The Viceroy Arrives At Lima--Gonzalo Pizarro Marches From Cuzco--
Death Of The Inca Manco--Rash Conduct Of The Viceroy--
Seized And Deposed By The Audience--
Gonzalo Proclaimed Governor Of Peru
1544
While the events recorded in the preceding pages were in progress,
Blasco Nunez had been journeying towards Lima. But the alienation
which his conduct had already caused in the minds of the colonists was
shown in the cold reception which he occasionally experienced on the
route, and in the scanty accommodations provided for him and his
retinue. In one place where he took up his quarters, he found an ominous
inscription over the door:--"He that takes my property must expect to pay
for it with his life." 1 Neither daunted, nor diverted from his purpose,
the inflexible viceroy held on his way towards the capital, where the
inhabitants, preceded by Vaca de Castro and the municipal authorities,
came out to receive him. He entered in great state, under a canopy of
crimson cloth, embroidered with the arms of Spain, and supported by
stout poles or staves of solid silver, which were borne by the members of
the municipality. A cavalier, holding a mace, the emblem of authority,
rode before him; and after the oaths of office were administered in the
council-chamber, the procession moved towards the cathedral, where Te
Deum was sung, and Blasco Nunez was installed in his new dignity of
viceroy of Peru.2
His first act was to proclaim his determination in respect to the
ordinances. He had no warrant to suspend their execution. He should
fulfil his commission; but he offered to join the colonists in a memorial
to the emperor, soliciting the repeal of a code which he now believed
would be for the interests neither of the country nor of the Crown.3
With this avowed view of the subject, it may seem strange that Blasco
Nunez should not have taken the responsibility of suspending the law
until his sovereign could be assured of the inevitable consequences of
enforcing it. The pacha of a Turkish despot, who had allowed himself
this latitude for the interests of his master, might, indeed, have reckoned
on the bowstring. But the example of Mendoza, the prudent viceroy of
Mexico who adopted this course in a similar crisis, and precisely at the
same period, showed its propriety under existing circumstances. The
ordinances were suspended by him till the Crown could be warned of the
consequences of enforcing them,--and Mexico was saved from
revolution.4 But Blasco Nunez had not the wisdom of Mendoza.
The public apprehension was now far from being allayed. Secret cabals
were formed in Lima, and communications held with the different towns.
No distrust, however, was raised in the breast of the viceroy, and, when
informed of the preparations of Gonzalo Pizarro, he took no other step
than to send a message to his camp, announcing the extraordinary
powers with which he was himself invested, and requiring that chief to
disband his forces. He seemed to think that a mere word from him
would be sufficient to dissipate rebellion. But it required more than a
breath to scatter the iron soldiery of Peru.
Gonzalo Pizarro, meanwhile, was busily occupied in mustering his army.
His first step was to order from Guamanga sixteen pieces of artillery,
sent there by Vaca de Castro, who, in the present state of excitement,
was unwilling to trust the volatile people of Cuzco with these implements
of destruction. Gonzalo, who had no scruples as to Indian labor,
appropriated six thousand of the natives to the service of transporting
this train of ordnance across the mountains.5
By his exertions and those of his friends, the active chief soon mustered
a force of nearly four hundred men, which, if not very imposing in the
outset, he conceived would be swelled, in his descent to the coast, by
tributary levies from the towns and villages on the way. All his own
funds were expended in equipping his men and providing for the march;
and, to supply deficiencies, he made no scruple---since, to use his words,
it was for the public interest--to appropriate the moneys in the royal
treasury. With this seasonable aid, his troops, well mounted and
thoroughly equipped, were put in excellent fighting order; and, after
making them a brief harangue, in which he was careful to insist on the
pacific character of his enterprise, somewhat at variance with its military
preparations, Gonzalo Pizarro sallied forth from the gates of the capital.
Before leaving it, he received an important accession of strength in the
person of Francisco de Carbajal, the veteran who performed so
conspicuous a part in the battle of Chupas. He was at Charcas when the
news of the ordinances reached Peru; and he instantly resolved to quit
the country and return to Spain, convinced that the New World would be
no longer the land for him,--no longer the golden Indies. Turning his
effects into money, he prepared to embark them on board the first ship
that offered. But no opportunity occurred, and he could have little
expectation now of escaping the vigilant eye of the viceroy. Yet, though
solicited by Pizarro to take command under him in the present
expedition, the veteran declined, saying, he was eighty years old, and had
no wish but to return home, and spend his few remaining days in quiet.6
Well had it been for him, had he persisted in his refusal. But he yielded
to the importunities of his friend; and the short space that yet remained to
him of life proved long enough to brand his memory with perpetual
infamy.
Soon after quitting Cuzco, Pizarro learned the death of the Inca Manco.
He was massacred by a party of Spaniards, of the faction of Almagro,
who, on the defeat of their young leader, had taken refuge in the Indian
camp. They, in turn, were all slain by the Peruvians. It is impossible to
determine on whom the blame of the quarrel should rest, since no one
present at the time has recorded it.7
The death of Manco Inca, as he was commonly called, is an event not to
be silently passed over in Peruvian history; for he was the last of his race
that may be said to have been animated by the heroic spirit of the ancient
Incas. Though placed on the throne by Pizarro, far from remaining a
mere puppet in his hands, Manco soon showed that his lot was not to be
cast with that of his conquerors. With the ancient institutions of his
country lying a wreck around him, he yet struggled bravely, like
Guatemozin, the last of the Aztecs, to uphold her tottering fortunes, or to
bury his oppressors under her ruins. By the assault on his own capital of
Cuzco, in which so large a portion of it was demolished, he gave a check
to the arms of Pizarro, and, for a season, the fate of the Conquerors
trembled in the balance. Though foiled, in the end, by the superior
science of his adversary, the young barbarian still showed the same
unconquerable spirit as before. He withdrew into the fastnesses of his
native mountains, whence sallying forth as occasion offered, he fell on
the caravan of the traveller, or on some scattered party of the military;
and, in the event of a civil war, was sure to throw his own weight into the
weaker scale, thus prolonging the contest of his enemies, and feeding his
revenge by the sight of their calamities. Moving lightly from spot to
spot, he eluded pursuit amidst the wilds of the Cordilleras; and, hovering
in the neighborhood of the towns, or lying in ambush on the great
thoroughfares of the country, the Inca Manco made his name a terror to
the Spaniards. Often did they hold out to him terms of accommodation;
and every succeeding ruler, down to Blasco Nunez, bore instructions
from the Crown to employ every art to conciliate the formidable warrior.
But Manco did not trust the promises of the white man; and he chose
rather to maintain his savage independence in the mountains, with the
few brave spirits around him, than to live a slave in the land which had
once owned the sway of his ancestors.
The death of the Inca removed one of the great pretexts for Gonzalo
Pizarro's military preparations; but it had little influence on him, as may
be readily imagined. He was much more sensible to the desertion of
some of his followers, which took place early on the march. Several of
the cavaliers of Cuzco, startled by his unceremonious appropriation of
the public moneys, and by the belligerent aspect of affairs, now for the
first time seemed to realize that they were in the path of rebellion. A
number of these, including some principal men of the city, secretly
withdrew from the army, and, hastening to Lima, offered their services to
the viceroy. The troops were disheartened by this desertion, and even
Pizarro for a moment faltered in his purpose, and thought of retiring with
some fifty followers to Charcas, and there making his composition with
government. But a little reflection, aided by the remonstrances of the
courageous Carbajal, who never turned his back on an enterprise which
he had once assumed, convinced him that he had gone too far to recede,-
-that his only safety was to advance.
He was reassured by more decided manifestations, which he soon after
received, of the public opinion. An officer named Puelles, who
commanded at Guanuco, joined him, with a body of horse with which he
had been intrusted by the viceroy. This defection was followed by that
of others, and Gonzalo, as he descended the sides of the table-land,
found his numbers gradually swelled to nearly double the amount with
which he had left the Indian capital.
As he traversed with a freer step the bloody field of Chupas, Carbajal
pointed out the various localities of the battle-ground, and Pizarro might
have found food for anxious reflection, as he meditated on the fortunes
of a rebel. At Guamanga he was received with open arms by the
inhabitants, many of whom eagerly enlisted under his banner; for they
trembled for their property, as they heard from all quarters of the
inflexible temper of the viceroy.8
That functionary began now to be convinced that he was in a critical
position. Before Puelles's treachery, above noticed, had been
consummated, the viceroy had received some vague intimation of his
purpose. Though scarcely crediting it, he detached one of his company,
named Diaz, with a force to intercept him. But, although that cavalier
undertook the mission with alacrity, he was soon after prevailed on to
follow the example of his comrade, and, with the greater part of the men
under his command, went over to the enemy. In the civil feuds of this
unhappy land, parties changed sides so lightly, that treachery to a
commander had almost ceased to be a stain on the honor of a cavalier.
Yet all, on whichever side they cast their fortunes, loudly proclaimed
their loyalty to the Crown.
Thus betrayed by his own men, by those apparently most devoted to his
service, Blasco Nunez became suspicious of every one around him.
Unfortunately, his suspicions fell on some who were most deserving of
his confidence. Among these was his predecessor, Vaca de Castro. That
officer had conducted himself, in the delicate situation in which he had
been placed, with his usual discretion, and with perfect integrity and
honor. He had frankly communicated with the viceroy, and well had it
been for Blasco Nunez, if he had known how to profit by it. But he was
too much puffed up by the arrogance of office, and by the conceit of his
own superior wisdom, to defer much to the counsels of his experienced
predecessor. The latter was now suspected by the viceroy of maintaining
a secret correspondence with his enemies at Cuzco,--a suspicion which
seems to have had no better foundation than the personal friendship
which Vaca de Castro was known to entertain for these individuals. But,
with Blasco Nunez, to suspect was to be convinced; and he ordered De
Castro to be placed under arrest, and confined on board of a vessel lying
in the harbor. This high-handed measure was followed by the arrest and
imprisonment of several other cavaliers, probably on grounds equally
frivolous.9
He now turned his attention towards the enemy. Notwithstanding his
former failure, he still did not altogether despair of effecting something
by negotiation, and he sent another embassy, having the bishop of Lima
at its head, to Gonzalo Pizarro's camp, with promises of a general
amnesty, and some proposals of a more tempting character to the
commander. But this step, while it proclaimed his own weakness, had no
better success than the preceding.10
The viceroy now vigorously prepared for war. His first care was to put
the capital in a posture of defence, by strengthening its fortifications, and
throwing barricades across the streets. He ordered a general enrolment
of the citizens, and called in levies from the neighboring towns,-a call
not very promptly answered. A squadron of eight or ten vessels was got
ready in the port to act in concert with the land forces. The bells were
taken from the churches, and used in the manufacture of muskets;11 and
funds were procured from the fifths which had accumulated in the royal
treasury. The most extravagant bounty was offered to the soldiers, and
prices were paid for mules and horses, which showed that gold, or rather
silver, was the commodity of least value in Peru.12 By these efforts, the
active commander soon assembled a force considerably larger than that
of his adversary. But how could he confide in it?
While these preparations were going forward, the judges of the Audience
arrived at Lima. They had shown, throughout their progress, no great
respect either for the ordinances, or the will of the viceroy; for they had
taxed the poor natives as freely and unscrupulously as any of the
Conquerors. We have seen the entire want of cordiality subsisting
between them and their principal in Panama. It became more apparent,
on their landing at Lima. They disapproved of his proceedings in every
particular; of his refusal to suspend the ordinances,--although, in fact, he
had found no opportunity, of late, to enforce them; of his preparations
for defence, declaring that he ought rather trust to the effect of
negotiation; and, finally, of his imprisonment of so many loyal cavaliers,
which they pronounced an arbitrary act, altogether beyond the bounds of
his authority; and they did not scruple to visit the prison in person, and
discharge the captives from their confinement.13
This bold proceeding, while it conciliated the good-will of the people,
severed, at once, all relations with the viceroy. There was in the
Audience a lawyer, named Cepeda, a cunning, ambitious man, with
considerable knowledge in the way of his profession, and with still
greater talent for intrigue. He did not disdain the low arts of a
demagogue to gain the favor of the populace, and trusted to find his own
account in fomenting a misunderstanding with Blasco Nunez. The latter,
it must be confessed, did all in his power to aid his counsellor in this
laudable design.
A certain cavalier in the place, named Suarez de Carbajal, who had long
held an office under government, fell under the viceroy's displeasure, on
suspicion of conniving at the secession of some of his kinsmen, who had
lately taken part with the malecontents. The viceroy summoned Carbajal
to attend him at his palace, late at night; and when conducted to his
presence, he bluntly charged him with treason. The latter stoutly denied
the accusation, in tones as haughty as those of his accuser. The
altercation grew warm, until, in the heat of passion, Blasco Nunez struck
him with his poniard. In an instant, the attendants, taking this as a signal,
plunged their swords into the body of the unfortunate man, who fell
lifeless on the floor.14
Greatly alarmed for the consequences of his rash act,--for Carbajal was
much beloved in Lima,--Blasco Nunez ordered the corpse of the
murdered man to be removed by a private stairway from the house, and
carried to the cathedral, where, rolled in his bloody cloak, it was laid in a
grave hastily dug to receive it. So tragic a proceeding, known to so
many witnesses, could not long be kept secret. Vague rumors of the fact
explained the mysterious disappearance of Carbajal. The grave was
opened, and the mangled remains of the slaughtered cavalier established
the guilt of the viceroy.15
From this hour Blasco Nunez was held in universal abhorrence; and his
crime, in this instance, assumed the deeper dye of ingratitude, since the
deceased was known to have had the greatest influence in reconciling the
citizens early to his government. No one knew where the blow would
fall next, or how soon he might himself become the victim of the
ungovernable passions of the viceroy. In this state of things, some
looked to the Audience, and yet more to Gonzalo Pizarro, to protect
them.
That chief was slowly advancing towards Lima, from which, indeed, he
was removed but a few days' march. Greatly perplexed, Blasco Nunez
now felt the loneliness of his condition. Standing aloof, as it were from
his own followers, thwarted by the Audience, betrayed by his soldiers, he
might well feel the consequences of his misconduct. Yet there seemed
no other course for him, but either to march out and meet the enemy, or
to remain in Lima and defend it. He had placed the town in a posture of
defence, which argued this last to have been his original purpose. But he
felt he could no longer rely on his troops, and he decided on a third
course, most unexpected.
This was to abandon the capital, and withdraw to Truxillo, about eighty
leagues distant. The women would embark on board the squadron, and,
with the effects of the citizens, be transported by water. The troops, with
the rest of the inhabitants, would march by land, laying waste the country
as they proceeded. Gonzalo Pizarro, when he arrived at Lima, would
find it without supplies for his army, and, thus straitened he would not
care to take a long march across a desert in search of his enemy.16
What the viceroy proposed to effect by this movement is not clear,
unless it were to gain time; and yet the more time he had gained, thus far,
the worse it had proved for him. But he was destined to encounter a
decided opposition from the judges. They contended that he had no
warrant for such an act, and that the Audience could not lawfully hold its
sessions out of the capital. Blasco Nunez persisted in his determination,
menacing that body with force, if necessary. The judges appealed to the
citizens to support them in resisting such an arbitrary measure. They
mustered a force for their own protection, and that same day passed a
decree that the viceroy should be arrested.
Late at night, Blasco Nunez was informed of the hostile preparations of
the judges. He instantly summoned his followers, to the number of more
than two hundred, put on his armour, and prepared to march out at the
head of his troops against the Audience. This was the true course; for in
a crisis like that in which he was placed, requiring promptness and
decision, the presence of the leader is essential to insure success. But,
unluckily, he yielded to the remonstrances of his brother and other
friends, who dissuaded him from rashly exposing his life in such a
venture.
What Blasco Nunez neglected to do was done by the judges. They
sallied forth at the head of their followers, whose number, though small
at first, they felt confident would be swelled by volunteers as they
advanced. Rushing forward, they cried out,--"Liberty! Liberty! Long
live the king and the Audience! " It was early dawn, and the inhabitants,
startled from their slumbers, ran to the windows and balconies, and,
learning the object of the movement, some snatched up their arms and
joined in it, while the women, waving their scarfs and kerchiefs, cheered
on the assault.
When the mob arrived before the viceroy's palace, they halted for a
moment, uncertain what to do. Orders were given to fire on them from
the windows, and a volley passed over their heads. No one was injured;
and the greater part of the viceroy's men, with most of the officers,
including some of those who had been so anxious for his personal safety,
--now openly joined the populace. The palace was then entered, and
abandoned to pillage. Blasco Nunez, deserted by all but a few faithful
adherents, made no resistance. He surrendered to the assailants, was led
before the judges, and by them was placed in strict confinement. The
citizens, delighted with the result, provided a collation for the soldiers;
and the affair ended without the loss of a single life. Never was there so
bloodless a revolution.17
The first business of the judges was to dispose of the prisoner. He was
sent, under a strong guard, to a neighboring island, till some measures
could be taken respecting him. He was declared to be deposed from his
office; a provisional government was established, consisting of their own
body, with Cepeda at its head, as president; and its first act was to
pronounce the detested ordinances suspended, till instructions could be
received from Court. It was also decided to send Blasco Nunez back to
Spain with one of their own body, who should explain to the emperor the
nature of the late disturbances, and vindicate the measures of the
Audience. This was soon put in execution. The Licentiate Alvarez was
the person selected to bear the viceroy company; and the unfortunate
commander, after passing several days on the desolate island, with
scarcely any food, and exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather,
took his departure for Panama.18
A more formidable adversary yet remained in Gonzalo Pizarro, who had
now advanced to Xauxa, about ninety miles from Lima. Here he halted,
while numbers of the citizens prepared to join his banner, choosing
rather to take service under him than to remain under the selfconstituted
authority of the Audience. The judges, meanwhile, who had tasted the
sweets of office too short a time to be content to resign them, after
considerable delay, sent an embassy to the Procurator. They announced
to him the revolution that had taken place, and the suspension of the
ordinances. The great object of his mission had been thus accomplished;
and, as a new government was now organized, they called on him to
show his obedience to it, by disbanding his forces, and withdrawing to
the unmolested enjoyment of his estates. It was a bold demand, though
couched in the most courteous and complimentary phrase,--to make of
one in Pizarro's position. It was attempting to scare away the eagle just
ready to stoop on his prey. If the chief had faltered, however, he would
have been reassured by his lion-hearted lieutenant. "Never show faint
heart," exclaimed the latter, "when you are so near the goal. Success has
followed every step of your path. You have now only to stretch forth
your hand, and seize the government. Every thing else will follow."--
The envoy who brought the message from the judges was sent back with
the answer, that "the people had called Gonzalo Pizarro to the
government of the country, and, if the Audience did not at once invest
him with it, the city should be delivered up to pillage." 19
The bewildered magistrates were thrown into dismay by this decisive
answer. Yet loth to resign, they took counsel in their perplexity of Vaca
de Castro, still detained on board of one of the vessels. But that
commander had received too little favor at the hands of his successors to
think it necessary to peril his life on their account by thwarting the plans
of Pizarro. He maintained a discreet silence, therefore, and left the
matter to the wisdom of the Audience.
Meanwhile, Carbajal was sent into the city to quicken their deliberations.
He came at night, attended only by a small party of soldiers, intimating
his contempt of the power of the judges. His first act was to seize a
number of cavaliers, whom he dragged from their beds, and placed under
arrest. They were men of Cuzco, the same already noticed as having left
Pizarro's ranks soon after his departure from that capital. While the
Audience still hesitated as to the course they should pursue, Carbajal
caused three of his prisoners, persons of consideration and property, to
be placed on the backs of mules, and escorted out of town to the suburbs,
where, with brief space allowed for confession, he hung them all on the
branches of a tree. He superintended the execution himself, and
tauntingly complimented one of his victims, by telling him, that, "in
consideration of his higher rank, he should have the privilege of selecting
the bough on which to be hanged!"20 The ferocious officer would have
proceeded still further in his executions, it is said, had it not been for
orders received from his leader. But enough was done to quicken the
perceptions of the Audience as to their course, for they felt their own
lives suspended by a thread in such unscrupulous hands. Without further
delay, therefore, they sent to invite Gonzalo Pizarro to enter the city,
declaring that the security of the country and the general good required
the government to be placed in his hands.21
That chief had now advanced within half a league of the capital, which
soon after, on the twenty-eighth of October, 1544, he entered in battle-
array. His whole force was little short of twelve hundred Spaniards,
besides several thousand Indians, who dragged his heavy guns in the
advance.22 Then came the files of spearmen and arquebusiers, making a
formidable corps of infantry for a colonial army; and lastly, the cavalry,
at the head of which rode Pizarro himself, on a powerful charger, gaily
caparisoned. The rider was in complete mail, over which floated a richly
embroidered surcoat, and his head was protected by a crimson cap,
highly ornamented,--his showy livery setting off his handsome,
soldierlike person to advantage.23 Before him was borne the royal
standard of Castile; for every one, royalist or rebel, was careful to fight
under that sign. This emblem of loyalty was supported on the right by a
banner, emblazoned with the arms of Cuzco, and by another on the left,
displaying the armorial bearings granted by the Crown to the Pizarros.
As the martial pageant swept through the streets of Lima, the air was rent
with acclamations from the populace, and from the spectators in the
balconies. The cannon sounded at intervals, and the bells of the city--
those that the viceroy had spared rang out a joyous peal, as if in honor of
a victory!
The oaths of office were duly administered by the judges of the Royal
Audience, and Gonzalo Pizarro was proclaimed Governor and Captain
General of Peru, till his Majesty's pleasure could be known in respect to
the government. The new ruler then took up his quarters in the palace of
his brother,--where the stains of that brother's blood were not yet effaced.
Fetes, bull-fights, and tournaments graced the ceremony of inauguration,
and were prolonged for several days, while the giddy populace of the
capital abandoned themselves to jubilee, as if a new and more auspicious
order of things had commenced for Peru! 24