The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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[Footnote 26: Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap.
54. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 35.

"Mando a un Negro que traia, que le cortase la Cabeca, i en todo
esto no se conocio flaqueca en el Visorrei, ni hablo palabra, ni
hico mas movimiento, que alcar los ojos al Cielo, dando muestras
de mucha Christiandad, i constancia." Herrera, Hist. General,
dec. 8, lib. 1, cap. 3.]

[Footnote 27: "Aviendo algunos capitanes y personas arrancado y
pelado algunas de sus blancas y leales baruas, para traer por
empresa, y Jua de la Torre las traxo despues publicamente en la
gorra por la ciudad de los Reyes." Fernandez, Hist. del Peru,
Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 54.]
Though the action lasted but a short time, nearly one third of
the viceroy's troops had perished. The loss of their opponents
was inconsiderable. *28 Several of the vanquished cavaliers took
refuge in the churches of Quito. But they were dragged from the
sanctuary, and some - probably those who had once espoused the
cause of Pizarro - were led to execution, and others banished to
Chili. The greater part were pardoned by the conqueror.
Benalcazar, who recovered from his wounds, was permitted to
return to his government, on condition of no more bearing arms
against Pizarro. His troops were invited to take service under
the banner of the victor, who, however, never treated them with
the confidence shown to his ancient partisans. He was greatly
displeased at the indignities offered to the viceroy; whose
mangled remains he caused to be buried with the honors due to his
rank in the cathedral of Quito. Gonzalo Pizarro, attired in
black, walked as chief mourner in the procession. - It was usual
with the Pizarros, as we have seen, to pay these obituary honors
to their victims. *29

[Footnote 28: The estimates of killed and wounded in this action
are as discordant as usual. Some carry the viceroy's loss to two
hundred, while Gonzalo Pizarro rates his own at only seven killed
and but a few wounded. But how rarely is that a faithful bulletin
is issued by the parties engaged in the action!]

[Footnote 29: For the accounts of the battle of Anaquito, rather
summarily despatched by most writers, see Carta de Gonzalo
Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms. - Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 170. -
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 1, cap. 1 - 3. - Pedro
Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5,
cap. 35. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1546. - Garcilasso, Com.
Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 33-35. - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru,
Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 53, 54.

Gonzalo Pizarro seems to regard the battle as a sort of judicial
trial by combat, in which Heaven, by the result, plainly
indicated the right. His remarks are edifying. "Por donde
parecera claramente que Nuestro Senor fue servido este se viniese
a meter en las manos para quitarnos de tantos cuidados, i que
pagase quantos males havia fecho en la tierra, la qual quedo tan
asosegada i tan en paz i servicio de S. M. como lo estuvo en
tiempo del Marques mi hermano." Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a
Valdivia, Ms.]

Such was the sad end of Blasco Nunez Vela, first viceroy of Peru.
It was less than two years since he had set foot in the country,
a period of unmitigated disaster and disgrace. His misfortunes
may be imputed partly to circumstances, and partly to his own
character. The minister of an odious and oppressive law, he was
intrusted with no discretionary power in the execution of it. *30
Yet every man may, to a certain extent, claim the right to such a
power; since, to execute a commission, which circumstances show
must certainly defeat the object for which it was designed, would
be absurd. But it requires sagacity to determine the existence
of such a contingency, and moral courage to assume the
responsibility of acting on it. Such a crisis is the severest
test of character. To dare to disobey from a paramount sense of
duty, is a paradox that a little soul can hardly comprehend.
Unfortunately, Blasco Nunez was a pedantic martinet, a man of
narrow views, who could not feel himself authorized under any
circumstances to swerve from the letter of the law. Puffed up by
his brief authority, moreover, he considered opposition to the
ordinances as treason to himself; and thus, identifying himself
with his commission, he was prompted by personal feelings, quite
as much as by those of a public and patriotic nature.

[Footnote 30: Garcilasso's reflections on this point are
commendably tolerant. "Assi acabo este buen cauallero, por
querer porfiar tanto en la execucion de lo que ni a su Rey ni a
aquel Reyno conuenia: donde se causaron tantas muertes y danos de
Espanoles, y de Yndios: aunque no tuuo tanta culpa como se la
atribuye, porque lleuo preciso mandato de lo que hizo." Com. Rean
Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 34.]

Neither was the viceroy's character of a kind that tended to
mitigate the odium of his measures, and reconcile the people to
their execution. It afforded a strong contrast to that of his
rival, Pizarro, whose frank, chivalrous bearing, and generous
confidence in his followers, made him universally popular,
blinding their judgments, and giving to the worse the semblance
of the better cause. Blasco Nunez, on the contrary, irritable
and suspicious, placed himself in a false position with all whom
he approached; for a suspicious temper creates an atmosphere of
distrust around it that kills every kindly affection. His first
step was to alienate the members of the Audience who were sent to
act in concert with him. But this was their fault as well as
his, since they were as much too lax, as he was too severe, in
the interpretation of the law. *31 He next alienated and outraged
the people whom he was appointed to govern. And, lastly, he
disgusted his own friends, and too often turned them into
enemies; so that, in his final struggle for power and for
existence, he was obliged to rely on the arm of the stranger.
Yet in the catalogue of his qualities we must not pass in silence
over his virtues. There are two to the credit of which he is
undeniably entitled, - a loyalty, which shone the brighter amidst
the general defection around him, and a constancy under
misfortune, which might challenge the respect even of his
enemies. But with the most liberal allowance for his merits, it
can scarcely be doubted that a person more incompetent to the
task assigned him could not have been found in Castile. *32

[Footnote 31: Blasco Nunez characterized the four judges of the
Audience in a manner more concise than complimentary, - a boy, a
madman, a booby, and a dunce! "Decia muchas veces Blasco Nunez,
que le havian dado el Emperador, i su Consejo de Indias vn Moco,
un Loco, un Necio, vn Tonto por Oidores, que asi lo havian hecho
como ellos eran. Moco era Cepeda, i llamaba Loco a Juan Alvarez,
i Necio a Tejada, que no sabia Latin." Gomara, Hist. de las Ind.,
cap. 171.]

[Footnote 32: The account of Blasco Nunez Vela rests chiefly on
the authority of loyal writers, some of whom wrote after their
return to Castile. They would, therefore, more naturally lean to
the side of the true representative of the Crown, than to that of
the rebel. Indeed, the only voice raised decidedly in favor of
Pizarro is his own, - a very suspicious authority. Yet, with all
the prestiges in his favor, the administration of Blasco Nunez,
from universal testimony, was a total failure. And there is
little to interest us in the story of the man, except his
unparalleled misfortunes and the firmness with which he bore
them.]

The victory of Anaquito was received with general joy in the
neighbouring capital; all the cities of Peru looked on it as
sealing the downfall of the detested ordinances, and the name of
Gonzalo Pizarro was sounded from one end of the country to the
other as that of its deliverer. That chief continued to prolong
his stay in Quito during the wet season, dividing his time
between the licentious pleasures of the reckless adventurer and
the cares of business that now pressed on him as ruler of the
state. His administration was stained with fewer acts of
violence than might have been expected from the circumstances of
his situation. So long as Carbajal, the counsellor in whom he
unfortunately placed greatest reliance, was absent, Gonzalo
sanctioned no execution, it was observed, but according to the
forms of law. *33 He rewarded his followers by new grants of
land, and detached several on expeditions, to no greater
distance, however, than would leave it in his power readily to
recall them. He made various provisions for the welfare of the
natives, and some, in particular, for instructing them in the
Christian faith. He paid attention to the faithful collection of
the royal dues, urging on the colonists that they should deport
themselves so as to conciliate the good-will of the Crown, and
induce a revocation of the ordinances. His administration in
short, was so conducted, that even the austere Gasca, his
successor, allowed "it was a good government, - for a tyrant."
*34
[Footnote 33: "Nunca Picarro, en ausencia de Francisco de
Carvajal, su Maestre de Campo, mato, ni consintio matar Espanol,
sin que todos, los mas de su Consejo, lo aprobasen: i entonces
con Proceso en forma de Derecho, i confesados primero." Gomara,
Hist. de las Ind., cap. 172.]
[Footnote 34: Ibid., ubi supra. - Fernandez gives a less
favorable picture of Gonzalo's administration. (Hist. del Peru,
Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 54; lib. 2, cap. 13.) Fernandez wrote at
the instance of the Court; Gomara, though present at court, wrote
to please himself. The praise of Gomara is less suspicious than
the censure of Fernandez.]

At length, in July, 1546, the new governor bade adieu to Quito,
and, leaving there a sufficient garrison under his officer
Puelles, began his journey to the south. It was a triumphal
progress, and everywhere he was received on the road with
enthusiasm by the people. At Truxillo, the citizens came out in
a body to welcome him, and the clergy chanted anthems in his
honor, extolling him as the "victorious prince," and imploring
the Almighty "to lengthen his days, and give him honor." *35 At
Lima, it was proposed to clear away some of the buildings, and
open a new street for his entrance, which might ever after bear
the name of the victor. But the politic chieftain declined this
flattering tribute, and modestly preferred to enter the city by
the usual way. A procession was formed of the citizens, the
soldiers, and the clergy, and Pizarro made his entry into the
capital with two of his principal captains on foot, holding the
reins of his charger, while the archbishop of Lima, and the
bishops of Cuzco, Quito, and Bogota, the last of whom had lately
come to the city to be consecrated, rode by his side. The
streets were strewn with boughs, the walls of the houses hung
with showy tapestries, and triumphal arches were thrown over the
way in honor of the victor. Every balcony, veranda, and
house-top was crowded with spectators, who sent up huzzas, loud
and long, saluting the victorious soldier with the titles of
"Liberator, and Protector of the people." The bells rang out
their joyous peal, as on his former entrance into the capital;
and amidst strains of enlivening music, and the blithe sounds of
jubilee, Gonzalo held on his way to the palace of his brother.
Peru was once more placed under the dynasty of the Pizarros. *36

[Footnote 35: "Victorioso Principe, hagate Dios dichoso, l
bienaventurado, el te mantenga, i te conserve." Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. 8, lib. 2, cap. 9.]

[Footnote 36: For an account of this pageant, see Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 2,
cap. 9. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 5. - Carta de
Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms.]

Deputies came from different parts of the country, tendering the
congratulations of their respective cities; and every one eagerly
urged his own claims to consideration for the services he had
rendered in the revolution. Pizarro, at the same time, received
the welcome intelligence of the success of his arms in the south.
Diego Centeno, as before stated, had there raised the standard of
rebellion, or rather, of loyalty to his sovereign. He had made
himself master of La Plata, and the spirit of insurrection had
spread over the broad province of Charcas. Carbajal, who had
been sent against him from Quito, after repairing to Lima, had
passed at once to Cuzco, and there, strengthening his forces, had
descended by rapid marches on the refractory district. Centeno
did not trust himself in the field against this formidable
champion. He retreated with his troops into the fastnesses of
the sierra. Carbajal pursued, following on his track with the
pertinacity of a bloodhound; over mountain and moor, through
forests and dangerous ravines, allowing him no respite, by day or
by night. Eating, drinking, sleeping in his saddle, the veteran,
eighty years of age, saw his own followers tire one after
another, while he urged on the chase, like the wild huntsman of
Burger, as if endowed with an unearthly frame, incapable of
fatigue! During this terrible pursuit, which continued for more
than two hundred leagues over a savage country, Centeno found
himself abandoned by most of his followers. Such of them as fell
into Carbajal's hands were sent to speedy execution; for that
inexorable chief had no mercy on those who had been false to
their party. *37 At length, Centeno, with a handful of men,
arrived on the borders of the Pacific, and there, separating from
one another, they provided, each in the best way he could, for
their own safety. Their leader found an asylum in a cave in the
mountains, where he was secretly fed by an Indian curaca, till
the time again came for him to unfurl the standard of revolt. *38

[Footnote 37: Poblando los arboles con sus cuerpos, "peopling the
trees with heir bodies," says Fernandez, strongly; alluding to
the manner in which the ferocious officer hung up his captives on
the branches.]
[Footnote 38: For the expedition of Carbajal, see Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. 8, lib. 1, cap. 9, et seq. - Zarate, Conq. del
Peru, lib. 6, cap. 1. - Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 4,
cap. 28, 29, 36, 39. - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib.
2, cap. 1, et seq. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms.

It is impossible to give, in a page or two, any adequate idea of
the hairbreadth escapes and perilous risks of Carbajal, not only
from the enemy, but from his own men, whose strength he
overtasked in the chase. They rival those of the renowned
Scanderbeg, or our own Kentucky hero, Colonel Boone. They were,
indeed, far more wonderful than theirs, since the Spanish captain
had reached an age when the failing energies usually crave
repose. But the veteran's body seems to have been as insensible
as his soul.]

Carbajal, after some further decisive movements, which fully
established the ascendency of Pizarro over the south, returned in
triumph to La Plata. There he occupied himself with working the
silver mines of Potosi, in which a vein, recently opened,
promised to make richer returns than any yet discovered in Mexico
or Peru; *39 and he was soon enabled to send large remittances to
Lima, deducting no stinted commission for himself, - for the
cupidity of the lieutenant was equal to his cruelty.
[Footnote 39: The vein now discovered at Potosi was so rich, that
the other mines were comparatively deserted in order to work
this. (Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap 4) The effect of the
sudden influx of wealth was such, according to Garcilasso, that
in ten years from this period an iron horseshoe, in that quarter,
came to be worth nearly its weight in silver. Com. Real., Parte
1, lib. 8, cap. 24.]

Gonzalo Pizarro was now undisputed master of Peru. From Quito to
the northern confines of Chili, the whole country acknowledged
his authority. His fleet rode triumphant on the Pacific, and gave
him the command of every city and hamlet on its borders. His
admiral, Hinojosa, a discreet and gallant officer, had secured
him Panama, and, marching across the Isthmus, had since obtained
for him the possession of Nombre de Dios, - the principal key of
communication with Europe. His forces were on an excellent
footing, including the flower of the warriors who had fought
under his brother, and who now eagerly rallied under the name of
Pizarro; while the tide of wealth that flowed in from the mines
of Potosi supplied him with the resources of an European monarch.

The new governor now began to assume a state correspondent with
his full-blown fortunes. He was attended by a body-guard of
eighty soldiers. He dined always in public, and usually with not
less than a hundred guests at table. He even affected, it was
said, the more decided etiquette of royalty, giving his hand to
be kissed, and allowing no one, of whatever rank, to be seated in
his presence. *40 But this is denied by others. It would not be
strange that a vain man like Pizarro, with a superficial,
undisciplined mind, when he saw himself thus raised from an
humble condition to the highest post in the land, should be
somewhat intoxicated by the possession of power, and treat with
superciliousness those whom he had once approached with
deference. But one who had often seen him in his prosperity
assures us, that it was not so, and that the governor continued
to show the same frank and soldierlike bearing as before his
elevation, mingling on familiar terms with his comrades, and
displaying the same qualities which had hitherto endeared him to
the people. *41
[Footnote 40: "Traia Guarda de ochenta Alabarderos, i otros
muchos de Caballo, que le acompanaban, i ia en su presencia
ninguno se sentaba, i a mui pocos quitaba la Gorra." Zarate,
Conq. del Peru lib 6 cap. 5.]
[Footnote 41: Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 42.
Garcilasso had opportunities of personal acquaintance with
Gonzalo's manner of living; for, when a boy, he was sometimes
admitted, as he tells us, to a place at his table. This
courtesy, so rare from the Conquerors to any of the Indian race,
was not lost on the historian of the Incas, who has depicted
Gonzalo Pizarro in more favorable colors than most of his own
countrymen.]

However this may be, it is certain there were not wanting those
who urged him to throw off his allegiance to the Crown, and set
up an independent government for himself. Among these was his
lieutenant, Carbajal, whose daring spirit never shrunk from
following things to their consequences. He plainly counselled
Pizarro to renounce his allegiance at once. "In fact, you have
already done so," he said. "You have been in arms against a
viceroy, have driven him from the country, beaten and slain him
in battle. What favor, or even mercy, can you expect from the
Crown? You have gone too far either to halt, or to recede. You
must go boldly on, proclaim yourself king; the troops, the
people, will support you." And he concluded, it is said, by
advising him to marry the Coya, the female representative of the
Incas, that the two races might henceforth repose in quiet under
a common sceptre! *42

[Footnote 42: Ibid., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 40. - Gomara, Hist. de
las Ind., cap. 172 - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1. lib. 2,
cap. 13.
The poet Molina has worked up this scene between Carbajal and his
commander with good effect, in his Amazonas en las Indias, where
he uses something of a poet's license in the homage he pays to
the modest merits of Gonzalo. Julius Caesar himself was not more
magnanimous.
"Sepa mi Rey, sepa Espana,
Que muero por no ofenderla,
Tan facil de conservarla,
Que pierdo por no agraviarla,
Quanto infame en poseerla,
Una Corona ofrecida."

Among the biographical notices of the writers on Spanish colonial
affairs, the name of Herrera, who has done more for this vast
subject than any other author, should certainly not be omitted.
His account of Peru takes its proper place in his great work, the
Historia General de las Indias, according to the chronological
plan on which that history is arranged. But as it suggests
reflections not different in character from those suggested by
other portions of the work, I shall take the liberty to refer the
reader to the Postscript to Book Third of the Conquest of Mexico,
for a full account of these volumes and their learned author.
Another chronicler, to whom I have been frequently indebted in
the progress of the narrative, is Francisco Lopez de Gomara. The
reader will also find a notice of this author in the Conquest of
Mexico, Vol. III., Book 5, Postscript. But as the remarks on his
writings are there confined to his Cronica de Nueva Espana, it
may be well to add here some reflections on his greater work,
Historia de las Indias, in which the Peruvian story bears a
conspicuous part.

The "History of the Indies" is intended to give a brief view of
the whole range of Spanish conquest in the islands and on the
American continent, as far as had been achieved by the middle of
the sixteenth century. For this account, Gomara, though it does
not appear that he ever visited the New World, was in a situation
that opened to him the best means of information. He was well
acquainted with the principal men of the time, and gathered the
details of their history from their own lips; while, from his
residence at court, he was in possession of the state of opinion
there, and of the impression made by passing events on those most
competent to judge of them. He was thus enabled to introduce
into his work many interesting particulars, not to be found in
other records of the period. His range of inquiry extended
beyond the mere doings of the Conquerors, and led him to a survey
of the general resources of the countries he describes, and
especially of their physical aspect and productions. The conduct
of his work, no less than its diction, shows the cultivated
scholar, practised in the art of composition. Instead of the
naivete, engaging, but childlike, of the old military
chroniclers, Gomara handles his various topics with the shrewd
and piquant criticism of a man of the world; while his
descriptions are managed with a comprehensive brevity that forms
the opposite to the longwinded and rambling paragraphs of the
monkish annalist. These literary merits, combined with the
knowledge of the writer's opportunities for information, secured
his productions from the oblivion which too often awaits the
unpublished manuscript; and he had the satisfaction to see them
pass into more than one edition in his own day. Yet they do not
bear the highest stamp of authenticity. The author too readily
admits accounts into his pages which are not supported by
contemporary testimony. This he does, not from credulity, for
his mind rather leans in an opposite direction, but from a want,
apparently, of the true spirit of historic conscientiousness.
The imputation of carelessness in his statements - to use a
temperate phrase - was brought against Gomara in his own day; and
Garcilasso tells us, that, when called to account by some of the
Peruvian cavaliers for misstatements which bore hard on
themselves, the historian made but an awkward explanation. This
is a great blemish on his productions, and renders them of far
less value to the modern compiler, who seeks for the well of
truth undefiled, than many an humbler but less unscrupulous
chronicle.
There is still another authority used in this work, Gonzalo
Fernandez de Oviedo, of whom I have given an account elsewhere;
and the reader curious in the matter will permit me to refer him
for a critical notice of his life and writings to the Conquest of
Mexico, Book 4, Postscript. - His account of Peru is incorporated
into his great work, Natural e General Historia de las Indias,
Ms., where it forms the forty-sixth and forty-seventh books. It
extends from Pizarro's landing at Tumbez to Almagro's return from
Chili, and thus covers the entire portion of what may be called
the conquest of the country. The style of its execution,
corresponding with that of the residue of the work to which it
belongs, affords no ground for criticism different from that
already passed on the general character of Oviedo's writings.

This eminent person was at once a scholar and a man of the world.
Living much at court, and familiar with persons of the highest
distinction in Castile, he yet passed much of his time in the
colonies, and thus added the fruits of personal experience to
what he had gained from the reports of others. His curiosity was
indefatigable, extending to every department of natural science,
as well as to the civil and personal history of the colonists.
He was, at once, their Pliny and their Tacitus. His works abound
in portraitures of character, sketched with freedom and
animation. His reflections are piquant, and often rise to a
philosophic tone, which discards the usual trammels of the age;
and the progress of the story is varied by a multiplicity of
personal anecdotes, that give a rapid insight into the characters
of the parties.