The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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

[Footnote 19: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p.
181. - Relacion sacada de la Biblioteca Imperial de Vienna, Ms. -
Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano
1526. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1. cap. 1. - Relacion del
Primer. Descub., Ms.]

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

[Footnote 20: Pizarro's secretary speaks of one of the towns as
containing 3,000 houses. "En esta Tierra havia muchos
Mantenimientos, i la Gente tenia mui buena orden de vivir, los
Pueblos con sus Calles, i Placas: Pueblo havia que tenia mas de
tres mil Casas, i otros havia menores." Conq. del Peru, ap.
Barcia, tom. III. p. 181.]

[Footnote 21: Stevenson, who visited this part of the coast early
in the present century, is profuse in his description of its
mineral and vegetable treasures. The emerald mine in the
neighbourhood of Las Esmeraldas, once so famous, is now placed
under the ban of a superstition, more befitting the times of the
Incas. "I never visited it," says the traveller, "owing to the
superstitious dread of the natives, who assured me that it was
enchanted, and guarded by an enormous dragon, which poured forth
thunder and lightning on those who dared to ascend the river."
Residence in South America, vol. II. p. 406.]

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

[Footnote 22: "Salieron a los dichos navios quatorce canoas
grandes con muchos Indios dos armados de oro y plata, y trahian
en la una canoa o en estandarte y encima de el un bolto de un
mucho desio de oro, y dieron una suelta a los navios por
avisarlos en manera que no los pudiese enojar, y asi dieron
vuelta acia a su pueblo, y los navios no los pudieron tomar
porque se metieron en los baxos junto a la tierra." Relacion
sacada de la Biblioteca Imperial de Vienna, Ms.]

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

[Footnote 23: "Al tiempo del romper los unos con los otros, uno
de aquellos de caballo cayo del caballo abajo; y como los Indios
vieron dividirse aquel animal en dos partes, teniendo por cierto
que todo era una cosa, fue tanto el miedo que tubieron que
volvieron las espaldas dando voces a los suyos, diciendo, que se
habia hecho dos haciendo admiracion dello: lo cual no fue sin
misterio; porque a no acaecer esto se presume, que mataran todos
los cristianos." (Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.) This way of
accounting for the panic of the barbarians is certainly quite as
credible as the explanation, under similar circumstances,
afforded by the apparition of the militant apostle St. James, so
often noticed by the historians of these wars.]
A council of war was now called. It was evident that the forces
of the Spaniards were unequal to a contest with so numerous and
well-appointed a body of natives; and, even if they should
prevail here, they could have no hope of stemming the torrent
which must rise against them in their progress - for the country
was becoming more and more thickly settled, and towns and hamlets
started into view at every new headland which they doubled. It
was better, in the opinion of some, - the faint-hearted, - to
abandon the enterprise at once, as beyond their strength. But
Almagro took a different view of the affair. "To go home," he
said, "with nothing done, would be ruin, as well as disgrace.
There was scarcely one but had left creditors at Panama, who
looked for payment to the fruits of this expedition. To go home
now would be to deliver themselves at once into their hands. It
would be to go to prison. Better to roam a freeman, though in
the wilderness, than to lie bound with fetters in the dungeons of
Panama. *24 The only course for them," he concluded, "was the one
lately pursued. Pizarro might find some more commodious place
where he could remain with part of the force, while he himself
went back for recruits to Panama. The story they had now to tell
of the riches of the land, as they had seen them with their own
eyes, would put their expedition in a very different light, and
could not fail to draw to their banner as many volunteers as they
needed."

[Footnote 24: "No era bien bolver pobres, a pedir limosna, i
morir en las Carceles, los que tenian deudas." Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. 3, lib. 10, cap. 2.]

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.

[Footnote 25: "Como iba, i venia en los Navios, adonde no le
faltaba Vitualla, no padecia la miseria de la hambre, i otras
angustias que tenian, i ponian a todos en estrema congoja."
(Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 3, lib. 10, cap. 2.) The cavaliers
of Cortes and Pizarro however doughty their achievements,
certainly fell short of those knights-errant, commemorated by
Hudibras, who,

"As some think,
Of old did neither eat nor drink;
Because, when thorough deserts vast
And regions desolate they past,
Unless they grazed, there's not one word
Of their provision on record;
Which made some confidently write,
They had no stomachs but to fight."]

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 forest, 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

[Footnote 26: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Relacion
sacada de la Biblioteca Imperial de Vienna, Ms. - Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 1. -
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 3, lib. 10, cap. 2.]

It was singularly unfortunate, that Pizarro, instead of striking
farther south, should have so long clung to the northern shores
of the continent. Dampier notices them as afflicted with
incessant rain; while the inhospitable forest and the
particularly ferocious character of the natives continued to make
these regions but little known down to his time. See his Voyages
and Adventures, (London, 1776,) vol. I. chap. 14.]

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

[Footnote 27: "Miserablemente morir adonde aun no havia lugar
Sagrado, para sepultura de sus cuerpos." Herrera, Hist General,
dec. 3, lib. 10, cap. 3.]

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

[Footnote 28: "Metieron en un ovillo de algodon una carta firmada
de muchos en que sumariamente daban cuenta de las hambres,
muertes y desnudez que padecian, y que era cosa de risa todo,
pues las riquezas se habian convertido en flechas, y no havia
otra cosa." Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1527.]

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

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

[Footnote 29: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p.
181. - Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Balboa, Hist. du Perou,
chap. 15.

"Al fin de la peticion que hacian en la carta al Governador puso
Juan de Sarabia, natural de Trujillo, esta cuarteta: -

Pues Senor Gobernador,
Mirelo bien por entero
que alla va el recogedor,
y aca queda el carnicero"

Montesinos, Annales Ms., ane 1527.]

Chapter IV

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

1527-1528.

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

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

Pedro de los Rios, the governor, was so much incensed at the
result of the expedition, and the waste of life it had occasioned
to the colony, that he turned a deaf ear to all the applications
of Luque and Almagro for further countenance in the affair; he
derided their sanguine anticipations of the future, and finally
resolved to send an officer to the isle of Gallo, with orders to
bring back every Spaniard whom he should find still living in
that dreary abode. Two vessels were immediately despatched for
the purpose, and placed under charge of a cavalier named Tafur, a
native of Cordova.
Meanwhile Pizarro and his followers were experiencing all the
miseries which might have been expected from the character of the
barren spot on which they were imprisoned. They were, indeed,
relieved from all apprehensions of the natives, since these had
quitted the island on its occupation by the white men; but they
had to endure the pains of hunger even in a greater degree than
they had formerly experienced in the wild woods of the
neighbouring continent. Their principal food was crabs and such
shell-fish as they could scantily pick up along the shores.
Incessant storms of thunder and lightning, for it was the rainy
season, swept over the devoted island, and drenched them with a
perpetual flood. Thus, half-naked, 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 for ever.

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

[Footnote 1: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 182.
- Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 2. - Montesinos, Annales,
Ms., ano 1527. - Herrera, Hist. General dec. 3, lib. 10, cap. 3.
- Naharro Relacion Sumaria, Ms.]

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

Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand from east
to west. Then turning towards the south, "Friends 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 of 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

[Footnote 2: "Obedeciola Pizarro y antes que se egecutase saco un
Punal, y con notable animo hizo con la punta una raya de Oriente
a Poniente; y senalando al medio dia, que era la parte de su
noticia, y derrotero dijo: camaradas y amigos esta parte es la de
la muerte, de los trabajos, de las hambres, de la desnudez, de
los aguaceros, y desamparos; la otra la del gusto: Por aqui se ba
a Panama a ser pobres, por alla al Peru a ser ricos. Escoja el
que fuere buen Castellano lo que mas bien le estubiere. Diciendo
esto paso la raya: siguieronle Barthome Ruiz natural de Moguer,
Pedro de Candi Griego, natural de Candia." Montesinos, Annales,
Ms., ano 1527.]

[Footnote 3: The names of these thirteen faithful companions are
preserved in the convention made with the Crown two years later,
where they are suitably commemorated for their loyalty. Their
names should not be omitted in a history of the Conquest of Peru.
They were "Bartolome Ruiz, Cristoval de Peralta, Pedro de Candia,
Domingo de Soria Luce, Nicolas de Ribera, Francisco de Cuellar,
Alonso de Molina, Pedro Alcon, Garcia de Jerez, Anton de Carrion,
Alonso Briceno, Martin de Paz, Joan de la Torre."]

[Footnote 4: "Estos fueron los trece de la fama. Estos los que
cercados de los mayores trabajos que pudo el Mundo ofrecer a
hombres, y los que estando mas para esperar la muerte que las
riquezas que se les prometian, todo lo pospusieron a la honra, y
siguieron a su capitan y caudillo para egemplo de lealtad en lo
futuro." Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1527.]

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

[Footnote 5: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 2. -
Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1527. - Naharro, Relacion Sumaria,
Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 3, lib. 10, cap. 3.]

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

[Footnote 6: This common sentiment is expressed with uncommon
beauty by the fanciful Boiardo, where he represents Rinaldo as
catching Fortune, under the guise of the fickle fairy Morgana, by
the forelock. The Italian reader may not be displeased to
refresh his memory with it.