The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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[Footnote 28: "Gasca abraco, i beso en el carrillo a Cepeda,
aunque lo llevaba encenagado, teniendo por vencido a Picarro, con
su falta." Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, cap. 185.]

[Footnote 29: "Ca, segun parecio, Cepeda le huvo avisado con Fr.
Antonio de Castro, Prior de Santo Domingo en Arequipa, que si
Picarro no quisiesse concierto ninguno, el se pasaria al servicio
del Emperador a tiempo que le deshiciese." Ibid ubi supra.]

The example of Cepeda was contagious. Garcilasso de la Vega,
father of the historian, a cavalier of old family, and probably
of higher consideration than any other in Pizarro's party, put
spurs to his horse, at the same time with the licentiate, and
rode over the enemy. Ten or a dozen of the arquebusiers followed
in the same direction, and succeeded in placing themselves under
the protection of the advanced guard of the royalists.

Pizarro stood aghast at this desertion, in so critical a
juncture, of those in whom he had most trusted. He was, for a
moment, bewildered. The very ground on which he stood seemed to
be crumbling beneath him. With this state of feeling among his
soldiers, he saw that every minute of delay was fatal. He dared
not wait for the assault, as he had intended, in his strong
position, but instantly gave the word to advance. Gasca's
general, Hinojosa, seeing the enemy in motion, gave similar
orders to his own troops. Instantly the skirmishers and
arquebusiers on the flanks moved rapidly forward, the artillery
prepared to open their fire, and "the whole army," says the
president in his own account of the affair, "advanced with steady
step and perfect determination." *30
[Footnote 30: "Visto por Gonzalo Pizarro Caravajal su Maestre de
Campo que se les iva gente procuraron de caminar en su orden
hacia el campo de S. M. i que viendo esto los lados i sobre
salientes del exercito real se empezaron a llegar a ellos i a
disparar en ellos i que lo mesmo hizo la artilleria, i todo el
campo con paso bien concertado i entera determinacion se llego a
ellos' Relacion del Lic. Gasca, Ms.]
But before a shot was fired, a column of arquebusiers, composed
chiefly of Centeno's followers, abandoned their post, and marched
directly over to the enemy. A squadron of horse, sent in pursuit
of them, followed their example. The president instantly
commanded his men to halt, unwilling to spill blood
unnecessarily, as the rebel host was like to fall to pieces of
itself.

Pizarro's faithful adherents were seized with a panic, as they
saw themselves and their leader thus betrayed into the enemy's
hands. Further resistance was useless. Some threw down their
arms, and fled in the direction of Cuzco. Others sought to
escape to the mountains; and some crossed to the opposite side,
and surrendered themselves prisoners, hoping it was not too late
to profit by the promises of grace. The Indian allies, on seeing
the Spaniards falter, had been the first to go off the ground.
*31

[Footnote 31: "Los Indios que tenian los enemigos que diz que
eran mucha cantidad huyeron mui a furia." (Relacion del Lic.
Gasca, Ms.) For the particulars of the battle, more or less
minute, see Carta de Valdivia, Ms. - Garcilasso, Com. Real.,
Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 35. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. -
Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, cap. 185. - Fernandez, Hist. del
Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 90. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7,
cap. 7. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 4, cap. 16.]
Pizarro, amidst the general wreck, found himself left with only a
few cavaliers who disdained to fly. Stunned by the unexpected
reverse of fortune, the unhappy chief could hardly comprehend his
situation. "What remains for us?" said he to Acosta, one of
those who still adhered to him. "Fall on the enemy, since nothing
else is left," answered the lion-hearted soldier, "and die like
Romans!' "Better to die like Christians," replied his commander;
and, slowly turning his horse, he rode off in the direction of
the royal army. *32

[Footnote 32: "Goncalo Picarro boluiendo el rostro, a Juan de
Acosta, que estaua cerca del, le dixo, que hare mos hermano Juan?
Acosta presumiendo mas de valiente que de discreto respondio,
Senor arremetamos, y muramos como los antiguos Romanos. Goncalo
Picarro dixo mejor es morir como Cristianos." Garcilasso, Com.
Real., Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 36. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib.
7, cap. 7.]

He had not proceeded far, when he was met by an officer, to whom,
after ascertaining his name and rank, Pizarro delivered up his
sword, and yielded himself prisoner. The officer, overjoyed at
his prize, conducted him, at once, to the president's quarters.
Gasca was on horseback, surrounded by his captains, some of whom,
when they recognized the person of the captive, had the grace to
withdraw, that they might not witness his humiliation. *33 Even
the best of them, with a sense of right on their side, may have
felt some touch of compunction at the thought that their
desertion had brought their benefactor to this condition.

[Footnote 33: Garcilasso, Com. Real., ubi supra.]

Pizarro kept his seat in his saddle, but, as he approached, made
a respectful obeisance to the president, which the latter
acknowledged by a cold salute. Then, addressing his prisoner in
a tone of severity, Gasca abruptly inquired, - "Why he had thrown
the country into such confusion; - raising the banner of revolt;
killing the viceroy; usurping the government; and obstinately
refusing the offers of grace that had been repeatedly made him?"

Gonzalo attempted to justify himself by referring the fate of the
viceroy to his misconduct, and his own usurpation, as it was
styled, to the free election of the people, as well as that of
the Royal Audience. "It was my family," he said, "who conquered
the country; and, as their representative here, I felt I had a
right to the government." To this Gasca replied, in a still
severer tone, "Your brother did, indeed, conquer the land; and
for this the emperor was pleased to raise both him and you from
the dust. He lived and died a true and loyal subject; and it
only makes your ingratitude to your sovereign the more heinous."
Then, seeing his prisoner about to reply, the president cut short
the conference, ordering him into close confinement. He was
committed to the charge of Centeno, who had sought the office,
not from any unworthy desire to gratify his revenge, - for he
seems to have had a generous nature, - but for the honorable
purpose of ministering to the comfort of the captive. Though held
in strict custody by this officer, therefore, Pizarro was treated
with the deference due to his rank, and allowed every indulgence
by his keeper, except his freedom. *34

[Footnote 34: Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap.
90.
Historians, of course, report the dialogue between Gasca and his
prisoner with some variety. See Gomara, Hist. de las Indias,
cap. 185. - Garcilasso, Com. Real Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 36.
Relacion del Lic. Gasca, Ms.]

In this general wreck of their fortunes, Francisco de Carbajal
fared no better than his chief. As he saw the soldiers deserting
their posts and going over to the enemy, one after another, he
coolly hummed the words of his favorite old ballad, -

"The wind blows the hairs off my head, mother!"

But when he found the field nearly empty, and his stout-hearted
followers vanished like a wreath of smoke, he felt it was time to
provide for his own safety. He knew there could be no favor for
him and, putting spurs to his horse, he betook himself to flight
with all the speed he could make. He crossed the stream that
flowed, as already mentioned, by the camp, but, in scaling the
opposite bank, which was steep and stony, his horse, somewhat
old, and oppressed by the weight of his rider, who was large and
corpulent, lost his footing and fell with him into the water.
Before he could extricate himself, Carbajal was seized by some of
his own followers, who hoped, by such a prize, to make their
peace with the victor, and hurried off towards the president's
quarters.

The convoy was soon swelled by a number of the common file from
the royal army, some of whom had long arrears to settle with the
prisoner; and, not content with heaping reproaches and
imprecations on his head, they now threatened to proceed to acts
of personal violence, which Carbajal, far from deprecating,
seemed rather to court, as the speediest way of ridding himself
of life. *35 When he approached the president's quarters,
Centeno, who was near, rebuked the disorderly rabble, and
compelled them to give way. Carbajal, on seeing this, with a
respectful air demanded to whom he was indebted for this
courteous protection. To which his ancient comrade replied, "Do
you not know me? - Diego Centeno!" "I crave your pardon," said
the veteran, sarcastically alluding to his long flight in the
Charcas, and his recent defeat at Huarina; "it is so long since I
have seen any thing but your back, that I had forgotten your
face!" *36

[Footnote 35: "Luego llevaron antel dicho Licenciado Caravajal
Maestre de campo del dicho Pizarro i tan cercado de gentes que
del havian sido ofendidas que le querian matar, el qual diz que
mostrava que olgara que le mataran alli." Relacion del Lic.
Gasca, Ms.]

[Footnote 36: "Diego Centeno reprehendia mucho a los que le
offendian. Por lo qual Caruajal le miro, y le dixo, Senor quien
es vuestra merced que tanta merced me haze? a lo qual Centeno
respondio, Que no conoce vuestra merced a Diego Centeno? Dixo
entonces Caruajal, Por Dios senor que como siempre vi a vuestra
merced de espaldas, que agora teniendo le de cara, no le conocia'
Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 90.]
Among the president's suite was the martia bishop of Cuzco, who,
it will be remembered, had shared with Centeno in the disgrace of
his defeat. His brother had been taken by Carbajal, in his flight
from the field, and instantly hung up by that fierce chief, who,
as we have had more than one occasion to see, was no respecter of
persons. The bishop now reproached him with his brother's
murder, and, incensed by his cool replies, was ungenerous enough
to strike the prisoner on the face. Carbajal made no attempt at
resistance. Nor would he return a word to the queries put to him
by Gasca; but, looking haughtily round on the circle, maintained
a contemptuous silence. The president, seeing that nothing
further was to be gained from his captive, ordered him, together
with Acosta, and the other cavaliers who had surrendered, into
strict custody, until their fate should be decided. *37

[Footnote 37: Ibid., ubi supra.

It is but fair to state that Garcilasso, who was personally
acquainted with the bishop of Cuzco, doubts the fact of the
indecorous conduct imputed to him by Fernandez, as inconsistent
with the prelate's character. Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 5, cap.
39.]

Gasca's next concern was to send an officer to Cuzco, to restrain
his partisans from committing excesses in consequence of the late
victory, - if victory that could be called, where not a blow had
been struck. Every thing belonging to the vanquished, their
tents, arms, ammunition, and military stores, became the property
of the victors. Their camp was well victualled, furnishing a
seasonable supply to the royalists, who had nearly expended their
own stock of provisions. There was, moreover, considerable booty
in the way of plate and money; for Pizarro's men, as was not
uncommon in those turbulent times, went, many of them, to the war
with the whole of their worldly wealth, not knowing of any safe
place in which to bestow it. An anecdote is told of one of
Gasca's soldiers, who, seeing a mule running over the field, with
a large pack on his back, seized the animal, and mounted him,
having first thrown away the burden, supposing it to contain
armour, or something of little worth. Another soldier, more
shrewd, picked up the parcel, as his share of the spoil, and
found it contained several thousand gold ducats! It was the
fortune of war. *38

[Footnote 38: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. 8.]

Thus terminated the battle, or rather rout, of Xaquixaguana. The
number of killed and wounded - for some few perished in the
pursuit - was not great; according to most accounts, not
exceeding fifteen killed on the rebel side, and one only on that
of the royalists! and that one, by the carelessness of a
comrade. *39 Never was there a cheaper victory; so bloodless a
termination of a fierce an bloody rebellion! It was gained not
so much by the strength of the victors as by the weakness of the
vanquished. They fell to pieces of their own accord, because
they had no sure ground to stand on. The arm, not nerved by the
sense of right, became powerless in the hour of battle. It was
better that they should thus be overcome by moral force than by a
brutal appeal to arms. Such a victory was more in harmony with
the beneficent character of the conqueror and of his cause. It
was the triumph of order; the best homage to law and justice.

[Footnote 39: "Temiose que en esta batalla muriria mucha gente de
ambas partes por haver en ellas mill i quatrocientos arcabuceros
i seiscientos de caballo i mucho numero de piqueros i diez i ocho
piezas de artilleria, pero plugo a Dios que solo murio un hombre
del campo de S. M. i quince de los contrarios como esta dicho."
Relacion del Lic. Gasca, Ms.
The Ms. above referred to is supposed by Munoz to have been
written by Gasca, or rather dictated by him to his secretary.
The original is preserved at Simancas, without date, and in the
character of the sixteenth century. It is principally taken up
with the battle, and the events immediately connected with it;
and although very brief, every sentence is of value as coming
from so high a source. Alcedo, in his Biblioteca Americana, Ms.,
gives the title of a work from Gasca's pen, which would seem to
be an account of his own administration, Historia de Peru, y de
su Pacificacion, 1576, fol. - I have never met with the work, or
with any other allusion to it.]

Chapter IV

Execution Of Carbajal. - Gonzalo Pizarro Beheaded. - Spoils Of
Victory. - Wise Reforms By Gasca. - He Returns To Spain. - His
Death And Character.
1548-1550.

It was now necessary to decide on the fate of the prisoners; and
Alonso de Alvarado, with the Licentiate Cianca, one of the new
Royal Audience, was instructed to prepare the process. It did
not require a long time. The guilt of the prisoners was too
manifest, taken, as they had been, with arms in their hands.
They were all sentenced to be executed, and their estates were
confiscated to the use of the Crown. Gonzalo Pizarro was to be
beheaded, and Carbajal to be drawn and quartered. No mercy was
shown to him who had shown none to others. There was some talk
of deferring the execution till the arrival of the troops in
Cuzco; but the fear of disturbances from those friendly to
Pizarro determined the president to carry the sentence into
effect the following day, on the field of battle. *1

[Footnote 1: The sentence passed upon Pizarro is given at length
in the manuscript copy of Zarate's History, to which I have had
occasion more than once to refer. The historian omitted it in
his printed work, but the curious reader may find it entire,
cited in the original, in Appendix, No. 14.]

When his doom was communicated to Carbajal, he heard it with his
usual indifference. "They can but kill me," he said, as if he
had already settled the matter in his own mind. *2 During the
day, many came to see him in his confinement; some to upbraid him
with his cruelties; but most, from curiosity to see the fierce
warrior who had made his name so terrible through the land. He
showed no unwillingness to talk with them, thought it was in
those sallies of caustic humor in which he usually indulged at
the expense of his hearer. Among these visiters was a cavalier
of no note, whose life, it appears, Carbajal had formerly spared,
when in his power. This person expressed to the prisoner his
strong desire to serve him; and as he reiterated his professions,
Carbajal cut them short by exclaiming, - "And what service can
you do me? Can you set me free? If you cannot do that, you can
do nothing. If I spared your life, as you say, it was probably
because I did not think it worth while to take it."
[Footnote 2: 'Basta matar." Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1,
lib. 2, cap. 91.]

Some piously disposed persons urged him to see a priest, if it
were only to unburden his conscience before leaving the world.
"But of what use would that be?" asked Carbajal. "I have nothing
that lies heavy on my conscience, unless it be, indeed, the debt
of half a real to a shopkeeper in Seville, which I forgot to pay
before leaving the country!" *3
[Footnote 3: "En esso no tengo que confessar: porque juro a tal,
que no tengo otro cargo, si no medio rea que deuo en Seuilla a
vna bodegonera de la puerta del Arenal, del tiempo que passe a
Indias." Ibid., ubi supra.]
He was carried to execution on a hurdle, or rather in a basket,
drawn by two mules. His arms were pinioned, and, as they forced
his bulky body into this miserable conveyance, he exclaimed, -
"Cradles for infants, and a cradle for the old man too, it
seems!" *4 Notwithstanding the disinclination he had manifested
to a confessor, he was attended by several ecclesiastics on his
way to the gallows; and one of them repeatedly urged him to give
some token of penitence at this solemn hour, if it were only by
repeating the Pater Noster and Ave Maria. Carbajal, to rid
himself of the ghostly father's importunity, replied by coolly
repeating the words, "Pater Noster," "Ave Maria"! He then
remained obstinately silent. He died, as he had lived, with a
jest, or rather a scoff, upon his lips. *5

[Footnote 4: "Nino en cuna, y viejo en cuna" Ibid., loc. cit.]
[Footnote 5: "Murio como gentil, porque dicen, que yo no le quise
ver, que unsi le di la palabra de no velle; mas a la postrer vez
que me hablo llevandole a matar le decia el sacerdote que con el
iba, que se encomendase a Dios y dijese el Pater Noster y el Ave
Maria, y dicen que dijo Pater Noster, Ave Maria y que no dijo
otra palabra." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq Ms.]

Francisco de Carbajal was one of the most extraordinary
characters of these dark and turbulent times; the more
extraordinary from his great age; for, at the period of his
death, he was in his eighty-fourth year; - an age when the bodily
powers, and, fortunately, the passions, are usually blunted;
when, in the witty words of the French moralist, "We flatter
ourselves we are leaving our vices, whereas it is our vices that
are leaving us." *6 But the fires of youth glowed fierce and
unquenchable in the bosom of Carbajal.

[Footnote 6: I quote from memory, but believe the reflection may
be found in that admirable digest of worldly wisdom, The
Characters of La Bruyere.]
The date of his birth carries us back towards the middle of the
fifteenth century, before the times of Ferdinand and Isabella.
He was of obscure parent age, and born, as it is said, at
Arevalo. For forty years he served in the Italian wars, under
the most illustrious captains of the day, Gonsalvo de Cordova,
Navarro, and the Colonnas. He was an ensign at the battle of
Ravenna; witnessed the capture of Francis the First at Pavia; and
followed the banner of the ill-starred Bourbon at the sack of
Rome. He got no gold for his share of the booty, on this
occasion, but simply the papers of a notary's office, which,
Carbajal shrewdly thought, would be worth gold to him. And so it
proved; for the notary was fain to redeem them at a price which
enabled the adventurer to cross the seas to Mexico, and seek his
fortune in the New World. On the insurrection of the Peruvians,
he was sent to the support of Francis Pizarro, and was rewarded
by that chief with a grant of land in Cuzco. Here he remained
for several years, busily employed in increasing his substance;
for the love of lucre was a ruling passion in his bosom. On the
arrival of Vaca de Castro, we find him doing good service under
the royal banner; and at the breaking out of the great rebellion
under Gonzalo Pizarro, he converted his property into gold, and
prepared to return to Castile. He seemed to have a presentiment
that to remain where he was would be fatal. But, although he
made every effort to leave Peru, he was unsuccessful, for the
viceroy had laid an embargo on the shipping. *7 He remained in
the country, therefore, and took service, as we have seen, though
reluctantly, under Pizarro. It was his destiny.

[Footnote 7: Pedro Pizarro bears testimony to Carbajal's
endeavours to leave the country, in which he was aided, though
ineffectually, by the chronicler, who was, at that time, in the
most friendly relations with him. Civil war parted these ancient
comrades; but Carbajal did not forget his obligations to Pedro
Pizarro, which he afterwards repaid by exempting him on two
different occasions from the general doom of the prisoners who
fell into his hands.]

The tumultuous life on which he now entered roused all the
slumbering passions of his soul, which lay there, perhaps
unconsciously to himself; cruelty, avarice, revenge. He found
ample exercise for them in the war with his countrymen; for civil
war is proverbially the most sanguinary and ferocious of all.
The atrocities recorded of Carbajal, in his new career, and the
number of his victims, are scarcely credible. For the honor of
humanity, we may trust the accounts are greatly exaggerated; but
that he should have given rise to them at all is sufficient to
consign his name to infamy. *8

[Footnote 8: Out of three hundred and forty executions, according
to Fernandez, three hundred were by Carbajal. (Hist. del Peru,
Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 91.) Zarate swells the number of these
executions to five hundred. (Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. 1.) The
discrepancy shows how little we can confide in the accuracy of
such estimates.]

He even took a diabolical pleasure, it is said, in amusing
himself with the sufferings of his victims, and in the hour of
execution would give utterance to frightful jests, that made them
taste more keenly the bitterness of death! He had a sportive
vein, if such it could be called, which he freely indulged on
every occasion. Many of his sallies were preserved by the
soldiery; but they are, for the most part, of a coarse, repulsive
character, flowing from a mind familiar with the weak and wicked
side of humanity, and distrusting every other. He had his jest
for every thing, - for the misfortunes of others, and for his
own. He looked on life as a farce, - though he too often made it
a tragedy.

Carbajal must be allowed one virtue; that of fidelity to his
party. This made him less tolerant of perfidy in others. He was
never known to show mercy to a renegade. This undeviating
fidelity, though to a bad cause, may challenge something like a
feeling of respect, where fidelity was so rare. *9

[Footnote 9: Fidelity, indeed, is but one of many virtues claimed
for Carbajal by Garcilasso, who considers most of the tales of
cruelty and avarice circulated of the veteran, as well as the
hardened levity imputed to him in his latter moments, as
inventions of his enemies. The Inca chronicler was a boy when
Gonzalo and his chivalry occupied Cuzco; and the kind treatment
he experienced from them, owing, doubtless, to his father's
position in the rebel army, he has well repaid by depicting their
portraits in the favorable colors in which they appeared to his
young imagination. But the garrulous old man has recorded
several individual instances of atrocity in the career of
Carbajal, which form but an indifferent commentary on the
correctness of his general assertions in respect to his
character.]

As a military man, Carbajal takes a high rank among the soldiers
of the New World. He was strict, even severe, in enforcing
discipline, so that he was little loved by his followers.
Whether he had the genius for military combinations requisite for
conducting war on an extended scale may be doubted; but in the
shifts and turns of guerilla warfare he was unrivalled. Prompt,
active, and persevering, he was insensible to danger or fatigue,
and, after days spent in the saddle, seemed to attach little
value to the luxury of a bed. *10

[Footnote 10: "Fue maior sufridor de trabajos, que requeria su
edad, porque a maravilla se quitaba las Armas de Dia, ni de
Noche, i quando era necesario, tampoco se acostaba, ni dormia mas
de quanto recostado en vna Silla, se le cansaba la mano en que
arrimaba la Cabeca." Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 5, cap. 14.]

He knew familiarly every mountain pass, and, such were the
sagacity and the resources displayed in his roving expeditions,
that he was vulgarly believed to be attended by a familiar. *11
With a character so extraordinary, with powers prolonged so far
beyond the usual term of humanity, and passions so fierce in one
tottering on the verge of the grave, it was not surprising that
many fabulous stories should be eagerly circulated respecting
him, and that Carbajal should be clothed with mysterious terrors
as a sort of supernatural being, - the demon of the Andes!