The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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[Footnote 26: The battle was so equally contested, says Beltran,
one of Vaca de Castro's captains, that it was long doubtful on
which side victory was to incline. "I la batalla estuvo mui gran
rato en peso sin conoscerse vitoria de la una parte a la otra."
Carta de Ventura Beltran, Ms.]
It fared differently on the right, where Alonso de Alvarado
commanded. He was there encountered by Almagro in person, who
fought worthy of his name. By repeated charges on his opponent,
he endeavoured to bear down his squadrons, so much worse mounted
and worse armed than his own. Alvarado resisted with
undiminished courage; but his numbers had been thinned, as we
have seen, before the battle, to supply the governor's reserve,
and, fairly overpowered by the superior strength of his
adversary, who had already won two of the royal banners, he was
slowly giving ground. "Take, but kill not!" shouted the generous
young chief, who felt himself sure of victory. *27

[Footnote 27: "Gritaba, Victoria; i decia, Prender i no matar."
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 3, cap. 11.]

But at this crisis, Vaca de Castro, who, with his reserve, had
occupied a rising ground that commanded the field of action, was
fully aware that the time had now come for him to take part in
the struggle. He had long strained his eyes through the gloom to
watch the movements of the combatants, and received constant
tidings how the fight was going. He no longer hesitated, but,
calling on his men to follow, led off boldly into the thickest of
the melee to the support of his stouthearted officer. The
arrival of a new corps on the field, all fresh for action, gave
another turn to the tide. *28 Alvarado's men took heart and
rallied. Almagro's, though driven back by the fury of the
assault, quickly returned against their assailants. Thirteen of
Vaca de Castro's cavaliers fell dead from their saddles. But it
was the last effort of the Almagrians. Their strength, though
not their spirit, failed them. They gave way in all directions,
and, mingling together in the darkness, horse, foot, and
artillery, they trampled one another down, as they made the best
of their way from the press of their pursuers. Almagro used
every effort to stay them. He performed miracles of valor, says
one who witnessed them; but he was borne along by the tide, and,
though he seemed to court death, by the freedom with which he
exposed his person to danger yet he escaped without a wound.

[Footnote 28: The letter of the municipality of Arequipa gives
the governor credit for deciding the fate of the day by this
movement, and the writers express their "admiration of the
gallantry and courage he displayed, so little to have been
expected from his age and profession." See the original in
Appendix, No. 13.]

Others there were of his company, and among them a young cavalier
named Geronimo de Alvarado, who obstinately refused to quit the
field; and shouting out, - "We slew Pizarro! we killed the
tyrant!" they threw themselves on the lances of their conquerors,
preferring death on the battle-field to the ignominious doom of
the gibbet. *29

[Footnote 29: "Se arrojaron en los Enemigos, como desesperados,
hiriendo a todas partes, diciendo cada vno por su nombre: Yo soi
Fulano, que mate al Marques; i asi anduvieron hasta, que los
hicieron pedacos.' Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 19.]

It was nine o'clock when the battle ceased, though the firing was
heard at intervals over the field at a much later hour, as some
straggling party of fugitives were overtaken by their pursuers.
Yet many succeeded in escaping in the obscurity of night, while
some, it is said, contrived to elude pursuit in a more singular
way; tearing off the badges from the corpses of their enemies,
they assumed them for themselves, and, mingling in the ranks as
followers of Vaca de Castro, joined in the pursuit.
That commander, at length, fearing some untoward accident, and
that the fugitives, should they rally again under cover of the
darkness, might inflict some loss on their pursuers, caused his
trumpets to sound, and recalled his scattered forces under their
banners. All night they remained under arms on the field, which,
so lately the scene of noisy strife, was now hushed in silence,
broken only by the groans of the wounded and the dying. The
natives, who had hung, during the fight, like a dark cloud, round
the skirts of the mountains, contemplating with gloomy
satisfaction the destruction of their enemies, now availed
themselves of the obscurity to descend, like a pack of famished
wolves, upon the plains, where they stripped the bodies of the
slain, and even of the living, but disabled wretches, who had in
vain dragged themselves into the bushes for concealment. The
following morning, Vaca de Castro gave orders that the wounded -
those who had not perished in the cold damps of the night -
should be committed to the care of the surgeons, while the
priests were occupied with administering confession and
absolution to the dying. Four large graves or pits were dug, in
which the bodies of the slain - the conquerors and the conquered
- were heaped indiscriminately together. But the remains of
Alvarez de Holguin and several other cavaliers of distinction
were transported to Guamanga, where they were buried with the
solemnities suited to their rank; and the tattered banners won
from their vanquished countrymen waved over their monuments, the
melancholy trophies of their victory.

The number of killed is variously reported, - from three hundred
to five hundred on both sides. *30 The mortality was greatest
among the conquerors, who suffered more from the cannon of the
enemy before the action, than the latter suffered in the rout
that followed it. The number of wounded was still greater; and
full half of the survivors of Almagro's party were made
prisoners. Many, indeed, escaped from the field to the
neighbouring town of Guamanga, where they took refuge in the
churches and monasteries. But their asylum was not respected,
and they were dragged forth and thrown into prison. Their brave
young commander fled with a few followers only to Cuzco, where he
was instantly arrested by the magistrates whom he had himself
placed over the city. *31

[Footnote 30: Zarate estimates the number at three hundred.
Uscategui, who belonged to the Almagrian party, and Garcilasso,
both rate it as high as five hundred.]

[Footnote 31: The particulars of the action are gathered from
Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de Ventura Beltran,
Ms. - Zarate, Zarate Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 17-20. -
Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Dicho del Capitan Francisco de
Carbajal sobre la informacion hecha en el Cuzco en 1543 a favor
de Vaca de Castro, Ms. - Carta del Cabildo de Arequipa al
Emperador, Ms. - Carta de Barrio Nuevo, Ms. - Gomara, Hist. de
las Ind., cap. 149. - Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 3,
cap. 15-18. - Declaracion de Uscategui, Ms.

Many of these authorities were personally present on the field;
and it is rare that the details of a battle are drawn from more
authentic testimony. The student of history will not be
surprised that in these details there should be the greatest
discrepancy.]

At Guamanga, Vaca de Castro appointed a commission, with the
Licentiate de la Gama at its head, for the trial of the
prisoners; and justice was not satisfied, till forty had been
condemned to death, and thirty others - some of them with the
loss of one or more of their members - sent into banishment. *32
Such severe reprisals have been too common with the Spaniards in
their civil feuds. Strange that they should so blindly plunge
into these, with this dreadful doom for the vanquished!
[Footnote 32: Declaracion de Uscategui, Ms. - Carta de Ventura
Beltran, Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 21.

The loyal burghers of Arequipa seem to have been well contented
with these executions. "If night had not overtaken us," they
say, alluding to the action, in their letter to the emperor,
"your Majesty would have had no reason to complain; but what was
omitted then is made up now, since the governor goes on
quartering every day some one or other of the traitors who
escaped from the field." See the original in Appendix, No. 13.]
From the scene of this bloody tragedy, the governor proceeded to
Cuzco, which he entered at the head of his victorious battalions,
with all the pomp and military display of a conqueror. He
maintained a corresponding state in his way of living, at the
expense of a sneer from some, who sarcastically contrasted this
ostentatious profusion with the economical reforms he
subsequently introduced into the finances. *33 But Vaca de Castro
was sensible of the effect of this outward show on the people
generally, and disdained no means of giving authority to his
office. His first act was to determine the fate of his prisoner,
Almagro. A council of war was held. Some were for sparing the
unfortunate chief, in consideration of his youth, and the strong
cause of provocation he had received. But the majority were of
opinion that such mercy could not be extended to the leader of
the rebels, and that his death was indispensable to the permanent
tranquillity of the country.

[Footnote 33: Herrera, Hist. General, dec 7, lib. 4, cap. 1.]
When led to execution in the great square of Cuzco, - the same
spot where his father had suffered but a few years before, -
Almagro exhibited the most perfect composure, though, as the
herald proclaimed aloud the doom of the traitor, he indignantly
denied that he was one. He made no appeal for mercy to his
judges, but simply requested that his bones might be laid by the
side of his father's. He objected to having his eyes bandaged,
as was customary on such occasions, and, after confession, he
devoutly embraced the cross, and submitted his neck to the stroke
of the executioner. His remains, agreeably to his request, were
transported to the monastery of La Merced, where they were
deposited side by side with those of his unfortunate parent. *34

[Footnote 34: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Zarate,
Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 21. - Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms.
- Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 6, cap. 1.]

There have been few names, indeed, in the page of history, more
unfortunate than that of Almagro. Yet the fate of the son
excites a deeper sympathy than that of the father; and this, not
merely on account of his youth, and the peculiar circumstances of
his situation. He possessed many of the good qualities of the
elder Almagro, with a frank and manly nature, in which the
bearing of the soldier was somewhat softened by the refinement of
a better education than is to be found in the license of a camp.
His career, though short, gave promise of considerable talent,
which required only a fair field for its development. But he was
the child of misfortune, and his morning of life was overcast by
clouds and tempests. If his character, naturally benignant,
sometimes showed the fiery sparkles of the vindictive Indian
temper, some apology may be found, not merely in his blood, but
in the circumstances of his situation. He was more sinned
against than sinning; and, if conspiracy could ever find a
justification, it must be in a case like his, where, borne down
by injuries heaped on his parent and himself, he could obtain no
redress from the only quarter whence he had a right to look for
it. With him, the name of Almagro became extinct, and the faction
of Chili, so long the terror of the land, passed away for ever.

While these events were occurring in Cuzco, the governor learned
that Gonzalo Pizarro had arrived at Lima, where he showed himself
greatly discontented with the state of things in Peru. He loudly
complained that the government of the country, after his
brother's death, had not been placed in his hands; and, as
reported by some, he was now meditating schemes for getting
possession of it. Vaca de Castro well knew that there would be
no lack of evil counsellors to urge Gonzalo to this desperate
step; and, anxious to extinguish the spark of insurrection before
it had been fanned by these turbulent spirits into a flame, he
detached a strong body to Lima to secure that capital. At the
same time he commanded the presence of Gonzalo Pizarro in Cuzco.

That chief did not think it prudent to disregard the summons; and
shortly after entered the Inca capital, at the head of a
well-armed body of cavaliers. He was at once admitted into the
governor's presence, when the latter dismissed his guard,
remarking that he had nothing to fear from a brave and loyal
knight like Pizarro. He then questioned him as to his late
adventures in Canelas, and showed great sympathy for his
extraordinary sufferings. He took care not to alarm his jealousy
by any allusion to his ambitious schemes, and concluded by
recommending him, now that the tranquillity of the country was
reestablished, to retire and seek the repose he so much needed,
on his valuable estates at Charcas. Gonzalo Pizarro, finding no
ground opened for a quarrel with the cool and politic governor,
and probably feeling that he was, at least not now, in sufficient
strength to warrant it, thought it prudent to take the advice,
and withdrew to La Plata, where he busied himself in working
those rich mines of silver that soon put him in condition for a
more momentous enterprise than any he had yet attempted. *35

[Footnote 35: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 4, cap. 1; lib. 6, cap 3. - Zarate,
Conq. del Peru lib. 1, cap. 22.]

Thus rid of his formidable competitor, Vaca de Castro occupied
himself with measures for the settlement of the country. He
began with his army, a part of which he had disbanded. But many
cavaliers still remained, pressing their demands for a suitable
recompense for their services. These they were not disposed to
undervalue, and the governor was happy to rid himself of their
importunities by employing them on distant expeditions, among
which was the exploration of the country watered by the great Rio
de la Plata. The boiling spirits of the high-mettled cavaliers,
without some such vent, would soon have thrown the whole country
again into a state of fermentation.

His next concern was to provide laws for the better government of
the colony. He gave especial care to the state of the Indian
population; and established schools for teaching them
Christianity. By various provisions, he endeavoured to secure
them from the exactions of their conquerors, and he encouraged
the poor natives to transfer their own residence to the
communities of the white men. He commanded the caciques to
provide supplies for the tambos, or houses for the accommodation
of travellers, which lay in their neighbourhood, by which
regulation he took away from the Spaniards a plausible apology
for rapine, and greatly promoted facility of intercourse. He was
watchful over the finances, much dilapidated in the late
troubles, and in several instances retrenched what he deemed
excessive repartimientos among the Conquerors. This last act
exposed him to much odium from the objects of it. But his
measures were so just and impartial, that he was supported by
public opinion. *36
[Footnote 36: Ibid., ubi supra. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7,
lib. 6, cap. 2.]

Indeed, Vaca de Castro's conduct, from the hour of his arrival in
the country, had been such as to command respect, and prove him
competent to the difficult post for which he had been selected.
Without funds, without troops, he had found the country, on his
landing, in a state of anarchy; yet, by courage and address, he
had gradually acquired sufficient strength to quell the
insurrection. Though no soldier, he had shown undaunted spirit
and presence of mind in the hour of action, and made his military
preparations with a forecast and discretion that excited the
admiration of the most experienced veterans.

If he may be thought to have abused the advantages of victory by
cruelty towards the conquered, it must be allowed that he was not
influenced by any motives of a personal nature. He was a lawyer,
bred in high notions of royal prerogative. Rebellion he looked
upon as an unpardonable crime; and, if his austere nature was
unrelenting in the exaction of justice, he lived in an iron age,
when justice was rarely tempered by mercy.

In his subsequent regulations for the settlement of the country,
he showed equal impartiality and wisdom. The colonists were
deeply sensible of the benefits of his administration, and
afforded the best commentary on his services by petitioning the
Court of Castile to continue him in the government of Peru. *37
Unfortunately, such was not the policy of the Crown.

[Footnote 37: "I asi lo escrivieron al Rei la Ciudad del Cuzco,
la Villa de la Plata, i otras Comunidades, suplicandole, que los
dexase por Governador a Vaca de Castro, como Persona, que
procedia con rectitud, i que ia entendia el Govierno de aquellos
Reinos." Herrera, Ibid., loc. cit.]

Chapter VII

Abuses By The Conquerors. - Code For The Colonies. - Great
Excitement In Peru. - Blasco Nunez The Viceroy. - His Severe
Policy. - Opposed By Gonzalo Pizarro.
1543-1544.

Before continuing the narrative of events in Peru, we must turn
to the mother-country, where important changes were in progress
in respect to the administration of the colonies.

Since his accession to the Crown, Charles the Fifth had been
chiefly engrossed by the politics of Europe, where a theatre was
opened more stimulating to his ambition than could be found in a
struggle with the barbarian princes of the New World. In this
quarter, therefore, an empire almost unheeded, as it were, had
been suffered to grow up, until it had expanded into dimensions
greater than those of his European dominions, and destined soon
to become far more opulent. A scheme of government had, it is
true, been devised, and laws enacted from time to time for the
regulation of the colonies. But these laws were often
accommodated less to the interests of the colonies themselves,
than to those of the parent country; and, when contrived in a
better spirit, they were but imperfectly executed; for the voice
of authority, however loudly proclaimed at home, too often died
away in feeble echoes before it had crossed the waters.
This state of things, and, indeed, the manner in which the
Spanish territories in the New World had been originally
acquired, were most unfortunate both for the conquered races and
their masters. Had the provinces gained by the Spaniards been
the fruit of peaceful acquisition, - of barter and negotiation, -
or had their conquest been achieved under the immediate direction
of government, the interests of the natives would have been more
carefully protected. From the superior civilization of the
Indians in the Spanish American colonies, they still continued
after the Conquest to remain on the ground, and to mingle in the
same communities, with the white men; in this forming an obvious
contrast to the condition of our own aborigines, who, shrinking
from the contact of civilization, have withdrawn, as the latter
has advanced, deeper and deeper into the heart of the wilderness.
But the South American Indian was qualified by his previous
institutions for a more refined legislation than could be adapted
to the wild hunters of the forest; and, had the sovereign been
there in person to superintend his conquests, he could never have
suffered so large a portion of his vassals to be wantonly
sacrificed to the cupidity and cruelty of the handful of
adventurers who subdued them.
But, as it was, the affair of reducing the country was committed
to the hands of irresponsible individuals, soldiers of fortune,
desperate adventurers, who entered on conquest as a game, which
they were to play in the most unscrupulous manner, with little
care but to win it. Receiving small encouragement from the
government, they were indebted to their own valor for success;
and the right of conquest, they conceived, extinguished every
existing right in the unfortunate natives. The lands, the
persons, of the conquered races were parcelled out and
appropriated by the victors as the legitimate spoils of victory;
and outrages were perpetrated every day, at the contemplation of
which humanity shudders.

These outrages, though nowhere perpetrated on so terrific a scale
as in the islands, where, in a few years, they had nearly
annihilated the native population, were yet of sufficient
magnitude in Peru to call down the vengeance of Heaven on the
heads of their authors; and the Indian might feel that this
vengeance was not long delayed, when he beheld his oppressors,
wrangling over their miserable spoil, and turning their swords
against each other. Peru, as already mentioned, was subdued by
adventurers, for the most part, of a lower and more ferocious
stamp than those who followed the banner of Cortes. The
character of the followers partook, in some measure, of that of
the leaders in their respective enterprises. It was a sad
fatality for the Incas; for the reckless soldiers of Pizarro were
better suited to contend with the fierce Aztec than with the more
refined and effeminate Peruvian. Intoxicated by the unaccustomed
possession of power, and without the least notion of the
responsibilities which attached to their situation as masters of
the land, they too often abandoned themselves to the indulgence
of every whim which cruelty or caprice could dictate. Not
unfrequently, says an unsuspicious witness, I have seen the
Spaniards, long after the Conquest, amuse themselves by hunting
down the natives with bloodhounds for mere sport, or in order to
train their dogs to the game! *1 The most unbounded scope was
given to licentiousness. The young maiden was torn without
remorse from the arms of her family to gratify the passion of her
brutal conqueror. *2 The sacred houses of the Virgins of the Sun
were broken open and violated, and the cavalier swelled his harem
with a troop of Indian girls, making it seem that the Crescent
would have been a much more fitting symbol for his banner than
the immaculate Cross. *3

[Footnote 1: "Espanoles hai que crian perros carniceros i los
avezan a matar Indios, lo qual procuran a las veces por
pasatiempo, i ver si lo hacen bien los perros." Relacion que dio
el Provisor Morales sobre las cosas que convenian provarse en el
Peru, Ms.]

[Footnote 2: "Que los Justicias dan cedulas de Anaconas que por
otros terminos los hacen esclavos e vivir contra su voluntad,
diciendo: Por la presente damos licencia a vos Fulano, para que
os podais servir de tal Indio o de tal India e lo podais tomar e
sacar donde quiera que lo hallaredes." Rel. del Provisor Morales,
Ms.]

[Footnote 3: "Es general el vicio del amancebamiento con Indias,
i algunos tienen cantidad dellas como en serrallo." Ibid., Ms.]

But the dominant passion of the Spaniard was the lust of gold.
For this he shrunk from no toil himself, and was merciless in his
exactions of labor from his Indian slave. Unfortunately, Peru
abounded in mines which too well repaid this labor; and human
life was the item of least account in the estimate of the
Conquerors. Under his Incas, the Peruvian was never suffered to
be idle; but the task imposed on him was always proportioned to
his strength. He had his seasons of rest and refreshment, and
was well protected against the inclemency of the weather. Every
care was shown for his personal safety. But the Spaniards, while
they taxed the strength of the native to the utmost, deprived him
of the means of repairing it, when exhausted. They suffered the
provident arrangements of the Incas to fall into decay. The
granaries were emptied; the flocks were wasted in riotous living.
They were slaughtered to gratify a mere epicurean whim, and many
a llama was destroyed solely for the sake of the brains, - a
dainty morsel, much coveted by the Spaniards. *4 So reckless was
the spirit of destruction after the Conquest, says Ondegardo, the
wise governor of Cuzco, that in four years more of these animals
perished than in four hundred, in the times of the Incas. *5 The
flocks, once so numerous over the broad table-lands, were now
thinned to a scanty number, that sought shelter in the fastnesses
of the Andes. The poor Indian, without food, without the warm
fleece which furnished him a defence against the cold, now
wandered half-starved and naked over the plateau. Even those who
had aided the Spaniards in the conquest fared no better; and many
an Inca noble roamed a mendicant over the lands where he once
held rule, and if driven, perchance, by his necessities, to
purloin something from the superfluity of his conquerors, he
expiated it by a miserable death. *6
[Footnote 4: "Muchos Espanoles han muerto i matan increible
cantidad de ovejas por comer solo los sesos, hacer pasteles del
tuetano i candelas de la grasa. De ai hambre general." Ibid.,
Ms.]

[Footnote 5: "Se puede afirmar que hicieron mas dano los
Espanoles en solos quatro anos que el Inga en quatrocientos."
Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., Ms.]