History Of The Conquest Of Peru
by
William Hickling Prescott
Part 6 out of 11
systematic persecution, not of an enemy, but of one whose whole
deportment had been that of a friend and a benefactor.
From the hour that Pizarro and his followers had entered within the
sphere of Atahuallpa's influence, the hand of friendship had been
extended to them by the natives. Their first act, on crossing the
mountains, was to kidnap the monarch and massacre his people. The
seizure of his person might be vindicated, by those who considered the
end as justifying the means, on the ground that it was indispensable to
secure the triumphs of the Cross. But no such apology can be urged for
the massacre of the unarmed and helpless population,--as wanton as it
was wicked.
The long confinement of the Inca had been used by the Conquerors to
wring from him his treasures with the hard gripe of avarice. During the
whole of this dismal period, he had conducted himself with singular
generosity and good faith. He had opened a free passage to the
Spaniards through every part of his empire; and had furnished every
facility for the execution of their plans. When these were accomplished,
and he remained an encumbrance on their hands, notwithstanding their
engagement, expressed or implied, to release him,--and Pizarro, as we
have seen, by a formal act, acquitted his captive of any further obligation
on the score of the ransom,--he was arraigned before a mock tribunal,
and, under pretences equally false and frivolous, was condemned to an
excruciating death. From first to last, the policy of the Spanish
conquerors towards their unhappy victim is stamped with barbarity and
fraud.
It is not easy to acquit Pizarro of being in a great degree responsible for
this policy. His partisans have labored to show, that it was forced on him
by the necessity of the case, and that in the death of the Inca, especially,
he yielded reluctantly to the importunities of others.42 But weak as is
this apology, the historian who has the means of comparing the various
testimony of the period will come to a different conclusion. To him it
will appear, that Pizarro had probably long felt the removal of
Atahuallpa as essential to the success of his enterprise. He foresaw the
odium that would be incurred by the death of his royal captive without
sufficient grounds; while he labored to establish these, he still shrunk
from the responsibility of the deed, and preferred to perpetrate it in
obedience to the suggestions of others, rather than his own. Like many
an unprincipled politician, he wished to reap the benefit of a bad act, and
let others take the blame of it.
Almagro and his followers are reported by Pizarro's secretaries to have
first insisted on the Inca's death. They were loudly supported by the
treasurer and the royal officers, who considered it as indispensable to the
interests of the Crown; and, finally, the rumors of a conspiracy raised the
same cry among the soldiers, and Pizarro, with all his tenderness for his
prisoner, could not refuse to bring him to trial.--The form of a trial was
necessary to give an appearance of fairness to the proceedings. That if
was only form is evident from the indecent haste with which it was
conducted,--the examination of evidence, the sentence, and the
execution, being all on the same day. The multiplication of the charges,
designed to place the guilt of the accused on the strongest ground, had,
from their very number, the opposite effect, proving only the
determination to convict him. If Pizarro had felt the reluctance to his
conviction which he pretended, why did he send De Soto, Atahuallpa's
best friend, away, when the inquiry was to be instituted? Why was the
sentence so summarily executed, as not to afford opportunity, by that
cavalier's return, of disproving the truth of the principal charge,--the only
one, in fact, with which the Spaniards had any concern? The solemn
farce of mourning and deep sorrow affected by Pizarro, who by these
honors to the dead would intimate the sincere regard he had entertained
for the living, was too thin a veil to impose on the most credulous.
It is not intended by these reflections to exculpate the rest of the army,
and especially its officers, from their share in the infamy of the
transaction. But Pizarro, as commander of the army, was mainly
responsible for its measures. For he was not a man to allow his own
authority to be wrested from his grasp, or to yield timidly to the impulses
of others. He did not even yield to his own. His whole career shows
him, whether for good or for evil, to have acted with a cool and
calculating policy.
A story has been often repeated, which refers the motives of Pizarro's
conduct, in some degree at least, to personal resentment. The Inca had
requested one of the Spanish soldiers to write the name of God on his
nail. This the monarch showed to several of his guards successively,
and, as they read it, and each pronounced the same word, the sagacious
mind of the barbarian was delighted with what seemed to him little short
of a miracle,--to which the science of his own nation afforded no
analogy. On showing the writing to Pizarro, that chief remained silent;
and the Inca, finding he could not read, conceived a contempt for the
commander who was even less informed than his soldiers. This he did
not wholly conceal, and Pizarro aware of the cause of it, neither forgot
nor forgave it.43 The anecdote is reported not on the highest authority.
It may be true; but it is unnecessary to look for the motives of Pizarro's
conduct in personal pique, when so many proofs are to be discerned of a
dark and deliberate policy.
Yet the arts of the Spanish chieftain failed to reconcile his countrymen to
the atrocity of his proceedings. It is singular to observe the difference
between the tone assumed by the first chroniclers of the transaction,
while it was yet fresh, and that of those who wrote when the lapse of a
few years had shown the tendency of public opinion. The first boldly
avow the deed as demanded by expediency, if not necessity; while they
deal in no measured terms of reproach with the character of their
unfortunate victim.44 The latter, on the other hand, while they extenuate
the errors of the Inca, and do justice to his good faith, are unreserved in
their condemnation of the Conquerors, on whose conduct, they say,
Heaven set the seal of its own reprobation, by bringing them all to an
untimely and miserable end.45 The sentence of contemporaries has been
fully ratified by that of posterity;46 and the persecution of Atahuallpa is
regarded with justice as having left a stain, never to be effaced, on the
Spanish arms in the New World.
Book 3
Chapter 8
Disorders In Peru--March To Cuzco--Encounter With The Natives--
Challcuchima Burnt--Arrival In Cuzco--Description Of The City--
Treasure Found There
1533--1534
The Inca of Peru was its sovereign in a peculiar sense. He received an
obedience from his vassals more implicit than that of any despot; for his
authority reached to the most secret conduct,--to the thoughts of the
individual. He was reverenced as more than human.1 He was not
merely the head of the state, but the point to which all its institutions
converged, as to a common centre,--the keystone of the political fabric,
which must fall to pieces by its own weight when that was withdrawn.
So it fared on the death of Atahuallpa.2 His death not only left the
throne vacant, without any certain successor, but the manner of it
announced to the Peruvian people that a hand stronger than that of their
Incas had now seized the sceptre, and that the dynasty of the Children of
the Sun had passed away for ever.
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
The capital of the Incas, though falling short of the El Dorado which had
engaged their credulous fancies, astonished the Spaniards by the beauty
of its edifices, the length and regularity of its streets, and the good order
and appearance of comfort, even luxury, visible in its numerous
population. It far surpassed all they had yet seen in the New World. The
population of the city is computed by one of the Conquerors at two
hundred thousand inhabitants, and that of the suburbs at as many
more.30 This account is not confirmed, as far as I have seen, by any
other writer. But however it may be exaggerated, it is certain that Cuzco
was the metropolis of a great empire, the residence of the Court and the
chief nobility; frequented by the most skilful mechanics and artisans of
every description, who found a demand for their ingenuity in the royal
precincts; while the place was garrisoned by a numerous soldiery, and
was the resort, finally, of emigrants from the most distant provinces. The
quarters whence this motley population came were indicated by their
peculiar dress, and especially their head-gear, so rarely found at all on
the American Indian, which, with its variegated colors, gave a
picturesque effect to the groups and masses in the streets. The habitual
order and decorum maintained in this multifarious assembly showed the
excellent police of the capital, where the only sounds that disturbed the
repose of the Spaniards were the noises of feasting and dancing, which
the natives, with happy insensibility, constantly prolonged to a late hour
of the night.31
The edifices of the better sort--and they were very numerous--were of
stone, or faced with stone.32 Among the principal were the royal
residences; as each sovereign built a new palace for himself, covering,
though low, a large extent of ground. The walls were sometimes stained
or painted with gaudy tints, and the gates, we are assured, were
sometimes of colored marble.33 "In the delicacy of the stone-work,"
says another of the Conquerors, "the natives far excelled the Spaniards,
though the roofs of their dwellings, instead of tiles, were only of thatch,
but put together with the nicest art." 34 The sunny climate of Cuzco did
not require a very substantial material for defence against the weather.
The most important building was the fortress, planted on a solid rock,
that rose boldly above the city. It was built of hewn stone, so finely
wrought that it was impossible to detect the line of junction between the
blocks; and the approaches to it were defended by three semicircular
parapets, composed of such heavy masses of rock, that it bore
resemblance to the kind of work known to architects as the Cyclopean.
The fortress was raised to a height rare in Peruvian architecture; and
from the summit of the tower the eye of the-spectator ranged over a
magnificent prospect, in which the wild features of the mountain scenery,
rocks, woods, and waterfalls, were mingled with the rich verdure of the
valley, and the shining city filling up the foreground,--all blended in
sweet harmony under the deep azure of a tropical sky.
The streets were long and narrow. They were arranged with perfect
regularity, crossing one another at right angles; and from the great square
diverged four principal streets connecting with the high roads of the
empire. The square itself, and many parts of the city, were paved with a
fine pebble.35 Through the heart of the capital ran a river of pure water,
if it might not be rather termed a canal, the banks or sides of which, for
the distance of twenty leagues, were faced with stone.36 Across this
stream, bridges, constructed of similar broad flags, were thrown, at
intervals, so as to afford an easy communication between the different
quarters of the capital.37
The most sumptuous edifice in Cuzco, in the times of the Incas, was
undoubtedly the great temple dedicated to the Sun, which, studded with
gold plates, as already noticed, was surrounded by convents and
dormitories for the priests, with their gardens and broad parterres
sparkling with gold. The exterior ornaments had been already removed
by the Conquerors,--all but the frieze of gold, which, imbedded in the
stones, still encircled the principal building. It is probable that the tales
of wealth, so greedily circulated among the Spaniards, greatly exceeded
the truth. If they did not, the natives must have been very successful in
concealing their treasures from the invaders. Yet much still remained,
not only in the great House of the Sun, but in the inferior temples which
swarmed in the capital.
Pizarro, on entering Cuzco, had issued an order forbidding any soldier to
offer violence to the dwellings of the inhabitants.38 But the palaces
were numerous, and the troops lost no time in plundering them of their
contents, as well as in despoiling the religious edifices. The interior
decorations supplied them with considerable booty. They stripped off
the jewels and rich ornaments that garnished the royal mummies in the
temple of Coricancha. Indignant at the concealment of their treasures,
they put the inhabitants, in some instances, to the torture, and endeavored
to extort from them a confession of their hiding-places.39 They invaded
the repose of the sepulchres, in which the Peruvians often deposited their
valuable effects, and compelled the grave to give up its dead. No place
was left unexplored by the rapacious Conquerors, and they occasionally
stumbled on a mine of wealth that rewarded their labors.
In a cavern near the city they found a number of vases of pure gold,
richly embossed with the figures of serpents, locusts, and other animals.
Among the spoil were four golden llamas and ten or twelve statues of
women, some of gold, others of silver, "which merely to see," says one
of the Conquerors, with some naivete, "was truly a great satisfaction."
The gold was probably thin, for the figures were all as large as life; and
several of them, being reserved for the royal fifth, were not recast, but
sent in their original form to Spain.40 The magazines were stored with
curious commodities; richly tinted robes of cotton and feather-work, gold
sandals, and slippers of the same material, for the women, and dresses
composed entirely of beads of gold.41 The grain and other articles of
food, with which the magazines were filled, were held in contempt by the
Conquerors, intent only on gratifying their lust for gold.42 The time
came when the grain would have been of far more value.
Yet the amount of treasure in the capital did not equal the sanguine
expectations that had been formed by the Spaniards. But the deficiency
was supplied by the plunder which they had collected at various places
on their march. In one place, for example, they met with ten planks or
bars of solid silver, each piece being twenty feet in length, one foot in
breadth, and two or three inches thick. They were intended to decorate
the dwelling of an Inca noble.43
The whole mass of treasure was brought into a common heap, as in
Caxamalca; and after some of the finer specimens had been deducted for
the Crown, the remainder was delivered to the Indian goldsmiths to be
melted down into ingots of a uniform standard. The division of the spoil
was made on the same principle as before. There were four hundred and
eighty soldiers, including the garrison of Xauxa, who were each to
receive a share, that of the cavalry being double that of the infantry. The
amount of booty is stated variously by those present at the division of it.
According to some it considerably exceeded the ransom of Atahuallpa.
Others state it as less. Pedro Pizarro says that each horseman got six
thousand pesos de oro, and each one of the infantry half that sum; 44
though the same discrimination was made by Pizarro as before, in
respect to the rank of the parties, and their relative services. But Sancho,
the royal notary, and secretary of the commander, estimates the whole
amount as far less,--not exceeding five hundred and eighty thousand and
two hundred pesos de oro, and two hundred and fifteen thousand marks
of silver.45 In the absence of the official returns, it is impossible to
determine which is correct. But Sancho's narrative is countersigned, it
may be remembered, by Pizarro and the royal treasurer Riquelme, and
doubtless therefore, shows the actual amount for which the Conquerors
accounted to the Crown.
Whichever statement we receive, the sum, combined with that obtained
at Caxamalca, might well have satisfied the cravings of the most
avaricious. The sudden influx of so much wealth, and that, too, in so
transferable a form, among a party of reckless adventurers little
accustomed to the possession of money, had its natural effect. it
supplied them with the means of gaming, so strong and common a
passion with the Spaniards, that it may be considered a national vice.
Fortunes were lost and won in a single day, sufficient to render the
proprietors independent for life; and many a desperate gamester, by an
unlucky throw of the dice or turn of the cards, saw himself stripped in a
few hours of the fruits of years of toil, and obliged to begin over again
the business of rapine. Among these, one in the cavalry service is
mentioned, named Leguizano, who had received as his share of the booty
the image of the Sun, which, raised on a plate of burnished gold, spread
over the walls in a recess of the great temple, and which, for some reason
or other,--perhaps because of its superior fineness,--was not recast like
the other ornaments. This rich prize the spendthrift lost in a single night;
whence it came to be a proverb in Spain, Juega el Sol antes que
amanezca, "Play away the Sun before sunrise." 46
The effect of such a surfeit of the precious metals was instantly felt on
prices. The most ordinary articles were only to be had for exorbitant
sums. A quire of paper sold for ten pesos de oro; a bottle of wine, for
sixty; a sword, for forty or fifty; a cloak, for a hundred,--sometimes
more; a pair of shoes cost thirty or forty pesos de oro, and a good horse
could not be had for less than twenty-five hundred.47 Some brought a
still higher price. Every article rose in value, as gold and silver, the
representatives of all, declined. Gold and silver, in short, seemed to be
the only things in Cuzco that were not wealth. Yet there were some few
wise enough to return contented with their present gains to their native
country. Here their riches brought them consideration and competence,
and while they excited the envy of their countrymen, stimulated them to
seek their own fortunes in the like path of adventure.
Book 3
Chapter 9
New Inca Crowned--Municipal Regulations--Terrible March Of Alvarado--
Interview With Pizarro--Foundation Of Lima--
Hernando Pizarro Reaches Spain--Sensation At Court--
Feuds Of Almagro And The Pizarros
1534--1535
The first care of the Spanish general, after the division of the booty, was
to place Manco on the throne, and to obtain for him the recognition of
his countrymen. He, accordingly, presented the young prince to them as
their future sovereign, the legitimate son of Huayna Capac, and the true
heir of the Peruvian sceptre. The annunciation was received with
enthusiasm by the people, attached to the memory of his illustrious
father, and pleased that they were still to have a monarch rule over them
of the ancient line of Cuzco.
Everything was done to maintain the illusion with the Indian population.
The ceremonies of a coronation were studiously observed. The young
prince kept the prescribed fasts and vigils; and on the appointed day, the
nobles and the people, with the whole Spanish soldiery, assembled in the
great square of Cuzco to witness the concluding ceremony. Mass was
publicly performed by Father Valverde, and the Inca Manco received the
fringed diadem of Peru, not from the hand of the high-priest of his
nation, but from his Conqueror, Pizarro. The Indian lords then tendered
their obeisance in the customary form; after which the royal notary read
aloud the instrument asserting the supremacy of the Castilian Crown, and
requiring the homage of all present to its authority. This address was
explained by an interpreter, and the ceremony of homage was performed
by each one of the parties waving the royal banner of Castile twice or
thrice with his hands. Manco then pledged the Spanish commander in a
golden goblet of the sparkling chicha; and, the latter having cordially
embraced the new monarch, the trumpets announced the conclusion of
the ceremony.1 But it was not the note of triumph, but of humiliation;
for it proclaimed that the armed foot of the stranger was in the halls of
the Peruvian Incas; that the ceremony of coronation was a miserable
pageant; that their prince himself was but a puppet in the hands of his
Conquerors; and that the glory of the Children of the Sun had departed
forever!
Yet the people readily gave in to the illusion, and seemed willing to
accept this image of their ancient independence. The accession of the
young monarch was greeted by all the usual fetes and rejoicings. The
mummies of his royal ancestors, with such ornaments as were still left to
them, were paraded in the great square. They were attended each by his
own numerous retinue, who performed all the menial offices, as if the
object of them were alive and could feel their import. Each ghostly form
took its seat at the banquet-table--now, alas! stripped of the magnificent
service with which it was wont to blaze at these high festivals--and the
guests drank deep to the illustrious dead. Dancing succeeded the
carousal, and the festivities, prolonged to a late hour, were continued
night after night by the giddy population, as if their conquerors had not
been intrenched in the capital!2 --What a contrast to the Aztecs in the
conquest of Mexico!
Pizarro's next concern was to organize a municipal government for
Cuzco, like those in the cities of the parent country. Two alcaldes were
appointed, and eight regidores, among which last functionaries were his
brothers Gonzalo and Juan. The oaths of office were administered with
great solemnity, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1534, in presence both
of Spaniards and Peruvians, in the public square; as if the general were
willing by this ceremony to intimate to the latter, that, while they
retained the semblance of their ancient institutions, the real power was
henceforth vested in their conquerors.3 He invited Spaniards to settle in
the place by liberal grants of land and houses, for which means were
afforded by the numerous palaces and public buildings of the Incas; and
many a cavalier, who had been too poor in his own country to find a
place to rest in, now saw himself the proprietor of a spacious mansion
that might have entertained the retinue of a prince.4 From this time, says
an old chronicler, Pizarro, who had hitherto been distinguished by his
military title of "Captain-General," was addressed by that of "Governor."
5 Both had been bestowed on him by the royal grant.
Nor did the chief neglect the interests of religion. Father Valverde,
whose nomination as Bishop of Cuzco not long afterwards received the
Papal sanction, prepared to enter on the duties of his office. A place was
selected for the cathedral of his diocese, facing the plaza. A spacious
monastery subsequently rose on the ruins of the gorgeous House of the
Sun; its walls were constructed of the ancient stones; the altar was raised
on the spot where shone the bright image of the Peruvian deity, and the
cloisters of the Indian temple were trodden by the friars of St. Dominic.6
To make the metamorphosis more complete, the House of the Virgins of
the Sun was replaced by a Roman Catholic nunnery.7 Christian churches
and monasteries gradually supplanted the ancient edifices, and such of
the latter as were suffered to remain, despoiled of their heathen insignia,
were placed under the protection of the Cross.
The Fathers of St. Dominic, the Brethren of the Order of Mercy, and
other missionaries, now busied themselves in the good work of
conversion. We have seen that Pizarro was required by the Crown to
bring out a certain number of these holy men in his own vessels; and
every succeeding vessel brought an additional reinforcement of
ecclesiastics. They were not all like the Bishop of Cuzco, with hearts so
seared by fanaticism as to be closed against sympathy with the
unfortunate natives.8 They were, many of them, men of singular
humility, who followed in the track of the conqueror to scatter the seeds
of spiritual truth, and, with disinterested zeal, devoted themselves to the
propagation of the Gospel. Thus did their pious labors prove them the
true soldiers of the Cross, and showed that the object so ostentatiously
avowed of carrying its banner among the heathen nations was not an
empty vaunt.
The effort to Christianize the heathen is an honorable characteristic of
the Spanish conquests. The Puritan, with equal religious zeal, did
comparatively little for the conversion of the Indian, content, as it would
seem, with having secured to himself the inestimable privilege of
worshipping God in his own way. Other adventurers who have occupied
the New World have often had too little regard for religion themselves,
to be very solicitous about spreading it among the savages. But the
Spanish missionary, from first to last, has shown a keen interest in the
spiritual welfare of the natives. Under his auspices, churches on a
magnificent scale have been erected, schools for elementary instruction
founded, and every rational means taken to spread the knowledge of
religious truth, while he has carried his solitary mission into remote and
almost inaccessible regions, or gathered his Indian disciples into
communities, like the good Las Casas in Cumana, or the Jesuits in
California and Paraguay. At all times, the courageous ecclesiastic has
been ready to lift his voice against the cruelty of the conqueror, and the
no less wasting cupidity of the colonist; and when his remonstrances, as
was too often the case, have proved unavailing, he has still followed to
bind up the broken-hearted, to teach the poor Indian resignation under
his lot, and light up his dark intellect with the revelation of a holier and
happier existence.--In reviewing the blood-stained records of Spanish
colonial history, it is but fair, and at the same time cheering, to reflect,
that the same nation which sent forth the hard-hearted conqueror from its
bosom sent forth the missionary to do the work of beneficence, and
spread the light of Christian civilization over the farthest regions of the
New World.
While the governor, as we are henceforth to style him, lay at Cuzco, he
received repeated accounts of a considerable force in the neighborhood,
under the command of Atahuallpa's officer, Quizquiz. He accordingly
detached Almagro, with a small body of horse and a large Indian force
under the Inca Manco, to disperse the enemy, and, if possible, to capture
their leader. Manco was the more ready to take part in the expedition, as
the enemy were soldiers of Quito, who, with their commander, bore no
good-will to himself.
Almagro, moving with his characteristic rapidity, was not long in coming
up with the Indian chieftain. Several sharp encounters followed, as the
army of Quito fell back on Xauxa, near which a general engagement
decided the fate of the war by the total discomfiture of the natives.
Quizquiz fled to the elevated plains of Quito, where he still held out with
undaunted spirit against a Spanish force in that quarter, till at length his
own soldiers, wearied by these long and ineffectual hostilities, massacred
their commander in cold blood.9 Thus fell the last of the two great
officers of Atahuallpa, who, if their nation had been animated by a spirit
equal to their own, might long have successfully maintained their soil
against the invader.
Some time before this occurrence, the Spanish governor, while in Cuzco,
received tidings of an event much more alarming to him than any Indian
hostilities. This was the arrival on the coast of a strong Spanish force,
under command of Don Pedro de Alvarado, the gallant officer who had
served under Cortes with such renown in the war of Mexico. That
cavalier, after forming a brilliant alliance in Spain, to which he was
entitled by his birth and military rank, had returned to his government of
Guatemala, where his avarice had been roused by the magnificent reports
he daily received of Pizarro's conquests. These conquests, he learned,
had been confined to Peru; while the northern kingdom of Quito, the
ancient residence of Atahuallpa, and, no doubt, the principal depository
of his treasures, yet remained untouched. Affecting to consider this
country as falling without the governor's jurisdiction, he immediately
turned a large fleet, which he had intended for the Spice Islands, in the
direction of South America; and in March, 1534, he landed in the bay of
Caraques, with five hundred followers, of whom half were mounted, and
all admirably provided with arms and ammunition. It was the best
equipped and the most formidable array that had yet appeared in the
southern seas.10
Although manifestly an invasion of the territory conceded to Pizarro by
the Crown, the reckless cavalier determined to march at once on Quito.
With the assistance of an Indian guide, he proposed to take the direct
route across the mountains, a passage of exceeding difficulty, even at the
most favorable season.
After crossing the Rio Dable, Alvarado's guide deserted him, so that he
was soon entangled in the intricate mazes of the sierra; and, as he rose
higher and higher into the regions of winter, he became surrounded with
ice and snow, for which his men, taken from the warm countries of
Guatemala, were but ill prepared. As the cold grew more intense, many
of them were so benumbed, that it was with difficulty they could
proceed. The infantry, compelled to make exertions, fared best. Many
of the troopers were frozen stiff in their saddles. The Indians, still more
sensible to the cold, perished by hundreds. As the Spaniards huddled
round their wretched bivouacs, with such scanty fuel as they could glean,
and almost without food, they waited in gloomy silence the approach of
morning. Yet the morning light, which gleamed coldly on the cheerless
waste, brought no joy to them. It only revealed more clearly the extent
of their wretchedness. Still struggling on through the winding Puertos
Nevados, or Snowy Passes, their track was dismally marked by
fragments of dress, broken harness, golden ornaments, and other
valuables plundered on their march,--by the dead bodies of men, or by
those less fortunate, who were left to die alone in the wilderness. As for
the horses, their carcasses were not suffered long to cumber the ground,
as they were quickly seized and devoured half raw by the starving
soldiers, who, like the famished condors, now hovering in troops above
their heads, greedily banqueted on the most offensive offal to satisfy the
gnawings of hunger.
Alvarado, anxious to secure the booty which had fallen into his hands at
an earlier part of his march, encouraged every man to take what gold he
wanted from the common heap, reserving only the royal fifth. But they
only answered, with a ghastly smile of derision, "that food was the only
gold for them." Yet in this extremity, which might seem to have
dissolved the very ties of nature, there are some affecting instances
recorded of self-devotion; of comrades who lost their lives in assisting
others, and of parents and husbands (for some of the cavaliers were
accompanied by their wives) who, instead of seeking their own safety,
chose to remain and perish in the snows with the objects of their love.
To add to their distress, the air was filled for several days with thick
clouds of earthy particles and cinders, which blinded the men, and made
respiration exceedingly difficult.11 This phenomenon, it seems
probable, was caused by an eruption of the distant Cotopaxi, which,
about twelve leagues southeast of Quito, rears up its colossal and
perfectly symmetrical cone far above the limits of eternal snow,--the
most beautiful and the most terrible of the American volcanoes.12 At
the time of Alvarado's expedition, it was in a state of eruption, the
earliest instance of the kind on record, though doubtless not the
earliest.13 Since that period, it has been in frequent commotion, sending
up its sheets of flame to the height of half a mile, spouting forth cataracts
of lava that have overwhelmed towns and villages in their career, and
shaking the earth with subterraneous thunders, that, at the distance of
more than a hundred leagues, sounded like the reports of artillery!14
Alvarado's followers, unacquainted with the cause of the phenomenon, as
they wandered over tracts buried in snow,--the sight of which was
strange to them,--in an atmosphere laden with ashes, became bewildered
by this confusion of the elements, which Nature seemed to have
contrived purposely for their destruction. Some of these men were the
soldiers of Cortes, steeled by many a painful march, and many a sharp
encounter with the Aztecs. But this war of the elements, they now
confessed, was mightier than all.
At length, Alvarado, after sufferings, which even the most hardy,
probably, could have endured but a few days longer, emerged from the
Snowy Pass, and came on the elevated table-land, which spreads out, at
the height of more than nine thousand feet above the ocean, in the
neighborhood of Riobamba. But one fourth of his gallant army had been
left to feed the condor in the wilderness, besides the greater part, at least
two thousand, of his Indian auxiliaries. A great number of his horses,
too, had perished; and the men and horses that escaped were all of them
more or less injured by the cold and the extremity of suffering.--Such
was the terrible passage of the Puertos Nevados, which I have only
briefly noticed as an episode to the Peruvian conquest, but the account of
which, in all its details, though it occupied but a few weeks in duration,
would give one a better idea of the difficulties encountered by the
Spanish cavaliers, than volumes of ordinary narrative.15
As Alvarado, after halting some time to restore his exhausted troops,
began his march across the broad plateau, he was astonished by seeing
the prints of horses' hoofs on the soil. Spaniards, then, had been there
before him, and, after all his toil and suffering, others had forestalled him
in the enterprise against Quito! It is necessary to say a few words in
explanation of this.
When Pizarro quilted Caxamalca, being sensible of the growing
importance of San Miguel, the only port of entry then in the country, he
despatched a person in whom he had great confidence to take charge of
it. This person was Sebastian Benalcazar, a cavalier who afterwards
placed his name in the first rank of the South American conquerors, for
courage, capacity,--and cruelty. But this cavalier had hardly reached his
government, when, like Alvarado, he received such accounts of the
riches of Quito, that he determined, with the force at his command,
though without orders, to undertake its reduction.
At the head of about a hundred and forty soldiers, horse and foot, and a
stout body of Indian auxiliaries, he marched up the broad range of the
Andes, to where it spreads out into the table-land of Quito, by a road
safer and more expeditious than that taken by Alvarado. On the plains of
Riobamba, he encountered the Indian general Ruminavi. Several
engagements followed, with doubtful success, when, in the end, science
prevailed where courage was well matched, and the victorious
Benalcazar planted the standard of Castile on the ancient towers of
Atahuallpa. The city, in honor of his general, Francis Pizarro, he named
San Francisco del Quito. But great was his mortification on finding that
either the stories of its riches had been fabricated, or that these riches
were secreted by the natives. The city was all that he gained by his
victories,--the shell without the pearl of price which gave it its value.
While devouring his chagrin, as he best could, the Spanish captain
received tidings of the approach of his superior, Almagro.16
No sooner had the news of Alvarado's expedition reached Cuzco, than
Almagro left the place with a small force for San Miguel, proposing to
strengthen himself by a reinforcement from that quarter, and to march at
once against the invaders. Greatly was he astonished, on his arrival in
that city, to learn the departure of its commander. Doubting the loyalty
of his motives, Almagro, with the buoyancy of spirit which belongs to
youth, though in truth somewhat enfeebled by the infirmities of age, did
not hesitate to follow Benalcazar at once across the mountains.
With his wonted energy, the intrepid veteran, overcoming all the
difficulties of his march, in a few weeks placed himself and his little
company on the lofty plains which spread around the Indian city of
Riobamba; though in his progress he had more than one hot encounter
with the natives, whose courage and perseverance formed a contrast
sufficiently striking to the apathy of the Peruvians. But the fire only
slumbered in the bosom of the Peruvian. His hour had not yet come.
At Riobamba, Almagro was soon joined by the commander of San
Miguel, who disclaimed, perhaps sincerely, any disloyal intent in his
unauthorized expedition. Thus reinforced, the Spanish captain coolly
awaited the coming of Alvarado. The forces of the latter, though in a
less serviceable condition, were much superior in number and
appointments to those of his rival. As they confronted each other on the
broad plains of Riobamba, it seemed probable that a fierce struggle must
immediately follow, and the natives of the country have the satisfaction
to see their wrongs avenged by the very hands that inflicted them. But it
was Almagro's policy to avoid such an issue.
Negotiations were set on foot, in which each party stated his claims to
the country. Meanwhile Alvarado's men mingled freely with their
countrymen in the opposite army, and heard there such magnificent
reports of the wealth and wonders of Cuzco, that many of them were
inclined to change their present service for that of Pizarro. Their own
leader, too, satisfied that Quito held out no recompense worth the
sacrifices he had made, and was like to make, by insisting on his claim,
became now more sensible of the rashness of a course which must
doubtless incur the censure of his sovereign. In this temper, it was not
difficult for them to effect an adjustment of difficulties; and it was
agreed, as the basis of it, that the governor should pay one hundred
thousand pesos de oro to Alvarado, in consideration of which the latter
was to resign to him his fleet, his forces, and all his stores and munitions.
His vessels, great and small, amounted to twelve in number, and the sum
he received, though large, did not cover his expenses. This treaty being
settled, Alvarado proposed, before leaving the country, to have an
interview with Pizarro.17
The governor, meanwhile, had quitted the Peruvian capital for the
seacoast, from his desire to repel any invasion that might be attempted in
that direction by Alvarado, with whose real movements he was still
unacquainted. He left Cuzco in charge of his brother Juan, a cavalier
whose manners were such as, he thought, would be likely to gain the
good-will of the native population. Pizarro also left ninety of his troops,
as the garrison of the capital, and the nucleus of his future colony. Then,
taking the Inca Manco with him, he proceeded as far as Xauxa. At this
place he was entertained by the Indian prince with the exhibition of a
great national hunt,--such as has been already described in these pages,--
in which immense numbers of wild animals were slaughtered, and the
vicunas, and other races of Peruvian sheep, which roam over the
mountains, driven into inclosures and relieved of their delicate fleeces.18
The Spanish governor then proceeded to Pachacamac, where he received
the grateful intelligence of the accommodation with Alvarado; and not
long afterward he was visited by that cavalier himself, previously to his
embarkation.
The meeting was conducted with courtesy and a show, at least, of
goodwill, on both sides, as there was no longer real cause for jealousy
between the parties; and each, as may be imagined, looked on the other
with no little interest, as having achieved such distinction in the bold
path of adventure. In the comparison, Alvarado had somewhat the
advantage; for Pizarro, though of commanding presence, had not the
brilliant exterior, the free and joyous manner, which, no less than his
fresh complexion and sunny locks, had won for the conqueror of
Guatemala, in his campaigns against the Aztecs, the sobriquet of
Tonatiuh, or "Child of the Sun."
Blithe were the revels that now rang through the ancient city of
Pachacamac; where, instead of songs, and of the sacrifices so often seen
there in honor of the Indian deity, the walls echoed to the noise of
tourneys and Moorish tilts of reeds, with which the martial adventurers
loved to recall the sports of their native land. When these were
concluded, Alvarado reembarked for his government of Guatemala,
where his restless spirit soon involved him in other enterprises that cut
short his adventurous career. His expedition to Peru was eminently
characteristic of the man. It was founded in injustice, conducted with
rashness, and ended in disaster.19
The reduction of Peru might now be considered as, in a manner,
accomplished. Some barbarous tribes in the interior, it is true, still held
out, and Alonso de Alvarado, a prudent and able officer, was employed
to bring them into subjection. Benalcazar was still at Quito, of which he
was subsequently appointed governor by the Crown. There he was
laying deeper the foundation of the Spanish power, while he advanced
the line of conquest still higher towards the north. But Cuzco, the
ancient capital of the Indian monarchy, had submitted. The armies of
Atahuallpa had been beaten and scattered. The empire of the Incas was
dissolved; and the prince who now wore the Peruvian diadem was but
the shadow of a king, who held his commission from his conqueror.
The first act of the governor was to determine on the site of the future
capital of this vast colonial empire. Cuzco, withdrawn among the
mountains, was altogether too far removed from the sea-coast for a
commercial people. The little settlement of San Miguel lay too far to the
north. It was desirable to select some more central position, which could
be easily found in one of the fruitful valleys that bordered the Pacific.
Such was that of Pachacamac, which Pizarro now occupied. But, on
further examination, he preferred the neighboring valley of Rimac, which
lay to the north, and which took its name, signifying in the Qhichua
tongue "one who speaks," from a celebrated idol, whose shrine was
much frequented by the Indians for the oracles it delivered. Through the
valley flowed a broad stream, which, like a great artery, was made, as
usual by the natives, to supply a thousand finer veins that meandered
through the beautiful meadows.
On this river Pizarro fixed the site of his new capital, at somewhat less
than two leagues' distance from its mouth, which expanded into a
commodious haven for the commerce that the prophetic eye of the
founder saw would one day--and no very distant one---float on its waters.
The central situation of the spot recommended it as a suitable residence
for the Peruvian viceroy, whence he might hold easy communication
with the different parts of the country, and keep vigilant watch over his
Indian vassals. The climate was delightful, and, though only twelve
degrees south of the line, was so far tempered by the cool breezes that
generally blow from the Pacific, or from the opposite quarter down the
frozen sides of the Cordilleras, that the heat was less than in
corresponding latitudes on the continent. It never rained on the coast;
but this dryness was corrected by a vaporous cloud, which, through the
summer months, hung like a curtain over the valley, sheltering it from the
rays of a tropical sun, and imperceptibly distilling a refreshing moisture,
that clothed the fields in the brightest verdure.
The name bestowed on the infant capital was Ciudad de los Reyes, or
City of the Kings, in honor of the day, being the sixth of January, 1535, -
-the festival of Epiphany,--when it was said to have been founded, or
more probably when its site was determined, as its actual foundation
seems to have been twelve days later.20 But the Castilian name ceased
to be used even within the first generation, and was supplanted by that of
Lima, into which the original Indian name of Rimac was corrupted by the
Spaniards.21
The city was laid out on a very regular plan. The streets were to be
much wider than usual in Spanish towns, and perfectly straight, crossing
one another at right angles, and so far asunder as to afford ample space
for gardens to the dwellings, and for public squares. It was arranged in a
triangular form, having the river for its base, the waters of which were to
be carried, by means of stone conduits, through all the principal streets,
affording facilities for irrigating the grounds around the houses.
No sooner had the governor decided on the site and on the plan of the
city, than he commenced operations with his characteristic energy. The
Indians were collected from the distance of more than a hundred miles to
aid in the work. The Spaniards applied themselves with vigor to the
task, under the eye of their chief. The sword was exchanged for the tool
of the artisan. The camp was converted into a hive of diligent laborers;
and the sounds of war were succeeded by the peaceful hum of a busy
population. The plaza, which was extensive, was to be surrounded by
the cathedral, the palace of the viceroy, that of the municipality, and
other public buildings; and their foundations were laid on a scale, and
with a solidity, which defied the assaults of time, and, in some instances,
even the more formidable shock of earthquakes, that, at different periods,
have laid portions of the fair capital in ruins.22
While these events were going on, Almagro, the Marshal, as he is usually
termed by chroniclers of the time, had gone to Cuzco, whither he was
sent by Pizarro to take command of that capital. He received also
instructions to undertake, either by himself or by his captains, the
conquest of the countries towards the south, forming part of Chili.
Almagro, since his arrival at Caxamalca, had seemed willing to smother
his ancient feelings of resentment towards his associate, or, at least, to
conceal the expression of them, and had consented to take command
under him in obedience to the royal mandate. He had even, in his
despatches, the magnanimity to make honorable mention of Pizarro, as
one anxious to promote the interests of government. Yet he did not so
far trust his companion, as to neglect the precaution of sending a
confidential agent to represent his own services, when Hernando Pizarro
undertook his mission to the mother-country.
That cavalier, after touching at St. Domingo, had arrived without
accident at Seville, in January, 1534. Besides the royal fifth, he took
with him gold, to the value of half a million of pesos, together with a
large quantity of silver, the property of private adventurers, some of
whom, satisfied with their gains, had returned to Spain in the same vessel
with himself. The custom-house was filled with solid ingots, and with
vases of different forms, imitations of animals, flowers, fountains, and
other objects, executed with more or less skill, and all of pure gold, to
the astonishment of the spectators, who flocked from the neighboring
country to gaze on these marvellous productions of Indian art.23 Most
of the manufactured articles were the property of the Crown; and
Hernando Pizarro, after a short stay at Seville, selected some of the most
gorgeous specimens, and crossed the country to Calatayud, where the
emperor was holding the cortes of Aragon.
Hernando was instantly admitted to the royal presence, and obtained a
gracious audience. He was more conversant with courts than either of
his brothers, and his manners, when in situations that imposed a restraint
on the natural arrogance of his temper, were graceful and even attractive,
In a respectful tone, he now recited the stirring adventures of his brother
and his little troop of followers, the fatigues they had endured, the
difficulties they had overcome, their capture of the Peruvian Inca, and
his magnificent ransom. He had not to tell of the massacre of the
unfortunate prince, for that tragic event, which had occurred since his
departure from the country, was still unknown to him. The cavalier
expatiated on the productiveness of the soil, and on the civilization of the
people, evinced by their proficiency in various mechanic arts; in proof of
which he displayed the manufactures of wool and cotton, and the rich
ornaments of gold and silver. The monarch's eyes sparkled with delight
as he gazed on these last. He was too sagacious not to appreciate the
advantages of a conquest which secured to him a country so rich in
agricultural resources. But the returns from these must necessarily be
gradual and long deferred; and he may be excused for listening with still
greater satisfaction to Pizarro's tales of its mineral stores; for his
ambitious projects had drained the imperial treasury, and he saw in the
golden tide thus unexpectedly poured in upon him the immediate means
of replenishing it.
Charles made no difficulty, therefore, in granting the petitions of the
fortunate adventurer. All the previous grants to Francis Pizarro and his
associates were confirmed in the fullest manner; and the boundaries of
the governor's jurisdiction were extended seventy leagues further
towards the south. Nor did Almagro's services, this time, go unrequited.
He was empowered to discover and occupy the country for the distance
of two hundred leagues, beginning at the southern limit of Pizarro's
territory.24 Charles, in proof, still further, of his satisfaction, was
graciously pleased to address a letter to the two commanders, in which
he complimented them on their prowess, and thanked them for their
services. This act of justice to Almagro would have been highly
honorable to Hernando Pizarro, considering the unfriendly relations in
which they stood to each other, had it not been made necessary by the
presence of the marshal's own agents at court, who, as already noticed,
stood ready to supply any deficiency in the statements of the emissary.
In this display of the royal bounty, the envoy, as will readily be believed,
did not go without his reward. He was lodged as an attendant of the
Court; was made a knight of Santiago, the most prized of the chivalric
orders in Spain; was empowered to equip an armament, and to take
command of it; and the royal officers at Seville were required to aid him
in his views and facilitate his embarkation for the Indies.25
The arrival of Hernando Pizarro in the country, and the reports spread by
him and his followers, created a sensation among the Spaniards such as
had not been felt since the first voyage of Columbus. The discovery of
the New World had filled the minds of men with indefinite expectations
of wealth, of which almost every succeeding expedition had proved the
fallacy. The conquest of Mexico, though calling forth general
admiration as a brilliant and wonderful exploit, had as yet failed to
produce those golden results which had been so fondly anticipated. The
splendid promises held out by Francis Pizarro on his recent visit to the
country had not revived the confidence of his countrymen, made
incredulous by repeated disappointment. All that they were assured of
was the difficulties of the enterprise; and their distrust of its results was
sufficiently shown by the small number of followers, and those only of
the most desperate stamp, who were willing to take their chance in the
adventure.
But now these promises were realized. It was no longer the golden
reports that they were to trust; but the gold itself, which was displayed in
such profusion before them. All eyes were now turned towards the West.
The broken spendthrift saw in it the quarter where he was to repair his
fortunes as speedily as he had ruined them. The merchant, instead of
seeking the precious commodities of the East, looked in the opposite
direction, and counted on far higher gains, where the most common
articles of life commanded so exorbitant prices. The cavalier, eager to
win both gold and glory at the point of his lance, thought to find a fair
field for his prowess on the mountain plains of the Andes. Ferdinand
Pizarro found that his brother had judged rightly in allowing as many of
his company as chose to return home, confident that the display of their
wealth would draw ten to his banner for every one that quitted it.
In a short time that cavalier saw himself at the head of one of the most
numerous and well-appointed armaments, probably, that had left the
shores of Spain since the great fleet of Ovando, in the time of Ferdinand
and Isabella. It was scarcely more fortunate that this. Hardly had
Ferdinand put to sea, when a violent tempest fell on the squadron, and
compelled him to return to port and refit. At length he crossed the
ocean, and reached the little harbor of Nombre de Dios in safety. But no
preparations had been made for his coming, and, as he was detained here
some time before he could pass the mountains, his company suffered
greatly from scarcity of food. In their extremity, the most unwholesome
articles were greedily devoured, and many a cavalier spent his little
savings to procure himself a miserable subsistence. Disease, as usual,
trod closely in the track of famine, and numbers of the unfortunate
adventurers, sinking under the unaccustomed heats of the climate,
perished on the very threshold of discovery.
It was the tale often repeated in the history of Spanish enterprise. A few,
more lucky than the rest, stumble on some unexpected prize, and
hundreds, attracted by their success, press forward in the same path. But
the rich spoil which lay on the surface has been already swept away by
the first comers, and those who follow are to win their treasure by long-
protracted and painful exertion.--Broken in spirit and in fortune, many
returned in disgust to their native shores, while others remained where
they were, to die in despair. They thought to dig for gold; but they dug
only their graves.
Yet it fared not thus with all Pizarro's company. Many of them, crossing
the Isthmus with him to Panama, came in time to Peru, where, in the
desperate chances of its revolutionary struggles, some few arrived at
posts of profit and distinction. Among those who first reached the
Peruvian shore was an emissary sent by Almagro's agents to inform him
of the important grant made to him by the Crown. The tidings reached
him just as he was making his entry into Cuzco, where he was received
with all respect by Juan and Gonzalo Pizarro, who, in obedience to their
brother's commands, instantly resigned the government of the capital into
the marshal's hands. But Almagro was greatly elated on finding himself
now placed by his sovereign in a command that made him independent
of the man who had so deeply wronged him; and he intimated that in the
exercise of his present authority he acknowledged no superior. In this
lordly humor he was confirmed by several of his followers, who insisted
that Cuzco fell to the south of the territory ceded to Pizarro, and
consequently came within that now granted to the marshal. Among
these followers were several of Alvarado's men, who, though of better
condition than the soldiers of Pizarro, were under much worse discipline,
and had acquired, indeed, a spirit of unbridled license under that
unscrupulous chief.26 They now evinced little concern for the native
population of Cuzco; and, not content with the public edifices, seized on
the dwellings of individuals, where it suited their conveniences,
appropriating their contents without ceremony,--showing as little respect,
in short, for person or property, as if the place had been taken by
storm.27
While these events were passing in the ancient Peruvian capital, the
governor was still at Lima, where he was greatly disturbed by the
accounts he received of the new honors conferred on his associate. He
did not know that his own jurisdiction had been extended seventy
leagues further to the south, and he entertained the same suspicion with
Almagro, that the capital of the Incas did not rightly come within his
present limits. He saw all the mischief likely to result from this opulent
city falling into the hands of his rival, who would thus have an almost in
definite means of gratifying his own cupidity, and that of his followers.
He felt, that, under the present circumstances, it was not safe to allow
Almagro to anticipate the possession of power, to which, as yet, he had
no legitimate right; for the despatches containing the warrant for it still
remained with Hernando Pizarro, at Panama, and all that had reached
Peru was a copy of a garbled extract.
Without loss of time, therefore, he sent instructions to Cuzco for his
brothers to resume the government, while he defended the measure to
Almagro on the ground, that, when he should hereafter receive his
credentials, it would be unbecoming to be found already in possession of
the post. He concluded by urging him to go forward without delay in his
expedition to the south.
But neither the marshal nor his friends were pleased with the idea of so
soon relinquishing the authority which they now considered as his right.
The Pizarros, on the other hand, were pertinacious in reclaiming it. The
dispute grew warmer and warmer. Each party had its supporters; the city
was split into factions; and the municipality, the soldiers, and even the
Indian population, took sides in the struggle for power. Matters were
proceeding to extremity, menacing the capital with violence and
bloodshed, when Pizarro himself appeared among them.28
On receiving tidings of the fatal consequences of his mandates, he had
posted in all haste to Cuzco, where he was greeted with undisguised joy
by the natives, as well as by the more temperate Spaniards, anxious to
avert the impending storm. The governor's first interview was with
Almagro, whom he embraced with a seeming cordiality in his manner;
and, without any show of resentment, inquired into the cause of the
present disturbances. To this the marshal replied, by throwing the blame
on Pizarro's brothers; but, although the governor reprimanded them with
some asperity for their violence, it was soon evident that his sympathies
were on their side, and the dangers of a feud between the two associates
seemed greater than ever. Happily, it was postponed by the intervention
of some common friends, who showed more discretion than their leaders.
With their aid a reconciliation was at length effected, on the grounds
substantially of their ancient compact.
It was agreed that their friendship should be maintained inviolate; and,
by a stipulation that reflects no great credit on the parties, it was
provided that neither should malign nor disparage the other, especially in
their despatches to the emperor; and that neither should hold
communication with the government without the knowledge of his
confederate; lastly, that both the expenditures and the profits of future
discovery should be shared equally by the associates. The wrath of
Heaven was invoked by the most solemn imprecations on the head of
whichever should violate this compact, and the Almighty was implored
to visit the offender with loss of property and of life in this world, and
with eternal perdition in that to come! 29 The parties further bound
themselves to the observance of this contract by a solemn oath taken on
the sacrament, as it was held in the hands of Father Bartolome de
Segovia, who concluded the ceremony by performing mass. The whole
proceeding, and the articles of agreement, were carefully recorded by the
notary, in an instrument bearing date June 12, 1535, and attested by a
long list of witnesses.30
Thus did these two ancient comrades, after trampling on the ties of
friendship and honor, hope to knit themselves to each other by the holy
bands of religion. That it should have been necessary to resort to so
extraordinary a measure might have furnished them with the best proof
of its inefficacy.
Not long after this accommodation of their differences, the marshal
raised his standard for Chili; and numbers, won by his popular manners,
and by his liberal largesses,--liberal to prodigality,--eagerly joined in the
enterprise, which they fondly trusted would lead even to greater riches
than they had found in Peru. Two Indians, Paullo Topa, a brother of the
Inca Manco, and Villac Umu, the high-priest of the nation, were sent in
advance, with three Spaniards, to prepare the way for the little army. A
detachment of a hundred and fifty men, under an officer named
Saavedra, next followed. Almagro remained behind to collect further
recruits; but before his levies were completed, he began his march,
feeling himself insecure, with his diminished strength, in the
neighborhood of Pizarro! 31 The remainder of his forces, when
mustered, were to follow him.
Thus relieved of the presence of his rival, the governor returned without
further delay to the coast, to resume his labors in the settlement of the
country. Besides the principal city of "The Kings," he established others
along the Pacific, destined to become hereafter the flourishing marts of
commerce. The most important of these, in honor of his birthplace, he
named Truxillo, planting it on a site already indicated by Almagro.32
He made also numerous repartimientos both of lands and Indians among
his followers, in the usual manner of the Spanish Conquerors; 33--though
here the ignorance of the real resources of the country led to very
different results from what he had intended, as the territory smallest in
extent, not unfrequently, from the hidden treasures in its bosom, turned
out greatest in value.34
But nothing claimed so much of Pizarro's care as the rising metropolis of
Lima; and, so eagerly did he press forward the work, and so well was he
seconded by the multitude of laborers at his command, that he had the
satisfaction to see his young capital, with its stately edifices and its pomp
of gardens, rapidly advancing towards completion. It is pleasing to
contemplate the softer features in the character of the rude soldier, as he
was thus occupied with healing up the ravages of war, and laying broad
the foundations of an empire more civilized than that which he had
overthrown. This peaceful occupation formed a contrast to the life of
incessant turmoil in which he had been hitherto engaged. It seemed, too,
better suited to his own advancing age, which naturally invited to repose.
And, if we may trust his chroniclers, there was no part of his career in
which he took greater satisfaction. It is certain there is no part which has
been viewed with greater satisfaction by posterity; and, amidst the woe
and desolation which Pizarro and his followers brought on the devoted
land of the Incas, Lima, the beautiful City of the Kings, still survives as
the most glorious work of his creation, the fairest gem on the shores of
the Pacific.
Book 3
Chapter 10
Escape Of The Inca--Return Of Hernando Pizarro-
Rising Of The Peruvians--Siege And Burning Of Cuzco-
Distresses Of The Spaniards--Storming Of The Fortress-
Pizarro's Dismay--The Inca Raises The Siege
1535--1536
While the absence of his rival Almagro relieved Pizarro from all
immediate disquietude from that quarter, his authority was menaced in
another, where he had least expected it. This was from the native
population of the country. Hitherto the Peruvians had shown only a tame
and submissive temper, that inspired their conquerors with too much
contempt to leave room for apprehension. They had passively
acquiesced in the usurpation of the invaders; had seen one monarch
butchered, another placed on the vacant throne, their temples despoiled
of their treasures, their capital and country appropriated and parcelled
out among the Spaniards; but, with the exception of an occasional
skirmish in the mountain passes, not a blow had been struck in defence
of their rights. Yet this was the warlike nation which had spread its
conquests over so large a part of the continent!
In his career, Pizarro, though he scrupled at nothing to effect his object,
had not usually countenanced such superfluous acts of cruelty as had too
often stained the arms of his countrymen in other parts of the continent,
and which, in the course of a few years, had exterminated nearly a whole
population in Hispaniola. He had struck one astounding blow, by the
seizure of Atahuallpa; and he seemed willing to rely on this to strike
terror into the natives. He even affected some respect for the institutions
of the country, and had replaced the monarch he had murdered by
another of the legitimate line. Yet this was but a pretext. The kingdom
had experienced a revolution of the most decisive kind. Its ancient
institutions were subverted. Its heaven-descended aristocracy was
levelled almost to the condition of the peasant. The people became the
serfs of the Conquerors. Their dwellings in the capital---at least, after
the arrival of Alvarado's officers--were seized and appropriated. The
temples were turned into stables; the royal residences into barracks for
the troops. The sanctity of the religious houses was violated. Thousands
of matrons and maidens, who, however erroneous their faith, lived in
chaste seclusion in the conventual establishments, were now turned
inroad, and became the prey of a licentious soldiery.1 A favorite wife of
the young Inca was debauched by the Castilian officers. The Inca,
himself treated with contemptuous indifference, found that he was a poor
dependant, if not a tool, in the hands of his conquerors.2
Yet the Inca Manco was a man of a lofty spirit and a courageous heart;
such a one as might have challenged comparison with the bravest of his
ancestors in the prouder days of the empire. Stung to the quick by the
humiliations to which he was exposed, he repeatedly urged Pizarro to
restore him to the real exercise of power, as well as to the show of it.
But Pizarro evaded a request so incompatible with his own ambitious
schemes, or, indeed, with the policy of Spain, and the young Inca and his
nobles were left to brood over their injuries in secret, and await patiently
the hour of vengeance.
The dissensions among the Spaniards themselves seemed to afford a
favorable opportunity for this. The Peruvian chiefs held many
conferences together on the subject, and the high-priest Villac Umu
urged the necessity of a rising so soon as Almagro had withdrawn his
forces from the city. It would then be comparatively easy, by assaulting
the invaders on their several posts, scattered as they were over the
country, to overpower them by superior numbers, and shake off their
detested yoke before the arrival of fresh reinforcements should rivet it
forever on the necks of his countrymen. A plan for a general rising was
formed, and it was in conformity to it that the priest was selected by the
Inca to bear Almagro company on the march, that he might secure the
cooperation of the natives in the country, and then secretly return--as in
fact he did--to take a part in the insurrection.
To carry their plans into effect, it became necessary that the Inca Manco
should leave the city and present himself among his people. He found no
difficulty in withdrawing from Cuzco, where his presence was scarcely
heeded by the Spaniards, as his nominal power was held in little
deference by the haughty and confident Conquerors. But in the capital
there was a body of Indian allies more jealous of his movements. These
were from the tribe of the Canares, a warlike race of the north, too
recently reduced by the Incas to have much sympathy with them or their
institutions. There were about a thousand of this people in the place,
and, as they had conceived some suspicion of the Inca's purposes, they
kept an eye on his movements, and speedily reported his absence to Juan
Pizarro.
That cavalier, at the head of a small body of horse, instantly marched in
pursuit of the fugitive, whom he was so fortunate as to discover in a
thicket of reeds, in which he sought to conceal himself, at no great
distance from the city. Manco was arrested, brought back a prisoner to
Cuzco, and placed under a strong guard in the fortress. The conspiracy
seemed now at an end; and nothing was left to the unfortunate Peruvians
but to bewail their ruined hopes, and to give utterance to their
disappointment in doleful ballads, which rehearsed the captivity of their
Inca, and the downfall of his royal house.3
While these things were in progress, Hernando Pizarro returned to
Ciudad de los Reyes, bearing with him the royal commission for the
extension of his brother's powers, as well as of those conceded to
Almagro. The envoy also brought the royal patent conferring on
Francisco Pizarro the title of marques de los Atavillos,--a province in
Peru. Thus was the fortunate adventurer placed in the ranks of the proud
aristocracy of Castile, few of whose members could boast--if they had
the courage to boast --their elevation from so humble an origin, as still
fewer could justify it by a show of greater services to the Crown.
The new marquess resolved not to forward the commission, at present, to
the marshal, whom he designed to engage still deeper in the conquest of
Chili, that his attention might be diverted from Cuzco which, however,
his brother assured him, now fell, without doubt, within the newly
extended limits of his own territory. To make more sure of this
important prize, he despatched Hernando to take the government of the
capital into his own hands, as the one of his brothers on whose talents
and practical experience he placed greatest reliance.
Hernando, notwithstanding his arrogant bearing towards his countrymen,
had ever manifested a more than ordinary sympathy with the Indians. He
had been the friend of Atahuallpa; to such a degree, indeed, that it was
said, if he had been in the camp at the time, the fate of that unhappy
monarch would probably have been averted. He now showed a similar
friendly disposition towards his successor, Manco. He caused the
Peruvian prince to be liberated from confinement, and gradually
admitted him into some intimacy with himself. The crafty Indian availed
himself of his freedom to mature his plans for the rising, but with so
much caution, that no suspicion of them crossed the mind of Hernando.
Secrecy and silence are characteristic of the American, almost as
invariably as the peculiar color of his skin. Manco disclosed to his
conqueror the existence of several heaps of treasure, and the places
where they had been secreted; and, when he had thus won his
confidence, he stimulated his cupidity still further by an account of a
statue of pure gold of his father Huayna Capac, which the wily Peruvian
requested leave to bring from a secret cave in which it was deposited,
among the neighboring Andes. Hernando, blinded by his avarice,
consented to the Inca's departure.
He sent with him two Spanish soldiers, less as a guard than to aid him in
the object of his expedition. A week elapsed, and yet he did not return,
nor were there any tidings to be gathered of him. Hernando now saw his
error, especially as his own suspicions were confirmed by the
unfavorable reports of his Indian allies. Without further delay, he
despatched his brother Juan, at the head of sixty horse, in quest of the
Peruvian prince, with orders to bring him back once more a prisoner to
his capital.
That cavalier, with his well-armed troops, soon traversed the environs of
Cuzco without discovering any vestige of the fugitive. The country was
remarkably silent and deserted, until, as he approached the mountain
range that hems in the valley of Yucay, about six leagues from the city,
he was met by the two Spaniards who had accompanied Manco. They
informed Pizarro that it was only at the point of the sword he could
recover the Inca, for the country was all in arms, and the Peruvian chief
at its head was preparing to march on the capital. Yet he had offered no
violence to their persons, but had allowed them to return in safety.
The Spanish captain found this story fully confirmed when he arrived at
the river Yucay, on the opposite bank of which were drawn up the Indian
battalions to the number of many thousand men, who, with their young
monarch at their head, prepared to dispute his passage. It seemed that
they could not feel their position sufficiently strong, without placing a
river, as usual, between them and their enemy. The Spaniards were not
checked by this obstacle. The stream, though deep, was narrow; and
plunging in, they swam their horses boldly across, amidst a tempest of
stones and arrows that rattled thick as hail on their harness, finding
occasionally some crevice or vulnerable point,--although the wounds
thus received only goaded them to more desperate efforts. The
barbarians fell back as the cavaliers made good their landing; but,
without allowing the latter time to form, they returned with a spirit which
they had hitherto seldom displayed, and enveloped them on all sides with
their greatly superior numbers. The fight now raged fiercely. Many of
the Indians were armed with lances headed with copper tempered almost
to the hardness of steel, and with huge maces and battle-axes of the same
metal. Their defensive armour, also, was in many respects excellent,
consisting of stout doublets of quilted cotton. shields covered with skins,
and casques richly ornamented with gold and jewels, or sometimes made
like those of the Mexicans, in the fantastic shape of the heads of wild
animals, garnished with rows of teeth that grinned horribly above the
visage of the warrior.4 The whole army wore an aspect of martial
ferocity, under the control of much higher military discipline than the
Spaniards had before seen in the country.
The little band of cavaliers, shaken by the fury of the Indian assault, were
thrown at first into some disorder, but at length, cheering on one another
with the old war-cry of "St. Jago," they formed in solid column, and
charged boldly into the thick of the enemy. The latter, incapable of
withstanding the shock, gave way, or were trampled down under the feet
of the horses, or pierced by the lances of the riders. Yet their flight was
conducted with some order; and they turned at intervals, to let off a
volley of arrows, or to deal furious blows with their pole-axes and
warclubs. They fought as if conscious that they were under the eye of
their Inca.
It was evening before they had entirely quitted the level ground, and
withdrawn into the fastnesses of the lofty range of hills which belt round
the beautiful valley of Yucay. Juan Pizarro and his little troop encamped
on the level at the base of the mountains. He had gained a victory, as
usual, over immense odds; but he had never seen a field so well disputed,
and his victory had cost him the lives of several men and horses, while
many more had been wounded, and were nearly disabled by the fatigues
of the day. But he trusted the severe lesson he had inflicted on the
enemy, whose slaughter was great, would crush the spirit of resistance.
He was deceived.
The following morning, great was his dismay to see the passes of the
mountains filled up with dark lines of warriors, stretching as far as the
eye could penetrate into the depths of the sierra, while dense masses of
the enemy were gathered like thunder-clouds along the slopes and
sumrafts, as if ready to pour down in fury on the assailants. The ground,
altogether unfavorable to the manoeuvres of cavalry, gave every
advantage to the Peruvians, who rolled down huge rocks from their
elevated position, and sent off incessant showers of missiles on the heads
of the Spaniards. Juan Pizarro did not care to entangle himself further in
the perilous defile; and, though he repeatedly charged the enemy, and
drove them back with considerable loss, the second night found him with
men and horses wearied and wounded, and as little advanced in the
object of his expedition as on the preceding evening. From this
embarrassing position, after a day or two more spent in unprofitable
hostilities, he was surprised by a summons from his brother to return
with all expedition to Cuzco, which was now besieged by the enemy!
Without delay, he began his retreat, recrossed the valley, the recent scene
of slaughter, swam the river Yucay, and, by a rapid countermarch,
closely followed by the victorious enemy, who celebrated their success
with songs or rather yells of triumph, he arrived before nightfall in sight
of the capital.
But very different was the sight which there met his eye from what he
had beheld on leaving it a few days before. The extensive environs, as
far as the eye could reach, were occupied by a mighty host, which an
indefinite computation swelled to the number of two hundred thousand
warriors.5 The dusky lines of the Indian battalions stretched out to the
very verge of the mountains; while, all around, the eye saw only the
crests and waving banners of chieftains, mingled with rich panoplies of
feather-work, which reminded some few who had served under Cortes of
the military costume of the Aztecs. Above all rose a forest of long lances
and battle-axes edged with copper, which, tossed to and fro in wild
confusion, glittered in the rays of the setting sun, like light playing on the
surface of a dark and troubled ocean. It was the first time that the
Spaniards had beheld an Indian army in all its terrors; such an army as
the Incas led to battle, when the banner of the Sun was borne triumphant
over the land.
Yet the bold hearts of the cavaliers, if for a moment dismayed by the
sight, soon gathered courage as they closed up their files, and prepared to
open a way for themselves through the beleaguering host. But the enemy
seemed to shun the encounter; and, falling back at their approach, left a
free entrance into the capital. The Peruvians were, probably, not willing
to draw as many victims as they could into the toils, conscious that, the
greater the number, the sooner they would become sensible to the
approaches of famine.6
Hernando Pizarro greeted his brother with no little satisfaction; for he
brought an important addition to his force, which now, when all were
united, did not exceed two hundred, horse and foot,7 besides a thousand
Indian auxiliaries; an insignificant number, in comparison with the
countless multitudes that were swarming at the gates. That night was
passed by the Spaniards with feelings of the deepest anxiety, as they
looked forward with natural apprehension to the morrow. It was early in
February, 1536, when the siege of Cuzco commenced; a siege
memorable as calling out the most heroic displays of Indian and
European valor, and bringing the two races in deadlier conflict with each
other than had yet occurred in the conquest of Peru.
The numbers of the enemy seemed no less formidable during the night
than by the light of day; far and wide their watch-fires were to be seen
gleaming over valley and hill-top, as thickly scattered, says an
eyewitness, as "the stars of heaven in a cloudless summer night." 8
Before these fires had become pale in the light of the morning, the
Spaniards were roused by the hideous clamor of conch, trumpet, and
atabal, mingled with the fierce war-cries of the barbarians, as they let off
volleys of missiles of every description, most of which fell harmless
within the city. But others did more serious execution. These were
burning arrows, and redhot stones wrapped in cotton that had been
steeped in some bituminous substance, which, scattered long trains of
light through the air, fell on the roofs of the buildings, and speedily set
them on fire.9 These roofs, even of the better sort of edifices, were
uniformly of thatch, and were ignited as easily as tinder. In a moment
the flames burst forth from the most opposite quarters of the city. They
quickly communicated to the wood-work in the interior of the buildings,
and broad sheets of flame mingled with smoke rose up towards the
heavens, throwing a fearful glare over every object. The rarefied
atmosphere heightened the previous impetuosity of the wind, which,
fanning the rising flames, they rapidly spread from dwelling to dwelling,
till the whole fiery mass, swayed to and fro by the tempest, surged and
roared with the fury of a volcano. The heat became intense, and clouds
of smoke, gathering like a dark pall over the city, produced a sense of
suffocation and almost blindness in those quarters where it was driven by
the winds.10
The Spaniards were encamped in the great square, partly under awnings,
and partly in the hall of the Inca Viracocha, on the ground since covered
by the cathedral. Three times in the course of that dreadful day, the roof
of the building was on fire; but, although no efforts were made to
extinguish it, the flames went out without doing much injury. This
miracle was ascribed to the Blessed Virgin, who was distinctly seen by
several of the Christian combatants, hovering over the spot on which was
to be raised the temple dedicated to her worship.11
Fortunately, the open space around Hernando's little company separated
them from the immediate scene of conflagration. It afforded a means of
preservation similar to that employed by the American hunter, who
endeavors to surround himself with a belt of wasted land, when
overtaken by a conflagration in the prairies. All day the fire continued to
rage, and at night the effect was even more appalling; for by the lurid
flames the unfortunate Spaniards could read the consternation depicted
in each others' ghastly countenances, while in the suburbs, along the
slopes of the surrounding hills, might be seen the throng of besiegers,
gazing with fiendish exultation on the work of destruction. High above
the town to the north, rose the gray fortress, which now showed ruddy in
the glare, looking grimly down on the ruins of the fair city which it was
no longer able to protect; and in the distance were to be discerned the
shadowy forms of the Andes, soaring up in solitary grandeur into the
regions of eternal silence, far beyond the wild tumult that raged so
fearfully at their base.
Such was the extent of the city, that it was several days before the fury of
the fire was spent. Tower and temple, hut, palace, and hall, went down
before it. Fortunately, among the buildings that escaped were the
magnificent House of the Sun and the neighboring Convent of the
Virgins. Their insulated position afforded the means, of which the
Indians from motives of piety were willing to avail themselves, for their
preservation.12 Full one half of the capital, so long the chosen seat of
Western civilization, the pride of the Incas, and the bright abode of their
tutelar deity, was laid in ashes by the hands of his own children. It was
some consolation for them to reflect, that it burned over the heads of its
conquerors,-their trophy and their tomb!
During the long period of the conflagration, the Spaniards made no
attempt to extinguish the flames. Such an attempt would have availed
nothing. Yet they did not tamely submit to the assaults of the enemy,
and they sallied forth from time to time to repel them. But the fallen
timbers and scattered rubbish of the houses presented serious
impediments to the movements of horse; and, when these were partially
cleared away by the efforts of the infantry and the Indian allies, the
Peruvians planted stakes and threw barricades across the path, which
proved equally embarrassing.13 To remove them was a work of time
and no little danger, as the pioneers were exposed to the whole brunt of
the enemy's archery, and the aim of the Peruvian was sure. When at
length the obstacles were cleared away, and a free course was opened to
the cavalry, they rushed with irresistible impetuosity on their foes, who,
falling back in confusion, were cut to pieces by the riders, or pierced
through with their lances. The slaughter on these occasions was great;
but the Indians, nothing disheartened, usually returned with renewed
courage to the attack, and, while fresh reinforcements met the Spaniards
in front, others, lying in ambush among the ruins, threw the troops into
disorder by assailing them on the flanks. The Peruvians were expert
both with bow and sling; and these encounters, notwithstanding the
superiority of their arms, cost the Spaniards more lives than in their
crippled condition they could afford to spare,--a loss poorly compensated
by that of tenfold the number of the enemy. One weapon, peculiar to
South American warfare, was used with some effect by the Peruvians.
This was the lasso, a long rope with a noose at the end, which they
adroitly threw over the rider, or entangled with it the legs of his horse, so
as to bring them both to the ground. More than one Spaniard fell into the
hands of the enemy by this expedient.14
Thus harassed, sleeping on their arms, with their horses picketed by their
side, ready for action at any and every hour, the Spaniards had no rest by
night or by day. To add to their troubles, the fortress which overlooked
the city, and completely commanded the great square in which they were
quartered, had been so feebly garrisoned in their false sense of security,
that, on the approach of the Peruvians, it had been abandoned without a
blow in its defence. It was now occupied by a strong body of the enemy,
who, from his elevated position, sent down showers of missiles, from
time to time, which added greatly to the annoyance of the besieged.
Bitterly did their captain now repent the improvident security which had
led him to neglect a post so important.
Their distresses were still further aggravated by the rumors, which
continually reached their ears, of the state of the country. The rising, it
was said, was general throughout the land; the Spaniards living on their
insulated plantations had all been massacred; Lima and Truxillo and the
principal cities were besieged, and must soon fall into the enemy's hands;
the Peruvians were in possession of the passes, and all communications
were cut off, so that no relief was to be expected from their countrymen
on the coast. Such were the dismal stories, (which, however
exaggerated, had too much foundation in fact,) that now found their way
into the city from the camp of the besiegers. And to give greater credit
to the rumors, eight or ten human heads were rolled into the plaza, in
whose blood-stained visages the Spaniards recognized with horror the
lineaments of their companions, who they knew had been dwelling in
solitude on their estates! 15
Overcome by these horrors, many were for abandoning the place at once,
as no longer tenable, and for opening a passage for themselves to the
coast with their own good swords. There was a daring in the enterprise
which had a charm for the adventurous spirit of the Castilian. Better,
they said, to perish in a manly struggle for life, than to die thus
ignominiously, pent up like foxes in their holes, to be suffocated by the
hunter!
But the Pizarros, De Rojas, and some other of the principal cavaliers,
refused to acquiesce in a measure which, they said, must cover them with
dishonor.16 Cuzco had been the great prize for which they had
contended; it was the ancient seat of empire, and, though now in ashes,
would again rise from its ruins as glorious as before. All eyes would be
turned on them, as its defenders, and their failure, by giving confidence
to the enemy, might decide the fate of their countrymen throughout the
land. They were placed in that post as the post of honor, and better
would it be to die there than to desert it.
There seemed, indeed, no alternative; for every avenue to escape was cut
off by an enemy who had perfect knowledge of the country, and
possession of all its passes. But this state of things could not last long.
The Indian could not, in the long run, contend with the white man. The
spirit of insurrection would die out of itself. Their great army would
melt away, unaccustomed as the natives were to the privations incident to
a protracted campaign. Reinforcements would be daily coming in from
the colonies; and, if the Castilians would be but true to themselves for a
season, they would be relieved by their own countrymen, who would
never suffer them to die like outcasts among the mountains.
The cheering words and courageous bearing of the cavaliers went to the
hearts of their followers; for the soul of the Spaniard readily responded
to the call of honor, if not of humanity. All now agreed to stand by their
leader to the last. But, if they would remain longer in their present
position, it was absolutely necessary to dislodge the enemy from the
fortress; and, before venturing on this dangerous service, Hernando
Pizarro resolved to strike such a blow as should intimidate the besiegers
from further attempt to molest his present quarters.
He communicated his plan of attack to his officers; and, forming his little
troop into three divisions, he placed them under command of his brother
Gonzalo, of Gabriel de Rojas, an officer in whom he reposed great
confidence, and Hernan Ponce de Leon. The Indian pioneers were sent
forward to clear away the rubbish, and the several divisions moved
simultaneously up the principal avenues towards the camp of the
besiegers. Such stragglers as they met in their way were easily cut to
pieces, and the three bodies, bursting impetuously on the disordered lines
of the Peruvians, took them completely by surprise. For some moments
there was little resistance, and the slaughter was terrible. But the Indians
gradually rallied, and, coming into something like order, returned to the
fight with the courage of men who had long been familiar with danger.
They fought hand to hand with their copper-headed war-clubs and pole-
axes, while a storm of darts, stones, and arrows rained on the well-
defended bodies of the Christians.
The barbarians showed more discipline than was to have been expected;
for which, it is said, they were indebted to some Spanish prisoners, from
several of whom, the Inca, having generously spared their lives, took
occasional lessons in the art of war. The Peruvians had, also, learned to
manage with some degree of skill the weapons of their conquerors; and
they were seen armed with bucklers, helmets, and swords of European
workmanship, and even, in a few instances, mounted on the horses which
they had taken from the white men.17 The young Inca, in particular,
accoutred in the European fashion, rode a war-horse which he managed
with considerable address, and, with a long lance in his hand led on his
followers to the attack.--This readiness to adopt the superior arms and
tactics of the Conquerors intimates a higher civilization than that which
belonged to the Aztec, who, in his long collision with the Spaniards, was
never so far divested of his terrors for the horse as to venture to mount
him.
But a few days or weeks of training were not enough to give familiarity
with weapons, still less with tactics, so unlike those to which the
Peruvians had been hitherto accustomed. The fight, on the present
occasion, though hotly contested, was not of long duration. After a
gallant struggle in which the natives threw themselves fearlessly on the
horse men, endeavoring to tear them from their saddles, they were
obliged to give way before the repeated shock of their chargers. Many
were trampled under foot, others cut down by the Spanish broadswords,
while the arquebusiers, supporting the cavalry, kept up a running fire that
did terrible execution on the flanks and rear of the fugitives. At length,
sated with slaughter, and trusting that the chastisement he had inflicted
on the enemy would secure him from further annoyance for the present,
the Castilian general drew back his forces to their quarters in the
capital.18
His next step was the recovery of the citadel. It was an enterprise of
danger. The fortress, which overlooked the northern section of the city,
stood high on a rocky eminence, so steep as to be inaccessible on this
quarter, where it was defended only by a single wall. Towards the open
country, it was more easy of approach; but there it was protected by two
semicircular walls, each about twelve hundred feet in length, and of great
thickness. They were built of massive stones, or rather rocks, put
together without cement, so as to form a kind of rustic-work. The level
of the ground between these lines of defence was raised up so as to
enable the garrison to discharge its arrows at the assailants, while their
own persons were protected by the parapet. Within the interior wall was
the fortress, consisting of three strong towers, one of great height, which,
with a smaller one, was now held by the enemy, under the command of
an Inca noble, a warrior of well-tried valor, prepared to defend it to the
last extremity.
The perilous enterprise was intrusted by Hernando Pizarro to his brother
Juan, a cavalier in whose bosom burned the adventurous spirit of a
knight-errant of romance. As the fortress was to be approached through
the mountain passes, it became necessary to divert the enemy's attention
to another quarter. A little while before sunset Juan Pizarro left the city
with a picked corps of horsemen, and took a direction opposite to that of
the fortress, that the besieging army might suppose the object was a
foraging expedition. But secretly countermarching in the night, he
fortunately found the passes unprotected, and arrived before the outer
wall of the fortress, without giving the alarm to the garrison.19
The entrance was through a narrow opening in the centre of the rampart;
but this was now closed up with heavy stones, that seemed to form one
solid work with the rest of the masonry. It was an affair of time to
dislodge these huge masses, in such a manner as not to rouse the
garrison. The Indian nations, who rarely attacked in the night, were not
sufficiently acquainted with the art of war even to provide against
surprise by posting sentinels. When the task was accomplished, Juan
Pizarro and his gallant troop rode through the gateway, and advanced
towards the second parapet.
But their movements had not been conducted so secretly as to escape
notice, and they now found the interior court swarming with warriors,
who- as the Spaniards drew near, let off clouds of missiles that
compelled them to come to a halt. Juan Pizarro, aware that no time was
to be lost, ordered one half of his corps to dismount, and, putting himself
at their head, prepared to make a breach as before in the fortifications.
He had been wounded some days previously in the jaw, so that, finding
his helmet caused him pain, he rashly dispensed with it, and trusted for
protection to his buckler.20 Leading on his men, he encouraged them in
the work of demolition, in the face of such a storm of stones, javelins,
and arrows, as might have made the stoutest heart shrink from
encountering it. The good mail of the Spaniards did not always protect
them; but others took the place of such as fell, until a-breach was made,
and the cavalry, pouring in, rode down all who opposed them.
The parapet was now abandoned, and the enemy, hurrying with
disorderly flight across the inclosure, took refuge on a kind of platform
or terrace, commanded by the principal tower. Here rallying, they shot
off fresh volleys of missiles against the Spaniards, while the garrison in
the fortress hurled down fragments of rock and timber on their heads.
Juan Pizarro, still among the foremost, sprang forward on the terrace,
cheering on his men by his voice and example; but at this moment he
was struck by a large stone on the head, not then protected by his
buckler, and was stretched on the ground. The dauntless chief still
continued to animate his followers by his voice, till the terrace was
carried, and its miserable defenders were put to the sword. His
sufferings were then too much for him, and he was removed to the town
below, where, notwithstanding every exertion to save him, he survived
the injury but a fortnight, and died in great agony.21--To say that he was
a Pizarro is enough to attest his claim to valor. But it is his praise, that
his valor was tempered by courtesy. His own nature appeared mild by
contrast with the haughty temper of his brothers, and his manners made
him a favorite of the army. He had served in the conquest of Peru from
the first, and no name on the roll of its conquerors is less tarnished by the
reproach of cruelty, or stands higher in all the attributes of a true and
valiant knight.22
Though deeply sensible to his brother's disaster, Hernando Pizarro saw
that no time was to be lost in profiting by the advantages already gained.
Committing the charge of the town to Gonzalo, he put himself at the
head of the assailants, and laid vigorous siege to the fortresses.
One surrendered after a short resistance. The other and more formidable
of the two still held out under the brave Inca noble who commanded it.
He was a man of an athletic frame, and might be seen striding along the
battlements, armed with a Spanish buckler and cuirass, and in his hand
wielding a formidable mace, garnished with points or knobs of copper.
With this terrible weapon he struck down all who attempted to force a
passage into the fortress. Some of his own followers who proposed a
surrender he is said to have slain with his own hand. Hernando prepared
to carry the place by escalade. Ladders were planted against the walls,
but no sooner did a Spaniard gain the topmost round, than he was hurled
to the ground by the strong arm of the Indian warrior. His activity was
equal to his strength; and he seemed to be at every point the moment that
his presence was needed.
The Spanish commander was filled with admiration at this display of
valor; for he could admire valor even in an enemy. He gave orders that
the chief should not be injured, but be taken alive, if possible.23 This
was not easy. At length, numerous ladders having been planted against
the tower, the Spaniards scaled it on several quarters at the same time,
and, leaping into the place, overpowered the few combatants who still
made a show of resistance. But the Inca chieftain was not to be taken;
and, finding further resistance ineffectual, he sprang to the edge of the
battlements, and, casting away his war-club, wrapped his mantle around
him and threw himself headlong from the summit.24 He died like an
ancient Roman. He had struck his last stroke for the freedom of his
country, and he scorned to survive her dishonor.--The Castilian
commander left a small force in garrison to secure his conquest, and
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