The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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[Footnote 13: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 10. -
Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 12. - Gomara, Hist de las
Ind., cap. 142.
"No consienta vuestra senoria que se junten diez juntos en
cinquenta leguas alrrededor de adonde vuestra senoria estuviere,
porque si los dexa juntar le an de matar. Si a Vuestra Senoria
matan, yo negociare mal y de vuestra senoria no quedara memoria.
Estas palabras dixo Hernando Picarro altas que todos le oymos. Y
abracando al marquez se partio y se fue." Pedro Pizarro, Descub.
y Conq., Ms.]

The latter soon after embarked at Lima in the summer of 1539. He
did not take the route of Panama, for he had heard that it was
the intention of the authorities there to detain him. He made a
circuitous passage, therefore, by way of Mexico, landed in the
Bay of Tecoantepec, and was making his way across the narrow
strip that divides the great oceans, when he was arrested and
taken to the capital. But the Viceroy Mendoza did not consider
that he had a right to detain him, and he was suffered to embark
at Vera Cruz, and to proceed on his voyage. Still he did not
deem it safe to trust himself in Spain without further advices.
He accordingly put in at one of the Azores, where he remained
until he could communicate with home. He had some powerful
friends at court, and by them he was encouraged to present
himself before the emperor. He took their advice, and, shortly
after, reached the Spanish coast in safety. *14
[Footnote 14: Carta de Hernando Pizarro al Emperador, Ms. -
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 10. - Montesinos,
Annales, Ms., ano 1539.]
The Court was at Valladolid; but Hernando, who made his entrance
into that city, with great pomp and a display of his Indian
riches, met with a reception colder than he had anticipated. *15
For this he was mainly indebted to Diego de Alvarado, who was
then residing there, and who, as a cavalier of honorable
standing, and of high connections, had considerable influence.
He had formerly, as we have seen, by his timely interposition,
more than once saved the life of Hernando; and he had consented
to receive a pecuniary obligation from him to a large amount.
But all were now forgotten in the recollection of the wrong done
to his commander; and, true to the trust reposed in him by that
chief in his dying hour, he had come to Spain to vindicate the
claims of the young Almagro.
[Footnote 15: Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 143.]

But although coldly received at first, Hernando's presence, and
his own version of the dispute with Almagro, aided by the golden
arguments which he dealt with no stinted hand, checked the
current of indignation, and the opinion of his judges seemed for
a time suspended. Alvarado, a cavalier more accustomed to the
prompt and decisive action of a camp than to the tortuous
intrigues of a court, chafed at the delay, and challenged
Hernando to settle their quarrel by single combat. But his
prudent adversary had no desire to leave the issue to such an
ordeal; and the affair was speedily terminated by the death of
Alvarado himself, which happened five days after the challenge.
An event so opportune naturally suggested the suspicion of
poison. *16

[Footnote 16: "Pero todo lo atajo la repentina muerte de Diego de
Alvarado, que sucedio luego en cinco dias, no sin sospecha de
veneno." Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 8, cap. 9.]

But his accusations had not wholly fallen to the ground; and
Hernando Pizarro had carried measures with too high a hand, and
too grossly outraged public sentiment, to be permitted to escape.
He received no formal sentence, but he was imprisoned in the
strong fortress of Medina del Campo, where he was allowed to
remain for twenty years, when in 1560, after a generation had
nearly passed away, and time had, in some measure, thrown its
softening veil over the past, he was suffered to regain his
liberty. *17 But he came forth an aged man, bent down with
infirmities and broken in spirit, - an object of pity, rather
than indignation. Rarely has retributive justice been meted out
in fuller measure to offenders so high in authority, - most
rarely in Castile. *18

[Footnote 17: This date is established by Quintana, from a legal
process instituted by Hernando's grandson, in vindication of the
title of Marquess, in the year 1625.]

[Footnote 18: Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Pizarro y
Orellana, Varones Ilustres p 341. - Montesinos, Annales, M., ano
1539. - Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 142.]

Yet Hernando bore this long imprisonment with an equanimity
which, had it been founded on principle, might command our
respect. He saw brothers and kindred, all on whom he leaned for
support cut off one after another; his fortune, in part,
confiscated, while he was involved in expensive litigation for
the remainder; *19 his fame blighted, his career closed in an
untimely hour, himself an exile in the heart of his own country;
- yet he bore it all with the constancy of a courageous spirit.
Though very old when released, he still survived several years,
and continued to the extraordinary age of a hundred. *20 He lived
long enough to see friends, rivals, and foes all called away to
their account before him.

[Footnote 19: Caro de Torres gives a royal cedula in reference to
the working of the silver mines of Porco, still owned by Hernando
Pizarro, in 1555; and another document of nearly the same date,
noticing his receipt of ten thousand ducats by the fleet from
Peru. (Historia de las Ordenes Militares Madrid, 1629, p. 144.)
Hernando's grandson was created by Philip IV. Marquess of the
Conquest, Marques de la Conquista, with a liberal pension from
government. Pizarro y Orellana, Varones Ilustres, p. 342, and
Discurso, p. 72.]

[Footnote 20: "Multos da, Jupiter, annos", the greatest boon, in
Pizarro y Orellana's opinion, that Heaven can confer! "Diole
Dios, por todo, el premio mayor desta vida, pues fue tan larga,
que excedio de cien anos." (Varones Ilustres, p. 342) According
to the same somewhat partial authority, Hernando died, as he had
lived, in the odor of sanctity! "Viviendo aprender a morir, y
saber morir, quando llego la muerte.]
Hernando Pizarro was in many respects a remarkable character. He
was the eldest of the brothers, to whom he was related only by
the father's side, for he was born in wedlock, of honorable
parentage on both sides of his house. In his early years, he
received a good education, - good for the time. He was taken by
his father while quite young, to Italy, and there learned the art
of war under the Great Captain. Little is known of his history
after his return to Spain; but, when his brother had struck out
for himself his brilliant career of discovery in Peru, Hernando
consented to take part in his adventures.

He was much deferred to by Francisco, not only as his elder
brother, but from his superior education and his knowledge of
affairs. He was ready in his perceptions, fruitful in resources,
and possessed of great vigor in action. Though courageous, he
was cautious; and his counsels, when not warped by passion, were
wise and wary. But he had other qualities, which more than
counterbalanced the good resulting from excellent parts and
attainments. His ambition and avarice were insatiable. He was
supercilious even to his equals; and he had a vindictive temper,
which nothing could appease. Thus, instead of aiding his brother
in the Conquest, he was the evil genius that blighted his path.
He conceived from the first an unwarrantable contempt for
Almagro, whom he regarded as his brother's rival, instead of what
he then was, the faithful partner of his fortunes. He treated
him with personal indignity, and, by his intrigues at court, had
the means of doing him sensible injury. He fell into Almagro's
hands, and had nearly paid for these wrongs with his life. This
was not to be forgiven by Hernando, and he coolly waited for the
hour of revenge. Yet the execution of Almagro was a most
impolitic act; for an evil passion can rarely be gratified with
impunity. Hernando thought to buy off justice with the gold of
Peru. He had studied human nature on its weak and wicked side,
and he expected to profit by it. Fortunately, he was deceived.
He had, indeed, his revenge; but the hour of his revenge was that
of his ruin.

The disorderly state of Peru was such as to demand the immediate
interposition of government. In the general license that
prevailed there, the rights of the Indian and of the Spaniard
were equally trampled under foot. Yet the subject was one of
great difficulty; for Pizarro's authority was now firmly
established over the country, which itself was too remote from
Castile to be readily controlled at home. Pizarro, moreover, was
a man not easy to be approached, confident in his own strength,
jealous of interference, and possessed of a fiery temper, which
would kindle into a flame at the least distrust of the
government. It would not answer to send out a commission to
suspend him from the exercise of his authority until his conduct
could be investigated, as was done with Cortes, and other great
colonial officers, on whose rooted loyalty the Crown could
confidently rely. Pizarro's loyalty sat, it was feared, too
lightly on him to be a powerful restraint on his movements; and
there were not wanting those among his reckless followers, who,
in case of extremity, would be prompt to urge him to throw off
his allegiance altogether, and set up an independent government
for himself.

Some one was to be sent out, therefore, who should possess, in
some sort, a controlling, or, at least, concurrent power with the
dangerous chief, while ostensibly he should act only in
subordination to him. The person selected for this delicate
mission, was the Licentiate Vaca de Castro, a member of the Royal
Audience of Valladolid. He was a learned judge, a man of
integrity and wisdom, and, though not bred to arms, had so much
address, and such knowledge of character, as would enable him
readily to turn the resources of others to his own account.

His commission was guarded in a way which showed the
embarrassment of the government. He was to appear before Pizarro
in the capacity of a royal judge; to consult with him on the
redress of grievances, especially with reference to the
unfortunate natives; to concert measures for the prevention of
future evils; and above all, to possess himself faithfully of the
condition of the country in all its details, and to transmit
intelligence of it to the Court of Castile. But, in case of
Pizarro's death, he was to produce his warrant as royal governor,
and as such to claim the obedience of the authorities throughout
the land. - Events showed the wisdom of providing for this latter
contingency. *21
[Footnote 21: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Gomara, Hist.
de las Ind., cap. 146. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 8,
cap 9. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms. ano 1540.

This latter writer sees nothing short of a "divine mystery" in
this forecast of government, so singularly sustained by events.
"Prevencion del gran espiritu del Rey, no sin misterio." Ubi
supra.]

The licentiate, thus commissioned, quitted his quiet residence at
Valladolid, embarked at Seville, in the autumn of 1540, and,
after a tedious voyage across the Atlantic, he traversed the
Isthmus, and, encountering a succession of tempests on the
Pacific, that had nearly sent his frail bark to the bottom, put
in with her, a mere wreck, at the northerly port of Buenaventura.
*22 The affairs of the country were in a state to require his
presence.

[Footnote 22: Or, as the port should rather be called, Mala
Ventura, as Pedro Pizarro punningly remarks. "Tuvo tan mal viaje
en la mar que vbo de desembarcar en la Buena Ventura, aunque yo
la llamo Mala. Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

The civil war which had lately distracted the land had left it in
so unsettled a state, that the agitation continued long after the
immediate cause had ceased. This was especially the case among
the natives. In the violent transfer of repartimientos, the poor
Indian hardly knew to whom he was to look as his master. The
fierce struggles between the rival chieftains left him equally in
doubt whom he was to regard as the rulers of the land. As to the
authority of a common sovereign, across the waters, paramount
over all, he held that in still greater distrust; for what was
the authority which could not command the obedience even of its
own vassals? *23 The Inca Manco was not slow in taking advantage
of this state of feeling. He left his obscure fastnesses in the
depths of the Andes, and established himself with a strong body
of followers in the mountain country lying between Cuzco and the
coast. From this retreat, he made descents on the neighbouring
plantations, destroying the houses, sweeping off the cattle, and
massacring the people. He fell on travellers, as they were
journeying singly or in caravans from the coast, and put them to
death - it is told by his enemies - with cruel tortures. Single
detachments were sent against him, from time to time, but without
effect. Some he eluded, others he defeated; and, on one
occasion, cut off a party of thirty troopers, to a man. *24

[Footnote 23: "Piensan que les mienten los que aca les dizen que
ai un gran Senor en Castilla, viendo que aca pelean unos
capitanes contra otros; y piensan que no ai otro Rei sino aquel
que venze al otro, porque aca entrellos no se acostumbra que un
capitan pelee contra otro, estando entrambos debaxo de un Senor"
Carta de Valverde al Emperador, Ms.]
[Footnote 24: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib 6, cap. 7. -
Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de Espinall, Ms. -
Carta de Valverde al Emperador, Ms.]

At length, Pizarro found it necessary to send a considerable
force under his brother Gonzalo against the Inca. The hardy
Indian encountered his enemy several times in the rough passes of
the Cordilleras. He was usually beaten, and sometimes with heavy
loss, which he repaired with astonishing facility; for he always
contrived to make his escape, and so true were his followers,
that, in defiance of pursuit and ambuscade, he found a safe
shelter in the secret haunts of the sierra.

Thus baffled, Pizarro determined to try the effect of pacific
overtures. He sent to the Inca, both in his own name, and in
that of the Bishop of Cuzco, whom the Peruvian prince held in
reverence, to invite him to enter into negotiation. *25 Manco
acquiesced, and indicated, as he had formerly done with Almagro,
the valley of Yucay, as the scene of it. The governor repaired
thither, at the appointed time, well guarded, and, to propitiate
the barbarian monarch, sent him a rich present by the hands of an
African slave. The slave was met on the route by a party of the
Inca's men, who, whether with or without their master's orders,
cruelly murdered him, and bore off the spoil to their quarters.
Pizarro resented this outrage by another yet more atrocious.

[Footnote 25: The Inca declined the interview with the bishop, on
the ground that he had seen him pay obeisance by taking off his
cap to Pizarro. It proved his inferiority to the latter, he
said, and that he could never protect him against the governor.
The passage in which it is related is curious. "Preguntando a
indios del inca que anda alzado que si sabe el inca que yo soi
venido a la tierra en nombre de S. M. para defendellos, dixo que
mui bien lo sabia; y preguntado que porque no se benia a mi de
paz, dixo el indio que dezia el inca que porque yo quando vine
hize la mocha al gobernador, que quiere dezir que le quite el
Bonete; que no queria venir a mi de paz, que el que no havia de
venir de paz sino a uno que viniese de castilla que no hiziese la
mocha al gobernador, porque le paresze a el que este lo podra
defender por lo que ha hecho y no otro." Carta de Valverde al
Emperador, Ms]

Among the Indian prisoners was one of the Inca's wives, a young
and beautiful woman, to whom he was said to be fondly attached.
The governor ordered her to be stripped naked, bound to a tree,
and, in presence of the camp, to be scourged with rods, and then
shot to death with arrows. The wretched victim bore the
execution of the sentence with surprising fortitude. She did not
beg for mercy, where none was to be found. Not a complaint,
scarcely a groan, escaped her under the infliction of these
terrible torments. The iron Conquerors were amazed at this power
of endurance in a delicate woman, and they expressed their
admiration, while they condemned the cruelty of their commander,
- in their hearts. *26 Yet constancy under the most excruciating
tortures that human cruelty can inflict is almost the universal
characteristic of the American Indian.
[Footnote 26: At least, we may presume they did so, since they
openly condemn him in their accounts of the transaction. I quote
Pedro Pizarro, not disposed to criticise the conduct of his
general too severely. "Se tomo una muger de mango ynga que le
queria mucho y se guardo, creyendo que por ella saldria de paz.
Esta muger mando matar al marquez despues en Yncay, haziendola
varear con varas y flechar con flechas por una burla que mango
ynga le hizo que aqui contare, y entiendo yo que por esta
crueldad y otra hermana del ynga que mando matar en Lima quando
los yndios pusieron cerco sobrella que se llamava Acarpay. me
paresce a mi que nuestro senor le castigo en el fin que tuvo."
Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

Pizarro now prepared, as the most effectual means of checking
these disorders among the natives, to establish settlements in
the heart of the disaffected country. These settlements, which
received the dignified name of cities, might be regarded in the
light of military colonies. The houses were usually built of
stone, to which were added the various public offices, and
sometimes a fortress. A municipal corporation was organized.
Settlers were invited by the distribution of large tracts of land
in the neighbourhood, with a stipulated number of Indian vassals
to each. The soldiers then gathered there, sometimes accompanied
by their wives and families; for the women of Castile seem to
have disdained the impediments of sex, in the ardor of conjugal
attachment, or, it may be, of romantic adventure. A populous
settlement rapidly grew up in the wilderness, affording
protection to the surrounding territory, and furnishing a
commercial depot for the country, and an armed force ready at all
times to maintain public order.

Such a settlement was that now made at Guamanga, midway between
Cuzco and Lima, which effectually answered its purpose by
guarding the communications with the coast. *27 Another town was
founded in the mining district of Charcas, under the appropriate
name of the Villa de la Plata, the "City of Silver." And Pizarro,
who journeyed by a circuitous route along the shores of the
southern sea towards Lima, established the city of Arequipa,
since arisen to such commercial celebrity.

[Footnote 27: Cieza de Leon notices the uncommon beauty and
solidity of the buildings at Guamanga. "La qual han edificado
las mayores y mejores casas que ay en todo el Peru, todas de
piedra, ladrillo, y teja, con grandes torres: de manera que no
falta aposentos. La placa esta llana y bien grande' Cronica,
cap. 87.]

Once more in his favorite capital of Lima, the governor found
abundant occupation in attending to its municipal concerns, and
in providing for the expansive growth of its population. Nor was
he unmindful of the other rising settlements on the Pacific. He
encouraged commerce with the remoter colonies north of Peru, and
took measures for facilitating internal intercourse. He
stimulated industry in all its branches, paying great attention
to husbandry, and importing seeds of the different European
grains, which he had the satisfaction, in a short time, to see
thriving luxuriantly in a country where the variety of soil and
climate afforded a home for almost every product. *28 Above all,
he promoted the working of the mines, which already began to make
such returns, that the most common articles of life rose to
exorbitant prices, while the precious metals themselves seemed
the only things of little value. But they soon changed hands, and
found their way to the mother-country, where they rose to their
true level as they mingled with the general currency of Europe.
The Spaniards found that they had at length reached the land of
which they had been so long in search, - the land of gold and
silver. Emigrants came in greater numbers to the country, and,
spreading over its surface, formed in the increasing population
the most effectual barrier against the rightful owners of the
soil. *29

[Footnote 28: "I con que ia comencaba a haver en aquellas Tierras
cosecha de Trigo, Cevada, i otras muchas cosas de Castilla."
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 10, cap. 2.]

[Footnote 29: Carta de Carvajal al Emperador, Ms. - Montesinos,
Annales, Ms., anos 1539 et 1541. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y
Conq., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6 lib. 7, cap. 1. -
Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. 76 et alibi.]
Pizarro, strengthened by the arrival of fresh adventurers, now
turned his attention to the remoter quarters of the country.
Pedro de Valdivia was sent on his memorable expedition to Chili;
and to his own brother Gonzalo the governor assigned the
territory of Quito, with instructions to explore the unknown
country towards the east, where, as report said, grew the
cinnamon. As this chief, who had hitherto acted but a
subordinate part in the Conquest, is henceforth to take the most
conspicuous, it may be well to give some account of him.

Little is known of his early life, for he sprang from the same
obscure origin with Francisco, and seems to have been as little
indebted as his elder brother to the fostering care of his
parents. He entered early on the career of a soldier; a career
to which every man in that iron age, whether cavalier or
vagabond, seems, if left to himself, to have most readily
inclined. Here he soon distinguished himself by his skill in
martial exercises, was an excellent horseman, and, when he came
to the New World, was esteemed the best lance in Peru. *30

[Footnote 30: The cavalier Pizarro y Orellana has given
biographical notices of each of the brothers. It requires no
witchcraft to detect that the blood of the Pizarros flowed in the
veins of the writer to his fingers' ends. Yet his facts are less
suspicious than his inferences.]
In talent and in expansion of views, he was inferior to his
brothers. Neither did he discover the same cool and crafty
policy; but he was equally courageous, and in the execution of
his measures quite as unscrupulous. He had a handsome person,
with open, engaging features, a free, soldier-like address, and a
confiding temper, which endeared him to his followers. His
spirit was high and adventurous, and, what was equally important,
he could inspire others with the same spirit, and thus do much to
insure the success of his enterprises. He was an excellent
captain in guerilla warfare, an admirable leader in doubtful and
difficult expeditions; but he had not the enlarged capacity for a
great military chief, still less for a civil ruler. It was his
misfortune to be called to fill both situations.

Chapter IV

Gonzalo Pizarro's Expedition. - Passage Across The Mountains. -
Discovers The Napo. - Incredible Sufferings. - Orellana Sails
Down The Amazon. - Despair Of The Spaniards. - The Survivors
Return To Quito.

1540-1542.

Gonzalo Pizarro received the news of his appointment to the
government of Quito with undisguised pleasure; not so much for
the possession that it gave him of this ancient Indian province,
as for the field that it opened for discovery towards the east, -
the fabled land of Oriental spices, which had long captivated the
imagination of the Conquerors. He repaired to his government
without delay, and found no difficulty in awakening a kindred
enthusiasm to his own in the bosoms of his followers. In a short
time, he mustered three hundred and fifty Spaniards, and four
thousand Indians. One hundred and fifty of his company were
mounted, and all were equipped in the most thorough manner for
the undertaking. He provided, moreover, against famine by a
large stock of provisions, and an immense drove of swine which
followed in the rear *1

[Footnote 1: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. lib. 8, cap. 6, 7. -
Garcilasso, Com Real., Parte 2, lib. 3, cap. 2. - Zarate, Conq.
del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 1, 2. - Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap.
143. - Montesinos, Annales, ano 1539.
Historians differ as to the number of Gonzalo's forces, - of his
men, his horses, and his hogs. The last, according to Herrera,
amounted to no less than 5000; a goodly supply of bacon for so
small a troop, since the Indians, doubtless, lived on parched
corn, coca, which usually formed their only support on the
longest journeys.]

It was the beginning of 1540, when he set out on this celebrated
expedition. The first part of the journey was attended with
comparatively little difficulty, while the Spaniards were yet in
the land of the Incas; for the distractions of Peru had not been
felt in this distant province, where the simple people still
lived as under the primitive sway of the Children of the Sun.
But the scene changed as they entered the territory of Quixos,
where the character of the inhabitants, as well as of the
climate, seemed to be of another description. The country was
traversed by lofty ranges of the Andes, and the adventurers were
soon entangled in their deep and intricate passes. As they rose
into the more elevated regions, the icy winds that swept down the
sides of the Cordilleras benumbed their limbs, and many of the
natives found a wintry grave in the wilderness. While crossing
this formidable barrier, they experienced one of those tremendous
earthquakes which, in these volcanic regions, so often shake the
mountains to their base. In one place, the earth was rent
asunder by the terrible throes of Nature, while streams of
sulphurous vapor issued from the cavity, and a village with some
hundreds of houses was precipitated into the frightful abyss! *2