CIVIL WARS AMONG THE CONQUERORS
The edict of Charles V. conceded to Pizarro the territory for two
hundred and seventy leagues south of the river on the Ecuador coast
where the conquest had begun, and to Almagro the next two hundred
leagues. In his heart Almagro was dissatisfied with this award, and,
even if he accepted the division, there was wide room for
misunderstandings and disputes. No one knew the exact latitude of the
river whence the measurement was to be made, nor had any one surveyed
the distances along the winding roads. Almagro contended that Cuzco and
Arequipa lay within his province, but this Pizarro vigorously and, as it
turned out, correctly denied.
Almagro's personal followers were disgusted with the rude poverty they
had found in Chile, and saw little chance of valuable spoil unless their
leader should secure the fertile plateaux of Titicaca, Cuzco, and
Arequipa. They urged him to seize by force what he believed to belong to
him. After the flight of Manco his army reached Cuzco before the force
which Pizarro was sending up had penetrated nearer than a hundred miles.
Hernando Pizarro had two hundred men at Cuzco, but they were exhausted
with long months of fighting against the Indian besiegers and could
offer no effective resistance to the night attack by which Almagro
surprised them. Hernando and his brother Gonzalo were captured and
imprisoned, and Almagro advanced against the army from Lima and defeated
it. "This," exclaimed Pizarro, when he heard the news, "is Almagro's
return to me, after losing a beloved and gallant brother, and spending
all I possess in pacifying the country. I mourn for the danger of my
brothers, but still more that two friends in their old age should plunge
into a civil war to the injury alike of the King's service and of Peru."
From this moment all the powers of his great mind and the resources of
his profound cunning were devoted to securing his brothers' safety
first, and afterwards revenge upon Almagro. Willing to agree to anything
rather than leave them in the hands of enemies whom he knew to be as
coldly cruel as himself and far more bloodthirsty, he sent ambassadors
to treat for the liberation of Hernando and Gonzalo. But Almagro thought
he held the whip hand, and marched his victorious army across the
Cordillera opposite Cuzco and up the coast nearly to Lima, declaring his
intention of founding a capital for his government in the valley of
Chincha, and announcing that he would be satisfied with nothing less
than the cession of all Peru from Lima south. To obtain Hernando's
release the governor was forced to consent that Almagro should remain
in possession of the disputed territory pending the decision of the
King, but Hernando was no sooner safe at Lima than Pizarro repudiated
his promise. He declared war; his army, under the leadership of Hernando
and Valdivia--afterwards famous as the conqueror of Chile--advanced down
the coast. Futilely raging at Pizarro's treachery, the old man
retreated, making his way toward Cuzco over one of the southern passes.
His pursuers by a rapid march over a difficult and little used pass
reached the neighbourhood of the Inca capital without resistance.
Almagro was compelled to accept battle, or to shut himself up in Cuzco
and let his enemies bring up artillery and batter him out at their
leisure. His men outnumbered Pizarro's, and were assisted by a large
contingent of natives, though inferior in discipline and arms. He chose
the speedier alternative, but the flank attacks of his native
auxiliaries made no impression on Hernando's carefully disposed infantry
and his Spaniards fell into confusion when the main bodies met in the
shock of battle. With a flank cavalry charge the rout became general;
Hernando Pizarro dashed in, conspicuous with white plume and
orange-coloured doublet; the most desperate partisans were slaughtered,
bravely fighting, and the old man fled. He was soon captured and brought
back to the very prison where he had so long confined Hernando. After
languishing for a few months, orders were given that he be strangled.
Francisco made no sign to save the life of his old comrade, and the
sentence was inflicted.
For the second time Pizarro entered Cuzco in triumph, wearing now an
ermine robe presented to him by Hernando Cortes, and once more he
devoted himself to organising his vast dominions and extending the
Spanish power over the distant provinces. Gonzalo Pizarro went to Quito
to make that expedition into the Amazon country in search of the
Eldorado which so miserably failed in its immediate object, but resulted
in Orellana's discovery of the great river. Hernando Pizarro proceeded
to Bolivia to develop the mining industry--a labour soon to be rewarded
by the finding of Potosi. Valdivia undertook the conquest of Chile, and
Alvarado that of the mountains of northern Peru. The governor travelled
himself over most of his dominions, founding cities at strategic points
in the more populous and fertile valleys. He visited Charcas--now
Sucre--the old Indian capital of southern Bolivia; he founded one city
at Arequipa, commanding the greatest valley of the southern coast, and
another at Guamanga in a fertile plateau half-way between Jauja and
Cuzco. The better parts of the country were divided into great feudal
estates and distributed among his favourites and faithful followers,
while the partisans of Almagro made their way as best they could out of
Peru or hung around in helpless poverty, gnashing their teeth as they
saw their luckier comrades rapidly enriching themselves by Indian
tribute and mining.
[Illustration: RUE MERCADERES, PROCESSION DAY, LIMA.]
Almagro's friends quickly carried the news of his illegal execution to
Spain, crying for justice against the Pizarros. The Spanish government
was not unwilling to secure a selfish advantage from the disputes
among the original conquerors, and sent out Vaca de Castro to
investigate and report.
When the royal commissioner arrived at Panama early in 1541, the latest
news from Peru was tranquillising. Pizarro was busily engaged in
enlarging and beautifying Lima, in regulating the revenue and the
administration, in distributing "encomiendas," and in restraining the
rapacity of his Spaniards. However, Lima was full of the "men of
Chile"--as Almagro's adherents were called--all bitter enemies of the
governor. They passed him in the street without saluting, and their
attitude was so menacing that Pizarro received repeated warnings and was
urged to banish them. Absolutely incapable of personal fear, magnanimous
when his passions had not been aroused, he only replied, "Poor fellows;
they have had trouble enough. We will not molest them." He even sent for
Juan de la Rada, the guide, counsellor, and guardian of the young
half-breed who was Almagro's heir, and condescended to try to argue him
into a better frame of mind, saying at parting, "Ask me frankly what you
desire." But the iron had entered too deeply into Rada's soul; he had
already organised a conspiracy to assassinate Pizarro.
At noon on Sunday, the 26th of June, 1541, Pizarro was sitting at dinner
in his house with twenty gentlemen, among them his half-brother,
Francisco Alcantara, and several of the most illustrious knights who had
taken part in the conquest. The great door into the public square was
lying wide open. The conspirators, to the number of a score, had
assembled in a house opposite. All of a sudden they rushed into the
square fully armed and carrying their swords naked in their hands. A
young page standing in front of the governor's house saw them and ran
back shouting: "To arms! all the men of Chile are coming to kill the
Marquis, our lord." The guests rose in alarm from the table and all but
half a dozen fled to the windows and dropped into the garden. Pizarro
threw off his gown and snatched up a sword, while the valiant Francisco
Chaves stepped forward through the ante-room to dispute the passage at
the staircase. The ferocious crowd of murderers rushed up and laid him
dead on the stairs. Alcantara checked them for a few moments with his
single sword, but was soon forced back into the dining-room and fell
pierced with many thrusts. The old lion shouted from the inside, "What
shameful thing is this! why do you wish to kill me?" and with a cloak
wrapped round one arm and his sword grasped in the other hand, he rushed
forward to meet his assassins and strike a blow to avenge his brother
before he himself should fall. Only two faithful young pages remained at
his side. Though over seventy years of age, his practised sword laid two
of the crowd dead before he was surrounded. The two boys were butchered
and in the melee Pizarro received a mortal wound in the throat, and
falling to the floor, made the sign of the cross on the boards and
kissed it. One of the ruffians had snatched up an earthen water jar and
with this pounded out the old man's brains as he lay prostrate,
disdaining to ask for mercy and murmuring "Jesus" just as the fatal blow
fell.
Thus perished by the sword this great man of blood. The measure he had
meted out to Atahuallpa and Almagro was measured to him again. He who
had shamelessly broken his oath times without number to gain his own
high ends was slain by treacherous, cowardly assault. But his great
vices should not blind us to his greater virtues. Courageous,
indomitable, far-sighted, patriotic, large-minded, public-spirited,
possessing a God-given instinct for seeing straight to the centre of a
problem and the energy to strike at the psychological moment, he was
equally great as an explorer, a soldier, a general, a diplomatist, and
an administrator. Even his shocking moral delinquencies lose something
of their turpitude when we consider the greatness of his aims and the
baseness of his origin. A bastard, a common soldier, a penniless
adventurer, a man who had to fight his way up by his own wits, courage
and parts, in the worst of schools, it was not to be expected that he
would be scrupulous. But that his real nature was magnanimous, generous,
and truthful is proven by the many instances in which he forgave his
enemies and kept his word to his serious loss, and that his ambition was
not sordid is shown by his self-sacrificing devotion to the public good
during the later years of his life. Formed in nature's grandest mould,
circumstances and environment had much deformed his character, but the
original lineaments are plain.
The news of the murder threw Peru into confusion. In Lima the
governor's friends hid themselves or fled; a hundred sympathisers joined
the assassins; the rudders and sails of the ships in port were taken
away so that no word could be sent to Panama; and all the treasure in
the city was plundered. Young Almagro assumed the title of governor of
Peru, but he and Rada soon realised that the vast majority at Lima
regarded them with execration, while threatening messages came from the
commanders in other towns. Rada and the boy usurper started up the road
for Jauja and Cuzco. At the former place Rada died, but his protege,
though only twenty-two years old, now showed unexpected ability and
resource. Suppressing with bloody severity a quarrel among his captains,
he took the road to Cuzco, where his father's party was strongest.
In the meantime the royal commissioner, now become legal governor of
Peru, had sailed from Panama. Shipwrecked off the coast of southern
Colombia, he resolved to proceed by land, and disembarking at
Buenaventura, made his way with infinite difficulty through the tangled
forests and steep defiles of the Maritime Cordillera to the valley of
the Cauca River. Thence to Quito over the highlands of Popayan and Pasto
was easier. As soon as the news of Pizarro's murder reached him he
hastened south, receiving many offers of help from the friends of the
dead governor. At Jauja he found a considerable army ready to his
orders, so he proceeded promptly to Guamanga, to which point Almagro was
advancing from Cuzco. The soldiers of the young half-breed knew that
they were fighting with halters round their necks, and the battle was
the bloodiest since the Spaniards had landed in Peru. Of the twelve
hundred white men who went into the fight only five hundred escaped
unwounded. The rebels were practically annihilated. Two days after the
battle Pizarro's murderers were executed in the great square at
Guamanga. Young Almagro managed to escape to Cuzco, but he was quickly
captured and relentlessly put to death.
Upon the death of Francisco Pizarro the right to nominate a governor
reverted to the Spanish Crown. Though some disappointment was felt that
Gonzalo Pizarro had not been appointed, Vaca de Castro succeeded without
opposition. Gonzalo's selection would not have suited the new policy of
the Spanish government. Las Casas had written his famous book exposing
the unspeakable iniquities of the earlier conquerors toward the West
Indian natives. It produced a tremendous effect on public opinion, and
the authorities at Madrid decided to root up Indian slavery, and
gradually abolish the existing "encomiendas." Manifestly, such a step
would excite bitter dissatisfaction among the adventurers in Peru, and
it seemed best to name a viceroy, who would be _ipso facto_ vested with
absolute power, and not subject to the influence of the
"conquistadores."
This dangerous post was entrusted to Blasco Nunez de Vela, an old
bureaucrat of the Escurial, whose integrity, piety, and rigid obedience
to orders had pushed him into high positions. Arriving in Peru early in
1544, he was received with outward courtesy and respect, thinly veiling
real alarm and distrust. The "New Laws" abolished personal service by
Indians; the grandees of estates must hereafter be content with a
moderate tribute from their tenants; encomiendas might not be sold nor
even descend by inheritance; and--worst of all--public officials and all
Spaniards who had taken part in the wars between Almagro and Pizarro
were to be deprived. The provisions were drastic and rumour exaggerated
them. In his journey down the coast the viceroy had sternly ordered that
no Indian be forced to carry a burden against his will. To the Spaniards
this seemed an outrageous violation of the natural order of things. The
whole fabric of their fortunes rested upon forced Indian labour. Without
it they could not work their mines, farm their estates, or transport
their goods, and these "New Laws" enforced by a conscientious and
stubborn old bureaucrat, would virtually rob them of all that their
swords had won.
Dismayed "encomienderos" wrote to Gonzalo Pizarro, urging him to espouse
their cause; his own vast estates would infallibly be wrenched away by
the viceroy, and he was told that his head was to be cut off as soon as
Nunez Vela could lay hands on him. With the Pizarro instinct of running
to meet a danger, he hastened from southern Bolivia to Cuzco, where he
was proclaimed "procurator general" of Peru; soldiers flocked to his
camp; he seized the artillery and stores at Cuzco, and soon was at the
head of four hundred desperate men, well armed and provided. Many,
however, shrank from open rebellion against the representative of the
Castilian king, and the Pizarros had enemies. The result was still
doubtful, when the viceroy himself turned the scale by his own violent
measures. He imprisoned Vaca de Castro on suspicion of favouring the
revolt; quarrelled with the judges of the royal court; and finally in an
altercation with the popular factor of Lima, stabbed his opponent with
his own hand, and then attempted to conceal the murder. Frightened at
the burst of public indignation, he fled to Trujillo, while the royal
judges took the direction of affairs into their own hands. They ordered
the arrest and deportation of the viceroy, and sent a conciliatory
message to Gonzalo. But he knew better than to rely upon the
unauthorised promises of the judges. His answer was to send a detachment
to Lima, which seized three deserters and hanged them on trees outside
the town. The judges having no troops upon whom they could rely, were
forced to recognise Pizarro as governor. A few days later he made his
triumphal entry, riding at the head of twelve hundred men. There was no
mistaking the sincerity of the acclamations with which the Spaniards
welcomed the devoted champion of their privileges. Nevertheless in the
minds of most there lurked an uneasy consciousness that all this was in
fact flat treason against the lawful sovereign, and that no government
could in the long run prevail without recognition from Madrid.
The sea-captains to whose custody the blundering old viceroy had been
entrusted did not know what to do with their embarrassing prisoner, and
set him ashore at Tumbez, whence he proceeded to Quito to get help from
the anti-Pizarro faction. The governor of southern Colombia joined him
and he soon had five hundred men under his orders. Gonzalo flew to the
point of danger; the viceroy retreated to Popayan, but being joined by
more recruits, rashly returned to the neighbourhood of Quito to offer
battle. He was defeated and killed; Pizarro went back to Lima, while his
lieutenant, Carbajal, hunted down and put to death every loyalist who
remained under arms in southern Peru.
Gonzalo's administration lasted three years' and they were golden ones
for the Spanish adventurers. The marvellous silver mines of Potosi and
the gold washings of southern Ecuador were discovered. Encomiendas were
lavishly granted; the Indians went back to their fields; the mining
industry began that marvellous development which soon made Peru the
treasure box of the world and Potosi a synonym for limitless wealth. But
the dazzling sunlight of prosperity was dimmed by the shadow of
Pizarro's scaffold slowly creeping across the Atlantic and down the
coast. His chief lieutenants, knowing they had sinned past forgiveness,
urged him to declare himself king of Peru, but he was at once too proud
and too patriotic to fling away his right to die a loyal Spaniard.
Philip, the leaden-eyed, close-mouthed despot, was regent of Spain.
Bitterly chagrined that the stream of Peruvian gold had ceased to flow
into the royal treasury, his vindictive heart held no mercy for the
gallant soldier whose sword had helped win the riches now temporarily
diverted. He selected a man after his own heart--Pedro de la Gasca, an
ugly, deformed little priest, hypocritically humble, though astute and
untiring, whose success as an inquisitor was a guarantee that he would
be as pitilessly cruel as even Philip could wish. Gasca landed at Panama
in the character of a modest ecclesiastic, a humble man of peace who had
been commissioned to investigate the sad situation of Peru and
re-establish peace. He said he would recommend the repeal of the
obnoxious New Laws, and had authority to suspend them. Gonzalo refused
to put his head into the noose and demanded substantial assurances. But
many Peruvians were more easily beguiled, and welcomed the excuse to
renew their allegiance to lawful authority. While Gasca remained at
Panama, gathering troops from the neighbouring provinces, Pizarro's
fleet deserted, leaving the coast open to attack. An advance guard came
sailing down the coast, sending letters ashore at every port promising
amnesty and rewards. Desertions were so numerous that Gonzalo was forced
to give up the hope of defending Lima and retreated toward Arequipa.
Gasca ascended to Jauja, while Pizarro's old enemies in the Titicacan
region rose, gathered a thousand men, and sent word to Gasca that they
could overwhelm without help the five hundred soldiers who remained
faithful. But a Pizarro never waited to be attacked. By forced marches
he crossed the dizzy pass where the Mollendo and Puno Railway now runs,
and fell upon his enemies near the southern end of Lake Titicaca. Though
outnumbered two to one, the superior discipline of his men, his
admirable dispositions, Carbajal's skilful handling of the artillery,
and his own cool and intrepid leadership of the cavalry charges, gave
him a decisive though dearly bought victory.
[Illustration: LITTLE "INFERNILLO" BRIDGE ON THE OROYA RAILWAY.
ALTITUDE 10,924 FEET.]
Meanwhile Gasca was coming up the road from Jauja to Cuzco, his army
increasing by accessions from every direction until it numbered over two
thousand. The wisest of Gonzalo's counsellors advised him to retire to
southern Bolivia and make a defensive campaign in that remote region,
but he preferred bold methods. For once, however, he could not inspire
his men with his own confidence. They followed with heavy hearts his
eager march against Gasca's overwhelming army. He drew them up for the
attack and the battle was about to begin when, to his despair, he saw
several captains desert to the enemy and his soldiers surrendering
without a blow. Knowing that all was over, he turned to Juan Acosta, who
rode at his side, saying, "What shall we do, brother Juan?" "Sir, let us
charge them and die like Romans." "Better to die like Christians,"
replied Pizarro, and he rode across the plain and gave himself up. The
exulting priest grossly insulted the fallen warrior, and called a
court-martial to condemn him and his captains to immediate execution.
Though only forty-one years old when he went to the scaffold, Gonzalo
had for sixteen years taken a leading part in nearly every one of the
battles and expeditions of Peru, and is justly regarded as the best
fighting man among the "conquistadores."
The property of Pizarro's friends was confiscated; the prisons filled
with wretched victims; many were put to death; many more mutilated or
flogged; even the staunchest loyalists were not safe. Gasca evaded and
delayed as long as possible the distribution of land-grants among those
who had earned and been promised such rewards, and when he had to
announce the list he sneaked to Lima by an unfrequented route in
cowardly fear of his miserable life. He never dared to try to put the
New Laws into effect, and when a peremptory order came from Spain that
enforced Indian labour must cease, he kept it secret until he could
resign the government to the royal judges, leaving instructions that it
should be published immediately he was at sea.
Peru was left in confusion. The prohibition of Indian slavery added to
the dissatisfaction felt over Gasca's awards. The _ad interim_
governments could make little progress in securing its enforcement.
Rebellion after rebellion broke out, and civil war continued to desolate
Peru, with a few intervals of quiescence during which the government
allowed the proprietors to do as they pleased, until the arrival of the
Marquis of Canete, the "good viceroy," on the 29th of June, 1556.