The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

W >> William H. Prescott >> The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70

[Footnote 6: The particulars of the distribution are given in the
Acta de Reparticion del Rescate, an instrument drawn up and
signed by the royal notary. The document, which as therefore of
unquestionable authority, is among the Mss. selected for me from
the collection of Munoz.]

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 sea-coast.
On what grounds they had forfeited their claims to a more ample
remuneration, it is not easy to explain.

[Footnote 7: "Se diese a la gente que vino con el Capital Diego
de Almagro para ayuda a pagar sus deudas y fletes y suplir
algunas necesidades que traian veinte mil pesos." (Acta de
Reparticion del Rescate, Ms.) Herrera says that 100,000 pesos
were paid to Almagro's men. (Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 2, cap.
3.) But it is not so set down in the instrument.]

[Footnote 8: "En treinta personas que quedaron en la ciudad de
san Miguel de Piura dolientes y otros que no vinieron ni se
hallaron en la prision de Atagualpa y toma del oro porque algunos
son pobres y otros tienen necesidad senalaba 15,000 ps de oro
para los repartir S. Senoria entre las dichas personas." Ibid.,
Ms.]

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

[Footnote 9: Montesinos, Annales, Ms. ano 1533.]

[Footnote 10: The "Spanish Captain," several times cited, who
tells us he was one of the men appointed to guard the treasure,
does indeed complain that a large quantity of gold vases and
other articles remained undivided, a palpable injustice, he
thinks, to the honest Conquerors, who had earned all by their
hardships. (Rel. d'un Capitano Spagn., ap. Ramusio, tom. III.
fol. 378, 379.) The writer, throughout his Relation, shows a full
measure of the coarse and covetous spirit which marked the
adventurers of Peru.]

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 secure their prisoner against rescue
in the perilous passes of the mountains?

[Footnote 11: 'Y esto tenia por justo, pues era provechoso." It
is the sentiment imputed to Pizarro by Herrera, Hist. General,
dec. 5, lib 3, cap. 4.]

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

[Footnote 12: "I como no ahondaban los designios que tenia le
replicaban; pero el respondia, que iba mirando en ello." Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 3, cap. 4.]

[Footnote 13: "Fatta quella fusione, il Governatore fece vn atto
innanzi al notaro nel quale liberaua il Cacique Atabalipa et
l'absolueua della promessa et parola che haueua oata a gli
Spagnuoli che lo presero della casa d'oro c'haueua lor cocessa,
il quale fece publicar publicamete a suon di trombe nella piazza
di quella citta di Caxamalca." (Pedro Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio,
tom. III. fol. 399.) The authority is unimpeachable, - for any
fact, at least, that makes against the Conquerors, - since the
Relatione was by one of Pizarro's own secretaries, and was
authorized under the hands of the general and his great
officers.]

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 parts of
America, being invested with peculiar horrors as a race of
cannibals.

[Footnote 14: "De la Gente Natural de Quito vienen docientos mil
Hombres de Guerra, i treinta mil Caribes, que comen Carne
Humana." Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 233. -
See also Pedro Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, ubi supra.]

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. Unfortunately, his malignant temper
found ready means for its indulgence.

[Footnote 15: "Pues estando asi atravesose in demonio de una
lengua que se dezia ffelipillo uno de los muchachos que el
marquez avia llevado a Espana que al presente hera lengua y
andava enamorado de una muger de Atabalipa." Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., Ms.

The amour and the malice of Felipillo, which, Quintana seems to
think, rest chiefly on Garcilasso's authority, (see Espanoles
Celebres, tom. II. p. 210, nota,) are stated very explicitly by
Zarate, Naharro, Gomara, Balboa, all contemporaneous, though not,
like Pedro Pizarro, personally present in the army.]

[Footnote 16: "Diciendo que sentia mas aquel desacato, que su
prision." Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 2, cap. 7.]

[Footnote 17: Ibid., loc. cit.]

[Footnote 18: "E le habian tomado sus mugeres e repartidolas en
su presencia e usaban de ellas de sus adulterios." Oviedo, Hist.
de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 22.]

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 amazed to find such cunning in a barbarian." *20

[Footnote 19: "Burlaste conmigo? siempre me hablas cosas de
burlas? Que parte somos Yo, i toda mi Gente, para enojar a tan
valientes Hombres como vosotros? No me digas esas burlas."
Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 234.]

[Footnote 20: "De que los Espanoles que se las han oido, estan
espantados de ver en vn Hombre Barbaro tanta prudencia." Ibid.,
loc. cit.]

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 endeavouring 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 harbour 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 hyper bole, "would
scarcely venture to fly contrary to my will." *21

[Footnote 21: "Pues si Yo no lo quiero, ni las Aves bolaran en mi
Tierra.' Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 2 cap. 7.]

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 army, in short, was in a state of preparation for instant
attack.

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 officia 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 the interests of the Crown. *22

[Footnote 22: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Relacion del
Primer. Descub., Ms. - Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III.
fol. 100.

These cavaliers were all present in the camp.]

To these dark suggestions Pizarro turned - or seemed to turn - an
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, would occupy but a few days.

[Footnote 23: "Aunque contra voluntad del dicho Gobernador, que
nunca estubo bien en ello." Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms. -
So also Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Ped. Sancho, Rel.,
ap Ramusio, ubi supra.]

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 attorney-general was named to prosecute
for the Crown, and counsel was assigned to the prisoner.

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

[Footnote 24: The specification of the charges against the Inca
is given by Garcilasso de la Vega. (Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 1,
cap. 37.) One could have wished to find them specified by some of
the actors in the tragedy. But Garcilasso had access to the best
sources of information, and where there was no motive for
falsehood, as in the present instance, his word may probably be
taken. - The fact of a process being formally instituted against
the Indian monarch is explicitly recognized by several
contemporary writers, by Gomara, Oviedo, and Pedro Sancho.
Oviedo characterizes it as "a badly contrived and worse written
document, devised by a factious and unprincipled priest, a clumsy
notary without conscience, and others of the like stamp, who were
all concerned in this villany." (Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte
3, lib. 8, cap. 22.) Most authorities agree in the two principal
charges, - the assassination of Huascar, and the conspiracy
against the Spaniards.]
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
crime 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

[Footnote 25: "Doppo l'essersi molto disputato, et ragionato del
danno et vtile che saria potuto auuenire per il viuere o morire
di Atabalipa, fu risoluto che si facesse giustitia di lui." (Ped.
Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 400.) It is the
language of a writer who may be taken as the mouthpiece of
Pizarro himself. According to him, the conclave, which agitated
this "question of expediency," consisted of the "officers of the
Crown and those of the army, a certain doctor learned in the law,
that chanced to be with them, and the reverend Father Vicente de
Valverde."]

[Footnote 26: "Respondio, que firmaria, que era bastante, para
que el Inga fuese condenado a muerte, porque aun en lo exterior
quisieron justificar su intento." Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5,
lib. 3, cap. 4]

Yet there were some few in that martial conclave who resisted
these high-handed 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 determine it.

But the great majority - and they were ten to one - overruled
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 fruivless, the
weaker party, silenced, but not satisfied, contented themselves
with entering a written protest against these proceedings, which
would leave an indelible stain on the names of all concerned in
them. *27

[Footnote 27: Garcilasso has preserved the names of some of those
who so courageously, though ineffectually, resisted the popular
cry for the Inca s blood. (Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 1, cap.
37.) They were doubtless correct in denying the right of such a
tribunal to sit in judgment on an independent prince, like the
Inca of Peru; but not so correct in supposing that their master,
the Emperor, had a better right. Vattel (Book II. ch. 4.)
especially animadverts on this pretended trial of Atahuallpa, as
a manifest outrage on the law of nations.]

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 ave I
done, or my children, that I should meet such 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 to obtain it. *28

[Footnote 28: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 3, cap. 4. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru,
lib. 2, cap. 7.]

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 self-possession, and from
that moment submitted himself to his fate with the courage of an
Indian warrior.

[Footnote 29: "I myself," says Pedro Pizarro, "saw the general
weep." "Yo vide llorar al marques de pesar por no podelle dar la
vida porque cierto temio los requirimientos y e rriezgo que avia
en la tierra si se soltava." Descub. y Conq., Ms]

The doom of the Inca was proclaimed by sound of trumqet in the
great square of Caxamalca; and, two hours after sunset, the
Spanish soldiery assembled by torch-light in the plaza to witness
the execution of the sentence. It was on the twenty-ninth 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
consigned his mortal part in this.

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
punishment by strangulation, used for criminals in Spain. *30