Part 52 (1/2)

[Footnote 30: Garcila.s.so's reflections on this point are commendably tolerant. ”a.s.si acabo este buen cauallero, por querer porfiar tanto en la execucion de lo que ni a su Rey ni a aquel Reyno conuenia: donde se causaron tantas muertes y danos de Espanoles, y de Yndios: aunque no tuuo tanta culpa como se la atribuye, porque lleuo preciso mandato de lo que hizo.” Com. Rean Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 34.]

Neither was the viceroy's character of a kind that tended to mitigate the odium of his measures, and reconcile the people to their execution. It afforded a strong contrast to that of his rival, Pizarro, whose frank, chivalrous bearing, and generous confidence in his followers, made him universally popular, blinding their judgments, and giving to the worse the semblance of the better cause. Blasco Nunez, on the contrary, irritable and suspicious, placed himself in a false position with all whom he approached; for a suspicious temper creates an atmosphere of distrust around it that kills every kindly affection. His first step was to alienate the members of the Audience who were sent to act in concert with him. But this was their fault as well as his, since they were as much too lax, as he was too severe, in the interpretation of the law. *31 He next alienated and outraged the people whom he was appointed to govern. And, lastly, he disgusted his own friends, and too often turned them into enemies; so that, in his final struggle for power and for existence, he was obliged to rely on the arm of the stranger.

Yet in the catalogue of his qualities we must not pa.s.s in silence over his virtues. There are two to the credit of which he is undeniably ent.i.tled, - a loyalty, which shone the brighter amidst the general defection around him, and a constancy under misfortune, which might challenge the respect even of his enemies. But with the most liberal allowance for his merits, it can scarcely be doubted that a person more incompetent to the task a.s.signed him could not have been found in Castile. *32

[Footnote 31: Blasco Nunez characterized the four judges of the Audience in a manner more concise than complimentary, - a boy, a madman, a b.o.o.by, and a dunce! ”Decia muchas veces Blasco Nunez, que le havian dado el Emperador, i su Consejo de Indias vn Moco, un Loco, un Necio, vn Tonto por Oidores, que asi lo havian hecho como ellos eran. Moco era Cepeda, i llamaba Loco a Juan Alvarez, i Necio a Tejada, que no sabia Latin.” Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 171.]

[Footnote 32: The account of Blasco Nunez Vela rests chiefly on the authority of loyal writers, some of whom wrote after their return to Castile. They would, therefore, more naturally lean to the side of the true representative of the Crown, than to that of the rebel. Indeed, the only voice raised decidedly in favor of Pizarro is his own, - a very suspicious authority. Yet, with all the prestiges in his favor, the administration of Blasco Nunez, from universal testimony, was a total failure. And there is little to interest us in the story of the man, except his unparalleled misfortunes and the firmness with which he bore them.]

The victory of Anaquito was received with general joy in the neighbouring capital; all the cities of Peru looked on it as sealing the downfall of the detested ordinances, and the name of Gonzalo Pizarro was sounded from one end of the country to the other as that of its deliverer. That chief continued to prolong his stay in Quito during the wet season, dividing his time between the licentious pleasures of the reckless adventurer and the cares of business that now pressed on him as ruler of the state. His administration was stained with fewer acts of violence than might have been expected from the circ.u.mstances of his situation. So long as Carbajal, the counsellor in whom he unfortunately placed greatest reliance, was absent, Gonzalo sanctioned no execution, it was observed, but according to the forms of law. *33 He rewarded his followers by new grants of land, and detached several on expeditions, to no greater distance, however, than would leave it in his power readily to recall them. He made various provisions for the welfare of the natives, and some, in particular, for instructing them in the Christian faith. He paid attention to the faithful collection of the royal dues, urging on the colonists that they should deport themselves so as to conciliate the good-will of the Crown, and induce a revocation of the ordinances. His administration in short, was so conducted, that even the austere Gasca, his successor, allowed ”it was a good government, - for a tyrant.”

*34 [Footnote 33: ”Nunca Picarro, en ausencia de Francisco de Carvajal, su Maestre de Campo, mato, ni consintio matar Espanol, sin que todos, los mas de su Consejo, lo aprobasen: i entonces con Proceso en forma de Derecho, i confesados primero.” Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 172.]

[Footnote 34: Ibid., ubi supra. - Fernandez gives a less favorable picture of Gonzalo's administration. (Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 54; lib. 2, cap. 13.) Fernandez wrote at the instance of the Court; Gomara, though present at court, wrote to please himself. The praise of Gomara is less suspicious than the censure of Fernandez.]

At length, in July, 1546, the new governor bade adieu to Quito, and, leaving there a sufficient garrison under his officer Puelles, began his journey to the south. It was a triumphal progress, and everywhere he was received on the road with enthusiasm by the people. At Truxillo, the citizens came out in a body to welcome him, and the clergy chanted anthems in his honor, extolling him as the ”victorious prince,” and imploring the Almighty ”to lengthen his days, and give him honor.” *35 At Lima, it was proposed to clear away some of the buildings, and open a new street for his entrance, which might ever after bear the name of the victor. But the politic chieftain declined this flattering tribute, and modestly preferred to enter the city by the usual way. A procession was formed of the citizens, the soldiers, and the clergy, and Pizarro made his entry into the capital with two of his princ.i.p.al captains on foot, holding the reins of his charger, while the archbishop of Lima, and the bishops of Cuzco, Quito, and Bogota, the last of whom had lately come to the city to be consecrated, rode by his side. The streets were strewn with boughs, the walls of the houses hung with showy tapestries, and triumphal arches were thrown over the way in honor of the victor. Every balcony, veranda, and house-top was crowded with spectators, who sent up huzzas, loud and long, saluting the victorious soldier with the t.i.tles of ”Liberator, and Protector of the people.” The bells rang out their joyous peal, as on his former entrance into the capital; and amidst strains of enlivening music, and the blithe sounds of jubilee, Gonzalo held on his way to the palace of his brother.

Peru was once more placed under the dynasty of the Pizarros. *36

[Footnote 35: ”Victorioso Principe, hagate Dios dichoso, l bienaventurado, el te mantenga, i te conserve.” Herrera, Hist.

General, dec. 8, lib. 2, cap. 9.]

[Footnote 36: For an account of this pageant, see Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 2, cap. 9. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 5. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms.]

Deputies came from different parts of the country, tendering the congratulations of their respective cities; and every one eagerly urged his own claims to consideration for the services he had rendered in the revolution. Pizarro, at the same time, received the welcome intelligence of the success of his arms in the south.

Diego Centeno, as before stated, had there raised the standard of rebellion, or rather, of loyalty to his sovereign. He had made himself master of La Plata, and the spirit of insurrection had spread over the broad province of Charcas. Carbajal, who had been sent against him from Quito, after repairing to Lima, had pa.s.sed at once to Cuzco, and there, strengthening his forces, had descended by rapid marches on the refractory district. Centeno did not trust himself in the field against this formidable champion. He retreated with his troops into the fastnesses of the sierra. Carbajal pursued, following on his track with the pertinacity of a bloodhound; over mountain and moor, through forests and dangerous ravines, allowing him no respite, by day or by night. Eating, drinking, sleeping in his saddle, the veteran, eighty years of age, saw his own followers tire one after another, while he urged on the chase, like the wild huntsman of Burger, as if endowed with an unearthly frame, incapable of fatigue! During this terrible pursuit, which continued for more than two hundred leagues over a savage country, Centeno found himself abandoned by most of his followers. Such of them as fell into Carbajal's hands were sent to speedy execution; for that inexorable chief had no mercy on those who had been false to their party. *37 At length, Centeno, with a handful of men, arrived on the borders of the Pacific, and there, separating from one another, they provided, each in the best way he could, for their own safety. Their leader found an asylum in a cave in the mountains, where he was secretly fed by an Indian curaca, till the time again came for him to unfurl the standard of revolt. *38

[Footnote 37: Poblando los arboles con sus cuerpos, ”peopling the trees with heir bodies,” says Fernandez, strongly; alluding to the manner in which the ferocious officer hung up his captives on the branches.]

[Footnote 38: For the expedition of Carbajal, see Herrera, Hist.

General, dec. 8, lib. 1, cap. 9, et seq. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 1. - Garcila.s.so, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 28, 29, 36, 39. - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib.

2, cap. 1, et seq. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms.

It is impossible to give, in a page or two, any adequate idea of the hairbreadth escapes and perilous risks of Carbajal, not only from the enemy, but from his own men, whose strength he overtasked in the chase. They rival those of the renowned Scanderbeg, or our own Kentucky hero, Colonel Boone. They were, indeed, far more wonderful than theirs, since the Spanish captain had reached an age when the failing energies usually crave repose. But the veteran's body seems to have been as insensible as his soul.]

Carbajal, after some further decisive movements, which fully established the ascendency of Pizarro over the south, returned in triumph to La Plata. There he occupied himself with working the silver mines of Potosi, in which a vein, recently opened, promised to make richer returns than any yet discovered in Mexico or Peru; *39 and he was soon enabled to send large remittances to Lima, deducting no stinted commission for himself, - for the cupidity of the lieutenant was equal to his cruelty.

[Footnote 39: The vein now discovered at Potosi was so rich, that the other mines were comparatively deserted in order to work this. (Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap 4) The effect of the sudden influx of wealth was such, according to Garcila.s.so, that in ten years from this period an iron horseshoe, in that quarter, came to be worth nearly its weight in silver. Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 8, cap. 24.]

Gonzalo Pizarro was now undisputed master of Peru. From Quito to the northern confines of Chili, the whole country acknowledged his authority. His fleet rode triumphant on the Pacific, and gave him the command of every city and hamlet on its borders. His admiral, Hinojosa, a discreet and gallant officer, had secured him Panama, and, marching across the Isthmus, had since obtained for him the possession of Nombre de Dios, - the princ.i.p.al key of communication with Europe. His forces were on an excellent footing, including the flower of the warriors who had fought under his brother, and who now eagerly rallied under the name of Pizarro; while the tide of wealth that flowed in from the mines of Potosi supplied him with the resources of an European monarch.

The new governor now began to a.s.sume a state correspondent with his full-blown fortunes. He was attended by a body-guard of eighty soldiers. He dined always in public, and usually with not less than a hundred guests at table. He even affected, it was said, the more decided etiquette of royalty, giving his hand to be kissed, and allowing no one, of whatever rank, to be seated in his presence. *40 But this is denied by others. It would not be strange that a vain man like Pizarro, with a superficial, undisciplined mind, when he saw himself thus raised from an humble condition to the highest post in the land, should be somewhat intoxicated by the possession of power, and treat with superciliousness those whom he had once approached with deference. But one who had often seen him in his prosperity a.s.sures us, that it was not so, and that the governor continued to show the same frank and soldierlike bearing as before his elevation, mingling on familiar terms with his comrades, and displaying the same qualities which had hitherto endeared him to the people. *41 [Footnote 40: ”Traia Guarda de ochenta Alabarderos, i otros muchos de Caballo, que le acompanaban, i ia en su presencia ninguno se sentaba, i a mui pocos quitaba la Gorra.” Zarate, Conq. del Peru lib 6 cap. 5.]

[Footnote 41: Garcila.s.so, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 42.

Garcila.s.so had opportunities of personal acquaintance with Gonzalo's manner of living; for, when a boy, he was sometimes admitted, as he tells us, to a place at his table. This courtesy, so rare from the Conquerors to any of the Indian race, was not lost on the historian of the Incas, who has depicted Gonzalo Pizarro in more favorable colors than most of his own countrymen.]

However this may be, it is certain there were not wanting those who urged him to throw off his allegiance to the Crown, and set up an independent government for himself. Among these was his lieutenant, Carbajal, whose daring spirit never shrunk from following things to their consequences. He plainly counselled Pizarro to renounce his allegiance at once. ”In fact, you have already done so,” he said. ”You have been in arms against a viceroy, have driven him from the country, beaten and slain him in battle. What favor, or even mercy, can you expect from the Crown? You have gone too far either to halt, or to recede. You must go boldly on, proclaim yourself king; the troops, the people, will support you.” And he concluded, it is said, by advising him to marry the Coya, the female representative of the Incas, that the two races might henceforth repose in quiet under a common sceptre! *42

[Footnote 42: Ibid., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 40. - Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 172 - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1. lib. 2, cap. 13.

The poet Molina has worked up this scene between Carbajal and his commander with good effect, in his Amazonas en las Indias, where he uses something of a poet's license in the homage he pays to the modest merits of Gonzalo. Julius Caesar himself was not more magnanimous.

”Sepa mi Rey, sepa Espana, Que muero por no ofenderla, Tan facil de conservarla, Que pierdo por no agraviarla, Quanto infame en poseerla, Una Corona ofrecida.”

Among the biographical notices of the writers on Spanish colonial affairs, the name of Herrera, who has done more for this vast subject than any other author, should certainly not be omitted.

His account of Peru takes its proper place in his great work, the Historia General de las Indias, according to the chronological plan on which that history is arranged. But as it suggests reflections not different in character from those suggested by other portions of the work, I shall take the liberty to refer the reader to the Postscript to Book Third of the Conquest of Mexico, for a full account of these volumes and their learned author.

Another chronicler, to whom I have been frequently indebted in the progress of the narrative, is Francisco Lopez de Gomara. The reader will also find a notice of this author in the Conquest of Mexico, Vol. III., Book 5, Postscript. But as the remarks on his writings are there confined to his Cronica de Nueva Espana, it may be well to add here some reflections on his greater work, Historia de las Indias, in which the Peruvian story bears a conspicuous part.