The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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Chapter II

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

1524-1525.

Francisco Pizarro was born at Truxillo, a city of Estremadura, in
Spain. The period of his birth is uncertain; but probably it was
not far from 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 Francisca Gonzales, was a person of
humble condition in the town of Truxillo. *2

[Footnote 1: The few writers who venture to assign the date of
Pizarro's birth do it in so vague and contradictory a manner as
to inspire us with but little confidence in their accounts.
Herrera, it is true, says positively, that he was sixty-three
years old at the time of his death, in 1541. (Hist. General,
dec. 6, lib. 10, cap. 6.) This would carry back the date of his
birth only to 1478. But Garcilasso de la Vega affirms that he
was more than fifty years old in 1525. (Com. Real., Parte 2,
lib. 1, cap. 1.) This would place his birth before 1475. Pizarro
y Orellana, who, as a kinsman of the Conqueror, may be supposed
to have had better means of information, says he was fifty-four
years of age at the same date of 1525. (Varones Ilustres del
Nuevo Mundo, (Madrid, 1639,) p. 128.) But at the period of his
death he calls him nearly eighty years old! (p. 185.) Taking
this latter as a round exaggeration for effect in the particular
connection in which it is used, and admitting the accuracy of the
former statement, the epoch of his birth will conform to that
given in the text. This makes him somewhat late in life to set
about the conquest of an empire. But Columbus, when he entered
on his career, was still older.]

[Footnote 2: Xerez, Conquista del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p.
179. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 1. - Pizarro y
Orellana, Varones Ilustres, p. 128.]

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

[Footnote 3: "Nacio en Truxillo, i echaronlo a la puerta de la
Iglesia, mamo una Puerca ciertos Dias, no se hallando quien le
quisiese dar leche." Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 144.]

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 so
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

[Footnote 4: According to the Comendador Pizarro y Orellana,
Francis Pizarro served, while quite a stripling, with his father,
in the Italian wars; and afterwards, under Columbus and other
illustrious discoverers, in the New World, whose successes the
author modestly attributes to his kinsman's valor, as a principal
cause! Varones Ilustres, p. 187.]

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

[Footnote 5: Pizarro y Orellana, Varones Ilustres, pp. 121, 128.
- Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. 1, lib. 7, cap. 14. - Montesinos,
Annales, Ms., ane 1510.]

After this, we find him associated with Balboa, the discoverer of
the Pacific, and cooperating with him in establishing the
settlement at Darien. He had the glory of accompanying this
gallant cavalier in his terrible march across the mountains, and
of being among the first Europeans, therefore, whose eyes were
greeted with the long-promised vision of the Southern Ocean.
After the untimely death of his commander, Pizarro attached
himself to the fortunes of Pedrarias, and was employed by that
governor in several military expeditions, which, if they afforded
nothing else, gave him the requisite training for the perils and
privations that lay in the path of the future Conqueror of Peru.

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

[Footnote 6: "Teniendo su casa, i Hacienda, i Repartimiento de
Indios como uno de los Principales de la Tierra; porque siempre
lo fue." Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 79.]

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

[Footnote 7: Andagoya says that he obtained, while at Biru, very
minute accounts of the empire of the Incas, from certain
itinerant traders who frequented that country. "En esta
provincia supe y hube relacion, ansi de los senores como de
mercaderes e interpretes que ellos tenian, de toda la costa de
todo lo que despues se ha visto hasta el Cuzco, particularmente
de cada provincia la manera y gente della, porque estos
alcanzaban por via de mercaduria mucha tierra." Navarrete,
Coleccion, tom. III. No 7.]

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

[Footnote 8: "Decia el que hera de Almagro," says Pedro Pizarro,
who knew him well. Relacion del Descubrimiento y Conquista de
los Reynos del Peru, Ms. - See also Zarate. Conq. del Peru, lib.
1, cap. 1. - Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 141. - Pizarro y
Orellana, Varones Ilustres, p. 211.

The last writer admits that Almagro's parentage is unknown; but
adds that the character of his early exploits infers an
illustrious descent. - This would scarcely pass for evidence with
the College of Heralds.]

The other member of the confederacy was Hernando de Luque, a
Spanish ecclesiastic, who exercised the functions of vicar at
Panama, and had formerly filled the office of schoolmaster in the
Cathedral of Darien. He seems to have been a man of singular
prudence and knowledge of the world; and by his respectable
qualities had acquired considerable influence in the little
community to which he belonged, as well as the control of funds,
which made his cooperation essential to the success of the
present enterprise.
It was arranged among the three associates, that the two
cavaliers should contribute their little stock towards defraying
the expenses of the armament, but by far the greater part of the
funds was to be furnished by Luque. Pizarro was to take command
of the expedition, and the business of victualling and equipping
the vessels was assigned to Almagro. The associates found no
difficulty in obtaining the consent of the governor to their
undertaking. After the return of Andagoya, he had projected
another expedition, but the officer to whom it was to be
intrusted died. Why he did not prosecute his original purpose,
and commit the affair to an experienced captain like Pizarro,
does not appear. He was probably not displeased that the burden
of the enterprise should be borne by others, so long as a good
share of the profits went into his own coffers. This he did not
overlook in his stipulations. *9

[Footnote 9: "Asi que estos tres companeros ya dichos Acordaron
de yr a conquistar esta provincia ya dicha. Pues consultandolo
con Pedro Arias de Avila que a la sazon hera governador en tierra
firme. Vino en ello haziendo compania con los dichos companeros
con condicion que Pedro Arias no havia de contribuir entonces con
ningun dinero ni otra cosa sino de lo que se hallase en la tierra
de lo que a el le cupiese por virtud de la compania de alli se
pagasen los gastos que a el le cupiesen. Los tres companeros
vinieron en ello por aver esta licencia porque de otra manera no
la alcanzaran." (Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.) Andagoya,
however, affirms that the governor was interested equally with
the other associates in the adventure, each taking a fourth part
on himself. (Navarrete, Coleccion, tom. III. No. 7.) But
whatever was the original interest of Pedrarias, it mattered
little, as it was surrendered before any profits were realized
from the expedition.]
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 harbour of Panama. It was now refitted as well as
circumstances would permit, and put in order for sea, while the
stores and provisions were got on board with an alacrity which
did more credit, as the event proved, to Almagro's zeal than to
his forecast.

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

[Footnote 10: Herrera, the most popular historian of these
transactions, estimates the number of Pizarro's followers only at
eighty. But every other authority which I have consulted raises
them to over a hundred. Father Naharro, a contemporary, and
resident at Lima even allows a hundred and twenty-nine. Relacion
sumaria de la entrada de los Espanoles en el Peru, Ms.]

[Footnote 11: There is the usual discrepancy among authors about
the date of this expedition. Most fix it at 1525. I have
conformed to Xerez, Pizarro's secretary, whose narrative was
published ten years after the voyage, and who could hardly have
forgotten the date of so memorable an event, in so short an
interval of time. (See his Conquista del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom.
III. p. 179.)

The year seems to be settled by Pizarro's Capitulacion with the
Crown, which I had not examined till after the above was written.
This instrument, dated July, 1529, speaks of his first expedition
as having taken place about five years previous. (See Appendix,
No. VII.)]

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 held his way across the
Gulf of St. Michael, and steered almost due south for the Puerto
de Pinas, a headland in the province of Biruquete, which marked
the limit of Andagoya's voyage. Before his departure, Pizarro had
obtained all the information which he could derive from that
officer in respect to the country, and the route he was to
follow. But the cavalier's own experience had been too limited to
enable him to be of much assistance.

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

[Footnote 12: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1. cap. 1. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 3, lib. 6, cap. 13.]

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

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

Thus harassed by hunger and the elements, the battered voyagers
were too happy to retrace their course and regain the port where
they had last taken in supplies of wood and water. Yet nothing
could be more unpromising than the aspect of the country. It had
the same character of low, swampy soil, that distinguished the
former landing-place; while thick-matted forests, of a depth
which the eye could not penetrate, stretched along the coast to
an interminable length. It was in vain that the wearied
Spaniards endeavoured to thread the mazes of this tangled
thicket, where the creepers and flowering vines, that shoot up
luxuriant in a hot and humid atmosphere, had twined themselves
round the huge trunks of the forest-trees, and made a network
that could be opened only with the axe. The rain, in the mean
time, rarely slackened, and the ground, strewed with leaves and
saturated with moisture, seemed to slip away beneath their feet.

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

[Footnote 13: Xerez, Conq del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 180.
- Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms.,
ano 1515. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 1. - Garcilasso,
Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 1, cap. 7. - Herrera, Hist. General,
dec. 3, lib. 6, cap. 13.]

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

But Pizarro was prepared to encounter much greater evils than
these, before returning to Panama, bankrupt in credit, an object
of derision as a vainglorious dreamer, who had persuaded others
to embark in an adventure which he had not the courage to carry
through himself. The present was his only chance. To return
would be ruin. He used every argument, therefore, that mortified
pride or avarice could suggest to turn his followers from their
purpose; represented to them that these were the troubles that
necessarily lay in the path of the discoverer; and called to mind
the brilliant successes of their countrymen in other quarters,
and the repeated reports, which they had themselves received, of
the rich regions along this coast, of which it required only
courage and constancy on their part to become the masters. Yet,
as their present exigencies were pressing, he resolved to send
back the vessel to the Isle of Pearls, to lay in a fresh stock of
provisions for his company, which might enable them to go forward
with renewed confidence. The distance was not great, and in a
few days they would all be relieved from their perilous position.
The officer detached on this service was named Montenegro; and
taking with him nearly half the company, after receiving
Pizarro's directions, he instantly weighed anchor, and steered
for the Isle of Pearls.
On the departure of his vessel, the Spanish commander made an
attempt to explore the country, and see if some Indian settlement
might not be found, where he could procure refreshments for his
followers. But his efforts were vain, and no trace was visible
of a human dwelling; though, in the dense and impenetrable
foliage of the equatorial regions, the distance of a few rods
might suffice to screen a city from observation. The only means
of nourishment left to the unfortunate adventurers were such
shell-fish as they occasionally picked up on the shore, or the
bitter buds of the palm-tree, and such berries and unsavoury
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 endeavours to procure them sustenance, tended
the sick, and ordered barracks to be constructed for their
accommodation, which might, at least, shelter them from the
drenching storms of the season. By this ready sympathy with his
followers in their sufferings, he obtained an ascendency over
their rough natures, which the assertion of authority, at least
in the present extremity, could never have secured to him.

Day after day, week after week, had now passed away, and no
tidings were heard of the vessel that was to bring relief to the
wanderers. In vain did they strain their eyes over the distant
waters to catch a glimpse of their coming friends. Not a speck
was to be seen in the blue distance, where the canoe of the
savage dared not venture, and the sail of the white man was not
yet spread. Those who had borne up bravely at first now gave way
to despondency, as they felt themselves abandoned by their
countrymen on this desolate shore. They pined under that sad
feeling which "maketh the heart sick." More than twenty of the
little band had already died, and the survivors seemed to be
rapidly following. *14