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 abroad, 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
[Footnote 1: So says the author of the Conquista i Poblacion del
Piru, a contemporary writer, who describes what he saw himself as
well as what he gathered from others. Several circumstances,
especially the honest indignation he expresses at the excesses of
the Conquerors, lead one to suppose he may have been an
ecclesiastic, one of the good men who attended the cruel
expedition on an errand of love and mercy. It is to be hoped
that his credulity leads him to exaggerate the misdeeds of his
countrymen.
According to him, there were full six thousand women of rank,
living in the convents of Cuzco, served each by fifteen or twenty
female attendants, most of whom, that did not perish in the war,
suffered a more melancholy fate, as the victims of prostitution.
- The passage is so remarkable, and the Ms. so rare, that I will
cite it in the original.
"De estas senoras del Cuzco es cierto de tener grande sentimiento
el que tuviese alguna humanidad en el pecho, que en tiempo de la
prosperidad del Cuzco quando los Espanoles entraron en el havia
grand cantidad de senoras que tenian sus casas i sus asientos mui
quietas i sosegadas i vivian mui politicamente i como mui buenas
mugeres, cada senora acompanada con quince o veinte mugeres que
tenia de servicio en su casa bien traidas i aderezadas, i no
salian menos desto i con grand onestidad i gravedad i atavio a su
usanza, i es a la cantidad destas senoras principales creo yo que
en el . . . . . que avia mas de seis mil sin las de servicio que
creo yo que eran mas de veinte mil mugeres sin las de servicio i
mamaconas que eran las que andavan como beatas i dende a dos anos
casi no se allava en el Cuzco i su tierra sino cada qual i qual
porque muchas murieron en la guerra que huvo i las otras vinieron
las mas a ser malas mugeres. Senor perdone a quien fue la causa
desto i aquien no lo remedia pudiendo." Conq. i Pob del Piru,
Ms.]
[Footnote 2: Ibid., ubi supra.]
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 for ever 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
[Footnote 3: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 1, 2. - Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.
Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 2, cap. 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 neighbouring 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.
[Footnote 4: "Es gente," says Oviedo, "muy belicosa e muy
diestra; sus armas son picas, e ondas, porras e Alabardas de
Plata e oro e cobre." (Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8,
cap. 17.) Xerez has made a good enumeration of the native
Peruvian arms. (Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 200.)
Father Velasco has added considerably to this catalogue.
According to him they used copper swords, poniards, and other
European weapons. (Hist. de Quito, tom. I. pp 178-180.) He does
not insist on their knowledge of fire-arms before the Conquest!]
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 war-clubs. 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 lof y 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 thunderclouds
along the slopes and summits, 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
featherwork, 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.
[Footnote 5: "Pues junta toda la gente quel ynga avia embiado a
juntar que a lo que se entendio y los indios dixeron fueron
dozientos mil indios de guerra los que vinieron a poner este
cerco." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
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 unwilling 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
[Footnote 6: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Conq. i Pob.
del Piru, Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 4. -
Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 133.]
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.
[Footnote 7: "Y los pocos Espanoles que heramos aun no dozientos
todos.' Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
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 red-hot stones wrapped in cotton that had
been steeped in some bituminous substance, which, scattering 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
for 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
[Footnote 8: "Pues de noche heran tantos ros fuegos que no
parecia sino vn cielo muy sereno lleno de estrellas." Pedro
Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
[Footnote 9: Ibid. Ms.]
[Footnote 10: "I era tanto el humo que casi los oviera de aogar i
pasaron grand travajo por esta causa i sino fuera porque de la
una parte de la plaza no havia casas i estava desconorado no
pudieran escapar porque is por todas partes les diera el humo i
el calor siendo tan grande pasaron travajo, pero la divina
providencia lo estorvo." Conq. i. Pob. ded Piru, Ms.]
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
[Footnote 11: The temple was dedicated to Our Blessed Lady of the
Assumption. The apparition of the Virgin was manifest not only to
Christian but to Indian warriors, many of whom reported it to
Garcilasso de la Vega, in whose hands the marvellous rarely loses
any of its gloss. (Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 25.) It is
further attested by Father Acosta, who came into the country
forty years after the event. (lib. 7, cap. 27.) Both writers
testify to the seasonable aid rendered by St. James, who with his
buckler, displaying the device of his Military Order, and armed
with his flaming sword, rode his white charger into the thick of
the enemy. The patron Saint of Spain might always be relied on
when his presence was needed dignus vindice nodus.]
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 endeavours 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 An des, 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
neighbouring 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!
[Footnote 12: Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 24.
Father Valverde, Bishop of Cuzco, who took so signal a part in
the seizure of Atahuallpa, was absent from the country at this
period, but returned the following year. In a letter to the
emperor, he contrasts the flourishing condition of the capital
when he left it, and that in which he now found it, despoiled, as
well as its beautiful suburbs, of its ancient glories. "If I had
not known the site of the city," he says, "I should not have
recognized it as the same." The passage is too remarkable to be
omitted. The original letter exists in the archives of Simancas.
- "Certifico a V. M. que si no me acordara del sitio desta Ciudad
yo no la conosciera, a lo menos por los edificios y Pueblos
della; porque quando el Gobernador D. Franzisco Pizarro entro
aqui y entre yo con el estava este valle tan hermoso en edificios
y poblazion que en torno tenia que era cosa de admiracion vello,
porque aunque la Ciudad en si no ternia mas de 3 o 4000 casas,
ternia en torno quasi a vista 19 o 20,000; la fortaleza que
estava sobre la Ciudad parescia desde a parte una mui gran
fortaleza de las de Espana: agora la mayor parte de la Ciudad
esta toda derivada y quemada; la fortaleza no tiene quasi nada
enhiesso; todos los pueblos de alderredor no tiene sino las
paredes que por maravilla ai casa cubierta! La cosa que mas
contentamiento me dio en esta Ciudad fue la Iglesia, que para en
Indias es harto buena cosa, aunque segun la riqueza a havido en
esta tierra pudiera ser mas semejante al Templo de Salomon."
Carta del Obispo F. Vicente de Valverde al Emperador, Ms., 20 de
Marzo, 1539.]
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
[Footnote 13: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.
"Los Indios ganaron el Cuzco casi todo desta manera que enganando
la calle hivan haciendo una pared para que los cavallos ni los
Espanoles no los pudiesen rom per." Conq. i. Pob. del Piru, Ms]
[Footnote 14: Ibid., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib.
8, cap. 4.]
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
[Footnote 15: Ibid., ubi supra. - Conq i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]
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.
[Footnote 16: "Pues Hernando Picarro nunca estuvo en ello y les
respondia que todos aviamos de morir y no desamparar el cuzco.
Juntavanse a estas consultas Hernando Picarro y sus hermanos,
Graviel de Rojas, Hernan Ponce de Leon, el Thesorero Riquelme."
Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq, Ms.]
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.
[Footnote 17: Herrera assures us, that the Peruvians even turned
the fire-arms of their Conquerors against them, compelling their
prisoners to put the muskets in order, and manufacture powder for
them. Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 5, 6]
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 horsemen, endeavouring to tear
them from their saddles, they were obliged to give way before the
repeated shock of their charges. 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
[Footnote 18: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Conq. i Pob.
del Piru, Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8 cap. 4,
5.]
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 knighterrant 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
[Footnote 19: Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]
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.
[Footnote 20: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms]
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
[Footnote 21: "Y estando batallando con ellos para echallos de
alli Joan Picarro se descuido descubrirse la cabeca con la adarga
y con las muchas pedradas que tiravan le acertaron vna en la
caveca que le quebraron los cascos y dende a quince dias murio
desta herida y ansi herido estuvo forcejando con los yndios y
espanoles hasta que se gano este terrado y ganado le abaxaron al
Cuzco." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
[Footnote 22: "Hera valiente," says Pedro Pizarro, "y muy
animoso, gentil hombre, magnanimo y afable." (Descub. y Conq.,
Ms.) Zarate dismisses him with this brief panegyric: - "Fue gran
perdida en la Tierra, porque era Juan Picarro mui valiente, i
experimentado en las Guerras de los Indios, i bien quisto, i
amado de todos." Conq del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 3.]
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 returned in triumph to his
quarters.
[Footnote 23: 'Y mando hernando picarro a los Espanoles que
subian que no matasen a este yndio sino que se lo tomasen a vida,
jurando de no matalle si lo avia bivo." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y
Conq. Ms.]
[Footnote 24: "Visto este orejon que se lo vian ganado y le avian
ganado y le avian tomado por dos o tres partes el fuerte,
arrojando las armas se tapo la caveca y el rrostro con la manta y
se arrojo del cubo abajo mas de cien estados, y ansi se hizo
pedazos. A hernando Picarro le peso mucho por no tomalle a
vida." Ibid., Ms.]
Week after week rolled away, and no relief came to the
beleaguered Spaniards. They had long since begun to feel the
approaches of famine. Fortunately, they were provided with water
from the streams which flowed through the city. But, though they
had well husbanded their resources, their provision were
exhausted, and they had for some time depended on such scanty
supplies of grain as they could gather from the ruined magazines
and dwellings, mostly consumed by the fire, or from the produce
of some successful foray. *25 This latter resource was attended
with no little difficulty; for every expedition led to a fierce
encounter with the enemy, which usually cost the lives of several
Spaniards, and inflicted a much heavier injury on the Indian
allies. Yet it was at least one good result of such loss, that
it left fewer to provide for. But the whole number of the
besieged was so small, that any loss greatly increased the
difficulties of defence by the remainder.
[Footnote 25: Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 24]
As months passed away without bringing any tidings of their
countrymen, their minds were haunted with still gloomier
apprehensions as to their fate. They well knew that the governor
would make every effort to rescue them from their desperate
condition. That he had not succeeded in this made it probable,
that his own situation was no better than theirs, or, perhaps, he
and his followers had already fallen victims to the fury of the
insurgents. It was a dismal thought, that they alone were left in
the land, far from all human succour, to perish miserably by the
hands of the barbarians among the mountains.
Yet the actual state of things, though gloomy in the extreme, was
not quite so desperate as their imaginations had painted it. The
insurrection, it is rue, had been general throughout the country,
a east that portion of it occupied by the Spaniards It had been
so well concerted, that it broke out almost simultaneously, and
the Conquerors, who were living in careless security on their
estates, had been massacred to the number of several hundreds An
Indian force had sat down before Xauxa, and a considerable army
had occupied the valley of Rimac and laid siege to Lima. But the
country around that capital was of an open, level character, very
favorable to the action of cavalry. Pizarro no sooner saw
himself menaced by the hostile array, than he sent such a force
against the Peruvians as speedily put them to flight; and,
following up his advantage, he inflicted on them such a severe
chastisement, that, although they still continued to hover in the
distance and cut off his communications with the interior, they
did not care to trust themselves on the other side of the Rimac.
The accounts that the Spanish commander now eceived of the state
of the country filled him with the most serious alarm. He was
particularly solicitous for the fate of the garrison at Cuzco,
and he made repeated efforts to relieve that capital. Four
several detachments, amounting to more than four hundred men in
all, half of them cavalry, were sent by him at different times,
under some of his bravest officers. But none of them reached
their place of destination. The wily natives permitted them to
march into the interior of the country, until they were fairly
entangled in the passes of the Cordilleras. They then enveloped
them with greatly superior numbers, and, occupying the heights,
showered down their fatal missiles on the heads of the Spaniards,
or crushed them under the weight of fragments of rock which they
rolled on them from the mountains. In some instances, the whole
detachment was cut off to a man. In others, a few stragglers
only survived to return and tell the bloody tale to their
countrymen at Lima. *26
[Footnote 26: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 1, cap. 5. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap 5. - Garcilasso, Com. Real.,
Parte 2, lib. 2, cap. 28.
According to the historian of the Incas, there fell in these
expeditions four hundred and seventy Spaniards. Cieza de Leon
computes the whole number of Christians who perished in this
insurrection at seven hundred, many of them, he adds, under
circumstances of great cruelty. (Cronica, cap. 82.) The estimate,
considering the spread and spirit of the insurrection, does not
seem extravagant]
Pizzaro was now filled with consternation. He had the most
dismal forebodings of the fate of the Spaniards dispersed
throughout the country, and even doubted the possibility of
maintaining his own foothold in it without assistance from
abroad. He despatched a vessel to the neighbouring colony at
Truxillo, urging them to abandon the place, with all their
effects, and to repair to him at Lima. The measure was,
fortunately, not adopted. Many of his men were for availing
themselves of the vessels which rode at anchor in the port to
make their escape from the country at once, and take refuge in
Panama. Pizarro would not hearken to so dastardly a counsel,
which involved the desertion of the brave men in the interior who
still looked to him for protection. He cut off the hopes of
these timid spirits by despatching all the vessels then in port
on a very different mission. He sent letters by them to the
governors of Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico,
representing the gloomy state of his affairs, and invoking their
aid. His epistle to Alvarado, then established at Guatemala, is
preserved. He conjures him by every sentiment of honor and
patriotism to come to his assistance, and this before it was too
late. Without assistance, the Spaniards could no longer maintain
their footing in Peru, and that great empire would be lost to the
Castilian Crown. He finally engages to share with him such
conquests as they may make with their united arms. *27 - Such
concessions, to the very man whose absence from the country, but
a few months before, Pizarro would have been willing to secure at
almost any price, are sufficient evidence of the extremity of his
distress. The succours thus earnestly solicited arrived in time,
not to quell the Indian insurrection, but to aid him in a
struggle quite as formidable with his own countrymen.
[Footnote 27: "E crea V. S *a sino somos socorridos se perdera el
Cusco, ques la cosa mas senalada e de mas importancia que se
puede descubrir, e luego nos perderemos todos: porque somos pocos
e tenemos pocas armas, e los Indios estan atrevidos." Carta de
Francisco Pizarro a D. Pedro de Alvarado, desde la Ciudad le los
Reyes. 29 de julio, 1536, Ms.]
It was now August. More than five months had elapsed since the
commencement of the siege of Cuzco, yet the Peruvian legions
still lay encamped around the city. Peruvian legions still lay
encamped around the city. The siege had been protracted much
beyond what was usual in Indian warfare, and showed the
resolution of the natives to exterminate the white men. But the
Peruvians themselves had for some time been straitened by the
want of provisions. It was no easy matter to feed so numerous a
host; and the obvious resource of the magazines of grain, so
providently prepared by the Incas, did them but little service,
since their contents had been most prodigally used, and even
dissipated, by the Spaniards, on their first occupation of the
country. *28 The season for planting had now arrived, and the
Inca well knew, that, if his followers were to neglect it, they
would be visited by a scourge even more formidable than their
invaders. Disbanding the greater part of his forces, therefore,
he ordered them to withdraw to their homes, and, after the labors
of the field were over, to return and resume the blockade of the
capital. The Inca reserved a considerable force to attend on his
own person, with which he retired to Tambo, a strongly fortified
place south of the valley of Yucay, the favorite residence of his
ancestors. He also posted a large body as a corps of observation
in the environs of Cuzco, to watch the movements of the enemy,
and to intercept supplies.
[Footnote 28: Ondegardo, Rel. Prim. y Seg., Ms.]
The Spaniards beheld with joy the mighty host which had so long
encompassed the city, now melting away. They were not slow in
profiting by the circumstance, and Hernando Pizarro took
advantage of the temporary absence to send out foraging parties
to scour the country, and bring back supplies to his famishing
soldiers. In this he was so successful that on one occasion no
less than two thousand head of cattle - the Peruvian sheep - were
swept away from the Indian plantations and brought safely to
Cuzco. *29 This placed the army above all apprehensions on the
score of want for the present.
[Footnote 29: "Recoximos hasta dos mil cavezas de ganado." Pedro
Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
Yet these forays were made at the point of the lance, and many a
desperate contest ensued, in which the best blood of the Spanish
chivalry was shed. The contests, indeed, were not confined to
large bodies of troops, but skirmishes took place between smaller
parties, which sometimes took the form of personal combats. Nor
were the parties so unequally matched as might have been supposed
in these single rencontres; and the Peruvian warrior, with his
sling, his bow, and his lasso, proved no contemptible antagonist
for the mailed horseman, whom he sometimes even ventured to
encounter, hand to hand, with his formidable battle-axe. The
ground around Cuzco became a battle-field, like the vega of
Granada, in which Christian and Pagan displayed the
characteristics of their peculiar warfare; and many a deed of
heroism was performed, which wanted only the song of the minstrel
to shed around it a glory like that which rested on the last days
of the Moslem of Spain. *30
[Footnote 30: Pedro Pizarro recounts several of these deeds of
arms, in some of which his own prowess is made quite apparent.
One piece of cruelty recorded by him is little to the credit of
his commander, Hernando Pizarro, who , he says, after a desperate
rencontre, caused the right hands of his prisoners to be struck
off, and sent them in this mutilated condition back to their
countrymen! (Descub. Conq., Ms.) Such atrocities are not often
noticed by the chroniclers; and we may hope they were exceptions
to the general policy of the Conquerors in this invasion.]
But Hernando Pizarro was not content to act wholly on the
defensive; and he meditated a bold stroke, by which at once to
put an end to the war. This was the capture of the Inca Manco,
whom he hoped to surprise in his quarters at Tambo.
For this service he selected about eighty of his best-mounted
cavalry, with a small body of foot, and, making a large detour
through the less frequented mountain defiles, he arrived before
Tambo without alarm to the enemy. He found the place more
strongly fortified than he had imagined. The palace, or rather
fortress, of the Incas stood on a lofty eminence, the steep sides
of which, on the quarter where the Spaniards approached, were cut
into terraces, defended by strong walls of stone and sunburnt
brick. *31 The place was impregnable on this side. On the
opposite, it looked towards the Yucay, and the ground descended
by a gradual declivity towards the plain through which rolled its
deep but narrow current. *32 This was the quarter on which to
make the assault.
[Footnote 31: "Tambo tan fortalescido que hera cosa de grima,
porquel assiento donde Tambo esta es muy fuerte, de andenes muy
altos y de muy gran canterias fortalescidos" Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
[Footnote 32: "El rio de yucay ques grande por aquella parte va
muy angosto y hondo." Ibid., Ms.]
Crossing the stream without much difficulty, the Spanish
commander advanced up the smooth glacis with as little noise as
possible. The morning light had hardly broken on the mountains;
and Pizarro, as he drew near the outer defences, which, as in the
fortress of Cuzco, consisted of a stone parapet of great strength
drawn round the inclosure, moved quickly forward, confident that
the garrison were still buried in sleep. But thousands of eyes
were upon him; and as the Spaniards came within bow-shot, a
multitude of dark forms suddenly rose above the rampart, while
the Inca, with his lance in hand, was seen on horseback in the
inclosure, directing the operations of his troops. *33 At the
same moment the air was darkened with innumerable missiles,
stones, javelins, and arrows, which fell like a hurricane on the
troops, and the mountains rang to the wild war-whoop of the
enemy. The Spaniards, taken by surprise, and many of them sorely
wounded, were staggered; and, though they quickly rallied, and
made two attempts to renew the assault, they were at length
obliged to fall back, unable to endure the violence of the storm.
To add to their confusion, the lower level in their rear was
flooded by the waters, which the natives, by opening the sluices,
had diverted from the bed of the river, so that their position
was no longer tenable. *34 A council of war was then held, and it
was decided to abandon the attack as desperate, and to retreat in
as good order as possible.
[Footnote 33: "Parecia el Inga a caballo entre su gente, con su
lanca en la mano." Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap.
7.]
[Footnote 34: "Pues hechos dos o tres acometimientos a tomar este
pueblo tantas vezes nos hizieron bolver dando de manos. Ansi
estuvimos todo este dia hasta puesta de sol; os indios sin
entendello nos hechavan el rrio en el llano donde estavamos, y
aguardar mas perescieramos aqui todos." Pedro Pizarro Descub. y
Conq. Ms.]
The day had been consumed in these ineffectual operations; and
Hernando, under cover of the friendly darkness, sent forward his
infantry and baggage, taking command of the centre himself, and
trusting the rear to his brother Gonzalo. The river was happily
recrossed without accident, although the enemy, now confident in
their strength, rushed out of their defences, and followed up the
retreating Spaniards, whom they annoyed with repeated discharges
of arrows. More than once they pressed so closely on the
fugitives, that Gonzalo and his chivalry were compelled to turn
and make one of those desperate charges that effectually punished
their audacity, and stayed the tide of pursuit. Yet the
victorious foe still hung on the rear of the discomfited
cavaliers, till they had emerged from the mountain passes, and
come within sight of the blackened walls of the capital. It was
the last triumph of the Inca. *35
[Footnote 35: Ibid., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib.
8, cap. 7.]
Among the manuscripts for which I am indebted to the liberality
of that illustrious Spanish scholar, the lamented Navarrete, the
most remarkable, in connection with this history, is the work of
Pedro Pizarro; Relaciones del Descubrimiento y Conquista de los
Reynos del Peru. But a single copy of this important document
appears to have been preserved, the existence of which was but
little known till it came into the hands of Senor de Navarrete;
though it did not escape the indefatigable researches of Herrera,
as is evident from the mention of several incidents, some of them
having personal relation to Pedro Pizarro himself, which the
historian of the Indies could have derived through no other
channel. The manuscript has lately been given to the public as
part of the inestimable collection of historical documents now in
process of publication at Madrid, under auspices which, we may
trust, will insure its success. As the printed work did not
reach me till my present labors were far advanced, I have
preferred to rely on the manuscript copy for the brief remainder
of my narrative, as I had been compelled to do for the previous
portion of it.
Nothing, that I am aware of, is known respecting the author, but
what is to be gleaned from incidental notices of himself in his
own history. He was born at Toledo in Estremadura, the fruitful
province of adventurers to the New World, whence the family of
Francis Pizarro, to which Pedro was allied, also emigrated. When
that chief came over to undertake the conquest of Peru, after
receiving his commission from the emperor in 1529, Pedro Pizarro,
then only fifteen years of age, accompanied him in quality of
page. For three years he remained attached to the household of
his commander, and afterwards continued to follow his banner as a
soldier of fortune. He was present at most of the memorable
events of the Conquest, and seems to have possessed in a great
degree the confidence of his leader, who employed him on some
difficult missions, in which he displayed coolness and gallantry.
It is true, we must take the author's own word for all this. But
he tells his exploits with an air of honesty, and without any
extraordinary effort to set them off in undue relief. He speaks
of himself in the third person, and, as his manuscript was not
intended solely for posterity, he would hardly have ventured on
great misrepresentation, where fraud could so easily have been
exposed.
After the Conquest, our author still remained attached to the
fortunes of his commander, and stood by him through all the
troubles which ensued; and on the assassination of that chief, he
withdrew to Arequipa, to enjoy in quiet the repartimiento of
lands and Indians, which had been bestowed on him as the
recompense of his services. He was there on the breaking out of
the great rebellion under Gonzalo Pizarro. But he was true to
his allegiance, and chose rather, as he tells us, to be false to
his name and his lineage than to his loyalty. Gonzalo, in
retaliation, seized his estates, and would have proceeded to
still further extremities against him, when Pedro Pizarro had
fallen into his hands at Lima, but for the interposition of his
lieutenant, the famous Francisco de Carbajal, to whom the
chronicler had once the good fortune to render an important
service. This, Carbajal requited by sparing his life on two
occasions, - but on the second coolly remarked, "No man has a
right to a brace of lives; and if you fall into my hands a third
time, God only can grant you another." Happily, Pizarro did not
find occasion to put this menace to the test. After the
pacification of the country, he again retired to Arequipa; but,
from the querulous tone of his remarks, it would seem he was not
fully reinstated in the possessions he had sacrificed by his
loyal devotion to government. The last we hear of him is in
1571, the date which he assigns as that of the completion of his
history.
Pedro Pizarro's narrative covers the whole ground of the
Conquest, from the date of the first expedition that sallied out
from Panama, to the troubles that ensued on the departure of
President Gasca. The first part of the work was gathered from
the testimony of others, and, of course, cannot claim the
distinction of rising to the highest class of evidence. But all
that follows the return of Francis Pizarro from Castile, all, in
short, which constitutes the conquest of the country, may be said
to be reported on his own observation, as an eyewitness and an
actor. This gives to his narrative a value to which it could
have no pretensions on the score of its literary execution.
Pizarro was a soldier, with as little education, probably, as
usually falls to those who have been trained from youth in this
rough school, - the most unpropitious in the world to both mental
and moral progress. He had the good sense, more over, not to
aspire to an excellence which he could not reach. There is no
ambition of fine writing in his chronicle; there are none of
those affectations of ornament which only make more glaring the
beggarly condition of him who assumes them. His object was
simply to tell the story of the Conquest, as he had seen it. He
was to deal with facts, not with words, which he wisely left to
those who came into the field after the laborers had quitted it,
to garner up what they could at second hand.
Pizarro's situation may be thought to have necessarily exposed
him to party influences, and thus given an undue bias to his
narrative. It is not difficult, indeed, to determine under whose
banner he had enlisted. He writes like a partisan, and yet like
an honest one, who is no further warped from a correct judgment
of passing affairs than must necessarily come from preconceived
opinions. There is no management to work a conviction in his
reader on this side or the other, still less any obvious
perversion of fact. He evidently believes what he says, and this
is the great point to be desired. We can make allowance for the
natural influences of his position. Were he more impartial than
this, the critic of the present day, by making allowance for a
greater amount of prejudice and partiality, might only be led
into error.
Pizarro is not only independent, but occasionally caustic in his
condemnation of those under whom he acted. This is particularly
the case where their measures bear too unfavorably on his own
interests, or those of the army. As to the unfortunate natives,
he no more regards their sufferings than the Jews of old did
those of the Philistines, whom they considered as delivered up to
their swords, and whose lands they regarded as their lawful
heritage. There is no mercy shown by the hard Conqueror in his
treatment of the infidel.
Pizarro was the representative of the age in which he lived. Yet
it is too much to cast such obloquy on the age. He represented
more truly the spirit of the fierce warriors who overturned the
dynasty of the Incas. He was not merely a crusader, fighting to
extend the empire of the Cross over the darkened heathen. Gold
was his great object; the estimate by which he judged of the
value of the Conquest; the recompense that he asked for a life of
toil and danger. It was with these golden visions, far more than
with visions of glory, above all, of celestial glory, that the
Peruvian adventurer fed his gross and worldly imagination.
Pizarro did not rise above his caste. Neither did he rise above
it in a mental view, any more than in a moral. His history
displays no great penetration, or vigor and comprehension of
though. It is the work of a soldier, telling simply his tale of
blood. Its value is, that it is told by him who acted it. And
this, to the modern compiler, renders it of higher worth than far
abler productions at second hand. It is the rude ore, which,
submitted to the regular process of purification and refinement,
may receive the current stamp that fits it for general
circulation.
Another authority, to whom I have occasionally referred, and
whose writings still slumber in manuscript, is the Licentiate
Fernando Montesinos. He is, in every respect, the opposite of
the military chronicler who has just come under our notice. He
flourished about a century after the Conquest. Of course, the
value of his writings as an authority for historical facts must
depend on his superior opportunities for consulting original
documents. For this his advantages were great. He was twice sent
in an official capacity to Peru, which required him to visit the
different parts of the country. These two missions occupied
fifteen years; so that, while his position gave him access to the
colonial archives and literary repositories, he was enabled to
verify his researches, to some extent, by actual observation of
the country.
The result was his two historical works, Memorias Antiguas
Historiales del Peru, and his Annales, sometimes cited in these
pages. The former is taken up with the early history of the
country, - very early, it must be admitted, since it goes back to
the deluge. The first part of this treatise is chiefly occupied
with an argument to show the identity of Peru with the golden
Ophir of Solomon's time! This hypothesis, by no means original
with the author, may give no unfair notion of the character of
his mind. In the progress of his work he follows down the line
of Inca princes, whose exploits, and names even, by no means
coincide with Garcilasso's catalogue; a circumstance, however,
far from establishing their inaccuracy. But one will have little
doubt of the writer's title to this reproach, that reads the
absurd legends told in the grave tone of reliance by Montesinos,
who shared largely in the credulity and the love of the
marvellous which belong to an earlier and less enlightened age.
These same traits are visible in his Annals, which are devoted
exclusively to the Conquest. Here, indeed, the author, after his
cloudy flight, has descended on firm ground, where gross
violations of truth, or, at least, of probability, are not to be
expected. But any one who has occasion to compare his narrative
with that of contemporary writers will find frequent cause to
distrust it. Yet Montesinos has one merit. In his extensive
researches, he became acquainted with original instruments, which
he has occasionally transferred to his own pages, and which it
would be now difficult to meet elsewhere.
His writings have been commended by some of his learned
countrymen, as showing diligent research and information. My own
experience would not assign them a high rank as historical
vouchers. They seem to me entitled to little praise, either for
the accuracy of their statements, or the sagacity of their
reflections. The spirit of cold indifference which they manifest
to the sufferings of the natives is an odious feature, for which
there is less apology in a writer of the seventeenth century than
in one of the primitive Conquerors, whose passions had been
inflamed by long-protracted hostility. M. Ternaux-Compans has
translated the Memorias Antiguas with his usual elegance and
precision, for his collection of original documents relating to
the New World. He speaks in the Preface of doing the same kind
office to the Annales, at a future time. I am not aware that he
has done this; and I cannot but think that the excellent
translator may find a better subject for his labors in some of
the rich collection of the Munoz manuscripts in his possession.
Book IV: Civil Wars Of The Conquerors
Chapter I
Almagro's March To Chili. - Suffering Of The Troops. - He Returns
And Seizes Cuzco. - Action Of Abancay. - Gaspar De Espinosa. -
Almagro Leaves Cuzco. - Negotiations With Pizarro.
1535-1537.
While the events recorded in the preceding chapter were passing,
the Marshal Almagro was engaged in his memorable expedition to
Chili. He had set out, as we have seen, with only part of his
forces, leaving his lieutenant to follow him with the remainder.
During the first part of the way, he profited by the great
military road of the Incas, which stretched across the table-land
far towards the south. But as he drew near to Chili, the Spanish
commander became entangled in the defiles of the mountains, where
no vestige of a road was to be discerned. Here his progress was
impeded by all the obstacles which belong to the wild scenery of
the Cordilleras; deep and ragged ravines, round whose sides a
slender sheep-path wound up to a dizzy height over the precipices
below; rivers rushing in fury down the slopes of the mountains,
and throwing themselves in stupendous cataracts into the yawning
abyss; dark forests of pine that seemed to have no end, and then
again long reaches of desolate table-land, without so much as a
bush or shrub to shelter the shivering traveller from the blast
that swept down from the frozen summits of the sierra.
The cold was so intense, that many lost the nails of their
fingers, their fingers themselves. and sometimes their limbs.
Others were blinded by the dazzling waste of snow, reflecting the
rays of a sun made intolerably brilliant in the thin atmosphere
of these elevated regions. Hunger came, as usual, in the train of
woes; for in these dismal solitudes no vegetation that would
suffice for the food of man was visible, and no living thing,
except only the great bird of the Andes, hovering over their
heads in expectation of his banquet. This was too frequently
afforded by the number of wretched Indians, who, unable, from the
scantiness of their clothing, to encounter the severity of the
climate, perished by the way. Such was the pressure of hunger,
that the miserable survivors fed on the dead bodies of their
countrymen, and the Spaniards forced a similar sustenance from
the carcasses of their horses, literally frozen to death in the
mountain passes. *1 - Such were the terrible penalties which
Nature imposed on those who rashly intruded on these her solitary
and most savage haunts.
[Footnote 1: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 10, cap. 1 - 3.
- Oviedo Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 9, cap. 4. -
Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]
Yet their own sufferings do not seem to have touched the hearts
of the Spaniards with any feeling of compassion for the weaker
natives. Their path was everywhere marked by burnt and desolated
hamlets, the inhabitants of which were compelled to do them
service as beasts of burden. They were chained together in gangs
of ten or twelve, and no infirmity or feebleness of body excused
the unfortunate captive from his full share of the common toil,
till he sometimes dropped dead, in his very chains, from mere
exhaustion! *2 Alvarado's company are accused of having been more
cruel than Pizarro's; and many of Almagro's men, it may be
remembered, were recruited from that source. The commander looked
with displeasure, it is said, on these enormities, and did what
he could to repress them. Yet he did not set a good example in
his own conduct, if it be true that he caused no less than thirty
Indian chiefs to be burnt alive, for the massacre of three of his
followers! *3 The heart sickens at the recital of such atrocities
perpetrated on an unoffending people, or, at least, guilty of no
other crime than that of defending their own soil too well.
[Footnote 2: Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.
The writer must have made one on this expedition, as he speaks
from personal observation. The poor natives had at least one
friend in the Christian camp. "I si en el Real havia algun
Espanol que era buen rancheador i cruel i matava muchos Indios
tenianle por buen hombre i en grand reputacion i el que era
inclinado a hacer bien i a hacer buenos tratamientos a los
naturales i los favorecia no era tenido en tan buena estima, he
apuntado esto que vi con mis ejos i en que por mis pecados anduve
porque entiendan los que esto leyeren que de la manera que aqui
digo i con mayores crueldades harto se hizo esta jornada i
descubrimiento de Chile"]
[Footnote 3: "I para castigarlos por la muerte destos tres
Espanoles juntolos en un aposento donde estava aposentado i mando
cavalgar la jente de cavallo i la de apie que guardasen las
puertas i todos estuviesen apercividos i los prendio i en
conclusion hizo quemar mas de 30 senores vivos atados cada uno a
su palo" (Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.) Oviedo, who always shows
the hard feeling of the colonist, excuses this on the old plea of
necessity, - fue necesario este castigo, - and adds, that after
this a Spaniard might send a messenger from one end of the
country to the other, without fear of injury Hist. de las Indias,
Ms, Parte 3 lib. 9, cap. 4.]
There is something in the possession of superior strength most
dangerous, in a moral view, to its possessor. Brought in contact
with semi-civilized man, the European, with his endowments and
effective force so immeasurably superior, holds him as little
higher than the brute, and as born equally for his service. He
feels that he has a natural right, as it were, to his obedience,
and that this obedience is to be measured, not by the powers of
the barbarian, but by the will of his conqueror. Resistance
becomes a crime to be washed out only in the blood of the victim.
The tale of such atrocities is not confined to the Spaniard.
Wherever the civilized man and the savage have come in contact,
in the East or in the West, the story has been too often written
in blood.
From the wild chaos of mountain scenery the Spaniards emerged on
the green vale of Coquimbo, about the thirtieth degree of south
latitude. Here they halted to refresh themselves in its abundant
plains, after their unexampled sufferings and fatigues.
Meanwhile Almagro despatched an officer with a strong party in
advance, to ascertain the character of the country towards the
south. Not long after, he was cheered by the arrival of the
remainder of his forces under his lieutenant Rodrigo de Orgonez.
This was a remarkable person, and intimately connected with the
subsequent fortunes of Almagro.
He was a native of Oropesa, had been trained in the Italian wars,
and held the rank of ensign in the army of the Constable of
Bourbon at the famous sack of Rome. It was a good school in
which to learn his iron trade, and to steel the heart against any
too ready sensibility to human suffering. Orgonez was an
excellent soldier; true to his commander, prompt, fearless, and
unflinching in the execution of his orders. His services
attracted the notice of the Crown, and, shortly after this
period, he was raised to the rank of Marshal of New Toledo. Yet
it may be doubted whether his character did not qualify him for
an executive and subordinate station rather than for one of
higher responsibility.
Almagro received also the royal warrant, conferring on him his
new powers and territorial jurisdiction. The instrument had been
detained by the Pizarros to the very last moment. His troops,
long since disgusted with their toilsome and unprofitable march,
were now clamorous to return. Cuzco, they said, undoubtedly fell
within the limits of his government, and it was better to take
possession of its comfortable quarters than to wander like
outcasts in this dreary wilderness. They reminded their
commander that thus only could he provide for the interests of
his son Diego. This was an illegitimate son of Almagro, on whom
his father doated with extravagant fondness, justified more than
usual by the promising character of the youth.
After an absence of about two months, the officer sent on the
exploring expedition returned, bringing unpromising accounts of
the southern regions of Chili. The only land of promise for the
Castilian was one that teemed with gold. *4 He had penetrated to
the distance of a hundred leagues, to the limits, probably, of
the conquests of the Incas on the river Maule. *5 The Spaniards
had fortunately stopped short of the land of Arauco, where the
blood of their countrymen was soon after to be poured out like
water, and which still maintains a proud independence amidst the
general humiliation of the Indian races around it.
[Footnote 4: It is the language of a Spaniard; "i como no le
parecio bien la tierra por no ser quajada de oro." Conq. i Pob.
del Piru, Ms.]
[Footnote 5: According to Oviedo, a hundred and fifty leagues,
and very near, as they told him, to the end of the world; cerca
del fin del mundo. (Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 9,
cap. 5.) One must not expect to meet with very accurate notions
of geography in the rude soldiers of America]
Almagro now yielded, with little reluctance, to the renewed
importunities of the soldiers, and turned his face towards the
North. It is unnecessary to follow his march in detail.
Disheartened by the difficulty of the mountain passage, he took
the road along the coast, which led him across the great desert
of Atacama. In crossing this dreary waste, which stretches for
nearly a hundred leagues to the northern borders of Chili, with
hardly a green spot in its expanse to relieve the fainting
traveller, Almagro and his men experienced as great sufferings,
though not of the same kind, as those which they had encountered
in the passes of the Cordilleras. Indeed, the captain would not
easily be found at this day, who would venture to lead his army
across this dreary region. But the Spaniard of the sixteenth
century had a strength of limb and a buoyancy of spirit which
raised him to a contempt of obstacles, almost justifying the
boast of the historian, that "he contended indifferently, at the
same time, with man, with the elements, and with famine!" *6
[Footnote 6: "Peleando en un tiempo con los Enemigos, con los
Elementos, i con la Hambre." Herrera, Hist General, dec. 5, lib.
10, cap. 2]
After traversing the terrible desert, Almagro reached the ancient
town of Arequipa, about sixty leagues from Cuzco. Here he
learned with astonishment the insurrection of the Peruvians, and
further, that the young Inca Manco still lay with a formidable
force at no great distance from the capital. He had once been on
friendly terms with the Peruvian prince, and he now resolved,
before proceeding farther, to send an embassy to his camp, and
arrange an interview with him in the neighbourhood of Cuzco.
Almagro's emissaries were well received by the Inca, who alleged
his grounds of complaint against the Pizarros, and named the vale
of Yucay as the place where he would confer with the marshal.
The Spanish commander accordingly resumed his march, and, taking
one half of his force, whose whole number fell somewhat short of
five hundred men, he repaired in person to the place of
rendezvous; while the remainder of his army established their
quarters at Urcos, about six leagues from the capital. *7
[Footnote 7: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Conq. i Pob.
del Piru, Ms. - Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib.
9, cap. 6]
The Spaniards in Cuzco, startled by the appearance of this fresh
body of troops in their neighbourhood, doubted, when they learned
the quarter whence they came, whether it betided them good or
evil. Hernando Pizarro marched out of the city with a small
force, and, drawing near to Urcos, heard with no little
uneasiness of Almagro's purpose to insist on his pretensions to
Cuzco. Though much inferior in strength to his rival, he
determined to resist him.
Meanwhile, the Peruvians, who had witnessed the conference
between the soldiers of the opposite camps, suspected some secret
understanding between the parties, which would compromise the
safety of the Inca. They communicated their distrust to Manco,
and the latter, adopting the same sentiments, or perhaps, from
the first, meditating a surprise of the Spaniards, suddenly fell
upon the latter in the valley of Yucay with a body of fifteen
thousand men. But the veterans of Chili were too familiar with
Indian tactics to be taken by surprise. And though a sharp
engagement ensued, which lasted more than an hour, in which
Orgonez had a horse killed under him, the natives were finally
driven back with great slaughter, and the Inca was so far
crippled by the blow, that he was not likely for the present to
give further molestation. *8
[Footnote 8: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 4. - Conq. i
Pob. del Piru, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 21.]
Almagro, now joining the division left at Urcos, saw no further
impediment to his operations on Cuzco. He sent, at once, an
embassy to the municipality of the place, requiring the
recognition of him as its lawful governor, and presenting at the
same time a copy of his credentials from the Crown. But the
question of jurisdiction was not one easy to be settled,
depending, as it did, on a knowledge of the true parallels of
latitude, not very likely to be possessed by the rude followers
of Pizarro. The royal grant had placed under his jurisdiction
all the country extending two hundred and seventy leagues south
of the river of Santiago, situated one degree and twenty minutes
north of the equator. Two hundred and seventy leagues on the
meridian, by our measurement, would fall more than a degree short
of Cuzco, and, indeed, would barely include the city of Lima
itself. But the Spanish leagues, of only seventeen and a half to
a degree, *9 would remove the southern boundary to nearly half a
degree beyond the capital of the Incas, which would thus fall
within the jurisdiction of Pizarro. *10 Yet the division-line ran
so close to the disputed ground, that the true result might
reasonably be doubted, where no careful scientific observations
had been made to obtain it; and each party was prompt to assert,
as they always are in such cases, that its own claim was clear
and unquestionable. *11
[Footnote 9: "Contando diez i siete leg as i media por grado."
Herrera Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 5.]
[Footnote 10: The government had endeavoured early to provide
against any dispute in regard to the limits of the respective
jurisdictions. The language of the original grants gave room to
some misunderstanding; and, as early as 1536, Fray Jomas de
Berlanga, Bishop of Tierra Firme, had been sent to Lima with full
powers to determine the question of boundary, by fixing the
latitude of the river of Santiago, and measuring two hundred and
seventy leagues south on the meridian. But Pizarro, having
engaged Almagro in his Chili expedition, did not care to revive
the question, and the Bishop returned, re infecta, to his
diocese, with strong feelings of disgust towards the governor.
Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 1.]
[Footnote 11: "All say," says Oviedo, in a letter to the emperor,
"that Cuzco falls within the territory of Almagro." Oviedo was,
probably, the best-informed man in the colonies. Yet this was an
error. Carta desde Sto. Domingo, Ms., 25 de Oct. 1539.]
Thus summoned by Almagro, the authorities of Cuzco, unwilling to
give umbrage to either of the contending chiefs, decided that
they must wait until they could take counsel - which they
promised to do at once - with certain pilots better instructed
than themselves in the position of the Santiago. Meanwhile, a
truce was arranged between the parties, each solemnly engaging to
abstain from hostile measures, and to remain quiet in their
present quarters.
The weather now set in cold and rainy. Almagro's soldiers,
greatly discontented with their position, flooded as it was by
the waters, were quick to discover that Hernando Pizarro was
busily employed in strengthening himself in the city, contrary to
agreement. They also learned with dismay, that a large body of
men, sent by the governor from Lima, under command of Alonso de
Alvarado, was on the march to relieve Cuzco. They exclaimed that
they were betrayed, and that the truce had been only an artifice
to secure their inactivity until the arrival of the expected
succours. In this state of excitement, it was not very difficult
to persuade their commander - too ready to surrender his own
judgment to the rash advisers around him - to violate the treaty,
and take possession of the capital. *12
[Footnote 12: According to Zarate, Almagro, on entering the
capital, found no appearance of the designs imputed to Hernando,
and exclaimed that "he had been deceived." (Conq. del Peru, lib.
3, cap. 4.) He was probably easy of faith in the matter.]
Under cover of a dark and stormy night (April 8th, 1537), he
entered the place without opposition, made himself master of the
principal church, established strong parties of cavalry at the
head of the great avenues to prevent surprise, and detached
Orgonez with a body of infantry to force the dwelling of Hernando
Pizarro. That captain was lodged with his brother Gonzalo in one
of the large halls built by the Incas for public diversions, with
immense doors of entrance that opened on the plaza. It was
garrisoned by about twenty soldiers, who, as the gates were burst
open, stood stoutly to the defence of their leader. A smart
struggle ensued, in which some lives were lost, till at length
Orgonez, provoked by the obstinate resistance, set fire to the
combustible roof of the building. It was speedily in flames, and
the burning rafters falling on the heads of the inmates, they
forced their reluctant leader to an unconditional surrender.
Scarcely had the Spaniards left the building, when the whole roof
fell in with a tremendous crash. *13
[Footnote 13: Carta de Espinall, Tesorero de N. Toledo, 15 de
Junio, 1539. - Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms. - Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3,
lib. 8, cap. 21.]
Almagro was now master of Cuzco. He ordered the Pizarros, with
fifteen or twenty of the principal cavaliers, to be secured and
placed in confinement. Except so far as required for securing
his authority, he does not seem to have been guilty of acts of
violence to the inhabitants, *14 and he installed one of
Pizarro's most able officers, Gabriel de Rojas, in the government
of the city. The municipality, whose eyes were now open to the
validity of Almagro's pretensions, made no further scruple to
recognize his title to Cuzco.
[Footnote 14: So it would appear from the general testimony; yet
Pedro Pizarro, one of the opposite faction, and among those
imprisoned by Almagro, complains that that chief plundered them
of their horses and other property. Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
The marshal's first step was to send a message to Alonso de
Alvarado's camp, advising that officer of his occupation of the
city, and requiring his obedience to him, as its legitimate
master. Alvarado was lying, with a body of five hundred men,
horse and foot, at Xauxa, about thirteen leagues from the
capital. He had been detached several months previously for the
relief of Cuzco; but had, most unaccountably, and, as it proved,
most unfortunately for the Peruvian capital, remained at Xauxa
with the alleged motive of protecting that settlement and the
surrounding country against the insurgents. *15 He now showed
himself loyal to his commander; and, when Almagro's ambassadors
reached his camp, he put them in irons, and sent advice of what
had been done to the governor at Lima.
[Footnote 15: Pizarro's secretary Picado had an encomienda in
that neighbourhood, and Alvarado, who was under personal
obligations to him, remained there, it is said, at his
instigation. (Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 7.)
Alvarado was a good officer, and largely trusted, both before and
after, by the Pizarros; and we may presume there was some
explanation of his conduct, of which we are not possessed.]
Almagro, offended by the detention of his emissaries, prepared at
once to march against Alonso de Alvarado, and take more effectual
means to bring him to submission. His lieutenant, Orgonez,
strongly urged him before his departure to strike off the heads
of the Pizarros, alleging, "that, while they lived, his
commander's life would never be safe"; and concluding with the
Spanish proverb, "Dead men never bite." *16 But the marshal,
though he detested Hernando in his heart, shrunk from so violent
a measure; and, independently of other considerations, he had
still an attachment for his old associate, Francis Pizarro, and
was unwilling to sever the ties between them for ever.
Contenting himself, therefore, with placing his prisoners under
strong guard in one of the stone buildings belonging to the House
of the Sun, he put himself at the head of his forces, and left
the capital in quest of Alvarado.
[Footnote 16: "El muerto no mordia." Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 2, cap.
8.]
That officer had now taken up a position on the farther side of
the Rio de Abancay, where he lay, with the strength of his little
army, in front of a bridge, by which its rapid waters are
traversed, while a strong detachment occupied a spot commanding a
ford lower down the river. But in this detachment was a cavalier
of much consideration in the army, Pedro de Lerma, who, from some
pique against his commander, had entered into treasonable
correspondence with the opposite party. By his advice, Almagro,
on reaching the border of the river, established himself against
the bridge in face of Alvarado, as if prepared to force a
passage, thus concentrating his adversary's attention on that
point. But, when darkness had set in, he detached a large body
under Orgonez to pass the ford, and operate in concert with
Lerma. Orgonez executed this commission with his usual
promptness. The ford was crossed, though the current ran so
swiftly, that several of his men were swept away by it, and
perished in the waters. Their leader received a severe wound
himself in the mouth, as he was gaining the opposite bank, but,
nothing daunted, he cheered on his men, and fell with fury on the
enemy. He was speedily joined by Lerma, and such of the soldiers
as he had gained over, and, unable to distinguish friend from
foe, the enemy's confusion was complete.
Meanwhile, Alvarado, roused by the noise of the attack on this
quarter, hastened to the support of his officer, when Almagro,
seizing the occasion, pushed across the bridge, dispersed the
small body left to defend it, and, falling on Alvarado's rear,
that general saw himself hemmed in on all sides. The struggle
did not last long; and the unfortunate chief, uncertain on whom
he could rely, surrendered with all his force, - those only
excepted who had already deserted to the enemy. Such was the
battle of Abancay, as it was called, from the river on whose
banks it was fought, on the twelfth of July, 1537. Never was a
victory more complete, or achieved with less cost of life; and
Almagro marched back, with an array of prisoners scarcely
inferior to his own army in number, in triumph to Cuzco. *17
[Footnote 17: Carta de Francisco Pizarro al Obispo de Tierra
Firme, Ms., 28 de Agosto, 1539. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq.,
Ms. - Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., ubi supra. - Conq. i Pob.
del Piru, Ms. - Carta de Espinall, Ms.]
While the events related in the preceding pages were passing,
Francisco Pizarro had remained at Lima, anxiously awaiting the
arrival of the reinforcements which he had requested, to enable
him to march to the relief of the beleaguered capital of the
Incas. His appeal had not been unanswered. Among the rest was a
corps of two hundred and fifty men, led by the Licentiate Gaspar
de Espinosa, one of the three original associates, it may be
remembered, who engaged in the conquest of Peru. He had now left
his own residence at Panama, and came in person, for the first
time, it would seem, to revive the drooping fortunes of his
confederates. Pizarro received also a vessel laden with
provisions, military stores, and other necessary supplies,
besides a rich wardrobe for himself, from Cortes, the Conqueror
of Mexico, who generously stretched forth his hand to aid his
kinsman in the hour of need. *18
[Footnote 18: "Fernando Cortes embio con Rodrigo de Grijalva en
vn proprio Navio suio, desde la Nueva Espana, muchas Armas,
Tiros, Jaeces, Aderecos, Vestidos de Seda, i vna Ropa de Martas."
Gomara, Hist de las Ind., cap. 136.]
With a force amounting to four hundred and fifty men, half of
them cavalry, the governor quitted Lima, and began his march on
the Inca capital. He had not advanced far, when he received
tidings of the return of Almagro, the seizure of Cuzco, and the
imprisonment of his brothers; and, before he had time to recover
from this astounding intelligence, he learned the total defeat
and capture of Alvarado. Filled with consternation at these
rapid successes of his rival, he now returned in all haste to
Lima, which he put in the best posture of defence, to secure it
against the hostile movements, not unlikely, as he thought, to be
directed against that capital itself. Meanwhile, far from
indulging in impotent sallies of resentment, or in complaints of
his ancient comrade, he only lamented that Almagro should have
resorted to these violent measures for the settlement of their
dispute, and this less - if we may take his word for it - from
personal considerations than from the prejudice it might do to
the interests of the Crown. *19
[Footnote 19: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 2, cap. 7]
But, while busily occupied with warlike preparations, he did not
omit to try the effect of negotiation. He sent an embassy to
Cuzco, consisting of several persons in whose discretion he
placed the greatest confidence, with Espinosa at their head, as
the party most interested in an amicable arrangement.
The licentiate, on his arrival, did not find Almagro in as
favorable a mood for an accommodation as he could have wished.
Elated by his recent successes, he now aspired not only to the
possession of Cuzco, but of Lima itself, as falling within the
limits of his jurisdiction. It was in vain that Espinosa urged
the propriety, by every argument which prudence could suggest, of
moderating his demands. His claims upon Cuzco, at least, were
not to be shaken, and he declared himself ready to peril his life
in maintaining them. The licentiate coolly replied by quoting
the pithy Castilian proverb, El vencido vencido, y el vencidor
perdido; "The vanquished vanquished, and the victor undone."
What influence the temperate arguments of the licentiate might
eventually have had on the heated imagination of the soldier is
doubtful; but unfortunately for the negotiation, it was abruptly
terminated by the death of Espinosa himself, which took place
most unexpectedly, though, strange to say, in those times,
without the imputation of poison. *20 He was a great loss to the
parties in the existing fermentation of their minds; for he had
the weight of character which belongs to wise and moderate
counsels, and a deeper interest than any other man in
recommending them.
[Footnote 20: Carta de Pizarro al Obispo de Tierra Firme, Ms. -
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 2, cap. 13. - Carta de
Espinall, Ms.]
The name of Espinosa is memorable in history from his early
connection with the expedition to Peru, which, but for the
seasonable, though secret, application of his funds, could not
then have been compassed. He had long been a resident in the
Spanish colonies of Tierra Firme and Panama, where he had served
in various capacities, sometimes as a legal functionary presiding
in the courts of justice, *21 and not unfrequently as an
efficient leader in the early expeditions of conquest and
discovery. In these manifold vocations he acquired high
reputation for probity, intelligence, and courage, and his death
at the present crisis was undoubtedly the most unfortunate event
that could befall the country.
[Footnote 21: He incurred some odium as presiding officer in the
trial and condemnation of the unfortunate Vasco Nunez de Balboa.
But it must be allowed, that he made great efforts to resist the
tyrannical proceedings of Pedrarias, and he earnestly recommended
the prisoner to mercy. See Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 2, lib.
2, cap. 21, 22.]
All attempt at negotiation was now abandoned; and Almagro
announced his purpose to descend to the sea-coast, where he could
plant a colony and establish a port for himself. This would
secure him the means, so essential, of communication with the
mother-country, and here he would resume negotiations for the
settlement of his dispute with Pizarro. Before quitting Cuzco, he
sent Orgonez with a strong force against the Inca, not caring to
leave the capital exposed in his absence to further annoyance
from that quarter.
But the Inca, discouraged by his late discomfiture, and unable,
perhaps, to rally in sufficient strength for resistance,
abandoned his strong-hold at Tambo, and retreated across the
mountains. He was hotly pursued by Orgonez over hill and valley,
till, deserted by his followers, and with only one of his wives
to bear him company, the royal fugitive took shelter in the
remote fastnesses of the Andes. *22
[Footnote 22: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Conq. i Pob.
de Piru Ms.]
Before leaving the capital, Orgonez again urged his commander to
strike off the heads of the Pizarros, and then march at once upon
Lima. By this decisive step he would bring the war to an issue,
and for ever secure himself from the insidious machinations of
his enemies. But, in the mean time, a new friend had risen up to
the captive brothers. This was Diego de Alvarado, brother of
that Pedro, who, as mentioned in a preceding chapter, had
conducted the unfortunate expedition to Quito. After his
brother's departure, Diego had attached himself to the fortunes
of Almagro, had accompanied him to Chili, and, as he was a
cavalier of birth, and possessed of some truly noble qualities,
he had gained deserved ascendency over his commander. Alvarado
had frequently visited Hernando Pizarro in his confinement,
where, to beguile the tediousness of captivity, he amused himself
with gaming, - the passion of the Spaniard. They played deep, and
Alvarado lost the enormous sum of eighty thousand gold
castellanos. He was prompt in paying the debt, but Hernando
Pizarro peremptorily declined to receive the money. By this
politic generosity, he secured an important advocate in the
council of Almagro. It stood him now in good stead. Alvarado
represented to the marshal, that such a measure as that urged by
Orgonez would not only outrage the feelings of his followers, but
would ruin his fortunes by the indignation it must excite at
court. When Almagro acquiesced in these views, as in truth most
grateful to his own nature, Orgonez, chagrined at his
determination, declared that the day would come when he would
repent this mistaken lenity. "A Pizarro," he said, "was never
known to forget an injury; and that which they had already
received from Almagro was too deep for them to forgive."
Prophetic words!
On leaving Cuzco, the marshal gave orders that Gonzalo Pizarro
and the other prisoners should be detained in strict custody.
Hernando he took with him, closely guarded, on his march.
Descending rapidly towards the coast, he reached the pleasant
vale of Chincha in the latter part of August. Here he occupied
himself with laying the foundations of a town bearing his own
name, which might serve as a counterpart to the City of the
Kings, - thus bidding defiance, as it were, to his rival on his
own borders. While occupied in this manner, he received the
unwelcome tidings, that Gonzalo Pizarro, Alonso de Alvarado, and
the other prisoners, having tampered with their guards, had
effected their escape from Cuzco, and he soon after heard of
their safe arrival in the camp of Pizarro.
Chafed by this intelligence, the marshal was not soothed by the
insinuations of Orgonez, that it was owing to his ill-advised
lenity; and it might have gone hard with Hernando, but that
Almagro's attention was diverted by the negotiation which
Francisco Pizarro now proposed to resume.
After some correspondence between the parties, it was agreed to
submit the arbitration of the dispute to a single individual,
Fray Francisco de Bovadilla, a Brother of the Order of Mercy.
Though living in Lima, and, as might be supposed, under the
influence of Pizarro, he had a reputation for integrity that
disposed Almagro to confide the settlement of the question
exclusively to him. In this implicit confidence in the friar's
impartiality, Orgonez, of a less sanguine temper than his chief,
did not participate. *23
[Footnote 23: Carta de Gutierrez al Emperador, Ms., 10 de Feb.
1539. - Carta de Espinall, Ms. - Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., Ms.,
ubi supra. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6 lib. 2, cap. 8-14. -
Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y. Conq., Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru,
lib. 3, cap. 8. - Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms.]
An interview was arranged between the rival chiefs. It took
place at Mala, November 13th, 1537; but very different was the
deportment of the two commanders towards each other from that
which they had exhibited at their former meetings. Almagro,
indeed, doffing his bonnet, advanced in his usual open manner to
salute his ancient comrade; but Pizarro, hardly condescending to
return the salute, haughtily demanded why the marshal had seized
upon his city of Cuzco, and imprisoned his brothers. This led to
a recrimination on the part of his associate. The discussion
assumed the tone of an angry altercation, till Almagro, taking a
hint - or what he conceived to be such - from an attendant, that
some treachery was intended, abruptly quitted the apartment,
mounted his horse, and galloped back to his quarters at Chincha.
*24 The conference closed, as might have been anticipated from
the heated temper of their minds when they began it, by widening
the breach it was intended to heal. The friar, now left wholly
to himself, after some deliberation, gave his award. He decided
that a vessel, with a skilful pilot on board, should be sent to
determine the exact latitude of the river of Santiago, the
northern boundary of Pizarro's territory, by which all the
measurements were to be regulated. In the mean time, Cuzco was to
be delivered up by Almagro, and Hernando Pizarro to be set at
liberty, on condition of his leaving the country in six weeks for
Spain. Both parties were to retire within their undisputed
territories, and to abandon all further hostilities. *25
[Footnote 24: It was said that Gonzalo Pizarro lay in ambush with
a strong force in the neighbourhood to intercept the marshal, and
that the latter was warned of his danger by an honorable cavalier
of the opposite party, who repeated a distich of an old ballad,
"Tiempo es el Caballero
Tiempo es de andar de aqui."
(Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 4.) Pedro Pizarro
admits the truth of the design imputed to Gonzalo, which he was
prevented from putting into execution by the commands of the
governor, who, the chronicler, with edifying simplicity, or
assurance, informs us, was a man that scrupulously kept his word.
"Porque el marquez don Francisco Picarro hera hombre que guardava
mucho su palabra." Descub. y Conq., Ms.]
[Footnote 25: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de
Espinall, Ms.]
This award, as may be supposed, highly satisfactory to Pizarro,
was received by Almagro's men with indignation and scorn. They
had been sold, they cried, by their general, broken, as he was,
by age and infirmities. Their enemies were to occupy Cuzco and
its pleasant places, while they were to be turned over to the
barren wilderness of Charcas. Little did they dream that under
this poor exterior were hidden the rich treasures of Potosi.
They denounced the umpire as a hireling of the governor, and
murmurs were heard among the troops, stimulated by Orgonez,
demanding the head of Hernando. Never was that cavalier in
greater danger. But his good genius in the form of Alvarado
again interposed to protect him. His life in captivity was a
succession of reprieves. *26
[Footnote 26: Espinall, Almagro's treasurer, denounces the friar
"as proving himself a very devil" by this award. (Carta al
Emperador, Ms.) And Oviedo, a more dispassionate judge, quotes,
without condemning, a cavalier who told the father, that "a
sentence so unjust had not been pronounced since the time of
Pontius Pilate"! Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap.
21.]
Yet his brother, the governor, was not disposed to abandon him to
his fate. On the contrary, he was now prepared to make every
concession to secure his freedom. Concessions, that politic
chief well knew, cost little to those who are not concerned to
abide by them. After some preliminary negotiation, another
award, more equitable, or, at all events, more to the
satisfaction of the discontented party, was given. The principal
articles of it were, that, until the arrival of some definitive
instructions on the point from Castile, the city of Cuzco, with
its territory, should remain in the hands of Almagro; and that
Hernando Pizarro should be set at liberty, on the condition,
above stipulated, of leaving the country in six weeks. - When the
terms of this agreement were communicated to Orgonez, that
officer intimated his opinion of them, by passing his finger
across his throat, and exclaiming, "What has my fidelity to my
commander cost me!" *27
[Footnote 27: "I tomando la barba con la mano izquierda, con la
derecha hico senal de cortarse la cabeca, diciendo: Orgonez,
Orgonez, por el amistad de Don Diego de Almagro te han de cortar
esta." Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 9.]
Almagro, in order to do greater honor to his prisoner, visited
him in person, and announced to him that he was from that moment
free. He expressed a hope, at the same time, that "all past
differences would be buried in oblivion, and that henceforth they
should live only in the recollection of then ancient friendship."
Hernando replied, with apparent cordiality, that "he desired
nothing better for himself." He then swore in the most solemn
manner, and pledged his knightly honor, - the latter, perhaps, a
pledge of quite as much weight in his own mind as the former, -
that he would faithfully comply with the terms stipulated in the
treaty. He was next conducted by the marshal to his quarters,
where he partook of a collation in company with the principal
officers; several of whom, together with Diego Almagro, the
general's son, afterward escorted the cavalier to his brother's
camp, which had been transferred to the neighbouring town of
Mala. Here the party received a most cordial greeting from the
governor, who entertained them with a courtly hospitality, and
lavished many attentions, in particular, on the son of his
ancient associate. In short, such, on their return, was the
account of their reception, that it left no doubt in the mind of
Almagro that all was at length amicably settled. *28 - He did not
know Pizarro.
[Footnote 28: Ibid., loc. cit. - Carta de Descub. y Conq., Ms. -
Zarate Gutierrez, Ms. - Pedro Pizarro, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3,
cap. 9.]
Chapter II
First Civil War. - Almagro Retreats To Cuzco. - Battle Of Las
Salinas. - Cruelty Of The Conquerors. - Trial And Execution Of
Almagro. - His Character.
1537-1538.
Scarcely had Almagro's officers left the governor's quarters,
when the latter, calling his little army together, briefly
recapitulated the many wrongs which had been done him by his
rival, the seizure of his capital, the imprisonment of his
brothers, the assault and defeat of his troops; and he concluded
with the declaration, - heartily echoed back by his military
audience, - that the time had now come for revenge. All the
while that the negotiations were pending, Pizarro had been busily
occupied with military preparations. He had mustered a force
considerably larger than that of his rival, drawn from various
quarters, but most of them familiar with service. He now
declared, that, as he was too old to take charge of the campaign
himself, he should devolve that duty on his brothers; and he
released Hernando from all his engagements to Almagro, as a
measure justified by necessity. That cavalier, with graceful
pertinacity, intimated his design to abide by the pledges he had
given, but, at length yielded a reluctant assent to the commands
of his brother, as to a measure imperatively demanded by his duty
to the Crown. *1
[Footnote 1: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 10.]
The governor's next step was to advise Almagro that the treaty
was at an end. At the same time, he warned him to relinquish his
pretensions to Cuzco, and withdraw into his own territory, or the
responsibility of the consequences would lie on his own head.
Reposing in his false security, Almagro was now fully awakened to
the consciousness of the error he had committed; and the warning
voice of his lieutenant may have risen to his recollection. The
first part of the prediction was fulfilled. And what should
prevent the latter from being so? To add to his distress, he was
laboring at this time under a grievous malady, the result of
early excesses, which shattered his constitution, and made him
incapable alike of mental and bodily exertion. *2
[Footnote 2: "Cayo enfermo i estuvo malo a punto de muerte de
bubas i dolores" (Carta de Espinall, Ms.) It was a hard penalty,
occurring at this crisis, for the sins, perhaps, of earlier days;
but
"The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to scourge us."]
In this forlorn condition, he confided the management of his
affairs to Orgonez, on whose loyalty and courage he knew he might
implicitly rely. The first step was to secure the passes of the
Guaitara, a chain of hills that hemmed in the valley of Zangalla,
where Almagro was at present established. But, by some
miscalculation, the passes were not secured in season; and the
active enemy, threading the dangerous defiles, effected a passage
across the sierra, where a much inferior force to his own might
have taken him at advantage. The fortunes of Almagro were on the
wane.
His thoughts were now turned towards Cuzco, and he was anxious to
get possession of this capital before the arrival of the enemy.
Too feeble to sit on horseback, he was obliged to be carried in a
litter; and, when he reached the ancient town of Bilcas, not far
from Guamanga, his indisposition was so severe that he was
compelled to halt and remain there three weeks before resuming
his march.
The governor and his brothers, in the mean time, after traversing
the pass of Guaitara, descended into the valley of Ica, where
Pizarro remained a considerable while, to get his troops into
order and complete his preparations for the campaign. Then,
taking leave of the army, he returned to Lima, committing the
prosecution of the war, as he had before announced, to his
younger and more active brothers. Hernando, soon after quitting
Ica, kept along the coast as far as Nasca, proposing to penetrate
the country by a circuitous route in order to elude the enemy,
who might have greatly embarrassed him in some of the passes of
the Cordilleras. But unhappily for him, this plan of operations,
which would have given him such manifest advantage, was not
adopted by Almagro; and his adversary, without any other
impediment than that arising from the natural difficulties of the
march, arrived, in the latter part of April, 1538, in the
neighbourhood of Cuzco.
But Almagro was already in possession of that capital, which he
had reached ten days before. A council of war was held by him
respecting the course to be pursued. Some were for making good
the defence of the city. Almagro would have tried what could be
done by negotiation. But Orgonez bluntly replied, - "It is too
late; you have liberated Hernando Pizarro, and nothing remains
but to fight him." The opinion of Orgonez finally prevailed, to
march out and give the enemy battle on the plains. The marshal,
still disabled by illness from taking the command, devolved it on
his trusty lieutenant, who, mustering his forces, left the city,
and took up a position at Las Salinas, less than a league distant
from Cuzco. The place received its name from certain pits or vats
in the ground, used for the preparation of salt, that was
obtained from a natural spring in the neighbourhood. It was an
injudicious choice of ground, since its broken character was most
unfavorable to the free action of cavalry, in which the strength
of Almagro's force consisted. But, although repeatedly urged by
the officers to advance into the open country, Orgonez persisted
in his position, as the most favorable for defence, since the
front was protected by a marsh, and by a little stream that
flowed over the plain. His forces amounted in all to about five
hundred, more than half of them horse. His infantry was
deficient in fire-arms, the place of which was supplied by the
long pike. He had also six small cannon, or falconets, as they
were called, which, with his cavalry, formed into two equal
divisions, he disposed on the flanks of his infantry. Thus
prepared, he calmly awaited the approach of the enemy.
It was not long before the bright arms and banners of the
Spaniards under Hernando Pizarro were seen emerging from the
mountain passes. The troops came forward in good order, and like
men whose steady step showed that they had been spared in the
march, and were now fresh for action. They advanced slowly across
the plain, and halted on the opposite border of the little stream
which covered the front of Orgonez. Here Hernando, as the sun
had set, took up his quarters for the night, proposing to defer
the engagement till daylight. *3
[Footnote 3: Carta de Gutierrez, Ms. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y
Conq., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 4, cap. 1 - 5.
- Carta de Espinall, Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap.
10, 11. - Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2 lib. 2, cap. 36, 37.]
The rumors of the approaching battle had spread far and wide over
the country; and the mountains and rocky heights around were
thronged with multitudes of natives, eager to feast their eyes on
a spectacle, where, whichever side were victorious, the defeat
would fall on their enemies. *4 The Castilian women and children,
too, with still deeper anxiety, had thronged out from Cuzco to
witness the deadly strife in which brethren and kindred were to
contend for mastery. *5 The whole number of the combatants was
insignificant; though not as compared with those usually engaged
in these American wars It is not, however, the number of the
players, but the magnitude of the stake, that gives importance
and interest to the game; and in this bloody game, they were to
play for the possession of an empire.
[Footnote 4: Herrera, Hist. General, dec 6, lib. 4, cap. 5, 6.]
[Footnote 5: Ibid., ubi supra.]
The night passed away in silence, unbroken by the vast assembly
which covered the surrounding hill-tops. Nor did the soldiers of
the hostile camps, although keeping watch within hearing of one
another, and with the same blood flowing in their veins, attempt
any communication. So deadly was the hate in their bosoms! *6
[Footnote 6: "I fue cosa de notar, que se estuvieron toda la
Noche, sin que nadie de la vna i otra parte pensase en mover
tratos de Paz: tanta era la ira i aborrecimiento de ambas
partes." Ibid., cap. 6.]