The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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[Footnote 11: Pedro Pizarro, who seems to have entertained
feelings not unfriendly to Carbajal, thus sums up his character
in a few words. "Era mui lenguaz: hablaba muy discreptamente y a
gusto de los que le oian: era hombre sagaz, cruel, bien entendido
en la guerra. . . . . . Este Carbajal era tan sabio que decian
tenia familiar." Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
Very different were the circumstances attending the closing scene
of Gonzalo Pizarro. At his request, no one had been allowed to
visit him in his confinement. He was heard pacing his tent
during the greater part of the day, and when night came, having
ascertained from Centeno that his execution was to take place on
the following noon, he laid himself down to rest. He did not
sleep long, however, but soon rose, and continued to traverse his
apartment, as if buried in meditation, till dawn He then sent for
a confessor, and remained with him till after the hour of noon,
taking little or no refreshment. The officers of justice became
impatient; but their eagerness was sternly rebuked by the
soldiery, many of whom, having served under Gonzalo's banner,
were touched with pity for his misfortunes.
When the chieftain came forth to execution, he showed in his
dress the same love of magnificence and display as in happier
days. Over his doublet he wore a superb cloak of yellow velvet,
stiff with gold embroidery, while his head was protected by a cap
of the same materials, richly decorated, in like manner, with
ornaments of gold. *12 In this gaudy attire he mounted his mule,
and the sentence was so far relaxed that his arms were suffered
to remain unshackled. He was escorted by a goodly number of
priests and friars, who held up the crucifix before his eyes,
while he carried in his own hand an image of the Virgin. She had
ever been the peculiar object of Pizarro's devotion; so much so,
that those who knew him best in the hour of his prosperity were
careful, when they had a petition, to prefer it in the name of
the blessed Mary.

[Footnote 12: "Al tiempo que lo mataron, dio al Verdugo toda la
Ropa, que traia que era mui rica, i de mucho valor, porque tenia
vna Ropa de Armas de Terciopelo amarillo, casi toda cubierta de
Chaperia de Oro i vn Chapeo de la misma forma.' Zarate, Conq. del
Peru, lib 7 cap. 8.]
Pizarro's lips were frequently pressed to the emblem of his
divinity, while his eyes were bent on the crucifix in apparent
devotion, heedless of the objects around him. On reaching the
scaffold, he ascended it with a firm step, and asked leave to
address a few words to the soldiery gathered round it. "There
are many among you," said he, "who have grown rich on my
brother's bounty, and my own. Yet, of all my riches, nothing
remains to me but the garments I have on; and even these are not
mine, but the property of the executioner. I am without means,
therefore, to purchase a mass for the welfare of my soul; and I
implore you, by the remembrance of past benefits, to extend this
charity to me when I am gone, that it may be well with you in the
hour of death." A profound silence reigned throughout the martial
multitude, broken only by sighs and groans, as they listened to
Pizarro's request; and it was faithfully responded to, since,
after his death, masses were said in many of the towns for the
welfare of the departed chieftain.

Then, kneeling down before a crucifix placed on a table, Pizarro
remained for some minutes absorbed in prayer; after which,
addressing the soldier who was to act as the minister of justice,
he calmly bade him "do his duty with a steady hand." He refused
to have his eyes bandaged, and, bending forward his neck,
submitted it to the sword of the executioner, who struck off the
head with a single blow, so true that the body remained for some
moments in the same erect posture as in life. *13 The head was
taken to Lima, where it was set in a cage or frame, and then
fixed on a gibbet by the side of Carbajal's. On it was placed a
label, bearing, - "This is the head of the traitor Gonzalo
Pizarro, who rebelled in Peru against his sovereign, and battled
in the cause of tyranny and treason against the royal standard in
the valley of Xaquixaguana." *14 His large estates, including the
rich mines in Potosi, were confiscated; his mansion in Lima was
razed to the ground, the place strewed with salt, and a store
pillar set up, with an inscription interdicting any one from
building on a spot which had been profaned by the residence of a
traitor.
[Footnote 13: "The executioner," says Garcilasso, with a simile
more expressive than elegant, "did his work as cleanly as if he
had been slicing off a head of lettuce!" "De vn reues le corto la
cabeca con tanta facilidad, como si fuera vna hoja de lechuga, y
se quedo con ella en la mano, y tardo el cuerpo algun espacio en
caer en el suelo." Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 5, cap.
43.]

[Footnote 14: "Esta es la cabeza del traidor de Gonzalo Pizarro
que se hizo justicia del en el valle de Aquixaguana, donde dio la
batalla campal contra el estandarte real queriendo defender su
traicion e tirania: ninguno sea osado de la quitar de aqui so
pena de muerte natural." Zarate, Ms.]

Gonzalo's remains were not exposed to the indignities inflicted
on Carbajal's, whose quarters were hung in chains on the four
great roads leading to Cuzco. Centeno saved Pizarro's body from
being stripped, by redeeming his costly raiment from the
executioner, and in this sumptuous shroud it was laid in the
chapel of the convent of Our Lady of Mercy in Cuzco. It was the
same spot where, side by side, lay the bloody remains of the
Almagros, father and son, who in like manner had perished by the
hand of justice, and were indebted to private charity for their
burial. All these were now con signed "to the same grave," says
the historian, with some bitterness, "as if Peru could not afford
land enough for a burial-place to its conquerors." *15

[Footnote 15: "Y las sepolturas vna sola auiendo de ser tres: que
aun la tierra parece que les falto para auer los de cubrir."
Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 43.

For the tragic particulars of the preceding pages, see Ibid, cap.
39-43. - Relacion del Lic. Gasca, Ms - Carta de Valdivia, Ms. -
Ms. de Caravantes. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. -
Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, cap 186. - Fernandez, Hist. del
Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 91. - Zarate Conq. del Peru, lib. 7,
cap. 8. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 4, cap. 16.]

Gonzalo Pizarro had reached only his forty-second year at the
time of his death, - being just half the space allotted to his
follower Carbajal. He was the youngest of the remarkable family
to whom Spain was indebted for the acquisition of Peru. He came
over to the country with his brother Francisco, on the return of
the latter from his visit to Castile. Gonzalo was present in all
the remarkable passages of the Conquest. He witnessed the
seizure of Atahuallpa, took an active part in suppressing the
insurrection of the Incas, and especially in the reduction of
Charcas. He afterwards led the disastrous expedition to the
Amazon; and, finally, headed he memorable rebellion which ended
so fatally to himself. There are but few men whose lives abound
in such wild and romantic adventure, and, for the most part,
crowned with success. The space which he occupies in the page of
history is altogether disproportioned to his talents. It may be
in some measure ascribed to fortune, but still more to those
showy qualities which form a sort of substitute for mental
talent, and which secured his popularity with the vulgar.

He had a brilliant exterior; excelled in all martial exercises;
rode well, fenced well, managed his lance to perfection, was a
first-rate marksman with the arquebuse, and added the
accomplishment of being an excellent draughtsman. He was bold
and chivalrous, even to temerity; courted adventure, and was
always in the front of danger. He was a knighterrant, in short,
in the most extravagant sense of the term, and, "mounted on his
favorite charger," says one who had often seen him, "made no more
account of a squadron of Indians than of a swarm of flies." *16
[Footnote 16: "Quando Goncalo Pizarro, que aya gloria, se veya en
su zaynillo, no hazia mas caso de esquadrones de Yndios, que si
fueran de moscas." Garcilasso, Parte 2, lib. 5, cap. 43.]

While thus, by his brilliant exploits and showy manners, he
captivated the imaginations of his countrymen, he won their
hearts no less by his soldier-like frankness, his trust in their
fidelity, - too often abused, - and his liberal largesses; for
Pizarro, though avaricious of the property of others, was, like
the Roman conspirator, prodigal of his own. This was his portrait
in happier days, when his heart had not been corrupted by
success; for tha some change was wrought on him by his prosperity
is well attested. His head was made giddy by his elevation; and
it is proof of a want of talent equal to his success, that he
knew not how to profit by it. Obeying the dictates of his own
rash judgment, he rejected the warnings of his wisest
counsellors, and relied with blind confidence on his destiny.
Garcilasso imputes this to the malignant influence of the stars.
*17 But the superstitious chronicler might have better explained
it by a common principle of human nature; by the presumption
nourished by success; the insanity, as the Roman, or rather
Grecian, proverb calls it, with which the gods afflict men when
they design to ruin them. *18

[Footnote 17: "Dezian que no era falta de ontendimiento, pues lo
tenia bastante, sino que deuia de ser sobra de influencia de
signos y planetas, que le cegauan y forcauan a que pusiesse la
garganta al cuchillo." Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2 lib. 5,
cap. 33.]

[Footnote 18: Eurip. Fragmenta]

Gonzalo was without education, except such as he had picked up in
the rough school of war. He had little even of that wisdom which
springs from natural shrewdness and insight into character. In
all this he was inferior to his elder brothers, although he fully
equalled them in ambition. Had he possessed a tithe of their
sagacity, he would not have madly persisted in rebellion, after
the coming of the president. Before this period, he represented
the people. Their interests and his were united. He had their
support, for he was contending for the redress of their wrongs.
When these were redressed by the government, there was nothing to
contend for. From that time, he was battling only for himself
The people had no part nor interest in the contest. Without a
common sympathy to bind them together, was it strange that they
should fall off from him, like leaves in winter, and leave him
exposed, a bare and sapless trunk, to the fury of the tempest?

Cepeda, more criminal than Pizarro, since he had both superior
education and intelligence, which he employed only to mislead his
commander, did not long survive him. He had come to the country
in an office of high responsibility. His first step was to
betray the viceroy whom he was sent to support; his next was to
betray the Audience with whom he should have acted; and lastly,
he betrayed the leader whom he most affected to serve. His whole
career was treachery to his own government. His life was one long
perfidy.

After his surrender, several of the cavaliers, disgusted at his
cold-blooded apostasy, would have persuaded Gasca to send him to
execution along with his commander; but the president refused, in
consideration of the signal service he had rendered the Crown by
his defection. He was put under arrest, however, and sent to
Castile. There he was arraigned for high-treason. He made a
plausible defence, and as he had friends at court, it is not
improbable he would have been acquitted; but, before the trial
was terminated, he died in prison. It was the retributive
justice not always to be found in the affairs of this world. *19

[Footnote 19: The cunning lawyer prepared so plausible an
argument in his own justification, that Yllescas, the celebrated
historian of the Popes, declares that no one who read the paper
attentively, but must rise from the perusal of it with an entire
conviction of the writer's innocence, and of his unshaken loyalty
to the Crown. See the passage quoted by Garcilasso Com. Real.,
Parte 2, lib. 6, cap. 10]

Indeed, it so happened, that several of those who had been most
forward to abandon the cause of Pizarro survived their commander
but a short time. The gallant Centeno, and the Licentiate
Carbajal, who deserted him near Lima, and bore the royal standard
on the field of Xaquixaguana, both died within a year after
Pizarro. Hinojosa was assassinated but two years later in La
Plata; and his old comrade Valdivia, after a series of brilliant
exploits in Chili, which furnished her most glorious theme to the
epic Muse of Castile, was cut off by the invincible warriors of
Arauco. The Manes of Pizarro were amply avenged.

Acosta, and three or four other cavaliers who surrendered with
Gonzalo, were sent to execution on the same day with their chief;
and Gasca, on the morning following the dismal tragedy, broke up
his quarters and marched with his whole army to Cuzco, where he
was received by the politic people with the same enthusiasm which
they had so recently shown to his rival. He found there a number
of the rebel army who had taken refuge in the city after their
late defeat, where they were immediately placed under arrest.
Proceedings, by Gasca's command, were instituted against them.
The principal cavaliers, to the number of ten or twelve, were
executed; others were banished or sent to the galleys. The same
rigorous decrees were passed against such as had fled and were
not yet taken, and the estates of all were confiscated. The
estates of the rebels supplied a fund for the recompense of the
loyal. *20 The execution of justice may seem to have been severe;
but Gasca was willing that the rod should fall heavily on those
who had so often rejected his proffers of grace. Lenity was
wasted on a rude, licentious soldiery, who hardly recognized the
existence of government, unless they felt its rigor
[Footnote 20: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Fernandez,
Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 91. - Carta de Valdivia,
Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib 7, cap 8. - Relacion del Lic.
Gasca, Ms]

A new duty now devolved on the president, - that of rewarding his
faithful followers, - not less difficult, as it proved, than that
of punishing the guilty. The applicants were numerous; since
every one who had raised a finger in behalf of the government
claimed his reward. They urged their demands with a clamorous
importunity which perplexed the good president, and consumed
every moment of his time.

Disgusted with this unprofitable state of things, Gasca resolved
to rid himself of the annoyance at once, by retiring to the
valley of Guaynarima, about twelve leagues distant from the city,
and there digesting, in quiet, a scheme of compensation, adjusted
to the merits of the parties. He was accompanied only by his
secretary, and by Loaysa, now archbishop of Lima, a man of sense,
and well acquainted with the affairs of the country. In this
seclusion the president remained three months, making a careful
examination into the conflicting claims, and apportioning the
forfeitures among the parties according to their respective
services. The repa??timientos, it should be remarked, were
usually granted only for life, and, on the death of the
incumbent, reverted to the Crown, to be reassigned or retained at
its pleasure.

When his arduous task was completed, Gasca determined to withdraw
to Lima, leaving the instrument of partition with the archbishop,
to be communicated to the army. Notwithstanding all the care
that had been taken for an equitable adjustment, Gasca was aware
that it was impossible to satisfy the demands of a jealous and
irritable soldiery, where each man would be likely to exaggerate
his own deserts, while he underrated those of his comrades; and
he did not care to expose himself to importunities and complaints
that could serve no other purpose than to annoy him.
On his departure, the troops were called together by the
archbishop in the cathedral, to learn the contents of the
schedule intrusted to him. A discourse was first preached by a
worthy Dominican, the prior of Arequipa, in which the reverend
father expatiated on the virtue of contentment, the duty of
obedience, and the folly, as well as wickedness, of an attempt to
resist the constituted authorities, topics, in short, which he
conceived might best conciliate the good-will and conformity of
his audience.

A letter from the president was then read from the pulpit. It
was addressed to the officers and soldiers of the army. The
writer began with briefly exposing the difficulties of his task,
owing to the limited amount of the gratuities, and the great
number and services of the claimants. He had given the matter
the most careful consideration, he said, and endeavoured to
assign to each his share, according to his deserts, without
prejudice or partiality. He had, no doubt, fallen into errors,
but he trusted his followers would excuse them, when they
reflected that he had done according to the best of his poor
abilities; and all, he believed, would do him the justice to
acknowledge he had not been influenced by motives of personal
interest. He bore emphatic testimony to the services they had
rendered to the good cause, and concluded with the most
affectionate wishes for their future prosperity and happiness.
The letter was dated at Guaynarima, August 17, 1548, and bore the
simple signature of the Licentiate Gasca. *21

[Footnote 21: Ms. de Caravantes - Pedro Pizzarro, Descub. y
Conq., Ms. - Peru, Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 7, cap. 9. -
Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap 92.]

The archbishop next read the paper containing the president's
award. The annual rent of the estates to be distributed amounted
to a hundred and thirty thousand pesos ensayados; *22 a large
amount, considering the worth of money in that day, - in any
other country than Peru, where money was a drug. *23

[Footnote 22: The peso ensayado, according to Garcilasso, was one
fifth more in value than the Castilian ducat. Com. Real., Parte
2, lib. 6, cap. 3.]

[Footnote 23: "Entre los cavalleros capitanes y soldados que le
ayudaron en esta ocasion repartio el Presidente Pedro de la Gasca
135,000 pesos ensayados de renta que estaban vacos, y no un
millon y tantos mil pesos, como dize Diego Fernandez, que
escrivio en Palencia estas alteraciones, y de quien lo tomo
Antonio de Herrera: y porque esta ocasion fue la segunda en que
los benemeritos del Piru fundan con razon los servicios de sus
pasados, porque mediante esta batalla aseguro la corona de
Castilla las provincias mas ricas que tiene en America, pondre
sus nombres para que se conserbe con certeza su memoria como
pareze en el auto original que proveyo en el asiento de
Guainarima cerca de la ciudad del Cuzco en diez y siete de Agosto
de 1548, que esta en los archivos del govierno." Ms. de
Caravantes.

The sum mentioned in the text, as thus divided among the army,
falls very far short of the amount stated by Garcilasso,
Fernandez, Zarate, and, indeed, every other writer on the
subject, none of whom estimate it at less than a million of
pesos. But Caravantes, from whom I have taken it, copies the
original act of partition preserved in the royal archives. Yet
Garcilasso de la Vega ought to have been well informed of the
value of these estates, which, according to him, far exceeded the
estimate given in the schedule. Thus, for instance, Hinojosa, he
says, obtained from the share of lands and rich mines assigned to
him from the property of Gonzalo Pizarro no less than 200,000
pesos annually, while Aldana, the Licentiate Carbajal, and
others, had estates which yielded them from 10,000 to 50,000
pesos. (Ibid., ubi supra.) It is impossible to reconcile these
monstrous discrepancies. No sum seems to have been too large for
the credulity of the ancient chronicler; and the imagination of
the reader is so completely bewildered by the actual riches of
this El Dorado, that it is difficult to adjust his faith by any
standard of probability.]

The repartimientos thus distributed varied in value from one
hundred to thirty-five hundred pesos of yearly rent; all,
apparently, graduated with the nicest precision to the merits of
the parties. The number of pensioners was about two hundred and
fifty; for the fund would not have sufficed for general
distribution, nor were the services of the greater part deemed
worthy of such a mark of consideration. *24

[Footnote 24: Caravantes has transcribed from the original act a
full catalogue of the pensioners, with the amount of the sums set
against each of their names.]

The effect produced by the document, on men whose minds were
filled with the most indefinite expectations, was just such as
had been anticipated by the president. It was received with a
general murmur of disapprobation. Even those who had got more
than they expected were discontented, on comparing their
condition with that of their comrades, whom they thought still
better remunerated in proportion to their deserts. They
especially inveighed against the preference shown to the old
partisans of Gonzalo Pizarro - as Hinojosa, Centeno, and Aldana -
over those who had always remained loyal to the Crown. There was
some ground for such a preference; for none had rendered so
essential services in crushing the rebellion; and it was these
services that Gasca proposed to recompense. To reward every man
who had proved himself loyal, simply for his loyalty, would have
frittered away the donative into fractions that would be of
little value to any. *25

[Footnote 25: The president found an ingenious way of
remunerating several of his followers, by bestowing on them the
hands of the rich widows of the cavaliers who had perished in the
war. The inclinations of the ladies do not seem to have been
always consulted in this politic arrangement. See Garci lasen,
Com. Real., Parte 2 lib. 6 cap. 3.]

It was in vain, however, that the archbishop, seconded by some of
the principal cavaliers, endeavoured to infuse a more contented
spirit into the multitude. They insisted that the award should
be rescinded, and a new one made on more equitable principles;
threatening, moreover, that, if this were not done by the
president, they would take the redress of the matter into their
own hands. Their discontent, fomented by some mischievous
persons who thought to find their account in it, at length
proceeded so far as to menace a mutiny; and it was not suppressed
till the commander of Cuzco sentenced one of the ringleaders to
death, and several others to banishment. The iron soldiery of
the Conquest required an iron hand to rule them.

Meanwhile, the president had continued his journey towards Lima;
and on the way was everywhere received by the people with an
enthusiasm, the more grateful to his heart that he felt he had
deserved it. As he drew near the capital, the loyal inhabitants
prepared to give him a magnificent reception. The whole
population came forth from the gates, led by the authorities of
the city, with Aldana as corregidor at their head. Gasca rode on
a mule, dressed in his ecclesiastical robes. On his right, borne
on a horse richly caparisoned, was the royal seal, in a box
curiously chased and ornamented. A gorgeous canopy of brocade
was supported above his head by the officers of the municipality,
who, in their robes of crimson velvet, walked bareheaded by his
side. Gay troops of dancers, clothed in fantastic dresses of
gaudy-colored silk, followed the procession, strewing flowers and
chanting verses as they went, in honor of the president. They
were designed as emblematical of the different cities of the
colony; and they bore legends or mottoes in rhyme on their caps,
intimating their loyal devotion to the Crown, and evincing much
more loyalty in their composition, it may be added, than poetical
merit. *26 In this way, without beat of drum, or noise of
artillery, or any of the rude accompaniments of war, the good
president made his peaceful entry into the City of the Kings,
while the air was rent with the acclamations of the people, who
hailed him as their "Father and Deliverer, the Saviour of their
country.!" *27

[Footnote 26: Fernandez has collected these flowers of colonial
poesy, which prove that the old Conquerors were much more expert
with the sword than with the pen. Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib.
2, cap. 93.]
[Footnote 27: "Fue recibimiento mui solemne, con universal
alegria del Pueblo, por verse libre de Tiranos; i toda la Gente,
a voces, bendecia al Presidente, i le llamaban: Padre,
Restaurador, i Pacificador, dando gracias a Dios, por haver
vengado las injurias hechas a su Divina Magestad." Herrera, Hist
General, dec. 8, lib. 4, cap. 17.]
But, however grateful was this homage to Gasca's heart, he was
not a man to waste his time in idle vanities. He now thought
only by what means he could eradicate the seeds of disorder which
shot up so readily in this fruitful soil, and how he could place
the authority of the government on a permanent basis. By virtue
of his office, he presided over the Royal Audience, the great
judicial, and, indeed, executive tribunal of the colony; and he
gave great despatch to the business, which had much accumulated
during the late disturbances. In the unsettled state of
property, there was abundant subject for litigation; but,
fortunately, the new Audience was composed of able, upright
judges, who labored diligently with their chief to correct the
mischief caused by the misrule of their predecessors.