a

germ of truth which it is not difficult to detect, and even to disengage from the fanciful covering which

envelopes it; and after every allowance for the exaggerations of national vanity, we shall find an abundance

of genuine information in respect to the antiquities of his country, for which we shall look in vain in any

Garcilasso's work is the reflection of the age in which he lived. It is addressed to the imagination, more than

to sober reason. We are dazzled by the gorgeous spectacle it perpetually exhibits, and delighted by the variety

of amusing details and animated gossip sprinkled over its pages. The story of the action is perpetually varied

by discussions on topics illustrating its progress, so as to break up the monotony of the narrative, and afford

an agreeable relief to the reader. This is true of the First Part of his great work. In the Second there was no

longer room for such discussion. But he has supplied the place by garrulous reminiscences, personal

anecdotes, incidental adventures, and a host of trivial details, trivial in the eyes of the pedant,which

historians have been too willing to discard, as below the dignity of history. We have the actors in this great

drama in their private dress, become acquainted with their personal habits, listen to their familiar sayings,

and, in short gather up those minutiae which in the aggregate make up so much of life and not less of

It is this confusion of the great and the little, thus artlessly blended together, that constitutes one of the

charms of the old romantic chronicle,not the less true that, in this respect, it approaches nearer to the usual

tone of romance. It is in such writings that we may look to find the form and pressure of the age. The

wormeaten statepapers, official correspondence, public records, are all serviceable, indispensable, to

history. They are the framework on which it is to repose; the skeleton of facts which gives it its strength and

proportions. But they are as worthless as the dry bones of the skeleton, unless clothed with the beautiful form

and garb of humanity, and instinct with the spirit of the age.Our debt is large to the antiquarian, who with

conscientious precision lays broad and deep the foundations of historic truth; and no less to the philosophic

annalist who exhibits man in the dress of public life,man in masquerade; but our gratitude must surely not

be withheld from those, who, like Garcilasso de la Vega, and many a romancer of the Middle Ages, have held

up the mirrordistorted though it may somewhat beto the interior of life, reflecting every object, the great

and the mean the beautiful and the deformed, with their natural prominence and their vivacity of coloring, to

the eye of the spectator. As a work of art, such a production may be thought to be below criticism. But,

although it defy the rules of art in its composition, it does not necessarily violate the principles of taste; for it

conforms in its spirit to the spirit of the age in which it was written. And the critic, who coldly condemns it

on the severe principles of art, will find a charm in its very simplicity, that will make him recur again and

again to its pages, while more correct and classical compositions are laid aside and forgotten.

I cannot dismiss this notice of Garcilasso, though already long protracted, without some allusion to the

English translation of his Commentaries. It appeared in James the Second's reign, and is the work of Sir Paul

Rycaut, Knight. It was printed at London in 1688, in folio, with considerable pretension in its outward dress,

well garnished with woodcuts, and a frontispiece displaying the gaunt and rather sardonic features, not of

the author, but his translator. The version keeps pace with the march of the original, corresponding precisely

in books and chapters, and seldom, though sometimes, using the freedom, so common in these ancient

versions, of abridgment and omission. Where it does depart from the original, it is rather from ignorance than

intention. Indeed, as far as the plea of ignorance will avail him, the worthy knight may urge it stoutly in his

defence. No one who reads the book will doubt his limited acquaintance with his own tongue, and no one

who compares it with the original will deny his ignorance of the Castilian. It contains as many blunders as

paragraphs, and most of them such as might shame a schoolboy. Yet such are the rude charms of the original,

that this ruder version of it has found considerable favor with readers; and Sir Paul Rycaut's translation, old

Pizarro and his officer, having crossed the Isthmus, embarked at Nombre de Dios for the old country, and,

after a good passage, reached Seville early in the summer of 1528. There happened to be at that time in port a

person well known in the history of Spanish adventure as the Bachelor Enciso. He had taken an active part in

the colonization of Tierra Firme, and had a pecuniary claim against the early colonists of Darien, of whom

Pizarro was one. Immediately on the landing of the latter, he was seized by Enciso's orders, and held in

custody for the debt. Pizarro, who had fled from his native land as a forlorn and houseless adventurer, after an

absence of more than twenty years, passed, most of them, in unprecedented toil and suffering, now found

himself on his return the inmate of a prison. Such was the commencement of those brilliant fortunes which,

as he had trusted, awaited him at home. The circumstance excited general indignation; and no sooner was the

Court advised of his arrival in the country, and the great purpose of his mission, than orders were sent for his

Pizarro found the emperor at Toledo, which he was soon to quit, in order to embark for Italy. Spain was not

the favorite residence of Charles the Fifth, in the earlier part of his reign. He was now at that period of it

when he was enjoying the full flush of his triumphs over his gallant rival of France, whom he had defeated

and taken prisoner at the great battle of Pavia; and the victor was at this moment preparing to pass into Italy

to receive the imperial crown from the hands of the Roman Pontiff. Elated by his successes and his elevation

to the German throne, Charles made little account of his hereditary kingdom, as his ambition found so

He had hitherto received too inconsiderable returns from his transatlantic possessions to give them the

attention they deserved. But, as the recent acquisition of Mexico and the brilliant anticipations in respect to

the southern continent were pressed upon his notice, he felt their importance as likely to afford him the means

Pizarro, therefore, who had now come to satisfy the royal eyes, by visible proofs, of the truth of the golden

rumors which, from time to time, had reached Castile, was graciously received by the emperor. Charles

examined the various objects which his officer exhibited to him with great attention. He was particularly

interested by the appearance of the llama, so remarkable as the only beast of burden yet known on the new

continent; and the fine fabrics of woollen cloth, which were made from its shaggy sides, gave it a much

higher value, in the eyes of the sagacious monarch, than what it possessed as an animal for domestic labor.

But the specimens of gold and silver manufacture, and the wonderful tale which Pizarro had to tell of the

abundance of the precious metals, must have satisfied even the cravings of royal cupidity.

Pizarro, far from being embarrassed by the novelty of his situation, maintained his usual selfpossession, and

showed that decorum and even dignity in his address which belong to the Castilian. He spoke in a simple and

respectful style, but with the earnestness and natural eloquence of one who had been an actor in the scenes he

described, and who was conscious that the impression he made on his audience was to decide his future

destiny. All listened with eagerness to the account of his strange adventures by sea and land, his wanderings

in the forests, or in the dismal and pestilent swamps on the seacoast, without food, almost without raiment,

with feet torn and bleeding at every step, with his few companions becoming still fewer by disease and death,

and yet pressing on with unconquerable spirit to extend the empire of Castile, and the name and power of her

sovereign; but when he painted his lonely condition on the desolate island, abandoned by the government at

home, deserted by all but a handful of devoted followers, his royal auditor, though not easily moved, was

affected to tears. On his departure from Toledo, Charles commended the affairs of his vassal in the most

There was at this time another man at court, who had come there on a similar errand from the New World,

but whose splendid achievements had already won for him a name that threw the rising reputation of Pizarro

comparatively into the shade. This man was Hernando Cortes, the Conqueror of Mexico. He had come home

to lay an empire at the feet of his sovereign, and to demand in return the redress of his wrongs, and the

recompense of his great services. He was at the close of his career, as Pizarro was at the commencement of

his; the Conqueror of the North and of the South; the two men appointed by Providence to overturn the most

potent of the Indian dynasties, and to open the golden gates by which the treasures of the New World were to

Notwithstanding the emperor's recommendation, the business of Pizarro went forward at the tardy pace with

which affairs are usually conducted in the court of Castile. He found his limited means gradually sinking

under the expenses incurred by his present situation, and he represented, that, unless some measures were

speedily taken in reference to his suit, however favorable they might be in the end, he should be in no

condition to profit by them. The queen, accordingly, who had charge of the business, on her husband's

departure, expedited the affair, and on the twenty sixth of July, 1529, she executed the memorable

The instrument secured to that chief the right of discovery and conquest in the province of Peru, or New

Castile,as the country was then called, in the same manner as Mexico had received the name of New

Spain,for the distance of two hundred leagues south of Santiago. He was to receive the titles and rank of

Governor and CaptainGeneral of the province, together with those of Adelantado, and Alguacil Mayor, for

life; and he was to have a salary of seven hundred and twentyfive thousand maravedis, with the obligation

of maintaining certain officers and military retainers, corresponding with the dignity of his station. He was to

have the right to erect certain fortresses, with the absolute government of them; to assign encomiendas of

Indians, under the limitations prescribed by law; and, in fine, to exercise nearly all the prerogatives incident

His associate, Almagro, was declared commander of the fortress of Tumbez, with an annual rent of three

hundred thousand maravedis, and with the further rank and privileges of an hidalgo. The reverend Father

Luque received the reward of his services in the Bishopric of Tumbez, and he was also declared Protector of

the Indians of Peru. He was to enjoy the yearly stipend of a thousand ducats,to be derived, like the other

salaries and gratuities in this instrument, from the revenues of the conquered territory.

Nor were the subordinate actors in the expedition forgotten. Ruiz received the title of Grand Pilot of the

Southern Ocean, with a liberal provision; Candia was placed at the head of the artillery; and the remaining

eleven companions on the desolate island were created hidalgos and cavalleros, and raised to certain

Several provisions of a liberal tenor were also made, to encourage emigration to the country. The new settlers

were to be exempted from some of the most onerous, but customary taxes, as the alcabala, or to be subject to

them only in a mitigated form. The tax on the precious metals drawn from mines was to be reduced, at first,

to one tenth, instead of the fifth imposed on the same metals when obtained by barter or by rapine.

It was expressly enjoined on Pizarro to observe the existing regulations for the good government and

protection of the natives; and he was required to carry out with him a specified number of ecclesiastics, with

whom he was to take counsel in the conquest of the country, and whose efforts were to be dedicated to the

service and conversion of the Indians; while lawyers and attorneys, on the other hand, whose presence was

considered as boding ill to the harmony of the new settlements, were strictly prohibited from setting foot in

Pizarro, on his part, was bound, in six months from the date of the instrument, to raise a force, well equipped

for the service, of two hundred and fifty men, of whom one hundred might be drawn from the colonies; and

the government engaged to furnish some trifling assistance in the purchase of artillery and military stores.

Finally, he was to be prepared, in six months after his return to Panama, to leave that port and embark on his

Such are some of the principal provisions of this Capitulation, by which the Castilian government, with the

sagacious policy which it usually pursued on the like occasions, stimulated the ambitious hopes of the

adventurer by highsounding titles, and liberal promises of reward contingent on his success, but took care to

stake nothing itself on the issue of the enterprise. It was careful to reap the fruits of his toil, but not to pay the

A circumstance, that could not fail to be remarked in these provisions, was the manner in which the high and

lucrative posts were accumulated on Pizarro, to the exclusion of Almagro, who, if he had not taken as

conspicuous a part in personal toil and exposure, had, at least, divided with him the original burden of the

enterprise, and, by his labors in another direction, had contributed quite as essentially to its success. Almagro

had willingly conceded the post of honor to his confederate; but it had been stipulated, on Pizarro's departure

for Spain, that, while he solicited the office of Governor and CaptainGeneral for himself, he should secure

that of Adelantado for his companion. In like manner, he had engaged to apply for the see of Tumbez for the

vicar of Panama, and the office of Alguacil Mayor for the pilot Ruiz. The bishopric took the direction that

was concerted, for the soldier could scarcely claim the mitre of the prelate; but the other offices, instead of

their appropriate distribution, were all concentred in himself. Yet it was in reference to his application for his

friends, that Pizarro had promised on his departure to deal fairly and honorably by them all.3

It is stated by the military chronicler, Pedro Pizarro, that his kinsman did, in fact, urge the suit strongly in

behalf of Almagro; but that he was refused by the government, on the ground that offices of such paramount

importance could not be committed to different individuals. The ill effects of such an arrangement had been

long since felt in more than one of the Indian colonies, where it had led to rivalry and fatal collision.4 Pizarro,

therefore, finding his remonstrances unheeded, had no alternative but to combine the offices in his own

person, or to see the expedition fall to the ground. This explanation of the affair has not received the sanction

of other contemporary historians. The apprehensions expressed by Luque, at the time of Pizarro's assuming

the mission, of some such result as actually occurred, founded, doubtless, on a knowledge of his associate's

character, may warrant us in distrusting the alleged vindication of his conduct, and our distrust will not be

diminished by familiarity with his subsequent career. Pizarro's virtue was not of a kind to withstand

The fortunate cavalier was also honored with the habit of St. Jago;5 and he was authorized to make an

important innovation in his family escutcheon,for by the father's side he might claim his armorial bearings.

The black eagle and the two pillars emblazoned on the royal arms were incorporated with those of the

Pizarros; and an Indian city, with a vessel in the distance on the waters, and the llama of Peru, revealed the

theatre and the character of his exploits; while the legend announced, that "under the auspices of Charles, and

by the industry, the genius, and the resources of Pizarro, the country had been discovered and reduced to

tranquillity,"thus modestly intimating both the past and prospective services of the Conqueror.6

These arrangements having been thus completed to Pizarro's satisfaction, he left Toledo for Truxillo, his

native place, in Estremadura, where he thought he should be most likely to meet with adherents for his new

enterprise, and where it doubtless gratified his vanity to display himself in the palmy, or at least promising,

state of his present circumstances. If vanity be ever pardonable, it is certainly in a man who, born in an

obscure station in life, without family, interest, or friends to back him, has carved out his own fortunes in the

world, and, by his own resources, triumphed over all the obstacles which nature and accident had thrown in

his way. Such was the condition of Pizarro, as he now revisited the place of his nativity, where he had

hitherto been known only as a poor outcast, without a home to shelter, a father to own him, or a friend to lean

upon. But he now found both friends and followers, and some who were eager to claim kindred with him, and

take part in his future fortunes. Among these were four brothers. Three of them, like himself, were

illegitimate; one of whom, named Francisco Martin de Alcantara, was related to him by the mother's side; the

other two, named Gonzalo and Juan Pizarro, were descended from the father. "They were all poor, and proud

as they were poor," says Oviedo, who had seen them; "and their eagerness for gain was in proportion to their

The remaining and eldest brother, named Hernando, was a legitimate son,'legitimate," continues the same

caustic authority, "by his pride, as well as by his birth." His features were plain, even disagreeably so; but his

figure was good. He was large of stature, and, like his brother Francis, had on the whole an imposing

presence.8 In his character, he combined some of the worst defects incident to the Castilian. He was jealous

in the extreme; impatient not merely of affront, but of the least slight, and implacable in his resentment. He

was decisive in his measures, and unscrupulous in their execution. No touch of pity had power to arrest his

arm. His arrogance was such, that he was constantly wounding the selflove of those with whom he acted;

thus begetting an illwill which unnecessarily multiplied obstacles in his path. In this he differed from his

brother Francis, whose plausible manners smoothed away difficulties, and conciliated confidence and

cooperation in his enterprises. Unfortunately, the evil counsels of Hernando exercised an influence over his

brother which more than compensated the advantages derived from his singular capacity for business.

Notwithstanding the general interest which Pizarro's adventures excited in his country, that chief did not find

it easy to comply with the provisions of the Capitulation in respect to the amount of his levies. Those who

were most astonished by his narrative were not always most inclined to take part in his fortunes. They shrunk

from the unparalleled hardships which lay in the path of the adventurer in that direction; and they listened

with visible distrust to the gorgeous pictures of the golden temples and gardens of Tumbez, which they

looked upon as indebted in some degree, at least, to the coloring of his fancy, with the obvious purpose of

attracting followers to his banner. It is even said that Pizarro would have found it difficult to raise the

necessary funds, but for the seasonable aid of Cortes, a native of Estremadura like himself, his companion in

arms in early days, and, according to report, his kinsman.9 No one was in a better condition to hold out a

helping hand to a brother adventurer, and, probably, no one felt greater sympathy in Pizarro's fortunes, or

greater confidence in his eventual success, than the man who had so lately trod the same career with renown.

The six months allowed by the Capitulation had elapsed, and Pizarro had assembled somewhat less than his

stipulated complement of men, with which he was preparing to embark in a little squadron of three vessels at

Seville; but, before they were wholly ready, he received intelligence that the officers of the Council of the

Indies proposed to inquire into the condition of the vessels, and ascertain how far the requisitions had been

Without loss of time therefore, Pizarro afraid, if the facts were known, that his enterprise might be nipped in

the bud, slipped his cables, and crossing the bar of San Lucar, in January, 1530, stood for the isle of

Gomera,one of the Canaries,where he ordered his brother Hernando, who had charge of the remaining

Scarcely had he gone, before the officers arrived to institute the search. But when they objected the

deficiency of men, they were easilyperhaps willinglydeceived by the pretext that the remainder had

gone forward in the vessel with Pizarro. At all events, no further obstacles were thrown in Hernando's way,

and he was permitted, with the rest of the squadron, to join his brother, according to agreement, at Gomera.

After a prosperous voyage, the adventurers reached the northern coast of the great southern continent, and

anchored off the port of Santa Marta. Here they received such discouraging reports of the countries to which

they were bound, of forests teeming with insects and venomous serpents, of huge alligators that swarmed on

the banks of the streams, and of hardships and perils such as their own fears had never painted, that several of

Pizarro's men deserted; and their leader, thinking it no longer safe to abide in such treacherous quarters, set

Soon after his arrival there, he was met by his two associates, Luque and Almagro, who had crossed the

mountains for the purpose of hearing from his own lips the precise import of the capitulation with the Crown.

Great, as might have been expected, was Almagro's discontent at learning the result of what he regarded as

the perfidious machinations of his associate. "Is it thus," he exclaimed, "that you have dealt with the friend

who shared equally with you in the trials, the dangers, and the cost of the enterprise; and this,

notwithstanding your solemn engagements on your departure to provide for his interests as faithfully as your

own? How could you allow me to be thus dishonored in the eyes of the world by so paltry a compensation,

Pizarro, in reply, assured his companion that he had faithfully urged his suit, but that the government refused

to confide powers which intrenched so closely on one another to different hands. He had no alternative, but to

accept all himself or to decline all; and he endeavored to mitigate Almagro's displeasure by representing that

the country was large enough for the ambition of both, and that the powers conferred on himself were, in fact,

conferred on Almagro, since all that he had would ever be at his friend's disposal, as if it were his own. But

these honeyed words did not satisfy the injured party; and the two captains soon after returned to Panama

with feelings of estrangement, if not hostility, towards one another, which did not augur well for their

Still, Almagro was of a generous temper, and might have been appeased by the politic concessions of his

rival, but for the interference of Hernando Pizarro, who, from the first hour of their meeting, showed little

respect for the veteran, which, indeed, the diminutive person of the latter was not calculated to inspire, and

who now regarded him with particular aversion as an impediment to the career of his brother.

Almagro's friendsand his frank and liberal manners had secured him manywere no less disgusted than

himself with the overbearing conduct of this new ally. They loudly complained that it was quite enough to

suffer from the perfidy of Pizarro, without being exposed to the insults of his family, who had now come over

with him to fatten on the spoils of conquest which belonged to their leader. The rupture soon proceeded to

such a length, that Almagro avowed his intention to prosecute the expedition without further cooperation with

his partner, and actually entered into negotiations for the purchase of vessels for that object. But Luque, and

the Licentiate Espinosa, who had fortunately come over at that time from St. Domingo, now interposed to

repair a breach which must end in the ruin of the enterprise, and the probable destruction of those most

interested in its success. By their mediation, a show of reconciliation was at length effected between the

parties, on Pizarro's assurance that he would relinquish the dignity of Adelantado in favor of his rival, and

petition the emperor to confirm him in the possession of it; an assurance, it may be remarked, not easy to

reconcile with his former assertion in respect to the avowed policy of the Crown in bestowing this office. He

was, moreover, to apply for a distinct government for his associate, so soon as he had become master of the

country assigned to himself; and was to solicit no office for either of his own brothers, until Almagro had

been first provided for. Lastly, the former contract in regard to the division of the spoil into three equal shares

between the three original associates was confirmed in the most explicit manner. The reconciliation thus

effected among the parties answered the temporary purpose of enabling them to go forward in concert in the

expedition. But it was only a thin scar that had healed ever the wound, which, deep and rankling within,

waited only fresh cause of irritation to break out with a virulence more fatal than ever.11

No time was now lost in preparing for the voyage. It found little encouragement, however, among the

colonists of Panama, who were too familiar with the sufferings on the former expeditions to care to undertake

another, even with the rich bribe that was held out to allure them. A few of the old company were content to

follow out the adventure to its close; and some additional stragglers were collected from the province of

Nicaragua,a shoot, it may be remarked, from the colony of Panama. But Pizarro made slender additions to

the force brought over with him from Spain, though this body was in better condition, and, in respect to arms,

ammunition, and equipment generally, was on a much better footing than his former levies. The whole

number did not exceed one hundred and eighty men, with twentyseven horses for the cavalry. He had

provided himself with three vessels, two of them of a good size, to take the place of those which he had been

compelled to leave on the opposite side of the isthmus at Nombre de Dios; an armament small for the

conquest of an empire, and far short of that prescribed by the capitulation with the Crown. With this the

intrepid chief proposed to commence operations, trusting to his own successes, and the exertions of Almagro,

On St. John the Evangelist's day, the banners of the company and the royal standard were consecrated in the

cathedral church of Panama; a sermon was preached before the little army by Fray Juan de Vargas, one of the

Dominicans selected by the government for the Peruvian mission; and mass was performed, and the

sacrament administered to every soldier previous to his engaging in the crusade against the infidel.13 Having

thus solemnly invoked the blessing of Heaven on the enterprise, Pizarro and his followers went on board their

vessels, which rode at anchor in the Bay of Panama, and early in January, 1531, sallied forth on his third and

It was his intention to steer direct for Tumbez, which held out so magnificent a show of treasure on his

former voyage. But head winds and currents, as usual, baffled his purpose, and after a run of thirteen days,

much shorter than the period formerly required for the same distance, his little squadron came to anchor in

the Bay of St. Matthew, about one degree north; and Pizarro, after consulting with his officers, resolved to

disembark his forces and advance along the coast, while the vessels, held their course at a convenient distance

The march of the troops was severe and painful in the extreme; for the road was constantly intersected by

streams, which, swollen by the winter rains, widened at their mouths into spacious estuaries. Pizarro, who had

some previous knowledge of the country, acted as guide as well as commander of the expedition. He was

ever ready to give aid where it was needed, encouraging his followers to ford or swim the torrents as they

best could, and cheering the desponding by his own buoyant and courageous spirit.

At length they reached a thicksettled hamlet, or rather town, in the province of Coaque. The Spaniards

rushed on the place, and the inhabitants, without offering resistance, fled in terror to the neighboring forests,

leaving their effectsof much greater value than had been anticipatedin the hands of the invaders. "We

fell on them, sword in hand," says one of the Conquerors, with some naivete; "for, if we had advised the

Indians of our approach, we should never have found there such store of gold and precious stones." 14 The

natives, however, according to another authority, stayed voluntarily; "for, as they had done no harm to the

white men, they flattered themselves none would be offered to them, but that there would be only an

interchange of good offices with the strangers," 15an expectation founded, it may be, on the good

character which the Spaniards had established for themselves on their preceding visit, but in which the simple

Rushing into the deserted dwellings, the invaders found there, besides stuffs of various kinds, and food most

welcome in their famished condition, a large quantity of gold and silver wrought into clumsy ornaments,

together with many precious stones; for this was the region of the esmeraldas, or emeralds, where that

valuable gem was most abundant. One of these jewels that fell into the hands of Pizarro, in this

neighborhood, was as large as a pigeon's egg. Unluckily, his rude followers did not know the value of their

prize; and they broke many of them in pieces by pounding them with hammers.16 They were led to this

extraordinary proceeding, it is said, by one of the Dominican missionaries, Fray Reginaldo de Pedraza, who

assured them that this was the way to prove the true emerald, which could not be broken. It was observed that

the good father did not subject his own jewels to this wise experiment; but, as the stones, in consequence of

it, fell in value, being regarded merely as colored glass, he carried back a considerable store of them to

The gold and silver ornaments rifled from the dwellings were brought together and deposited in a common

heap; when a fifth was deducted for the Crown, and Pizarro distributed the remainder in due proportions

among the officers and privates of his company. This was the usage invariably observed on the like occasions

throughout the Conquest. The invaders had embarked in a common adventure. Their interest was common,

and to have allowed every one to plunder on his own account would only have led to insubordination and

perpetual broils. All were required, therefore, on pain of death, to contribute whatever they obtained, whether

by bargain or by rapine, to the general stock; and all were too much interested in the execution of the penalty

Pizarro, with his usual policy, sent back to Panama a large quantity of the gold, no less than twenty thousand

castellanos in value, in the belief that the sight of so much treasure, thus speedily acquired, would settle the

doubt of the wavering, and decide them on joining his banner.19 He judged right. As one of the Conquerors

piously expresses it, "It pleased the Lord that we should fall in with the town of Coaque, that the riches of the

Pizarro, having refreshed his men, continued his march along the coast, but no longer accompanied by the

vessels, which had returned for recruits to Panama. The road, as he advanced, was checkered with strips of

sandy waste, which, drifted about by the winds, blinded the soldiers, and afforded only treacherous footing

for man and beast. The glare was intense; and the rays of a vertical sun beat fiercely on the iron mail and the

thick quilted doublets of cotton, till the fainting troops were almost suffocated with the heat. To add to their

distresses, a strange epidemic broke out in the little army. It took the form of ulcers, or rather hideous warts

of great size, which covered the body, and when lanced, as was the case with some, discharged such a

quantity of blood as proved fatal to the sufferer. Several died of this frightful disorder, which was so sudden

in its attack, and attended with such prostration of strength, that those who lay down well at night were

unable to lift their hands to their heads in the morning.21 The epidemic, which made its first appearance

during this invasion, and which did not long survive it, spread over the country, sparing neither native nor

white man.22 It was one of those plagues from the vial of wrath, which the destroying angel, who follows in

The Spaniards rarely experienced on their march either resistance or annoyance from the inhabitants, who,

instructed by the example of Coaque, fled with their effects into the woods and neighboring mountains. No

one came out to welcome the strangers and offer the rites of hospitality, as on their last visit to the land. For

the white men were no longer regarded as good beings that had come from heaven, but as ruthless destroyers,

who, invulnerable to the assaults of the Indians, were borne along on the backs of fierce animals, swifter than

the wind, with weapons in their hands, that scattered fire and desolation as they went. Such were the stories

now circulated of the invaders, which, preceding them everywhere on their march, closed the hearts, if not the

doors, of the natives against them. Exhausted by the fatigue of travel and by disease, and grievously

disappointed at the poverty of the land, which now offered no compensation for their toils, the soldiers of

Pizarro cursed the hour in which they had enlisted under his standard, and the men of Nicaragua, in

particular, says the old chronicler, calling to mind their pleasant quarters in their luxurious land, sighed only

At this juncture the army was gladdened by the sight of a vessel from Panama, which brought some supplies,

together with the royal treasurer, the veedor or inspector, the comptroller, and other high officers appointed

by the Crown to attend the expedition. They had been left in Spain by Pizarro, in consequence of his abrupt

departure from the country; and the Council of the Indies, on learning the circumstance, had sent instructions

to Panama to prevent the sailing of his squadron from that port. But the Spanish government, with more

wisdom, countermanded the order, only requiring the functionaries to quicken their own departure, and take

The Spaniards in their march along the coast had now advanced as far as Puerto Viejo. Here they were soon

after joined by another small reinforcement of about thirty men, under an officer named Belalcazar, who

subsequently rose to high distinction in this service. Many of the followers of Pizarro would now have halted

at this spot and established a colony there. But that chief thought more of conquering than of colonizing, at

least for the present; and he proposed, as his first step, to get possession of Tumbez, which he regarded as the

gate of the Peruvian empire. Continuing his march, therefore, to the shores of what is now called the Gulf of

Guayaquil, he arrived off the little island of Puna, lying at no great distance from the Bay of Tumbez. This

island, he thought, would afford him a convenient place to encamp until he was prepared to make his descent

The dispositions of the islanders seemed to favor his purpose. He had not been long in their neighborhood,

before a deputation of the natives, with their cacique at their head, crossed over in their balsas to the main

land to welcome the Spaniards to their residence. But the Indian interpreters of Tumbez, who had returned

with Pizarro from Spain, and continued with the camp, put their master on his guard against the meditated

treachery of the islanders, whom they accused of designing to destroy the Spaniards by cutting the ropes that

held together the floats, and leaving those upon them to perish in the waters. Yet the cacique, when charged

by Pizarro with this perfidious scheme, denied it with such an air of conscious innocence, that the Spanish

commander trusted himself and his followers, without further hesitation, to his conveyance, and was

Here he was received in a hospitable manner, and his troops were provided with comfortable quarters. Well

satisfied with his present position, Pizarro resolved to occupy it until the violence of the rainy season was

passed, when the arrival of the reinforcements he expected would put him in better condition for marching

The island, which lies in the mouth of the river of Guayaquil, and is about eight leagues in length by four in

breadth, at the widest part, was at that time partially covered with a noble growth of timber. But a large

portion of it was subjected to cultivation, and bloomed with plantations of cacao, of the sweet potato, and the

different products of a tropical climes evincing agricultural knowledge as well as industry in the population.

They were a warlike race; but had received from their Peruvian foes the appellation of "perfidious." It was the

brand fastened by the Roman historians on their Carthaginian enemies,with perhaps no better reason. The

bold and independent islanders opposed a stubborn resistance to the arms of the Incas; and, though they had

finally yielded, they had been ever since at feud, and often in deadly hostility, with their neighbors of

The latter no sooner heard of Pizarro's arrival on the island than, trusting, probably, to their former friendly

relations with him, they came over in some number to the Spanish quarters. The presence of their detested

rivals was by no means grateful to the jealous inhabitants of Puna, and the prolonged residence of the white

men on their island could not be otherwise than burdensome. In their outward demeanor they still maintained

the same show of amity; but Pizarro's interpreters again put him on his guard against the proverbial perfidy of

their hosts. With his suspicions thus roused, the Spanish commander was informed that a number of the

chiefs had met together to deliberate on a plan of insurrection. Not caring to wait for the springing of the

mine, he surrounded the place of meeting with his soldiers and made prisoners of the suspected chieftains.

According to one authority, they confessed their guilt.24 This is by no means certain. Nor is it certain that

they meditated an insurrection. Yet the fact is not improbable, in itself; though it derives little additional

probability from the assertion of the hostile interpreters. It is certain, however, that Pizarro was satisfied of

the existence of a conspiracy; and, without further hesitation, he abandoned his wretched prisoners, ten or

twelve in number, to the tender mercies of their rivals of Tumbez, who instantly massacred them before his

Maddened by this outrage, the people of Puna sprang to arms, and threw themselves at once, with fearful

yells and the wildest menaces of despair, on the Spanish camp. The odds of numbers were greatly in their

favor, for they mustered several thousand warriors. But the more decisive odds of arms and discipline were

on the side of their antagonists; and, as the Indians rushed forward in a confused mass to the assault, the

Castilians coolly received them on their long pikes, or swept them down by the volleys of their musketry.

Their illprotected bodies were easily cut to pieces by the sharp sword of the Spaniard; and Hernando

Pizarro, putting himself at the head of the cavalry, charged boldly into the midst, and scattered them far and

wide over the field, until, panicstruck by the terrible array of steelclad horsemen, and the stunning reports

and the flash of firearms, the fugitives sought shelter in the depths of their forests. Yet the victory was

owing, in some degree, at least,if we may credit the Conquerors,to the interposition of Heaven; for St.

Michael and his legions were seen high in the air above the combatants, contending with the archenemy of

Not more than three or four Spaniards fell in the fight; but many were wounded, and among them Hernando

Pizarro, who received a severe injury in the leg from a javelin. Nor did the war end here; for the implacable

islanders, taking advantage of the cover of night, or of any remissness on the part of the invaders, were ever

ready to steal out of their fastnesses and spring on their enemy's camp, while, by cutting off his straggling

In this uncomfortable situation, the Spanish commander was gladdened by the appearance of two vessels off

the island. They brought a reinforcement consisting of a hundred volunteers besides horses for the cavalry. It

was commanded by Hernando de Soto, a captain afterwards famous as the discoverer of the Mississippi,

which still rolls its majestic current over the place of his burial,a fitting monument for his remains, as it is

The reinforcement was most welcome to Pizarro, who had been long discontented with his position on an

island, where he found nothing to compensate the life of unintermitting hostility which he was compelled to

lead. With these recruits, he felt himself in sufficient strength to cross over to the continent, and resume

military operations in the proper theatre for discovery and conquest. From the Indians of Tumbez he learned

that the country had been for some time distracted by a civil war between two sons of the late monarch,

competitors for the throne. This intelligence he regarded as of the utmost importance, for he remembered the

use which Cortes had made of similar dissensions among the tribes of Anahuac. Indeed, Pizarro seems to

have had the example of his great predecessor before his eyes on more occasions than this. But he fell far

short of his model; for, notwithstanding the restraint he sometimes put upon himself, his coarser nature and

more ferocious temper often betrayed him into acts most repugnant to sound policy, which would never have

Before accompanying the march of Pizarro and his followers into the country of the Incas, it is necessary to

make the reader acquainted with the critical situation of the kingdom at that time. For the Spaniards arrived

just at the consummation of an important revolution,at a crisis most favorable to their views of conquest,

and but for which, indeed, the conquest, with such a handful of soldiers, could never have been achieved.

In the latter part of the fifteenth century died Tupac Inca Yupanqui, one of the most renowned of the

"Children of the Sun," who, carrying the Peruvian arms across the burning sands of Atacama, penetrated to

the remote borders of Chili, while in the opposite direction he enlarged the limits of the empire by the

acquisition of the southern provinces of Quito. The war in this quarter was conducted by his son Huayna

Capac, who succeeded his father on the throne, and fully equalled him in military daring and in capacity for

Under this prince, the whole of the powerful state of Quito, which rivalled that of Peru itself in wealth and

refinement, was brought under the sceptre of the Incas; whose empire received, by this conquest, the most

important accession yet made to it since the foundation of the dynasty of Manco Capac. The remaining days

of the victorious monarch were passed in reducing the independent tribes on the remote limits of his territory,

and, still more, in cementing his conquests by the introduction of the Peruvian polity. He was actively

engaged in completing the great works of his father, especially the highroads which led from Quito to the

capital. He perfected the establishment of posts, took great pains to introduce the Quichua dialect throughout

the empire, promoted a better system of agriculture, and, in fine, encouraged the different branches of

domestic industry and the various enlightened plans of his predecessors for the improvement of his people.

Under his sway, the Peruvian monarchy reached its most palmy state; and under both him and his illustrious

father it was advancing with such rapid strides in the march of civilization as would soon have carried it to a

level with the more refined despotisms of Asia, furnishing the world, perhaps, with higher evidence of the

capabilities of the American Indian than is elsewhere to be found on the great western continent.But other

The first arrival of the white men on the South American shores of the Pacific was about ten years before the

death of Huayna Capac, when Balboa crossed the Gulf of St. Michael, and obtained the first clear report of

the empire of the Incas. Whether tidings of these adventurers reached the Indian monarch's ears is doubtful.

There is no doubt, however, that he obtained the news of the first expedition under Pizarro and Almagro,

when the latter commander penetrated as far as the Rio de San Juan, about the fourth degree north. The

accounts which he received made a strong impression on the mind of Huayna Capac. He discerned in the

formidable prowess and weapons of the invaders proofs of a civilization far superior to that of his own

people. He intimated his apprehension that they would return, and that at some day, not far distant, perhaps,

the throne of the Incas might be shaken by these strangers, endowed with such incomprehensible powers.1 To

the vulgar eye, it was a little speck on the verge of the horizon; but that of the sagacious monarch seemed to

descry in it the dark thundercloud, that was to spread wider and wider till it burst in fury on his nation!

There is some ground for believing thus much. But other accounts, which have obtained a popular currency,

not content with this, connect the first tidings of the white men with predictions long extant in the country,

and with supernatural appearances, which filled the hearts of the whole nation with dismay. Comets were

seen flaming athwart the heavens. Earthquakes shook the land; the moon was girdled with rings of fire of

many colors; a thunderbolt fell on one of the royal palaces and consumed it to ashes; and an eagle, chased by

several hawks, was seen, screaming in the air, to hover above the great square of Cuzco, when, pierced by the

talons of his tormentors, the king of birds fell lifeless in the presence of many of the Inca nobles, who read in

this an augury of their own destruction! Huayna Capac himself, calling his great officers around him, as he

found he was drawing near his end, announced the subversion of his empire by the race of white and bearded

strangers, as the consummation predicted by the oracles after the reign of the twelfth Inca, and he enjoined it

on his vassals not to resist the decrees of Heaven, but to yield obedience to its messengers.2

Such is the report of the impressions made by the appearance of the Spaniards in the country, reminding one

of the similar feelings of superstitious terror occasioned by their appearance in Mexico. But the traditions of

the latter land rest on much higher authority than those of the Peruvians, which, unsupported by

contemporary testimony, rest almost wholly on the naked assertion of one of their own nation, who thought

to find, doubtless, in the inevitable decrees of Heaven, the best apology for the supineness of his countrymen.

It is not improbable that rumors of the advent of a strange and mysterious race should have spread gradually

among the Indian tribes along the great tableland of the Cordilleras, and should have shaken the hearts of

the stoutest warriors with feelings of undefined dread, as of some impending calamity. In this state of mind, it

was natural that physical convulsions, to which that volcanic country is peculiarly subject, should have made

an unwonted impression on their minds; and that the phenomena, which might have been regarded only as

extraordinary, in the usual seasons of political security, should now be interpreted by the superstitious

soothsayer as the handwriting on the heavens, by which the God of the Incas proclaimed the approaching

Huayna Capac had, as usual with the Peruvian princes, a multitude of concubines, by whom he left a

numerous posterity. The heir to the crown, the son of his lawful wife and sister, was named Huascar.3 At the

period of the history at which we are now arrived, he was about thirty years of age. Next to the heirapparent,

by another wife, a cousin of the monarch's, came Manco Capac, a young prince who will occupy an

important place in our subsequent story. But the bestbeloved of the Inca's children was Atahuallpa. His

mother was the daughter of the last Scyri of Quito, who had died of grief, it was said, not long after the

subversion of his kingdom by Huayna Capac. The princess was beautiful, and the Inca, whether to gratify his

passion, or, as the Peruvians say, willing to make amends for the ruin of her parents, received her among his

concubines. The historians of Quito assert that she was his lawful wife; but this dignity, according to the

The latter years of Huayna Capac were passed in his new kingdom of Quito. Atahuallpa was accordingly

brought up under his own eye, accompanied him, while in his tender years, in his campaigns, slept in the

same tent with his royal father, and ate from the same plate.4 The vivacity of the boy, his courage and

generous nature, won the affections of the old monarch to such a degree, that he resolved to depart from the

established usages of the realm, and divide his empire between him and his elder brother Huascar. On his

deathbed, he called the great officers of the crown around him, and declared it to be his will that the ancient

kingdom of Quito should pass to Atahuallpa, who might be considered as having a natural claim on it, as the

dominion of his ancestors. The rest of the empire he settled on Huascar; and he enjoined it on the two

brothers to acquiesce in this arrangement, and to live in amity with each other. This was the last act of the

heroic monarch; doubtless, the most impolitic of his whole life. With his dying breath he subverted the

fundamental laws of the empire; and, while he recommended harmony between the successors to his

authority, he left in this very division of it the seeds of inevitable discord.5

His death took place, as seems probable, at the close of 1525, not quite seven years before Pizarro's arrival at

Puna.6 The tidings of his decease spread sorrow and consternation throughout the land; for, though stern and

even inexorable to the rebel and the longresisting foe, he was a brave and magnanimous monarch, and

legislated with the enlarged views of a prince who regarded every part of his dominions as equally his

concern. The people of Quito, flattered by the proofs which he had given of preference for them by his

permanent residence in that country, and his embellishment of their capital, manifested unfeigned sorrow at

his loss; and his subjects at Cuzco, proud of the glory which his arms and his abilities had secured for his

native land, held him in no less admiration;7 while the more thoughtful and the more timid, in both countries,

looked with apprehension to the future, when the sceptre of the vast empire, instead of being swayed by an

old and experienced hand, was to be consigned to rival princes, naturally jealous of one another, and, from

their age, necessarily exposed to the unwholesome influence of crafty and ambitious counsellors. The people

testified their regret by the unwonted honors paid to the memory of the deceased Inca. His heart was retained

in Quito, and his body, embalmed after the fashion of the country, was transported to Cuzco, to take its place

in the great temple of the Sun, by the side of the remains of his royal ancestors. His obsequies were

celebrated with sanguinary splendor in both the capitals of his farextended empire; and several thousand of

the imperial concubines, with numerous pages and officers of the palace, are said to have proved their

sorrow, or their superstition, by offering up their own lives, that they might accompany their departed lord to

For nearly five years after the death of Huayna Capac, the royal brothers reigned, each over his allotted

portion of the empire, without distrust of one another, or, at least, without collision. It seemed as if the wish

of their father was to be completely realized, and that the two states were to maintain their respective integrity

and independence as much as if they had never been united into one. But, with the manifold causes for

jealousy and discontent, and the swarms of courtly sycophants, who would find their account in fomenting

these feelings, it was easy to see that this tranquil state of things could not long endure. Nor would it have

endured so long, but for the more gentle temper of Huascar, the only party who had ground for complaint. He

was four or five years older than his brother, and was possessed of courage not to be doubted; but he was a

prince of a generous and easy nature, and perhaps, if left to himself, might have acquiesced in an arrangement

which, however unpalatable, was the will of his deified father. But Atahuallpa was of a different temper.

Warlike, ambitious, and daring, he was constantly engaged in enterprises for the enlargement of his own

territory, though his crafty policy was scrupulous not to aim at extending his acquisitions in the direction of

his royal brother. His restless spirit, however, excited some alarm at the court of Cuzco, and Huascar, at

length, sent an envoy to Atahuallpa, to remonstrate with him on his ambitious enterprises, and to require him

This is one statement. Other accounts pretend that the immediate cause of rupture was a claim instituted by

Huascar for the territory of Tumebamba, held by his brother as part of his patrimonial inheritance. It matters

little what was the ostensible ground of collision between persons placed by circumstances in so false a

position in regard to one another, that collision must, at some time or other, inevitably occur.

The commencement, and, indeed, the whole course, of hostilities which soon broke out between the rival

brothers are stated with irreconcilable, and, considering the period was so near to that of the Spanish

invasion, with unaccountable discrepancy. By some it is said, that, in Atahuallpa's first encounter with the

troops of Cuzco, he was defeated and made prisoner near Tumebamba, a favorite residence of his father in

the ancient territory of Quito, and in the district of Canaris. From this disaster he recovered by a fortunate

escape from confinement, when, regaining his capital, he soon found himself at the head of a numerous army,

led by the most able and experienced captains in the empire. The liberal manners of the young Atahuallpa had

endeared him to the soldiers, with whom, as we have seen, he served more than one campaign in his father's

lifetime. These troops were the flower of the great army of the Inca, and some of them had grown gray in his

long military career, which had left them at the north, where they readily transferred their allegiance to the

young sovereign of Quito. They were commanded by two officers of great consideration, both possessed of

large experience in military affairs, and high in the confidence of the late Inca. One of them was named

Quizquiz; the other, who was the maternal uncle of Atahuallpa, was called Chalicuchima.

With these practised warriors to guide him, the young monarch put himself at the head of his martial array,

and directed his march towards the south. He had not advanced farther than Ambato, about sixty miles distant

from his capital, when he fell in with a numerous host, which had been sent against him by his brother, under

the command of a distinguished chieftain, of the Inca family. A bloody battle followed, which lasted the

greater part of the day; and the theatre of combat was the skirts of the mighty Chimborazo.9

The battle ended favorably for Atahuallpa, and the Peruvians were routed with great slaughter, and the loss of

their commander. The prince of Quito availed himself of his advantage to push forward his march until he

arrived before the gates of Tumebamba, which city, as well as the whole district of Canaris, though an ancient

dependency of Quito, had sided with his rival in the contest. Entering the captive city like a conqueror, he put

the inhabitants to the sword, and razed it with all its stately edifices, some of which had been reared by his

own father, to the ground. He carried on the same war of extermination, as he marched through the offending

district of Canaris. In some places, it is said, the women and children came out, with green branches in their

hands, in melancholy procession, to deprecate his wrath; but the vindictive conqueror, deaf to their entreaties,

laid the country waste with fire and sword, sparing no man capable of bearing arms who fell into his hands.10

The fate of Canaris struck terror into the hearts of his enemies, and one place after another opened its gates to

the victor, who held on his triumphant march towards the Peruvian capital. His arms experienced a temporary

check before the island of Puna, whose bold warriors maintained the cause of his brother. After some days

lost before this place, Atahuallpa left the contest to their old enemies, the people of Tumbez, who had early

given in their adhesion to him, while he resumed his march and advanced as far as Caxamalca, about seven

degrees south. Here he halted with a detachment of the army, sending forward the main body under the

command of his two generals, with orders to move straight upon Cuzco. He preferred not to trust himself

farther in the enemy's country, where a defeat might be fatal. By establishing his quarters at Caxamalca, he

would be able to support his generals, in case of a reverse, or, at worst, to secure his retreat on Quito, until he

The two commanders, advancing by rapid marches, at length crossed the Apurimac river, and arrived within a

short distance of the Peruvian capital.Meanwhile, Huascar had not been idle. On receiving tidings of the

discomfiture of his army at Ambato, he made every exertion to raise levies throughout the country. By the

advice, it is said, of his prieststhe most incompetent advisers in times of dangerhe chose to await the

approach of the enemy in his own capital; and it was not till the latter had arrived within a few leagues of

Cuzco, that the Inca, taking counsel of the same ghostly monitors, sallied forth to give him battle.

The two armies met on the plains of Quipaypan, in the neighborhood of the Indian metropolis. Their numbers

are stated with the usual discrepancy; but Atahuallpa's troops had considerably the advantage in discipline

and experience, for many of Huascar's levies had been drawn hastily together from the surrounding country.

Both fought, however, with the desperation of men who felt that every thing was at stake. It was no longer a

contest for a province, but for the possession of an empire. Atahuallpa's troops, flushed with recent success,

fought with the confidence of those who relied on their superior prowess; while the loyal vassals of the Inca

displayed all the selfdevotion of men who held their own lives cheap in the service of their master.

The fight raged with the greatest obstinacy from sunrise to sunset; and the ground was covered with heaps of

the dying and the dead, whose bones lay bleaching on the battlefield long after the conquest by the

Spaniards. At length, fortune declared in favor of Atahuallpa; or rather, the usual result of superior discipline

and military practice followed. The ranks of the Inca were thrown into irretrievable disorder, and gave way in

all directions. The conquerors followed close on the heels of the flying. Huascar himself, among the latter,

endeavored to make his escape with about a thousand men who remained round his person. But the royal

fugitive was discovered before he had left the field; his little party was enveloped by clouds of the enemy,

and nearly every one of the devoted band perished in defence of their Inca. Huascar was made prisoner, and

the victorious chiefs marched at once on his capital, which they occupied in the name of their sovereign.11

These events occurred in the spring of 1532, a few months before the landing of the Spaniards. The tidings of

the success of his arms and the capture of his unfortunate brother reached Atahuallpa at Caxamalca. He

instantly gave orders that Huascar should be treated with the respect due to his rank, but that he should be

removed to the strong fortress of Xauxa, and held there in strict confinement. His orders did not stop

here,if we are to receive the accounts of Garcilasso de la Vega, himself of the Inca race, and by his

According to this authority, Atahuallpa invited the Inca nobles throughout the country to assemble at Cuzco

in order to deliberate on the best means of partitioning the empire between him and his brother. When they

had met in the capital, they were surrounded by the soldiery of Quito, and butchered without mercy. The

motive for this perfidious act was to exterminate the whole of the royal family, who might each one of them

show a better title to the crown than the illegitimate Atahuallpa. But the massacre did not end here. The

illegitimate offspring, like himself, halfbrothers of the monster, all, in short, who had any of the Inca blood

in their veins, were involved in it; and with an appetite for carnage unparalleled in the annals of the Roman

Empire or of the French Republic, Atahuallpa ordered all the females of the blood royal, his aunts, nieces,

and cousins, to be put to death, and that, too, with the most refined and lingering tortures. To give greater zest

to his revenge, many of the executions took place in the presence of Huascar himself, who was thus

compelled to witness the butchery of his own wives and sisters, while, in the extremity of anguish, they in

Such is the tale told by the historian of the Incas, and received by him, as he assures us, from his mother and

uncle, who, being children at the time, were so fortunate as to be among the few that escaped the massacre of

their house.13 And such is the account repeated by many a Castilian writer since, without any symptom of

distrust. But a tissue of unprovoked atrocities like these is too repugnant to the principles of human

nature,and, indeed, to common sense, to warrant our belief in them on ordinary testimony.

The annals of semicivilized nations unhappily show that there have been instances of similar attempts to

extinguish the whole of a noxious race, which had become the object of a tyrant's jealousy; though such an

attempt is about as chimerical as it would be to extirpate any particular species of plant, the seeds of which

had been borne on every wind over the country. But, if the attempt to exterminate the Inca race was actually

made by Atahuallpa, how comes it that so many of the pure descendants of the blood royalnearly six

hundred in numberare admitted by the historian to have been in existence seventy years after the imputed

massacre?14 Why was the massacre, instead of being limited to the legitimate members of the royal stock,

who could show a better title to the crown than the usurper, extended to all, however remotely, or in whatever

way, connected with the race? Why were aged women and young maidens involved in the proscription, and

why were they subjected to such refined and superfluous tortures, when it is obvious that beings so impotent

could have done nothing to provoke the jealousy of the tyrant? Why, when so many were sacrificed from

some vague apprehension of distant danger, was his rival Huascar, together with his younger brother Manco

Capac, the two men from whom the conqueror had most to fear, suffered to live? Why, in short, is the

wonderful tale not recorded by others before the time of Garcilasso, and nearer by half a century to the events

That Atahuallpa may have been guilty of excesses, and abused the rights of conquest by some gratuitous acts

of cruelty, may be readily believed; for no one, who calls to mind his treatment of the Canaris,which his

own apologists do not affect to deny,16will doubt that he had a full measure of the vindictive temper

But there is a wide difference between this and the monstrous and most unprovoked atrocities imputed to

him; implying a diabolical nature not to be admitted on the evidence of an Indian partisan, the sworn foe of

his house, and repeated by Castilian chroniclers, who may naturally seek, by blazoning the enormities of

Atahuallpa, to find some apology for the cruelty of their countrymen towards him.

The news of the great victory was borne on the wings of the wind to Caxamalca; and loud and long was the

rejoicing, not only in the camp of Atahuallpa, but in the town and surrounding country; for all now came in,

eager to offer their congratulations to the victor, and do him homage. The prince of Quito no longer hesitated

to assume the scarlet borla, the diadem of the Incas. His triumph was complete. He had beaten his enemies on

their own ground; had taken their capital; had set his foot on the neck of his rival, and won for himself the

ancient sceptre of the Children of the Sun. But the hour of triumph was destined to be that of his deepest

humiliation. Atahuallpa was not one of those to whom, in the language of the Grecian bard, "the Gods are

willing to reveal themselves." 17 He had not read the handwriting on the heavens. The small speck, which the

clearsighted eye of his father had discerned on the distant verge of the horizon, though little noticed by

Atahuallpa, intent on the deadly strife with his brother, had now risen high towards the zenith, spreading

wider and wider, till it wrapped the skies in darkness, and was ready to burst in thunders on the devoted

We left the Spaniards at the island of Puna, preparing to make their descent on the neighboring continent at

Tumbez. This port was but a few leagues distant, and Pizarro, with the greater part of his followers, passed

over in the ships, while a few others were to transport the commander's baggage and the military stores on

some of the Indian balsas. One of the latter vessels which first touched the shore was surrounded, and three

persons who were on the raft were carried off by the natives to the adjacent woods and there massacred. The

Indians then got possession of another of the balsas containing Pizarro's wardrobe; but, as the men who

defended it raised loud cries for help, they reached the ears of Hernando Pizarro, who, with a small body of

horse, had effected a landing some way farther down the shore. A broad tract of miry ground, overflowed at

high water, lay between him and the party thus rudely assailed by the natives. The tide was out, and the

bottom was soft and dangerous. With little regard to the danger, however, the bold cavalier spurred his horse

into the slimy depths, and followed by his men, with the mud up to their saddlegirths, they plunged forward

until they came into the midst of the marauders, who, terrified by the strange apparition of the horsemen, fled

This conduct of the natives of Tumbez is not easy to be explained; considering the friendly relations

maintained with the Spaniards on their preceding visit, and lately renewed in the island of Puna. But Pizarro

was still more astonished, on entering their town, to find it not only deserted, but, with the exception of a few

buildings, entirely demolished. Four or five of the most substantial private dwellings, the great temple, and

the fortressand these greatly damaged, and wholly despoiled of their interior decorationsalone survived

to mark the site of the city, and attest its former splendor.1 The scene of desolation filled the conquerors with

dismay; for even the raw recruits, who had never visited the coast before, had heard the marvellous stories of

the golden treasures of Tumbez, and they had confidently looked forward to them as an easy spoil after all

their fatigues. But the gold of Peru seemed only like a deceitful phantom, which, after beckoning them on

Pizarro despatched a small body of troops in pursuit of the fugitives; and, after some slight skirmishing, they

got possession of several of the natives, and among them, as it chanced, the curaca of the place. When

brought before the Spanish commander, he exonerated himself from any share in the violence offered to the

white men, saying that it was done by a lawless party of his people, without his knowledge at the time; and he

expressed his willingness to deliver them up to punishment, if they could be detected. He explained the

dilapidated condition of the town by the long wars carried on with the fierce tribes of Puna, who had at length

succeeded in getting possession of the place, and driving the inhabitants into the neighboring woods and

mountains. The Inca, to whose cause they were attached, was too much occupied with his own feuds to

Whether Pizarro gave any credit to the cacique's exculpation of himself may be doubted. He dissembled his

suspicions, however, and, as the Indian lord promised obedience in his own name, and that of his vassals, the

Spanish general consented to take no further notice of the affair. He seems now to have felt for the first time,

in its full force, that it was his policy to gain the goodwill of the people among whom he had thrown himself

in the face of such tremendous odds. It was, perhaps, the excesses of which his men had been guilty in the

earlier stages of the expedition that had shaken the confidence of the people of Tumbez, and incited them to

Pizarro inquired of the natives who now, under promise of impunity, came into the camp, what had become

of his two followers that remained with them in the former expedition. The answers they gave were obscure

and contradictory. Some said, they had died of an epidemic; others, that they had perished in the war with

Puna; and others intimated, that they had lost their lives in consequence of some outrage attempted on the

Indian women. It was impossible to arrive at the truth. The last account was not the least probable. But,

This intelligence spread an additional gloom over the Spaniards; which was not dispelled by the flaming

pictures now given by the natives of the riches of the land, and of the state and magnificence of the monarch

in his distant capital among the mountains. Nor did they credit the authenticity of a scroll of paper, which

Pizzaro had obtained from an Indian, to whom it had been delivered by one of the white men left in the

country. "Know, whoever you may be," said the writing, "that may chance to set foot in this country, that it

contains more gold and silver than there is iron in Biscay." This paper, when shown to the soldiers, excited

only their ridicule, as a device of their captain to keep alive their chimerical hopes.2

Pizarro now saw that it was not politic to protract his stay in his present quarters, where a spirit of

disaffection would soon creep into the ranks of his followers, unless their spirits were stimulated by novelty

or a life of incessant action. Yet he felt deeply anxious to obtain more particulars than he had hitherto

gathered of the actual condition of the Peruvian empire, of its strength and resources, of the monarch who

ruled over it, and of his present situation. He was also desirous, before taking any decisive step for

penetrating the country, to seek out some commodious place for a settlement, which might afford him the

means of a regular communication with the colonies, and a place of strength, on which he himself might

He decided, therefore, to leave part of his company at Tumbez, including those who, from the state of their

health, were least able to take the field, and with the remainder to make an excursion into the interior, and

reconnoitre the land, before deciding on any plan of operations. He set out early in May, 1532; and, keeping

along the more level regions himself, sent a small detachment under the command of Hernando de Soto to

He maintained a rigid discipline on the march, commanding his soldiers to abstain from all acts of violence,

and punishing disobedience in the most prompt and resolute manner.3 The natives rarely offered resistance.

When they did so, they were soon reduced, and Pizarro, far from vindictive measures, was open to the first

demonstrations of submission. By this lenient and liberal policy, he soon acquired a name among the

inhabitants which effaced the unfavorable impressions made of him in the earlier part of the campaign. The

natives, as he marched through the thicksettled hamlets which sprinkled the level region between the

Cordilleras and the ocean, welcomed him with rustic hospitality, providing good quarters for his troops, and

abundant supplies, which cost but little in the prolific soil of the tierra caliente. Everywhere Pizarro made

proclamation that he came in the name of the Holy Vicar of God and of the sovereign of Spain, requiring the

obedience of the inhabitants as true children of the Church, and vassals of his lord and master. And as the

simple people made no opposition to a formula, of which they could not comprehend a syllable, they were

admitted as good subjects of the Crown of Castile, and their act of homageor what was readily interpreted

At the expiration of some three or four weeks spent in reconnoitring the country, Pizarro came to the

conclusion that the most eligible site for his new settlement was in the rich valley of Tangarala, thirty leagues

south of Tumbez, traversed by more than one stream that opens a communication with the ocean. To this

spot, accordingly, he ordered the men left at Tumbez to repair at once in their vessels; and no sooner had they

arrived, than busy preparations were made for building up the town in a manner suited to the wants of the

colony. Timber was procured from the neighboring woods. Stones were dragged from their quarries, and

edifices gradually rose, some of which made pretensions to strength, if not to elegance. Among them were a

church, a magazine for public stores, a hall of justice, and a fortress. A municipal government was organized,

consisting of regidores, alcaldes, and the usual civic functionaries. The adjacent territory was parcelled out

among the residents, and each colonist had a certain number of the natives allotted to assist him in his labors;

for, as Pizarro's secretary remarks, "it being evident that the colonists could not support themselves without

the services of the Indians, the ecclesiastics and the leaders of the expedition all agreed that a repartimiento of

the natives would serve the cause of religion, and tend greatly to their spiritual welfare, since they would thus

Having made these arrangements with such conscientious regard to the welfare of the benighted heathen,

Pizarro gave his infant city the name of San Miguel, in acknowledgment of the service rendered him by that

saint in his battles with the Indians of Puna. The site originally occupied by the settlement was afterward

found to be so unhealthy, that it was abandoned for another on the banks of the beautiful Piura. The town is

still of some note for its manufactures, though dwindled from its ancient importance; but the name of San

Miguel de Piura, which it bears, still commemorates the foundation of the first European colony in the empire

Before quitting the new settlement, Pizarro caused the gold and silver ornaments which he had obtained in

different parts of the country to be melted down into one mass, and a fifth to be deducted for the Crown. The

remainder, which belonged to the troops, he persuaded them to relinquish for the present; under the assurance

of being repaid from the first spoils that fell into their hands.6 With these funds, and other articles collected in

the course of the campaign, he sent back the vessels to Panama. The gold was applied to paying off the

shipowners, and those who had furnished the stores for the expedition. That he should so easily have

persuaded his men to resign present possession for a future contingency is proof that the spirit of enterprise

was renewed in their bosoms in all its former vigor, and that they looked forward with the same buoyant

In his late tour of observation, the Spanish commander had gathered much important intelligence in regard to

the state of the kingdom. He had ascertained the result of the struggle between the Inca brothers, and that the

victor now lay with his army encamped at the distance of only ten or twelve days' journey from San Miguel.

The accounts he heard of the opulence and power of that monarch, and of his great southern capital, perfectly

corresponded with the general rumors before received; and contained, therefore, something to stagger the

Pizarro would gladly have seen his little army strengthened by reinforcements, however small the amount;

and on that account postponed his departure for several weeks. But no reinforcement arrived; and, as he

received no further tidings from his associates, he judged that longer delay would, probably, be attended with

evils greater than those to be encountered on the march; that discontents would inevitably spring up in a life

of inaction, and the strength and spirits of the soldier sink under the enervating influence of a tropical climate.

Yet the force at his command, amounting to less than two hundred soldiers in all, after reserving fifty for the

protection of the new settlement, seemed but a small one for the conquest of an empire. He might, indeed,

instead of marching against the Inca, take a southerly direction towards the rich capital of Cuzco. But this

would only be to postpone the hour of reckoning. For in what quarter of the empire could he hope to set his

foot, where the arm of its master would not reach him? By such a course, moreover, he would show his own

distrust of himself. He would shake that opinion of his invincible prowess, which he had hitherto endeavored

to impress on the natives, and which constituted a great secret of his strength; which, in short, held sterner

sway over the mind than the display of numbers and mere physical force. Worse than all, such a course would

impair the confidence of his troops in themselves and their reliance on himself. This would be to palsy the

But while Pizarro decided to march into the interior, it is doubtful whether he had formed any more definite

plan of action. We have no means of knowing his intentions, at this distance of time, otherwise than as they

are shown by his actions. Unfortunately, he could not write, and he has left no record, like the inestimable

Commentaries of Cortes, to enlighten us as to his motives. His secretary, and some of his companions in

arms, have recited his actions in detail; but the motives which led to them they were not always so competent

It is possible that the Spanish general, even so early as the period of his residence at San Miguel, may have

meditated some daring stroke, some effective coupdemain, which, like that of Cortes, when he carried off

the Aztec monarch to his quarters, might strike terror into the hearts of the people, and at once decide the

fortunes of the day. It is more probable, however, that he now only proposed to present himself before the

Inca, as the peaceful representative of a brother monarch, and, by these friendly demonstrations, disarm any

feeling of hostility, or even of suspicion. When once in communication with the Indian prince, he could

On the 24th of September, 1532, five months after landing at Tumbez, Pizarro marched out at the head of his

little body of adventurers from the gates of San Miguel, having enjoined it on the colonists to treat their

Indian vassals with humanity, and to conduct themselves in such a manner as would secure the goodwill of

the surrounding tribes. Their own existence, and with it the safety of the army and the success of the

undertaking, depended on this course. In the place were to remain the royal treasurer, the veedor, or inspector

of metals, and other officers of the crown; and the command of the garrison was intrusted to the contador,

Antonio Nayafro.7 Then putting himself at the head of his troops, the chief struck boldly into the heart of the

country in the direction where, as he was informed, lay the camp of the Inca. It was a daring enterprise, thus

to venture with a handful of followers into the heart of a powerful empire, to present himself, face to face,

before the Indian monarch in his own camp, encompassed by the flower of his victorious army! Pizarro had

already experienced more than once the difficulty of maintaining his ground against the rude tribes of the

north, so much inferior in strength and numbers to the warlike legions of Peru. But the hazard of the game, as

I have already more than once had occasion to remark, constituted its great charm with the Spaniard. The

brilliant achievements of his countrymen, on the like occasions, with means so inadequate, inspired him with

confidence in his own good star; and this confidence was one source of his success. Had he faltered for a

moment, had he stopped to calculate chances, he must inevitably have failed; for the odds were too great to

be combated by sober reason. They were only to be met triumphantly by the spirit of the knighterrant.

After crossing the smooth waters of the Piura, the little army continued to advance over a level district

intersected by streams that descended from the neighboring Cordilleras. The face of the country was shagged

over with forests of gigantic growth, and occasionally traversed by ridges of barren land, that seemed like

shoots of the adjacent Andes breaking up the surface of the region into little sequestered valleys of singular

loveliness. The soil, though rarely watered by the rains of heaven, was naturally rich, and wherever it was

refreshed with moisture, as on the margins of the streams, it was enamelled with the brightest verdure. The

industry of the inhabitants, moreover, had turned these streams to the best account, and canals and aqueducts

were seen crossing the low lands in all directions, and spreading over the country, like a vast network,

diffusing fertility and beauty around them. The air was scented with the sweet odors of flowers, and

everywhere the eye was refreshed by the sight of orchards laden with unknown fruits, and of fields waving

with yellow grain and rich in luscious vegetables of every description that teem in the sunny clime of the

equator. The Spaniards were among a people who had carried the refinements of husbandry to a greater

extent than any yet found on the American continent; and, as they journeyed through this paradise of plenty,

their condition formed a pleasing contrast to what they had before endured in the dreary wilderness of the

Everywhere, too, they were received with confiding hospitality by the simple people; for which they were no

doubt indebted, in a great measure, to their own inoffensive deportment. Every Spaniard seemed to be aware,

that his only chance of success lay in conciliating the good opinion of the inhabitants, among whom he had so

recklessly cast his fortunes. In most of the hamlets, and in every place of considerable size, some fortress was

to be found, or royal caravansary, destined for the Inca on his progresses, the ample halls of which furnished

abundant accommodations for the Spaniards; who were thus provided with quarters along their route at the

On the fifth day after leaving San Miguel, Pizarro halted in one of these delicious valleys, to give his troops

repose, and to make a more complete inspection of them. Their number amounted in all to one hundred and

seventyseven, of which sixtyseven were cavalry. He mustered only three arquebusiers in his whole

company, and a few crossbowmen, altogether not exceeding twenty.9 The troops were tolerably well

equipped, and in good condition. But the watchful eye of their commander noticed with uneasiness, that,

notwithstanding the general heartiness, in the cause manifested by his followers, there were some among

them whose countenances lowered with discontent, and who, although they did not give vent to it in open

He was aware, that, if this spirit became contagious, it would be the ruin of the enterprise; and he thought it

best to exterminate the gangrene; at once, and at whatever cost, than to wait until it had infected the whole

Calling his men together, he told them that "a crisis had now arrived in their affairs, which it demanded all

their courage to meet. No man should think of going forward in the expedition, who could not do so with his

whole heart, or who had the least misgiving as to its success. If any repented of his share in it, it was not too

late to turn back. San Miguel was but poorly garrisoned, and he should be glad to see it in greater strength.

Those who chose might return to this place, and they should be entitled to the same proportion of lands and

Indian vassals as the present residents. With the rest, were they few or many, who chose to take their chance

It was certainly a remarkable proposal for a commander, who was ignorant of the amount of disaffection in

his ranks, and who could not safely spare a single man from his force, already far too feeble for the

undertaking. Yet, by insisting on the wants of the little colony of San Miguel, he afforded a decent pretext for

the secession of the malecontents, and swept away the barrier of shame which might have still held them in

the camp. Notwithstanding the fair opening thus afforded, there were but few, nine in all, who availed

themselves of the general's permission. Four of these belonged to the infantry, and five to the horse. The rest

loudly declared their resolve to go forward with their brave leader; and, if there were some whose voices

were faint amidst the general acclamation, they, at least, relinquished the right of complaining hereafter, since

they had voluntarily rejected the permission to return.11 This stroke of policy in their sagacious captain was

attended with the best effects. He had winnowed out the few grains of discontent, which, if left to themselves,

might have fermented in secret till the whole mass had swelled into mutiny. Cortes had compelled his men to

go forward heartily in his enterprise, by burning their vessels, and thus cutting off the only means of retreat.

Pizarro, on the other hand, threw open the gates to the disaffected and facilitated their departure. Both judged

Feeling himself strengthened, instead of weakened, by his loss, Pizarro now resumed his march, and, on the

second day, arrived before a place called Zaran, situated in a fruitful valley among the mountains. Some of

the inhabitants had been drawn off to swell the levies of Atahuallpa. The Spaniards had repeated experience

on their march of the oppressive exactions of the Inca, who had almost depopulated some of the valleys to

obtain reinforcements for his army. The curaca of the Indian town where Pizarro now arrived, received him

with kindness and hospitality, and the troops were quartered as usual in one of the royal tambos or

Yet the Spaniards saw no signs of their approach to the royal encampment, though more time had already

elapsed than was originally allowed for reaching it. Shortly before entering Zaran, Pizarro had heard that a

Peruvian garrison was established in a place called Caxas, lying among the hills, at no great distance from his

present quarters. He immediately despatched a small party under Hernando de Soto in that direction, to

reconnoitre the ground, and bring him intelligence of the actual state of things, at Zaran, where he would halt

Day after day passed on, and a week had elapsed before tidings were received of his companions, and Pizarro

was becoming seriously alarmed for their fate, when on the eighth morning Soto appeared, bringing with him

an envoy from the Inca himself. He was a person of rank, and was attended by several followers of inferior

condition. He had met the Spaniards at Caxas, and now accompanied them on their return, to deliver his

sovereign's message, with a present to the Spanish commander. The present consisted of two fountains, made

of stone, in the form of fortresses; some fine stuffs of woollen embroidered with gold and silver; and a

quantity of gooseflesh, dried and seasoned in a peculiar manner, and much used as a perfume, in a

pulverized state, by the Peruvian nobles.13 The Indian ambassador came charged also with his master's

greeting to the strangers, whom Atahuallpa welcomed to his country, and invited to visit him in his camp

Pizarro well understood that the Inca's object in this diplomatic visit was less to do him courtesy, than to

inform himself of the strength and condition of the invaders. But he was well pleased with the embassy, and

dissembled his consciousness of its real purpose. He caused the Peruvian to be entertained in the best manner

the camp could afford, and paid hint the respect, says one of the Conquerors, due to the ambassador of so

great a monarch.15 Pizarro urged him to prolong his visit for some days, which the Indian envoy declined,

but made the most of his time while there, by gleaning all the information he could in respect to the uses of

every strange article which he saw, as well as the object of the white men's visit to the land, and the quarter

The Spanish captain satisfied his curiosity in all these particulars. The intercourse with the natives, it may be

here remarked, was maintained by means of two of the youths who had accompanied the Conquerors on their

return home from their preceding voyage. They had been taken by Pizarro to Spain, and, as much pains had

been bestowed on teaching them the Castilian, they now filled the office of interpreters, and opened an easy

communication with their countrymen. It was of inestimable service; and well did the Spanish commander

On the departure of the Peruvian messenger, Pizarro presented hint with a cap of crimson cloth, some cheap

but showy ornaments of glass, and other toys, which he had brought for the purpose from Castile. He charged

the envoy to tell his master, that the Spaniards came from a powerful prince, who dwelt far beyond the

waters; that they had heard much of the fame of Atahuallpa's victories, and were come to pay their respects to

him, and to offer their services by aiding him with their arms against his enemies; and he might be assured,

they would not halt on the road, longer than was necessary, before presenting themselves before him.

Pizarro now received from Soto a full account of his late expedition. That chief, on entering Caxas, found the

inhabitants mustered in hostile array, as if to dispute his passage. But the cavalier soon convinced them of his

pacific intentions, and, laying aside their menacing attitude, they received the Spaniards with the same

Here Soto found one of the royal officers, employed in collecting the tribute for the government. From this

functionary he learned that the Inca was quartered with a large army at Caxamalca, a place of considerable

size on the other side of the Cordillera, where he was enjoying the luxury of the warm baths, supplied by

natural springs, for which it was then famous, as it is at the present day. The cavalier gathered, also, much

important information in regard to the resources and the general policy of government, the state maintained

by the Inca, and the stern severity with which obedience to the law was everywhere enforced. He had some

opportunity of observing this for himself, as, on entering the village, he saw several Indians hanging dead by

their heels, having been executed for some violence offered to the Virgins of the Sun, of whom there was a

From Caxas, De Soto had passed to the adjacent town of Guancabamba, much larger, more populous, and

better built than the preceding. The houses, instead of being made of clay baked in the sun, were many of

them constructed of solid stone, so nicely put together, that it was impossible to detect the line of junction. A

river, which passed through the town, was traversed by a bridge, and the high road of the Incas, which

crossed this district, was far superior to that which the Spaniards had seen on the seaboard. It was raised in

many places, like a causeway, paved with heavy stone flags, and bordered by trees that afforded a grateful

shade to the passenger, while streams of water were conducted through aqueducts along the sides to slake his

thirst. At certain distances, also, they noticed small houses, which, they were told, were for the

accommodation of the traveller, who might thus pass, without inconvenience, from one end of the kingdom

to the other.18 In another quarter they beheld one of those magazines destined for the army, filled with grain,

and with articles of clothing; and at the entrance of the town was a stone building, occupied by a public

officer, whose business it was to collect the toils or duties on various commodities brought into the place, or

carried out of it.19 These accounts of De Soto not only confirmed all that the Spaniards had heard of the

Indian empire, but greatly raised their ideas of its resources and domestic policy. They might well have

Pizarro, before leaving his present quarters, despatched a messenger to San Miguel with particulars of his

movements, sending, at the same time, the articles received from the Inca, as well as those obtained at

different places on the route. The skill shown in the execution of some of these fabrics excited great

admiration, when sent to Castile. The fine woollen cloths, especially, with their rich embroidery, were

pronounced equal to silk, from which it was not easy to distinguish them. It was probably the delicate wool of

Pizarro, having now acquainted himself with the most direct route to Caxamalca,the Caxamarca of the

present day,resumed his march, taking a direction nearly south. The first place of any size at which he

halted was Motupe, pleasantly situated in a fruitful valley, among hills of no great elevation, which cluster

round the base of the Cordilleras. The place was deserted by its curaca, who, with three hundred of its

warriors, had gone to join the standard of their Inca. Here the general, notwithstanding his avowed purpose to

push forward without delay, halted four days. The tardiness of his movements can be explained only by the

hope, which he may have still entertained of being joined by further reinforcements before crossing the

Cordilleras. None such appeared, however; and advancing across a country in which tracts of sandy plain

were occasionally relieved by a broad expanse of verdant meadow, watered by natural streams and still more

abundantly by those brought through artificial channels, the troops at length arrived at the borders of a river.

It was broad and deep, and the rapidity of the current opposed more than ordinary difficulty to the passage.

Pizarro, apprehensive lest this might be disputed by the natives on the opposite bank, ordered his brother

Hernando to cross over with a small detachement under cover of night, and secure a safe landing for the rest

of the troops. At break of day Pizarro made preparations for his own passage, by hewing timber in the

neighboring woods, and constructing a sort of floating bridge, on which before nightfall the whole company

passed in safety, the horses swimming, being led by the bridle. It was a day of severe labor, and Pizarro took

his own share in it freely, like a common soldier, having ever a word of encouragement to say to his

On reaching the opposite side, they learned from their comrades that the people of the country, instead of

offering resistance, had fled in dismay. One of them, having been taken and brought before Hernando

Pizarro, refused to answer the questions put to him respecting the Inca and his army; till, being put to the

torture, he stated that Atahuallpa was encamped, with his whole force, in three separate divisions, occupying

the high grounds and plains of Caxamalca. He further stated, that the Inca was aware of the approach of the

white men and of their small number, and that he was purposely decoying them into his own quarters, that he

This account, when reported by Hernando to his brother, caused the latter much anxiety. As the timidity of

the peasantry, however, gradually wore off, some of them mingled with the troops, and among them the

curaca or principal person of the village. He had himself visited the royal camp, and he informed the general

that Atahuallpa lay at the strong town of Guamachucho, twenty leagues or more south of Caxamalca, with an

These contradictory statements greatly perplexed the chieftain; and he proposed to one of the Indians who

had borne him company during a great part of the march, to go as a spy into the Inca's quarters, and bring him

intelligence of his actual position, and, as far as he could learn them, of his intentions towards the Spaniards.

But the man positively declined this dangerous service, though he professed his willingness to go as an

Pizarro acquiesced in this proposal, and instructed his envoy to assure the Inca that he was advancing with all

convenient speed to meet him. He was to acquaint the monarch with the uniformly considerate conduct of the

Spaniards towards his subjects, in their progress through the land, and to assure him that they were now

coming in full confidence of finding in him the same amicable feelings towards themselves. The emissary

was particularly instructed to observe if the strong passes on the road were defended, or if any preparations of

a hostile character were to be discerned. This last intelligence he was to communicate to the general by means

of two or three nimblefooted attendants, who were to accompany him on his mission.21

Having taken this precaution, the wary commander again resumed his march, and at the end of three days

reached the base of the mountain rampart, behind which lay the ancient town of Caxamalca. Before him rose

the stupendous Andes, rock piled upon rock, their skirts below dark with evergreen forests, varied here and

there by terraced patches of cultivated garden, with the peasant's cottage clinging to their shaggy sides, and

their crests of snow glittering high in the heavens,presenting altogether such a wild chaos of magnificence

and beauty as no other mountain scenery in the world can show. Across this tremendous rampart, through a

labyrinth of passes, easily capable of defence by a handful of men against an army, the troops were now to

march. To the right ran a broad and level road, with its border of friendly shades, and wide enough for two

carriages to pass abreast. It was one of the great routes leading to Cuzco, and seemed by its pleasant and easy

access to invite the wayworn soldier to choose it in preference to the dangerous mountain defiles. Many were

accordingly of opinion that the army should take this course, and abandon the original destination to

The Spaniards had everywhere proclaimed their purpose, he said, to visit the Inca in his camp. This purpose

had been communicated to the Inca himself. To take an opposite direction now would only be to draw on

them the imputation of cowardice, and to incur Atahuallpa's contempt. No alternative remained but to march

straight across the sierra to his quarters "Let every one of you," said the bold cavalier, "take heart and go

forward like a good soldier, nothing daunted by the smallness of your numbers. For in the greatest extremity

God ever fights for his own; and doubt not he will humble the pride of the heathen, and bring him to the

Pizarro, like Cortes, possessed a good share of that frank and manly eloquence which touches the heart of the

soldier more than the parade of rhetoric or the finest flow of elocution. He was a soldier himself, and partook

in all the feelings of the soldier, his joys, his hopes, and his disappointments. He was not raised by rank and

education above sympathy with the humblest of his followers. Every chord in their bosoms vibrated with the

same pulsations as his own, and the conviction of this gave him a mastery over them. "Lead on," they

shouted, as he finished his brief but animating address, "lead on wherever you think best. We will follow with

goodwill, and you shall see that we can do our duty in the cause of God and the King!" 23 There was no

longer hesitation. All thoughts were now bent on the instant passage of the Cordilleras.

That night Pizarro held a council of his principal officers, and it was determined that he should lead the

advance, consisting of forty horse and sixty foot, and reconnoitre the ground; while the rest of the company,

under his brother Hernando, should occupy their present position till they received further orders.

At early dawn the Spanish general and his detachment were under arms, and prepared to breast the

difficulties of the sierra. These proved even greater than had been foreseen. The path had been conducted in

the most judicious manner round the rugged and precipitous sides of the mountains, so as best to avoid the

natural impediments presented by the ground. But it was necessarily so steep, in many places, that the cavalry

were obliged to dismount, and, scrambling up as they could, to lead their horses by the bridle. In many

places, too, where some huge crag or eminence overhung the road, this was driven to the very verge of the

precipice; and the traveller was compelled to wind along the narrow ledge of rock, scarcely wide enough for

his single steed, where a misstep would precipitate him hundreds, nay, thousands, of feet into the dreadful

abyss! The wild passes of the sierra, practicable for the halfnaked Indian, and even for the sure and

circumspect mule,an animal that seems to have been created for the roads of the Cordilleras,were

formidable to the manatarms encumbered with his panoply of mail. The tremendous fissures or quebradas,

so frightful in this mountain chain, yawned open, as if the Andes had been split asunder by some terrible

convulsion, showing a broad expanse of the primitive rock on their sides, partially mantled over with the

spontaneous vegetation of ages; while their obscure depths furnished a channel for the torrents, that, rising in

the heart of the sierra, worked their way gradually into light, and spread over the savannas and green valleys

Many of these passes afforded obvious points of defence; and the Spaniards, as they entered the rocky defiles,

looked with apprehension lest they might rouse some foe from his ambush. This apprehension was

heightened, as, at the summit of a steep and narrow gorge, in which they were engaged, they beheld a strong

work, rising like a fortress, and frowning, as it were, in gloomy defiance on the invaders. As they drew near

this building, which was of solid stone, commanding an angle of the road, they almost expected to see the

dusky forms of the warriors rise over the battlements, and to receive their tempest of missiles on their

bucklers; for it was in so strong a position, that a few resolute men might easily have held there an army at

bay. But they had the satisfaction to find the place untenanted, and their spirits were greatly raised by the

conviction that the Indian monarch did not intend to dispute their passage, when it would have been easy to

Pizarro now sent orders to his brother to follow without delay; and, after refreshing his men, continued his

toilsome ascent, and before nightfall reached an eminence crowned by another fortress, of even greater

strength than the preceding. It was built of solid masonry, the lower part excavated from the living rock, and

the whole work executed with skill not inferior to that of the European architect.1

Here Pizarro took up his quarters for the night. Without waiting for the arrival of the rear, on the following

morning he resumed his march, leading still deeper into the intricate gorges of the sierra. The climate had

gradually changed, and the men and horses, especially the latter, suffered severely from the cold, so long

accustomed as they had been to the sultry climate of the tropics.2 The vegetation also had changed its

character; and the magnificent timber which covered the lower level of the country had gradually given way

to the funereal forest of pine, and, as they rose still higher, to the stunted growth of numberless Alpine plants,

whose hardy natures found a congenial temperature in the icy atmosphere of the more elevated regions. These

dreary solitudes seemed to be nearly abandoned by the brute creation as well as by man. The lightlooted

vicuna, roaming in its native state, might be sometimes seen looking down from some airy cliff, where the

foot of the hunter dared not venture. But instead of the feathered tribes whose gay plumage sparkled in the

deep glooms of the tropical forests, the adventurers now beheld only the great bird of the Andes, the

loathsome condor, who, sailing high above the clouds, followed with doleful cries in the track of the army, as

At length they reached the crest of the Cordillera, where it spreads out into a bold and bleak expanse, with

scarce the vestige of vegetation, except what is afforded by the pajonal, a dried yellow grass, which, as it is

seen from below, encircling the base of the snowcovered peaks, looks, with its brilliant strawcolor lighted

up in the rays of an ardent sun, like a setting of gold round pinnacles of burnished silver. The land was sterile,

as usual in mining districts, and they were drawing near the once famous gold quarries on the way to

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

Here Pizarro halted for the coming up of the rear. The air was sharp and frosty; and the soldiers, spreading

their tents, lighted fires, and, huddling round them, endeavored to find some repose after their laborious

They had not been long in these quarters, when a messenger arrived, one of those who had accompanied the

Indian envoy sent by Pizarro to Atahuallpa. He informed the general that the road was free from enemies, and

that an embassy from the Inca was on its way to the Castilian camp. Pizarro now sent back to quicken the

march of the rear, as he was unwilling that the Peruvian envoy should find him with his present diminished

numbers. The rest of the army were not far distant, and not long after reached the encampment.

In a short time the Indian embassy also arrived, which consisted of one of the Inca nobles and several

attendants, bringing a welcome present of llamas to the Spanish commander. The Peruvian bore, also, the

greetings of his master, who wished to know when the Spaniards would arrive at Caxamalca, that he might

provide suitable refreshments for them. Pizarro learned that the Inca had left Guamachucho, and was now

lying with a small force in the neighborhood of Caxamalca, at a place celebrated for its natural springs of

warm water. The Peruvian was an intelligent person, and the Spanish commander gathered from him many

As the envoy vaunted in lofty terms the military prowess and resources of his sovereign, Pizarro thought it

politic to show that it had no power to overawe him. He expressed his satisfaction at the triumphs of

Atahuallpa, who, he acknowledged, had raised himself high in the rank of Indian warriors. But he was as

inferior, he added with more policy than politeness, to the monarch who ruled over the white men, as the

petty curacas of the country were inferior to him. This was evident from the ease with which a few Spaniards

had overrun this great continent, subduing one nation after another, that had offered resistance to their arms.

He had been led by the fame of Atahuallpa to visit his dominions, and to offer him his services in his wars;

and, if he were received by the Inca in the same friendly spirit with which he came, he was willing, for the aid

he could render him, to postpone awhile his passage across the country to the opposite seas. The Indian,

according to the Castilian accounts, listened with awe to this strain of glorification from the Spanish

commander. Yet it is possible that the envoy was a better diplomatist than they imagined; and that he

understood it was only the game of brag at which he was playing with his more civilized antagonist.4

On the succeeding morning, at an early hour, the troops were again on their march, and for two days were

occupied in threading the airy defiles of the Cordilleras. Soon after beginning their descent on the eastern

side, another emissary arrived from the Inca, bearing a message of similar import to the preceding, and a

present, in like manner, of Peruvian sheep. This was the same noble that had visited Pizarro in the valley. He

now came in more state, quaffing chichathe fermented juice of the maizefrom golden goblets borne by

While he was in the camp, the Indian messenger, originally sent by Pizarro to the Inca, returned, and no

sooner did he behold the Peruvian, and the honorable reception which he met with from the Spaniards, than

he was filled with wrath, which would have vented itself in personal violence, but for the interposition of the

bystanders. It was hard, he said, that this Peruvian dog should be thus courteously treated, when he himself

had nearly lost his life on a similar mission among his countrymen. On reaching the Inca's camp, he had been

refused admission to his presence, on the ground that he was keeping a fast and could not be seen. They had

paid no respect to his assertion that he came as an envoy from the white men, and would, probably, not have

suffered him to escape with life, if he had not assured them that any violence offered to him would be

retaliated in full measure on the persons of the Peruvian envoys, now in the Spanish quarters. There was no

doubt, he continued of the hostile intentions of Atahuallpa; for he was surrounded with a powerful army,

strongly encamped about a league from Caxamalca, while that city was entirely evacuated by its inhabitants.

To all this the Inca's envoy coolly replied, that Pizarro's messenger might have reckoned on such a reception

as he had found, since he seemed to have taken with him no credentials of his mission. As to the Inca's fast,

that was true; and, although he would doubtless have seen the messenger, had he known there was one from

the strangers, yet it was not safe to disturb him at these solemn seasons, when engaged in his religious duties.

The troops by whom he was surrounded were not numerous, considering that the Inca was at that time

carrying on an important war; and as to Caxamalca, it was abandoned by the inhabitants in order to make

This explanation, however plausible, did not altogether satisfy the general; for he had too deep a conviction

of the cunning of Atahuallpa, whose intentions towards the Spaniards he had long greatly distrusted As he

proposed, however, to keep on friendly relations with the monarch for the present, it was obviously not his

cue to manifest suspicion. Affecting, therefore, to give full credit to the explanation of the envoy, he

dismissed him with reiterated assurances of speedily presenting himself before the Inca.

The descent of the sierra, though the Andes are less precipitous on their eastern side than towards the west,

was attended with difficulties almost equal to those of the upward march; and the Spaniards felt no little

satisfaction, when, on the seventh day, they arrived in view of the valley of Caxamalca, which, enamelled

with all the beauties of cultivation, lay unrolled like a rich and variegated carpet of verdure, in strong contrast

with the dark forms of the Andes, that rose up everywhere around it. The valley is of an oval shape, extending

about five leagues in length by three in breadth. It was inhabited by a population of a superior character to

any which the Spaniards had met on the other side of the mountains, as was argued by the superior style of

their attire, and the greater cleanliness and comfort visible both in their persons and dwellings.7 As far as the

eye could reach, the level tract exhibited the show of a diligent and thrifty husbandry. A broad river rolled

through the meadows, supplying facilities for copious irrigation by means of the usual canals and

subterraneous aqueducts. The land, intersected by verdant hedge rows, was checkered with patches of

various cultivation; for the soil was rich, and the climate, if less stimulating than that of the sultry regions of

the coast, was more favorable to the hardy products of the temperate latitudes. Below the adventurers, with its

white houses glittering in the sun, lay the little city of Caxamalca, like a sparkling gem on the dark skirts of

the sierra. At the distance of about a league farther, across the valley, might be seen columns of vapor rising

up towards the heavens, indicating the place of the famous hot baths, much frequented by the Peruvian

princes. And here, too, was a spectacle less grateful to the eyes of the Spaniards; for along the slope of the

hills a white cloud of pavilions was seen covering the ground, as thick as snowflakes, for the space,

apparently, of several miles. "It filled us all with amazement," exclaims one of the Conquerors, "to behold the

Indians occupying so proud a position! So many tents, so well appointed, as were never seen in the Indies till

now! The spectacle caused something like confusion and even fear in the stoutest bosom. But it was too late

to turn back, or to betray the least sign of weakness, since the natives in our own company would, in such

case, have been the first to rise upon us. So, with as bold a countenance as we could, after coolly surveying

What were the feelings of the Peruvian monarch we are not informed, when he gazed on the martial

cavalcade of the Christians, as, with banners streaming, and bright panoplies glistening in the rays of the

evening sun, it emerged from the dark depths of the sierra, and advanced in hostile array over the fair domain,

which, to this period, had never been trodden by other foot than that of the red man. It might be, as several of

the reports had stated, that the Inca had purposely decoyed the adventurers into the heart of his populous

empire, that he might envelope them with his legions, and the more easily become master of their property

and persons.9 Or was it from a natural feeling of curiosity, and relying on their professions of friendship, that

he had thus allowed them, without any attempt at resistance, to come into his presence? At all events, he

could hardly have felt such confidence in himself, as not to look with apprehension, mingled with awe, on the

mysterious strangers, who, coming from an unknown world, and possessed of such wonderful gifts, had made

their way across mountain and valley, in spite of every obstacle which man and nature had opposed to them.

Pizarro, meanwhile, forming his little corps into three divisions, now moved forward, at a more measured

pace, and in order of battle, down the slopes that led towards the Indian city. As he drew near, no one came

out to welcome him; and he rode through the streets without meeting with a living thing, or hearing a sound,

except the echoes, sent back from the deserted dwellings, of the tramp of the soldiery.

It was a place of considerable size, containing about ten thousand inhabitants, somewhat more, probably, than

the population assembled at this day within the walls of the modern city of Caxamalca.10 The houses, for the

most part, were built of clay, hardened in the sun; the roofs thatched, or of timber. Some of the more

ambitious dwellings were of hewn stone; and there was a convent in the place, occupied by the Virgins of the

Sun, and a temple dedicated to the same tutelar deity, which last was hidden in the deep embowering shades

of a grove on the skirts of the city. On the quarter towards the Indian camp was a square if square it might

be called, which was almost triangular in formof an immense size, surrounded by low buildings. These

consisted of capacious halls, with wide doors or openings communicating with the square. They were

probably intended as a sort of barracks for the Inca's soldiers.11 At the end of the plaza, looking towards the

country, was a fortress of stones with a stairway leading from the city, and a private entrance from the

adjoining suburbs. There was still another fortress on the rising ground which commanded the town, built of

hewn stone, and encompassed by three circular walls,or rather one and the same wall, which wound up

spirally around it. It was a place of great strength, and the workmanship showed a better knowledge of

masonry, and gave a higher impression of the architectural science of the people, than anything the Spaniards

It was late in the afternoon of the fifteenth of November, 1532, when the Conquerors entered the city of

Caxamalca. The weather, which had been fair during the day, now threatened a storm, and some rain mingled

with hailfor it was unusually coldbegan to fall.13 Pizarro, however, was so anxious to ascertain the

dispositions of the Inca, that he determined to send an embassy, at once, to his quarters. He selected for this,

Hernando de Soto with fifteen horse, and, after his departure, conceiving that the number was too small, in

case of any unfriendly demonstrations by the Indians, he ordered his brother Hernando to follow with twenty

additional troopers. This captain and one other of his party have left us an account of the excursion.14

Between the city and the imperial camp was a causeway, built in a substantial manner across the meadow

land that intervened. Over this the cavalry galloped at a rapid pace, and, before they had gone a league, they

came in front of the Peruvian encampment, where it spread along the gentle slope of the mountains. The

lances of the warriors were fixed in the ground before their tents, and the Indian soldiers were loitering

without, gazing with silent astonishment at the Christian cavalcade, as with clangor of arms and shrill blast of

The party soon came to a broad but shallow stream, which, winding through the meadow, formed a defence

for the Inca's position. Across it was a wooden bridge; but the cavaliers, distrusting its strength, preferred to

dash through the waters, and without difficulty gained the opposite bank. At battalion of Indian warriors was

drawn up under arms on the farther side of the bridge, but they offered no molestation to the Spaniards; and

these latter had strict orders from Pizarroscarcely necessary in their present circumstancesto treat the

natives with courtesy. One of the Indians pointed out the quarter occupied by the Inca.15

It was an open courtyard, with a light building or pleasurehouse in the centre, having galleries running

around it, and opening in the rear on a garden. The walls were covered with a shining plaster, both white and

colored, and in the area before the edifice was seen a spacious tank or reservoir of stone, fed by aqueducts

that supplied it with both warm and cold water.16 A basin of hewn stoneit may be of a more recent

constructionstill bears, on the spot, the name of the "Inca's bath." 17 The court was filled with Indian

nobles, dressed in gayly ornamented attire, in attendance on the monarch, and with women of the royal

household. Amidst this assembly it was not difficult to distinguish the person of Atahuallpa, though his dress

was simpler than that of his attendants. But he wore on his head the crimson borla or fringe, which,

surrounding the forehead, hung down as low as the eyebrow. This was the wellknown badge of Peruvian

sovereignty, and had been assumed by the monarch only since the defeat of his brother Huascar. He was

seated on a low stool or cushion, somewhat after the Morisco or Turkish fashion, and his nobles and principal

officers stood around him, with great ceremony, holding the stations suited to their rank.18

The Spaniards gazed with much interest on the prince, of whose cruelty and cunning they had heard so much,

and whose valor had secured to him the possession of the empire. But his countenance exhibited neither the

fierce passions nor the sagacity which had been ascribed to him; and, though in his bearing he showed a

gravity and a calm consciousness of authority well becoming a king, he seemed to discharge all expression

from his features, and to discover only the apathy so characteristic of the American races. On the present

occasion, this must have been in part, at least, assumed. For it is impossible that the Indian prince should not

have contemplated with curious interest a spectacle so strange, and, in some respects, appalling, as that of

these mysterious strangers, for which no previous description could have prepared him.

Hernando Pizarro and Soto, with two or three only of their followers, slowly rode up in front of the Inca; and

the former, making a respectful obeisance, but without dismounting, informed Atahuallpa that he came as an

ambassador from his brother, the commander of the white men, to acquaint the monarch with their arrival in

his city of Caxamalca. They were the subjects of a mighty prince across the waters, and had come, he said,

drawn thither by the report of his great victories, to offer their services, and to impart to him the doctrines of

the true faith which they professed; and he brought an invitation from the general to Atahuallpa that the latter

To all this the Inca answered not a word; nor did he make even a sign of acknowledgment that he

comprehended it; though it was translated for him by Felipillo, one of the interpreters already noticed. He

remained silent, with his eyes fastened on the ground; but one of his nobles, standing by his side, answered,

"It is well." 19 This was an embarrassing situation for the Spaniards, who seemed to be as wide from

ascertaining the real disposition of the Peruvian monarch towards themselves, as when the mountains were

In a courteous and respectful manner, Hernando Pizarro again broke the silence by requesting the Inca to

speak to them himself, and to inform them what was his pleasure.20 To this Atahuallpa condescended to

reply, while a faint smile passed over his features,"Tell your captain that I am keeping a fast, which will

end tomorrow morning. I will then visit him, with my chieftains. In the meantime, let him occupy the public

buildings on the square, and no other, till I come, when I will order what shall be done." 21

Soto, one of the party present at this interview, as before noticed, was the best mounted and perhaps the best

rider in Pizarro's troop. Observing that Atahuallpa looked with some interest on the fiery steed that stood

before him, champing the bit and pawing the ground with the natural impatience of a warhorse, the Spaniard

gave him the rein, and, striking his iron heel into his side, dashed furiously over the plain; then, wheeling him

round and round, displayed all the beautiful movements of his charger, and his own excellent horsemanship.

Suddenly checking him in full career, he brought the animal almost on his haunches, so near the person of the

Inca, that some of the foam that flecked his horse's sides was thrown on the royal garments. But Atahuallpa

maintained the same marble composure as before, though several of his soldiers, whom De Soto passed in the

course, were so much disconcerted by it, that they drew back in manifest terror; an act of timidity for which

they paid dearly, if, as the Spaniards assert, Atahuallpa caused them to be put to death that same evening for

Refreshments were now offered by the royal attendants to the Spaniards, which they declined, being

unwilling to dismount. They did not refuse, however, to quaff the sparkling chicha from golden vases of

extraordinary size, presented to them by the darkeyed beauties of the harem.23 Taking then a respectful

leave of the Inca, the cavaliers rode back to Caxamalca, with many moody speculations on what they had

seen; on the state and opulence of the Indian monarch; on the strength of his military array, their excellent

appointments, and the apparent discipline in their ranks,all arguing a much higher degree of civilization,

and consequently of power, than anything they had witnessed in the lower regions of the country. As they

contrasted all this with their own diminutive force, too far advanced, as they now were, for succour to reach

them, they felt they had done rashly in throwing themselves into the midst of so formidable an empire, and

were filled with gloomy forebodings of the result.24 Their comrades in the camp soon caught the infectious

spirit of despondency, which was not lessened as night came on, and they beheld the watchfires of the

Peruvians lighting up the sides of the mountains, and glittering in the darkness, "as thick," says one who saw

Yet there was one bosom in that little host which was not touched with the feeling either of fear or dejection.

That was Pizarro's, who secretly rejoiced that he had now brought matters to the issue for which he had so

long panted. He saw the necessity of kindling a similar feeling in his followers, or all would be lost. Without

unfolding his plans, he went round among his men, beseeching them not to show faint hearts at this crisis,

when they stood face to face with the foe whom they had been so long seeking. "They were to rely on

themselves, and on that Providence which had carried them safe through so many fearful trials. It would not

now desert them; and if numbers, however great, were on the side of their enemy, it mattered little when the

arm of Heaven was on theirs." 26 The Spanish cavalier acted under the combined influence of chivalrous

adventure and religious zeal. The latter was the most effective in the hour of peril; and Pizarro, who

understood well the characters he had to deal with, by presenting the enterprise as a crusade, kindled the

dying embers of enthusiasm in the bosoms of his followers, and restored their faltering courage.

He then summoned a council of his officers, to consider the plan of operations, or rather to propose to them

the extraordinary plan on which he had himself decided. This was to lay an ambuscade for the Inca, and take

him prisoner in the face of his whole army! It was a project full of peril,bordering, as it might well seem,

on desperation. But the circumstances of the Spaniards were desperate. Whichever way they turned, they

were menaced by the most appalling dangers; and better was it bravely to confront the danger, than weakly to

To fly was now too late. Whither could they fly? At the first signal of retreat, the whole army of the Inca

would be upon them. Their movements would be anticipated by a foe far better acquainted with the

intricacies of the sierra than themselves; the passes would be occupied, and they would be hemmed in on all

sides; while the mere fact of this retrograde movement would diminish the confidence and with it the

Yet to remain long inactive in his present position seemed almost equally perilous. Even supposing that

Atahuallpa should entertain friendly feelings towards the Christians, they could not confide in the

continuance of such feelings. Familiarity with the white men would soon destroy the idea of anything

supernatural, or even superior, in their natures. He would feel contempt for their diminutive numbers. Their

horses, their arms and showy appointments, would be an attractive bait in the eye of the barbaric monarch,

and when conscious that he had the power to crush their possessors, he would not be slow in finding a pretext

for it. A sufficient one had already occurred in the highhanded measures of the Conquerors, on their march

But what reason had they to flatter themselves that the Inca cherished such a disposition towards them? He

was a crafty and unscrupulous prince, and, if the accounts they had repeatedly received on their march were

true, had ever regarded the coming of the Spaniards with an evil eye. It was scarcely possible he should do

otherwise. His soft messages had only been intended to decoy them across the mountains, where, with the aid

of his warriors, he might readily overpower them. They were entangled in the toils which the cunning

Their only remedy, then, was to turn the Inca's arts against himself; to take him, if possible, in his own snare.

There was no time to be lost; for any day might bring back the victorious legions who had recently won his

battles at the south, and thus make the odds against the Spaniards far greater than now.

Yet to encounter Atahuallpa in the open field would be attended with great hazard; and even if victorious,

there would be little probability that the person of the Inca, of so much importance, would fall into the hands

of the victors. The invitation he had so unsuspiciously accepted to visit them in their quarters afforded the

best means for securing this desirable prize. Nor was the enterprise so desperate, considering the great

advantages afforded by the character and weapons of the invaders, and the unexpectedness of the assault. The

mere circumstance of acting on a concerted plan would alone make a small number more than a match for a

much larger one. But it was not necessary to admit the whole of the Indian force into the city before the

attack; and the person of the Inca once secured, his followers, astounded by so strange an event, were they

few or many, would have no heart for further resistance;and with the Inca once in his power, Pizarro might

In this daring project of the Spanish chief, it was easy to see that he had the brilliant exploit of Cortes in his

mind, when he carried off the Aztec monarch in his capital. But that was not by violence,at least not by

open violence,and it received the sanction, compulsory though it were, of the monarch himself. It was also

true that the results in that case did not altogether justify a repetition of the experiment; since the people rose

in a body to sacrifice both the prince and his kidnappers. Yet this was owing, in part, at least, to the

indiscretion of the latter. The experiment in the outset was perfectly successful; and, could Pizarro once

become master of the person of Atahuallpa, he trusted to his own discretion for the rest. It would, at least,

extricate him from his present critical position, by placing in his power an inestimable guaranty for his safety;

and if he could not make his own terms with the Inca at once, the arrival of reinforcements from home would,

Pizarro having concerted his plans for the following day, the council broke up, and the chief occupied himself

with providing for the security of the camp during the night. The approaches to the town were defended;

sentinels were posted at different points, especially on the summit of the fortress, where they were to observe

the position of the enemy, and to report any movement that menaced the tranquillity of the night. After these

precautions, the Spanish commander and his followers withdrew to their appointed quarters,but not to

sleep. At least, sleep must have come late to those who were aware of the decisive plan for the morrow; that

morrow which was to be the crisis of their fate,to crown their ambitious schemes with full success, or

The clouds of the evening had passed away, and the sun rose bright on the following morning, the most

memorable epoch in the annals of Peru. It was Saturday, the sixteenth of November, 1532. The loud cry of

the trumpet called the Spaniards to arms with the first streak of dawn; and Pizarro, briefly acquainting them

The plaza, as mentioned in the preceding chapter, was defended on its three sides by low ranges of buildings,

consisting of spacious halls with wide doors or vomitories opening into the square. In these halls he stationed

his cavalry in two divisions, one under his brother Hernando, the other under De Soto. The infantry he placed

in another of the buildings, reserving twenty chosen men to act with himself as occasion might require. Pedro

de Candia, with a few soldiers and the artillery, comprehending under this imposing name two small

pieces of ordnance, called falconers,he established in the fortress. All received orders to wait at their

posts till the arrival of the Inca. After his entrance into the great square, they were still to remain under cover,

withdrawn from observation, till the signal was given by the discharge of a gun, when they were to cry their

warcries, to rush out in a body from their covert, and, putting the Peruvians to the sword, bear off the person

of the Inca. The arrangement of the immense hails, opening on a level with the plaza, seemed to be contrived

on purpose for a coup de theatre. Pizarro particularly inculcated order and implicit obedience, that in the

hurry of the moment there should be no confusion. Everything depended on their acting with concert,

The chief next saw that their arms were in good order; and that the breastplates of their horses were garnished

with bells, to add by their noise to the consternation of the Indians. Refreshments were, also, liberally

provided, that the troops should be in condition for the conflict. These arrangements being completed, mass

was performed with great solemnity by the ecclesiastics who attended the expedition; the God of battles was

invoked to spread his shield over the soldiers who were fighting to extend the empire of the Cross; and all

joined with enthusiasm in the chant, "Exsurge, Domine," "Rise, O Lord! and judge thine own cause."2 One

might have supposed them a company of martyrs, about to lay down their lives in defence of their faith,

instead of a licentious band of adventurers, meditating one of the most atrocious acts of perfidy on the record

of history! Yet, whatever were the vices of the Castilian cavalier, hypocrisy was not among the number. He

felt that he was battling for the Cross, and under this conviction, exalted as it was at such a moment as this

into the predominant impulse, he was blind to the baser motives which mingled with the enterprise. With

feelings thus kindled to a flame of religious ardor, the soldiers of Pizarro looked forward with renovated

spirits to the coming conflict; and the chieftain saw with satisfaction, that in the hour of trial his men would

It was late in the day before any movement was visible in the Peruvian camp, where much preparation was

making to approach the Christian quarters with due state and ceremony. A message was received from

Atahuallpa, informing the Spanish commander that he should come with his warriors fully armed, in the same

manner as the Spaniards had come to his quarters the night preceding. This was not an agreeable intimation to

Pizarro, though he had no reason, probably, to expect the contrary. But to object might imply distrust, or,

perhaps, disclose, in some measure, his own designs. He expressed his satisfaction, therefore, at the

intelligence, assuring the Inca, that, come as he would, he would be received by him as a friend and brother.3

It was noon before the Indian procession was on its march, when it was seen occupying the great causeway

for a long extent. In front came a large body of attendants, whose office seemed to be to sweep away every

particle of rubbish from the road. High above the crowd appeared the Inca, borne on the shoulders of his

principal nobles, while others of the same rank marched by the sides of his litter, displaying such a dazzling

show of ornaments on their persons, that, in the language of one of the Conquerors, "they blazed like the

sun." 4 But the greater part of the Inca's forces mustered along the fields that lined the road, and were spread

When the royal procession had arrived within half a mile of the city, it came to a halt; and Pizarro saw with

surprise that Atahuallpa was preparing to pitch his tents, as if to encamp there. A messenger soon after

arrived, informing the Spaniards that the Inca would occupy his present station the ensuing night, and enter

This intelligence greatly disturbed Pizarro, who had shared in the general impatience of his men at the tardy

movements of the Peruvians. The troops had been under arms since daylight, the cavalry mounted, and the

infantry at their post, waiting in silence the coming of the Inca. A profound stillness reigned throughout the

town, broken only at intervals by the cry of the sentinel from the summit of the fortress, as he proclaimed the

movements of the Indian army. Nothing, Pizarro well knew, was so trying to the soldier as prolonged

suspense, in a critical situation like the present; and he feared lest his ardor might evaporate, and be

succeeded by that nervous feeling natural to the bravest soul at such a crisis, and which, if not fear, is near

akin to it.6 He returned an answer, therefore, to Atahuallpa, deprecating his change of purpose; and adding

that he had provided everything for his entertainment, and expected him that night to sup with him.7

This message turned the Inca from his purpose; and, striking his tents again, he resumed his march, first

advising the general that he should leave the greater part of his warriors behind, and enter the place with only

a few of them, and without arms,8 as he preferred to pass the night at Caxamalca. At the same time he

ordered accommodations to be provided for himself, and his retinue in one of the large stone buildings,

called, from a serpent sculptured on the walls, "the House of the Serpent."9 No tidings could have been

more grateful to the Spaniards. It seemed as if the Indian monarch was eager to rush into the snare that had

beer spread for him! The fanatical cavalier could not fail to discern in it the immediate finger of Providence.

It is difficult to account for this wavering conduct of Atahuallpa, so different from the bold and decided

character which history ascribes to him. There is no doubt that he made his visit to the white men in perfect

good faith; though Pizarro was probably right in conjecturing that this amiable disposition stood on a very

precarious footing. There is as little reason to suppose that he distrusted the sincerity of the strangers; or he

would not thus unnecessarily have proposed to visit them unarmed. His original purpose of coming with all

his force was doubtless to display his royal state, and perhaps, also, to show greater respect for the Spaniards;

but when he consented to accept their hospitality, and pass the night in their quarters, he was willing to

dispense with a great part of his armed soldiery, and visit them in a manner that implied entire confidence in

their good faith. He was too absolute in his own empire easily to suspect; and he probably could not

comprehend the audacity with which a few men, like those now assembled in Caxamalca, meditated an

assault on a powerful monarch in the midst of his victorious army. He did not know the character of the

It was not long before sunset, when the van of the royal procession entered the gates of the city. First came

some hundreds of the menials, employed to clear the path from every obstacle, and singing songs of triumph

as they came, "which, in our ears," says one of the Conquerors, "sounded like the songs of hell!" 10 Then

followed other bodies of different ranks, and dressed in different liveries. Some wore a showy stuff,

checkered white and red, like the squares of a chessboard.11 Others were clad in pure white, bearing

hammers or maces of silver or copper; 12 and the guards, together with those in immediate attendance on the

prince, were distinguished by a rich azure livery, and a profusion of gay ornaments, while the large pendants

Elevated high above his vassals came the Inca Atahuallpa, borne on a sedan or open litter, on which was a

sort of throne made of massive gold of inestimable value.13 The palanquin was lined with the richly colored

plumes of tropical birds, and studded with shining plates of gold and silver.14 The monarch's attire was much

richer than on the preceding evening. Round his neck was suspended a collar of emeralds of uncommon size

and brilliancy.15 His short hair was decorated with golden ornaments, and the imperial borla encircled his

temples. The bearing of the Inca was sedate and dignified; and from his lofty station he looked down on the

As the leading files of the procession entered the great square, larger, says an old chronicler, than any square

in Spain, they opened to the right and left for the royal retinue to pass. Everything was conducted with

admirable order. The monarch was permitted to traverse the plaza in silence, and not a Spaniard was to be

seen. When some five or six thousand of his people had entered the place, Atahuallpa halted, and, turning

At this moment Fray Vicente de Valverde, a Dominican friar, Pizarro's chaplain, and afterward Bishop of

Cuzco, came forward with his brevidry, or, as other accounts say, a Bible, in one hand, and a crucifix in the

other, and, approaching the Inca, told him, that he came by order of his commander to expound to him the

doctrines of the true faith, for which purpose the Spaniards had come from a great distance to his country.

The friar then explained, as clearly as he could, the mysterious doctrine of the Trinity, and, ascending high in

his account, began with the creation of man, thence passed to his fall, to his subsequent redemption by Jesus

Christ, to the crucifixion, and the ascension, when the Saviour left the Apostle Peter as his Vicegerent upon

earth. This power had been transmitted to the successors of the Apostle, good and wise men, who, under the

title of Popes, held authority over all powers and potentates on earth. One of the last of these Popes had

commissioned the Spanish emperor, the most mighty monarch in the world, to conquer and convert the

natives in this western hemisphere; and his general, Francisco Pizarro, had now come to execute this

important mission. The friar concluded with beseeching the Peruvian monarch to receive him kindly; to

abjure the errors of his own faith, and embrace that of the Christians now proffered to him, the only one by

which he could hope for salvation; and, furthermore, to acknowledge himself a tributary of the Emperor

Charles the Fifth, who, in that event, would aid and protect him as his loyal vassal.16

Whether Atahuallpa possessed himself of every link in the curious chain of argument by which the monk

connected Pizarro with St. Peter, may be doubted. It is certain, however, that he must have had very incorrect

notions of the Trinity, if, as Garcilasso states, the interpreter Felipillo explained it by saying, that "the

Christians believed in three Gods and one God, and that made four." 17 But there is no doubt he perfectly

comprehended that the drift of the discourse was to persuade him to resign his sceptre and acknowledge the

The eyes of the Indian monarch flashed fire, and his dark brow grew darker as he replied,"I will be no

man's tributary. I am greater than any prince upon earth. Your emperor may be a great prince; I do not doubt

it, when I see that he has sent his subjects so far across the waters; and I am willing to hold him as a brother.

As for the Pope of whom you speak, he must be crazy to talk of giving away countries which do not belong to

him. For my faith," he continued, "I will not change it. Your own God, as you say, was put to death by the

very men whom he created. But mine," he concluded, pointing to his Deity,then, alas! sinking in glory

behind the mountains,"my God still lives in the heavens, and looks down on his children." 18

He then demanded of Valverde by what authority he had said these things. The friar pointed to the book

which he held, as his authority. Atahuallpa, taking it, turned over the pages a moment, then, as the insuit he

had received probably flashed across his mind, he threw it down with vehemence, and exclaimed,"Tell

your comrades that they shall give me an account of their doings in my land. I will not go from here, till they

The friar, greatly scandalized by the indignity offered to the sacred volume, stayed only to pick it up, and,

hastening to Pizarro, informed him of what had been done, exclaiming, at the same time,"Do you not see,

that, while we stand here wasting our breath in talking with this dog, full of pride as he is, the fields are

filling with Indians? Set on, at once; I absolve you." 20 Pizarro saw that the hour had come. He waved a

white scarf in the air, the appointed signal. The fatal gun was fired from the fortress. Then, springing into the

square, the Spanish captain and his followers shouted the old warcry of "St. Jago and at them." It was

answered by the battlecry of every Spaniard in the city, as, rushing from the avenues of the great halls in

which they were concealed, they poured into the plaza, horse and foot, each in his own dark column, and

threw themselves into the midst of the Indian crowd. The latter, taken by surprise, stunned by the report of

artillery and muskets, the echoes of which reverberated like thunder from the surrounding buildings, and

blinded by the smoke which rolled in sulphurous volumes along the square, were seized with a panic. They

knew not whither to fly for refuge from the coming ruin. Nobles and commoners,all were trampled down

under the fierce charge of the cavalry, who dealt their blows, right and left, without sparing; while their

swords, flashing through. the thick gloom, carried dismay into the hearts of the wretched natives, who now,

for the first time, saw the horse and his rider in all their terrors. They made no resistance,as, indeed, they

had no weapons with which to make it. Every avenue to escape was closed, for the entrance to the square was

choked up with the dead bodies of men who had perished in vain efforts to fly; and, such was the agony of

the survivors under the terrible pressure of their assailants, that a large body of Indians, by their convulsive

struggles, burst through the wall of stone and dried clay which formed part of the boundary of the plaza! It

fell, leaving an opening of more than a hundred paces, through which multitudes now found their way into

the country, still hotly pursued by the cavalry, who, leaping the fallen rubbish, hung on the rear of the

Meanwhile the fight, or rather massacre, continued hot around the Inca, whose person was the great object of

the assault. His faithful nobles, rallying about him, threw themselves in the way of the assailants, and strove,

by tearing them from their saddles, or, at least, by offering their own bosoms as a mark for their vengeance,

to shield their beloved master. It is said by some authorities, that they carried weapons concealed under their

clothes. If so, it availed them little, as it is not pretended that they used them. But the most timid animal will

defend itself when at bay. That they did not so in the present instance is proof that they had no weapons to

use.22 Yet they still continued to force back the cavaliers, clinging to their horses with dying grasp, and, as

one was cut down, another taking the place of his fallen comrade with a loyalty truly affecting.

The Indian monarch, stunned and bewildered, saw his faithful subjects falling round him without fully

comprehending his situation. The litter on which he rode heaved to and fro, as the mighty press swayed

backwards and forwards; and he gazed on the overwhelming ruin, like some forlorn mariner, who, tossed

about in his bark by the furious elements, sees the lightning's flash and hears the thunder bursting around him

with the consciousness that he can do nothing to avert his fate. At length, weary with the work of destruction,

the Spaniards, as the shades of evening grew deeper, felt afraid that the royal prize might, after all, elude

them; and some of the cavaliers made a desperate attempt to end the affray at once by taking Atahuallpa's

life. But Pizarro, who was nearest his person, called out with stentorian voice, "Let no one, who values his

life, strike at the Inca"; 23 and, stretching out his arm to shield him, received a wound on the hand from one

The struggle now became fiercer than ever round the royal litter. It reeled more and more, and at length,

several of the nobles who supported it having been slain, it was overturned, and the Indian prince would have

come with violence to the ground, had not his fall been broken by the efforts of Pizarro and some other of the

cavaliers, who caught him in their arms. The imperial borla was instantly snatched from his temples by a

soldier named Estete,25 and the unhappy monarch, strongly secured, was removed to a neighboring building,

All attempt at resistance now ceased. The fate of the Inca soon spread over town and country. The charm

which might have held the Peruvians together was dissolved. Every man thought only of his own safety.

Even the soldiery encamped on the adjacent fields took the alarm, and, learning the fatal tidings, were seen

flying in every direction before their pursuers, who in the heat of triumph showed no touch of mercy. At

length night, more pitiful than man, threw her friendly mantle over the fugitives, and the scattered troops of

Pizarro rallied once more at the sound of the trumpet in the bloody square of Caxamalca.

The number of slain is reported, as usual, with great discrepancy. Pizarro's secretary says two thousand

natives fell.26 A descendant of the Incasa safer authority than Garcilassoswells the number to ten

thousand.27 Truth is generally found somewhere between the extremes. The slaughter was incessant, for

there was nothing to check it. That there should have been no resistance will not appear strange, when we

consider the fact, that the wretched victims were without arms, and that their senses must have been

completely overwhelmed by the strange and appalling spectacle which burst on them so unexpectedly. "What

wonder was it," said an ancient Inca to a Spaniard, who repeats it, "what wonder that our countrymen lost

their wits, seeing blood run like water, and the Inca, whose person we all of us adore, seized and carried off

by a handful of men?" 28 Yet though the massacre was incessant, it was short in duration. The whole time

consumed by it, the brief twilight of the tropics, did not much exceed half an hour; a short period,

indeed,yet long enough to decide the fate of Peru, and to subvert the dynasty of the Incas.

That night Pizarro kept his engagement with the Inca, since he had Atahuallpa to sup with him. The banquet

was served in one of the halls facing the great square, which a few hours before had been the scene of

slaughter, and the pavement of which was still encumbered with the dead bodies of the Inca's subjects. The

captive monarch was placed next his conqueror. He seemed like one who did not yet fully comprehend the

extent of his calamity. If he did, he showed an amazing fortitude. "It is the fortune of war," he said; 29 and, if

we may credit the Spaniards, he expressed his admiration of the adroitness with which they had contrived to

entrap him in the midst of his own troops.30 He added, that he had been made acquainted with the progress

of the white men from the hour of their landing; but that he had been led to undervalue their strength from the

insignificance of their numbers. He had no doubt he should be easily able to overpower them, on their arrival

at Caxamalca, by his superior strength; and, as he wished to see for himself what manner of men they were,

he had suffered them to cross the mountains, meaning to select such as he chose for his own service, and,

That such may have been Atahuallpa's purpose is not improbable. It explains his conduct in not occupying the

mountain passes, which afforded such strong points of defence against invasion. But that a prince so astute,

as by the general testimony of the Conquerors he is represented to have been, should have made so impolitic

a disclosure of his hidden motives is not so probable. The intercourse with the Inca was carried on chiefly by

means of the interpreter Felipillo, or little Philip, as he was called, from his assumed Christian name,a

malicious youth, as it appears, who bore no goodwill to Atahuallpa, and whose interpretations were readily

admitted by the Conquerors, eager to find some pretext for their bloody reprisals.

Atahuallpa, as elsewhere noticed, was, at this time, about thirty years of age. He was well made, and more

robust than usual with his countrymen. His head was large, and his countenance might have been called

handsome, but that his eyes, which were bloodshot, gave a fierce expression to his features. He was deliberate

in speech, grave in manner, and towards his own people stern even to severity; though with the Spaniards he

Pizarro paid every attention to his royal captive, and endeavored to lighten, if he could not dispel, the gloom

which, in spite of his assumed equanimity, hung over the monarch's brow. He besought him not to be cast

down by his reverses, for his lot had only been that of every prince who had resisted the white men. They had

come into the country to proclaim the gospel, the religion of Jesus Christ; and it was no wonder they had

prevailed, when his shield was over them. Heaven had permitted that Atahuallpa's pride should be humbled,

because of his hostile intentions towards the Spaniards, and the insults he had offered to the sacred volume.

But he bade the Inca take courage and confide in him, for the Spaniards were a generous race, warring only

against those who made war on them, and showing grace to all who submitted! 33 Atahuallpa may have

thought the massacre of that day an indifferent commentary on this vaunted lenity.

Before retiring for the night, Pizarro briefly addressed his troops on their present situation. When he had

ascertained that not a man was wounded, he bade them offer up thanksgivings to Providence for so great a

miracle; without its care, they could never have prevailed so easily over the host of their enemies; and he

trusted their lives had been reserved for still greater things. But if they would succeed, they had much to do

for themselves. They were in the heart of a powerful kingdom, encompassed by foes deeply attached to their

own sovereign. They must be ever on their guard, therefore, and be prepared at any hour to be roused from

their slumbers by the call of the trumpet.34Having then posted his sentinels, placed a strong guard over the

apartment of Atahuallpa, and taken all the precautions of a careful commander, Pizarro withdrew to repose;

and, if he could really feel, that, in the bloody scenes of the past day, he had been fighting only the good fight

of the Cross, he doubtless slept sounder than on the night preceding the seizure of the Inca.

On the following morning, the first commands of the Spanish chief were to have the city cleansed of its

impurities; and the prisoners, of whom there were many in the camp, were employed to remove the dead, and

give them decent burial. His next care was to despatch a body of about thirty horse to the quarters lately

occupied by Atahuallpa at the baths, to take possession of the spoil, and disperse the remnant of the Peruvian

Before noon, the party which he had detached on this service returned with a large troop of Indians, men and

women, among the latter of whom were many of the wives and attendants of the Inca. The Spaniards had met

with no resistance; since the Peruvian warriors, though so superior in number, excellent in appointments, and

consisting mostly of ablebodied young men,for the greater part of the veteran forces were with the Inca's

generals at the south,lost all heart from the moment of their sovereign's captivity. There was no leader to

take his place; for they recognized no authority but that of the Child of the Sun, and they seemed to be held

by a sort of invisible charm near the place of his confinement; while they gazed with superstitious awe on the

The number of Indian prisoners was so great, that some of the Conquerors were for putting them all to death,

or, at least, cutting off their hands, to disable them from acts of violence, and to strike terror into their

countrymen.36 The proposition, doubtless, came from the lowest and most ferocious of the soldiery. But that

it should have been made at all shows what materials entered into the composition of Pizarro's company. The

chief rejected it at once, as no less impolitic than inhuman, and dismissed the Indians to their several homes,

with the assurance that none should be harmed who did not offer resistance to the white men. A sufficient

number, however, were retained to wait on the Conquerors who were so well provided, in this respect, that

the most common soldier was attended by a retinue of menials that would have better suited the

The Spaniards had found immense droves of llamas under the care of their shepherds in the neighborhood of

the baths, destined for the consumption of the Court. Many of them were now suffered to roam abroad among

their native mountains; though Pizarro caused a considerable number to be reserved for the use of the army.

And this was no small quantity, if, as one of the Conquerors says, a hundred and fifty of the Peruvian sheep

were frequently slaughtered in a day.38 Indeed, the Spaniards were so improvident in their destruction of

these animals, that, in a few years, the superb flocks, nurtured with so much care by the Peruvian

The party sent to pillage the Inca's pleasurehouse brought back a rich booty in gold and silver, consisting

chiefly of plate for the royal table, which greatly astonished the Spaniards by their size and weight. These, as

well as some large emeralds obtained there, together with the precious spoils found on the bodies of the

Indian nobles who had perished in the massacre, were placed in safe custody, to be hereafter divided. In the

city of Caxamalca, the troops also found magazines stored with goods, both cotton and woollen, far superior

to any they had seen, for fineness of texture, and the skill with which the various colors were blended. They

were piled from the floors to the very roofs of the buildings, and in such quantity, that, after every soldier had

provided himself with what he desired, it made no sensible diminution of the whole amount.40

Pizarro would now gladly have directed his march on the Peruvian capital. But the distance was great, and his

force was small. This must have been still further crippled by the guard required for the Inca, and the chief

feared to involve himself deeper in a hostile empire so populous and powerful, with a prize so precious in his

keeping. With much anxiety, therefore, he looked for reinforcements from the colonies; and he despatched a

courier to San Miguel, to inform the Spaniards there of his recent successes, and to ascertain if there had been

any arrival from Panama. Meanwhile he employed his men in making Caxamalca a more suitable residence

for a Christian host, by erecting a church, or, perhaps, appropriating some Indian edifice to this use, in which

mass was regularly performed by the Dominican fathers, with great solemnity. The dilapidated walls of the

city were also restored in a more substantial manner than before, and every vestige was soon effaced of the

It was not long before Atahuallpa discovered, amidst all the show of religious zeal in his Conquerors, a

lurking appetite more potent in most of their bosoms than either religion or ambition. This was the love of

gold. He determined to avail himself of it to procure his own freedom. The critical posture of his affairs made

it important that this should not be long delayed. His brother, Huascar, ever since his defeat, had been

detained as a prisoner, subject to the victor's orders. He was now at Andamarca, at no great distance from

Caxamalca; and Atahuallpa feared, with good reason, that, when his own imprisonment was known, Huascar

would find it easy to corrupt his guards, make his escape, and put himself at the head of the contested empire,

In the hope, therefore, to effect his purpose by appealing to the avarice of his keepers, he one day told

Pizarro, that, if he would set him free, he would engage to cover the floor of the apartment on which they

stood with gold. Those present listened with an incredulous smile; and, as the Inca received no answer, he

said, with some emphasis, that "he would not merely cover the floor, but would fill the room with gold as

high as he could reach"; and, standing on tiptoe, he stretched out his hand against the wall. All stared with

amazement; while they regarded it as the insane boast of a man too eager to procure his liberty to weigh the

meaning of his words. Yet Pizarro was sorely perplexed. As he had advanced into the country, much that he

had seen, and all that he had heard, had confirmed the dazzling reports first received of the riches of Peru.

Atahuallpa himself had given him the most glowing picture of the wealth of the capital, where the roofs of

the temples were plated with gold, while the walls were hung with tapestry and the floors inlaid with tiles of

the same precious metal. There must be some foundation for all this. At all events, it was safe to accede to the

Inca's proposition; since, by so doing, he could collect, at once, all the gold at his disposal, and thus prevent

its being purloined or secreted by the natives. He therefore acquiesced in Atahuallpa's offer, and, drawing a

red line along the wall at the height which the Inca had indicated, he caused the terms of the proposal to be

duly recorded by the notary. The apartment was about seventeen feet broad, by twentytwo feet long, and the

line round the walls was nine feet from the floor.41 This space was to be filled with gold; but it was

understood that the gold was not to be melted down into ingots, but to retain the original form of the articles

into which it was manufactured, that the Inca might have the benefit of the space which they occupied. He

further agreed to fill an adjoining room of smaller dimensions twice full with silver, in like manner; and he

No sooner was this arrangement made, than the Inca despatched couriers to Cuzco and the other principal

places in the kingdom, with orders that the gold ornaments and utensils should be removed from the royal

palaces, and from the temples and other public buildings, and transported without loss of time to Caxamalca.

Meanwhile he continued to live in the Spanish quarters, treated with the respect due to his rank, and enjoying

all the freedom that was compatible with the security of his person. Though not permitted to go abroad, his

limbs were unshackled, and he had the range of his own apartments under the jealous surveillance of a guard,

who knew too well the value of the royal captive to be remiss. He was allowed the society of his favorite

wives, and Pizarro took care that his domestic privacy should not be violated. His subjects had free access to

their sovereign, and every day he received visits from the Indian nobles, who came to bring presents, and

offer condolence to their unfortunate master. On such occasions, the most potent of these great vassals never

ventured into his presence, without first stripping off their sandals, and bearing a load on their backs in token

of reverence. The Spaniards gazed with curious eyes on these acts of homage, or rather of slavish submission,

on the one side, and on the air of perfect indifference with which they were received, as a matter of course, on

the other; and they conceived high ideas of the character of a prince who, even in his present helpless

condition, could inspire such feelings of awe in his subjects. The royal levee was so well attended, and such

devotion was shown by his vassals to the captive monarch, as did not fail, in the end, to excite some feelings

Pizarro did not neglect the opportunity afforded him of communicating the truths of revelation to his

prisoner, and both he and his chaplain, Father Valverde, labored in the same good work. Atahuallpa listened

with composure and apparent attention. But nothing seemed to move him so much as the argument with

which the military polemic closed his discourse,that it could not be the true God whom Atahuallpa

worshipped, since he had suffered him to fall into the hands of his enemies. The unhappy monarch assented

to the force of this, acknowledging that his Deity had indeed deserted him in his utmost need.44

Yet his conduct towards his brother Huascar, at this time, too clearly proves, that, whatever respect he may

have shown for the teachers, the doctrines of Christianity had made little impression on his heart. No sooner

had Huascar been informed of the capture of his rival, and of the large ransom he had offered for his

deliverance, than, as the latter had foreseen, he made every effort to regain his liberty, and sent, or attempted

to send, a message to the Spanish commander, that he would pay a much larger ransom than that promised by

Atahuallpa, who, never having dwelt in Cuzco, was ignorant of the quantity of treasure there, and where it

Intelligence of all this was secretly communicated to Atahuallpa by the persons who had his brother in

charge; and his jealousy, thus roused, was further heightened by Pizarro's declaration, that he intended to

have Hauscar brought to Caxamalca, where he would himself examine into the controversy, and determine

which of the two had best title to the sceptre of the Incas. Pizarro perceived, from the first, the advantages of

a competition which would enable him, by throwing his sword into the scale he preferred, to give it a

preponderance. The party who held the sceptre by his nomination would henceforth be a tool in his hands,

with which to work his pleasure more effectually than he could well do in his own name. It was the game, as

every reader knows, played by Edward the First in the affairs of Scotland, and by many a monarch, both

before and since,and though their examples may not have been familiar to the unlettered soldier, Pizarro

was too quick in his perceptions to require, in this matter, at least, the teachings of history.

Atahuallpa was much alarmed by the Spanish commander's determination to have the suit between the rival

candidates brought before him; for he feared, that, independently of the merits of the case, the decision would

be likely to go in favor of Huascar, whose mild and ductile temper would make him a convenient instrument

in the hands of his conquerors. Without further hesitation, he determined to remove this cause of jealousy for

His orders were immediately executed, and the unhappy prince was drowned, as was commonly reported, in

the river of Andamarca, declaring with his dying breath that the white men would avenge his murder, and that

his rival would not long survive him.45Thus perished the unfortunate Huascar, the legitimate heir of the

throne of the Incas, in the very morning of life, and the commencement of his reign; a reign, however, which

had been long enough to call forth the display of many excellent and amiable qualities, though his nature was

too gentle to cope with the bold and fiercer temper of his brother. Such is the portrait we have of him from

the Indian and Castilian chroniclers, though the former, it should be added, were the kinsmen of Huascar, and

That prince received the tidings of Huascar's death with every mark of surprise and indignation. He

immediately sent for Pizarro, and communicated the event to him with expressions of the deepest sorrow.

The Spanish commander refused, at first, to credit the unwelcome news, and bluntly told the Inca, that his

brother could not be dead, and that he should be answerable for his life.47 To this Atahuallpa replied by

renewed assurances of the fact, adding that the deed had been perpetrated, without his privity, by Huascar's

keepers, fearful that he might take advantage of the troubles of the country to make his escape. Pizarro, on

making further inquiries, found that the report of his death was but too true. That it should have been brought

about by Atahuallpa's officers, without his express command, would only show, that, by so doing, they had

probably anticipated their master's wishes. The crime, which assumes in our eyes a deeper dye from the

relation of the parties, had not the same estimation among the Incas, in whose multitudinous families the

bonds of brotherhood must have sat loosely,much too loosely to restrain the arm of the despot from

Several weeks had now passed since Atahuallpa's emissaries had been despatched for the gold and silver that

were to furnish his ransom to the Spaniards. But the distances were great, and the returns came in slowly.

They consisted, for the most part, of massive pieces of plate, some of which weighed two or three

arrobas,a Spanish weight of twentyfive pounds. On some days, articles of the value of thirty or forty

thousand pesos de oro were brought in, and, occasionally, of the value of fifty or even sixty thousand pesos.

The greedy eyes of the Conquerors gloated on the shining heaps of treasure, which were transported on the

shoulders of the Indian porters, and, after being carefully registered, were placed in safe deposit under a

strong guard. They now began to believe that the magnificent promises of the Inca would be fulfilled. But, as

their avarice was sharpened by the ravishing display of wealth, such as they had hardly dared to imagine, they

became more craving and impatient. They made no allowance for the distance and the difficulties of the way,

and loudly inveighed against the tardiness with which the royal commands were executed. They even

suspected Atahuallpa of devising this scheme only to gain a pretext for communicating with his subjects in

distant places, and of proceeding as dilatorily as possible, in order to secure time for the execution of his

plans. Rumors of a rising among the Peruvians were circulated, and the Spaniards were in apprehension of

some general and sudden assault on their quarters. Their new acquisitions gave them additional cause for

Pizarro reported to his captive the rumors that were in circulation among the soldiers, naming, as one of the

places pointed out for the rendezvous of the Indians, the neighboring city of Guamachucho. Atahuallpa

listened with undisguised astonishment, and indignantly repelled the charge, as false from beginning to end.

"No one of my subjects," said he, "would dare to appear in arms, or to raise his finger, without my orders.

You have me," he continued, "in your power. Is not my life at your disposal? And what better security can

you have for my fidelity?" He then represented to the Spanish commander that the distances of many of the

places were very great; that to Cuzco, the capital, although a message might be sent by post, through a

succession of couriers, in five days from Caxamalca, it would require weeks for a porter to travel over the

same ground, with a heavy load on his back. "But that you may be satisfied I am proceeding in good faith,"

he added, "I desire you will send some of your own people to Cuzco. I will give them a safe conduct, and,

when there, they can superintend the execution of the commission, and see with their own eyes that no hostile

movements are intended." It was a fair offer, and Pizarro, anxious to get more precise and authentic

Before the departure of these emissaries, the general had despatched his brother Hernando with about twenty

horse and a small body of infantry to the neighboring town of Guamachucho, in order to reconnoitre the

country, and ascertain if there was any truth in the report of an armed force having assembled there.

Hernando found every thing quiet, and met with a kind reception from the natives. But before leaving the

place, he received further orders from his brother to continue his march to Pachacamac, a town situated on

the coast, at least a hundred leagues distant from Caxamalca. It was consecrated at the seat of the great temple

of the deity of that name, whom the Peruvians worshipped as the Creator of the world. It is said that they

found there altars raised to this god, on their first occupation of the country; and, such was the veneration in

which he was held by the natives, that the Incas, instead of attempting to abolish his worship, deemed it more

prudent to sanction it conjointly with that of their own deity, the Sun. Side by side, the two temples rose on

the heights that overlooked the city of Pachacamac, and prospered in the offerings of their respective votaries.

"It was a cunning arrangement," says an ancient writer, "by which the great enemy of man secured to himself

But the temple of Pachacamac continued to maintain its ascendency; and the oracles, delivered from its dark

and mysterious shrine, were held in no less repute among the natives of Tavantinsuyu, (or "the four quarters

of the world," as Peru under the Incas was called,) than the oracles of Delphi obtained among the Greeks.

Pilgrimages were made to the hallowed spot from the most distant regions, and the city of Pachacamac

became among the Peruvians what Mecca was among the Mahometans, or Cholula with the people of

Anahuac. The shrine of the deity, enriched by the tributes of the pilgrims, gradually became one of the most

opulent in the land; and Atahuallpa, anxious to collect his ransom as speedily as possible, urged Pizarro to

send a detachment in that direction, to secure the treasures before they could be secreted by the priests of the

It was a journey of considerable difficulty. Two thirds of the route lay along the tableland of the Cordilleras,

intersected occasionally by crests of the mountain range, that imposed no slight impediment to their progress.

Fortunately, much of the way, they had the benefit of the great road to Cuzco, and "nothing in Christendom,"

exclaims Hernando Pizarro, "equals the magnificence of this road across the sierra."4 In some places, the

rocky ridges were so precipitous, that steps were cut in them for the travellers; and though the sides were

protected by heavy stone balustrades or parapets, it was with the greatest difficulty that the horses were

enabled to scale them. The road was frequently crossed by streams, over which bridges of wood and

sometimes of stone were thrown; though occasionally, along the declivities of the mountains, the waters

swept down in such furious torrents, that the only method of passing them was by the swinging bridges of

osier, of which, till now, the Spaniards had had little experience. They were secured on either bank to heavy

buttresses of stone. But as they were originally designed for nothing heavier than the footpassenger and the

llama, and, as they had something exceedingly fragile in their appearance, the Spaniards hesitated to venture

on them with their horses. Experience, however, soon showed they were capable of bearing a much greater

weight; and though the traveller, made giddy by the vibration of the long avenue, looked with a reeling brain

into the torrent that was tumbling at the depth of a hundred feet or more below him, the whole of the cavalry

effected their passage without an accident. At these bridges, it may be remarked, they found persons stationed

The Spaniards were amazed by the number as well as magnitude of the flocks of llamas which they saw

browsing on the stunted herbage that grows in the elevated regions of the Andes. Sometimes they were

gathered in inclosures, but more usually were roaming at large under the conduct of their Indian shepherds;

and the Conquerors now learned, for the first time, that these animals were tended with as much care, and

their migrations as nicely regulated, as those of the vast flocks of merinos in their own country.6

The tableland and its declivities were thickly sprinkled with hamlets and towns, some of them of

considerable size; and the country in every direction bore the marks of a thrifty husbandry. Fields of Indian

corn were to be seen in all its different stages, from the green and tender ear to the yellow ripeness of harvest

time. As they descended into the valleys and deep ravines that divided the crests of the Cordilleras, they were

surrounded by the vegetation of a warmer climate, which delighted the eye with the gay livery of a thousand

bright colors, and intoxicated the senses with its perfumes. Everywhere the natural capacities of the soil were

stimulated by a minute system of irrigation, which drew the fertilizing moisture from every stream and rivulet

that rolled down the declivities of the Andes; while the terraced sides of the mountains were clothed with

gardens and orchards that teemed with fruits of various latitudes. The Spaniards could not sufficiently admire

the industry with which the natives had availed themselves of the bounty of Nature, or had supplied the

Whether from the commands of the Inca, or from the awe which their achievements had spread throughout

the land, the Conquerors were received, in every place through which they passed, with hospitable kindness.

Lodgings were provided for them, with ample refreshments from the wellstored magazines, distributed at

intervals along the route. In many of the towns the inhabitants came out to welcome them with singing and

dancing; and, when they resumed their march, a number of ablebodied porters were furnished to carry

At length, after some weeks of travel, severe even with all these appliances, Hernando Pizarro arrived before

the city of Pachacamac. It was a place of considerable population, and the edifices were, many of them,

substantially built. The temple of the tutelar deity consisted of a vast stone building, or rather pile of

buildings, which, clustering around a conical hill, had the air of a fortress rather than a religious

establishment. But, though the walls were of stone, the roof was composed of a light thatch, as usual in

countries where rain seldom or never falls, and where defence, consequently, is wanted chiefly against the

Presenting himself at the lower entrance of the temple, Hernando Pizarro was refused admittance by the

guardians of the portal. But, exclaiming that "he had come too far to be stayed by the arm of an Indian

priest," he forced his way into the passage, and, followed by his men, wound up the gallery which led to an

area on the summit of the mount, at one end of which stood a sort of chapel. This was the sanctuary of the

dread deity. The door was garnished with ornaments of crystal, and with turquoises and bits of coral.8 Here

again the Indians would have dissuaded Pizarro from violating the consecrated precincts, when, at that

moment, the shock of an earthquake, that made the ancient walls tremble to their foundation, so alarmed the

natives, both those of Pizarro's own company and the people of the place, that they fled in dismay, nothing

doubting that their incensed deity would bury the invaders under the ruins, or consume them with his

lightnings. But no such terror found its way into the breast of the Conquerors, who felt that here, at least, they

Tearing open the door, Pizarro and his party entered. But instead of a hall blazing, as they had fondly

imagined, with gold and precious stones, offerings of the worshippers of Pachacamac, they found themselves

in a small and obscure apartment, or rather den, from the floor and sides of which steamed up the most

offensive odors,like those of a slaughterhouse. It was the place of sacrifice. A few pieces of gold and some

emeralds were discovered on the ground, and, as their eyes became accommodated to the darkness, they

discerned in the most retired corner of the room the figure of the deity. It was an uncouth monster, made of

wood, with the head resembling that of a man. This was the god, through whose lips Satan had breathed forth

Tearing the idol from its recess, the indignant Spaniards dragged it into the open air, and there broke it into a

hundred fragments. The place was then purified, and a large cross, made of stone and plaster, was erected on

the spot. In a few years the walls of the temple were pulled down by the Spanish settlers, who found there a

convenient quarry for their own edifices. But the cross still remained spreading its broad arms over the ruins.

It stood where it was planted in the very heart of the stronghold of Heathendom; and, while all was in ruins

The simple natives, finding that Heaven had no bolts in store for the Conquerors, and that their god had no

power to prevent the profanation of his shrine, came in gradually and tendered their homage to the strangers,

whom they now regarded with feelings of superstitious awe. Pizarro profiled by this temper to wean them, if

possible, from their idolatry; and though no preacher himself, as he tells us, he delivered a discourse as

edifying, doubtless, as could be expected from the mouth of a soldier;10 and, in conclusion, he taught them

the sign of the cross, as an inestimable talisman to secure them against the future machinations of the

But the Spanish commander was not so absorbed in his spiritual labors as not to have an eye to those

temporal concerns for which he came into this quarter. He now found, to his chagrin, that he had come

somewhat too late; and that the priests of Pachacamac, being advised of his mission, had secured much the

greater part of the gold, and decamped with it before his arrival. A quantity was afterwards discovered buried

in the grounds adjoining.12 Still the amount obtained was considerable, falling little short of eighty thousand

castellanos, a sum which once would have been deemed a compensation for greater fatigues than they had

encountered. But the Spaniards had become familiar with gold; and their imaginations, kindled by the

romantic adventures in which they had of late been engaged, indulged in visions which all the gold of Peru

One prize, however, Hernando obtained by his expedition, which went far to console him for the loss of his

treasure. While at Pachacamac, he learned that the Indian commander Challcuchima lay with a large force in

the neighborhood of Xauxa, a town of some strength at a considerable distance among the mountains. This

man, who was nearly related to Atahuallpa, was his most experienced general, and together with Quizquiz,

now at Cuzco, had achieved those victories at the south which placed the Inca on the throne. From his birth,

his talents, and his large experience, he was accounted second to no subject in the kingdom. Pizarro was

aware of the importance of securing his person. Finding that the Indian noble declined to meet him on his

return, he determined to march at once on Xauxa and take the chief in his own quarters. Such a scheme,

considering the enormous disparity of numbers, might seem desperate even for Spaniards. But success had

The road across the mountains presented greater difficulties than those on the former march. To add to the

troubles of the cavalry, the shoes of their horses were used up, and their hoofs suffered severely on the rough

and stony ground. There was no iron at hand, nothing but gold and silver. In the present emergency they

turned even these to account; and Pizarro caused the horses of the whole troop to be shod with silver The

work was done by the Indian smiths, and it answered so well, that in this precious material they found a

Xauxa was a large and populous place; though we shall hardly credit the assertion of the Conquerors, that a

hundred thousand persons assembled habitually in the great square of the city.14 The Peruvian commander

was encamped, it was said, with an army of fiveandthirty thousand men at only a few miles' distance from

the town. With some difficulty he was persuaded to an interview with Pizarro. The latter addressed him

courteously, and urged his return with him to the Castilian quarters in Caxamalca, representing it as the

command of the Inca. Ever since the capture of his master, Challcuchima had remained uncertain what course

to take. The capture of the Inca in this sudden and mysterious manner by a race of beings who seemed to

have dropped from the clouds, and that too in the very hour of his triumph, had entirely bewildered the

Peruvian chief. He had concerted no plan for the rescue of Atahuallpa, nor, indeed, did he know whether any

such movement would be acceptable to him. He now acquiesced in his commands, and was willing, at all

events, to have a personal interview with his sovereign. Pizarro gained his end without being obliged to strike

a single blow to effect it. The barbarian, when brought into contact with the white man, would seem to have

been rebuked by his superior genius, in the same manner as the wild animal of the forest is said to quail

Challcuchima came attended by a numerous retinue. He was borne in his sedan on the shoulders of his

vassals; and, as he accompanied the Spaniards on their return through the country, received everywhere from

the inhabitants the homage paid only to the favorite of a monarch. Yet all this pomp vanished on his entering

the presence of the Inca, whom he approached with his feet bare, while a light burden, which he had taken

from one of the attendants, was laid on his back. As he drew near, the old warrior, raising his hands to

heaven, exclaimed,"Would that I had been here!this would not then have happened"; then, kneeling

down, he kissed the hands and feet of his royal master, and bathed them with his tears. Atahuallpa, on his

part, betrayed not the least emotion, and showed no other sign of satisfaction at the presence of his favorite

counsellor than by simply bidding him welcome. The cold demeanor of the monarch contrasted strangely

The rank of the Inca placed him at an immeasurable distance above the proudest of his vassals; and the

Spaniards had repeated occasion to admire the ascendency which, even in his present fallen fortunes, he

maintained over his people, and the awe with which they approached him. Pedro Pizarro records an

interview, at which he was present, between Atahuallpa and one of his great nobles, who had obtained leave

to visit some remote part of the country on condition of returning by a certain day. He was detained

somewhat beyond the appointed time, and, on entering the presence with a small propitiatory gift for his

sovereign, his knees shook so violently, that it seemed, says the chronicler, as if he would have fallen to the

ground. His master, however, received him kindly, and dismissed him without a word of rebuke.16

Atahuallpa in his confinement continued to receive the same respectful treatment from the Spaniards as

hitherto. They taught him to play with dice, and the more intricate game of chess, in which the royal captive

became expert, and loved to beguile with it the tedious hours of his imprisonment. Towards his own people

he maintained as far as possible his wonted state and ceremonial. He was attended by his wives and the girls

of his harem, who, as was customary, waited on him at table and discharged the other menial offices about

his person. A body of Indian nobles were stationed in the antechamber, but never entered the presence

unbidden; and when they did enter it, they submitted to the same humiliating ceremonies imposed on the

greatest of his subjects. The service of his table was gold and silver plate. His dress, which he often changed,

was composed of the wool of the vicuna wrought into mantles, so fine that it had the appearance of silk. He

sometimes exchanged these for a robe made of the skins of bats, as soft and sleek as velvet. Round his head

he wore the llautu, a woollen turban or shawl of the most, delicate texture, wreathed in folds of various bright

colors; and he still continued to encircle his temples with the borla, the crimson threads of which, mingled

with gold, descended so as partly to conceal his eyes. The image of royalty had charms for him, when its

substance had departed. No garment or utensil that had once belonged to the Peruvian sovereign could ever

be used by another. When he laid it aside, it was carefully deposited in a chest, kept for the purpose, and

afterwards burned. It would have been sacrilege to apply to vulgar uses that which had been consecrated by

Not long after the arrival of the party from Pachacamac, in the latter part of May, the three emissaries

returned from Cuzco. They had been very successful in their mission. Owing to the Inca's order, and the awe

which the white men now inspired throughout the country, the Spaniards had everywhere met with a kind

reception. They had been carried on the shoulders of the natives in the hamacas, or sedans, of the country;

and, as they had travelled all the way to the capital on the great imperial road, along which relays of Indian

carriers were established at stated intervals, they performed this journey of more than six hundred miles, not

only without inconvenience, but with the most luxurious ease. They passed through many populous towns,

and always found the simple natives disposed to venerate them as beings of a superior nature. In Cuzco they

were received with public festivities, were sumptuously lodged, and had every want anticipated by the

Their accounts of the capital confirmed all that Pizarro had before heard of the wealth and population of the

city. Though they had remained more than a week in this place, the emissaries had not seen the whole of it.

The great temple of the Sun they found literally covered with plates of gold. They had entered the interior and

beheld the royal mummies, seated each in his goldembossed chair, and in robes profusely covered with

ornaments. The Spaniards had the grace to respect these, as they had been previously enjoined by the Inca;

but they required that the plates which garnished the walls should be all removed. The Peruvians most

reluctantly acquiesced in the commands of their sovereign to desecrate the national temple, which every

inhabitant of the city regarded with peculiar pride and veneration. With less reluctance they assisted the

Conquerors in stripping the ornaments from some of the other edifices, where the gold, however, being mixed

The number of plates they tore from the temple of the Sun was seven hundred; and though of no great

thickness, probably, they are compared in size to the lid of a chest, ten or twelve inches wide.19 A cornice of

pure gold encircled the edifice, but so strongly set in the stone, that it fortunately defied the efforts of the

spoilers. The Spaniards complained of the want of alacrity shown by the Indians in the work of destruction,

and said that there were other parts of the city containing buildings rich in gold and silver which they had not

been allowed to see. In truth, their mission, which, at best, was a most ungrateful one, had been rendered

doubly annoying by the manner in which they had executed it. The emissaries were men of a very low stamp,

and, puffed up by the honors conceded to them by the natives, they looked on themselves as entitled to these,

and condemned the poor Indians as a race immeasurably beneath the European. They not only showed the

most disgusting rapacity, but treated the highest nobles with wanton insolence. They even went so far, it is

said, as to violate the privacy of the convents, and to outrage the religious sentiments of the Peruvians by

their scandalous amours with the Virgins of the Sun. The people of Cuzco were so exasperated, that they

would have laid violent hands on them, but for their habitual reverence for the Inca, in whose name the

Spaniards had come there. As it was, the Indians collected as much gold as was necessary to satisfy their

unworthy visitors, and got rid of them as speedily as possible.20 It was a great mistake in Pizarro to send

such men. There were persons, even in his company, who, as other occasions showed, had some sense of

The messengers brought with them, besides silver, full two hundred cargas or loads of gold.21 This was an

important accession to the contributions of Atahuallpa; and, although the treasure was still considerably

below the mark prescribed, the monarch saw with satisfaction the time drawing nearer for the completion of

Not long before this, an event had occurred which changed the condition of the Spaniards, and had an

unfavorable influence on the fortunes of the Inca. This was the arrival of Almagro at Caxamalca, with a

strong reinforcement. That chief had succeeded, after great efforts, in equipping three vessels, and assembling

a body of one hundred and fifty men, with which he sailed from Panama, the latter part of the preceding year.

On his voyage, he was joined by a small additional force from Nicaragua, so that his whole strength

amounted to one hundred and fifty foot and fifty horse, well provided with the munitions of war. His vessels

were steered by the old pilot Ruiz; but after making the Bay of St. Matthew, he crept slowly along the coast,

baffled as usual by winds and currents, and experiencing all the hardships incident to that protracted

navigation. From some cause or other, he was not so fortunate as to obtain tidings of Pizarro; and so

disheartened were his followers, most of whom were raw adventurers, that, when arrived at Puerto Viejo,

they proposed to abandon the expedition, and return at once to Panama. Fortunately, one of the little squadron

which Almagro had sent forward to Tumbez brought intelligence of Pizarro and of the colony he had planted

at San Miguel. Cheered by the tidings, the cavalier resumed his voyage, and succeeded, at length, towards the

close of December, 1532, in bringing his whole party safe to the Spanish settlement.

He there received the account of Pizarro's march across the mountains, his seizure of the Inca, and, soon

afterwards, of the enormous ransom offered for his liberation. Almagro and his companions listened with

undisguised amazement to this account of his associate, and of a change in his fortunes so rapid and

wonderful that it seemed little less than magic. At the same time, he received a caution from some of the

colonists not to trust himself in the power of Pizarro, who was known to bear him no goodwill.

Not long after Almagro's arrival at San Miguel, advices were sent of it to Caxamalca, and a private note from

his secretary Perez informed Pizarro that his associate had come with no purpose of cooperating with him,

but with the intention to establish an independent government. Both of the Spanish captains seem to have

been surrounded by mean and turbulent spirits, who sought to embroil them with each other, trusting,

doubtless, to find their own account in the rupture. For once, however, their malicious machinations failed.

Pizarro was overjoyed at the arrival of so considerable a reinforcement, which would enable him to push his

fortunes as he had desired, and go forward with the conquest of the country. He laid little stress on the

secretary's communication, since, whatever might have been Almagro's original purpose, Pizarro knew that

the richness of the vein he had now opened in the land would be certain to secure his cooperation in working

it. He had the magnanimity, therefore,for there is something magnanimous in being able to stifle the

suggestions of a petty rivalry in obedience to sound policy,to send at once to his ancient comrade, and

invite him, with many assurances of friendship, to Caxamalca. Almagro, who was of a frank and careless

nature, received the communication in the spirit in which it was made, and, after some necessary delay,

directed his march into the interior. But before leaving San Miguel, having become acquainted with the

treacherous conduct of his secretary, he recompensed his treason by hanging him on the spot.22

Almagro reached Caxamalca about the middle of February, 1533. The soldiers of Pizarro came out to

welcome their countrymen, and the two captains embraced each other with every mark of cordial satisfaction.

All past differences were buried in oblivion, and they seemed only prepared to aid one another in following

There was one person in Caxamalca on whom this arrival of the Spaniards produced a very different

impression from that made on their own countrymen. This was the Inca Atahuallpa. He saw in the new

comers only a new swarm of locusts to devour his unhappy country; and he felt, that, with his enemies thus

multiplying around him, the chances were diminished of recovering his freedom, or of maintaining it, if

recovered. A little circumstance, insignificant in itself, but magnified by superstition into something

formidable, occurred at this time to cast an additional gloom over his situation.

A remarkable appearance, somewhat of the nature of a meteor, or it may have been a comet, was seen in the

heavens by some soldiers and pointed out to Atahuallpa. He gazed on it with fixed attention for some

minutes, and then exclaimed, with a dejected air, that "a similar sign had been seen in the skies a short time

before the death of his father Huayna Capac." 23 From this day a sadness seemed to take possession of him,

as he looked with doubt and undefined dread to the future. Thus it is, that, in seasons of danger, the mind, like

the senses, becomes morbidly acute in its perceptions; and the least departure from the regular course of

nature, that would have passed unheeded in ordinary times, to the superstitious eye seems pregnant with

The arrival of Almagro produced a considerable change in Pizarro's prospects, since it enabled him to resume

active operations, and push forward his conquests in the interior. The only obstacle in his way was the Inca's

ransom, and the Spaniards had patiently waited, till the return of the emissaries from Cuzco swelled the

treasure to a large amount, though still below the stipulated limit. But now their avarice got the better of their

forbearance, and they called loudly for the immediate division of the gold. To wait longer would only be to

invite the assault of their enemies, allured by a bait so attractive. While the treasure remained uncounted, no

man knew its value, nor what was to be his own portion. It was better to distribute it at once, and let every

one possess and defend his own. Several, moreover, were now disposed to return home, and take their share

of the gold with them, where they could place it in safety. But these were few, while much the larger part

were only anxious to leave their present quarters, and march at once to Cuzco. More gold, they thought,

awaited them in that capital, than they could get here by prolonging their stay; while every hour was precious,

to prevent the inhabitants from secreting their treasures, of which design they had already given indication.

Pizarro was especially moved by the last consideration; and he felt, that, without the capital, he could not

hope to become master of the empire. Without further delay, the division of the treasure was agreed upon.

Yet, before making this, it was necessary to reduce the whole to ingots of a uniform standard, for the spoil

was composed of an infinite variety of articles, in which the gold was of very different degrees of purity.

These articles consisted of goblets, ewers, salvers, vases of every shape and size, ornaments and utensils for

the temples and the royal palaces, tiles and plates for the decoration of the public edifices, curious imitations

of different plants and animals. Among the plants, the most beautiful was the Indian corn, in which the

golden ear was sheathed in its broad leaves of silver, from which hung a rich tassel of threads of the same

precious metal. A fountain was also much admired, which sent up a sparkling jet of gold, while birds and

animals of the same material played in the waters at its base. The delicacy of the workmanship of some of

these, and the beauty and ingenuity of the design, attracted the admiration of better judges than the rude

Before breaking up these specimens of Indian art, it was determined to send a quantity, which should be

deducted from the royal fifth, to the Emperor. It would serve as a sample of the ingenuity of the natives, and

would show him the value of his conquests. A number of the most beautiful articles was selected, to the

amount of a hundred thousand ducats, and Hernando Pizarro was appointed to be the bearer of them to Spain.

He was to obtain an audience of Charles, and, at the same time that he laid the treasures before him, he was to

give an account of the proceedings of the Conquerors, and to seek a further augmentation of their powers and

No man in the army was better qualified for this mission, by his address and knowledge of affairs, than

Hernando Pizarro; no one would be so likely to urge his suit with effect at the haughty Castilian court. But

His former jealousy of Almagro still rankled in his bosom, and he had beheld that chief's arrival at the camp

with feelings of disgust, which he did not care to conceal. He looked on him as coming to share the spoils of

victory, and defraud his brother of his legitimate honors. Instead of exchanging the cordial greeting proffered

by Almagro at their first interview, the arrogant cavalier held back in sullen silence. His brother Francis was

greatly displeased at a conduct which threatened to renew their ancient feud, and he induced Hernando to

accompany him to Almagro's quarters, and make some acknowledgment for his uncourteous behavior.2 But,

notwithstanding this show of reconciliation, the general thought the present a favorable opportunity to

remove his brother from the scene of operations, where his factious spirit more than counterbalanced his

The business of melting down the plate was intrusted to the Indian goldsmiths, who were thus required to

undo the work of their own hands, They toiled day and night, but such was the quantity to be recast, that it

consumed a full month. When the whole was reduced to bars of a uniform standard, they were nicely

weighed, under the superintendence of the royal inspectors. The total amount of the gold was found to be one

million, three hundred and twentysix thousand, five hundred and thirty nine pesos de oro, which, allowing

for the greater value of money in the sixteenth century, would be equivalent, probably, at the present time, to

near three millions and a half of pounds sterling, or somewhat less than fifteen millions and a half of dollars.4

The quantity of silver was estimated at fiftyone thousand six hundred and ten marks. History affords no

parallel of such a bootyand that, too, in the most convertible form, in ready money, as it werehaving

fallen to the lot of a little band of military adventurers, like the Conquerors of Peru. The great object of the

Spanish expeditions in the New World was gold. It is remarkable that. their success should have been so

complete. Had they taken the track of the English, the French, or the Dutch, on the shores of the northern

continent, how different would have been the result! It is equally worthy of remark, that the wealth thus

suddenly acquired, by diverting them from the slow but surer and more permanent sources of national

prosperity, has in the end glided from their grasp, and left them among the poorest of the nations of

A new difficulty now arose in respect to the division of the treasure. Almagro's followers claimed to be

admitted to a share of it; which, as they equalled, and indeed, somewhat exceeded in number Pizarro's

company, would reduce the gains of these last very materially. "We were not here, it is true," said Almagro's

soldiers to their comrades, "at the seizure of the Inca, but we have taken our turn in mounting guard over him

since his capture, have helped you to defend your treasures, and now give you the means of going forward

and securing your conquests. It is a common cause," they urged, "in which all are equally embarked, and the

But this way of viewing the matter was not at all palatable to Pizarro's company, who alleged that

Atahuallpa's contract had been made exclusively with them; that they had seized the Inca, had secured the

ransom, had incurred, in short, all the risk of the enterprise, and were not now disposed to share the fruits of it

with every one who came after them. There was much force, it could not be denied, in this reasoning, and it

was finally settled between the leaders, that Almagro's followers should resign their pretensions for a

stipulated sum of no great amount, and look to the career now opened to them for carving out their fortunes

This delicate affair being thus harmoniously adjusted, Pizarro prepared, with all solemnity, for a division of

the imperial spoil. The troops were called together in the great square, and the Spanish commander, "with the

fear of God before his eyes," says the record, "invoked the assistance of Heaven to do the work before him

conscientiously and justly."5 The appeal may seem somewhat out of place at the distribution of spoil so

unrighteously acquired; yet, in truth, considering the magnitude of the treasure, and the power assumed by

Pizarro to distribute it according to the respective deserts of the individuals, there were few acts of his life

involving a heavier responsibility. On his present decision might be said to hang the future fortunes of each

The royal fifth was first deducted, including the remittance already sent to Spain. The share appropriated by

Pizarro amounted to fiftyseven thousand two hundred and twentytwo pesos of gold, and two thousand

three hundred and fifty marks of silver. He had besides this the great chair or throne of the Inca, of solid gold,

and valued at twentyfive thousand pesos de oro. To his brother Hernando were paid thirtyone thousand

and eighty pesos of gold, and two thousand three hundred and fifty marks of silver. De Soto received

seventeen thousand seven hundred and forty pesos of gold, and seven hundred and twentyfour marks of

silver. Most of the remaining cavalry, sixty in number, received each eight thousand eight hundred and eighty

pesos of gold, and three hundred and sixtytwo marks of silver, though some had more, and a few

considerably less. The infantry mustered in all one hundred and five men. Almost one fifth of them were

allowed, each, four thousand four hundred and forty pesos of gold, and one hundred and eighty marks of

silver, half of the compensation of the troopers. The remainder received one fourth part less; though here

again there were exceptions, and some were obliged to content themselves with a much smaller share of the

The new church of San Francisco, the first Christian temple in Peru, was endowed with two thousand two

hundred and twenty pesos of gold. The amount assigned to Almagro's company was not excessive, if it was

not more than twenty thousand pesos; 7 and that reserved for the colonists of San Miguel, which amounted

only to fifteen thousand pesos, was unaccountably small.8 There were among them certain soldiers, who at an

early period of the expedition, as the reader may remember, abandoned the march, and returned to San

Miguel. These, certainly, had little claim to be remembered in the division of booty. But the greater part of

the colony consisted of invalids, men whose health had been broken by their previous hardships, but who

still, with a stout and willing heart, did good service in their military post on the seacoast. On what grounds

they had forfeited their claims to a more ample remuneration, it is not easy to explain.

Nothing is said, in the partition, of Almagro himself, who, by the terms of the original contract, might claim

an equal share of the spoil with his associate. As little notice is taken of Luque, the remaining partner. Luque

himself, was, indeed, no longer to be benefited by worldly treasure. He had died a short time before

Almagro's departure from Panama;9 too soon to learn the full success of the enterprise, which, but for his

exertions, must have failed; too soon to become acquainted with the achievements and the crimes of Pizarro.

But the Licentiate Espinosa, whom he represented, and who, it appears, had advanced the funds for the

expedition, was still living at St. Domingo, and Luque's pretensions were explicitly transferred to him. Yet it

is unsafe to pronounce, at this distance of time, on the authority of mere negative testimony; and it must be

admitted to form a strong presumption in favor of Pizarro's general equity in the distribution, that no

complaint of it has reached us from any of the parties present, nor from contemporary chroniclers.10

The division of the ransom being completed by the Spaniards, there seemed to be no further obstacle to their

resuming active operations, and commencing the march to Cuzco. But what was to be done with Atahuallpa?

In the determination of this question, whatever was expedient was just.11 To liberate him would be to set at

large the very man who might prove their most dangerous enemy; one whose birth and royal station would

rally round him the whole nation, place all the machinery of government at his control, and all its

resources,one, in short, whose bare word might concentrate all the energies of his people against the

Spaniards, and thus delay for a long period, if not wholly defeat, the conquest of the country. Yet to hold him

in captivity was attended with scarcely less difficulty; since to guard so important a prize would require such

a division of their force as must greatly cripple its strength, and how could they expect, by any vigilance, to

The Inca himself now loudly demanded his freedom. The proposed amount of the ransom had, indeed, not

been fully paid. It may be doubted whether it ever would have been, considering the embarrassments thrown

in the way by the guardians of the temples, who seemed disposed to secrete the treasures, rather than despoil

these sacred depositories to satisfy the cupidity of the strangers. It was unlucky, too, for the Indian monarch,

that much of the gold, and that of the best quality, consisted of flat plates or tiles, which, however valuable,

lay in a compact form that did little towards swelling the heap. But an immense amount had been already

realized, and it would have been a still greater one, the Inca might allege, but for the impatience of the

Spaniards. At all events, it was a magnificent ransom, such as was never paid by prince or potentate before.

These considerations Atahuallpa urged on several of the cavaliers, and especially on Hernando de Soto, who

was on terms of more familiarity with him than Pizarro. De Soto reported Atahuallpa's demands to his leader;

but the latter evaded a direct reply. He did not disclose the dark purposes over which his mind was

brooding.12 Not long afterward he caused the notary to prepare an instrument, in which he fully acquitted the

Inca of further obligation in respect to the ransom. This he commanded to be publicly proclaimed in the

camp, while at the same time he openly declared that the safety of the Spaniards required, that the Inca should

be detained in confinement until they were strengthened by additional reinforcements.13

Meanwhile the old rumors of a meditated attack by the natives began to be current among the soldiers. They

were repeated from one to another, gaining something by every repetition. An immense army, it was

reported, was mustering at Quito, the land of Atahuallpa's birth, and thirty thousand Caribs were on their way

to support it.14 The Caribs were distributed by the early Spaniards rather indiscriminately over the different

It was not easy to trace the origin of these rumors. There was in the camp a considerable number of Indians,

who belonged to the party of Huascar, and who were, of course, hostile to Atahuallpa. But his worst enemy

was Felipillo, the interpreter from Tumbez, already mentioned in these pages. This youth had conceived a

passion, or, as some say, had been detected in an intrigue with, one of the royal concubines.15 The

circumstance had reached the ears of Atahuallpa, who felt himself deeply outraged by it. "That such an insult

should have been offered by so base a person was an indignity," he said, "more difficult to bear than his

imprisonment";16 and he told Pizarro, "that, by the Peruvian law, it could be expiated, not by the criminal's

own death alone, but by that of his whole family and kindred." 17 But Felipillo was too important to the

Spaniards to be dealt with so summarily; nor did they probably attach such consequence to an offence which,

if report be true, they had countenanced by their own example.18 Felipillo, however, soon learned the state of

the Inca's feelings towards himself, and from that moment he regarded him with deadly hatred.

The rumors of a rising among the natives pointed to Atahuallpa as the author of it. Challcuchima was

examined on the subject, but avowed his entire ignorance of any such design, which he pronounced a

malicious slander. Pizarro next laid the matter before the Inca himself, repeating to him the stories in

circulation, with the air of one who believed them "What treason is this," said the general, "that you have

meditated against me,me, who have ever treated you with honor, confiding in your words, as in those of a

brother?" "You jest," replied the Inca, who, perhaps, did not feel the weight of this confidence; "you are

always jesting with me. How could I or my people think of conspiring against men so valiant as the

Spaniards? Do not jest with me thus, I beseech you."19 "This," continues Pizarro's secretary, "he said in the

most composed and natural manner, smiling all the while to dissemble his falsehood, so that we were all

But it was not with cunning, but with the consciousness of innocence, as the event afterwards proved, that

Atahuallpa thus spoke to Pizarro. He readily discerned, however, the causes, perhaps the consequences, of the

accusation. He saw a dark gulf opening beneath his feet; and he was surrounded by strangers, on none of

whom he could lean for counsel or protection. The life of the captive monarch is usually short; and

Atahuallpa might have learned the truth of this, when he thought of Huascar. Bitterly did he now lament the

absence of Hernando Pizarro, for, strange as it may seem, the haughty spirit of this cavalier had been touched

by the condition of the royal prisoner, and he had treated him with a deference which won for him the

peculiar regard and confidence of the Indian. Yet the latter lost no time in endeavoring to efface the general's

suspicions, and to establish his own innocence. "Am I not," said he to Pizarro, "a poor captive in your hands?

How could I harbor the designs you impute to me, when I should be the first victim of the outbreak? And you

little know my people, if you think that such a movement would be made without my orders; when the very

birds in my dominions," said he, with somewhat of an hyperbole, "would scarcely venture to fly contrary to

But these protestations of innocence had little effect on the troops; among whom the story of a general rising

of the natives continued to gain credit every hour. A large force, it was said, was already gathered at

Guamachucho, not a hundred miles from the camp, and their assault might be hourly expected. The treasure

which the Spaniards had acquired afforded a tempting prize, and their own alarm was increased by the

apprehension of losing it. The patroles were doubled. The horses were kept saddled and bridled. The soldiers

slept on their arms; Pizarro went the rounds regularly to see that every sentinel was on his post. The little

Men suffering from fear are not likely to be too scrupulous as to the means of removing the cause of it.

Murmurs, mingled with gloomy menaces, were now heard against the Inca, the author of these machinations.

Many began to demand his life as necessary to the safety of the army. Among these, the most vehement were

Almagro and his followers. They had not witnessed the seizure of Atahuallpa. They had no sympathy with

him in his fallen state. They regarded him only as an incumbrance, and their desire now was to push their

fortunes in the country, since they had got so little of the gold of Caxamalca. They were supported by

Riquelme, the treasurer, and by the rest of the royal officers. These men had been left at San Miguel by

Pizarro, who did not care to have such official spies on his movements. But they had come to the camp with

Almagro, and they loudly demanded the Inca's death, as indispensable to the tranquillity of the country, and

To these dark suggestions Pizarro turnedor seemed to turnan unwilling ear, showing visible reluctance

to proceed to extreme measures with his prisoner.23 There were some few, and among others Hernando de

Soto, who supported him in these views, and who regarded such measures as not at all justified by the

evidence of Atahuallpa's guilt. In this state of things, the Spanish commander determined to send a small

detachment to Guamachucho, to reconnoitre the country and ascertain what ground there was for the rumors

of an insurrection. De Soto was placed at the head of the expedition, which, as the distance was not great,

After that cavalier's departure, the agitation among the soldiers, instead of diminishing, increased to such a

degree, that Pizarro, unable to resist their importunities, consented to bring Atahuallpa to instant trial. It was

but decent, and certainly safer, to have the forms of a trial. A court was organized, over which the two

captains, Pizarro and Almagro were to preside as judges. An attorneygeneral was named to prosecute for the

The charges preferred against the Inca, drawn up in the form of interrogatories, were twelve in number. The

most important were, that he had usurped the crown and assassinated his brother Huascar; that he had

squandered the public revenues since the conquest of the country by the Spaniards, and lavished them on his

kindred and his minions; that he was guilty of idolatry, and of adulterous practices, indulging openly in a

plurality of wives; finally, that he had attempted to excite an insurrection against the Spaniards.24

These charges, most of which had reference to national usages, or to the personal relations of the Inca, over

which the Spanish conquerors had clearly no jurisdiction, are so absurd, that they might well provoke a smile,

did they not excite a deeper feeling. The last of the charges was the only one of moment in such a trial; and

the weakness of this may be inferred from the care taken to bolster it up with the others. The mere

specification of the articles must have been sufficient to show that the doom of the Inca was already sealed.

A number of Indian witnesses were examined, and their testimony, filtrated through the interpretation of

Felipillo, received, it is said, when necessary, a very different coloring from that of the original. The

examination was soon ended, and "a warm discussion," as we are assured by one of Pizarro's own secretaries,

"took place in respect to the probable good or evil that would result from the death of Atahuallpa." 25 It was

a question of expediency. He was found guilty,whether of all the crimes alleged we are not

informed,and he was sentenced to be burnt alive in the great square of Caxamalca. The sentence was to be

carried into execution that very night. They were not even to wait for the return of De Soto, when the

information he would bring would go far to establish the truth or the falsehood of the reports respecting the

insurrection of the natives. It was desirable to obtain the countenance of Father Valverde to these

proceedings, and a copy of the judgment was submitted to the friar for his signature, which he gave without

hesitation, declaring, that, "in his opinion, the Inca, at all events, deserved death." 26

Yet there were some few in that martial conclave who resisted these highhanded measures. They considered

them as a poor requital of all the favors bestowed on them by the Inca, who hitherto had received at their

hands nothing but wrong. They objected to the evidence as wholly insufficient; and they denied the authority

of such a tribunal to sit in judgment on a sovereign prince in the heart of his own dominions. If he were to be

tried, he should be sent to Spain, and his cause brought before the Emperor, who alone had power to

But the great majorityand they were ten to oneoverruled these objections, by declaring there was no

doubt of Atahuallpa's guilt, and they were willing to assume the responsibility of his punishment. A full

account of the proceedings would be sent to Castile, and the Emperor should be informed who were the loyal

servants of the Crown, and who were its enemies. The dispute ran so high, that for a time it menaced an open

and violent rupture; till, at length, convinced that resistance was fruitless, the weaker party, silenced, but not

satisfied, contented themselves with entering a written protest against these proceedings, which would leave

When the sentence was communicated to the Inca, he was greatly overcome by it. He had, indeed, for some

time, looked to such an issue as probable, and had been heard to intimate as much to those about him. But the

probability of such an event is very different from its certainty, and that, too, so sudden and speedy. For a

moment, the overwhelming conviction of it unmanned him, and he exclaimed, with tears in his eyes,

"What have I done, or my children, that I should meet such a fate? And from your hands, too," said he,

addressing Pizarro; "you, who have met with friendship and kindness from my people, with whom I have

shared my treasures, who have received nothing but benefits from my hands!" In the most piteous tones, he

then implored that his life might be spared, promising any guaranty that might be required for the safety of

every Spaniard in the army,promising double the ransom he had already paid, if time were only given him

An eyewitness assures us that Pizarro was visibly affected, as he turned away from the Inca, to whose appeal

he had no power to listen, in opposition to the voice of the army, and to his own sense of what was due to the

security of the country.29 Atahuallpa, finding he had no power to turn his Conqueror from his purpose,

recovered his habitual selfpossession, and from that moment submitted himself to his fate with the courage

The doom of the Inca was proclaimed by sound of trumpet in the great square of Caxamalca; and, two hours

after sunset, the Spanish soldiery assembled by torchlight in the plaza to witness the execution of the

sentence. It was on the twentyninth of August, 1533 Atahuallpa was led out chained hand and foot,for

he had been kept in irons ever since the great excitement had prevailed in the army respecting an assault.

Father Vicente de Valverde was at his side, striving to administer consolation, and, if possible, to persuade

him at this last hour to abjure his superstition and embrace the religion of his Conquerors. He was willing to

save the soul of his victim from the terrible expiation in the next world, to which he had so cheerfully

During Atahuallpa's confinement, the friar had repeatedly expounded to him the Christian doctrines, and the

Indian monarch discovered much acuteness in apprehending the discourse of his teacher. But it had not

carried conviction to his mind, and though he listened with patience, he had shown no disposition to renounce

the faith of his fathers. The Dominican made a last appeal to him in this solemn hour; and, when Atahuallpa

was bound to the stake, with the fagots that were to kindle his funeral pile lying around him, Valverde,

holding up the cross, besought him to embrace it and be baptized, promising that, by so doing, the painful

death to which he had been sentenced should be commuted for the milder form of the garrote,a mode of

The unhappy monarch asked if this were really so, and, on its being confirmed by Pizarro, he consented to

abjure his own religion, and receive baptism. The ceremony was performed by Father Valverde, and the new

convert received the name of Juan de Atahuallpa,the name of Juan being conferred in honor of John the

Atahuallpa expressed a desire that his remains might be transported to Quito, the place of his birth, to be

preserved with those of his maternal ancestors. Then turning to Pizarro, as a last request, he implored him to

take compassion on his young children, and receive them under his protection. Was there no other one in that

dark company who stood grimly around him, to whom he could look for the protection of his offspring?

Perhaps he thought there was no other so competent to afford it, and that the wishes so solemnly expressed in

that hour might meet with respect even from his Conqueror. Then, recovering his stoical bearing, which for a

moment had been shaken, he submitted himself calmly to his fate,while the Spaniards, gathering around,

muttered their credos for the salvation of his soul!32 Thus by the death of a vile malefactor perished the last

I have already spoken of the person and the qualities of Atahuallpa. He had a handsome countenance, though

with an expression somewhat too fierce to be pleasing. His frame was muscular and wellproportioned; his

air commanding; and his deportment in the Spanish quarters had a degree of refinement, the more interesting

that it was touched with melancholy. He is accused of having been cruel in his wars, and bloody in his

revenge.33 It may be true, but the pencil of an enemy would be likely to overcharge the shadows of the

portrait. He is allowed to have been bold, highminded, and liberal.34 All agree that he showed singular

penetration and quickness of perception. His exploits as a warrior had placed his valor beyond dispute. The

best homage to it is the reluctance shown by the Spaniards to restore him to freedom. They dreaded him as an

enemy, and they had done him too many wrongs to think that he could be their friend. Yet his conduct

towards them from the first had been most friendly; and they repaid it with imprisonment, robbery, and death.

The body of the Inca remained on the place of execution through the night. The following morning it was

removed to the church of San Francisco, where his funeral obsequies were performed with great solemnity.

Pizarro and the principal cavaliers went into mourning, and the troops listened with devout attention to the

service of the dead from the lips of Father Valverde.35 The ceremony was interrupted by the sound of loud

cries and wailing, as of many voices at the doors of the church. These were suddenly thrown open, and a

number of Indian women, the wives and sisters of the deceased, rushing up the great aisle, surrounded the

corpse. This was not the way, they cried, to celebrate the funeral rites of an Inca; and they declared their

intention to sacrifice themselves on his tomb, and bear him company to the land of spirits. The audience,

outraged by this frantic behaviour, told the intruders that Atahuallpa had died in the faith of a Christian, and

that the God of the Christians abhorred such sacrifices. They then caused the women to be excluded from the

church, and several, retiring to their own quarters, laid violent hands on themselves, in the vain hope of

Atahuallpa's remains, notwithstanding his request, were laid in the cemetery of San Francisco.37 But from

thence, as is reported, after the Spaniards left Caxamalca, they were secretly removed, and carried, as he had

desired, to Quito. The colonists of a later time supposed that some treasures might have been buried with the

body. But, on excavating the ground, neither treasure nor remains were to be discovered.38

A day or two after these tragic events, Hernando de Soto returned from his excursion. Great was his

astonishment and indignation at learning what had been done in his absence. He sought out Pizarro at once,

and found him, says the chronicler, "with a great felt hat, by way of mourning, slouched over his eyes," and

in his dress and demeanor exhibiting all the show of sorrow.39 "You have acted rashly," said De Soto to him

bluntly; "Atahuallpa has been basely slandered. There was no enemy at Guamachucho; no rising among the

natives. I have met with nothing on the road but demonstrations of goodwill, and all is quiet. If it was

necessary to bring the Inca to trial, he should have been taken to Castile and judged by the Emperor. I would

have pledged myself to see him safe on board the vessel." 40 Pizarro confessed that he had been precipitate,

and said that he had been deceived by Riquelme, Valverde, and the others. These charges soon reached the

ears of the treasurer and the Dominican, who, in their turn, exculpated themselves, and upbraided Pizarro to

his face, as the only one responsible for the deed. The dispute ran high; and the parties were heard by the

byslanders to give one another the lie! 41 This vulgar squabble among the leaders, so soon after the event, is

the best commentary on the iniquity of their own proceedings and the innocence of the Inca.

The treatment of Atahuallpa, from first to last, forms undoubtedly one of the darkest chapters in Spanish

colonial history. There may have been massacres perpetrated on a more extended scale, and executions

accompanied with a greater refinement of cruelty. But the bloodstained annals of the Conquest afford no

such example of coldhearted and systematic persecution, not of an enemy, but of one whose whole

From the hour that Pizarro and his followers had entered within the sphere of Atahuallpa's influence, the hand

of friendship had been extended to them by the natives. Their first act, on crossing the mountains, was to

kidnap the monarch and massacre his people. The seizure of his person might be vindicated, by those who

considered the end as justifying the means, on the ground that it was indispensable to secure the triumphs of

the Cross. But no such apology can be urged for the massacre of the unarmed and helpless population,as

The long confinement of the Inca had been used by the Conquerors to wring from him his treasures with the

hard gripe of avarice. During the whole of this dismal period, he had conducted himself with singular

generosity and good faith. He had opened a free passage to the Spaniards through every part of his empire;

and had furnished every facility for the execution of their plans. When these were accomplished, and he

remained an encumbrance on their hands, notwithstanding their engagement, expressed or implied, to release

him,and Pizarro, as we have seen, by a formal act, acquitted his captive of any further obligation on the

score of the ransom,he was arraigned before a mock tribunal, and, under pretences equally false and

frivolous, was condemned to an excruciating death. From first to last, the policy of the Spanish conquerors

It is not easy to acquit Pizarro of being in a great degree responsible for this policy. His partisans have

labored to show, that it was forced on him by the necessity of the case, and that in the death of the Inca,

especially, he yielded reluctantly to the importunities of others.42 But weak as is this apology, the historian

who has the means of comparing the various testimony of the period will come to a different conclusion. To

him it will appear, that Pizarro had probably long felt the removal of Atahuallpa as essential to the success of

his enterprise. He foresaw the odium that would be incurred by the death of his royal captive without

sufficient grounds; while he labored to establish these, he still shrunk from the responsibility of the deed, and

preferred to perpetrate it in obedience to the suggestions of others, rather than his own. Like many an

unprincipled politician, he wished to reap the benefit of a bad act, and let others take the blame of it.

Almagro and his followers are reported by Pizarro's secretaries to have first insisted on the Inca's death. They

were loudly supported by the treasurer and the royal officers, who considered it as indispensable to the

interests of the Crown; and, finally, the rumors of a conspiracy raised the same cry among the soldiers, and

Pizarro, with all his tenderness for his prisoner, could not refuse to bring him to trial.The form of a trial

was necessary to give an appearance of fairness to the proceedings. That if was only form is evident from the

indecent haste with which it was conducted,the examination of evidence, the sentence, and the execution,

being all on the same day. The multiplication of the charges, designed to place the guilt of the accused on the

strongest ground, had, from their very number, the opposite effect, proving only the determination to convict

him. If Pizarro had felt the reluctance to his conviction which he pretended, why did he send De Soto,

Atahuallpa's best friend, away, when the inquiry was to be instituted? Why was the sentence so summarily

executed, as not to afford opportunity, by that cavalier's return, of disproving the truth of the principal

charge,the only one, in fact, with which the Spaniards had any concern? The solemn farce of mourning and

deep sorrow affected by Pizarro, who by these honors to the dead would intimate the sincere regard he had

entertained for the living, was too thin a veil to impose on the most credulous.

It is not intended by these reflections to exculpate the rest of the army, and especially its officers, from their

share in the infamy of the transaction. But Pizarro, as commander of the army, was mainly responsible for its

measures. For he was not a man to allow his own authority to be wrested from his grasp, or to yield timidly to

the impulses of others. He did not even yield to his own. His whole career shows him, whether for good or

A story has been often repeated, which refers the motives of Pizarro's conduct, in some degree at least, to

personal resentment. The Inca had requested one of the Spanish soldiers to write the name of God on his nail.

This the monarch showed to several of his guards successively, and, as they read it, and each pronounced the

same word, the sagacious mind of the barbarian was delighted with what seemed to him little short of a

miracle,to which the science of his own nation afforded no analogy. On showing the writing to Pizarro,

that chief remained silent; and the Inca, finding he could not read, conceived a contempt for the commander

who was even less informed than his soldiers. This he did not wholly conceal, and Pizarro aware of the cause

of it, neither forgot nor forgave it.43 The anecdote is reported not on the highest authority. It may be true; but

it is unnecessary to look for the motives of Pizarro's conduct in personal pique, when so many proofs are to

Yet the arts of the Spanish chieftain failed to reconcile his countrymen to the atrocity of his proceedings. It is

singular to observe the difference between the tone assumed by the first chroniclers of the transaction, while

it was yet fresh, and that of those who wrote when the lapse of a few years had shown the tendency of public

opinion. The first boldly avow the deed as demanded by expediency, if not necessity; while they deal in no

measured terms of reproach with the character of their unfortunate victim.44 The latter, on the other hand,

while they extenuate the errors of the Inca, and do justice to his good faith, are unreserved in their

condemnation of the Conquerors, on whose conduct, they say, Heaven set the seal of its own reprobation, by

bringing them all to an untimely and miserable end.45 The sentence of contemporaries has been fully ratified

by that of posterity;46 and the persecution of Atahuallpa is regarded with justice as having left a stain, never

The Inca of Peru was its sovereign in a peculiar sense. He received an obedience from his vassals more

implicit than that of any despot; for his authority reached to the most secret conduct,to the thoughts of the

individual. He was reverenced as more than human.1 He was not merely the head of the state, but the point to

which all its institutions converged, as to a common centre,the keystone of the political fabric, which must

fall to pieces by its own weight when that was withdrawn. So it fared on the death of Atahuallpa.2 His death

not only left the throne vacant, without any certain successor, but the manner of it announced to the Peruvian

people that a hand stronger than that of their Incas had now seized the sceptre, and that the dynasty of the

The natural consequences of such a conviction followed. The beautiful order of the ancient institutions was

broken up, as the authority which controlled it was withdrawn. The Indians broke out into greater excesses

from the uncommon restraint to which they had been before subjected. Villages were burnt, temples and

palaces were plundered, and the gold they contained was scattered or secreted. Gold and silver acquired an

importance in the eyes of the Peruvian, when he saw the importance attached to them by his conquerors. The

precious metals, which before served only for purposes of state or religious decoration, were now hoarded up

and buried in caves and forests. The gold and silver concealed by the natives were affirmed greatly to exceed

in quantity that which fell into the hands of the Spaniards.3 The remote provinces now shook off their

allegiance to the Incas. Their great captains, at the head of distant armies, set up for themselves. Ruminavi, a

commander on the borders of Quito, sought to detach that kingdom from the Peruvian empire, and to reassert

its ancient independence. The country, in short, was in that state, in which old things are passing away, and

the new order of things has not yet been established. It was in a state of revolution.

The authors of the revolution, Pizarro and his followers, remained meanwhile at Caxamalca. But the first step

of the Spanish commander was to name a successor to Atahuallpa. It would be easier to govern under the

venerated authority to which the homage of the Indians had been so long paid; and it was not difficult to find

a successor. The true heir to the crown was a second son of Huayna Capac, named Manco, a legitimate

brother of the unfortunate Huascar. But Pizarro had too little knowledge of the dispositions of this prince; and

he made no scruple to prefer a brother of Atahuallpa, and to present him to the Indian nobles as their future

Inca. We know nothing of the character of the young Toparca, who probably resigned himself without

reluctance to a destiny which, however humiliating in some points of view, was more exalted than he could

have hoped to obtain in the regular course of events. The ceremonies attending a Peruvian coronation were

observed, as well as time would allow; the brows of the young Inca were encircled with the imperial borla by

the hands of his conqueror, and he received the homage of his Indian vassals. They were the less reluctant to

All thoughts were now eagerly turned towards Cuzco, of which the most glowing accounts were circulated

among the soldiers, and whose temples and royal palaces were represented as blazing with gold and silver.

With imaginations thus excited, Pizarro and his entire company, amounting to almost five hundred men, of

whom nearly a third, probably, were cavalry, took their departure early in September from Caxamalca,a

place ever memorable as the theatre of some of the most strange and sanguinary scenes recorded in history.

All set forward in high spirits, the soldiers of Pizarro from the expectation of doubling their present riches,

and Almagro's followers from the prospect of sharing equally in the spoil with "the first conquerors." 4 The

young Inca and the old chief Challcuchima accompanied the march in their litters, attended by a numerous

retinue of vassals, and moving in as much state and ceremony as if in the possession of real power.5

Their course lay along the great road of the Incas, which stretched across the elevated regions of the

Cordilleras, all the way to Cuzco. It was of nearly a uniform breadth, though constructed with different

degrees of care, according to the ground.6 Sometimes it crossed smooth and level valleys, which offered of

themselves little impediment to the traveller; at other times, it followed the course of a mountain stream that

wound round the base of some beetling cliff, leaving small space for the foothold; at others, again, where the

sierra was so precipitous that it seemed to preclude all further progress, the road, accommodated to the

natural sinuosities of the ground, wound round the heights which it would have been impossible to scale

But although managed with great address, it was a formidable passage for the cavalry. The mountain was

hewn into steps, but the rocky ledges cut up the hoofs of the horses; and, though the troopers dismounted and

led them by the bridle, they suffered severely in their efforts to keep their footing.8 The road was constructed

for man and the lightfooled llama; and the only heavy beast of burden at all suited to it was the sagacious

and surefooted mule, with which the Spanish adventurers were not then provided. It was a singular chance

that Spain was the land of the mule; and thus the country was speedily supplied with the very animal which

Another obstacle, often occurring, was the deep torrents that rushed down in fury from the Andes. They were

traversed by the hanging bridges of osier, whose frail materials were after a time broken up by the heavy

tread of the cavalry, and the holes made in them added materially to the dangers of the passage. On such

occasions, the Spaniards contrived to work their way across the rivers on rafts, swimming their horses by the

All along the route, they found posthouses for the accommodation of the royal couriers, established at

regular intervals; and magazines of grain and other commodities, provided in the principal towns for the

Indian armies. The Spaniards profited by the prudent forecast of the Peruvian government.

Passing through several hamlets and towns of some note, the principal of which were Guamachucho and

Guanuco, Pizarro, after a tedious march, came in sight of the rich valley of Xauxa. The march, though

tedious, had been attended with little suffering, except in crossing the bristling crests of the Cordilleras,

which occasionally obstructed their path,a rough setting to the beautiful valleys, that lay scattered like

gems along this elevated region. In the mountain passes they found some inconvenience from the cold; since,

to move more quickly, they had disencumbered themselves of all superfluous baggage, and were even

unprovided with tents.10 The bleak winds of the mountains penetrated the thick harness of the soldiers; but

the poor Indians, more scantily clothed and accustomed to a tropical climate, suffered most severely. The

Spaniard seemed to have a hardihood of body, as of soul, that rendered him almost indifferent to climate.

On the march they had not been molested by enemies. But more than once they had seen vestiges of them in

smoking hamlets and ruined bridges. Reports, from time to time, had reached Pizarro of warriors on his track;

and small bodies of Indians were occasionally seen like dusky clouds on the verge of the horizon, which

vanished as the Spaniards approached. On reaching Xauxa, however, these clouds gathered into one dark

mass of warriors, which formed on the opposite bank of the river that flowed through the valley.

The Spaniards advanced to the stream, which, swollen by the melting of the snows, was now of considerable

width, though not deep. The bridge had been destroyed; but the Conquerors, without hesitation, dashing

boldly in, advanced, swimming and wading, as they best could, to the opposite bank. The Indians,

disconcerted by this decided movement, as they had relied on their watery defences, took to flight, after

letting off an impotent volley of missiles. Fear gave wings to the fugitives; but the horse and his rider were

swifter, and the victorious pursuers took bloody vengeance on their enemy for having dared even to meditate

Xauxa was a considerable town. It was the place already noticed as having been visited by Hernando Pizarro.

It was seated in the midst of a verdant valley, fertilized by a thousand little rills, which the thrifty Indian

husbandman drew from the parent river that rolled sluggishly through the meadows. There were several

capacious buildings of rough stone in the town, and a temple of some note in the times of the Incas. But the

strong arm of Father Valverde and his countrymen soon tumbled the heathen deities from their pride of place,

Here Pizarro proposed to halt for some days, and to found a Spanish colony. It was a favorable position, he

thought, for holding the Indian mountaineers in check, while, at the same time, it afforded an easy

communication with the seacoast. Meanwhile he determined to send forward De Soto, with a detachment of

sixty horse, to reconnoitre the country in advance, and to restore the bridges where demolished by the

That active cavalier set forward at once, but found considerable impediments to his progress. The traces of an

enemy became more frequent as he advanced. The villages were burnt, the bridges destroyed, and heavy

rocks and trees strewed in the path to impede the march of the cavalry. As he drew near to Bilcas, once an

important place, though now effaced from the map, he had a sharp encounter with the natives, in a mountain

defile, which cost him the lives of two or three troopers. The loss was light; but any loss was felt by the

Still pressing forward, the Spanish captain crossed the river Abancay, and the broad waters of the Apurimac;

and, as he drew near the sierra of Vilcaconga, he learned that a considerable body of Indians lay in wait for

him in the dangerous passes of the mountains. The sierra was several leagues from Cuzco; and the cavalier,

desirous to reach the further side of it before nightfall, incautiously pushed on his wearied horses. When he

was fairly entangled in its rocky defiles, a multitude of armed warriors, springing, as it seemed, from every

cavern and thicket of the sierra, filled the air with their warcries, and rushed down, like one of their own

mountain torrents, on the invaders, as they were painfully toiling up the steeps. Men and horses were

overturned in the fury of the assault, and the foremost files, rolling back on those below, spread ruin and

consternation in their ranks. De Soto in vain endeavored to restore order, and, if possible, to charge the

assailants. The horses were blinded and maddened by the missiles, while the desperate natives, clinging to

their legs, strove to prevent their ascent up the rocky pathway. De Soto saw, that, unless he gained a level

ground which opened at some distance before him, all must be lost. Cheering on his men with the old

battlecry, that always went to the heart of a Spaniard, he struck his spurs deep into the sides of his wearied

charger, and, gallantly supported by his troop, broke through the dark array of warriors, and, shaking them off

to the right and left, at length succeeded in placing himself on the broad level.

Here both parties paused, as if by mutual consent, for a few moments. A little stream ran through the plain, at

which the Spaniards watered their horses;12 and the animals, having recovered wind, De Soto and his men

made a desperate charge on their assailants. The undaunted Indians sustained the shock with firmness; and

the result of the combat was still doubtful, when the shades of evening, falling thicker around them, separated

Both parties then withdrew from the field, taking up their respective stations within bowshot of each other,

so that the voices of the warriors on either side could be distinctly heard in the stillness of the night. But very

different were the reflections of the two hosts. The Indians, exulting in their temporary triumph, looked with

confidence to the morrow to complete it. The Spaniards, on the other hand, were proportionably discouraged.

They were not prepared for this spirit of resistance in an enemy hitherto so tame. Several cavaliers had fallen;

one of them by a blow from a Peruvian battleaxe, which clove his head to the chin, attesting the power of

the weapon, and of the arm that used it.13 Several horses, too, had been killed; and the loss of these was

almost as severely felt as that of their riders, considering the great cost and difficulty of transporting them to

these distant regions. Few either of the men or horses escaped without wounds, and the Indian allies suffered

It seemed probable, from the pertinacity and a certain order maintained in the assault, that it was directed by

some leader of military experience; perhaps the Indian commander Quizquiz, who was said to be hanging

Notwithstanding the reasonable cause of apprehension for the morrow, De Soto, like a stouthearted cavalier,

as he was, strove to keep up the spirits of his followers. If they had beaten off the enemy when their horses

were jaded, and their own strength nearly exhausted, how much easier it would be to come off victorious

when both were restored by a night's rest; and he told them to "trust in the Almighty, who would never desert

his faithful followers in their extremity." The event justified De Soto's confidence in this seasonable succour.

From time to time, on his march, he had sent advices to Pizarro of the menacing state of the country, till his

commander, becoming seriously alarmed, was apprehensive that the cavalier might be overpowered by the

superior numbers of the enemy. He accordingly detached Almagro with nearly all the remaining horse, to his

support,unencumbered by infantry, that he might move the lighter. That efficient leader advanced by

forced marches, stimulated by the tidings which met him on the road; and was so fortunate as to reach the

There hearing of the encounter, he pushed forward without halting, though his horses were spent with travel.

The night was exceedingly dark, and Almagro, afraid of stumbling on the enemy's bivouac, and desirous to

give De Soto information of his approach, commanded his trumpets to sound, till the notes, winding through

the defiles of the mountains, broke the slumbers of his countrymen, sounding like blithest music in their ears.

They quickly replied with their own bugles, and soon had the satisfaction to embrace their deliverers.14

Great was the dismay of the Peruvian host, when the morning light discovered the fresh reinforcement of the

ranks of the Spaniards. There was no use in contending with an enemy who gathered strength from the

conflict, and who seemed to multiply his numbers at will. Without further attempt to renew the fight, they

availed themselves of a thick fog, which hung over the lower slopes of the hills, to effect their retreat, and left

the passes open to the invaders. The two cavaliers then continued their march until they extricated their forces

from the sierra, when, taking up a secure position, they proposed to await there the arrival of Pizarro.15

The commanderinchief, meanwhile, lay at Xauxa, where he was greatly disturbed by the rumors which

reached him of the state of the country. His enterprise, thus far, had gone forward so smoothly, that he was no

better prepared than his lieutenant to meet with resistance from the natives. He did not seem to comprehend

that the mildest nature might at last be roused by oppression; and that the massacre of their Inca, whom they

regarded with such awful veneration, would be likely, if any thing could do it, to wake them from their

The tidings which he now received of the retreat of the Peruvians were most welcome; and he caused mass to

be said, and thanksgivings to be offered up to Heaven, "which had shown itself thus favorable to the

Christians throughout this mighty enterprise." The Spaniard was ever a Crusader. He was, in the sixteenth

century, what Coeur de Lion and his brave knights were in the twelfth, with this difference; the cavalier of

that day fought for the Cross and for glory, while gold and the Cross were the watchwords of the Spaniard.

The spirit of chivalry had waned somewhat before the spirit of trade; but the fire of religious enthusiasm still

burned as bright under the quilted mail of the American Conqueror, as it did of yore under the iron panoply of

It seemed probable that some man of authority had organized, or at least countenanced, this resistance of the

natives, and suspicion fell on the captive chief Challcuchima, who was accused of maintaining a secret

correspondence with his confederate, Quizquiz. Pizarro waited on the Indian noble, and, charging him with

the conspiracy, reproached him, as he had formerly done his royal master, with ingratitude towards the

Spaniards, who had dealt with him so liberally. He concluded by the assurance, that, if he did not cause the

Peruvians to lay down their arms, and tender their submission at once, he should be burnt alive, so soon as

The Indian chief listened to the terrible menace with the utmost composure. He denied having had any

communication with his countrymen, and said, that, in his present state of confinement, at least, he could

have no power to bring them to submission. He then remained doggedly silent, and Pizarro did not press the

matter further.17 But he placed a strong guard over his prisoner, and caused him to be put in irons. It was an

Before quitting Xauxa, a misfortune befell the Spaniards in the death of their creature, the young Inca

Toparca. Suspicion, of course, fell on Challcuchima, now selected as the scapegoat for all the offences of

his nation.18 It was a disappointment to Pizarro, who hoped to find a convenient shelter for his future

The general considered it most prudent not to hazard the loss of his treasures by taking them on the march,

and he accordingly left them at Xauxa, under a guard of forty soldiers, who remained there in garrison. No

event of importance occurred on the road, and Pizarro, having effected a junction with Almagro, their united

forces soon entered the vale of Xaquixaguana, about five leagues from Cuzco. This was one of those bright

spots, so often found embosomed amidst the Andes, the more beautiful from contrast with the savage

character of the scenery around it. A river flowed through the valley, affording the means of irrigating the

soil, and clothing it in perpetual verdure; and the rich and flowering vegetation spread out like a cultivated

garden. The beauty of the place and its delicious coolness commended it as a residence for the Peruvian

nobles, and the sides of the hills were dotted with their villas, which afforded them a grateful retreat in the

heats of summer.20 Yet the centre of the valley was disfigured by a quagmire of some extent, occasioned by

the frequent overflowing of the waters; but the industry of the Indian architects had constructed a solid

causeway, faced with heavy stone, and connected with the great road, which traversed the whole breadth of

In this valley Pizarro halted for several days, while he refreshed his troops from the wellstored magazines of

the Incas. His first act was to bring Challcuchima to trial; if trial that could be called, where sentence may be

said to have gone hand in hand with accusation. We are not informed of the nature of the evidence. It was

sufficient to satisfy the Spanish captains of the chieftain's guilt. Nor is it at all incredible that Challcuchima

should have secretly encouraged a movement among the people, designed to secure his country's freedom and

his own. He was condemned to be burnt alive on the spot. "Some thought it a hard measure," says Herrera;

"but those who are governed by reasons of state policy are apt to shut their eyes against every thing else." 22

Why this cruel mode of execution was so often adopted by the Spanish Conquerors is not obvious; unless it

was that the Indian was an infidel, and fire, from ancient date, seems to have been considered the fitting

doom of the infidel, as the type of that inextinguishable flame which awaited him in the regions of the

Father Valverde accompanied the Peruvian chieftain to the stake. He seems always to have been present at

this dreary moment, anxious to profit by it, if possible, to work the conversion of the victim. He painted in

gloomy colors the dreadful doom of the unbeliever, to whom the waters of baptism could alone secure the

ineffable glories of paradise.23 It does not appear that he promised any commutation of punishment in this

world. But his arguments fell on a stony heart, and the chief coldly replied, he "did not understand the

religion of the white men." 24 He might be pardoned for not comprehending the beauty of a faith which, as it

would seem, had borne so bitter fruits to him. In the midst of his tortures, he showed the characteristic

courage of the American Indian, whose power of endurance triumphs over the power of persecution in his

enemies, and he died with his last breath invoking the name of Pachacamac. His own followers brought the

Soon after this tragic event, Pizarro was surprised by a visit from a Peruvian noble, who came in great state,

attended by a numerous and showy retinue. It was the young prince Manco, brother of the unfortunate

Huascar, and the rightful successor to the crown. Being brought before the Spanish commander, he

announced his pretensions to the throne, and claimed the protection of the strangers. It is said he had

meditated resisting them by arms, and had encouraged the assaults made on them on their march; but, finding

resistance ineffectual, he had taken this politic course, greatly to the displeasure of his more resolute nobles.

However this may be, Pizarro listened to his application with singular contentment, for he saw in this new

scion of the true royal stock, a more effectual instrument for his purposes than he could have found in the

family of Quito, with whom the Peruvians had but little sympathy. He received the young man, therefore,

with great cordiality, and did not hesitate to assure him that he had been sent into the country by his master,

the Castilian sovereign, in order to vindicate the claims of Huascar to the crown, and to punish the usurpation

Taking with him the Indian prince, Pizarro now resumed his march. It was interrupted for a few hours by a

party of the natives, who lay in wait for him in the neighboring sierra. A sharp skirmish ensued, in which the

Indians behaved with great spirit, and inflicted some little injury on the Spaniards; but the latter, at length,

shaking them off, made good their passage through the defile, and the enemy did not care to follow them into

It was late in the afternoon when the Conquerors came in sight of Cuzco.27 The descending sun was

streaming his broad rays full on the imperial city, where many an altar was dedicated to his worship. The low

ranges of buildings, showing in his beams like so many lines of silvery light, filled up the bosom of the valley

and the lower slopes of the mountains, whose shadowy forms hung darkly over the fair city, as if to shield it

from the menaced profanation. It was so late, that Pizarro resolved to defer his entrance till the following

That night vigilant guard was kept in the camp, and the soldiers slept on their arms. But it passed away

without annoyance from the enemy, and early on the following day, November 15, 1533, Pizarro prepared for

The little army was formed into three divisions, of which the centre, or "battle," as it was called, was led by

the general. The suburbs were thronged with a countless multitude of the natives, who had flocked from the

city and the surrounding country to witness the showy, and, to them, startling pageant. All looked with eager

curiosity on the strangers, the fame of whose terrible exploits had spread to the remotest parts of the empire.

They gazed with astonishment on their dazzling arms and fair complexions, which seemed to proclaim them

the true Children of the Sun; and they listened with feelings of mysterious dread, as the trumpet sent forth its

prolonged notes through the streets of the capital, and the solid ground shook under the heavy tramp of the

The Spanish commander rode directly up the great square. It was surrounded by low piles of buildings,

among which were several palaces of the Incas. One of these, erected by Huayna Capac, was surmounted by

a tower, while the groundfloor was occupied by one or more immense halls, like those described in

Caxamalca, where the Peruvian nobles held their fetes in stormy weather. These buildings afforded

convenient barracks for the troops, though, during the first few weeks, they remained under their tents in the

open plaza, with their horses picketed by their side, ready to repulse any insurrection of the inhabitants.29

The capital of the Incas, though falling short of the El Dorado which had engaged their credulous fancies,

astonished the Spaniards by the beauty of its edifices, the length and regularity of its streets, and the good

order and appearance of comfort, even luxury, visible in its numerous population. It far surpassed all they had

yet seen in the New World. The population of the city is computed by one of the Conquerors at two hundred

thousand inhabitants, and that of the suburbs at as many more.30 This account is not confirmed, as far as I

have seen, by any other writer. But however it may be exaggerated, it is certain that Cuzco was the

metropolis of a great empire, the residence of the Court and the chief nobility; frequented by the most skilful

mechanics and artisans of every description, who found a demand for their ingenuity in the royal precincts;

while the place was garrisoned by a numerous soldiery, and was the resort, finally, of emigrants from the

most distant provinces. The quarters whence this motley population came were indicated by their peculiar

dress, and especially their headgear, so rarely found at all on the American Indian, which, with its

variegated colors, gave a picturesque effect to the groups and masses in the streets. The habitual order and

decorum maintained in this multifarious assembly showed the excellent police of the capital, where the only

sounds that disturbed the repose of the Spaniards were the noises of feasting and dancing, which the natives,

The edifices of the better sortand they were very numerouswere of stone, or faced with stone.32 Among

the principal were the royal residences; as each sovereign built a new palace for himself, covering, though

low, a large extent of ground. The walls were sometimes stained or painted with gaudy tints, and the gates,

we are assured, were sometimes of colored marble.33 "In the delicacy of the stonework," says another of the

Conquerors, "the natives far excelled the Spaniards, though the roofs of their dwellings, instead of tiles, were

only of thatch, but put together with the nicest art." 34 The sunny climate of Cuzco did not require a very

The most important building was the fortress, planted on a solid rock, that rose boldly above the city. It was

built of hewn stone, so finely wrought that it was impossible to detect the line of junction between the blocks;

and the approaches to it were defended by three semicircular parapets, composed of such heavy masses of

rock, that it bore resemblance to the kind of work known to architects as the Cyclopean. The fortress was

raised to a height rare in Peruvian architecture; and from the summit of the tower the eye of thespectator

ranged over a magnificent prospect, in which the wild features of the mountain scenery, rocks, woods, and

waterfalls, were mingled with the rich verdure of the valley, and the shining city filling up the

The streets were long and narrow. They were arranged with perfect regularity, crossing one another at right

angles; and from the great square diverged four principal streets connecting with the high roads of the empire.

The square itself, and many parts of the city, were paved with a fine pebble.35 Through the heart of the

capital ran a river of pure water, if it might not be rather termed a canal, the banks or sides of which, for the

distance of twenty leagues, were faced with stone.36 Across this stream, bridges, constructed of similar broad

flags, were thrown, at intervals, so as to afford an easy communication between the different quarters of the

The most sumptuous edifice in Cuzco, in the times of the Incas, was undoubtedly the great temple dedicated

to the Sun, which, studded with gold plates, as already noticed, was surrounded by convents and dormitories

for the priests, with their gardens and broad parterres sparkling with gold. The exterior ornaments had been

already removed by the Conquerors,all but the frieze of gold, which, imbedded in the stones, still encircled

the principal building. It is probable that the tales of wealth, so greedily circulated among the Spaniards,

greatly exceeded the truth. If they did not, the natives must have been very successful in concealing their

treasures from the invaders. Yet much still remained, not only in the great House of the Sun, but in the

Pizarro, on entering Cuzco, had issued an order forbidding any soldier to offer violence to the dwellings of

the inhabitants.38 But the palaces were numerous, and the troops lost no time in plundering them of their

contents, as well as in despoiling the religious edifices. The interior decorations supplied them with

considerable booty. They stripped off the jewels and rich ornaments that garnished the royal mummies in the

temple of Coricancha. Indignant at the concealment of their treasures, they put the inhabitants, in some

instances, to the torture, and endeavored to extort from them a confession of their hidingplaces.39 They

invaded the repose of the sepulchres, in which the Peruvians often deposited their valuable effects, and

compelled the grave to give up its dead. No place was left unexplored by the rapacious Conquerors, and they

In a cavern near the city they found a number of vases of pure gold, richly embossed with the figures of

serpents, locusts, and other animals. Among the spoil were four golden llamas and ten or twelve statues of

women, some of gold, others of silver, "which merely to see," says one of the Conquerors, with some naivete,

"was truly a great satisfaction." The gold was probably thin, for the figures were all as large as life; and

several of them, being reserved for the royal fifth, were not recast, but sent in their original form to Spain.40

The magazines were stored with curious commodities; richly tinted robes of cotton and featherwork, gold

sandals, and slippers of the same material, for the women, and dresses composed entirely of beads of gold.41

The grain and other articles of food, with which the magazines were filled, were held in contempt by the

Conquerors, intent only on gratifying their lust for gold.42 The time came when the grain would have been of

Yet the amount of treasure in the capital did not equal the sanguine expectations that had been formed by the

Spaniards. But the deficiency was supplied by the plunder which they had collected at various places on their

march. In one place, for example, they met with ten planks or bars of solid silver, each piece being twenty

feet in length, one foot in breadth, and two or three inches thick. They were intended to decorate the dwelling

The whole mass of treasure was brought into a common heap, as in Caxamalca; and after some of the finer

specimens had been deducted for the Crown, the remainder was delivered to the Indian goldsmiths to be

melted down into ingots of a uniform standard. The division of the spoil was made on the same principle as

before. There were four hundred and eighty soldiers, including the garrison of Xauxa, who were each to

receive a share, that of the cavalry being double that of the infantry. The amount of booty is stated variously

by those present at the division of it. According to some it considerably exceeded the ransom of Atahuallpa.

Others state it as less. Pedro Pizarro says that each horseman got six thousand pesos de oro, and each one of

the infantry half that sum; 44 though the same discrimination was made by Pizarro as before, in respect to the

rank of the parties, and their relative services. But Sancho, the royal notary, and secretary of the commander,

estimates the whole amount as far less,not exceeding five hundred and eighty thousand and two hundred

pesos de oro, and two hundred and fifteen thousand marks of silver.45 In the absence of the official returns, it

is impossible to determine which is correct. But Sancho's narrative is countersigned, it may be remembered,

by Pizarro and the royal treasurer Riquelme, and doubtless therefore, shows the actual amount for which the

Whichever statement we receive, the sum, combined with that obtained at Caxamalca, might well have

satisfied the cravings of the most avaricious. The sudden influx of so much wealth, and that, too, in so

transferable a form, among a party of reckless adventurers little accustomed to the possession of money, had

its natural effect. it supplied them with the means of gaming, so strong and common a passion with the

Spaniards, that it may be considered a national vice. Fortunes were lost and won in a single day, sufficient to

render the proprietors independent for life; and many a desperate gamester, by an unlucky throw of the dice

or turn of the cards, saw himself stripped in a few hours of the fruits of years of toil, and obliged to begin

over again the business of rapine. Among these, one in the cavalry service is mentioned, named Leguizano,

who had received as his share of the booty the image of the Sun, which, raised on a plate of burnished gold,

spread over the walls in a recess of the great temple, and which, for some reason or other,perhaps because

of its superior fineness,was not recast like the other ornaments. This rich prize the spendthrift lost in a

single night; whence it came to be a proverb in Spain, Juega el Sol antes que amanezca, "Play away the Sun

The effect of such a surfeit of the precious metals was instantly felt on prices. The most ordinary articles were

only to be had for exorbitant sums. A quire of paper sold for ten pesos de oro; a bottle of wine, for sixty; a

sword, for forty or fifty; a cloak, for a hundred,sometimes more; a pair of shoes cost thirty or forty pesos

de oro, and a good horse could not be had for less than twentyfive hundred.47 Some brought a still higher

price. Every article rose in value, as gold and silver, the representatives of all, declined. Gold and silver, in

short, seemed to be the only things in Cuzco that were not wealth. Yet there were some few wise enough to

return contented with their present gains to their native country. Here their riches brought them consideration

and competence, and while they excited the envy of their countrymen, stimulated them to seek their own

The first care of the Spanish general, after the division of the booty, was to place Manco on the throne, and to

obtain for him the recognition of his countrymen. He, accordingly, presented the young prince to them as

their future sovereign, the legitimate son of Huayna Capac, and the true heir of the Peruvian sceptre. The

annunciation was received with enthusiasm by the people, attached to the memory of his illustrious father,

and pleased that they were still to have a monarch rule over them of the ancient line of Cuzco.

Everything was done to maintain the illusion with the Indian population. The ceremonies of a coronation

were studiously observed. The young prince kept the prescribed fasts and vigils; and on the appointed day,

the nobles and the people, with the whole Spanish soldiery, assembled in the great square of Cuzco to witness

the concluding ceremony. Mass was publicly performed by Father Valverde, and the Inca Manco received the

fringed diadem of Peru, not from the hand of the highpriest of his nation, but from his Conqueror, Pizarro.

The Indian lords then tendered their obeisance in the customary form; after which the royal notary read aloud

the instrument asserting the supremacy of the Castilian Crown, and requiring the homage of all present to its

authority. This address was explained by an interpreter, and the ceremony of homage was performed by each

one of the parties waving the royal banner of Castile twice or thrice with his hands. Manco then pledged the

Spanish commander in a golden goblet of the sparkling chicha; and, the latter having cordially embraced the

new monarch, the trumpets announced the conclusion of the ceremony.1 But it was not the note of triumph,

but of humiliation; for it proclaimed that the armed foot of the stranger was in the halls of the Peruvian Incas;

that the ceremony of coronation was a miserable pageant; that their prince himself was but a puppet in the

hands of his Conquerors; and that the glory of the Children of the Sun had departed forever!

Yet the people readily gave in to the illusion, and seemed willing to accept this image of their ancient

independence. The accession of the young monarch was greeted by all the usual fetes and rejoicings. The

mummies of his royal ancestors, with such ornaments as were still left to them, were paraded in the great

square. They were attended each by his own numerous retinue, who performed all the menial offices, as if the

object of them were alive and could feel their import. Each ghostly form took its seat at the

banquettablenow, alas! stripped of the magnificent service with which it was wont to blaze at these high

festivalsand the guests drank deep to the illustrious dead. Dancing succeeded the carousal, and the

festivities, prolonged to a late hour, were continued night after night by the giddy population, as if their

conquerors had not been intrenched in the capital!2 What a contrast to the Aztecs in the conquest of

Pizarro's next concern was to organize a municipal government for Cuzco, like those in the cities of the

parent country. Two alcaldes were appointed, and eight regidores, among which last functionaries were his

brothers Gonzalo and Juan. The oaths of office were administered with great solemnity, on the twentyfourth

of March, 1534, in presence both of Spaniards and Peruvians, in the public square; as if the general were

willing by this ceremony to intimate to the latter, that, while they retained the semblance of their ancient

institutions, the real power was henceforth vested in their conquerors.3 He invited Spaniards to settle in the

place by liberal grants of land and houses, for which means were afforded by the numerous palaces and

public buildings of the Incas; and many a cavalier, who had been too poor in his own country to find a place

to rest in, now saw himself the proprietor of a spacious mansion that might have entertained the retinue of a

prince.4 From this time, says an old chronicler, Pizarro, who had hitherto been distinguished by his military

title of "CaptainGeneral," was addressed by that of "Governor." 5 Both had been bestowed on him by the

Nor did the chief neglect the interests of religion. Father Valverde, whose nomination as Bishop of Cuzco not

long afterwards received the Papal sanction, prepared to enter on the duties of his office. A place was selected

for the cathedral of his diocese, facing the plaza. A spacious monastery subsequently rose on the ruins of the

gorgeous House of the Sun; its walls were constructed of the ancient stones; the altar was raised on the spot

where shone the bright image of the Peruvian deity, and the cloisters of the Indian temple were trodden by the

friars of St. Dominic.6 To make the metamorphosis more complete, the House of the Virgins of the Sun was

replaced by a Roman Catholic nunnery.7 Christian churches and monasteries gradually supplanted the

ancient edifices, and such of the latter as were suffered to remain, despoiled of their heathen insignia, were

The Fathers of St. Dominic, the Brethren of the Order of Mercy, and other missionaries, now busied

themselves in the good work of conversion. We have seen that Pizarro was required by the Crown to bring

out a certain number of these holy men in his own vessels; and every succeeding vessel brought an additional

reinforcement of ecclesiastics. They were not all like the Bishop of Cuzco, with hearts so seared by

fanaticism as to be closed against sympathy with the unfortunate natives.8 They were, many of them, men of

singular humility, who followed in the track of the conqueror to scatter the seeds of spiritual truth, and, with

disinterested zeal, devoted themselves to the propagation of the Gospel. Thus did their pious labors prove

them the true soldiers of the Cross, and showed that the object so ostentatiously avowed of carrying its banner

The effort to Christianize the heathen is an honorable characteristic of the Spanish conquests. The Puritan,

with equal religious zeal, did comparatively little for the conversion of the Indian, content, as it would seem,

with having secured to himself the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in his own way. Other

adventurers who have occupied the New World have often had too little regard for religion themselves, to be

very solicitous about spreading it among the savages. But the Spanish missionary, from first to last, has

shown a keen interest in the spiritual welfare of the natives. Under his auspices, churches on a magnificent

scale have been erected, schools for elementary instruction founded, and every rational means taken to spread

the knowledge of religious truth, while he has carried his solitary mission into remote and almost inaccessible

regions, or gathered his Indian disciples into communities, like the good Las Casas in Cumana, or the Jesuits

in California and Paraguay. At all times, the courageous ecclesiastic has been ready to lift his voice against

the cruelty of the conqueror, and the no less wasting cupidity of the colonist; and when his remonstrances, as

was too often the case, have proved unavailing, he has still followed to bind up the brokenhearted, to teach

the poor Indian resignation under his lot, and light up his dark intellect with the revelation of a holier and

happier existence.In reviewing the bloodstained records of Spanish colonial history, it is but fair, and at

the same time cheering, to reflect, that the same nation which sent forth the hardhearted conqueror from its

bosom sent forth the missionary to do the work of beneficence, and spread the light of Christian civilization

While the governor, as we are henceforth to style him, lay at Cuzco, he received repeated accounts of a

considerable force in the neighborhood, under the command of Atahuallpa's officer, Quizquiz. He

accordingly detached Almagro, with a small body of horse and a large Indian force under the Inca Manco, to

disperse the enemy, and, if possible, to capture their leader. Manco was the more ready to take part in the

expedition, as the enemy were soldiers of Quito, who, with their commander, bore no goodwill to himself.

Almagro, moving with his characteristic rapidity, was not long in coming up with the Indian chieftain.

Several sharp encounters followed, as the army of Quito fell back on Xauxa, near which a general

engagement decided the fate of the war by the total discomfiture of the natives. Quizquiz fled to the elevated

plains of Quito, where he still held out with undaunted spirit against a Spanish force in that quarter, till at

length his own soldiers, wearied by these long and ineffectual hostilities, massacred their commander in cold

blood.9 Thus fell the last of the two great officers of Atahuallpa, who, if their nation had been animated by a

spirit equal to their own, might long have successfully maintained their soil against the invader.

Some time before this occurrence, the Spanish governor, while in Cuzco, received tidings of an event much

more alarming to him than any Indian hostilities. This was the arrival on the coast of a strong Spanish force,

under command of Don Pedro de Alvarado, the gallant officer who had served under Cortes with such

renown in the war of Mexico. That cavalier, after forming a brilliant alliance in Spain, to which he was

entitled by his birth and military rank, had returned to his government of Guatemala, where his avarice had

been roused by the magnificent reports he daily received of Pizarro's conquests. These conquests, he learned,

had been confined to Peru; while the northern kingdom of Quito, the ancient residence of Atahuallpa, and, no

doubt, the principal depository of his treasures, yet remained untouched. Affecting to consider this country as

falling without the governor's jurisdiction, he immediately turned a large fleet, which he had intended for the

Spice Islands, in the direction of South America; and in March, 1534, he landed in the bay of Caraques, with

five hundred followers, of whom half were mounted, and all admirably provided with arms and ammunition.

It was the best equipped and the most formidable array that had yet appeared in the southern seas.10

Although manifestly an invasion of the territory conceded to Pizarro by the Crown, the reckless cavalier

determined to march at once on Quito. With the assistance of an Indian guide, he proposed to take the direct

route across the mountains, a passage of exceeding difficulty, even at the most favorable season.

After crossing the Rio Dable, Alvarado's guide deserted him, so that he was soon entangled in the intricate

mazes of the sierra; and, as he rose higher and higher into the regions of winter, he became surrounded with

ice and snow, for which his men, taken from the warm countries of Guatemala, were but ill prepared. As the

cold grew more intense, many of them were so benumbed, that it was with difficulty they could proceed. The

infantry, compelled to make exertions, fared best. Many of the troopers were frozen stiff in their saddles. The

Indians, still more sensible to the cold, perished by hundreds. As the Spaniards huddled round their wretched

bivouacs, with such scanty fuel as they could glean, and almost without food, they waited in gloomy silence

the approach of morning. Yet the morning light, which gleamed coldly on the cheerless waste, brought no joy

to them. It only revealed more clearly the extent of their wretchedness. Still struggling on through the

winding Puertos Nevados, or Snowy Passes, their track was dismally marked by fragments of dress, broken

harness, golden ornaments, and other valuables plundered on their march,by the dead bodies of men, or by

those less fortunate, who were left to die alone in the wilderness. As for the horses, their carcasses were not

suffered long to cumber the ground, as they were quickly seized and devoured half raw by the starving

soldiers, who, like the famished condors, now hovering in troops above their heads, greedily banqueted on

Alvarado, anxious to secure the booty which had fallen into his hands at an earlier part of his march,

encouraged every man to take what gold he wanted from the common heap, reserving only the royal fifth.

But they only answered, with a ghastly smile of derision, "that food was the only gold for them." Yet in this

extremity, which might seem to have dissolved the very ties of nature, there are some affecting instances

recorded of selfdevotion; of comrades who lost their lives in assisting others, and of parents and husbands

(for some of the cavaliers were accompanied by their wives) who, instead of seeking their own safety, chose

To add to their distress, the air was filled for several days with thick clouds of earthy particles and cinders,

which blinded the men, and made respiration exceedingly difficult.11 This phenomenon, it seems probable,

was caused by an eruption of the distant Cotopaxi, which, about twelve leagues southeast of Quito, rears up

its colossal and perfectly symmetrical cone far above the limits of eternal snow,the most beautiful and the

most terrible of the American volcanoes.12 At the time of Alvarado's expedition, it was in a state of eruption,

the earliest instance of the kind on record, though doubtless not the earliest.13 Since that period, it has been

in frequent commotion, sending up its sheets of flame to the height of half a mile, spouting forth cataracts of

lava that have overwhelmed towns and villages in their career, and shaking the earth with subterraneous

thunders, that, at the distance of more than a hundred leagues, sounded like the reports of artillery!14

Alvarado's followers, unacquainted with the cause of the phenomenon, as they wandered over tracts buried in

snow,the sight of which was strange to them,in an atmosphere laden with ashes, became bewildered by

this confusion of the elements, which Nature seemed to have contrived purposely for their destruction. Some

of these men were the soldiers of Cortes, steeled by many a painful march, and many a sharp encounter with

the Aztecs. But this war of the elements, they now confessed, was mightier than all.

At length, Alvarado, after sufferings, which even the most hardy, probably, could have endured but a few

days longer, emerged from the Snowy Pass, and came on the elevated tableland, which spreads out, at the

height of more than nine thousand feet above the ocean, in the neighborhood of Riobamba. But one fourth of

his gallant army had been left to feed the condor in the wilderness, besides the greater part, at least two

thousand, of his Indian auxiliaries. A great number of his horses, too, had perished; and the men and horses

that escaped were all of them more or less injured by the cold and the extremity of suffering.Such was the

terrible passage of the Puertos Nevados, which I have only briefly noticed as an episode to the Peruvian

conquest, but the account of which, in all its details, though it occupied but a few weeks in duration, would

give one a better idea of the difficulties encountered by the Spanish cavaliers, than volumes of ordinary

As Alvarado, after halting some time to restore his exhausted troops, began his march across the broad

plateau, he was astonished by seeing the prints of horses' hoofs on the soil. Spaniards, then, had been there

before him, and, after all his toil and suffering, others had forestalled him in the enterprise against Quito! It is

When Pizarro quilted Caxamalca, being sensible of the growing importance of San Miguel, the only port of

entry then in the country, he despatched a person in whom he had great confidence to take charge of it. This

person was Sebastian Benalcazar, a cavalier who afterwards placed his name in the first rank of the South

American conquerors, for courage, capacity,and cruelty. But this cavalier had hardly reached his

government, when, like Alvarado, he received such accounts of the riches of Quito, that he determined, with

At the head of about a hundred and forty soldiers, horse and foot, and a stout body of Indian auxiliaries, he

marched up the broad range of the Andes, to where it spreads out into the tableland of Quito, by a road safer

and more expeditious than that taken by Alvarado. On the plains of Riobamba, he encountered the Indian

general Ruminavi. Several engagements followed, with doubtful success, when, in the end, science prevailed

where courage was well matched, and the victorious Benalcazar planted the standard of Castile on the ancient

towers of Atahuallpa. The city, in honor of his general, Francis Pizarro, he named San Francisco del Quito.

But great was his mortification on finding that either the stories of its riches had been fabricated, or that these

riches were secreted by the natives. The city was all that he gained by his victories,the shell without the

pearl of price which gave it its value. While devouring his chagrin, as he best could, the Spanish captain

No sooner had the news of Alvarado's expedition reached Cuzco, than Almagro left the place with a small

force for San Miguel, proposing to strengthen himself by a reinforcement from that quarter, and to march at

once against the invaders. Greatly was he astonished, on his arrival in that city, to learn the departure of its

commander. Doubting the loyalty of his motives, Almagro, with the buoyancy of spirit which belongs to

youth, though in truth somewhat enfeebled by the infirmities of age, did not hesitate to follow Benalcazar at

With his wonted energy, the intrepid veteran, overcoming all the difficulties of his march, in a few weeks

placed himself and his little company on the lofty plains which spread around the Indian city of Riobamba;

though in his progress he had more than one hot encounter with the natives, whose courage and perseverance

formed a contrast sufficiently striking to the apathy of the Peruvians. But the fire only slumbered in the

At Riobamba, Almagro was soon joined by the commander of San Miguel, who disclaimed, perhaps

sincerely, any disloyal intent in his unauthorized expedition. Thus reinforced, the Spanish captain coolly

awaited the coming of Alvarado. The forces of the latter, though in a less serviceable condition, were much

superior in number and appointments to those of his rival. As they confronted each other on the broad plains

of Riobamba, it seemed probable that a fierce struggle must immediately follow, and the natives of the

country have the satisfaction to see their wrongs avenged by the very hands that inflicted them. But it was

Negotiations were set on foot, in which each party stated his claims to the country. Meanwhile Alvarado's

men mingled freely with their countrymen in the opposite army, and heard there such magnificent reports of

the wealth and wonders of Cuzco, that many of them were inclined to change their present service for that of

Pizarro. Their own leader, too, satisfied that Quito held out no recompense worth the sacrifices he had made,

and was like to make, by insisting on his claim, became now more sensible of the rashness of a course which

must doubtless incur the censure of his sovereign. In this temper, it was not difficult for them to effect an

adjustment of difficulties; and it was agreed, as the basis of it, that the governor should pay one hundred

thousand pesos de oro to Alvarado, in consideration of which the latter was to resign to him his fleet, his

forces, and all his stores and munitions. His vessels, great and small, amounted to twelve in number, and the

sum he received, though large, did not cover his expenses. This treaty being settled, Alvarado proposed,

The governor, meanwhile, had quitted the Peruvian capital for the seacoast, from his desire to repel any

invasion that might be attempted in that direction by Alvarado, with whose real movements he was still

unacquainted. He left Cuzco in charge of his brother Juan, a cavalier whose manners were such as, he

thought, would be likely to gain the goodwill of the native population. Pizarro also left ninety of his troops,

as the garrison of the capital, and the nucleus of his future colony. Then, taking the Inca Manco with him, he

proceeded as far as Xauxa. At this place he was entertained by the Indian prince with the exhibition of a great

national hunt,such as has been already described in these pages, in which immense numbers of wild

animals were slaughtered, and the vicunas, and other races of Peruvian sheep, which roam over the

The Spanish governor then proceeded to Pachacamac, where he received the grateful intelligence of the

accommodation with Alvarado; and not long afterward he was visited by that cavalier himself, previously to

The meeting was conducted with courtesy and a show, at least, of goodwill, on both sides, as there was no

longer real cause for jealousy between the parties; and each, as may be imagined, looked on the other with no

little interest, as having achieved such distinction in the bold path of adventure. In the comparison, Alvarado

had somewhat the advantage; for Pizarro, though of commanding presence, had not the brilliant exterior, the

free and joyous manner, which, no less than his fresh complexion and sunny locks, had won for the conqueror

of Guatemala, in his campaigns against the Aztecs, the sobriquet of Tonatiuh, or "Child of the Sun."

Blithe were the revels that now rang through the ancient city of Pachacamac; where, instead of songs, and of

the sacrifices so often seen there in honor of the Indian deity, the walls echoed to the noise of tourneys and

Moorish tilts of reeds, with which the martial adventurers loved to recall the sports of their native land. When

these were concluded, Alvarado reembarked for his government of Guatemala, where his restless spirit soon

involved him in other enterprises that cut short his adventurous career. His expedition to Peru was eminently

characteristic of the man. It was founded in injustice, conducted with rashness, and ended in disaster.19

The reduction of Peru might now be considered as, in a manner, accomplished. Some barbarous tribes in the

interior, it is true, still held out, and Alonso de Alvarado, a prudent and able officer, was employed to bring

them into subjection. Benalcazar was still at Quito, of which he was subsequently appointed governor by the

Crown. There he was laying deeper the foundation of the Spanish power, while he advanced the line of

conquest still higher towards the north. But Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Indian monarchy, had submitted.

The armies of Atahuallpa had been beaten and scattered. The empire of the Incas was dissolved; and the

prince who now wore the Peruvian diadem was but the shadow of a king, who held his commission from his

The first act of the governor was to determine on the site of the future capital of this vast colonial empire.

Cuzco, withdrawn among the mountains, was altogether too far removed from the seacoast for a

commercial people. The little settlement of San Miguel lay too far to the north. It was desirable to select some

more central position, which could be easily found in one of the fruitful valleys that bordered the Pacific.

Such was that of Pachacamac, which Pizarro now occupied. But, on further examination, he preferred the

neighboring valley of Rimac, which lay to the north, and which took its name, signifying in the Qhichua

tongue "one who speaks," from a celebrated idol, whose shrine was much frequented by the Indians for the

oracles it delivered. Through the valley flowed a broad stream, which, like a great artery, was made, as usual

by the natives, to supply a thousand finer veins that meandered through the beautiful meadows.

On this river Pizarro fixed the site of his new capital, at somewhat less than two leagues' distance from its

mouth, which expanded into a commodious haven for the commerce that the prophetic eye of the founder

saw would one dayand no very distant onefloat on its waters. The central situation of the spot

recommended it as a suitable residence for the Peruvian viceroy, whence he might hold easy communication

with the different parts of the country, and keep vigilant watch over his Indian vassals. The climate was

delightful, and, though only twelve degrees south of the line, was so far tempered by the cool breezes that

generally blow from the Pacific, or from the opposite quarter down the frozen sides of the Cordilleras, that

the heat was less than in corresponding latitudes on the continent. It never rained on the coast; but this

dryness was corrected by a vaporous cloud, which, through the summer months, hung like a curtain over the

valley, sheltering it from the rays of a tropical sun, and imperceptibly distilling a refreshing moisture, that

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,

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

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 mothercountry.

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 customhouse 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,

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

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

In a short time that cavalier saw himself at the head of one of the most numerous and wellappointed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 highpriest 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

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; 33though 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

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

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

heavendescended aristocracy was levelled almost to the condition of the peasant. The people became the

serfs of the Conquerors. Their dwellings in the capitalat least, after the arrival of Alvarado's

officerswere 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

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

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 highpriest 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 returnas in fact he

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

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

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 boastif 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

That cavalier, with his wellarmed 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 battleaxes 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

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 warcry 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 poleaxes 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

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 thunderclouds 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

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 featherwork, 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 battleaxes 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

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 watchfires were to be seen gleaming over valley and hilltop, 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 warcries 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 woodwork 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

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

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

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.14

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

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 bloodstained visages the Spaniards recognized with horror the lineaments of their

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

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

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

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

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 copperheaded warclubs and pole axes, while a storm of darts, stones, and arrows

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 warhorse 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

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

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 rusticwork. 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 welltried valor,

The perilous enterprise was intrusted by Hernando Pizarro to his brother Juan, a cavalier in whose bosom

burned the adventurous spirit of a knighterrant 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

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

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 abreach was made, and the cavalry, pouring in, rode down all who

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.21To 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

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

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

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 warclub, 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

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

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

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

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.27Such 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

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

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

sheepwere swept away from the Indian plantations and brought safely to Cuzco.29 This placed the army

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 battleaxe.

The ground around Cuzco became a battlefield, 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

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

For this service he selected about eighty of his bestmounted 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

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 warwhoop 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

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

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

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

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

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

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. TernauxCompans 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.

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 tableland 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 sheeppath 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

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.1Such 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

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,

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

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

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

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 divisionline 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 counselwhich they promised to do at oncewith

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

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

commandertoo ready to surrender his own judgment to the rash advisers around himto violate the treaty,

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

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,14 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

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

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,

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 alreadydeserted 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

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

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 lessif we may take his word for itfrom personal considerations than from the

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

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

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

All attempt at negotiation was now abandoned; and Almagro announced his purpose to descend to the

seacoast, where he could plant a colony and establish a port for himself. This would secure him the means,

so essential, of communication with the mothercountry, 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

Chafed by this intelligence, the marshal was not soothed by the insinuations of Orgonez, that it was owing to

his illadvised lenity; that it might have gone hard with Hernando, but that Almagro's attention was diverted

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 hintor

what he conceived to be suchfrom 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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The night passed away in silence, unbroken by the vast assembly which covered the surrounding hilltops.

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 twentysixth 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 hardfought field. His mounted troops were inferior to those of Almagro; but

this was more than compensated by the strength of his infantry, comprehending a welltrained 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 doubleheaded shot, consisting of bullets linked

together by an iron chain. It was doubtless a clumsy weapon compared with modern firearms, but, in hands

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

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

Meanwhile, Hernando, forming his two squadrons of horse into one column, crossed under cover of this

wellsustained 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

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 sobrevest 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 chainshot 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 stonewalls, 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 saddlebow, 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

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

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,13a 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

bedside, 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.14 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

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

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

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

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

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 goodnatured 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

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 goodnatured credulity, made him too often the dupe of the crafty; and it

showed, certainly, a want of that selfreliance 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 wellregulated

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

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

illassorted. 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

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 boundaryline 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

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,

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

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

inchief, 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

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"!8intimating, no doubt, by this magnificent vaunt, that he would

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

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

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

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

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 bodyguard; "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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 deathit is told by his

enemieswith 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

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

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

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

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

mothercountry, 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

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, soldierlike 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

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

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 gaudycolored 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 wayworn 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 widespread 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

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 riverbanks

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

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

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

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 halfnaked 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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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,

At length, in June, 1542, after somewhat more than a year consumed in their homeward march, the

wayworn 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 charnelhouse 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 actto their credit be it mentionedwas 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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 povertystricken 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

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

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

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

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

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 battlecry, 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

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 halfbrother 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 courtyard, 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

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

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

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 hidingplace 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

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 wellarmed body of cavaliers, was proclaimed

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 marketplace, 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

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

Pizarro was, probably, not far from sixtyfive 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

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 soldierlike

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

expeditionstranger as he was to all its forms and usagesat 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

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 secretaryPicado, 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

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

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

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

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 namehowever

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 byword 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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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 notor,

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

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

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

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

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 rearguard, 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

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 winterquarters in the Inca

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 selfdefence,

imitated the example of his officer, by entering his house with a party of armed men, who, laying violent

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 twentytwo.7 From this

time he displayed an energy and forecast, which proved him, in despite of his youth, not unequal to the trying

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, firearms 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

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,

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 truehearted 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

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

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

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 commanderinchief 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

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

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 welltried 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

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

welltrained 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

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

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

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

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

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

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 coalblack 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

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

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 snowwhite 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,

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 warcries, the bold cavaliers struck their spurs into their steeds, and rode

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 battleaxes, 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

The infantry, meanwhile, on both sides, kept up a sharp crossfire 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 musketballs, and, supported by the bravest of

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 warcries 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 musketballs, had been slain early in the action. He had made himself conspicuous by a rich

sobrevest of white velvet over his armour. Still a gallant band of cavaliers maintained the fight so valiantly

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

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 stouthearted 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

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 battlefield to the ignominious doom of

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

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 woundedthose who had not

perished in the cold damps of the nightshould 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 slainthe conquerors and the conqueredwere 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

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

otherssome of them with the loss of one or more of their memberssent into banishment.32 Such severe

reprisals have been too common with the Spaniards in their civil feuds. Strange that they should so blindly

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,

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

That chief did not think it prudent to disregard the summons; and shortly after entered the Inca capital, at the

head of a wellarmed 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

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

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

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

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

Before continuing the narrative of events in Peru, we must turn to the mothercountry, where important

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

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

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

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 brainsa 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 tablelands, 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 halfstarved 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

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

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

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

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.11This

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

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

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 illusage; 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

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

viceking's court, was to be established at Los Reyes, or Lima, as it now began to be called,henceforth

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

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 warworn veteran bared his arm, or, exposing his naked bosom, pointed to his scars, as the

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

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 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 illstarred

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

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,

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

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 reportedit may have been

scandalto 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

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 ProcuratorGeneral 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

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 othersperhaps 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 CaptainGeneral. 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,

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 councilchamber, the procession moved towards the cathedral, where Te Deum was sung, and Blasco

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

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

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 scruplesince, to use his words,

it was for the public interestto 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

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,

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 tableland, found his numbers gradually swelled to nearly double the amount with which he

As he traversed with a freer step the bloody field of Chupas, Carbajal pointed out the various localities of the

battleground, 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

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,

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 highhanded 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 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

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

This bold proceeding, while it conciliated the goodwill 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

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.14

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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 lionhearted 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

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

That chief had now advanced within half a league of the capital, which soon after, on the twentyeighth 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 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, bullfights, 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 welltried 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 wayside, 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

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

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

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

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

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

Shaking from his feet the dust of the disloyal city, whose superstitious people were alive to many an omen

that boded his approaching ruin,14 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 advanceguard 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 waterside,

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

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,

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.17One 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

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

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 campfires 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 nightmarch 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

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

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,

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,

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

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, whichnotwithstanding they were

thrown into some disorder by the fire of Pizarro's arquebusiers, far superior in number to their ownwas

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 battleaxes 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

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 welldirected 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 battleaxe 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

sobrevest of Indian cotton over his armour, which concealed the military order of St. James, and the other

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

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 Pizarrowere 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

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

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

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

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 housetop

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

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,

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

The new governor now began to assume a state correspondent with his fullblown fortunes. He was attended

by a bodyguard 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

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

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,

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 ambitionto 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

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

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 longwinded

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 statementsto use a temperate phrasewas

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 fortysixth 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

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

With his eminent qualifications, and with a social position that commanded respect, it is strange that so much

of his writingsthe whole of his great Historia de las Indias, and his curious Quincuagenasshould 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

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

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 seacoast; 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 MalteBrun 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

sketchbook 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 Partall we havewas completed in 1550, when the author had reached

only the age of thirtytwo. 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 Antwerpthe

one used by me in this compilationis in the duodecimo form, exceedingly well printed, and garnished with

woodcuts, 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

fortytwo, without having covered any portion of the magnificent groundplan 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,

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 mothercountry; 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

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,

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

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

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

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

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 usageto 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 selfpossessed. 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

seacoast; 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 seemswhich is more extraordinarynot 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." 14 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 povertystricken 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

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 twoandtwenty

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

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

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

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

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

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 reluctancenot too often shared by

the cavaliers of Peruto 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

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

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 rivallingit was not far from truththose 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 steelclad 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

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

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 14th 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

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

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

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 wellgrounded confidence on the ultimate

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

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

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

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

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 smoothtongued 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,

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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.14

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

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,

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

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 enoughwith his

head thus in the lion's mouthto 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was the twentysixth 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

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

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 eightyfive 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 sobrevest of slashed velvet of a rich crimson color; and he rode a

highmettled charger, whose gaudy caparisons, with the showy livery of his rider, made the fearless

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, strongboned 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

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 firearms 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

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

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 battleaxe, 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 welltrained

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 panicstruck 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

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

The glory of the daythe melancholy glorymust 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

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 handsmost of whom had been traitors to the cause of

Pizarrowere 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

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 rankfor distinctions of rank were not to be forgotten in the gravewere

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 firearms;

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.7Having completed his arrangements, the president

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 surefooted 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

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,

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

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

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

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 riverside, 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 watercourses, 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

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

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.14 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

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

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

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 vantageground 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

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

chaplainthe name by which the president was known in the rebel campa 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

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 pleasurehouses 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

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 halfdozen pieces of

ordnance. It was a wellappointed 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

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

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,

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, highmettled

cavalier, rushing to battle on a warhorse whose tottering joints threaten to give way under him at every step,

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

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

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

firearms, 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But when he found the field nearly empty, and his stouthearted 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

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

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

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

Thus terminated the battle, or rather rout, of Xaquixaguana. The number of killed and woundedfor some

few perished in the pursuitwas 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

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

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

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

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

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 eightyfourth 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 illstarred 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

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

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

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,

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

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,

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

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." 14 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

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 fortysecond 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

He had a brilliant exterior; excelled in all martial exercises; rode well, fenced well, managed his lance to

perfection, was a firstrate 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

While thus, by his brilliant exploits and showy manners, he captivated the imaginations of his countrymen, he

won their hearts no less by his soldierlike 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

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 hightreason. 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

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,

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

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

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

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 thirtyfive 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

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 Pizarroas

Hinojosa, Centeno, and Aldanaover 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

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 gaudycolored 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

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

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

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 outfit 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

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

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

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 Fortuneor, to speak

more correctly, Providencefavored 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

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

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

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

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

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

Gasca was plain in person, and his countenance was far from comely, He was awkward and illproportioned;

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

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 selfrespect 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

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

A distinguishing feature of his mind was his common sense,the best substitute for genius in a ruler who

has the destinies of his fellowmen 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

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

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

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 mailclad cavalier, brandishing his bloody lance, and mounted on his warhorse, 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

bloodstained 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

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

Augustin de Zaratea highly respectable authority, frequently cited in the later portion of this workwas

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

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

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

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

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

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 soldierchronicler returned to Spain, and, after a time, completed his narrative of the

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

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

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