History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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The natural consequences of such a conviction followed. The beautiful
order of the ancient institutions was broken up, as the authority which
controlled it was withdrawn. The Indians broke out into greater excesses
from the uncommon restraint to which they had been before subjected.
Villages were burnt, temples and palaces were plundered, and the gold
they contained was scattered or secreted. Gold and silver acquired an
importance in the eyes of the Peruvian, when he saw the importance
attached to them by his conquerors. The precious metals, which before
served only for purposes of state or religious decoration, were now
hoarded up and buried in caves and forests. The gold and silver
concealed by the natives were affirmed greatly to exceed in quantity that
which fell into the hands of the Spaniards.3 The remote provinces now
shook off their allegiance to the Incas. Their great captains, at the head
of distant armies, set up for themselves. Ruminavi, a commander on the
borders of Quito, sought to detach that kingdom from the Peruvian
empire, and to reassert its ancient independence. The country, in short,
was in that state, in which old things are passing away, and the new order
of things has not yet been established. It was in a state of revolution.

The authors of the revolution, Pizarro and his followers, remained
meanwhile at Caxamalca. But the first step of the Spanish commander
was to name a successor to Atahuallpa. It would be easier to govern
under the venerated authority to which the homage of the Indians had
been so long paid; and it was not difficult to find a successor. The true
heir to the crown was a second son of Huayna Capac, named Manco, a
legitimate brother of the unfortunate Huascar. But Pizarro had too little
knowledge of the dispositions of this prince; and he made no scruple to
prefer a brother of Atahuallpa, and to present him to the Indian nobles as
their future Inca. We know nothing of the character of the young
Toparca, who probably resigned himself without reluctance to a destiny
which, however humiliating in some points of view, was more exalted
than he could have hoped to obtain in the regular course of events. The
ceremonies attending a Peruvian coronation were observed, as well as
time would allow; the brows of the young Inca were encircled with the
imperial borla by the hands of his conqueror, and he received the
homage of his Indian vassals. They were the less reluctant to pay it, as
most of those in the camp belonged to the faction of Quito.

All thoughts were now eagerly turned towards Cuzco, of which the most
glowing accounts were circulated among the soldiers, and whose temples
and royal palaces were represented as blazing with gold and silver. With
imaginations thus excited, Pizarro and his entire company, amounting to
almost five hundred men, of whom nearly a third, probably, were
cavalry, took their departure early in September from Caxamalca,--a
place ever memorable as the theatre of some of the most strange and
sanguinary scenes recorded in history. All set forward in high spirits,--
the soldiers of Pizarro from the expectation of doubling their present
riches, and Almagro's followers from the prospect of sharing equally in
the spoil with "the first conquerors." 4 The young Inca and the old chief
Challcuchima accompanied the march in their litters, attended by a
numerous retinue of vassals, and moving in as much state and ceremony
as if in the possession of real power.5

Their course lay along the great road of the Incas, which stretched across
the elevated regions of the Cordilleras, all the way to Cuzco. It was of
nearly a uniform breadth, though constructed with different degrees of
care, according to the ground.6 Sometimes it crossed smooth and level
valleys, which offered of themselves little impediment to the traveller; at
other times, it followed the course of a mountain stream that wound
round the base of some beetling cliff, leaving small space for the
foothold; at others, again, where the sierra was so precipitous that it
seemed to preclude all further progress, the road, accommodated to the
natural sinuosities of the ground, wound round the heights which it
would have been impossible to scale directly.7

But although managed with great address, it was a formidable passage
for the cavalry. The mountain was hewn into steps, but the rocky ledges
cut up the hoofs of the horses; and, though the troopers dismounted and
led them by the bridle, they suffered severely in their efforts to keep their
footing.8 The road was constructed for man and the light-fooled llama;
and the only heavy beast of burden at all suited to it was the sagacious
and sure-footed mule, with which the Spanish adventurers were not then
provided. It was a singular chance that Spain was the land of the mule;
and thus the country was speedily supplied with the very animal which
seems to have been created for the difficult passes of the Cordilleras.

Another obstacle, often occurring, was the deep torrents that rushed
down in fury from the Andes. They were traversed by the hanging
bridges of osier, whose frail materials were after a time broken up by the
heavy tread of the cavalry, and the holes made in them added materially
to the dangers of the passage. On such occasions, the Spaniards
contrived to work their way across the rivers on rafts, swimming their
horses by the bridle.9

All along the route, they found post-houses for the accommodation of the
royal couriers, established at regular intervals; and magazines of grain
and other commodities, provided in the principal towns for the Indian
armies. The Spaniards profited by the prudent forecast of the Peruvian
government.

Passing through several hamlets and towns of some note, the principal of
which were Guamachucho and Guanuco, Pizarro, after a tedious march,
came in sight of the rich valley of Xauxa. The march, though tedious,
had been attended with little suffering, except in crossing the bristling
crests of the Cordilleras, which occasionally obstructed their path,--a
rough setting to the beautiful valleys, that lay scattered like gems along
this elevated region. In the mountain passes they found some
inconvenience from the cold; since, to move more quickly, they had
disencumbered themselves of all superfluous baggage, and were even
unprovided with tents.10 The bleak winds of the mountains penetrated
the thick harness of the soldiers; but the poor Indians, more scantily
clothed and accustomed to a tropical climate, suffered most severely.
The Spaniard seemed to have a hardihood of body, as of soul, that
rendered him almost indifferent to climate.

On the march they had not been molested by enemies. But more than
once they had seen vestiges of them in smoking hamlets and ruined
bridges. Reports, from time to time, had reached Pizarro of warriors on
his track; and small bodies of Indians were occasionally seen like dusky
clouds on the verge of the horizon, which vanished as the Spaniards
approached. On reaching Xauxa, however, these clouds gathered into
one dark mass of warriors, which formed on the opposite bank of the
river that flowed through the valley.

The Spaniards advanced to the stream, which, swollen by the melting of
the snows, was now of considerable width, though not deep. The bridge
had been destroyed; but the Conquerors, without hesitation, dashing
boldly in, advanced, swimming and wading, as they best could, to the
opposite bank. The Indians, disconcerted by this decided movement, as
they had relied on their watery defences, took to flight, after letting off
an impotent volley of missiles. Fear gave wings to the fugitives; but the
horse and his rider were swifter, and the victorious pursuers took bloody
vengeance on their enemy for having dared even to meditate resistance.

Xauxa was a considerable town. It was the place already noticed as
having been visited by Hernando Pizarro. It was seated in the midst of a
verdant valley, fertilized by a thousand little rills, which the thrifty
Indian husbandman drew from the parent river that rolled sluggishly
through the meadows. There were several capacious buildings of rough
stone in the town, and a temple of some note in the times of the Incas.
But the strong arm of Father Valverde and his countrymen soon tumbled
the heathen deities from their pride of place, and established, in their
stead, the sacred effigies of the Virgin and Child.

Here Pizarro proposed to halt for some days, and to found a Spanish
colony. It was a favorable position, he thought, for holding the Indian
mountaineers in check, while, at the same time, it afforded an easy
communication with the sea-coast. Meanwhile he determined to send
forward De Soto, with a detachment of sixty horse, to reconnoitre the
country in advance, and to restore the bridges where demolished by the
enemy.11

That active cavalier set forward at once, but found considerable
impediments to his progress. The traces of an enemy became more
frequent as he advanced. The villages were burnt, the bridges destroyed,
and heavy rocks and trees strewed in the path to impede the march of the
cavalry. As he drew near to Bilcas, once an important place, though now
effaced from the map, he had a sharp encounter with the natives, in a
mountain defile, which cost him the lives of two or three troopers. The
loss was light; but any loss was felt by the Spaniards, so little
accustomed as they had been of late, to resistance.

Still pressing forward, the Spanish captain crossed the river Abancay,
and the broad waters of the Apurimac; and, as he drew near the sierra of
Vilcaconga, he learned that a considerable body of Indians lay in wait for
him in the dangerous passes of the mountains. The sierra was several
leagues from Cuzco; and the cavalier, desirous to reach the further side
of it before nightfall, incautiously pushed on his wearied horses. When
he was fairly entangled in its rocky defiles, a multitude of armed
warriors, springing, as it seemed, from every cavern and thicket of the
sierra, filled the air with their war-cries, and rushed down, like one of
their own mountain torrents, on the invaders, as they were painfully
toiling up the steeps. Men and horses were overturned in the fury of the
assault, and the foremost files, rolling back on those below, spread ruin
and consternation in their ranks. De Soto in vain endeavored to restore
order, and, if possible, to charge the assailants. The horses were blinded
and maddened by the missiles, while the desperate natives, clinging to
their legs, strove to prevent their ascent up the rocky pathway. De Soto
saw, that, unless he gained a level ground which opened at some distance
before him, all must be lost. Cheering on his men with the old battle-cry,
that always went to the heart of a Spaniard, he struck his spurs deep into
the sides of his wearied charger, and, gallantly supported by his troop,
broke through the dark array of warriors, and, shaking them off to the
right and left, at length succeeded in placing himself on the broad level.

Here both parties paused, as if by mutual consent, for a few moments. A
little stream ran through the plain, at which the Spaniards watered their
horses;12 and the animals, having recovered wind, De Soto and his men
made a desperate charge on their assailants. The undaunted Indians
sustained the shock with firmness; and the result of the combat was still
doubtful, when the shades of evening, falling thicker around them,
separated the combatants.

Both parties then withdrew from the field, taking up their respective
stations within bow-shot of each other, so that the voices of the warriors
on either side could be distinctly heard in the stillness of the night. But
very different were the reflections of the two hosts. The Indians,
exulting in their temporary triumph, looked with confidence to the
morrow to complete it. The Spaniards, on the other hand, were
proportionably discouraged. They were not prepared for this spirit of
resistance in an enemy hitherto so tame. Several cavaliers had fallen;
one of them by a blow from a Peruvian battle-axe, which clove his head
to the chin, attesting the power of the weapon, and of the arm that used
it.13 Several horses, too, had been killed; and the loss of these was
almost as severely felt as that of their riders, considering the great cost
and difficulty of transporting them to these distant regions. Few either of
the men or horses escaped without wounds, and the Indian allies suffered
still more severely.

It seemed probable, from the pertinacity and a certain order maintained
in the assault, that it was directed by some leader of military experience;
perhaps the Indian commander Quizquiz, who was said to be hanging
round the environs of Cuzco with a considerable force.

Notwithstanding the reasonable cause of apprehension for the morrow,
De Soto, like a stout-hearted cavalier, as he was, strove to keep up the
spirits of his followers. If they had beaten off the enemy when their
horses were jaded, and their own strength nearly exhausted, how much
easier it would be to come off victorious when both were restored by a
night's rest; and he told them to "trust in the Almighty, who would never
desert his faithful followers in their extremity." The event justified De
Soto's confidence in this seasonable succour.

From time to time, on his march, he had sent advices to Pizarro of the
menacing state of the country, till his commander, becoming seriously
alarmed, was apprehensive that the cavalier might be overpowered by the
superior numbers of the enemy. He accordingly detached Almagro with
nearly all the remaining horse, to his support,--unencumbered by
infantry, that he might move the lighter. That efficient leader advanced
by forced marches, stimulated by the tidings which met him on the road;
and was so fortunate as to reach the foot of the sierra of Vilcaconga the
very night of the engagement.

There hearing of the encounter, he pushed forward without halting,
though his horses were spent with travel. The night was exceedingly
dark, and Almagro, afraid of stumbling on the enemy's bivouac, and
desirous to give De Soto information of his approach, commanded his
trumpets to sound, till the notes, winding through the defiles of the
mountains, broke the slumbers of his countrymen, sounding like blithest
music in their ears. They quickly replied with their own bugles, and
soon had the satisfaction to embrace their deliverers.14

Great was the dismay of the Peruvian host, when the morning light
discovered the fresh reinforcement of the ranks of the Spaniards. There
was no use in contending with an enemy who gathered strength from the
conflict, and who seemed to multiply his numbers at will. Without
further attempt to renew the fight, they availed themselves of a thick fog,
which hung over the lower slopes of the hills, to effect their retreat, and
left the passes open to the invaders. The two cavaliers then continued
their march until they extricated their forces from the sierra, when, taking
up a secure position, they proposed to await there the arrival of
Pizarro.15

The commander-in-chief, meanwhile, lay at Xauxa, where he was greatly
disturbed by the rumors which reached him of the state of the country.
His enterprise, thus far, had gone forward so smoothly, that he was no
better prepared than his lieutenant to meet with resistance from the
natives. He did not seem to comprehend that the mildest nature might at
last be roused by oppression; and that the massacre of their Inca, whom
they regarded with such awful veneration, would be likely, if any thing
could do it, to wake them from their apathy.

The tidings which he now received of the retreat of the Peruvians were
most welcome; and he caused mass to be said, and thanksgivings to be
offered up to Heaven, "which had shown itself thus favorable to the
Christians throughout this mighty enterprise." The Spaniard was ever a
Crusader. He was, in the sixteenth century, what Coeur de Lion and his
brave knights were in the twelfth, with this difference; the cavalier of that
day fought for the Cross and for glory, while gold and the Cross were the
watchwords of the Spaniard. The spirit of chivalry had waned somewhat
before the spirit of trade; but the fire of religious enthusiasm still burned
as bright under the quilted mail of the American Conqueror, as it did of
yore under the iron panoply of the soldier of Palestine.

It seemed probable that some man of authority had organized, or at least
countenanced, this resistance of the natives, and suspicion fell on the
captive chief Challcuchima, who was accused of maintaining a secret
correspondence with his confederate, Quizquiz. Pizarro waited on the
Indian noble, and, charging him with the conspiracy, reproached him, as
he had formerly done his royal master, with ingratitude towards the
Spaniards, who had dealt with him so liberally. He concluded by the
assurance, that, if he did not cause the Peruvians to lay down their arms,
and tender their submission at once, he should be burnt alive, so soon as
they reached Almagro's quarters.16

The Indian chief listened to the terrible menace with the utmost
composure. He denied having had any communication with his countrymen,
and said, that, in his present state of confinement, at least,
he could have no power to bring them to submission. He then remained
doggedly silent, and Pizarro did not press the matter further.17 But he
placed a strong guard over his prisoner, and caused him to be put in
irons. It was an ominous proceeding, and had been the precursor of the
death of Atahuallpa.

Before quitting Xauxa, a misfortune befell the Spaniards in the death of
their creature, the young Inca Toparca. Suspicion, of course, fell on
Challcuchima, now selected as the scape-goat for all the offences of his
nation.18 It was a disappointment to Pizarro, who hoped to find a
convenient shelter for his future proceedings under this shadow of
royalty.19

The general considered it most prudent not to hazard the loss of his
treasures by taking them on the march, and he accordingly left them at
Xauxa, under a guard of forty soldiers, who remained there in garrison.
No event of importance occurred on the road, and Pizarro, having
effected a junction with Almagro, their united forces soon entered the
vale of Xaquixaguana, about five leagues from Cuzco. This was one of
those bright spots, so often found embosomed amidst the Andes, the
more beautiful from contrast with the savage character of the scenery
around it. A river flowed through the valley, affording the means of
irrigating the soil, and clothing it in perpetual verdure; and the rich and
flowering vegetation spread out like a cultivated garden. The beauty of
the place and its delicious coolness commended it as a residence for the
Peruvian nobles, and the sides of the hills were dotted with their villas,
which afforded them a grateful retreat in the heats of summer.20 Yet
the centre of the valley was disfigured by a quagmire of some extent,
occasioned by the frequent overflowing of the waters; but the industry of
the Indian architects had constructed a solid causeway, faced with heavy
stone, and connected with the great road, which traversed the whole
breadth of the morass.21

In this valley Pizarro halted for several days, while he refreshed his
troops from the well-stored magazines of the Incas. His first act was to
bring Challcuchima to trial; if trial that could be called, where sentence
may be said to have gone hand in hand with accusation. We are not
informed of the nature of the evidence. It was sufficient to satisfy the
Spanish captains of the chieftain's guilt. Nor is it at all incredible that
Challcuchima should have secretly encouraged a movement among the
people, designed to secure his country's freedom and his own. He was
condemned to be burnt alive on the spot. "Some thought it a hard
measure," says Herrera; "but those who are governed by reasons of state
policy are apt to shut their eyes against every thing else." 22 Why this
cruel mode of execution was so often adopted by the Spanish
Conquerors is not obvious; unless it was that the Indian was an infidel,
and fire, from ancient date, seems to have been considered the fitting
doom of the infidel, as the type of that inextinguishable flame which
awaited him in the regions of the damned.

Father Valverde accompanied the Peruvian chieftain to the stake. He
seems always to have been present at this dreary moment, anxious to
profit by it, if possible, to work the conversion of the victim. He painted
in gloomy colors the dreadful doom of the unbeliever, to whom the
waters of baptism could alone secure the ineffable glories of paradise.23
It does not appear that he promised any commutation of punishment in
this world. But his arguments fell on a stony heart, and the chief coldly
replied, he "did not understand the religion of the white men." 24 He
might be pardoned for not comprehending the beauty of a faith which, as
it would seem, had borne so bitter fruits to him. In the midst of his
tortures, he showed the characteristic courage of the American Indian,
whose power of endurance triumphs over the power of persecution in his
enemies, and he died with his last breath invoking the name of
Pachacamac. His own followers brought the fagots to feed the flames
that consumed him .25

Soon after this tragic event, Pizarro was surprised by a visit from a
Peruvian noble, who came in great state, attended by a numerous and
showy retinue. It was the young prince Manco, brother of the
unfortunate Huascar, and the rightful successor to the crown. Being
brought before the Spanish commander, he announced his pretensions to
the throne, and claimed the protection of the strangers. It is said he had
meditated resisting them by arms, and had encouraged the assaults made
on them on their march; but, finding resistance ineffectual, he had taken
this politic course, greatly to the displeasure of his more resolute nobles.
However this may be, Pizarro listened to his application with singular
contentment, for he saw in this new scion of the true royal stock, a more
effectual instrument for his purposes than he could have found in the
family of Quito, with whom the Peruvians had but little sympathy. He
received the young man, therefore, with great cordiality, and did not
hesitate to assure him that he had been sent into the country by his
master, the Castilian sovereign, in order to vindicate the claims of
Huascar to the crown, and to punish the usurpation of his rival.26

Taking with him the Indian prince, Pizarro now resumed his march. It
was interrupted for a few hours by a party of the natives, who lay in wait
for him in the neighboring sierra. A sharp skirmish ensued, in which the
Indians behaved with great spirit, and inflicted some little injury on the
Spaniards; but the latter, at length, shaking them off, made good their
passage through the defile, and the enemy did not care to follow them
into the open country.

It was late in the afternoon when the Conquerors came in sight of
Cuzco.27 The descending sun was streaming his broad rays full on the
imperial city, where many an altar was dedicated to his worship. The
low ranges of buildings, showing in his beams like so many lines of
silvery light, filled up the bosom of the valley and the lower slopes of the
mountains, whose shadowy forms hung darkly over the fair city, as if to
shield it from the menaced profanation. It was so late, that Pizarro
resolved to defer his entrance till the following morning.

That night vigilant guard was kept in the camp, and the soldiers slept on
their arms. But it passed away without annoyance from the enemy, and
early on the following day, November 15, 1533, Pizarro prepared for his
entrance into the Peruvian capital.28

The little army was formed into three divisions, of which the centre, or
"battle," as it was called, was led by the general. The suburbs were
thronged with a countless multitude of the natives, who had flocked from
the city and the surrounding country to witness the showy, and, to them,
startling pageant. All looked with eager curiosity on the strangers, the
fame of whose terrible exploits had spread to the remotest parts of the
empire. They gazed with astonishment on their dazzling arms and fair
complexions, which seemed to proclaim them the true Children of the
Sun; and they listened with feelings of mysterious dread, as the trumpet
sent forth its prolonged notes through the streets of the capital, and the
solid ground shook under the heavy tramp of the cavalry.

The Spanish commander rode directly up the great square. It was
surrounded by low piles of buildings, among which were several palaces
of the Incas. One of these, erected by Huayna Capac, was surmounted
by a tower, while the ground-floor was occupied by one or more
immense halls, like those described in Caxamalca, where the Peruvian
nobles held their fetes in stormy weather. These buildings afforded
convenient barracks for the troops, though, during the first few weeks,
they remained under their tents in the open plaza, with their horses
picketed by their side, ready to repulse any insurrection of the
inhabitants.29