The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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"De estas senoras del Cuzco es cierto de tener grande sentimiento
el que tuviese alguna humanidad en el pecho, que en tiempo de la
prosperidad del Cuzco quando los Espanoles entraron en el havia
grand cantidad de senoras que tenian sus casas i sus asientos mui
quietas i sosegadas i vivian mui politicamente i como mui buenas
mugeres, cada senora acompanada con quince o veinte mugeres que
tenia de servicio en su casa bien traidas i aderezadas, i no
salian menos desto i con grand onestidad i gravedad i atavio a su
usanza, i es a la cantidad destas senoras principales creo yo que
en el . . . . . que avia mas de seis mil sin las de servicio que
creo yo que eran mas de veinte mil mugeres sin las de servicio i
mamaconas que eran las que andavan como beatas i dende a dos anos
casi no se allava en el Cuzco i su tierra sino cada qual i qual
porque muchas murieron en la guerra que huvo i las otras vinieron
las mas a ser malas mugeres. Senor perdone a quien fue la causa
desto i aquien no lo remedia pudiendo." Conq. i Pob del Piru,
Ms.]

[Footnote 2: Ibid., ubi supra.]

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

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withdrawn his forces from the city.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

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

That cavalier, at the head of a small body of horse, instantly
marched in pursuit of the fugitive, whom he was so fortunate as
to discover in a thicket of reeds, in which he sought to conceal
himself, at no great distance from the city. Manco was arrested,
brought back a prisoner to Cuzco, and placed under a strong guard
in the fortress. The conspiracy seemed now at an end; and
nothing was left to the unfortunate Peruvians but to bewail their
ruined hopes, and to give utterance to their disappointment in
doleful ballads, which rehearsed the captivity of their Inca, and
the downfall of his royal house. *3
[Footnote 3: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 1, 2. - Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.
Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 2, cap. 3.]

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

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

Hernando, notwithstanding his arrogant bearing towards his
countrymen, had ever manifested a more than ordinary sympathy
with the Indians. He had been the friend of Atahuallpa; to such
a degree, indeed, that it was said, if he had been in the camp at
the time, the fate of that unhappy monarch would probably have
been averted. He now showed a similar friendly disposition
towards his successor, Manco. He caused the Peruvian prince to
be liberated from confinement, and gradually admitted him into
some intimacy with himself. The crafty Indian availed himself of
his freedom to mature his plans for the rising, but with so much
caution, that no suspicion of them crossed the mind of Hernando.
Secrecy and silence are characteristic of the American, almost as
invariably as the peculiar color of his skin. Manco disclosed to
his conqueror the existence of several heaps of treasure, and the
places where they had been secreted; and, when he had thus won
his confidence, he stimulated his cupidity still further by an
account of a statue of pure gold of his father Huayna Capac,
which the wily Peruvian requested leave to bring from a secret
cave in which it was deposited, among the neighbouring Andes.
Hernando, blinded by his avarice, consented to the Inca's
departure.
He sent with him two Spanish soldiers, less as a guard than to
aid him in the object of his expedition. A week elapsed, and yet
he did not return, nor were there any tidings to be gathered of
him. Hernando now saw his error, especially as his own
suspicions were confirmed by the unfavorable reports of his
Indian allies. Without further delay, he despatched his brother
Juan, at the head of sixty horse, in quest of the Peruvian
prince, with orders to bring him back once more a prisoner to his
capital.

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

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

[Footnote 4: "Es gente," says Oviedo, "muy belicosa e muy
diestra; sus armas son picas, e ondas, porras e Alabardas de
Plata e oro e cobre." (Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8,
cap. 17.) Xerez has made a good enumeration of the native
Peruvian arms. (Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 200.)
Father Velasco has added considerably to this catalogue.
According to him they used copper swords, poniards, and other
European weapons. (Hist. de Quito, tom. I. pp 178-180.) He does
not insist on their knowledge of fire-arms before the Conquest!]

The little band of cavaliers, shaken by the fury of the Indian
assault, were thrown at first into some disorder, but at length,
cheering on one another with the old war-cry of "St. Jago," they
formed in solid column, and charged boldly into the thick of the
enemy. The latter, incapable of withstanding the shock, gave
way, or were trampled down under the feet of the horses, or
pierced by the lances of the riders. Yet their flight was
conducted with some order; and they turned at intervals, to let
off a volley of arrows, or to deal furious blows with their
pole-axes and war-clubs. 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 lof y range of hills
which belt round the beautiful valley of Yucay. Juan Pizarro and
his little troop encamped on the level at the base of the
mountains. He had gained a victory, as usual, over immense odds;
but he had never seen a field so well disputed, and his victory
had cost him the lives of several men and horses, while many more
had been wounded, and were nearly disabled by the fatigues of the
day. But he trusted the severe lesson he had inflicted on the
enemy, whose slaughter was great, would crush the spirit of
resistance. He was deceived.

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

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

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

[Footnote 5: "Pues junta toda la gente quel ynga avia embiado a
juntar que a lo que se entendio y los indios dixeron fueron
dozientos mil indios de guerra los que vinieron a poner este
cerco." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

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 unwilling 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

[Footnote 6: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Conq. i Pob.
del Piru, Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 4. -
Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 133.]

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.
[Footnote 7: "Y los pocos Espanoles que heramos aun no dozientos
todos.' Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

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

[Footnote 8: "Pues de noche heran tantos ros fuegos que no
parecia sino vn cielo muy sereno lleno de estrellas." Pedro
Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
[Footnote 9: Ibid. Ms.]

[Footnote 10: "I era tanto el humo que casi los oviera de aogar i
pasaron grand travajo por esta causa i sino fuera porque de la
una parte de la plaza no havia casas i estava desconorado no
pudieran escapar porque is por todas partes les diera el humo i
el calor siendo tan grande pasaron travajo, pero la divina
providencia lo estorvo." Conq. i. Pob. ded Piru, Ms.]
The Spaniards were encamped in the great square, partly under
awnings, and partly in the hall of the Inca Viracocha, on the
ground since covered by the cathedral. Three times in the course
of that dreadful day, the roof of the building was on fire; but,
although no efforts were made to extinguish it, the flames went
out without doing much injury. This miracle was ascribed to the
Blessed Virgin, who was distinctly seen by several of the
Christian combatants, hovering over the spot on which was to be
raised the temple dedicated to her worship. *11

[Footnote 11: The temple was dedicated to Our Blessed Lady of the
Assumption. The apparition of the Virgin was manifest not only to
Christian but to Indian warriors, many of whom reported it to
Garcilasso de la Vega, in whose hands the marvellous rarely loses
any of its gloss. (Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 25.) It is
further attested by Father Acosta, who came into the country
forty years after the event. (lib. 7, cap. 27.) Both writers
testify to the seasonable aid rendered by St. James, who with his
buckler, displaying the device of his Military Order, and armed
with his flaming sword, rode his white charger into the thick of
the enemy. The patron Saint of Spain might always be relied on
when his presence was needed dignus vindice nodus.]
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 endeavours 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 An des, 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
neighbouring Convent of the Virgins. Their insulated position
afforded the means, of which the Indians from motives of piety
were willing to avail themselves, for their preservation. *12
Full one half of the capital, so long the chosen seat of Western
civilization, the pride of the Incas, and the bright abode of
their tutelar deity, was laid in ashes by the hands of his own
children. It was some consolation for them to reflect, that it
burned over the heads of its conquerors, - their trophy and their
tomb!
[Footnote 12: Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 24.
Father Valverde, Bishop of Cuzco, who took so signal a part in
the seizure of Atahuallpa, was absent from the country at this
period, but returned the following year. In a letter to the
emperor, he contrasts the flourishing condition of the capital
when he left it, and that in which he now found it, despoiled, as
well as its beautiful suburbs, of its ancient glories. "If I had
not known the site of the city," he says, "I should not have
recognized it as the same." The passage is too remarkable to be
omitted. The original letter exists in the archives of Simancas.
- "Certifico a V. M. que si no me acordara del sitio desta Ciudad
yo no la conosciera, a lo menos por los edificios y Pueblos
della; porque quando el Gobernador D. Franzisco Pizarro entro
aqui y entre yo con el estava este valle tan hermoso en edificios
y poblazion que en torno tenia que era cosa de admiracion vello,
porque aunque la Ciudad en si no ternia mas de 3 o 4000 casas,
ternia en torno quasi a vista 19 o 20,000; la fortaleza que
estava sobre la Ciudad parescia desde a parte una mui gran
fortaleza de las de Espana: agora la mayor parte de la Ciudad
esta toda derivada y quemada; la fortaleza no tiene quasi nada
enhiesso; todos los pueblos de alderredor no tiene sino las
paredes que por maravilla ai casa cubierta! La cosa que mas
contentamiento me dio en esta Ciudad fue la Iglesia, que para en
Indias es harto buena cosa, aunque segun la riqueza a havido en
esta tierra pudiera ser mas semejante al Templo de Salomon."
Carta del Obispo F. Vicente de Valverde al Emperador, Ms., 20 de
Marzo, 1539.]

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

[Footnote 13: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.

"Los Indios ganaron el Cuzco casi todo desta manera que enganando
la calle hivan haciendo una pared para que los cavallos ni los
Espanoles no los pudiesen rom per." Conq. i. Pob. del Piru, Ms]

[Footnote 14: Ibid., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib.
8, cap. 4.]
Thus harassed, sleeping on their arms, with their horses picketed
by their side, ready for action at any and every hour, the
Spaniards had no rest by night or by day. To add to their
troubles, the fortress which overlooked the city, and completely
commanded the great square in which they were quartered, had been
so feebly garrisoned in their false sense of security, that, on
the approach of the Peruvians, it had been abandoned without a
blow in its defence. It was now occupied by a strong body of the
enemy, who, from his elevated position, sent down showers of
missiles, from time to time which added greatly to the annoyance
of the besieged. Bitterly did their captain now repent the
improvident security which had led him to neglect a post so
important.