The Spanish conquest of Peru furnishes one of the most remarkable
chapters in the history of audacious villainy. It was the work of
successful buccaneers as unscrupulous as any crew of pirates that ever
robbed and murdered on the ocean. After their settlements began on the
islands and the Atlantic coast, rumors came to them of a wonderful
country somewhere at a distance in the west. They knew nothing of
another ocean between them and the Indies; the western side of the
continent was a veiled land of mystery, but the rumors, constantly
repeated, assured them that there was a country in that unknown region
where gold was more abundant than iron among themselves. Their strongest
passions were moved; greed for the precious metals and thirst for
adventures.
Balboa was hunting for Peru when he discovered the Pacific, about 1511
A.D. He was guided across the isthmus by a young native chief, who told
him of that ocean, saying it was the best way to the country where all
the common household utensils were made of gold. At the Bay of Panama
Balboa heard more of Peru, and went down the coast to find it, but did
not go south much beyond the eighth degree of north latitude. In his
company of adventurers at this time was Francisco Pizarro, by whom Peru
was found, subjugated, robbed, and ruined, some fifteen or twenty years
later. Balboa was superseded by Pedrarias, another greedy adventurer,
whose jealousy arrested his operations and finally put him to death. The
town of Panama was founded in 1519 by this Pedrarias, chiefly as a point
on the Pacific from which he could seek and attack Peru. Under his
direction, in 1522, the search was attempted by Pascual de Andagoya, but
he failed to get down the coast beyond the limit of Balboa's
exploration. Meanwhile clearer and more abundant reports of the rich and
marvelous nation to be found somewhere below that point were circulated
among the Spaniards, and their eagerness to reach it became intense.
In 1524, three men could have been seen in Panama busily engaged
preparing another expedition to go in search of the golden country.
These were Francisco Pizarro, a bold and capable adventurer, who could
neither read nor write; Diego de Almagro, an impulsive, passionate,
reckless soldier of fortune, and Hernando de Luque, a Spanish
ecclesiastic, Vicar of Panama, and a man well acquainted with the world
and skilled in reading character, acting at this time, it is said, for
another person who kept out of view. They had formed an alliance to
discover and rob Peru. Luque would furnish most of the funds, and wait
in Panama for the others to do the work. Pizarro would be
commander-in-chief. The vessels used would necessarily be such as could
be built at Panama, and, therefore, not very efficient.
Pizarro went down the coast, landing from time to time to explore and
rob villages, until he reached about the fourth degree of north
latitude, when he was obliged to return for supplies and repairs. It
became necessary to reconstruct the contract and allow Pedrarias an
interest in it. On the next voyage, one of the vessels went half a
degree south of the equator, and encountered a vessel "like a European
caravel," which was, in fact, a Peruvian _balsa_, loaded with
merchandise, vases, mirrors of burnished silver, and curious fabrics of
cotton and woolen.
It became again indispensable to send back to Panama for supplies and
repairs, and Pizarro was doomed to wait for them seven months on an
island. He next visited Tumbez, in Peru, and went to the ninth degree of
south latitude; but he was obliged to visit Spain to get necessary aid
before he could attempt any thing more, and it was not until the year
1531 that the conquest of Peru was actually undertaken.
In 1531 Pizarro finally entered Tumbez with his buccaneers, and marched
into the country, sending word to the Inca that he came to aid him
against his enemies. There had been a civil war in the country, which
had been divided by the great Inca, Huayna Capac, the conqueror of
Quito, between his two sons, Huascar and Atahuallpa, and Huascar had
been defeated and thrown into prison, and finally put to death. At a
city called Caxamalca, Pizarro contrived, by means of the most atrocious
treachery, to seize the Inca and massacre some ten thousand of the
principal Peruvians, who came to his camp unarmed on a friendly visit.
This threw the whole empire into confusion, and made the conquest easy.
The Inca filled a room with gold as the price of his ransom; the
Spaniards took the gold, broke their promise, and put him to death.