[Illustration: The Spaniards destroy the idol at Pachacamac]
The news of Atahuallpa's capture and the immense ransom he had offered
soon reached the ears of Huascar, who was encouraged by the tidings to
make vigorous efforts to regain his own liberty, and sent a message to
the Spanish commander saying that he would pay a much larger ransom than
that promised by Atahuallpa, who, never having lived in Cuzco, could not
know the quantity of treasure there, or where it was stored. This was
told to Atahuallpa, who also knew that Pizarro had said that Huascar
should be brought to Caxamalca, that he himself might determine which of
the two brothers had the better right to the sceptre of the Incas.
Furiously jealous, and fearing that the decision would surely be in
favour of the more docile Huascar, Atahuallpa ordered secretly that he
should be put to death by his guards, and he was accordingly drowned in
the river of Andamarca, declaring with his dying breath that the white
men would avenge his murder, and that his rival would not long survive
him. Week by week the treasure poured in from all quarters of the realm,
borne on the shoulders of the Indian porters, and consisting mainly of
massive pieces of plate, some of them weighing seventy-five pounds; but
as the distances were great, and the progress necessarily slow, the
Spaniards became impatient, and believed, or pretended to believe, that
the Inca was planning some treachery, and wilfully delaying till he
could arrange a general rising of the Peruvians against the white men.
This charge the Inca indignantly denied, and to prove his good faith
offered to give a safe-conduct to a party of Spaniards, that they might
visit Cuzco for themselves and see that the work of collecting the
treasure was really going on. Pizarro gladly accepted this offer, and
three cavaliers started for the capital. Meanwhile, Hernando Pizarro
with a small troop had set out to make sure that the country round was
really quiet, and, finding that it was, he continued his march to the
town of Pachacamac, to secure the treasures of its famous temple before
they could be hidden by its priests. The city was a hundred leagues from
Caxamalca, and the way lay across the tableland of the Cordilleras; but
after weeks of severe labour the Spaniards reached it, and, breaking
into the temple, in spite of the remonstrances of the priests, they
dragged forth and destroyed the hideous idol it contained, and secured
the greater part of the treasure of gold and jewels, though the priests,
having had warning of his approach, had managed to conceal a good deal,
some of which the Spaniards afterwards discovered buried in the
surrounding land. The people, seeing that their god was unable to defend
himself against the wonderful strangers, now came and tendered their
homage, and Hernando Pizarro, hearing that one of the Inca's two great
generals, a chief named Challcuchima, was lying with a considerable
force in the town of Xanxa, resolved to march there and attack him in
his own quarters. The road across the mountains was even rougher and
more difficult than the one by which he had come, and, to add to his
troubles, the shoes of the horses were all worn out, and they suffered
severely on the rough and stony ground. Iron there was none, but silver
and gold abounded, so Pizarro ordered the Indian smiths to make
horseshoes of silver, with which the horses of the troop were shod. On
reaching Xanxa the Spaniards found it a large and populous place, and
the Indian general with five-and-thirty thousand men was encamped at a
distance of a few miles; but, nothing daunted, Hernando Pizarro sent
messages to him, and when he at last consented to an interview, informed
him that the Inca demanded his presence in Caxamalca. Having been
utterly bewildered since the capture of the Inca, and uncertain as to
what course to take, Challcuchima obeyed at once, and accompanied by a
numerous retinue journeyed back with the Spaniards. He was everywhere
received by the natives with the deepest respect, yet he entered the
presence of the Inca barefooted and with a burden laid upon his back,
and kneeling before his master he kissed his hands and feet, exclaiming,
'Would that I had been here! This would not then have happened.'
Atahuallpa himself showed no emotion, only coldly bade him welcome: even
in his present state of captivity he was immeasurably above the proudest
of his vassals. The Spaniards still treated him with all respect, and
with his own people he kept up his usual state and ceremony, being
attended upon by his wives, while a number of Indian nobles waited
always in the antechamber, but never entered his presence unless sent
for, and then only with every mark of humility. His dress, which he
often changed, was sometimes made of vicuna wool, sometimes of bats'
skins, sleek as velvet. Nothing which he had worn could be used by
another; when he laid it aside it was burned. To while away the time the
Spaniards taught him to play chess, at which he became expert, spending
upon it many of the tedious hours of his imprisonment. Soon after the
return of Hernando Pizarro the three cavaliers came back from Cuzco.
They had travelled six hundred miles in the greatest luxury, carried in
litters by the natives, and received everywhere with awe and respect.
Their accounts of the wealth of the capital confirmed all that Pizarro
had heard, and though they had stayed a week there, they had not seen
all. They had seen the royal mummies in their golden chairs, and had
left them untouched by the Inca's orders; but they had caused the plates
of pure gold to be stripped from the Temple of the Sun--seven hundred of
them, compared in size to the lid of a chest ten or twelve inches wide.
The cornice was so firmly embedded in the stonework that it defied their
efforts to remove it. But they brought with them full two hundred loads
of gold, beside much silver, all hastily collected, for the arrogant
behaviour of the emissaries had greatly exasperated the people of Cuzco,
who were glad to get rid of them as soon as possible. About this time
Almagro reached San Miguel, having, after many difficulties, succeeded
in collecting a few more adventurers, and heard with amazement of
Pizarro's successes and of the change in his fortunes. In spite of the
feelings of rivalry and distrust that existed between himself and his
old comrade, Pizarro was delighted to hear of his arrival, as the
additional troops he brought with him made it possible to go forward
with the conquest of the country. So when Almagro reached Caxamalca in
the middle of February 1533, he and his men were received with every
mark of joy. Only Atahuallpa looked on sadly, seeing the chances of
regaining his freedom, or maintaining it if he did regain it, lessened
by the increased number of his enemies, and to add to his dejection a
comet just then made its appearance in the heavens. As one had been
seen shortly before the death of the Inca's father, Huayna Capac, he
looked upon it as a warning of evil to come, and a dread of the future
took possession of him.
The Spaniards now began to clamour for a division of the gold which had
been already collected: several of them were disposed to return home
with the share that would fall to them, but by far the greater number
only wished to make sure of the spoil and then hurry on to Cuzco, where
they believed as much more awaited them. For various reasons Pizarro
agreed to their demands; the gold--all but a few particularly beautiful
specimens of the Indian goldsmith's work, which were sent to Castile as
part of the royal fifth--was melted down into solid bars, and when
weighed was found to be worth nearly three and a half millions of pounds
sterling. This was divided amongst Pizarro and his men, the followers of
Almagro not being considered to be entitled to a share, though a small
sum was handed over to them to induce them to give up their claim. The
division being completed, there seemed to be no further obstacle to
their resuming active operations; but then the question arose what was
to become of Atahuallpa, who was loudly demanding his freedom. He had
not, indeed, paid the whole of his promised ransom; but an immense
amount had been received, and it would have been more, as he urged, but
for the impatience of the Spaniards. Pizarro, telling no one of the dark
purposes he was brooding over in his own mind, issued a proclamation to
the effect that the ransom was considered to be completely paid, but
that the safety of the Spaniards required that the Inca should be held
captive until they were still further reinforced. Soon rumours began to
be spread, probably by Felipillo, who hated the Inca, that an immense
army was mustering at Quito, and that thirty thousand Caribs, of whom
the Spaniards had a peculiar horror, were on their way to join it. Both
Atahuallpa and his general Challcuchima denied all knowledge of any
rising, but their protestations of innocence did them little good. The
soldiers clamoured against the unhappy Inca, and Pizarro, taking
advantage of the temporary absence of some of the cavaliers who would
have defended him, ordered him to be brought to instant trial. The
evidence of Indian witnesses, as interpreted by Felipillo, sealed his
doom, and in spite of the efforts of a few Spaniards he was found guilty
by the majority on the charge, among other things, of having
assassinated his brother Huascar and raised up insurrection against the
Spaniards, and was sentenced to be burnt alive. When Atahuallpa was told
of his approaching fate his courage gave way for a moment. 'What have I
or my children done,' he said to Pizarro, 'that I should meet such a
doom? And from your hands, too!--you who have met with nothing but
friendship and kindness from my people, with whom I have shared my
treasures, who have received nothing but benefits from my hands.' Then
in most piteous tones he begged that his life might be spared, offering
to answer for the safety of every Spaniard, and promising to pay double
the ransom he had already given. But it was all of no avail. He was not,
however, burnt to death; for at the last moment, on his consenting to
abjure his own religion and be baptized, he was executed in the usual
Spanish manner--by strangulation.
A day or two after, the other cavaliers returned, and found Pizarro
making a show of great sorrow for what had happened. They reproached and
blamed him, saying that there was no truth in the story of
treachery--all was quiet, and the people showed nothing but goodwill.
Then Pizarro accused his treasurer and Father Valverde of having
deceived him in the matter and brought about the catastrophe; and they
in their turn exculpated themselves, and upbraided Pizarro as the only
one responsible for the deed, and the quarrel was fierce between them.
Meanwhile, the death of the Inca, whose power over his people had been
so great, caused the breaking-up of all the ancient institutions. The
Indians broke out into great excesses; villages were burnt and temples
plundered; gold and silver acquired a new importance in their eyes, and
were eagerly seized and hidden in caves and forests; the remote
provinces threw off their allegiance to the Incas; the great captains at
the head of distant armies set up for themselves--one named Ruminavi
sought to detach Quito from the Peruvian Empire and assert its
independence. Pizarro, still in Caxamalca, looked round for a successor
to Atahuallpa, and chose his young brother Toparca, who was crowned with
the usual ceremonies; and then the Spaniards set out for Cuzco, taking
the new Inca with them, and after a toilful journey and more than one
encounter with hostile natives reached Xanxa in safety. Here Pizarro
remained for a time, sending one of his captains, named Hernando de
Soto, forward with a small body of men to reconnoitre. This cavalier
found villages burnt, bridges destroyed, and heavy rocks and trees
placed in the path to impede his cavalry, and realised at length that
the natives had risen to resistance. As he neared the Sierra of
Vilcaconga he heard that a considerable body of Indians lay in wait for
him in its dangerous passes; but though his men and horses were weary,
he rashly determined to push on and pass it before nightfall if
possible. No sooner had they fairly entered the narrow way than he was
attacked by a multitude of armed warriors, who seemed to spring from
every bush and cavern, and rushed down like a mountain torrent upon the
Spaniards as they struggled up the steep and rocky pathway. Men and
horses were overthrown, and it was only after a severe struggle that
they succeeded in reaching a level spot upon which it was possible to
face the enemy. Night fell while the issue of the fight was still
uncertain, but fortunately Pizarro, when he heard of the unsettled state
of the country, had despatched Almagro to the support of De Soto. He,
hearing that there was the chance of a fight, had pushed on hastily, and
now advanced under cover of the darkness, sounding his trumpets, which
were joyfully answered by the bugles of De Soto.
[Illustration: IN ONE CAVE THE SOLDIERS FOUND VASES OF PURE GOLD, ETC.]
When morning broke and the Peruvians saw that their white enemies had
been mysteriously reinforced in the night, they hastily retreated,
leaving the passes open, and the two cavaliers continued their march
through the mountains, and took up a secure position in the open country
beyond, to await Pizarro. Their losses had not been very great, but they
were quite unprepared to meet with any resistance; and as this seemed a
well-organised attack, suspicion fell upon Challcuchima, who was accused
by Pizarro of conspiring with Quizquiz, the other great general, against
the young Inca, and was told that if he did not at once compel the
Peruvians to lay down their arms he should be burnt alive. Challcuchima
denied the charge, and declared that, captive as he was, he had no power
to bring his countrymen to submission. Nevertheless, he was put in irons
and strongly guarded. Unfortunately for him, the young Toparca died just
at this time, and suspicion at once fell on the hapless general, who,
after the mockery of a trial, was burnt to death as soon as Pizarro
reached Almagro's camp--his own followers piling up the faggots. Soon
after this Pizarro was surprised by a friendly visit from the young
brother of Huascar, Manco Capac, and seeing that this prince was likely
to be a useful instrument in his hands, Pizarro acknowledged his claim
to be the Inca, and, keeping him with him, resumed the march to Cuzco,
which they entered on November 15, 1533. The suburbs were thronged with
people, who came from far and near to gaze upon the white faces and the
shining armour of the 'Children of the Sun.' The Spaniards rode directly
to the great square, and took up their quarters in the palaces of the
Incas. They were greatly struck by the beauty and order of the city, and
though Pizarro on entering it had issued an order that the dwellings of
the inhabitants were not to be plundered or injured, the soldiers soon
stripped the palaces and temples of the valuables they contained, even
taking the golden ornaments of the royal mummies and rifling the
Peruvian graves, which often contained precious treasures. Believing
that the natives had buried their wealth, they put some of them to the
torture, to induce them to disclose their hiding-places, and by seeking
everywhere they occasionally stumbled upon mines of wealth. In one cave
near the city the soldiers found a number of vases of pure gold,
embossed with figures of animals, serpents, and locusts. Also there were
four life-sized figures of llamas, and ten or twelve statues of women,
some of gold and some of silver. The magazines were stored with robes of
cotton and featherwork, gold sandals and slippers, and dresses composed
entirely of beads of gold. The stores of grain and other food the
conquerors utterly despised, though the time was to come when they would
have been of far greater value to them than all the treasure. On the
whole, the riches of the capital did not come up to the expectation of
the Spaniards, but they had collected much plunder on the way to it,
securing in one place ten bars of solid silver, each twenty feet in
length, one foot in breadth, and two or three inches thick.
The natural consequence followed the sudden acquisition of so much
wealth. The soldiers, as soon as they had received their share,
squandered it recklessly, or lost it over dice or cards. A man who had
for his portion one of the great golden images of the Sun taken from the
chief temple, lost it in a single night's gaming, whence came the
proverb common to this day in Spain, 'He plays away the sun before
sunrise.' Another effect of such a superfluity of gold and silver was
the instant rise in the prices of all ordinary things, till gold and
silver seemed to be the only things in Cuzco that were not wealth. Yet
very few indeed of the Spaniards were wise enough to be contented and
return to enjoy their spoils in their native country. After the division
of the treasure, Pizarro's first care was to place the Inca Manco upon
the throne, and demand for him the recognition of his countrymen. All
the coronation ceremonies were duly observed. The people acquiesced
readily, and there were the usual feastings and rejoicings, at which the
royal mummies were paraded according to custom, decked with such
ornaments as remained to them. Pizarro then organised a government for
the city of Cuzco after the fashion of his own country, and turned the
temples into churches and monasteries. He himself was henceforward
styled the Governor. Having heard that Atahuallpa's general Quizquiz was
stationed not far from Cuzco with a large force of the men of Quito,
Pizarro sent Almagro and the Inca Manco to dislodge him, which they did
after some sharp fighting. The general fled to the plains of Quito,
where, after holding out gallantly for a long time, he was massacred by
his own soldiers, weary of the ineffectual struggle.
About this time, Don Pedro de Alvarado, with five hundred well-equipped
men, landed at the Bay of Caraques and marched upon Quito, affecting to
believe that it was a separate kingdom, and not part of that conquered
by Pizarro. This Alvarado was the celebrated cavalier who had been with
Cortes in the conquest of Mexico, and earned from the Aztecs the title
of 'Tonatiuh,' or 'Child of the Sun.' He had been made Governor of
Guatemala, but his avarice being aroused by the reports of Pizarro's
conquests, he turned in the direction of Quito a large fleet which he
had intended for the Spice Islands. The Governor was much disturbed by
the news of his landing, but as matters turned out he need not have
been, for Alvarado, having set out to cross the sierra in the direction
of Quito, was deserted in the midst of the snowy passes by his Indian
guide. His unhappy followers, fresh from the warm climate of Guatemala,
were perished with the cold, and still further distressed by suffocating
clouds of dust and ashes from the volcano of Cotopaxi. After days of
incredible suffering they emerged at last, but leaving behind them at
least a fourth of their number, beside two thousand Indians, who had
died of cold and hunger. When, after all, he did reach Quito, he found
it in the hands of Benalcazah, a cavalier who had been left by Pizarro
at San Miguel, and who had deserted his post in order to take possession
of Quito, tempted by the reports of the treasure it contained, which,
however, he failed to find. Almagro, too, had reached the city before
Alvarado got there; moreover, his men had heard so much of the riches of
Cuzco that they were inclined to desert him and join Pizarro. On the
whole, Alvarado judged it expedient to give up all claim to Quito, and
for a sum of money which, though large, did not cover his expenses, to
hand over to the Governor his fleet, forces, stores, and munitions. This
being settled, he went to Pachacamac to meet Pizarro, who had left his
brother Juan in charge of Cuzco, and was inspecting the defences of the
coast. There being now no question of rivalry, the two cavaliers met in
all courtesy, and Alvarado was hospitably entertained by the Governor,
after which he sailed for Guatemala. Peru might now in a manner be
considered as conquered; some of the tribes in the interior still held
out, but an able officer had been told off to subdue them. Quito and
Cuzco had submitted, the army of Atahuallpa had been beaten and
dispersed, the Inca was the mere shadow of a king, ruled by the
conqueror.
The Governor now turned his attention to building a city which should be
the capital of this new colonial empire. Cuzco lay too far inland, San
Miguel too far to the north. Pizarro fixed upon a spot near the mouth of
a wide river which flowed through the Valley of Rimac, and here soon
arose what was then called the 'City of the Kings,' but is now known as
Lima. Meanwhile, Hernando Pizarro returned to Castile with the royal
fifth, as the Spanish Emperor's share of the treasure was called; he
also took with him all the Spaniards who had had enough of the life of
adventure and wished to settle in their native land to enjoy their
ill-gotten spoils. Pizarro judged rightly that the sight of the gold
would bring him ten recruits for every one who thus returned. And so it
was, for when he again sailed for Peru it was at the head of the most
numerous and the best-appointed fleet that had yet set out. But as so
often happened, disaster pursued him, and only a broken remnant finally
reached the Peruvian shore. Quarrels now arose between Almagro and
Pizarro, the former claiming to be Governor of Cuzco; and when after
many difficulties peace was again made, and Almagro, withdrawing his
claim, had led his partisans off to conquer Chili, a new trouble began.
The Inca Manco, under pretext of showing Hernando Pizarro a hidden
treasure, managed to make his escape; the Peruvians flocked to his
banner, and the party of Spaniards under Juan Pizarro who were sent out
to recapture him returned to Cuzco weary and wounded after many
unsuccessful struggles with the enemy, only to find the city closely
surrounded by a mighty host of Indians. They were, however, allowed to
enter the capital, and then began a terrible siege which lasted for more
than five months. Day and night the Spaniards were harassed by showers
of missiles. Sometimes the flights of burning arrows or red-hot stones
wrapped in some inflammable substance would cause fearful fires in all
quarters of the town at once; three times in one day did the flames
attack the very building which sheltered the Spaniards, but fortunately
they were extinguished without doing much harm. In vain did the
besieged make desperate sallies; the Indians planted stakes to entangle
their horses, and took the riders prisoners by means of the lasso, which
they used with great skill. To add to their distress the great citadel
which dominated the town had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and
though after a gallant struggle it was retaken, yet it was at the cost
of Juan Pizarro's life. As for the Inca noble who defended it, when he
saw that the citadel must fall, he cast away his war-club, and, folding
his mantle about him, threw himself headlong from the battlements.
Famine now began to be felt sharply, and it added horror to the
situation of the besieged when, after they had heard no tidings of their
countrymen for months, the blood-stained heads of eight or ten Spaniards
were one day rolled into the market place, leading them to believe that
the rising of the Indians had been simultaneous all over the country,
and that their friends were faring no better than themselves. Things
were not, however, quite so desperate as they imagined, for Francisco
Pizarro when attacked in the City of the Kings had sallied forth and
inflicted such a severe chastisement upon the Peruvians that they
afterwards kept their distance from him, contenting themselves with
cutting off his communication with the interior. Several detachments of
soldiers whom he sent to the relief of his brothers in Cuzco were,
however, enticed by the natives into the mountain passes and there
slain, as also were some solitary settlers on their own estates.
At last, in the month of August, the Inca drew off his forces, and
intrenching himself in Tambo, not far from Cuzco, with a considerable
body of men, and posting another force to keep watch upon Cuzco and
intercept supplies, he dismissed the remainder to the cultivation of
their lands. The Spaniards thereupon made frequent forays, and on one
occasion the starving soldiers joyfully secured two thousand Peruvian
sheep, which saved them from hunger for a time. Once Pizarro desperately
attacked Tambo itself, but was driven off with heavy loss, and hunted
back ignominiously into Cuzco; but this was the last triumph of the
Inca. Soon afterwards Almagro appeared upon the scene, and sent an
embassy to the Inca, with whom he had formerly been friendly. Manco
received him well, but his suspicions being aroused by a secret
conference between Almagro's men and the Spaniards in Cuzco, he fell
suddenly upon the former, and a great battle ensued in which the
Peruvians were decidedly beaten and the power of the Inca was broken. He
died some few years later, leaving the Spaniards still fighting among
themselves for the possession of the country. Almagro after some years
of strife and adventure was put to death by Hernando Pizarro when he was
nearly seventy years old. His son, a gallant and well-beloved youth, who
succeeded him, met the same fate in the same place--the great square of
Cuzco--a few years later. Hernando himself suffered a long imprisonment
in Spain for the murder of Almagro, with serene courage, and even lived
some time after his release, being a hundred years old when he died.
Gonzola Pizarro was beheaded in Peru, at the age of forty-two, for
rebelling against the authority of the Spanish Emperor. Francisco
Pizarro was murdered in his own house in the City of the Kings, in the
month of June 1541, by the desperate adherents of the young Almagro, or
the 'Men of Chili' as they were called, and was buried hastily and
secretly by a few faithful servants in an obscure corner of the
cathedral. Such was the miserable end of the conqueror of Peru. 'There
was none even,' says an old chronicler, 'to cry "God forgive him!"'
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* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors corrected.
Illustrations were moved outside of paragraphs. Due to this movement,
some of the original page numbers in the list of illustrations may not
match the actual location.
Many and varied were the hyphenations in this text due to the different
stories. Examples are: cocoa-nuts and cocoanuts, and head-quarters and
headquarters. These variations were retained.