Part 42 (2/2)

[Footnote 24: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib 6, cap. 7. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de Espinall, Ms. - Carta de Valverde al Emperador, Ms.]

At length, Pizarro found it necessary to send a considerable force under his brother Gonzalo against the Inca. The hardy Indian encountered his enemy several times in the rough pa.s.ses of the Cordilleras. He was usually beaten, and sometimes with heavy loss, which he repaired with astonis.h.i.+ng facility; for he always contrived to make his escape, and so true were his followers, that, in defiance of pursuit and ambuscade, he found a safe shelter in the secret haunts of the sierra.

Thus baffled, Pizarro determined to try the effect of pacific overtures. He sent to the Inca, both in his own name, and in that of the Bishop of Cuzco, whom the Peruvian prince held in reverence, to invite him to enter into negotiation. *25 Manco acquiesced, and indicated, as he had formerly done with Almagro, the valley of Yucay, as the scene of it. The governor repaired thither, at the appointed time, well guarded, and, to propitiate the barbarian monarch, sent him a rich present by the hands of an African slave. The slave was met on the route by a party of the Inca's men, who, whether with or without their master's orders, cruelly murdered him, and bore off the spoil to their quarters.

Pizarro resented this outrage by another yet more atrocious.

[Footnote 25: The Inca declined the interview with the bishop, on the ground that he had seen him pay obeisance by taking off his cap to Pizarro. It proved his inferiority to the latter, he said, and that he could never protect him against the governor.

The pa.s.sage in which it is related is curious. ”Preguntando a indios del inca que anda alzado que si sabe el inca que yo soi venido a la tierra en nombre de S. M. para defendellos, dixo que mui bien lo sabia; y preguntado que porque no se benia a mi de paz, dixo el indio que dezia el inca que porque yo quando vine hize la mocha al gobernador, que quiere dezir que le quite el Bonete; que no queria venir a mi de paz, que el que no havia de venir de paz sino a uno que viniese de castilla que no hiziese la mocha al gobernador, porque le paresze a el que este lo podra defender por lo que ha hecho y no otro.” Carta de Valverde al Emperador, Ms]

Among the Indian prisoners was one of the Inca's wives, a young and beautiful woman, to whom he was said to be fondly attached.

The governor ordered her to be stripped naked, bound to a tree, and, in presence of the camp, to be scourged with rods, and then shot to death with arrows. The wretched victim bore the execution of the sentence with surprising fort.i.tude. She did not beg for mercy, where none was to be found. Not a complaint, scarcely a groan, escaped her under the infliction of these terrible torments. The iron Conquerors were amazed at this power of endurance in a delicate woman, and they expressed their admiration, while they condemned the cruelty of their commander, - in their hearts. *26 Yet constancy under the most excruciating tortures that human cruelty can inflict is almost the universal characteristic of the American Indian.

[Footnote 26: At least, we may presume they did so, since they openly condemn him in their accounts of the transaction. I quote Pedro Pizarro, not disposed to criticise the conduct of his general too severely. ”Se tomo una muger de mango ynga que le queria mucho y se guardo, creyendo que por ella saldria de paz.

Esta muger mando matar al marquez despues en Yncay, haziendola varear con varas y flechar con flechas por una burla que mango ynga le hizo que aqui contare, y entiendo yo que por esta crueldad y otra hermana del ynga que mando matar en Lima quando los yndios pusieron cerco sobrella que se llamava Acarpay. me paresce a mi que nuestro senor le castigo en el fin que tuvo.”

Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

Pizarro now prepared, as the most effectual means of checking these disorders among the natives, to establish settlements in the heart of the disaffected country. These settlements, which received the dignified name of cities, might be regarded in the light of military colonies. The houses were usually built of stone, to which were added the various public offices, and sometimes a fortress. A munic.i.p.al corporation was organized.

Settlers were invited by the distribution of large tracts of land in the neighbourhood, with a stipulated number of Indian va.s.sals to each. The soldiers then gathered there, sometimes accompanied by their wives and families; for the women of Castile seem to have disdained the impediments of s.e.x, in the ardor of conjugal attachment, or, it may be, of romantic adventure. A populous settlement rapidly grew up in the wilderness, affording protection to the surrounding territory, and furnis.h.i.+ng a commercial depot for the country, and an armed force ready at all times to maintain public order.

Such a settlement was that now made at Guamanga, midway between Cuzco and Lima, which effectually answered its purpose by guarding the communications with the coast. *27 Another town was founded in the mining district of Charcas, under the appropriate name of the Villa de la Plata, the ”City of Silver.” And Pizarro, who journeyed by a circuitous route along the sh.o.r.es of the southern sea towards Lima, established the city of Arequipa, since arisen to such commercial celebrity.

[Footnote 27: Cieza de Leon notices the uncommon beauty and solidity of the buildings at Guamanga. ”La qual han edificado las mayores y mejores casas que ay en todo el Peru, todas de piedra, ladrillo, y teja, con grandes torres: de manera que no falta aposentos. La placa esta llana y bien grande' Cronica, cap. 87.]

Once more in his favorite capital of Lima, the governor found abundant occupation in attending to its munic.i.p.al concerns, and in providing for the expansive growth of its population. Nor was he unmindful of the other rising settlements on the Pacific. He encouraged commerce with the remoter colonies north of Peru, and took measures for facilitating internal intercourse. He stimulated industry in all its branches, paying great attention to husbandry, and importing seeds of the different European grains, which he had the satisfaction, in a short time, to see thriving luxuriantly in a country where the variety of soil and climate afforded a home for almost every product. *28 Above all, he promoted the working of the mines, which already began to make such returns, that the most common articles of life rose to exorbitant prices, while the precious metals themselves seemed the only things of little value. But they soon changed hands, and found their way to the mother-country, where they rose to their true level as they mingled with the general currency of Europe.

The Spaniards found that they had at length reached the land of which they had been so long in search, - the land of gold and silver. Emigrants came in greater numbers to the country, and, spreading over its surface, formed in the increasing population the most effectual barrier against the rightful owners of the soil. *29

[Footnote 28: ”I con que ia comencaba a haver en aquellas Tierras cosecha de Trigo, Cevada, i otras muchas cosas de Castilla.”

Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 10, cap. 2.]

[Footnote 29: Carta de Carvajal al Emperador, Ms. - Montesinos, Annales, Ms., anos 1539 et 1541. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6 lib. 7, cap. 1. - Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. 76 et alibi.]

Pizarro, strengthened by the arrival of fresh adventurers, now turned his attention to the remoter quarters of the country.

Pedro de Valdivia was sent on his memorable expedition to Chili; and to his own brother Gonzalo the governor a.s.signed the territory of Quito, with instructions to explore the unknown country towards the east, where, as report said, grew the cinnamon. As this chief, who had hitherto acted but a subordinate part in the Conquest, is henceforth to take the most conspicuous, it may be well to give some account of him.

Little is known of his early life, for he sprang from the same obscure origin with Francisco, and seems to have been as little indebted as his elder brother to the fostering care of his parents. He entered early on the career of a soldier; a career to which every man in that iron age, whether cavalier or vagabond, seems, if left to himself, to have most readily inclined. Here he soon distinguished himself by his skill in martial exercises, was an excellent horseman, and, when he came to the New World, was esteemed the best lance in Peru. *30

[Footnote 30: The cavalier Pizarro y Orellana has given biographical notices of each of the brothers. It requires no witchcraft to detect that the blood of the Pizarros flowed in the veins of the writer to his fingers' ends. Yet his facts are less suspicious than his inferences.]

In talent and in expansion of views, he was inferior to his brothers. Neither did he discover the same cool and crafty policy; but he was equally courageous, and in the execution of his measures quite as unscrupulous. He had a handsome person, with open, engaging features, a free, soldier-like address, and a confiding temper, which endeared him to his followers. His spirit was high and adventurous, and, what was equally important, he could inspire others with the same spirit, and thus do much to insure the success of his enterprises. He was an excellent captain in guerilla warfare, an admirable leader in doubtful and difficult expeditions; but he had not the enlarged capacity for a great military chief, still less for a civil ruler. It was his misfortune to be called to fill both situations.

Chapter IV

Gonzalo Pizarro's Expedition. - Pa.s.sage Across The Mountains. - Discovers The Napo. - Incredible Sufferings. - Orellana Sails Down The Amazon. - Despair Of The Spaniards. - The Survivors Return To Quito.

1540-1542.

Gonzalo Pizarro received the news of his appointment to the government of Quito with undisguised pleasure; not so much for the possession that it gave him of this ancient Indian province, as for the field that it opened for discovery towards the east, - the fabled land of Oriental spices, which had long captivated the imagination of the Conquerors. He repaired to his government without delay, and found no difficulty in awakening a kindred enthusiasm to his own in the bosoms of his followers. In a short time, he mustered three hundred and fifty Spaniards, and four thousand Indians. One hundred and fifty of his company were mounted, and all were equipped in the most thorough manner for the undertaking. He provided, moreover, against famine by a large stock of provisions, and an immense drove of swine which followed in the rear *1

[Footnote 1: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. lib. 8, cap. 6, 7. - Garcila.s.so, Com Real., Parte 2, lib. 3, cap. 2. - Zarate, Conq.

del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 1, 2. - Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap.

143. - Montesinos, Annales, ano 1539.

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