History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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But no sooner was the resolution of the two captains made known, than a
feeling of discontent broke forth among their followers, especially those
who were to remain with Pizarro on the island, "What!" they exclaimed,
"were they to be dragged to that obscure spot to die by hunger? The
whole expedition had been a cheat and a failure, from beginning to end.
The golden countries, so much vaunted, had seemed to fly before them
as they advanced; and the little gold they had been fortunate enough to
glean had all been sent back to Panama to entice other fools to follow
their example. What had they got in return for all their sufferings? The
only treasures they could boast were their bows and arrows, and they
were now to be left to die on this dreary island, without so much as a
rood of consecrated ground to lay their bones in!27

In this exasperated state of feeling, several of the soldiers wrote back to
their friends, informing them of their deplorable condition, and
complaining of the cold-blooded manner in which they were to be
sacrificed to the obstinate cupidity of their leaders. But the latter were
wary enough to anticipate this movement, and Almagro defeated it by
seizing all the letters in the vessels, and thus cutting off at once the
means of communication with their friends at home. Yet this act of
unscrupulous violence, like most other similar acts, fell short of its
purpose; for a soldier named Sarabia had the ingenuity to evade it by
introducing a letter into a ball of cotton, which was to be taken to
Panama as a specimen of the products of the country, and presented to
the governor's lady.28

The letter, which was signed by several of the disaffected soldiery
besides the writer, painted in gloomy colors the miseries of their
condition, accused the two commanders of being the authors of this, and
called on the authorities of Panama to interfere by sending a vessel to
take them from the desolate spot, while some of them might still be
found surviving the horrors of their confinement. The epistle concluded
with a stanza, in which the two leaders were stigmatized as partners in a
slaughter-house; one being employed to drive in the cattle for the other
to butcher. The verses, which had a currency in their day among the
colonists to which they were certainly not entitled by their poetical
merits, may be thus rendered into corresponding doggerel:

"Look out, Senor Governor,
For the drover while he's near;
Since he goes home to get the sheep
For the butcher who stays here." 29

Book 2

Chapter 4

Indignation Of The Governor--Stern Resolution Of Pizarro-
Prosecution Of The Voyage--Brilliant Aspect Of Tumbez-
Discoveries Along The Coast--Return To Panama-
Pizarro Embarks For Spain

1527--1528

Not long after Almagro's departure, Pizarro sent off the remaining vessel,
under the pretext of its being put in repair at Panama. It probably
relieved him of a part of his followers, whose mutinous spirit made them
an obstacle rather than a help in his forlorn condition, and with whom he
was the more willing to part from the difficulty of finding subsistence on
the barren spot which he now occupied.

Great was the dismay occasioned by the return of Almagro and his
followers, in the little community of Panama; for the letter,
surreptitiously conveyed in the ball of cotton, fell into the hands for
which it was intended, and the contents soon got abroad with usual
quantity of exaggeration. The haggard and dejected mien of the
adventurers, of itself, told a tale sufficiently disheartening, and it was
soon generally believed that the few ill-fated survivors of the expedition
were detained against their will by Pizarro, to end their days with their
disappointed leader on his desolate island.

Pedro de los Rios, the governor, was so much incensed at the result of
the expedition, and the waste of life it had occasioned to the colony, that
he turned a deaf ear to all the applications of Luque and Almagro for
further countenance in the affair; he derided their sanguine anticipations
of the future, and finally resolved to send an officer to the isle of Gallo,
with orders to bring back every Spaniard whom he should find still living
in that dreary abode. Two vessels were immediately despatched for the
purpose, and placed under charge of a cavalier named Tafur, a native of
Cordova.

Meanwhile Pizarro and his followers were experiencing all the miseries
which might have been expected from the character of the barren spot on
which they were imprisoned. They were, indeed, relieved from all
apprehensions of the natives, since these had quitted the island on its
occupation by the white men; but they had to endure the pains of hunger
even in a greater degree than they had formerly experienced in the wild
woods of the neighboring continent. Their principal food was crabs and
such shell-fish as they could scantily pick up along the shores. Incessant
storms of thunder and lightning, for it was the rainy season, swept over
the devoted island, and drenched them with a perpetual flood. Thus,
halfnaked, and pining with famine, there were few in that little company
who did not feel the spirit of enterprise quenched within them, or who
looked for any happier termination of their difficulties than that afforded
by a return to Panama. The appearance of Tafur, therefore, with his two
vessels, well stored with provisions, was greeted with all the rapture that
the crew of a sinking wreck might feel on the arrival of some unexpected
succour; and the only thought, after satisfying the immediate cravings of
hunger, was to embark and leave the detested isle forever.

But by the same vessel letters came to Pizarro from his two confederates,
Luque and Almagro, beseeching him not to despair in his present
extremity, but to hold fast to his original purpose. To return under the
present circumstances would be to seal the fate of the expedition; and
they solemnly engaged, if he would remain firm at his post, to furnish
him in a short time with the necessary means for going forward.1

A ray of hope was enough for the courageous spirit of Pizarro. It does
not appear that he himself had entertained, at any time, thoughts of
returning. If he had, these words of encouragement entirely banished
them from his bosom, and he prepared to stand the fortune of the cast on
which he had so desperately ventured. He knew, however, that
solicitations or remonstrances would avail little with the companions of
his enterprise; and he probably did not care to win over the more timid
spirits who, by perpetually looking back, would only be a clog on his
future movements. He announced his own purpose, however, in a
laconic but decided manner, characteristic of a man more accustomed to
act than to talk, and well calculated to make an impression on his rough
followers.

Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand from east to west.
Then turning towards the south, "Friend and comrades!" he said, "on that
side are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and
death; on this side, ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches;
here, Panama, and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a
brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south." So saying, he stepped
across the line.2 He was followed by the brave pilot Ruiz; next by Pedro
de Candia, a cavalier, born, as his name imports, in one of the isles of
Greece. Eleven others successively crossed the line, thus intimating their
willingness to abide the fortunes of their leader, for good or for evil.3
Fame, to quote the enthusiastic language of an ancient chronicler, has
commemorated the names of this little band, "who thus, in the face or
difficulties unexampled in history, with death rather than riches for their
reward, preferred it all to abandoning their honor, and stood firm by their
leader as an example of loyalty to future ages." 4

But the act excited no such admiration in the mind of Tafur, who looked
on it as one of gross disobedience to the commands of the governor, and
as little better than madness, involving the certain destruction of the
parties engaged in it. He refused to give any sanction to it himself by
leaving one of his vessels with the adventurers to prosecute their voyage,
and it was with great difficulty that he could be persuaded even to allow
them a part of the stores which he had brought for their support. This
had no influence on their determination, and the little party, bidding
adieu to their returning comrades, remained unshaken in their purpose of
abiding the fortunes of their commander.5

There is something striking to the imagination in the spectacle of these
few brave spirits, thus consecrating themselves to a daring enterprise,
which seemed as far above their strength as any recorded in the fabulous
annals of knight-errantry. A handful of men, without food, without
clothing, almost without arms, without knowledge of the land to which
they were bound, without vessel to transport them, were here left on a
lonely rock in the ocean with the avowed purpose of carrying on a
crusade against a powerful empire, staking their lives on its success.
What is there in the legends of chivalry that surpasses it? This was the
crisis of Pizarro's fate. There are moments in the lives of men, which, as
they are seized or neglected, decide their future destiny.6 Had Pizarro
faltered from his strong purpose, and yielded to the occasion, now so
temptingly presented, for extricating himself and his broken band from
their desperate position, his name would have been buried with his
fortunes, and the conquest of Peru would have been left for other and
more successful adventurers. But his constancy was equal to the
occasion, and his conduct here proved him competent to the perilous
post he had assumed, and inspired others with a confidence in him which
was the best assurance of success.

In the vessel that bore back Tafur and those who seceded from the
expedition the pilot Ruiz was also permitted to return, in order to
cooperate with Luque and Almagro in their application for further
succour.

Not long after the departure of the ships, it was decided by Pizarro to
abandon his present quarters, which had little to recommend them, and
which, he reflected, might now be exposed to annoyance from the
original inhabitants, should they take courage and return, on learning the
diminished number of the white men. The Spaniards, therefore, by his
orders, constructed a rude boat or raft, on which they succeeded in
transporting themselves to the little island of Gorgona, twenty-five
leagues to the north of their present residence. It lay about five leagues
from the continent, and was uninhabited. It had some advantages over
the isle of Gallo; for it stood higher above the sea, and was partially
covered with wood, which afforded shelter to a species of pheasant, and
the hare or rabbit of the country, so that the Spaniards, with their cross-
bows, were enabled to procure a tolerable supply of game. Cool streams
that issued from the living rock furnished abundance of water, though the
drenching rains that fell, without intermission, left them in no danger of
perishing by thirst. From this annoyance they found some protection in
the rude huts which they constructed; though here, as in their former
residence, they suffered from the no less intolerable annoyance of
venomous insects, which multiplied and swarmed in the exhalations of
the rank and stimulated soil. In this dreary abode Pizarro omitted no
means by which to sustain the drooping spirits of his men. Morning
prayers were duly said, and the evening hymn to the Virgin was regularly
chanted; the festivals of the church were carefully commemorated, and
every means taken by their commander to give a kind of religious
character to his enterprise, and to inspire his rough followers with a
confidence in the protection of Heaven, that might support them in their
perilous circumstances.7

In these uncomfortable quarters, their chief employment was to keep
watch on the melancholy ocean, that they might hail the first signal of the
anticipated succour. But many a tedious month passed away, and no
sign of it appeared. All around was the same wide waste of waters,
except to the eastward, where the frozen crest of the Andes, touched with
the ardent sun of the equator, glowed like a ridge of fire along the whole
extent of the great continent. Every speck in the distant horizon was
carefully noticed, and the drifting timber or masses of sea-weed, heaving
to and fro on the bosom of the waters, was converted by their
imaginations into the promised vessel; till, sinking under successive
disappointments, hope gradually gave way to doubt, and doubt settled
into despair.8

Meanwhile the vessel of Tafur had reached the port of Panama. The
tidings which she brought of the inflexible obstinacy of Pizarro and his
followers filled the governor with indignation. He could look on it in no
other light than as an act of suicide, and steadily refused to send further
assistance to men who were obstinately bent on their own destruction.
Yet Luque and Almagro were true to their engagements. They
represented to the governor, that, if the conduct of their comrade was
rash, it was at least in the service of the Crown, and in prosecuting the
great work of discovery. Rios had been instructed, on his taking the
government, to aid Pizarro in the enterprise; and to desert him now
would be to throw away the remaining chance of success, and to incur
the responsibility of his death and that of the brave men who adhered to
him. These remonstrances, at length, so far operated on the mind of that
functionary, that he reluctantly consented that a vessel should be sent to
the island of Gorgona, but with no more hands than were necessary to
work her, and with positive instructions to Pizarro to return in six months
and report himself at Panama, whatever might be the future results of his
expedition.

Having thus secured the sanction of the executive, the two associates lost
no time in fitting out a small vessel with stores and a supply of arms and
ammunition, and despatched it to the island. The unfortunate tenants of
this little wilderness, who had now occupied it for seven months,9 hardly
dared to trust their senses when they descried the white sails of the
friendly bark coming over the waters. And although, when the vessel
anchored off the shore, Pizarro was disappointed to find that it brought
no additional recruits for the enterprise, yet he greeted it with joy, as
affording the means of solving the great problem of the existence of the
rich southern empire, and of thus opening the way for its future conquest.
Two of his men were so ill, that it was determined to leave them in the
care of some of the friendly Indians who had continued with him through
the whole of his sojourn, and to call for them on his return. Taking with
him the rest of his hardy followers and the natives of Tumbez, he
embarked, and, speedily weighing anchor, bade adieu to the "Hell," as it
was called by the Spaniards, which had been the scene of so much
suffering and such undaunted resolution.10

Every heart was now elated with hope, as they found themselves once
more on the waters, under the guidance of the good pilot Ruiz, who,
obeying the directions of the Indians, proposed to steer for the land of
Tumbez, which would bring them at once into the golden empire of the
Incas, --the El Dorado, of which they had been so long in pursuit.
Passing by the dreary isle of Gallo, which they had such good cause to
remember, they stood farther out to sea until they made point Tacumez,
near which they had landed on their previous voyage. They did not
touch at any part of the coast, but steadily held on their way, though
considerably impeded by the currents, as well as by the wind, which
blew with little variation from the south. Fortunately, the wind was light,
and, as the weather was favorable, their voyage, though slow, was not
uncomfortable. In a few days, they came in sight of Point Pasado, the
limit of the pilot's former navigation; and, crossing the line, the little bark
entered upon those unknown seas which had never been ploughed by
European keel before. The coast, they observed, gradually declined
from its former bold and rugged character, gently sloping towards the
shore, and spreading out into sandy plains, relieved here and there by
patches of uncommon richness and beauty; while the white cottages of
the natives glistening along the margin of the sea, and the smoke that
rose among the distant hills, intimated the increasing population of the
country.

At length, after the lapse of twenty days from their departure from the
island, the adventurous vessel rounded the point of St. Helena, and
glided smoothly into the waters of the beautiful gulf of Guayaquil. The
country was here studded along the shore with towns and villages,
though the mighty chain of the Cordilleras, sweeping up abruptly from
the coast, left but a narrow strip of emerald verdure, through which
numerous rivulets, spreading fertility around them, wound their way into
the sea.

The voyagers were now abreast of some of the most stupendous heights
of this magnificent range; Chimborazo, with its broad round summit,
towering like the dome of the Andes, and Cotopaxi, with its dazzling
cone of silvery white, that knows no change except from the action of its
own volcanic fires; for this mountain is the most terrible of the American
volcanoes, and was in formidable activity at no great distance from the
period of our narrative. Well pleased with the signs of civilization that
opened on them at every league of their progress, the Spaniards, at
length, came to anchor, off the island of Santa Clara, lying at the
entrance of the bay of Tumbez.11

The place was uninhabited, but was recognized by the Indians on board,
as occasionally resorted to by the warlike people of the neighboring isle
of Puna, for purposes of sacrifice and worship. The Spaniards found on
the spot a few bits of gold rudely wrought into various shapes, and
probably designed as offerings to the Indian deity. Their hearts were
cheered, as the natives assured them they would see abundance of the
same precious metal in their own city of Tumbez.

The following morning they stood across the bay for this place. As they
drew near, they beheld a town of considerable size, with many of the
buildings apparently of stone and plaster, situated in the bosom of a
fruitful meadow, which seemed to have been redeemed from the sterility
of the surrounding country by careful and minute irrigation. When at
some distance from shore, Pizarro saw standing towards him several
large balsas, which were found to be filled with warriors going on an
expedition against the island of Puna. Running alongside of the Indian
flotilla, he invited some of the chiefs to come on board of his vessel.
The Peruvians gazed with wonder on every object which met their eyes,
and especially on their own countrymen, whom they had little expected
to meet there. The latter informed them in what manner they had fallen
into the hands of the strangers, whom they described as a wonderful race
of beings, that had come thither for no harm, but solely to be made
acquainted with the country and its inhabitants. This account was
confirmed by the Spanish commander, who persuaded the Indians to
return in their balsas and report what they had learned to their townsmen,
requesting them at the same time to provide his vessel with refreshments,
as it was his desire to enter into a friendly intercourse with the natives.

The people of Tumbez were gathered along the shore, and were gazing
with unutterable amazement on the floating castle, which, now having
dropped anchor, rode lazily at its moorings in their bay. They eagerly
listened to the accounts of their countrymen, and instantly reported the
affair to the curaca or ruler of the district, who, conceiving that the
strangers must be beings of a superior order, prepared at once to comply
with their request. It was not long before several balsas were seen
steering for the vessel laden with bananas, plantains, yuca, Indian corn,
sweet potatoes, pine-apples, cocoa-nuts, and other rich products of the
bountiful vale of Tumbez. Game and fish, also, were added, with a
number of llamas, of which Pizarro had seen the rude drawings
belonging to Balboa, but of which till now he had met with no living
specimen. He examined this curious animal, the Peruvian sheep,--or, as
the Spaniards called it, the "little camel" of the Indians,--with much
interest, greatly admiring the mixture of wool and hair which supplied
the natives with the materials for their fabrics.

At that time there happened to be at Tumbez an Inca noble, or orejon, --
for so, as I have already noticed, men of his rank were called by the
Spaniards, from the huge ornaments of gold attached to their ears. He
expressed great curiosity to see the wonderful strangers, and had,
accordingly, come out with the balsas for the purpose. It was easy to
perceive from the superior quality of his dress, as well as from the
deference paid to him by the others, that he was a person of
consideration, and Pizarro received him with marked distinction. He
showed him the different parts of the ship, explaining to him the uses of
whatever engaged his attention, and answering his numerous queries, as
well as he could, by means of the Indian interpreters. The Peruvian chief
was especially desirous of knowing whence and why Pizarro and his
followers had come to these shores. The Spanish captain replied, that he
was the vassal of a great prince, the greatest and most powerful in the
world, and that he had come to this country to assert his master's lawful
supremacy over it. He had further come to rescue the inhabitants from
the darkness of unbelief in which they were now wandering. They
worshipped an evil spirit, who would sink their souls into everlasting
perdition; and he would give them the knowledge of the true and only
God, Jesus Christ, since to believe in him was eternal salvation.12

The Indian prince listened with deep attention and apparent wonder; but
answered nothing. It may be, that neither he nor his interpreters had any
very distinct ideas of the doctrines thus abruptly revealed to them. It
may be that he did not believe there was any other potentate on earth
greater than the Inca; none, at least, who had a better right to rule over
his dominions. And it is very possible he was not disposed to admit that
the great luminary whom he worshipped was inferior to the God of the
Spaniards. But whatever may have passed in the untutored mind of the
barbarian, he did not give vent to it, but maintained a discreet silence,
without any attempt to controvert or to convince his Christian antagonist.

He remained on board the vessel till the hour of dinner, of which he
partook with the Spaniards, expressing his satisfaction at the strange
dishes, and especially pleased with the wine, which he pronounced far
superior to the fermented liquors of his own country. On taking leave, he
courteously pressed the Spaniards to visit Tumbez, and Pizarro
dismissed him with the present, among other things, of an iron hatchet,
which had greatly excited his admiration; for the use of iron, as we have
seen, was as little known to the Peruvians as to the Mexicans.

On the day following, the Spanish captain sent one of his own men,
named Alonso de Molina, on shore, accompanied by a negro who had
come in the vessel from Panama, together with a present for the curaca
of some swine and poultry, neither of which were indigenous to the New
World. Towards evening his emissary returned with a fresh supply of
fruits and vegetables, that the friendly people sent to the vessel. Molina
had a wondrous tale to tell. On landing, he was surrounded by the
natives, who expressed the greatest astonishment at his dress, his fair
complexion, and his long beard. The women, especially, manifested
great curiosity in respect to him, and Molina seemed to be entirely won
by their charms and captivating manners. He probably intimated his
satisfaction by his demeanor, since they urged him to stay among them,
promising in that case to provide him with a beautiful wife.

Their surprise was equally great at the complexion of his sable
companion. They could not believe it was natural, and tried to rub off
the imaginary dye with their hands. As the African bore all this with
characteristic good-humor, displaying at the same time his rows of ivory
teeth, they were prodigiously delighted.13 The animals were no less
above their comprehension; and, when the cock crew, the simple people
clapped their hands, and inquired what he was saying.14 Their intellects
were so bewildered by sights so novel, that they seemed incapable of
distinguishing between man and brute.

Molina was then escorted to the residence of the curaca, whom he found
living in much state, with porters stationed at his doors, and with a
quantity of gold and silver vessels, from which he was served. He was
then taken to different parts of the Indian city, saw a fortress built of
rough stone, and, though low, spreading over a large extent of ground.15
Near this was a temple; and the Spaniard's description of its decorations.
blazing with gold and silver, seemed so extravagant, that Pizarro,
distrusting his whole account, resolved to send a more discreet and
trustworthy emissary on the following day.16